Thanks for that message - shouldn't tar all men with the same brush, I know. Got the decree nisi thing today so feeling very happy and even let the kids have a sip of sparking wine, closest I can get to champagne.  The name change will be a big deal and it will feel different. What will have to stop is my ex, phoning for advice re his girlfriend - does noone else think this is strange - he thinks there's nothing wrong with this, we're still friends etc but I have told him it's got to stop.  Any ideas on how to persuade children to spend time with their father that doesn't involve money - at

Came home from work today, usual pile of post on the doormat.  In the middle a letter from the solicitor.

 It says 'I enclose the original of your Decree Absolute.  This now brings your marriage to an end.  Please keep the Certificate in a safe place as it is an original document and you may need to refer to it at a future date.'

The wording struck me as funny - my marriage came to an end over a year ago! A bit of paper does not bring it to an end! I also wondered why I would need to refer to it again - ending a marriage is not something you tend to forget!!

I'm now sitting here along in the

It was a year yesterday that my ex left me to move on with his life with oter women. It has been a tough year with a definite roller coaster ride of emotions. The first 7 months were intensely difficult but it has got easier over the last 5 with many, many good days rather than bad.

Well yesterday I decided to go speed dating to celebrate my ex leaving, thought it would be a good thing to do instead of sitting at home thinking about what was going on this time last year. I was looking forward to it but was very nervous as I have never been to anything like this before but thought it can't do