9:20 a.m. on Thursday morning and I’m still in something of a dilemma. I’m at home, finished work and on maternity leave. My pregnancy had been going well overall not that I had anything to compare it with. I have kept up my fitness: gym and Pilates and am eating healthily as the bump grows. I am definitely coping. I haven’t had all the cravings I’d heard about apart from one week where I did have a bit of a binge on choc...

I was sitting in a café in town watching the world go by thinking of all the things I should be doing but not having the will to do them when I was interrupted by a guy asking to sit at the stool next to me. I apologised and moved my bag to allow him to take a seat. He thanked me, sat and started playing on his phone. I looked at him and somehow, he seemed familiar, but you know how it is you can’t always place where and...

We were at a party (aren’t we always). It was just a normal house party, mums and dads from the village. People you meet when the children are at primary school, some friends, but mostly acquaintances. There were 20 or so people, mainly couples. The house was a decent size, it had a living room, a dining room and a big kitchen downstairs so people weren’t all squashed into one room. Dance music was on in the living room,...

It was Christmas Eve, we had been out with friends, enjoying a good night, plenty of laughs and plenty of drink. Too much in the case of my other half as he had struggled up the stairs to bed somewhat the worse for wear. He would regret that in the morning as he had volunteered to cook Christmas lunch. I decided I needed to chill a bit before hitting the sack so was quietly sitting in the living room reminiscing about Chr...

I was back at work, maternity leave over, career back on track. Only it wasn’t back on track. I spent my day worrying about nappies, when would she sleep through the night, was I being a good mother and a million other baby related things. Work was second best and a distant second. Before the baby I was a driven woman, worked hard, had a career plan and was doing well. Now, to be honest I struggled to give a toss. It had...

Trev’s friend Denis kindly took us back to our car. He was a chatty chap, probably in his 50’s, quite chubby but seemed friendly. He had worked with Trevor, and they had remained friends. “Lives life to the full and on the edge does our Trev,” was his description. “Likes the ladies, old, young, single, married, blond, brunette. Basically, if they’ve got a pulse Trev is interested but he’s a much pickier about who he beds....

This is a story from my younger days, before marriage and kids when life was all fun with little or no responsibilities. I was on holiday in Yorkshire with my then boyfriend. We had been out walking on a lovely sunny day but needed some alcoholic sustenance. We stopped at a village pub and ordered drinks at the bar before venturing into the pub garden. We found a free picnic bench and sat down to rest, enjoying warm sun....

We were at a party, not a party I particularly wanted to be at, but we were here. Not really my sort of people, all rather up their own arse types. They were mostly “friends” of my husband, either work or rugby people. Well to do types, the sort of people I didn’t feel particularly comfortable with. Surprisingly it hadn’t been too bad, the music had started quite early so I could avoid endless small talk about Caribbean h...