In the beginning.

so the week began with Saint Valentine's day - which means zip to P and me. That doesn't mean we don't have our moments of romance its just that we have never bought into the 14th of February as being the day in which we feel we have to express it other than a cursory "Oh by the way Happy V Day" as I write out a cheque that requires me to note the date.

I am racking my brain for a quintessentially romantic moment between P and me.

Okay lets go back waaaaaay back... when we lived in London, it was the first time we said "I love you" to each other and I can still remember the euphoria at the time when we realised we both had the same feelings for each other. (Come to think of it we must have been particularly euphoric because I recall when we first lived in a room of a shared accommodation townhouse, P and I shared a single bed for about 3 months! - now that must have been love lust.)

I think we actually looked in love for the entire time we were there. A couple of girl friends would say to me over the course of that year "I want what you and P have together," and I particularly remember one Sunday morning, P and I sitting in a booth in the pub where P worked, and the sun shone through the windows onto us and warmed us as we read the papers together. We loved reading all the trashier publications (i.e. News of the World) as well as the more high brow tomes "The Guardian". The customer came up to us and said "Are you two in love?" I was abit taken aback by the question because I think P and I had been living together for about 10 months so I didn't think it would look THAT obvious and then I said "Well yes, we are."

So maybe I can call London our year of romance, when we listened to Don McLean, James Taylor, Cream and Elton John over and over. He would play the guitar and I would sing to all the Don McLean and James Taylor songs. P doesn't have the best singing voice, I am the lesser of two evils. When we first met and before romance changed our relationship, we were "just good friends" I always remember listening (on vinyl of course) to Rodriguez, Hunters and Collectors, Pink Floyd and the Beatles. Whenever I hear these artists in particular I can easily recall our early days.

I remember one of the things I had to get used to when sleeping next to him, was that he would often talk in his sleep. Entire conversations about work, at one stage he was in charge of a wine cellar so the talk would turn to wine. Though one night I remember him sitting bolt straight up and singing " I'm the Rhinestone Cowboy" and then lying back down as soon as he sang said it. Often I would have to wake myself up to sort of pinch myself to check that I hadn't just dreamt it and yes it really did happen.

He hardly talks in his sleep anymore, it is certainly less eventful and the sleep is more fitful. Maybe that's what sleep deprivation has done to us, who has time for restless activity at night anymore when for the past 5 years we could count the 12 hours sleeps on one hand. When I recall those days when we both worked in hospitality - we would stay up till 3am (after finishing work around midnight) and sleep till 1pm the next day and start work at 3pm. For a while our life was drinking, socialising, sleeping and eating good food occasionally. What a great time we had in London together!