Got the 2nd rejection slip today - from Marjacq scripts. I would never have been able to remember how to spell it anyway - far better to get an agent whose name I can spell. I’m still hoping for the ones in Torquay to accept me!

DD and I went to the Pleasure Beach yesterday which was great fun. I hadn’t been in years. I ended up getting us both a full price wrist band at £29 each!! Even though I could have got a ‘Beaver Creek’ one for £15 there were some rides which weren’t covered by the Beaver Creek one and to buy tickets for those PLUS the BC wristband would have been almost as much as buying two full price wristbands. And we got to see a show in the price of the full band so it made more sense in the long run. We spent the whole day there from 11am till about 9.30 when the Hot Ice show finished. I enjoyed the Hot Ice Show although it wasn’t as good as it had been in recent years. DD didn’t enjoy it quite so much - she complained of being bored and tired although she said today she had enjoyed some bits of it. I think she would have preferred to spend the two hours going on more rides.

But the wrist band was good value, especially as I’ve just checked the website and found out the the ticket price for the evening show is £22.50!!! And the wristband was £29.

We got pretty wet though - we went on the mini Log Flume in the Beaver Creek area and got soaked. DD said afterwards that was her favourite ride!! It’s amazing though how quickly you get accustomed to walking round in wet trainers. Once the water had warmed up to body temprature I didn’t even notice it. Until I got home and had to peel dank socks away from clammy white flesh!

LOL though. I hadn’t actually planned on staying out quite so late - not knowing that the wrist band included entry to a show - I thought we would probably come home at about tea time. So I was walking round the park in my prescription sunglasses but when we got out it was dark and I hadn’t brought my other glasses. So I had to weigh up the dilemma of which was the worse crime: driving home in sunglasses in the dark, barely able to see, or driving home without wearing glasses when I needed to and having everything blurred. Thank goodness I didn’t get stopped. But driving in the dark in sunglasses is not a nice experience.

Well - got the first rejection slip for my collection today - from Sheil Land Associates. Funny, cos they said in their letter they don’t consider sci-fi or fantasy, yet on the info I’ve got, it said they did - which is why I chose them for the first lot to apply for.

Actually - now I come to look on the actual list - it says they take fantasy, but it doesn’t say they take sci-fi. Although it doesn’t specifically say that they DON’T take sci-fi. I weeded all those out straightaway.

Ah well - no point in worrying about it at this stage. J K Rowling got rejected by the first agents she applied to as well - bet they’re kicking themselves now!

I would have been in good company if I had been accepted though - their client list includes: Authors: Peter Ackroyd, John Blashford-Snell, Steve Ballesteros, Melvyn Bragg, Stephanie Calman, Catherine Cookson estate, Anna del Conte, Elizabeth Corley, Seamus Deane, Alan Drury, Erik Durschmied, Alan Garner, Bonnie Greer, Susan Hill, Richard Holmes, HRH The Prince of Wales, John Humphrys, James Long, Richard Mabey, Colin McDowell, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, Patrick O’Brien Estate, Esther Rantzen, Pam Rhodes, Jean Rhys Estate, Martin Riley, Colin Shindler, Tom Sharpe, Martin Stephen, Brian Sykes, Jeffrey Taylor, Alan Titchmarsh, Rose Tremain, John Wilsher, Paul Wilson, Chris Woodhead.

I wonder how many agents Prince Charlie had to apply for to be accepted.

Wahoo!! I did my exercise DVD for the first time since Easter!!!

I don’t really know why I stopped doing it - I was doing really well. But I think I just hit a phase of thinking “I don’t want to do this 3 x a week any more!” So I stopped.

I have been doing other forms of exercise, especially since the nice weather started and I’ve been off school. I’ve been swimming, walking with my daughter and cycling pulling her on the Trail Gator (which is hard!).

But with my recent plateau and the fact that I’m still unhappy with my flabby tummy, I figured I’d try it again.

I actually found it harder than I did last time so my general level of fitness must have gone down, although the jogging bits I found easier, not having to carry around those extra 20 lbs I have lost since then. But I did get through the whole thing, so that’s not too bad. I just have to keep it up now!

Well, I sent email enquiries to two agents. One I haven’t heard from yet, the other I got an automated reply saying they are only accepting new authors for children’s books.

So I put together a letter/synopsis/first three chapters package and sent it off to five agents who specified that they take sci-fi books. Cost me a fortune in postage and return postage for the SAEs. One of them is actually in Torquay so they might take it for the local interest.

If I don’t hear from them then I have a long list of other agents to try. I weeded out the ones who said specifically that they DON’T take sci-fi so I presume all these other ones do - they just say fiction.

On the plus side I have managed to somehow lose 3.7 lbs since Tuesday! I’m finally in the 150s - yay!!! Less than 20 lbs to go now. I also managed to fasten the jacket of my size 12 suit - not the skirt though. And I got into a size 12 dress and one of my size 12 skirts, although it was massively tight - it did actually fasten. I have worn my size 12 coat and jeans out in public!!!

