Time Out

Roarke and I had some "time out" yesterday! He took my brother to the airport whilst I luxuriated in the peace and quiet of his flat - I didn't even put any music on (though I was tempted, as he has a lot of old CDs that I used to have!) as it was sooo nice to have no background noise whatsoever!

It has been my first total alone time since Dad died, so inevitably I guess I ended up a bit sad, as my own grieving isn't really progressing - I'm always looking out for Mum or the boys and don't have the space to show my own feelings really. I sat in the quiet and allowed myself some time just to miss him.

On a brighter note, when Roarke came back, we walked into Bromley and spent some time window shopping and then had lunch at Druckers whilst watching the world go by (a favourite activity of ours!). We took the chance to "eat gluten" as we didn't have the boys around - sadly (or maybe fortunately) our cake-shop-stop days are over!

In Debenhams I managed to get two replacement lipsticks. Lipstick is the one constant piece of make cup I've always worn and even then one usually lasts me a year, so it is the one thing that I will actually spend money on. We also booked in for me to have a make over (!!!) there in October once the house as sold, as a pick-me-up/late anniversary present..

We pottered back to the flat where, to my husband's frustration (literally, *wink*!) I fell asleep! How sad is that! It was just the peace and quiet, and no one making any demands on me - I suddenly realised how very tired I was. So I grabbed 40 minutes sleep on the sofa in the spare room, whilst Roarke watched tv (poor thing - I think he had other plans...).

We then tried to decide where to go for a meal. Roarke and I don't "do" birthdays, or Christmas, and the only special times for us are Valentines and our anniversary. Our union means so much to us that we see it as something to give regular thanks for, and to celebrate. At Valentines we usually have a meal out, and again on our anniversary. Being "foodies" we like to hunt out places that provide good food. My grandfather always said that nothing was expensive, if you enjoyed it - and conversely that nothing is "cheap" if you enjoy it. In other words, you add the value. So some of the places we've been to over the past 13 years have been ordinary, others very up market. We have had some very memorable meals and always determine not to count the cost wherever we end up.

The highlight so far included our 6th wedding anniversary - on a 3 week camping holiday in France, and having run out of money, we left the boys (Josh was 4 and Samuel 20 months!) with the friends that we were holidaying with and went to Collioure. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, we could only find one restaurant with a table - the most expensive one - and had just a main course each with a bottle of wine! It was the only time I've ever had truffles - and I now know why every one raves about them.

Anyway, being in Orpington rather than France yesterday, we surfed the web and came across a website for an Italian Restaurant unknown to us, called Vero. Now, when I worked in London I lived in Italian restaurants, and over the years have bought many genuine italian cookbooks and learned a few secrets. But we usually wouldn't trust a "italian" restaurant, as they all seem to think that serving pizza and pasta makes them italian. However, we were encouraged by the menu, and managed to get the only table they had free for the evening.

Financially, it was expensive - but it was definately worth it (we save up throughout the year for our anniversary!). The food was absolutely delicious and the staff very attentive and friendly.

After the meal we came back here and had the bottle of wine that my brother had kindly left for us. A very enjoyable and truly relaxing day.

This morning we are off to church early as our cell group are on "duty" covering all the jobs today. It is also the day that our family are officially welcomed as members of the church, and afterwards our cell group are all going out for a meal together.