THIS is my last column for the Salisbury Journal.

I have had a wonderful time sharing my ramblings and ruminations each week. I would like to say thank you to everyone who has said they enjoyed the column.

I’ll still be writing at my blog should you ever fancy popping by.

The year is now drawing to a close and soon a new year will be upon us. I love a new year because it brings with it the hope of new beginnings.

I am planning 2014 already, and I think it’s going to a bumper year. I have decided to make the leap into the land of the limited company.

It’s a big decision but I feel that now is the time to embrace the change.

I will be releasing a second edition of my book A Modern Military Mother – Tales from the Domestic Frontline and working out how to get my pesky book into bookshops.

But the most exciting part of 2014 is that I am planning to adapt my book for the stage. I am already talking with a theatre company about an inaugural performance in the autumn.

I am not going to stop talking about the plight of the military spouse. The spouse still soldiers on as they try to balance the needs of their families, the needs of their partners and the needs of the service, and also, somehow, to fulfil some needs of their own.

Even as an estranged military spouse, the demands of the service often scupper my own wants and dreams.

Next year is extremely busy for the ex. He has already calculated that he will be away an estimated 190 days out of office and 130 nights out of bed. He’s not alone. He is just one of many.

The expectation is that because the soldier is serving the country, the families and partners should silently sacrifice themselves as well.

But how can we look after others if we don’t look after ourselves?

My family is lucky this Christmas because we are together. Every year Christmas is part of the military roulette. So spare a thought for the military families who are detached and raise a glass to them.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Onwards and upwards.