It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Not Dickens, I’m talking about last Tuesday. In fact, it was nowhere near the worst of times – it was lovely, it was just way too early. I woke up at 4.30 – still the middle of the night as far as I’m concerned – and was out of the house, on and off two trains and in Upper Woburn Street by 6.45, ready for my hotel buffet breakfast. It was a BNI meeting – Business Network International. You may remember me telling you I would never go to another meeting at the crack of dawn, but Iain the excellent video man invited me and it sounded too good an opportunity to miss. Plus, for some very strange reason, I thought I was going to the Park Lane 
Hilton where the breakfast would involve organic oak-roasted smoked salmon and eggs benedict… an easy mistake to make at that unearthly hour. Incidentally, Adey took me there to the famous Trader Vic’s bar for my first Mai Tai when I was just 15. Couldn’t get away with that now!! Anyway, I found the meeting, the buffet was lovely and I met some great people and excellent business contacts. Also, I managed to get through the morning with dignity – ie: stockings intact, food on plate, shoes on feet.
Then Tuesday afternoon was just the best of times. For a start, I met my newest client in a cake shop – my favourite place for a business meeting. I’m writing the content for his new website, describing and marketing each product individually, so he suggested we visit his warehouse together. “Come and take a sweetie” takes on a whole new meaning when you walk into a confectionary warehouse!! Wall upon wall filled with jars overflowing with sweet, sticky pineapple chunks, 
crumbly toffee fudge, apple bootlaces and pick and mix, pick and mix, pick and mix… I was in sweetie heaven!! We walked around as he filled my hands with a rainbow of delights and we giggled at the naughtiness of being so greedy (me, not him). I do confess that I asked him to be my boyfriend; I can’t tell you the answer, but if I suddenly vanish, you’ll find me in a house built of cola cubes.
This is my 52nd blog!! To celebrate my anniversary I’ve decided to bow to pressure and publish my collected works… I’m very excited now the ball’s in motion and Jo, a virtual assistant Twitter friend who lives on a French farm, is busy formatting it into an ebook for Amazon and Smashwords. So Gill and I had some fun deciding who will play who if it gets snapped up by Hollywood. She wants Julia Roberts to play her, which is very reasonable. Naked Scrabble Buddy will no doubt want George Clooney, but I’ll be grabbing him for my husband thank you very much. Unless Robert Redford is available as per his Out of Africa days? Deedub will play himself, of course, what with his illustrious background in Am Dram.
I’ve spent ages this week crediting all the talented songwriters whose lyrics I’ve borrowed. Some of you have told me you love guessing the song each week; well if you’re stuck on any, they’re all available now on my Pinterest Blog Music page. I started this week with a Dickens’ quote, so let’s end with one from Shakespeare: “If music be the food of love, play on.” I can still remember how that music used to make me smile, and I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance – and maybe they’d be happy for a while… Glad I’ve made you happy during this pretty amazing year. Thank you so much for reading and sharing, please don’t stop. The ebook will be available very soon… I’ll keep you updated on Twitter.
How many times have I told you not to take sweeties from strangers!!!