Mum and Dad went off to Cornwall and my husband and I got ourselves ready for the New Year's Eve 1980s party.

He was going as one of the Beastie Boys and I was going in day-glo neon with terrible blue eye make-up. My list of things to take was as follows:

1. Secret Santa

2. Slippers

3. Dessert

4. Prosecco

5. Booze

6. Flashy light

Note the second item on the list.... I tell you, when you hit 40 it's just non-stop rock and roll fun! Anyway, we had a totally awesome night – the boys dressed as an array of 80s characters (including Barry Gibb, hilarious). We had fireworks, pulled pork, Twister, LOTS of Prosecco, dancing, the mannequin challenge.

There were a couple of times during the night where I checked in with myself and wondered if I was forcing fun on myself in the circumstances, but actually, no, apart from the pain which I was still in, I was genuinely having a great time. In fact my friends made me laugh so hard that I thought my sternum may have cracked even further because of the discomfort, but I didn’t care and I was having sooooo much fun.

Midnight struck, there were lots of hugs and kisses, and I wondered what the next year would bring….

Until next week readers, xx