Who is this?

Having a bored day, and with wireless internet access, that equates to me doing strange things - so here we go, which Super hero are you?
Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 75% Spider-Man 70% Wonder Woman 70% Superman 60% Robin 57% The Flash 55% Supergirl 50% Catwoman 50% Iron Man 50% Hulk 45% Batman 20%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...


Umm...maybe I should turn the laptop off - I have no clue who this guy is!

Belonging

I need to learn me some Greek, so I can understand the New Testament a little better. There's one word that is bugging me a bit, I don't know whether I'm looking into it too much, but there we go. Its in my mind for a reason, and now I wish I'd done Biblical languages during my degree.
It's the word 'belong' in 1 Peter. Any ideas? Like the original Greek meaning? Or the New Testament context? Umm...

On another note...there are now Christmas photos online atflickr. All good ones, with a Christmas theme. Seen as the limit for downloading is really big, I'm going to put a lot more on in future.

Not a lot else to say really, life is going along. Getting ready for parties tomorrow, trying to find out what everyone is doing while I'm at church.

Feeling Deflated

I've just found out that my ring is not worth as much as I thought it was, which shows how much I know and also is rather annoying and upsetting. Its worth more to me than what I was offered, so now I really don't want to let go of it, but probably should. I've been given some good advice about selling it and how much I should receive for it, but still its hard to hear a jeweller say that he doesn't feel theres much value in it.
But like my sister said 'they don't buy sentiment', I guess its true, so there we go, I'm going to keep it for a little while long, and hope that someone would like to buy it from me for a little bit of money.

New Toy

I was going to keep a secret, but I'm a girl and I like to share things, so I'm going to tell you that I've got a new laptop!!
Tomorrow is going to be spent transfering some of my work so that I can leave the 'zombie laptop' (Ant's nickname for the beloved machine that has been dying since May!) in Billericay and not have to worry about whether the keyboard is going to work, or how long the battery is going to last. I do have to pay careful attention to what I download and how I treat the tiny thing that is sat on my lap at the moment. Its a Philips X55. I'm so excited, I can pick it up in one hand without breaking my wrist and the blood doesn't get cut off to my feet when I'm sat down with it!
I was told that I'm a girly boy today, just because I got all girly about a new laptop and then stated that I loved technology. Its how I feel though. I can get excited about having a new toy to play with and I do love the fact that computers are getting smaller.
We also went to giant Tesco, to do a bit of shopping. Spending my Christmas money already, but for good reasons!!

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day!

We're all 'relaxing' after a busy Christmas, its all over and I'm already looking for things to spend my money on! Is that awful or what?

Christmas, as my sister says, was quite an achievement this year. With a 5 year old and a toddler who is 20 months, dinner was the craziest thing I've done in years. Children just don't sit still any more. Of course, I can't remember being five, but I'm sure in the years after that I was glued to my seat during Christmas dinner, and had to ask if I could get down. It was a good day anyway, it seems to run really smoothly (because I stay out of the kitchen!), the whole family understand what they are allowed to do, and what they aren't.

Boxing Day was the usual. My family extend Christmas for as long as possible, as far as present opening goes, we start on Christmas Eve and finish on Boxing Day. This year we were joined by my Nan - no girlfriends or boyfriends (as we had last year), just Nan, that meant that we strangely behaved ourselves over dinner!!

Christmas does have its ups and downs, we were reminded on Christmas Eve, by our vicar, that there are some people who don't have enough to eat all year round and personally I was reminded that I'm single now and I don't have a wedding to look forward to (or organise) any more. The ups come from getting a whole series of C.S.I. on DVD, getting cards from the people in Bristol and falling asleep during POTC, but still knowing exactly whats gone on when I wake up!

Brand new!

I realised I can't write spanking in a title of a blog, its probably not right!

Anyway, I'm sat in front of a totally new computer and benefiting from the wonders of crystal clear screens and broadband, I'm just waiting for wireless to hit the house so I can sit in the comfort of the living room and blog. At the moment I have a cold hand! (Yes singular, no mistake!)

We've also got a recordable box now, which makes watching TV so much more fun, we only fight over when we're going to watch the recorded stuff now!

I still have to find a new laptop, I'm thinking ultra small and light, to save space in the office and my shoulders when I'm traveling. If I could go home with a new laptop, that would be ideal, but we'll see. The keypad seems to be working fine, since I started to complain. Funny, that!

Being back at home is interesting, we've already spent a morning in Basildon, and I've managed to help mum with wrapping presents, though not much else! My room is still as cold as the outside temperature, which means I'm finding getting up a little difficult. IS there a away to wrap a room, so it keeps all the heat in?

When a day just gets better and better...

Today has been an awesome day! With all that has gone on in my life recently I needed to spend a day smiling, and today has been just that! So thank you to everyone who has blessed me, even if they don't know it.

I've received numerous presents, which I am itching to open, but won't do until Boxing Day (as per family tradition), had lunch with a friend (which included cake!!) and had a conversation with someone who is on a cruise ship off the coast of Cardiff! Very brief, but it was great to hear from him!

Off home tomorrow, as I keep saying, can't wait to be home, but I'm going to miss Bristol and work... I'm sure God will use me while I'm at home. He always does!

Birthday!

Happy (belated) birthday to my boss, who was dreading 30, but looked like he really enjoyed himself yesterday!!

I spent yesterday trying to get over my cold, by working with a lot of 5-10 year olds for the afternoon! Much fun, a little out of my comfort zone, but I managed it, and I've realised that there is still a scary side to me.
I spent a good hour on my hair yesterday, because its so long and I'm getting bored of the 'dead straight' look, its too serious! So here's what I came up with



I think I look good, but I swallowed a can of hair spray to achieve it, and didn't feel too good until I got some fresh air into my lungs!

I'm on my way home, tomorrow morning, my good friend James is picking me up and we're going back to Billericay together, which is better than being sat on a train on my own, and carrying a huge suitcase with me. I do however have to do the return journey on my own, so I'm practicing a little restraint!

Not a lot to say...

But I'm going to blog anyway.

Today I'm feeling a little run down, after all of the joys of the weekend. I was almost sent home, but refused, because I'm basically well enough to work...as long as I get to eat and drink too. And the office needed to be tidy, otherwise none of us could work.

Staff meeting this morning was interesting, lots of different things to consider for the new year, and now I realise how uncomfortable I am praying aloud when I don't have a clue what I'm saying! I have to pray aloud when I'm on my own because my focus drifts horribly, but when there are a load of people I respect in a room, my thoughts and sentences fall to pieces! Got to keep trying though!

Tomorrow my main event in the Youth Alpha leaders team meeting, which I'm slightly spooked about as I've never done Alpha in any form as a leader, so I'm going to be learning and leading at the same time! Hard to strike a balance!

One last thing, in my general 'curl up and die' mood this evening I came across some awful TV. It was about Princess Di's dresses and how apparently they're all cursed. Now I know its been 10 years since she died, but can't we just leave her alone please. Americans crying over someone they've never met is a little odd, and do we talk about Mother Teresa in the same way? I have never seen or heard it. Ok celebrate someone's life, by all means, but believing that dresses are cursed just because they belong to a woman who died in a tragic accident? Too far fetched for me.

Going home on friday, and looking forward to it.

Mettle/RE:fresh Banquet

A whole day on my feet, but I loved every moment of it!! Everyone looked amazing all dressed up. It's great to see the lads put in the effort too. There's not a lot else I can say really. It's my first one, I didn't quite know what to expect, but it was beyond what I'd imagined. I was disappointed that I couldn't eat my roast though!

A huge amount of effort went into the evening. I've never handled so much cutlery in my life! We were talking about getting my brothers in on the act for next year - they both work in the silver service industry and would be ideal for the job! It looked so good at the end and all of the party goers were really thankful for it.

I took a few photos, but none of myself, I'm waiting for the main ones to be put online so I can see what I really looked like. By the end of the night, my feet really hurt, but I wanted to keep going, after all, I have been a student, and I'm used to going until 2am at least, so finished by 12 meant that I still had two hours of energy left!

So I phoned a friend, one who I am not going to see for another 6 months. Someone who I have know for a long time. He's doing the right thing by going away, but those who know him are going to miss everything about him. He's a great person, who can alway put a smile on my face! Well Done, Rich, good luck with everything!

Blogging from a limited keyboard

Not that limited, but its amazing that the letter in the middle of q and e means that my blogging is a little stranger and there are not as many open questions. Beleive me this is harder than it seems. Typing http's is annoying, and my shift key dosen't like making capitals! Going to need a replacement soon. FED UP, GOING TO TURN THE LAPTOP OFF!

Being unique...

As Helen has mentioned - she spent the weekend (well, about 36 hours!) visiting me in Bristol and spending time in Cheltenham with old friends. It was really good to see a lecturer who is now a pastor and a family who I haven't seen in a long time.

Funny thing is the phrase that was used the most was 'nothing changes'. I guess there are certain traits that don't change - like my love of shoes and dresses as well as my obsession with pink, but everything else is constantly moving on. Religion, the people we are friends with, the seasons, thoughts and feeling, faith. All of these things are changing, developing. I'm lucky that I have a constant through all this: God and His faithfulness. I can trust totally that when everything around me is unrecogniseable, God will still provide for me. Its brilliant.

My Bible notes this morning were challenging and so was Ant's sermon yesterday. Have you ever looked at Genesis 1 as an instruction or a commandment? Each 'day' of creation starts with 'Let there be...', so in God's perfect creation, why do we have to change what is already there?