So while I don’t think I can say I am a size 12 yet, I’m definitely going in the right direction!!

Check out that bum in my size 12 jeans

I finally finished the revisions today!!! I ended up with about 5000 words extra overall!

So, wasting no time, I submitted it to my first agency today.

Well, technically I haven’t submitted the book yet, but I have just approached my first agent!

I have an extensive list of UK agents and I picked Anne McCaffrey’s for no other reason than I think her stuff is great.

They have a big long list of different agents within the agency who look at different types of work - most of them have instructions as to how they prefer to be approached; some like emails, some like phone calls, some don’t like phone calls, but the sci-fi/fantasy guy had no instructions next to his name, so I rang up and asked. He wasn’t in the office but the woman who answered suggested emailing him so I did.

So, either I will hear soon, one way or another as to whether he wants to read the book on the basis of the synopsis, or I won’t hear at all, which would be awful!

I am so nervous! Cross your fingers for me!!

Well, the diet has gone by the by a bit over the last couple of days. Saturday I went out with my mate who I hadn’t seen for months and got a bit rat-arsed and Sunday I went to an unexpected barbecue at my sister’s, which was great but rather calorific! And I got to see my darling great-nephew again - he is SO cute!

So I hopped on the scales this morning and had put on 3 lbs!! I feel like I’ve been going up and down within this little range for weeks. But that’s what you get when you pig on sausage sandwiches!!

I gave my dd her first recorder lesson today. We went out this morning to get a recorder book and she was ever so excited. We have decided to have a little lesson after lunch every day - make a routine of it. So we had our lunch and set up the music stand. We had a few tears when she didn’t get everything instantly, but she persevered and in the end she was reading crotchets and quavers off the music and she can play B pretty well and was just starting on A, after only 20 minutes!! The problem is, cos she has such little fingers, she can’t always cover all of the hole so we end up with squeaks. But her breathing is fine when she DOES cover up the notes and her rhythm was perfect! Even when I stopped pointing at the notes and said to just play what we’d just learned, she read it back perfectly to me.

So I was really pleased with what we’d managed to do in 20 minutes, especially as she’s only 5 and 2 months! I reckon she’ll be playing proper little tunes by the time she goes back to school.

Well, dd and I went out on our Trail Gator on Tuesday! I spent the day finishing it off - turned out I didn’t need to take the wheel off, it just would have made it a bit easier. But I could only get one nut off, the other was inexorably rusted fast to the hole. So, I got the ting together and the instructions advised to take it out sans child first to see how it handled. So I did. Cue shouts of “You forgot the kid” from passers-by as I trundle merrily through the streets.

Anyway, it seemed OK so when dd came home from school I promised to take her out after tea when it got a bit cooler.

Well, we had only gone about half way down the street when I heard panicked cries from behind. Turned round to see her bike leaning alarmingly to one side. We got off and I had a look. The U-clips that fastened the tow bar to the front of her bike ahd twisted round a bit. I straightened them up and we tried again. This time we probably made it about a few hundred yards before she yelled again. Got off - same thing had happened. We ended up walking back home where I got out my trusty adjustable spanner and had a go at tightening them up. I actually had to loosen them enough to shift it back into position before I could tighten them again. But I tightened them as far as they would go, ripping the skin off a couple of knuckles in the process.

After creaming and plastering my bloody knuckles we tried again. Dd was exceedingly nervous and kept crying out. Every time I stopped and turned round and said “Are you tipping?” she kept saying no, but she was frightened of “how fast I was going”. Once we’d gone far enough that I was satisfied the thing was going to stay together I took her up to the cycle track on the prom and we went down to the playground. It’s damned hard work, I tell you! She WAS pedalling but it didn’t seem to make that much difference. It’s barely a mile to the playground but I was sweating buckets when we eventually got there. But I must be burning off at least half as many calories again, if not twice as many, as when I cycle without - so it’s good for me!! Good thing was, she got used to the speed we went and was actually enjoying it!

So overall, a good experience.

My five year old daughter and I had a very interesting conversation this morning.

History: Some time ago she asked me if the Tooth Fairy was real. I battled for a few seconds with my conscience as to whether to continue the lie or tell her the truth. I decided to tell her the truth and said “No - it’s not. It’s just me.”

She thought about this for a few moments and then said “Well, how do you know which children’s houses to go to?”

I chuckled and said “No - I just do your teeth. The other children’s mummies do their teeth.”

“Oh,” she said and seemed content with that explanation.

Only yesterday I was telling someone this story and we were wondering how long it would be before she started thinking about Father Christmas.

Well, this morning, while I was doing her hair before school, she asked “Is it really Father Christmas that brings your presents.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Having said just yesterday that I didn’t want the magic to go away just yet, I wasn’t ready to confess all and say no, it wasn’t. So, I thought for a moment and said “Well, what do you think?”

