Our last day in Brighton was a happy one that lasted until four o'clock when our coach departed for London. It is worth the late night travelling to squeeze another day out of a break so this was better than having to leave after breakfast and lose a day on the road. We had a stroke of luck last night as the landlord of the hotel said he didn't need our room so we were able to leave our bags there and keep hold of the keys which was cool as it would have been a pain having to drag two suitcases around all day. It wasn't all good fortune last night though as I nearly ended up in hospital.

Along the promenade is a cycle path that runs the full length and we were walking past the pier where the BBC were setting the scene for the rickshaw challenge feature for The One Show's contribution to Children in Need. I was all for taking Mandi along as she is a big fan of Pudsey Bear for some reason and Children in Need is one of her highlights of the TV year. However, I wasn't looking and a cyclist ran straight into me knocking me over and riding over me. Thankfully he went arse over head over his handlebars as punishment for riding too fast but soon made off without seeing if I was okay. Mandi wanted me to go to hospital but there was no way I was going to waste the last night of our break waiting hours to be seen. They might have kept me in and that would have really pissed on my picnic. I was bruised all over, have a nasty bump on my head and was limping for the rest of the evening but otherwise I was fine. Although I was fine, Mandi was worried about me and I fell asleep back in the hotel around six o'clock for just over an hour and apparently she watched over me to check I was still breathing and not about to go into some kind of delayed shock. My usual method of dealing with any kind of ailment is to take painkillers and go to sleep and that's what I did and I felt fine when I woke up, apart from all the aches and pains.

We haven't exactly painted the town red while we've been down here, the purpose of this break wasn't to rave all night it was to celebrate our anniversary. The days have been spent shopping and walking along the promenade after a big breakfast to set us up, afternoon tea and a meal out. Thanks to the sea air we have been going to sleep early (before midnight in my case) and waking up reasonably early too so this has been a real tonic for me as I usually push myself too hard with combining a dull day job with an exciting career as a writer and music type and there aren't really enough hours in the day. In the London hotel we had a serious conversation about how I need to be more of a partner and as a result I have agreed to compromise. Mandi hasn't ever put any restrictions on me since we met which I am happy about, although thanks to my prison like experience of marriage I toughened up to an extent and am still guilty of putting my career first. Of course I didn't realise how selfish I was being and have agreed to wind it in a bit and spend more time together as a couple. Luckily this coincides with the time when I agree to allow the first Christmas films out of the box so we can watch them on an evening. Our anniversary is always marked by watching Love Actually, we brought the laptop especially, and last night in view of not feeling up to going out because I was in pain we downloaded the adaptation of A Christmas Carol starring Ross Kemp and had a chippy tea. Our final moments in Brighton were spent sitting on the pier with a cup of tea just looking out to the sea, it was heaven.

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