Ant spoke about stepping out in God's image of who you are, being happy with who you are and not asking 'but what about them?'. John 21, where Jesus talks to Peter about becoming the head of the church, was a passage that Ant used. Jesus says to Peter 'Follow me' after telling him not to worry about John. Are we so concerned about others that we miss the point of what Jesus says to us? Jesus calls us by name, and says 'follow me', He's got everyone else sorted, so we don't have to worry about it. Of course we should have fellowship, share and question faith, but we are all just as important to God as each other, given our own gifts. Loved. Equally. With our own paths, and God wants you to step into who He wants us to be.

And this is who I am -



Pink tree. I finally found some decorations, after being stubborn about going into the loft (via a ladder that is not attached to anything!). What do you think? A tad unconventional, but then haven't I always been?

We're all currently looking to the future, which all seems rather exciting, and scary too!

Waiting...

...for the weather to let up so I can walk home without getting too wet.
...for this evening to come so I can have my massage and manicure, then go to Rock Solid.
...for Helen to arrive tomorrow evening so she can chill.
...for my brain to slow down so I can listen to God.

I've spent the day in relative silence (as much as you can have with three people in an office) after being challenged this morning to spend time listening to God and to do it every day...which for me means getting up earlier to do Bible reading notes, not having the TV or the radio on from the moment I step in the door or wake up and (this one is the hardest of all) not thinking while it is silent around me.

All too often I think 'right I'm going to listen to God' and then I spend that time thinking of what I need to be doing or I'm praying, which is talking to God, rather than listening. It's really lazy of me to start jabbering in my head when I'm trying to listen, after all I don't do it when I'm listening to my friends - I'm totally focused on what's coming from their mouth, otherwise I wouldn't be a very good friend.

So now I am going to try my hardest not to talk whilst I'm listening. What are you going to do?

I'm going to post pictures of my Christmas tree at some point, when I've got a few moments. The weather is not going to be clear or sunny again today, and if I don't leave now, I'm never going to get home. It's winter and it's starting to show!

Time to get back to work!

Its funny how a week ago life was slow. Now Christmas is coming up rather fast. Things have picked up quite a lot. We've got various things happening all at once in the office and in church too. We're looking forward to the New Year as well as trying to focus all our energy into the next week and a half.
Trev came back from training more tired than when he went which is a little worrying.
I've spent a majority of the day (and I'm still not finished...why am I blogging?) on Alpha stuff, which is good.
I'm excited about the new term and the possibility of a youth centre, we did a walk round as a team this morning and it has loads of potential! Watch this space...

Thinking it over

There are so many things to think about at the moment. Christmas is approaching fast (and it's all I seem to write about) and therefore the New year isn't that far off. We had a 14-18's meeting this evening which covered so many things. There's an awful lot to think about when there's so much going on in the ministry you're involved in.

Being busy is obviously a blessing in disguise for some. So bear a thought for Ant and Helen who are both struggling in their own ways at the moment.

It's important that a lot of prayer goes into the next month at least (if not forever, but you know what I'm getting at!).

I'm also starting to realise just what it means to be single and what effect it is having on me at the moment.

Pray and pray hard, but be sincere. I know that God feeds the birds, so He will do more for me than I can ever imagine! Ask and it will be given, knock and the door will be open.

Getting into work...

...at 11am. Gotta love it! Although I did get soaked - it started raining as I left the house and stopped just after I got into the office!
I'm leading f.h.c.u. at lunch time and have the minimal amount of prep, which is why I'm working and blogging at the same time.
The radio seems to have taken the Christmas thing too far already. Commercial radio is using 'Santa's world tour' before playing a Christmas song - all of which I am slowly realising are at least 10 years old! No-one has done a Christmas themed song for yonks! I don't think the invention of X factor has helped! And 'Santa's world tour'? Really? Find something different..please. Or just play the songs, they don't need an introduction!
Ok, enough ranting, got to get back to work!!

Its so cold my hands are staring to hurt if I don't put them in my pockets! How brilliant is that? We're finally getting into the proper winter weather. But that does mean that I'm going to get some sort of sickness soon. Oh well. Looking forward to the next few weeks, we've got parties and gatherings that the entire village has been invited to.
Last night was excellent, in fact my day off yesterday went really well. I've almost finished my Christmas shopping and wrapped everything in one afternoon. The icing on the cake was seeing An audience with Take That last night. I was sat in front of the TV with the biggest smile on my face and in awe of what I was seeing. It was just amazing. The boys have aged really well and the music as with them. I want to see them in concert now. They have updated all of their old songs and done some really clever things with them. I wasn't sure that patience was a good song, but it grew on me.
The Mix is going on tonight and its called 'Christmas Unwrapped' which apparently is the regular talk for the Christmas Mix, it also means that today is a month from when I split up with Henry. I'm praying that I hold it together. I'm starting to miss various things about our relationship and am in danger of doing stupid things, so pray for strength.
I'm reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell at the moment. Its a great book. Read it...you'll be amazed at what you find.

RE:fresh

Can someone enlighten me as to the benefits of BetaBlogger (or the other way around?). I have no clue as to a) why it is any different from normal blogger and b) why I keep getting told that I need to change!

Thank you people who have commented. I'm on my way to figuring out the lightbulb situ, just haven't had any good light to do it in, seen as I have been out of the house for a good 11 hours today and I'm going to be out for most of tomoro! Christmas shopping again!

RE:fresh this evening was good, but it seems I need eyes in the back of my head to keep up with what is going on around the coffee shop. I also need to start learning everyone's names, cos I'm totally clueless at the moment...how long have I been doing this for?

Google-ing

I have just done the one thing Rob Bell says he never does - I googled my name - firstly Liz Fisher and then Elizabeth Fisher, and found a lot of interesting websites - none awful, but all of ladies with the same name, doing things I have always wanted to do. How scary is that? I found a family tree website, an art critics website and various University lecturers have the same name. Fortunately I haven't come across anything about me.

But hopefully if I mention my own name enough I might come across myself some day!! How vain am I?

Discipline

Tonight was the first night of Rock Solid rules and discipline. Hats off to Trev, it worked! They were ok, and I'm starting to like some of them. I get to play bad cop, which means laying down the law and making some of the calls. They hate me, but it means that Trev gets to make friends with them.

I'm currently listening to a few of the old tunes on Yahoo! Music. I've come across Christina with pink highlights and Vanessa Carlton! Top stuff!

After plunging myself into darkness earlier and after finding the fuse box I have discovered I have blown a bulb in the kitchen and I have no idea how to sort it out! Its either going to mean I have to find a boy or I cook in darkness for the next few weeks. Its a dodgy lightbulb - one of the flat ones and the actually fitting is falling out of the ceiling. Ummm...some help please?

Youth Alpha, devotionals and mince pies

I'm leading youth alpha in the new year! Argh! It's going to be great though, I know that there are teenagers who are asking all the questions Alpha hopes to shed some light on. I'm slowly learning that not all questions have to have answers (I think its becoming a theme in my life!).
The devotional went really well this morning. I was aware of God's presence and was blessed with a picture (I get them a lot!) that indicated to me that I can not do things on my own!
As for mince pies - I'm afraid Christmas has come too early for some. I'm a regular listener to GWR Bristol and the lads on the morning show have been in a pie eating contest this week! Very funny and I'm dying to know how badly they did!!

101 things

Christmas is coming thick and fast, but there are a few people who are putting it off until the end of the first week proper of Advent. Yes we are just 2 days away from the first day of Advent. Which also means I only have 50 hours (at time of writing) until I can get my hands on the fair trade chocolate that is still on the piano (it's in an Advent calendar, if you're not getting my drift.)
The weather has been funny over the last few days, we've gone from blazing sunshine to torrential rain and back again, since Sunday morning, rather strange, it's the very end of November and I'm still wondering if a coat is absolutely necessary.
This evening was spent with Mettle group C who are a wonderful bunch of hard working teenagers and have questions about faith and Christianity that would envelope the world, if they were all written down. Needless to say my head is swimming, but I want them to keep asking the questions that matter to them and not to stop. I've done that recently and it means I'm not asking God anything, which can be a dangerous place to be in. Questions are what keep things going, if someone answers with a 'no', what, naturally do we do? We find a way for there to be a 'yes', either by nagging (kids at Christmas) or asking different questions.
I feel that there is a lot the group can achieve but finding space for them to meet and discuss all of these questions is going to be a challenge.
Tomorrow I'm leading our team time, which I'm ever so slightly nervous about, because I haven't lead anything for ages, especially devotional times. Not for years. So I'm praying, hard, that God would talk through me and that tomorrow morning flies by!
On other things that I am nervous about, I have booked a therapeutic massage for next week, which I've never done before, and it comes with a free manicure, which I've never had before, so not only am I going to be totally relaxed in the run up to Christmas, I'm also going to have very pretty hands!! So The next ten days are going to be interesting for me.

Sherbert fountains, registers and accents

Some of the things that have cropped up during RE:fresh this evening. The wonderful young people who come along to our coffee shop have so much to talk about, from Harry Potter (new movie in July) to Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and of course Orlando Bloom, boys, girls, football, accents and sweets. A range of things, in one conversation I had this evening. Recently RE:fresh has had problems, but tonight felt more positive, a lot more relaxed and open, we're slowly getting it right. God is in everything we do and I pray constantly for openings in groups so I can talk to people I would be scared of talking to. Its a confidence booster all round really. I also get to find out who has the most power in a group, who is a leader, and which ones would cause the most trouble if they had the chance to.

We're coming up to a busy time for this group, for many they are facing mock GCSE exams and making hard decisions about where they want to do their AS levels, others are at the very beginning of a long road, that leads to GCSE's. Christmas is going to be interesting and there is not very long left before the schools close their doors for the holidays.

On accents - something of note - I've been told twice today that I don't sound like I come from Essex, I met a Chelmsford boy and I think we were both surprised when we found we were from the same area! Neither of us had a strong Essex accent - much to the amusement of the German who was standing with us, though I didn't realise he was from a totally different country until he said 'who is Lee Evans?'! The young ladies I was speaking to this evening assumed I'd lived in Bristol and gone to school in Bristol, which I don't often come across, its a little strange to get an 'oh, we didn't realise' reaction from a group of girls who I've known since september.

Any way, I must get going, downstairs that is, CSI is on.

Not a lot going on!

Well for me at least, being super organised has its downfalls too.
I spent yesterday with Mary, who was down from Norwich for a few days. We went to the Student meal, which has come on in leaps and bounds since I was last there, we've started doing a Bible study now, which fits better with where we are. We're still hearing from other people in the church along side this though. We had pie for dessert, which was the cheapest thing in the world to do - thank you Sainsburys! Mary left this morning after staying the night. It's been brilliant to see her and my other friend - James, who has a mind very similar to Rob Bell, in capacity!
I'm looking forward to Christmas now, I'm going to be at home with people who are on my wavelength and understand what is going on in my life. I just have to do all of the shopping to go with it! Woop! Is saturday a good day to start?

Enough to keep me ticking over

Which generally means I am thinking so much that I'm not sleeping. I went out yesterday evening to see two very good friend, who I haven't seen since August. We had dinner at Zerodegrees - which is a pub in Bristol that brews its own drinks! It was really good. I had some conversations that I haven't had in ages and I understand more of the world when I talk to these particular people.
My boss has made a good point about life - your desk (if you have one) often reflects your state of mind. He has some good things to say about the conference too - check out his blog here.
I'm currently listening to the new delirious album, its good, but I'm still not sure about their celebrity status in the world, some times it all seems a bit strange. There's a question for you to think about 'What are the thoughts and feelings behind 'Christian celebrities', is it wrong or right? Does the faith need it?'
I got over my thoughts about anniversaries and I'm moving on to think about those who have passed on. My Grandads ashes are being buried tomorrow. And sacrifices - an assembly in Filton!

The weekend and anniversaries

This weekend the whole of the Youth team and Mark traveled to Eastbourne to spend some time in the company of other youthworkers from up and down the country. Yes it's that time of year again, its Youthwork: The Conference. We went for the early day because we are full timers, and lucky to have the time off (umm...). We spent a whole day listening to the teachings of Rob Bell, which was amazing. He's full of information that means he can talk without notes, just a Bible in his hand. He's a revelation really. Very cool and very humble too.

He fried my brain though (in a good way), so the rest of the weekend was tough, but I still enjoyed it! Got a chance to see some youthworkers I haven't seen for ages, the cheltenham bunch in particular! Hello Luke!

I was a tad disappointed with some of the seminars as they didn't answer some of the questions they seemed to be asking. I'm a very practical person, so need to hear other people's ideas of how to solve problems, not hear about different models of church, when we're talking about unchurched and churched groups. And I know I'm not the only one.

So I came away from the weekend refreshed and wanting to ask more questions about faith and life, and Rob Bell (who doesn't google his name!). I also came away a little sad. Yesterday was going to be an anniversary for Henry and I but obviously that didn't happen. I have started to talk about everything now though, and things are becoming a little clearer!

All wrapped up!

Nice and warm in the house by myself, getting a little frustrated at having cable and nothing interesting to watch!!
I finally found a way of getting the parcel that has been sent to me. The bus services around here are pretty good, shame the internet is not that good at telling me where Patchway delivery office is!Any how, I'm on my way to getting it sorted and finding out what is in that package!
I was going to have a huge rant about the Royal Mail, but I'm too tired to tell you that the card they put through my door was entirely wrong about their online redelivery system and that their office hours are utterly stupid! If you're nowhere near the delivery office, you've got little chance of getting there between 7am and 12noon! Really? What do postmen and women do with their afternoons? I know one who completed his degree whilst doing a round, is it that difficult to keep an office open in the afternoon?
Rant over with. I'm going to make stupid noises at the Goldsmiths website - by the way I'm tired!

Feeling Low

I'm in the office on my own and ok I'm not listening to the best music (Nooma soundtrack cd) but I'm still feeling a little low. Can't put my finger on why, but its how I'm feeling. I guess life is a little strange at the moment. I've not got a lot to do and I'm having to get used to a life style change. I'm also not sleeping well because of the stress of everything that has happened, I suppose.

Pray for Helen...

To and fro

Well I'm back in Bristol after a short week at home and soon I will be off to Eastbourne for a couple of days!

I got in late after a train broke down, so I missed seeing the girls at f.h.c.u. but now I'm in the office and I have been told to take it slow! I've been sorting out my photos of my graduation and as always, you can find them by clicking on the pink box in the right hand column or going to flickr.

Not a lot is going on this week other than mentally preparing myself for the weekend and the youthwork conference. Again its another weekend that is going to be emotionally draining, and in a strange place for a few days. I know I want to go and I know I have to prepare myself for it. But being ill and emotionally drained already I do wonder!

Yes I'm all kinds of ill again. I can't escape from the cold weather so my throat and lungs are in protest at the moment. I fear I may have under done my need for sleep while I was at home, and have got a very tickly throat. I am also stressed and the muscles my shoulders are like rocks! I think I may need to be pampered!

Oh well, Christmas is truly on the way and so are all the parties we have to organised and be a part of.

MSN and Support

I logged on this evening to find I was bombarded with people talking to me on MSN, which is brilliant, but annoying at the same time. I can just leave the thing to flash at the bottom ofthe screen which means I can't do anything until I've said goobye to a majority of them. And every time it flashes up in the corner, I have to look at it! Argh!

Not a lot else has gone on today, I have literally done nothing, except cook a lasagne that over flowed! I will get it right one day.

For all of those who are worrying about me, I am told I am coping extremely well with what is going on. The only thing i'm not tolerating at the moment is people leaving doors open,so that I can't feel my fingers when I'm typing - there is no draft when the computer room door is shut!

Its the little things you do

I think the time has come for me to tell you what is going on in my life thats made me so quiet over the last few days. I'm still trying to get my head around it all so forgive me if this all seems a little random.

I'm not with Henry any more. There's a lot that surrounds this statement, a fact, a truth of life that I now have to deal with in the best way I know how. Thankfully my boss and staff team know quite a bit about coping already, so have sent me home for at least a week, so I can recover and 'get myself right'. Its a shock but actually had been coming for a long time. Distance and personalities were among a few reasons, but I don't want to go into detail.

I know that I'm being lead down a different path and there have been a few markers to suggest that the relationship we had was not meant to go into marriage and I'm sure that you can understand they are personal to me. Its fair to say that other people have spotted these too.

So I have taken myself off wedding group mailing lists and have attempted to get deposits back from various companies today. I also had lunch with my nan and spent some money on a very sparkly top for going out on friday night.

We shall see how the rest of this year goes, now that I am single and sticking (as hard as I can) to what God wants for my life. Back to work on tuesday moring - I shall find out how well I'm coping very soon.

Interesting

Its been an interesting weekend, for reasons known to me and a few close friends, and you, dear reader, at some point in the future, but not now. It's not right first thing on a Monday morning and so soon after what has happened.
I got guess the year wrong this morning, which I'm gutted about. Although having looked at all the evidence I'm sure that I'm not the only one who thought they were right!
Yesterday evening was interesting as well, with all that is going on, we were down to do detatch work at the Mix, which means standing outside, looking after those who want a fag or a breather. I'm probably not the best person to do detatch work, striking up a conversation at the best of times is hard, but especially with people I don't know. I'll get used to it I guess, it's part of my job, so I have to, but with everything else that is going on, I'm not the most focused person in the world right now.

Sundays

Are generally spent at church. Today has been no different. I led RS2 which had 11 young people, most of whom I know in some capacity. They are a good group of guys and girls, who take a while to get off the ground, but when they do, its full steam ahead. We were talking about prayer, how we do it, and how we can turn anything into prayer. We also learnt that God wants us to ask, ernestly, for what we want!
So I'm doing a lot of asking at the moment, because I don't know what I want...

Back in Bristol

And back to work, almost immediately! It was all good fun on Friday. Graduation is a joy no matter who is the graduand. I spent a good three hours in my gown and hood, of which there will be photos to follow, just a soon as I get them on to my laptop and downloaded. That's currently in the office - so I have to do it when I have some free time, because I can't get my laptop on to the network at home! Joy.
I saw the housemate I didn't want to see and we successfully avoided each other for the whole day. I got to see all of the housemates I wanted to see though, which made my day. We spent a bit of time with them, reminiscing about what its like to watch someone cut themselves off from a good group of girls. I promise that is the last time I mention the housemate who I dislike!