She thought and then said she didn’t know. I carried on brushing her hair and then said “Well, if it’s not Father Christmas, who else do you think it might be.” and she said “You,” and giggled.

So then I said “Well, would you prefer it to be me, or Father Christmas,” thinking that if she was happy for it to be me, I would tell her.

She said “Father Christmas,” so I said “Well, there you go then.” and she seemed happy enough with that. But she’s only a baby - I’m not ready for her to stop believing just yet. Kids believing in Father Christmas is part of the magic of Christmas. Going to bed on Christmas Eve with the stocking hung up and a plate with a mince pie and a glass of Amaretto and screaming with excitement the next morning when he’s been and the total amazement that he’s brought everything they told Mummy they wanted! No, she’s too young to lose all that!

Had a bit of a culinary disaster today.

Over the weekend I went to my mum’s and she made this flan thing with a biscuit base, halved grapes and jelly. I thought it might be nice to do it with raspberries and raspberry jelly. So I got some digestive biscuits, crushed them and mixed them with melted butter to make a cheesecake-type base. I lined a cake tin with tin foil, covered the base with the crushed biscuits, a layer of raspberries and topped it off with the jelly. Well, it leaked! All over the kitchen side. I managed to push out the cake tin base and quickly dump it in a metal pie dish and pulled out the tin foil so the jelly would fill the pie dish. I waited till the jelly set and then tried it. Well, it was a bit of a soggy mess, but as soggy messes go, it was quite tasty.

I rang mum to find out what I had done wrong and apparently she had waited till the jelly was semi-set and then kind of spooned it over the fruit. So next time I will try that.

I bought a Trail Gator off ebay a few days ago and it arrived today. A Trail Gator is a metal bar which joins your bike and your kid’s bike together so you can pull them along.

Well, I have made a start on putting it together. Apparently I need a torque wrench (whatever one of those is) to tighten some of the nuts. I don’t have one and neither does Paul but he says he can tighten them up enough, being a big strong bloke, so he is coming round tomorrow to have a go. I’ve got to the point where I need to take the front wheel off DD’s bike. I have never taken a wheel off a bike before so I chickened out at that point. Also the nuts on her bike are a bit rusty so I’m not entirely sure the wheel is even going to come off! She’s very excited though so I need to find some way of making it work.

I’ve been out today to try and find something to go under my new strapless dress which I bought on Friday . I need an item of underwear that will hold in my jelly belly and support my boobs and be strapless, all at the same time. I did find something at M&S but it was exceedingly ugly and I wasn’t happy with the boob support - I felt rather dangerous with these great wobbly missiles lurching around under my chin. I also found a long-line basque at Sox Box which does look VERY sexy and pulls the tummy in but I can’t fasten it myself. I tried turning it round and fastening it up the front, with a view to tugging it round to the back - but when I’d fastened all the hooks and eyes, I couldn’t get the thing to shift. So I tried to fasten it up right way round but I couldn’t see what I was doing and only managed to fasten about three. What I’d need is for someone to fasten it for me, like in those old films where the sisters are tugging on each others’ corsets. I could ask Paul to come round early and get me into it, but he’d be more interested in getting me OUT of it and I’d never meet Sue on time.

It’s a hard life!

I have revised Chapter 25!!

Grrr - I just typed a big long post and lost the lot!!!

*cries*

I don’t want to type it all again. I have revised chapter 24 today.

Well, I didn’t even get shortlisted for that job! I wasn’t actually as disappointed as I expected to be. Maybe the Catholic Church isn’t ready to embrace unwed mothers yet. Or maybe my application was just crap - I don’t know!

We broke up today - 8 weeks off - yay!!!!!!! DD is most disgruntled as she has to carry on going to school for another week and a half! “It’s not fair” apparently! I have spent several hours this evening going through the senior school hymn book and making a nice list saying whether we know the hymn well, know it slightly, need to learn it, or not going to bother. Have printed it out in both alpha and numer order. Been promised time for hymn practice next year so maybe we’ll get more than three kids and the HT singing in assemblies.

The kids were delighted with their prizes and quite a few came up to thank me - which was nice of them! Even though it was their parents’ donations that actually paid for them! It’s such a shame - if they paid proper teachers salary and it was a full-time job, I could stay there for a long time! I really like it.

I went up to survey my potential domain for next year - the room is quite big but they’ve put loads of tables in there and it loooks cramped now - it’s lucky I’ve lost weight. And they’ve stupidly put a pupils’ desk right in front of the white board - I’d need to lean over the kids to write on the board! Still, there is a little room for rearrangement. Still need to get a piano in there if I’m going to be teaching music in it though. And at least there IS a white board in there!

We had a buffet in the staff room at lunch time today - I pigged a bit and felt REALLY bloated afterwards. But it’s gone down now. I may have to write this week off weight-wise and be thankful if I stay the same!!