Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I can't believe it! This is my 53rd 'Krazy Kevin column' with GulfWeekly. What a year it has been, and the New Year promises to be full of even more excitement and change.
You see, by the time this goes to print I will only have one more breakfast show on the radio left to do!
Yes, I am a bit teary about it, and can't really comment on the changes except to say "don't forget to tune into my new time between 12 and 3pm" ... which I am calling 'Midday Madness'.
It's going to be great fun and I'm really looking forward to my new show and also some long sleep-ins come February ... though my wife Wendy has mentioned something about me doing the school run. Won't that be weird? I'm so used to chatting to other people as they drive their kids to school, and soon it will be my turn to get behind the wheel too.
So, what's been happening this past week? Well, it was wedding bells for a great couple that I know; Ed and Louise Daly.
Louise planned their big day meticulously. The only thing she couldn't control was the weather which rained all week.
During the breakfast show on the day I asked all the listeners to please wish for a lovely day, and lo and behold it was lovely and sunny and pretty much perfect.
The venue was spectacular; La Fontaine is a place that is beautiful to behold and it never ceased to amaze me how few people know of its whereabouts.
Wendy and I were invited to the wedding in the afternoon but our little Hannah comes first in our household so we couldn't go because she has a pony lesson booked every Thursday (and her instructor Miss Cherry would be so upset if she missed it).
Anyway, that evening I got myself ready to DJ at the reception. As I left my house I thought "brrr, it's getting a little cold"... so I took a couple of hats with me which was lucky as when I got there I was on a high stage area, open to the elements and very breezy.
We started off with their first dance (which was not the traditional bridal waltz). Ed (aka Twinkle Toes) and Louise (aka Ginger Rodgers) had been in training with their dance teacher Glenn for a few weeks.
Glenn decided that the best dance for them was a Rhumba (which I thought was a sweet not a dance!) Anyway off they went, but unbeknownst to Ed we had four people positioned on chairs at the side to give them marks out of ten just like in 'Strictly Come Dancing'. For me the best bit was pretending to be show host Bruce Forsyth (who is something of an icon in the UK).
All the judges gave good comments and 10 marks and one judge (Glenn; with a vested interest) gave them an 11! Creep! Ha!
After the dance, on came Steve singing some songs, and then 'Desert Dance' performed.
They had come all the way from Saudi Arabia. Seven girls and one guy danced to some Irish tunes, then, after they finished they pulled up people from the audience to carry on Irish Jigging. Great fun was certainly had by all. Then, I started playing music and got everybody up dancing. As the night progressed the wind blew even colder and I felt decidedly frozen, but after a few cups of coffee I felt a little better for a while. Though, when I got home in the wee hours I sat next to the radiator for 15 minutes before going to bed (wearing a tracksuit).
The next day we had an invite from Alan Smith to go down to Sakhir to watch the horse races and the running of the Crown Prince Cup.
I enjoyed a bit of a lie in, after which we popped over to a new establishment in Bahrain called "The Dome".
It's new here but to my wife Wendy it was like going 'home' because there are lots of Domes in Perth, Australia.
We reintroduced Hannah to Caramelo Koalas (an Aussie chocolate 'delicacy' which she has missed but certainly not forgotten). Then we enjoyed a lovely meal with great service in a nice casual atmosphere before heading off to the races.
We met up with Alan and his lovely wife Jan at the stables and later trooped to the grandstand to watch the racing. "Oh no", I thought, "I'm a 'bit' underdressed".
A lot of people were in suits and finery. Alan said it didn't matter "but next time don't wear green" because it's an unlucky colour in the racing world.
It didn't much matter what I was wearing though, because Alan's horses 'Golias' and 'Burning Ambition' won the two big races.
In fact, he very nearly had a 'hat-trick', but one horse was pipped at the post.
Afterwards we went back to the stables for a coffee and a chat. Alan gave Hannah some Polo mints to share with the horses so, off we went to reward the horses with their favourite treat (They all have very fresh breath now). Although she didn't use them all, no, she saved some; she says she is keeping them for when we get our own horse and pony. Yikes!
We had a great time and I've learned so much more about all things equestrian this past year. But the most memorable part of this day was when Hannah was introduced to royalty and though she was for the most part very sweet, she point blank refused to shake hands.
That's one of the things that I love most about Bahrain. Everyday the most extraordinary things can and do happen, and boy do I look forward to telling that story at Hannah's 18th birthday.
Keep happy
Krazy Kevin