So graduation happened, almost without fault. I got my name in the programme, I shook hands with the Rt Rev and Rt Hon Lord Carey of Clifton and he spoke to me, asked me if I enjoyed the course - well what could I say, I was hoping to get some more out of him, but you can't really discuss deep theological matters - like women bishops, on stage, in front of a thousand people! The fault? My gown, hood and mortar board were nowhere to be seen when I arrived. We paid for it, but the website was awful - well the day had to go wrong somewhere. That was sorted in a matter of minutes though, so I wasn't too fussed by it! Everything else was fine, lunch, drinks in the su bar and getting back to Bristol in time to cook dinner and be the first to arrive at work.

We had 50 young people at RE:fresh, which is a brilliant number. Its amazing what the cold can do, but some still insisted on sitting outside! Whatever floats your boat. It's becoming a really good place to see the youth and their friends, who we're not in regular contact with. Ant managed to get the names of everyone, which was awesome! Well done!

Tomorrow finds me leading RS2 and going to The Mix. Fun.

Finally - relationships are funny things, friendship is a difficult concept when love is involved. Cryptic? I think!!

Lordi, London and lazy dayz

Oh how I love alliteration! And bad spelling!

I've spent a good few hours just relaxing after my jaunt into the city yesterday, which almost began with Henry and I missing the train. Thankfully, there was a delay of some sort which meant that we found ourselves in London at lunch time with virtually nothing to do. What the best, cheapest thing to do in London on a rainy day? Go to the Tate Modern, so that's what we did. The currently have a huge installation of slides, by Carsten Holler, called Test Site and naturally Henry wanted to go on the tallest one (5 stories of twisting metal - inside the turbine hall! Incredibly high!) but unfortunately tickets were only available for the 3rd storey slide and at 5pm, which was a little on the late side for what we had planned, so we wondered around the third floor for a bit.

Now the Tate Modern is renown for its collection, in the many times I have been there I have seen Tracy Emin's messy bed and Cornelia Parker's exploding shed but for the first time I stood close to Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman and looked carefully at her face and the composition of the picture. It's incredibly sad and obviously strange on first glance but if you look hard enough, she's wiping away her tears and chewing on the cloth she has in her hand. Don't look too hard or you'll lose the mystery! I also saw a picture by Emil Nolde, called The Sea B, which is incredible when you read what he has to say about it. He really has captured a moment, something that he wanted to do right from the start.

Then Henry got bored, so we wandered up and down Oxford Street for a bit. We ate and then went to Kentish Town, to see Lordi! We queued in the freezing cold for ages and once we got inside we found a spot and stood there for a while. Tursisas were the support act (sounds like an illness, and when said with the right accent Tereasas) and actually really good. Dressed like Norse men (of course, they are Finnish) and with an electric violin and two accordions, where could they go wrong? Well they didn't and I will put some photo's up to show you what they were like! It sounds snooty but all the different elements of the band came together do make a really good sound. If I could play my violin like that I'd earn a lot of money!

Lordi followed after a set change and a long wait. They played for a good hour, and then some. If you don't know who Lordi are, where have you been. They totally trounced Eurovision this year and have been touring since September. They are a good laugh and it being Halloween meant everyone got dressed up. The whole place was in high spirits, not angry or fighting, which some times seems to be the portrayal of this type of music. They had fireworks, fake blood and female dolls!

One thing that struck me while we were singing 'The Devil is a loser and he's my b!*ch' (which is true!) was that actually, these musicians are at the top of their game (although world domination is a theme!) and they are just shouting about their subject matter. Dressing up and using fake blood is all part of an act that is great fun to watch. I would never go the whole hog, but I appreciate those who do!

The other thing was that the crowd are so easily lead when they are in the mood. The drummer (who is amazing) lead the crowd for most of the evening - he seems like a very stroppy character! Kita seems like the smallest member of the band (I don't know if he actually is) but he makes up for it in personality! Mr Lordi is a good leader and loves his fireworks!

So I got home (billericay) at 7.30am this morning and managed to crawl into bed and get back out all before lunch, to talk to my Dad!

In Southampton

Spending a couple of days in Southampton is always a good use of time! I get to shop somewhere different, worship somewhere different, see a good friend and catching up with a youth group who are growing in so many ways. I also get to see how other parishes work and what kind of support Helen is getting.
Seeing Helen and her family is always good fun, we manage to gang up on someone and have a laugh about various things that have happened since the last time I was around! So today we're off to Southampton to window shop, and buy some birthday presents. Then tomorrow we're at church and Holy Smoke.
On monday I travel to Canterbury to see Henry and eventually Lordi!

Orange...

Well almost red with anger actually! Apparently the 291 text messages I was charged for this month was expected. By them, not me. Teach me to look at my plan properly. Also will teach them to make sure they tell people what they are getting and for how long. I wasn't told that 250 texts was an 18 month thing, I would've taken that piece of info in and I don't have my contract, so I can't check that. Surely it also makes sense for them to use the text messages that are stopping half way through the month, before they use the ones that are continuing, then I would've only been charged for 41 instead of 291! It's not justified. Angry, although sweetened by the good will gesture of 250 inclusive texts plus 1000 student text til I cancel my contract with Orange. How I do it?

I wasn't very angry with them today, just have too many other things to do, without spending 20 mins on the phone to a company that I'm not impressed with. The representative wanted to up my phone plan again and add a bundle, which would've cost me £53 a month, instead of the £30 that I'm paying at the moment! I don't think so. I can't wait to get a magic number, but that won't happen til April. I still haven't upgraded my handset either.

Final thought, what is with McFly trying to sound like the Beach Boys and generally being pants?

The Phone bill from somewhere other than Earth!

It's certainly not God sent, that's for sure! Some 22 pages of itemized billing, I have a phone bill that has come to £83! Oh my goodness, I am going to be in touch with Orange shortly (after I have checked that it is right!) and ask them what they can possibly do to drop the cost of my bill, cos I certainly can't pay this much every month. It's just too much. I don't quite know how to react, other than 'that can't possibly be right'. Some how my usage has shot up this month (I don't want to call it a blip) and I've managed to rack up 300 mins and 1291 texts! Insane! In shock still!

Right I'm off to phone my stationers for the wedding, Orange, and the person who is paying me this month so I actually get my money.

Take That, weekend away and Henry

I've justr come across Take that's new video. They are not as clean as they used to be and Gary has taken the lead. Obviously they are minus Robbie, but for him, reforming is a step backwards on the fame ladder really. The boys have done good, but they are clinging onton the fan base that they created over 10 years ago! I was looking for a bit of Girls Aloud, but that didn't happen! Amy Winehouse has just popped on to the screen, reminding me of a certain housemate who would try desperately to copy her! You get one guess!

The weekend away was testing, with just two hours sleep on Satuday morning, the day did not go well. I was just too tired to want to communicate with anyone, let alone have the mick taken because I was falling asleep. I learnt a lot, especially how to meditate, which is always a good thing, though its difficult to keep the concentration going in such a tired state!

All Staints - doing the same as Take that, and get over fighting with Girls Aloud! Yahoo music! Woop Woop!

Sunday was a better day, I spent a lot of time talking to people about life and food. We were all really tired and were beginning to feel it come Sunday lunch, and for some people it showed more than others.

I got some sleep and welcomed Ruth and Henry on Monday morning, to a house that is a tip at the moment, but I have every excuse! Ruth went back to Malvern after trying on a dress that see looked really good in! Henry and I have spent a good few days just chatting and doing 'date' like things, mainly shopping, eating and going to the cinema! I finally know my way around Bristol, where the important things are situated - like the IMAX screen and H&M!! He left this lunch time and I already miss him. Strange what distance does to a couple - for us, it's not so good, cos we're both tired. I wouldn't recommend it.

Bowling and Burger King

Tonight has been a good evening. A little crazy but good! I got to know some more of the kids and they're actually starting to respond to me, though telling some of the girls off is still a chore. Again I feel incredibly sorry for the Burger King staff, who worked their socks off trying to feed 50 of us! They did have some warning, but still I think they need to be slightly more prepared for us! When you say @there are going to be 50 hungry kids in here in less than ten mins' you expect more than just a 'yes we know'!
I'm going to watch csi now and flake out for a bit. I still need to pack for the weekend! Getting up early tomoro, cos it's not anything I can do now.

Ant, you have learnt from the best, but every human makes mistakes! I have rectified both my internet problem and my blog problem, with a little help from my Dad - technical genius! Turning things on and off is a brilliant way to solve a problem!

MSN, Internet connections and lecturers

MSN has been really awful this morning, in fact the whole internet connection thing has been quite bad, I've had to do all sorts of things to make it work. Still...the day is getting better. We don't have to go into school at all today, because Filton is on a half day, due to half term, so I'm going up to Bradley Stoke to pay in a cheque (thank you Karen) and then I'm going to pack for the weekend away.

The on going saga of the changed exam paper is yet to be resolved. I have received the paper back from my lecturer with a huge explanation as to why my mark was only a 38, but not why it has been over written, or how the exam system works. Argh, I am not dropping this!

Good news, my Nan has found my Grandad's will, so we can finally sort that out. Bad news, I have to go bowling with 50 11-14's this afternoon, just because I'm a leader. Shocking, pray for me!

New Blog!

Today has been a day of new things, new clothes, new blogs.

If I could draw your attention to a new blog, by my boss, Ant. It's going to be fun! Enjoy...full of random posts and endless ideas for youth ministry with a difference!

Assembly and blogging

We got hoodies, with www.stmikesyouth.org on them today! They are quite cool, but all of the youth team staff wearing them in school? Umm...I don't know. I think I might change before we leave. Yes we are doing an assembly again, and I don't know if I'm ready for it! Same script though, so it should be a bit better than last time. We'll see.
Helen is most likely out of surgery now, I hope. She went down for her operation at 8.45 this morning. I have been praying all morning for her and I haven't heard anything that says she's in trouble.
Good news is that the youth group might be getting a blog! It could be good, I'll let you know if it happens by posting the link!

The Jam

Not a conserve, but a youth service in north Bristol (almost out of Bristol!), that Mettle @ St Mikes were in charge of last night, and boy, they did a cracking job! I'm really proud of all of them and I hope they're proud of themselves. It's great to see a youth group doing something outside of their own parish. It doesn't happen very often and is a joy to see that they can step out and trust that it will be alright. I'm also very proud of Trev and myself, we did the response after the sermon, which was spot on, according to Ant. It's difficult to stand up in front of people and lead an activity that involves being serious! We did well any way and I can't wait to do another one, but I might be preaching!

This afternoon is going to be spent writing a piece for my 'home' church, because its important that they know what I'm up to, since I wasn't around much of the summer.

Pray for Helen today and tomorrow, she going into hospital to have an op! Slightly scared for her...

In Pain

Ice skating happen yesterday, rather successfully after I had a minor break down, because I was in stupid amounts of pain and had no way of fixing it. The pain killers I am currently taking (only once a month, you figure out why) aren't helping and I don't know why, because they worked last time, and the time before. Perhaps its just a bad month, we shall see. Unfortunately I can't constantly take them to see whats going on. So thats possibly another trip to the doctor within the week to discuss why, but not before I do a bit of digging on the drugs I'm actually taking. Actually Ice Skating is quite painful when you're doing it, but otherwise its ok. I got cramp and bruises on my shins, but enjoyed the whole evening, I also want my own skates now!

Today is my day off, so I'm going to spend some time thinking about tomorrow evenings service and shopping for straighteners. The prayer response thing we came up with isn't going to fit into the sermon so we need to think of something else! And soon!

Party tonight, so thats going to be fun, and it counts as work!!

All hallows Eve

Yes we are preparing for that time of year. Christmas prep can't start until the 31st of October is over. I've spent the afternoon trawling sites for response to this topic, that we can use at the youth service on Sunday... Have I found anything worth while on the internet? No. Actually the bible is more helpful on the matter of temptation and sin than anything I've come across in the last hour and a half!!
Anyone got any ideas (by Friday) of doing something amazing with prayer on the subject of temptation or sin? I need inspiration!!
Thank you Karen for being amazingly helpful today. I've needed something to take my mind off of things.
We did an assembly with the 13/14 year olds today, it was manic but I got a round of applause for my amazing 'impossible' cross and I got my point across as well, but I want to wait a little before I do another one!

Strange goings on

There's a lot of weird stuff going on at the moment. I've just found out that a copy of my exam paper has gone missing in the post somewhere between here and cheltenham. Thanks to my lecturer for following up when he didn't hear anything from me for a month - show you care mate!!
My Dad and Mum went to see Spamalot last night, which for Monty Python fans is its own brand of weirdness really. My mum liked it so I'm on to a winner with sending them into london to do something!! (am I right Dad?)
I figurd out the word I wanted yesterday but didn't get in time - chalice, and I'm not even sure if its right! Trev and I will be helping with communion in december, so I think I'm using the right word.
Other than that, I'm having some worrying dreams at the moment and generally not sleeping well. I have been asked to compere The Jam on Sunday, with Trev, so that should be fun, if not slightly stressful. I love standing up in front of large groups of people when its well prepared and I know the jist of what I'm saying. Reminds me of the time I lead the 11-14's work at spring harvest for one night, I didn't really have a clue, but felt incredibly blessed by the end of it!
Onwards and upwards, I have to figure out how to get the internet at home!

At last

It's taken me forever to get here so I can only be brief! I've spent the whole day in prep mode and I'm pretty much ready for the run up to Christmas now, which is amazingly efficient of me, don't you think.

I spent the weekend doing a lot of things that I've done before, namely watching football and eating with my old Uni mates and doing a youth service (with some really adventurous things) so I'm having flashbacks from years ago, regarding how we used to do things and actually how not a lot is different from Christ church youth services.
I spent Saturday lunch time in Worcester, planning wedding invitations and discussing numbers with the lady who is going to be making them. Its a little on the expensive side, but I can assure you that its well worth the money, if you get an invite you'll know!! I'm really happy with the service I'm getting, its only a two person business, but they are the most professional people I've met so far, and their business is established and well run.

Saturday afternoon was brilliant, just sat watching the football, and despite the way England played (no we don't need Beckham back in the team, that is not a solution), I had an awesome time with Lisa and Orla. We went for dinner afterwards and talked about various people, before I had to catch the Bus back to Gloucester. On my way back to Bristol I met someone who was going back to Parkway and we had a really long chat about Cheltenham and Bristol, which was cool!

Sunday was uber busy, I had some sleep in the afternoon to catch up with what I lost on the Saturday. The youth service went extremely well, and I'm really proud of the whole youth group. They did a brilliant job, got a good reaction from the congregation when they sent te creed to everyone's mobile in text form (must share that with you some time!!), and the drama was a big hit! People are still talking about it and probably will for a while! The next one is a big event for two members and Trev and I are up for serving at communion (Dad, help me with the jargon!).

It's difficult to be brief when there is so much going on! ;-) Back to a properly empty house now, for the first time, and it will last for two months.

Paper kisses

I'm going to Worcester to see a company who are (hopefully) going to do the stationary for my wedding. So I'm a little bit excited. I'm also going to see some of my uni friends. So just a little bit excited about that too!!
Today is Globe cafe! Looking forward to it, soup and food, for free, and a chance to help some international students practice their english. All in the name of God, ow amazing is that. I also have the house to myself until sunday evening. So thats going to be fun (and scary!).

Beehive

I've just done my first ever story for Beehive, which is a playgroup run by members of the church. It was the strangest thing I've ever done, because I've never told a story to the kids and parents in one go. I got scared for once! Actually seeing parents from a child's point of view is quite intimidating. I was sat on the floor with some of the older children and trying not to look at all the mums, because although my eye natually falls to the people who are paying attention, it the kids I was telling the story to.
All good fun though!!

Filling time

Just a brief post, while I wait for the next thing to happen. One-to-one meetings are important in this job, but so it speading them out, so you can do all the important things in between.
I spent time talking to my boss and the curate yesterday, so of which was really hard, but mostly useful information for the future. I have to learn to count to ten more often.
I got paid the other day, so I have a little bit of money, yeay! I have to start being economic soon, otherwise I'm going to struggle!

Southampton and other things

I am currently sitting in the office, checking my email and all of the other websites I have on my favourites list. It's a moment of calm and a chance to get back in touch with the world after what has been a long and strange day already.

I've been up since 8am, with the knowledge that I had to attend the 9am service, to show my face and be welcomed in by the half of the church that I hadn't seen yet. So that's why it's been a long day, already, and there is still a good few hours left on the clock before I can relax and sleep. The reason why it is strange is because the vicar officially leaves today, him, his wife and children are heading to new pastures this week, so while I'm being introduced (I have been here a month already) they are saying goodbye to 14 years of ministry in Stoke Gifford. Their longevity and love for this place is an inspiration to me, and although I may not get as attached to the church, I will make a good amount of friends this year, some of whom I will keep in touch with for a long time I hope.

Yesterday was a day in Southampton, with Helen, at Paulton's park. Free tickets from her sister made the day thoroughly enjoyable. We spent a few hours going round the park, and went on the Cobra quite a few times, its by far the best ride and didn't make me quite as sick as some of the others did. I think I suffer from a mild from of motion sickness - I actually need to be looking at the horizon when I'm moving, and when you're sat on a pirate ship that swings and spins, that's a little difficult! We went back to Helen's and watched Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist. It is a good book, but this interpretation of it didn't speak to me in the way the musical does! The characters are weak at times, and although you get the force of Bill sky's being a horrible piece of work, you don't really get anything from Fagin about his schemes.

I got on the train and got as far a swindon, only to be told over the intercom that something as wrong with the engine. I thought I was going to get home, but thankfully we pulled into Bristol parkway, and stepped off an oil streaked train. I don't know what happened to the people who needed to get to Cardiff, so I prayed all the way home for them!

The rest of today is going to be spent with Mettle, encouraging them to say goodbye to David and Becky. I also have to say goodbye to them even though I don't know them. That's a little unusual for me, I'm going to spend a year without a vicar but I'm going to see some of how a church goes about recruiting someone, for such a large job!

Moving house and being attacked

Before you jump on the phone or emal me, I'm ok, I'm being spiritually attacked, I think. I feel awful this morning despite a good start to the day. I don't know whats wrong with me. So pray...
I moved house yesterday, so I can settle in for a few months in the run up to Christmas, and have some space. I'm in a nice house with a double bed! It's going to be good fun!
My laptop is playing up, so pray that I can work effectively in 20 min slots, cos thats all its gving me at the moment.
I'm off to Southampton to see Helen tomorrow, so that should be fun, we're going to Paultons! Pray for her knees!
I'm going to Globe Cafe now and then on to Davids lunch, and RE:fresh this evening, busy!

Tuesday

Nothing special happened today. I've done a lot, but it was mainly reading and getting to know stoke Gifford a little better. Currently I am rendered inefficient for about an hour each day as I have a cream to put in my eye as I have a localised infection. So now I have blurry vision for 20 mins three times a day, which makes working a little frustrating, but if it means I'm getting better, then why not!? I'm also shocked at having to pay £6.65 for a prescription, it gets more expensive every time I got to the doctor, and frankly I don't have the money to pay for it, but if I'm ill then what can I do? Obviously volunteer workers aren't meant to get ill!

