Revisiting 2004

Nope, I don't have a time machine but I do have diaries, yep loads of them. I think maybe the earliest one is 1985, although I probably have earlier ones stashed away somewhere.
The other day I pulled out 2004 and had a read.
One of the main events was my giving up smoking. I gave a detailed day by day account of my experience. According to my diary  I hadn't I found it so hard, I seem to remember it being more difficult. I wrote down how I was feeling but I was also trying to be really positive so I didn't lose my will power. Anyway, I gave up on March 25th and haven't touched one since! I don't care if I sound smug, I am, deservedly so.
Also in 2004 I began speaking to my mum again after more than four years. I had thought it was 2005, but the first phone call was recorded in my diary and we spoke a few times again throughout the year. By 2005 we were speaking on the phone regularly and I met up with her the week before Lucy was born in August.
We went on holiday to Butlins Minehead with the big kids. They were teenagers then and we had a good time. More memorable because it was our last holiday together. Since then the big kids have only holidayed by going to stay with their dad in the South of France.

One of the running features throughout the year was my obsession with my weight. I'd been horrified to discover that I'd put on a fair bit of weight and became determined to lose it. Over the whole year I did manage to lose almost a stone but it was hard work. On a few occasions I took my measurements and recorded them. I have to say, I am much the same now as I was then. Maybe this is the size I'm meant to be?

Another running feature was my desire to have a baby. I'd had a miscarriage in 2003 at just seven weeks, but I'd been trying to get pregnant for more than two years. We had tests and tried herbal remedies, we even visited a chinese herbalist and spent a small fortune on foul smelling tea to drink every day. I can still taste that yuk even now. I'd also taken part in a fertility study being run by Oxford University, the results of which had given me a clear indication of when I ovulated during my cycle each month. I was thrilled that I'd ovulated every month during the trial. All year I harped on about how much I wanted to get pregnant but my wish didn't come true until the very end when a very pleasant Christmas holiday ended with a positive pregnancy test on 28th December.

All in all I'd say that 2004 was one of my better years!