Friday 4 November 2011

My Week

Greetings my soggy followers - will this rain never end? (If it is not raining where you are at this moment then just pretend you're slightly damp please; which is easy if you wet the bed).

I want to share with you the story of my week, I do this not to gloat or glorify the wondrous nature of the life I share with Mrs B but simply to remind you all that although it may be raining today, it makes the next glimpse of sunshine even more heart warming...I am your glimpse of sunshine.

Last Thursday, Mrs B and I headed down to Chichester to see Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton in Sweeney Todd. It was the first time Mrs B and I had been to see a Sondheim musical together - we loved it. The whole thing was just brilliant, from the huge thrust stage, the set, the music the...whole thing.

On the return leg of the journey we stopped in Oxford, staying in a converted prison and again this was a lovely experience.

There was the return to work after a nice relaxing weekend, and even though I have been suffering very badly with man flu, I soldiered on - even submitting my tax return. Even though I was full of cold and frustrated by the self assessment system, I was still not downhearted.

On Tuesday night I went to the Royal Concert Hall to see the legendary Jack Jones in concert - a great show from a great talent - more than fifty years in the business and still a voice that makes a room go quiet when he sings...I mean total silence, not a cough or a sniffle as his voice wafted over us. Amazing.

The week was progressing so well and I knew that Mrs B was getting a little excited because yesterday (Thursday 3rd Nov 2011) was John Barrowman Day.

I have said it before and proudly repeat - JB is GOD.

Anyone who has not been to see his live shows has missed a treat - three hours of fun and music, and although it's camper than a row of tents covered with pink feather boas and fairy dust, it's magnificent.

As the great man said we should all of us try and forget the state of the world and just enjoy - in his words we should all try and fart sparkles.

It was a fantastic night in the theatre, added to which he replied to one of my tweets after the show - I was so excited that not only did I fart sparkles, a little bit of gold wee came out.

In one week, Mrs B and I have done more than we once did in a year and we know how lucky we are to able to enjoy life as we do - I mean everyday I go to work I am reminded how lucky I am.

Almost thirty years ago, Mrs B and I were newly wed, struggling to make ends meet and we would sit in our house, no heating, no carpets, second hand furniture, eating corned beef or Findus crispy pancakes (if they were on offer) - there was no endless supply of pink fizz, no multi channel TV but we were OK.

I recall that if we wanted a night out we might go and join the queue at the ABC Cinema in Saltergate, Lincoln with just about enough money for two tickets. We joined the queue and kept out fingers crossed that the manager (Mr Richard Black - god bless you sir) would invite us to enter via a side door and not pay for our seats. If we didn't pay for the seats we could share a Kia-Ora and a small bag of sweets.

Those far of days of deprivation are now well behind us and I have no guilt in enjoying what we have earned and I hope that Mrs B and I get the chance to enjoy many more weeks like this one.

My best to you all, as I close this message to you I note that the rain has stopped falling - here's hoping you get to glimpse some sunshine today.

Thank you for reading my little blog and I love you all...

PS  Mrs B says she loves Mr B, I'm not daft - it's either Michael or John

PPS - some extra sunshine just in case...

The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun