I've been invited to attend a seminar in Chester early next year in order to gain some more qualifications in counselling - specifically in the area of online assistance. Basically, having done training with CARE a few years back, I have decided that if this new venture of an online counselling facility with the birth of My Stopgap is going to be super duper successful, then I ought to have even more training in the art of counselling someone online. It will also enable me to create an instant messenger type service with which to counsel people there and then rather than wait for emails to be sent back and forth. This will allow someone to have the choice of chatting immediately or, if they prefer, to email at more convenient times for them.

The crap boiler curse, that is...at least I hope so for now.

British Gas (those lovely boys in blue) came round on Monday and fitted our brand spanking new central heating system and posh boiler which so far seems to be working ok. We have heating. We have hot water. We have radiators which don't leak and a boiler which doesn't belch out fumes and smoke. We are also five grand down and it better blinkin' well be worth the money. Still, we've got a couple of months to go before Christmas so we should have time to save up so it doesn't end up being a can of Spam and some toast for dinner...shouldn't have to experience that until I'm at least 80.

Er, yeah...I kinda have three holes in my lower abdomen where stitches ought to be but have somehow been removed whilst I was in the shower earlier. Not entirely sure if that is a good thing or not so have whacked a bandage on and kinda hoping it'll all be ok in the morning.

Yeah, in typical Angel-fashion I have once again pushed the boundaries of medical science and decided to acquire myself a rare condition. Eight weeks ago I became pregnant and whilst this was an exciting time for both myself and my husband, it was also tinged with worry as I had been bleeding for a couple of weeks and had some pain. The doctor said to rest for two weeks and come in for a viability scan (the scan that confirms there is a heartbeat) - sadly I miscarried before this could happen and when I went in, I was told the baby had been lost and to try again in two months or so. Took a little while to come to terms with the news and I was upset but determined to keep trying in the future - but the miscarriage was the tip of a very nasty iceberg which would turn out to be just as deadly as the one which introduced itself to the Titanic (yes, I tend to be rather dramatic - why not?).

So, I have my kid and then what happens? I find myself not just disliking her but genuinely, deeply hating her. To me, she was the embodiment of everything that was wrong in my life at the time and she was very much not wanted. She wasn't a difficult baby by any means - she slept 12 hours a night, ate every four to six hours during the day and only made a noise when she needed something. Some mothers may even say she would be their dream baby...but not me. I didn't even want a child in the first place, but all other options were too frightening to consider and my boyfriend at the time was adamant I was going to have her.

Ok, so this may not be what most people concern themselves with all that often, but anyone who knows me will also be aware of my long-standing battle with all things heating related.

It all started about three years ago when I was living in council housing with my young daughter and the local silverfish colony (there was also The Thing who lived under the stairs and ate entire Christmas trees, but we never found out what the hell it was and I have no intention of ever investigating it further) when the first hint of trouble came from my boiler. It started with screaming pipes at three in the morning which then slowly became loud bangs and finally shaking the entire unit in the kitchen until you turned it off for fear of it coming free from the wall and launching itself at you.