7.30 CLOSING CEREMONY (missed it – it was packed but I was sat outside the green room instead listening to Andy talk. He said some lovely words about the wonderful atmosphere and the incredible value of the support from his fans. I felt all glowy and happy and kinda proud of him LOL Andy spotted me in the bar though and came over to say hi *grins* I've met him so many times though and he never remembers me so when he did finally i was like YAY!!! I made it!

Small hours of the morning: Andy SANG!!!!! LOTS!!! Lady M,.Celebration, Brown Eyed Girl, All Night Long, Superstition… loads of them. And he
remembered the words (mainly) and was on excellent form hitting some staggering high notes and doing some incredible vocal trickery.. He got some attendees to sing with him too and Clare and Keith joined him later on stage. The funniest moment for me was when he stopped to talk over the mike for a bit half way through a set and the stage was covered in the famous thistle hotel ducks (yellow rubber ducks that we steal when we go there LMAO – sean actually put down a deposit this year I think to cover the damage cos hundreds of them go missing from the hotel after the cons)

ANDY : 'I love the ducks! Where do they come from? Your bathrooms? You have ducks in your bathrooms? Well that's cool. Why are they here? Why am
I thinking about all you guys in your bathrooms now? What's going on? Oh I see we have to free the ducks from the bathrooms? And he made a freedom sign and punched the air and shouted 'Free the ducks!!' and the whole room did it back punching the air and chanting 'free the ducks!!' It was hysterical but I guess you had to be there LOL people were dancing on chairs and waving light sabres and really getting into it. It was the best performance of him I've seen/heard.

And that ladies and gents was it. Con over (at about 4am). Andy was there right til the end making the party happen. And it was so good 'cos he was
there for hours, just part of the atmosphere. He insisted everyone 'just get on and bounce about and whatever and ignore me, pretend I'm not here, I'm just up here singing a few tunes' and people did just that. Not in a bad way but in a really nice 'oh yeah that's andy up there singing, its cool, he's here for the duration there's no need to mob him' kind of a way. It was so relaxed. It was like he was someone's mate just popped up on stage for some karaoke, he's so easy going. It was fabulous.
I now officially have Andy withdrawal!!!! *weeps*

4.15 went back in for my AUTOGRAPHS. Andy wrote a couple of essays on mine saying he was so surprised and grateful and that he loved all the gifts and appreciated all the love we give him. Awww what a hunny! I wandered out still in a daze. And when I went to see Dayne he said he was grateful too… so I dunno maybe Andy had been in a better mood that afternoon and Dayne had had an easy time of it LMAO!!!

3.45pm Half an hour of solid Andy and I was beyond excited. Went to the pub and sat in a daze! Text Cad. Wanted to make sure she was as fangirly as I
was at that moment.

He was utterly genuine excited and happy. When he arrived he looked tired and worn out by the con and when he left with the basket and covered in
glitter he was sparkling, I think it shows on the pics that were taken; he's such a sweet modest guy and he really does appreciate the effort all the NCLS-ers put in so well done guys you rock!

Time for piccies (well Andy Evans had been snapping great piccies all the ay through but these were posed ones.) Andy wanted to pose with the boxer
shorts and I offered to hold them in place for him (LMAO) but I didn't – I was well behaved LOL Big cuddles and posing… then he grabs the basket in one arm (gosh he must be strong to do that 'cos it nearly killed me lugging it in LOL) and me in the other *so excited* and took some more. By this point I was a glazed over excited sleep deprived fangirly. He gave us some more cuddles and then started talking about the basket and how pretty it looked and how he wanted to keep it. I said that would be impossible 'cos he had to fly back and he said he really wanted to 'cos it must have taken ages to do. Eventually he said he'd try and get it back, dismantle it and reassemble at home or something. Bless. I reassured him he could just stick it in the bin (just not the contents)

He seemed to think we'd all been too generous and he felt guilty for taking all this stuff when he knew it must have cost quite a bit to put together (*refused to tell him how much but I can vouch this is TRUE lol*) I think he even offered some of it back, kinda reluctantly and then I insisted he KEEP it and I didn't want it back I've had it all in my house for ages!! And he looked happy and relieved. And then he decided he wanted to give me another huge cuddle and a KISS *died on the spot* and stood around for what seemed like ages just being thankful and grateful and really sweet about it all. Then he grabbed the basket and pottered off back to the other actors to show them all the stuff and share the chocolate. He said he'd be back in 5 with the empty liqueur bottle and a report on the taste LOL.

