Tuesday 28 December 2010

Mel's New Year's Resolutions

Hi,

Laura's asked us all to write down our resolutions for 2011 as a way of making us stick to them. I came up with mine in no time at all - I make the same one every year so you can guess how bad I am at keeping it!

I'm giving up smoking in 2011 and, this time, I really mean it. I only started ten years ago, to calm my nerves when the taxman was banging on the door for the VAT and the building society was getting tetchy about missed mortgage repayments.

Lester's always smoked and, to a fifteen year old school girl, it gave him an air of sophistication and glamour. However, I see now that it didn't give him panache - only fag ash. We lived with Lester's parents when we were first married and it was like being in the house with the Battersea power station chimneys. Tony was newly born so I spent every waking minute out of the house to give him some fresh air. Hours and hours I walked around Nottingham, rain or shine, trying to escape the smoke and Lester's witch of a mother. One winter's day, I walked all the way across town and didn't have the bus fare back so I sat down in a park shelter and cried my eyes out.

I'll be telling you the whole story about this, and my life with Lester, in The Accidental Guru. Although I've known Paula, Aurora and Judi for over twenty years, parts of my story came as a complete surprise but mine wasn't the only secret. To find out who else was hiding from the past, keep your eyes open for The Accidental Guru's launch in the new year.

Good luck with giving up your own vices!

Love, Mel x

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