Amandababble Week Twenty Eight
This time last week I was in Bermuda and today I am in Bristol and this time next week I shall be in AUSTRALIA!!!!! I literally don’t know what day of the week it is or where I am. Yesterday I fell asleep while writing on the sofa, woke up with a start and didn’t know where I was, the time or what country I was in, it was a horrible feeling.
I have loved being in London and then Wiltshire and then Bristol with the autumn colours, the frosty starts and drinking hot soup with thick socks warming my toes – bliss! And all things that I have missed in Bermuda.
It’s been so great catching up with the boys who seem to have got taller and more fab while I was away – it wasn’t long though until they had me running around making snacks and ferrying drinks up and down the stairs – I’ve LOVED IT!!! I know, I know god help the woman they end up with, I’m ruining them…
I have realized this week that my husband is right – I do have some very funny little habits. We stopped at a service station on the way back from London and I went into the women’s loo and checked every free cubicle before choosing which one to use. I was desperate and yet felt the need to walk along; looking in each one… what was I looking for? A Jacuzzi? Gold plated seat? I realized I always do this. Similarly when I go to the shopping mall I ALWAYS park in 2B so I can say, ‘2b or not 2b?’ this is how I remember where the car is and don’t call the police and say it’s been stolen which I did last year when I had inadvertently parked in 3C!!! Won’t be doing that again.
They are not the only weird things I do. EVERY time I go to the supermarket I buy a packet of butter. I hardly ever use butter but in any fridge at any one time there will be at least six packs!? Go figure. I also rearrange the fringe of a throw that’s over the arm of my sofa so that all the little tassels are straight and I can’t physically sleep if I haven’t checked in the cupboard on the stairs to confirm no one is hiding in it! I don’t like eating from anything other than a white plate and if anyone yawns I have a compulsion to jab my finger in their open mouth, whether I know them or not. I can’t eat an egg without slathering it in ketchup but the same ketchup on ANY other foodstuff makes me feel sick! So there we have it, a tiny sample of my weirdness, there are many many others. Maybe I should write a book of my foibles, but I guess we could all write our own books? Right? Please tell me it’s not just me!?
My house is full of packing cases, laundry, both clean and dirty, and a stack of ironing on the ironing board. Packing for a month or so for us all is no mean feat in between all the other things that have needed my attention on this whistle-stop trip. I can remember my school report always said I ‘worked well under pressure or when given a deadline’ which is strange cos I keep looking at all I have to do and crying – not the best example of calm under pressure! It was probably easier when all I had to worry about was what to wear to the school disco and doing my geography homework.
My new short story A Christmas Wish is out today! Yeehaa! I really like it and hope you will too. It will be a treat for anyone who loved Poppy Day or who supports the forces. Nuff said. Here is the link; http://amzn.to/1g8SsSF let me know what you think! 
Finally, my hearts and prayers this week are with the family and friends of Lee Rigby who are having to hear the horrendous details of those on trial for his barbaric murder. I hope it helps in some small way to know that we are taking every single step with you, sharing your grief and sending you love.
…and similarly to the people of Glasgow, sending love and thoughts to those affected by the terrible accident at the Clutha Bar, you are in my thoughts.
Go grab life people and make your own Christmas Wish, you never know who’s listening.
Mandy x
©Amanda Prowse – all enquiries PFD ajhughes@pfd.co.uk. +44 (0)20 7344 1084
