My son Ben’s engagement has been quite a turning point. He’s all grown up! When Oli graduated I realised that no longer having children in education kind of, somehow, put me in a higher age bracket. Now, just two weeks later, I have an engaged son and future daughter-in-law. I can no longer lie about my age. I will soon be that dreaded being: the mother-in-law!
(Actually, hopefully not dreaded. I have always got on really well with my mothers-in-law and boyfriends’ mums; one ex-boyfriend’s mum still sends me Christmas cards – 30 years later!)
Anyway, it was such a lovely day. Ben and Hayley looked radiantly happy, and it was so wonderful to see them surrounded by friends and family. I would like to officially welcome Hayley into our family, but they’ve been together for eight years, so she is already a firm fixture and much loved member of the ‘team.’
Big shout out to the incredible band who kept 150 people entertained throughout the afternoon and evening: Passenger Casanova. These guys are totally awesome! They were Oli’s friends from school so I’ve known (most of) them since they were 11 years old and pounding the drums on Guitar Hero in my house on Friday afternoons. Now they’re 22 and close friends of both Oli and Ben, and they play the instruments for real. And they play them amazingly well.
This band does not do cover versions – they write their own material then perform it in clubs around London. But for the engagement party they agreed to do a full set of covers – including 70s and 80s dance music and classics such as Everybody wants to rule the world. They learned the music and lyrics, rehearsed hard and were absolutely perfect. The sun shone and people danced and they helped to create a wonderful atmosphere for a such a happy occasion. Thank you Mandeep, Saif, Tom, Jack and Ryan!
150 people in my house was always likely to be somewhat stressful, yet everything went smoothly, all things considered. But to counteract any potential stress, Philip took me to a fabulous hotel the next day for a night of luxury. Cream tea, meandering through beautiful gardens, scrumptious dinner and a swim and sauna – very relaxing. Then… followed by a day of sailing at Rutland Water. I can tell you that in the past, this has not been relaxing. It’s been the opposite of relaxing.
I don’t sail. Correction, I didn’t sail. I liked sales. I still like sales; now I also like sails. Captain Philip thoughtfully booked a lesson to teach me the basics – the original idea being more about me being able to sail close to the wind as he hardened up…
The day turned out to be such fun for both of us. I can now ease the sails windward and trim the sails leeward. I can adjust the jib to come about and release the spinnaker from its waterproof sheath. I can get into the boat without getting my bum wet and, most importantly, I can set the sails to ‘picnic position’ – the reason being self-explanatory. Ben-the-fantastic-tutor from Rutland Sailing Club explained that the secure bag is a very useful vessel for storing ice and a nice bottle of prosecco… (I highly recommend Ben if you fancy learning to sail too.)
Although I own a very tight-fitting (to the point of strangulation) wetsuit, I don’t have matching shoes. A kind lady in the changing room lent me hers. I’d never met her before and may never see her again, yet she took off her waterproof boots and passed them over to me with a smile. How many people would so readily hand over their own clothing to a complete stranger? Not even sure I would. She was really lovely!
Roland Orzabal and friends put these words in Passenger Casanova’s mouths on Sunday and I agree with them. “Help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure, nothing ever lasts forever, everybody wants to rule the world.”
Rule it, sail it, do business via social media with it. The world’s a smaller place than it used to be, If you’d like help to target new clients on the other side, give me a call and we can chat about a meaningful social media strategy. Or ask me here: @WeekendWitch.
(PS – (I’m laughing as I read that back! All real sailing terms!! )
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