We're back!

That's it! All done, our trip to the Big Smoke that is! What a great few days it has been and, I can't deny having a reason to stay an extra few days was lovely. It was practical too though as it only worked out a total of £10 more to travel home today (Saturday), including additional hotel costs than it would have cost to come home the same day as the trip to the palace!


When we arrived on Wednesday we checked in to a very swanky hotel, Jonathan tried out the posh bath whilst I raided the mini bar and complimentary snacks!

We headed out on Wednesday night to meet a friend of Jonathan's and had a lovely night, dinner, drinks and then drinks and dancing, (all be it briefly) were in order! We finally got back to our hotel room very late and turned off the light as the clock changed to 3.26am! I was awake around 4 hours later to prepare for our visit to Buckingham Palace!

The visit was lovely, it was to accompany a friend as she collected her OBE. The Queen didn't do the ceremony though, this time it was HRH Princess Anne. The whole thing was very well planned and choreographed as you'd expect, they do 27 of these investitures every year with HM Queen, HRH Prince Charles and HRH Princess Anne each doing around a third each. After the ceremony we met with some more people and went for lunch.

After a late lunch we hot footed it back to our posh hotel to collect our cases and dash across London to a not quite so posh hotel. We dumped our cases, changed quickly, (within literally 5 minutes), and then dashed off to meet another friend.

We had a lovely evening, it was nice to chat and to hear some old tales etc. we ate, we drank and then we moved on to another bar and then over to Soho for a few more drinks. It was lovely to have a night out together.

On Friday we didn't have an agenda other than having a nice time and taking in a show last night. We got up at a reasonable time and after a decent breakfast we headed out. We browsed a few shops as we made our way to Leicester Square and bought tickets for "We Will Rock You". We went for lunch nearby at Wong Kei's (Wonkys) which was really good.

From there we wandered through to Trafalgar Square then back to our hotel to change for our night out. The show was brilliant, the story was OK but overall the experience was great. If you don't know already, the musical was written by Ben Elton and features songs by Queen.  At one point the song, "Only the good die young" was sung. This was never a significant song for Steve or I at all but the lyrics resonated with me:-

Only the Good die young

They're only flying too close to the sun
And life goes on - Without you...
(see the full lyrics here)

I shed a tear but then reminded myself, life does go on and I'm fortunate to have someone at my side who is here to share that life as it goes on. He makes me very happy and I'm assured I have the same affect on him. We chatted about it and Jonathan understands and accepts that sometimes there will be little things like that to remind me of Steve. He will never be forgotten and it is nice to know that Jonathan understands.

After the show, you guessed it, we headed off to the pub. After a few drinks we headed back to the hotel and had a few glasses of wine before turning in for the night. Saturday morning we had a lie in before heading off for breakfast. We had a lazy day, wandering about, stopping for a coffee and a chat and generally just enjoying being in each others company. It's no more complicated than that. Jonathan is easy to spend time with. I enjoy his quirky ways and keep noticing endearing characteristics, all of which make me smile and make me very happy.

When we got home last night it was lovely to just relax, after a bite to eat we curled up together on the sofa together, slouching in our dressing gowns. 

We've had another lie in today and it's past midday and Jonathan has only just got dressed, he's beat me to it though as I've not had a shower yet, I've spent time here sat here posting this blog, that's my excuse anyway.  I've no idea whats on the agenda for today, if I am honest I don't really care, I am just going to enjoy another day with someone special before I  go back to work tomorrow.

I hope you are having or have had a lovely weekend and I'll write soon.

xxx M xxx

Valentines Day

It's odd.  The anniversaries seem to come around quickly now.  It's just one year ago today, 13th Feb since we went to stay with Jacqui on her narrowboat in Norfolk before going on to spend a few days with Jayne & Ray and see my Sister and Brother In Law.

We set off on a Sunday and, with the radio on we chatted, laughed, joked and sang all the way there.  On the radio that morning though, a song came on which stopped me in my tracks.  have a listen, (Listen Here) it just said everything at that time and hearing it now is still difficult for me.  I cant believe how different things are right now, and things don't seem to be getting easier.  See here what Steve said about it.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day, there's love all around, red hearts, red roses and a plethora of icky sicky sweet cards.  I was/am probably more romantic than Steve but his way of showing love was special to him.  He always made me smile.  Until he met me he was quite reserved about saying the "L" word, but with me he was different.  I miss that.  Plenty of people still tell me they love me and I know they do but it's not the same.  what I shared with Steve was different to anything I have experienced before and is probably different to anything I will experience in the future.

That brings me on to my future.  I've been thinking a lot lately and the truth is that I have not reached any conclusions.  I have looked at things in my life right now and looked at how I would like my future to look.  I don't know how it will be exactly but I know I just want an honest and quiet life and I want to share happy times with family and friends.  I've thought about friends I've lost touch with and about those who I see regularly, those that are close and those that are far away and I realise some seem to harbour their own agendas.  Some friends make me feel happy just by being there and others leave me wondering what their agenda is, whether there is a sub text or whether I am just a "friend" to make them feel good about themselves. 

This reminded me of one of Steve's pet hates, he was very good at seeing these things and would let it pass unmentioned for a long time before he'd snap and do something about it, like the friend who liked to introduce him as "My Gay friend Steve" like he was some sort of accessory, of course we became almost like premium accessories when we became civil partners..... people eh.

Well there isn't much else for me to rant about here.  As for Valentines day I hope you are lucky enough to spend it with someone you care about and who cares about you and if like me, your Valentine is somewhere else then cherish your yesterday, dream your tomorrow but live your today.

xxx Mark xxx