I have been working now for a little over a month on my new venture, fish pedicure. It has been a mixed bag of emotions as I struggle with my private life and business. My son is home on leave from Afghanistan and my mother in-law due home from rehabilitation after a series of strokes. The girls are settled into Nursery after a few weeks of them getting infected with chickenpox. Sods law is they couldn’t get it together and as one returned to nursery the other became ill so a whole month was taken up by antihistamine medication and calamine lotion.   Read more…

I am feeling very sad today almost as though I am grieving the loss of some thing- or one. It has been a hard few months with so much going on in my life that I  find it hard to believe at times.

Skye has gone to big school for an hour this morning and I sit waiting for her return I am thinking so much about her future and how much she has changed since she first came to live with us. Gone is the violent little 11 month old who lashed out at the least attempt to cuddle her, with no trust  towards any one. In place is a lovely- lovable 4 year old who has no violent out-bursts and enjoys a cuddle and will say without hesitating how much she loves you. Read more…

When I was first told I was to have a permanent ileostomy I was in so much pain I would have welcomed almost any suggestion if it meant getting rid of it! However, I was not truly prepared for the consequences of living with this procedure yet I hope this blog entry will be useful to others who have recently had it done, or are due to.

After I’d had the procedure and ventured into town as normal, shopping etc, I felt very self conscious and was sure everyone could see the little bulge through my clothes as the ileostomy bag seemed to me to hang idly inside my clothing.

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My weekend really started last Friday with the arrival of my beautiful Granddaughter, Connie Marie Wallace, my youngest son’s and his partner Tasha’s child. My son is being deployed to Afghanistan some time in the coming months and we all hoped Connie would show earlier than her due date of 15th April as her daddy could well have missed her birth otherwise. She didn’t let us down.

Welcome to our world sweet Connie. Connie, your daddy will have time to cuddle you now and enjoy the first few weeks of your life before he has to be away for the next 6 months.

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I have just received a phone call from my surgeon today cancelling an operation that he was due to perform tomorrow morning.  There are apparently no theatre staff available but when I explained my diagnosis of pneumonia he explained they would have cancelled anyway.

I am relieved yet disappointed but know of the rest of this week’s events to come are going to stretch me on a personal level as well as a business one. My new web site – this site you are now on – is to make sure I’m widely known as an inspirational speaker. My chosen career – the work I was born to do – is speaking to groups about emotive issues I have first-hand experience of.

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Two little gifts from heaven have been living with us (my husband Mike of 34 years and my mother-in-law) for three years now and it’s been the most trying of  times if truth be told.  Both girls are my Paternal Granddaughters and were born to  prolific drug users – their father is my son.

Skye was born 2006 and this little one was born an addict yet made  remarkable progress in her fight to survive.  Her parents cleaned up  their act and she started her life like any other child. Or so we thought. Maybe I wanted them clean more than they did, but my  granddaughter was suffering badly and I witnessed daily demise.  Aged  just 11 months, we were faced with a choice, we either take her on or she would be placed into care…

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