The house is open for inspection this weekend for the first time. The For Sale sign is up outside and all our neighbors have realised that we are leaving. One car is sold, the caravan - our former holiday accommodation - has become a friend's teenage daughter's bedroom, our camping gear has found a new home, cupboards full of years of accumulated junk have been sorted through and disposed of.

But today the most important preparation has happened - I have my new sail-around-the-country-and-world yacht hairstyle!

Frivilous? Hardley! I'd call it essential! Of the utmost importance. If there is one thing I have learned in the last ten years of my life, its that its not selfish to care for myself. In fact as a mother it is so far from selfish.

My new hair style will need little attention, will cope well with winds, the colour will not fade fast in the oft-expected sun, and while the power supply will have to accept a little draining from the hair dryer, it will take little time to make the hair style work.

Ah yes, preparation comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, thats for sure!