I just had the best weekend!
Well, it didn't start off too great - Wood St. Man and I had an argument on Friday night (when we were just married we dubbed Friday night as Fight Night! - although we are not re-inaugurating it), also Wood St. Man made dinner (bless him) but used some cous cous that had been in the fridge for a fortnight - cue heaving at 2.30am Saturday morning.
OK, so the start wasn't the best, but by Saturday morning I felt a lot better if not 100% and then went wedding dress shopping with my lovely pal. It was a very productive trip and we came away with a purchase. All I can say is that her husband to be is a very, very lucky man! I even felt a bit teary later that evening when I thought about how beautiful she looked! My next task is to help organise her hen night - oh the possibilities!
After that we went for lunch in John Lewis (fancy!), but it was remarkably cheap and I enjoy an exceedingly yummy, freshly made spinach and ricotta crepe.
After that I checked into the Crowne Plaza - well what else would you do? The parents of another lovely friend treated us to a night at the Plaza and tickets to the Ronald McDonald House Ball with them, my pal, her boyfriend and 4 other friends. Oooh it was great! Possibly in my top 10 nights out ever! We got lovely Sanctuary gift bags, champers, as much booze as our table could hold and a beautiful 4 course meal. The only blip was that the celebrity compere/MC was rather drunk, offensive and arrogant. I started thinking about verses from Proverbs about God opposing the proud and then I remembered another verse about specs and logs.
Anyway, there were 2 bands. Two! For a dance-aholic like me I almost reached transendance. Also Wood Street Man, being a massive blues fan, was not off the dance floor (a very rare occurrence) for the full set from midnight till 2am. We didn't reach our room till after 3am. I love late nights and mad parties!
It was also amazing to see how the 'other half' live. But then most of the world would see me as being well and truly part of the other half so I guess my perceptions are relative. There was a raffle, where tickets were £10 and a silent auction where corporate hospitality for 10 at Hampden and Wimbledon were on offer and a football shirt signed by Raul, Zidane and Beckham went for over 3 grand. I guess that is how you raise big money for charity in a very short space of time.
I was also brill to reconnect with one of my dearest friends. This year I made a loose resolution to see more of my non-church friends and so far I haven't been doing too well. I am now spurred on to being a lot more intentional about this. Aside from just loving spending time with people I love, we need these guys on Alpha!
In the morning we had the breakfast of champions at the buffet and skidaddled over to see my mum. She even gave us one of her chocolates. Any my lovely husband brought me a soft boiled egg and soldiers as I typed this. Ahhh.
Thank you God for your mercies, big and small.
Blessed be the name of the Lord when the sun's shining down on me when the world's all as it should be, blessed be your name.
And blessed be Your name when the road's marked with suffering, when there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name.