Next he flicked through the certificates and recipe card and promised to
distribute the honorary membership certs to sean harry and co later for me ;-) He read through the personal messages and said he'd keep them and read
them all again properly later 'cos he was too distracted by all the glitter in the basket. He was so touched people had written letters though and taken time to compose stuff. Next he opened up Sarah's artwork and I told him to watch out for 'star palooza' 'cos it was full of little stars (which he decided he wanted to keep). He opened it so gently and this is when it struck me that he IS incredibly gentle about things, he really took his time and did it carefully so it wouldn't get damaged and he asked me who had sent it. So I told him and said Sarah had done one before he'd liked. Andy then said 'well make sure you tell her that I say a big thank you because it's very good,' and Clare and Dayne wandered over and said she was very talented.

Next parcel had 'Andy's New Wardrobe' written on it (cap t-shirt and boxers). He held up the gift tag and looked it me with that quizzical thing he does before bursting out laughing. He said he loved hats, especially ones with Velcro backs (!!) and then he pulled out the boxers. OMG I'd forgotten about those and I suddenly though 'eek what if he's really offended,' but he just said 'OMG you got me underwear! I love it!' and held them up proudly for all to see. 'wait til I tell Amy about this, it's like Conwear by Lorne taken to a new level.' (Andy talked about Conwear by Lorne at the cons last year, he's always wanted to do a line of conwear LOL) then he found the 'Is my Ass showing T-shirt.'

Andy Evans and I explained about 'is My Ass showing' at Grimsby and Andy
just cracked up into pieces. He did that throwing his head back wriggly laugh in his chair. I told him the NCLS did bumper stickers and thongs with it on too and he was just hysterical over it, he couldn't believe there was a whole 'ass phenomenon' (apparently he was going on about it all day in the green room, the T and the boxers just amused him SO much). At this point I breathed a sigh of relief that he'd not freaked out over the pants LMAO

Next he went for the cocktail book which he was astounded by. He couldn't believe how much work had gone into it and he sat flicking through the
recipes… at one point he said 'there are a lot of hangover cures, you trying to tell me something?' but he thought they were great and he'd try them all out. He looked at the liqueur I got him next and told me it'd be gone in moments and then laughed when I told him I'd already drunk the first bottle I got of it for him. Dayne tried to steal it at that point and Andy told him to get out of there 'cos it was all his LOL

Onto my little gifty bag! He opened the 'gifts from scotland' bag and said 'oh wow this isn't for leon it's beautiful,' and took out the scarf and keyring reading the little inscriptions and folding things up neatly again ? (he's VERY neat with thing I was surprised 'cos I expected wrapping paper all over the place but he did everything carefully and actually asked my permission before opening each gift! It was so adorable. He'd stop and look up at me with those big eyes and be all like 'should I open it, I mean can I open it now? Is it ok?' and I'm like 'YES it's for you!!!')

Anne's M&Ms were up next so I made a point of saying they were from Anne (the lady who gave you you're star) and he was thrilled to bits! He told
everyone about the star again LOL he's still blown away by that! He was amazed by the M&Ms 'cos he didn't know it was possible to personalise them
and then Andy Evans asked if they said 'Andy' on them 'cos he couldn't nick them LOL but Andy wasn't sharing ;-)

Brief moment of panic as hadn't thought this bit through. Andy looks at me expectantly. I think Andy Evans came to my rescue and got the ball rolling but then I remembered what I was doing! Perched on the table next to the basket and talked Andy through the gifts as he was looking through them all. The basket was very shiny and spangly and he didn't know where to look first so he grabbed the gifts for Leon…

These he just LOVED. He couldn't believe we got his dog (his 'baby son') gifts. He adored the T-shirt and called Dayne over to see it, modelling it on his hand with his fingers through the little leg holes like a glove puppet LOL The Chinese crested property laws made him laugh and he said that they were all just so true about Leon, and the doggy membership card and piccies of Luna's pup just made him go 'awww.' He is a such a dog lover!!

Andy grabbed the tote bag and I explained to him he could take his gifts home it and he was impressed we'd thought of that! He laid it over his lap as he unwrapped things.