.Now it may not be my birthday till September but I've already decided what's top of my wish list - a silver scooter. No, not a Mod type version with an engine but one of those ones you see children racing around on.

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Now it may not be my birthday till September but I've already decided what's top of my wish list - a silver scooter. No, not a Mod type version with an engine but one of those ones you see children racing around on. Don't worry, I haven't lost the plot. I'll have you know that it seems to be the latest 'must have' item for the older generation too. Only the other week I saw someone who appeared to be the epitome of a sensible middle-aged lady, merrily wending her way down Tacket Street on one as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I must admit I did a double take as did my friend who was with me. Well it's not every day you see a sight like that on a Suffolk street and it got me thinking. I could just imagine myself scooting along, my bag of books strapped to my back, on my way to college. I know you can buy ones with little motors but I think I'd like to stick to the more basic version to start with - the only trouble is I'm not sure I can wait that long to get one.

Have you managed to get to see any of the region's shows or pantos?

My family and I thought the one at the Regent was great. We went along to a matinee performance of Peter Pan and my hubby and I found ourselves really caught up in the spirit of the whole thing. There was lots of shouting and foot stamping and everyone else made loads of noise too. When it can to the part when Peter asked if we believed in fairies my hubby was shouting 'yes,' 'yes,' 'yes,' louder than any of us.

Well, he explained afterwards, there was no way he wanted the washing and ironing fairies to expire.

I must say I was enthralled, especially when Peter Pan started to fly into the audience. Somehow the idea of never having to grow up really appeals. I was also absolutely amazed by the amount of energy exerted by Brian Blessed as Captain Hook. At sixty nine I thought he did a fantastic job of stirring up the audience. In fact I've decided he's going to be my role model. If I could have that much fun twice a day, nearly every day for a whole month, I would be truly happy.

It feels really good to be back having dancing lessons again after the festive break.

The holidays certainly upset our routine although there were plenty of events to fill the void. One at Felixstowe was really good fun, although the number of people there meant we couldn't do our usual thing on the dance floor we did get to shimmy around for several hours and to let off some of those balloons that sound like giant bees buzzing around.

It seems it doesn't matter how old you are they can still be pretty amusing especially when you've had a few drinks and they end up in someone's soup just as they're about to take a spoonful.

Anyway, as I said, I certainly missed going to lessons. There's nothing to match the thrill of stepping onto that dance floor, feeling my hubby's arms around me and not knowing exactly where I might end up. I also need the exercise. It's surprising how quickly your body gets used to inactivity. My poor muscles were protesting like mad after our first quickstep but they soon settled down after a couple of sambas and a jive.

This year I'm determined to go all out to try and keep my head over my hips. Apparently it's something I need to work on if I want to keep myself balanced, improve my posture and avoid feeling as if I'm about to fall over. Well I'm going to give it my best shot although it does lead me to wonder where exactly I hold my head most of the time.