I've managed to cook my first ever lasagne, its for student age pastorate tomorrow, I am also in charge of dessert - so we shall see how that works out - again getting money from nowhere!

As my Dad has already mentioned, Karen was welcomed offically in to the church family (very similar to a baptism!) and I have some photos to share!!



Mum, Karen and Nan in St Hugh's after the 11am service



Karen with a young person and is now offically in charge of most (if not all) of the groups she is attending!



The Church Karen has the keys to, St Hugh's.

So there you have it, a couple of photos from my sister who is a full fledged youth worker, and likely to be for some while yet!

I'm going to try on a new tshirt for Rock Solid and going to apply some cream to my eye!

Fly past

I saw the red arrows up close today, it was really cool, they were flying in their classic v formation and I watched them land. It's the first time in a long time that I've been amazed by something. Totally besotted almost! Its a very strange feeling. I don't know why they were in Bristol, but if I see them again, I'll let you know.

I managed to spend most of my day in the office on my own today, working for a good few hours on getting things ship shape for wednesday and reviewing various aspects of my job, including how I'm going to change things and what I expect from the year. I have to find the person who has the install cd for the office printer, otherwise I'm going to have to email everything to my boss!!

Fresher's Fayre

At UWE. It was really good fun and I got to see two people that I haven't seen since the back end of August. Two very familiar faces, so a little bit of home is in Bristol and inviting me for a drink too!! I've spent the whole day talking to international students, some who I vaguely remember, others who I'd never seen before and didn't know who BISC were. I met a few english students who were willing to help out and some who didn't quite know why they were drawn to the stand.

We were positioned opposite a group called 'Gender is fake' and being the sociology student that I am I had to go and talk to them. They have a very good point of view - why should we conform to the stereotypes around us? and that gender is a changing thing, it is also a created notion and we have a different idea of what gender is today than what it was in history. Though a few of the things they did say were a little off. For instance 'its the church's fault we are a patriarchal society', well male dominated society goes back farther than Christ and they also need to look at religion with a different view point, because that is changing constantly too. Think of denominations and sects that spring up all over the place and alter the view of religion once again. Also a very good point was made when I was discussing the subject with a fellow BISCit, God made us male and female for a reason, we are equal but we are different, not as an excuse, but as a good thing - we're not meant to be androgenous (lack of gender identification). Can you imagine a world full of people who didn't know their own identity? We need the differences to keep the world going. So if you're called to lead, then lead, we need teachers and we need listeners, but we are all equal under the love of God. Am I making sense?

Something else that I spotted today was another religious matter, to do with the JW's this time. They are a lovely bunch of people, but they do have a habit of adding sentences to scripture! 1 John 2:17 reads like this "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." Not like this "The world (including its demon rulers) is passing away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." Spot the difference. It comes from (surprise, surprise) the JW's version of scripture. Umm...

I have to go to bed, I'm off to Lu'on to see my sister tomorrow morning.

Richard Hammond

My favourite Top Gear presenter has been involved in a serious car crash. Richard Hammond was driving a car similar to a Vampire - you can read more about it here. I'm glad there's been so much support for him and his family. I'm going to be praying for him and is family over the next couple of days, as he receives treatment.

PBF

Yar 7 lunch time club that was a lot of fun, 11 children turned up for the assebly that we did yesterday, so a good number. There's not a lot else going on at the moment, this evenin is a bit busy for me, as I have two place to be at. Mettle happens tonight and so does student social. So we shall see how tired I am tomorrow for a 7am start so that I can do an assembly with Trev at St Michael's Primary school!

Geeks and laptops

Karen how on earth do you know Henry and I are geeks? Unless you know an awful lot about Lost, you can't possibly understand why we've got those bars and how good the chocolate was inside them!! Having said that, I have kept the wrapper and I did post the photo on the whereisalvar.com site! And also, dearest, I only look over my glasses if I'm being cheeky, which I think I was at that point. I did have 40 teenagers in front of my and they were being just as cheeky!
I seem to have fixed my laptop issue for now. I've got it perched on my diary so that the fans can work properly and it can charge without making crazy noises!
I have been into Fliton High School today, to do a year 7 assembly. It was alright, spaghetti hair and weetabix words. We've already got more booked in and I am looking forward to it. I have the evening off so I'm looking forward to that too!

Knees and reality!

Helen, thank you for the hug, much appreciated! I'm not complaining (or starting), just merely stating a fact!
Dad, I know, I'm learning that slowly. I think I'm trying to acknowledge the fact that I am actually good at this, thus following a pattern very similar to my last year out. (Yes this is the second one, and no I don't intend on doing any more!) I don't think there is anything sinister going on, but we can discuss more when I see you next week. :D

2 days later

And I don't ache, very much. I have a slight knee problem, but its a muscle issue rather than anything else. I hope. I can imagine that every part of my should be ok after such a long walk, so I'm glad that there aren't any major problems.
Yesterday evening went very well apparently, but my own opinion is slightly different from my boss'. I have a habit of finding a few problems with everything I do, like I didn't say everything that needed to be said, and it didn't flow properly. My boss thought differently, and wondered why I'm not bouncing along really happy with everything. To be honest I am feeling lonely at the moment. I'll be alright soon, but at the moment, reality is kicking in and I'm feeling it!

Walking snowdon

It was lots of fun. Exhausting, but I got a lot out of it and a keyring! We spent 17 hours together in the end. 5 hours there - we went cross country, multi map told us too, so we didn't start walking til 12 noon. It took us two hours to go 2256ft, which is impressive when I though I wouldn't be able to make it to the first stop. The first 20 mins is the hardest part, it's incredibly steep and if you're not used to it, you feel like dying after the first ten steps. Anyway, we gt to the final push and I looked up to see this:



Not fun! So we stayed at the train station and didn't go much higher. I am really proud of myself, Trev and Ant. We were all really excited to be doing it and happy to complete it. Ant reckons his volunteers are going to do it every year with him, though I think he changed his mind when he woke up in pain this morning.

I'm off now, I have a reading to do and a youth group to run!

Walking up Snowdon

Tomorrow, which will very shortly be today, I, along with Trev and Ant will be walking mount snowdon. If you don't know where that is (as some of the young people don't) look here. As for those who do know, now you can know the welsh name too - Yr Wyddfa, which translates to 'The Tomb'. I dread to think why, but can't read welsh for the life of me to find out. I will blog on sunday to let you know if I survived!

New Phone

I'm sending it back. It's too wide to be comfotable in my hand and the texting is different. Too be honest I don't have the energy to swap all my numbers and I think I'm actually fightened of finding that it might not work and having another arguement wih Orange about getting a different phone from them. Maybe I'm just not confidant with the service provider any more. Oh well, I'll just have to hope that my Nokia sticks it out of a bit longer and that I can get a magic number so I can go up a band or something.
It's bowling tonight fr the mettle social so I'm going to have fun and get to know a few more people.

More problems with Orange

I have spent a good twenty minutes on the phone to orange sorting out a new phone from them. So now I'm hopefully getting a phone that works tomorrow. We'll see though. After being sent all over the place because I'd made my order online, I finally got trough to them that I wanted a motorola and not a sony ericsson. It seems that Sony Ericsson are changing their range and not stocking any of their old range, so I can't have the phone I want, but Orange didn't tell me that. I had to ring them up and find out that piece of information!
I phoned their 0500 number, which has changed (they didn't tell me that either) only to be told that I was in the wrong place and needed to phone 150 again. Angry letter coming your way Orange!

Orange and lecturers

I've managed to sort out my call plan. Note to all Orange customers who aren't in the last three months of their plans, change your service bundle - the easiest and cheapest way to get more minutes on a plan.
I also received an email from my lecturer about my exam paper today, saying that there shouldn't be a mistake. I rather bluntly told him that I wasn't looking for a mistake I was looking for a reason as to why my marks are so drastically different. Look at the 11 August for the full details. I'm going to be on top of him for the next couple of weeks because generally he can be useless some times.

Established

I'm now a part of the community - I've been to register at the doctors surgery! I haven't done anything else today as it is my day off. There's not a lot to report other than that really. I've been watching Sky all day and trying to figure out the best way to get a good deal on my phone. I'm going to be phoning a lot more rather than texting now so i need a better deal other wise I'm going to end up living on nothing. I know God will provide but I need to do something too.

Testimony

I shared the story of my faith with the Christian Union at Filton High School today. It was a good chance for some of the girls in the youth group to get to know me. They didn't have any questions for me but I'm sure that in time they will. Its been hard for me to get to know everyone because I haven't had to make any new friends for a while. Now I realise that its a difficult skill, one that goes away after awhile, and takes time to start up again. Still I am learning to get alongside people this year and hopefully move on to something more permanent.
I'm also learning to cope with living with a dog. It's only for a month, but at least I know I'm not allergic to them in anyway. I'm going to learn how o walk him so I can be a little more helpful.

Being introduced in church

I was actually in church this morning. I could've been in the OSR, but I was interviewed by Wiz and introduced to the half of the congregation that I hadn't met yet. Never before have I felt so many people looking at me, just after I'd sat down. I was prayed for again and left for RS2 shortly after. So all is not that bad.
Henry arrived safely in Canterbury and has found Burger King already. He's living with six other people in a student house and sound like he is looking forwad to starting every thing. I miss him loads.
Just been on the phone to my Dad too, still playing bubble shooter and talking about going racing, aren't we Dad? Don't forget to read his blog too, apparently his sermon went down well this morning.

From Great Malvern to Canterbury

Henry leaves tomorrow so he can start training to be an English teacher for primary aged children. It's always difficult to say goodbye to him, but I now that he's in the right place for it and will be challenged by the lecturers and kids. I know I'm probably never going to see him teach, but I am really proud of how well he has done this year and what he is going to be up to this year. So I spent the day with him in Malvern, helping to pack and playing games. Spoke to his mum and dad briefly as well. I'm not going to see him for a while, there are a few times I could see him, but this term is busy. Pray for us.
I was told about a website called yournotme.com. It tells you about how many people share your name. I'm not sure how it works but I guess its on electoral roll. Lots of fun and I've found a few unique names, although I'm not. There are 371 people with the name Elizabeth Fisher.
On other things, I found out that HP don't do phone support, so I wasted money trying to get information out of them about buying a new battery or battery charger. I was wanting to talk to someone online but couldn't find the site for it, so gave up by emailing the MD. I also want to email the webmaster and tell them that some of the pages don't work on Firefox.
I also discovered that the new phone I've ordered is out of stock, despite the orange website saying it was free, so I'm having to take timeout of my day to check whether its back in stock. There's not an option on the automated service that says 'If our service has disappointed you again and you would like to complain, please press...' so I just have to deal with being a grumpy old women by ranting online.
Finally, I'm being introduced to the other half of church tomorrow, so I have to be alert, to take in the faces of everyone around me. Woo hoo!

Lots to do

I've been so bust over the last week, I'm finding it hard to stay awake at the moment.
I've been helping out at BISC for a week, helping International Students settle in to life in a new country. Today was the busiest day so far, I've been helping to arrange lifts and viewings for renting this morning and didn;t get away until well after 1pm. It was brilliant though. It's great to phone people, ask if they can do something and find that they can. Also the students love the contact and enjoy chatting to us.
This afternoon I've been shopping at Cribbs Causeway, which is just like Lakeside, except bent in the middle. I didn't get any help from the lady in the Orange shop, so I removed myself from that and met Cathrine, who showed me around.
Now I'm back, sorting out various things before my first offical Re:fresh. I've got a present to wrap and a card to write for someone who's going to Canterbury on Sunday. Guess who? I'm seeing him tomorrow so I should really do it now, but I've got time later on!
Dinner's ready!

St Michael's, Stoke Gifford

All is peachy in the world of Stoke Gifford. Its a wonderful job and I'm already saying no to people. I'm working with everyone from the age of 11 and focusing on the student pastorate that already exists.
I've been into UWE and introduced to one half of St Michael's. I've also been to The Mix, which is in Woodlands, Bristol.
I don't have much else to say as I know my boss may read it now!! Hello Ant!

A whole load of packing!

I'm being concise today. With my packing for Bristol that is. I'm moving into a double room that I've slept in before so I know there is not a lot of room for all of my things, and I will be living out of a suitcase for a while. So I've brought a few boxes to make me look a bit more professional and I'm being careful about the amount of clothes and shoes I take with me. I threw away another load of stuff today, so now I have half the amount of shoes I had this morning!

One thing I can't find is my huge amount of photos that I have taken over the years. I had a massive collection at the beginning of the summer and I have lost them in the transition from cheltenham to Billericay some how. I can't remember where I packed them, so I will spend tomorrow looking for them! It's just incredibly frustrating!

Karen - the outcome of fabric shopping was that we found some really expensive stuff that would be wonderful, but can't afford it, so we're going for cheaper stuff! Jen's going to order the pattern from vogue and modify it so it looks like the Amanda Wyatt dress!

So tomorrow is my final full day in Bristol, and then I won't be coming back to live in Billericay ever again, unless something horrible happens! Your prayers are always appreciated and so are your comments. I will keep you up to date on life in Bristol!

Bubble shooter

256,440

Aren't I amazing? Brilliant, courageous? Ok maybe not, but I am pretty good!

I've spent the day in London so I deserve some time to relax! I was out with my mum and my friend Jenny who is making my wedding dress for me. We were looking for fabrics, and it was so much fun. I got dressed up by a guy in Broadwick Sliks, he decided that the best way to show me how fabric looks is to coat me in the stuff, it was great fun.

I've found that people are either really helpful or shockingly awful when it comes to sales. I've had the experience of both, but only in specialist shops, it seems.

Now I'm off to the pub to have a meal with some mates and sit and talk about moving to Bristol again!

Summer school

Memories come back to haunt - particularly this one



It's being posted around the web by many a bebo'er, much to my joy, and some times disgust!! Those were the days! I really really want to do summer school again, but unfortunately graduates can't take part in it. Still, maybe there's time for a reunion?

Back in 'ricay

Back home again, blogging in comfort and safety! I've had a rough weekend, but sharing it here would not be appropirate, because its incredibly personal, so ner nicky ner ner ner! I heard from Helen (blog link below) about her situation and now I'm totally worried about her.
I have less than a week at home and then I move to Bristol for an entire year to learn more about youth work. I also have to cope with being away from everyone again and moving to an area that is familiar yet strange to me. Learning how to deal with new people and trusting that God is doing the right thing for me at the moment. I'm going to be receiving lessons in life it seems over the next couple of months. So pray with me, that I'm happy and I manage to sort things out so that I don't have my head permenantly stuck in a cloud from now until christmas. That I have strength to cope with whatever is thrown at me and I understand that I have to be praising if things begin to go wrong.
Here I come Bristol - don't you just love an emotionally unstable woman!

A week in a field just outside of Cirencester, how much fun can a group of people have? Well I was quite a bit of fun actually. The scouts that I joined for the week are a great bunch of people. Becca and Jeremy are wonderful and well organised. We always do a lot of things and there is time of leaders to take time out from looking after teenage boys. We went swimming twice, I helped with pioneering and general leadership tasks. So now I can probably lash you a tripod if you ask! I got a little attached to one patrol because only one of them had been on summer camp before, I helped them with a lot of their cooking and making sure they were dong the right things. Henry's cryptic clue day in Cirencester went really well. He has an evil mind, but a very clever one at that. It worked, the scouts were really interested and worried about being chased by The Faceless. They were so scared that they thought Henry was going to jump out during our last night around the camp fire! It was hilarious. They even managed to scare me.

So now I'm back from scout camp and have just a week to say goodbye to everyone and work out what I want my wedding dress to be made of! Packing, drinking and shopping, its going to be an interesting week. I have to make sure I know where I'm going next saturday and speak to various people to create a few structures so I don't fall to pieces over the next year.

I told you so!

Dad, my current top score is 131810. Beat that!!!

I'm off to Malvern and scout camp today, so I won't blog for a while I can imagine, because it's difficult to blog in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere! And I am not mobile blogging because my battery can be put to better use, like phoning the NHS Direct line to find out if we should take a child to hospital.

I am currently trying to find a way to rip a CD to .mp3, because my trial ran out, so i am lost for ways to copy it to my MP3 player, which only takes .mp3 tracks! Argh! There was me thinking it was going to be easy, a five min thing max, but oh no! Which now means I won't be able to take Martyn layzell on holiday with me :( I will find a way!! I've got two hours til I have to leave!

Family competitions

How competitive are you?

As a person, I've been told I am quite competitive. The girls I was bowling with at Summer school, spotted that I look at my performance and know that I can do better or I've done well, i.e. I was the only one who is disappointed with 7 pins down after two bowls and I was level with one of the male staff members at the end of the first game and was disappointed. As a family I really shouldn't compete with my dad and brothers but I do anyway, I'm on course for a fail if I try too hard. So when we were invited to go bowling with my brother's girlfriend and her family, we jumped at the chance to show we were better. Even mum got in on the act - scoring highly in the last game to win 2-1. So we are competitive and its harmless fun (some of us get upset though).

When I introduced my family to the delights of Bubble Shooter, I didn't think much of it, until my dad started boasting about his score - so then it started, I knew I was better than him and promptly set out to prove myself. My top score for today is 63820, and I know that it's not my best score. So here starts a family competition that will go on until Dad wins! And he knows it...

on other (much more important things) I'm becoming obsessed with an ex-busted member who has progressed beyond cheesy pop. Matt Willis! Out on his own and a lot better than Fightstar and Loserville (or whatever James' band were called)!

I may have been caught up in myself...

For the last few days I have been in the little world of Liz - not quite with it, and only concerned about the amount of sleep I seem to be having recently, which equates to a lot, by my standards. Ok so I do have an excuse - new painkillers (men you would not understand) and the permanent loss of my sister to that lovely town of Luton - she moved on Friday and so I'm not going to see her other than to chat about weddings and commissioning services.
So now I'm almost back to normal and blogging to tell you about a trip to Tanzania that is happening at this very moment. A group of church members managed to fly out before the kerfuffle that happened this week at all major British airports, shutting down flights for a whole day (and service is still not at normal levels) and finding that Britain is on High alert for terrorist activity. To be honest they are probably in a good place at the moment. Not only have they managed to fly out but they have also been blogging. Nifty little link for you that will be updates for the foreseeable future is here. There is quite a bit already, but prayers and good wishes are always necessary!
For those of you who are reading because Helen isn't blogging - good news is that she's back tomorrow and all is well with the teenagers, prayer for her knees as ever and for Ali and Phil who are in charge of her. Ali is driving for her tomorrow so pray for that too. I'm sure she'll blog when she's rested.
Right on to emailing my friends in Africa!

