Lisa Heidke by Lucy (mobi) (rosie project .TXT) 📕

have a puppy?’ Sam asks as the three of us and Gloria sit at our new dining table, eating roast lamb and baked vegetables cooked by all of us in our new kitchen.

‘Um, let’s think about it,’ I say as I picture my beautiful renovation scratched to pieces by a marauding dog. ‘How about a goldfish?’

‘We want a puppy, we want a puppy,’ Sam and Bella chant.

‘We want a -’ starts Gloria.

I quieten her with a quick jab to the ribs with my fork.

Despite the cries for a puppy, I can’t help but think I’m one of the luckiest women in the world. I have all the love I could ever wish for and it’s been right here with me all the time.

‘As God is my witness, I will never be part of a home renovation again,’ I happily declare.

‘Of course you will,’ Gloria says, rubbing her side. ‘Didn’t I tell you? I just got word that the network has commissioned twelve new episodes of Celebrity Renovation Rescue and they want you to host. Rock’s taking a break from television. I told them you’d be delighted.’

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all at Allen & Unwin, especially Louise Thurtell and Alex Nahlous. Thanks to the fantastic staff and friends I’ve met at Varuna over the years, in particular, creative director, Peter Bishop. To Nicola O’Shea, thanks for your invaluable insight and patience, especially with the first draft. To the gorgeous women in my online and face-to-face writers’ groups - a huge thumbs-up for nagging me to ‘get on with it’. And finally, to my fabulous family and friends, thank you for your constant support, love and many great anecdotes, which I have, of course, stolen and used as my own!