Top marks

Today I have said good bye to my sister, so that she can start her new job as a fully paid, full time youth worker in Luton. I've also received my dissertation back for the uni, with two marks - 62 and 57, so my diss was actually quite good, by my standards. Reading the comments I can see the 'must try harder' areas, where I lost marks. I also got my exam papers back with a little bit of disappointment and a clear indication that at least one member of staff hates me (despite the fact that exam papers are anonymous). He changed my mark, so I ended up with a 47 - rather than something a lot higher for that particular module.
I've also got an application form to fill out for my job in September - thus is the way of church youth work - incredibly backwards, but knowledgable that God is in every step no matter what order it's done in! So that looks rather scary, but I'm told not to be afraid of it, just make sure it finds it's way back to Bristol before I go to Scout Camp at the end of next week.
Finally, I found myself buying the TES for the second time in two weeks, knowing full well that I would see a picture and an article about summer school on one of the pages. It was smaller than I'd hoped, but still something to be majorly proud of. If you didn't buy it, I'm afraid you won't be able to see the article - sorry. The students who were quoted did a good job of promoting the idea of summer school, and hopefully the work will be there for those who need it. I would love to be AimHigher officer, but I'm in Bristol, doing my bit for the kingdom.
This is the last thing, I promise. I need your prayer, I don't have anywhere to live as of january 2007, and it's vital that I do, if I want to carry on with working and developing my skills. I can't live with my boss and his wife so pray that we can find someone over the next few months who's willing to cope with me in panic mode when it comes to wedding prep and able to give me space when I need it! Lastly, Helen needs huge amounts of prayer as Soul Survivor is not going well for her. There have been numerous ill people already, not to mention the amount of pain that poor woman must be feeling (and I'm talking about Ali!! Joke, Helen!). Seriously, an army of prayer is needed for her to get through the next few days! Monday must seem like a life time away!

Bridesmaids

Not the people this time, but actual dresses. I'm spending most of today with Karen looking at possible dresses for all bridesmaids (not including flower girls). We've had lots of success with the dress shop in town. They actually stock every dress in every size, which is really helpful to see what a dress might look like in a bigger size! We're off to chelmsford to try on some more from other designers.
Yeay.

Then its dinner at Nan's and an evening out with the Williams'.Great. I'll blog tomorrow!

Summe school 2006

My photo's from summer school can now be found on my flickr account. YOu can find it either by typing in colourfultshirts or summerschool2006 in to the start page, which can be found here. Have a look, and tell me what a pretty bunch we are!!

Just a quickie

We're going to move some things for Soul Survivor soon, so I am just going to say that holiday club is officially over. It ended this morning with a final redition of Rainbow - which is an excellent song for the kids. Look up Hillsong if you're interested in kids ministry. Helen's done a brilliant job, despite the amount of pain she's in. Andy is also brilliant at what he does, again, even with everything that has gone on outside of holiday club. The fun day was just that, fun. Harmless and really wet. A chance to just be with the kids and parents, teaching them what the church is like outside of teaching and worship. Alpha have jumped on the holiday club wagon and done very well at getting leaflets to every parent or carer.
As I said at the beginning, we're moving things for Soul Survivour, which starts on Wednesday, and then going to a prayer and praise service to be refreshed, because I know that I've been giving out a lot over the last two week, so it would be wonderful to do some receiving.
Going home tomorrow, so I shall be seeing everyone in Billericay for a bit, before beginning to prepare for scout camp!

Day 5

Final day of holiday club. I've been given flowers and chocolates to say thank you, from two boys in my group who were absolute angels all week. The BBQ is tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that, knowing that I'll get a chance to talk to some of the parents and discuss the week in lots of detail with them. Having 18 boys and girls as been a great challenge and I know I keep going on about it.
I have learnt a lot about myself this week, I now know that teenagers are probably the best age to work with. I can get on with pretty much anyone and I dislike negative atmospheres and people who slink off unnoticed when they've got a job to do, also not everyone is cut out for young people's work. There are loads of people in Helen's church who are extremely talented when it comes to drama, getting involved and leading (Helen being one of them).
So this week has been overly positive, all of the kids wanted to stay and no-one could pick out their favourite part. Here comes a harder part, knowing that the evangelism on the parents has to begin, and the staff and congregation have to hit the ground running.

Day 3

Helen's long gone, and I'm heading for a break down. I'm looking after 14 boys and 6 girls, nearly on my own. I've shouted at them today, for running, for playing up and for being generally the messiest group in the history of holiday club!! I have discovered that my patience stops when I'm working with 8 and 9 year olds. Anyone under the age of five and over the age of 11, fine, easy(er), but those who just fall short of secondary school age are probably the hardest to get on with, because I can't remember what it's like to be that young and how mature (and immature) some of them can be. It's incredibly challenging and not particularly rewarding at the moment, but I'm sure when sunday comes round, I'll feel a lot happier about the whole thing.
So we've only got one full day left, and a weekend of activities, then I get to sleep and travel home.

Jungle Jazz - Day 1

For the next six days Helen's blog and mine are going to be pretty similar. Jungle Jazz began today (for the children) and boy was it hard work. Getting to know 22 7 and 8 year olds, and calling them all by name is difficult, when tiredness kicks in - even when they have name badges and are relatively well behaved. I've being pulling boys into line all day, and consoling girls who stick their hands in maggots! (Did you know they chrunch under foot? Yuck!)

So anyway, its been a good day, but as with summer school, there are people doing too much and not doing enough.

I ended up working my socks off at summer school, but at the same time I enjoyed the challenge and the amount of trouble shooting I had to do, because 15 year olds don't eat and not everyone is up for the academic stuff that is part of a residential. I got mentioned in two presentations and there were lots of tears - from the staff and students. I was stil crying on Saturday!

Tomorrow is another day!

Southampton

and Jungle Jazz. St Andrews is looking really good, very jungle like, and the good news is I've already been pulled up in front of the whole team to do the actions to 'Who's the king of the Jungle?'. I think Andy wanted to deter me from making any trouble later on in the week, but I love kids work so much that getting up on stage is slowly becoming second nature.
Now Blind Date last week was hard, because 15 year olds are harder to please, but a whole team of volunteers is a walk in the park.
I'm slowly realising that kids and youth work is probably more my forte, I'm actually really gifted when it comes to working with anyone younger than me. I hate to gloat, but I'm so tired I can't stop myself! I'm having a really good, but really challenging couple of weeks. I'm going to learn a lot of things in the next week, its a totally different environment and a new team, plus we have guardian angels, so I'm hoping for some encouraging words throughout the week.

Nice and awake

After sleeping for most of yesterday, I am back to my usual self, still thinking about how well summer school went and all of the problems we had during the week with kids and members of staff. I'm going to post some photos and some more thoughts as I process everything and hear some evaluations from others.
I'm off to Southampton, rather early tomoro, to see Helen and do another week where I'm going to be tres busy, but love evey minute! Again!
I'll blog in more detail when I get home in a weeks time.

I'm at work!

I'm just going to let you all know that I achieved a lower second class degree, with an average grade of 56.5, which is a desmond, or a C - depending on how old you are. It's a 2:2 for those who hate me being cryptic!
I'm at work, so I have to go, but I will blog in full at the weekend!

MP3 players

There is always one more thing with me. This week it has been my beautiful MP3 player that wouldn't work. Dad spent ages trying to discover what was wrong on Tuesday evening, he got it to work, kind of and put Queen on to it (thanks). I had a little more trouble on Wednesday. The instruction manual says it plays .wma and .mp3 files, but all of my .wma's are data protected, so it wouldn't allow the files to transfer. I spent 5 hours ripping cd's to .mp3 and deleting all of the old stuff, that didn't work any more.
Simply put, I would be so annoyed if I didn't have technical support and the moral - don't follow the instruction booklet, don't rip cd's to .wma's, always use .mp3, and don't use media player cos it will protect your files!

365 days to go!

This blog officially becomes a wedding progress blog today, so from here on you will be hearing about all the things I've been keeping to myself. Plans and worries for the big day, which is 52 weeks away, as well as teasers for what the big day is going to look like!
On other things, I go to Malvern tomoro to see Henry and then to Cheltenham to discover how well my degree has treated me and participate in summer school! I don't know how long it'll be before I blog again. Summer school and holiday club will be incredibly tiring so you may not hear much between now and August 7th!
Hi Di! Nice to hear from you briefly, let me know how things are, if you have any planning tips get in touch!
Nothing else is going on. My best friends are off to Africa shortly, so I'm hoping to go for a drink this evening...a late one though.

Burfday and partying!

Hello everyone! It's a short time until I'm officially 22. I was born on 18 July 1984 at 18:24, four minutes after my sister, who is in Cardiff, probably blogging just as I am.

My birthday has always been a busy day, as most of the events in the family seem to revolve around 18th July. My Grandma (on my Dad's side) passed away on the same day of my birth and my Nan (Mum's side) got married 31 years before I was born, so its always been a day of mixed emotions for all who are involved. This year is a little sadder because of the loss of Grandad, earlier on in the year. But life goes on, and this birthday started earlier than most! I got woken up at 6.20 this morning by my dad and Mum to open presents and cards. I couldn't go back to sleep because of the unfortunate amount of drink I'd had last night, so I played with my new MP3 player (which isn't working since I installed the CD that came with it - I am cursed) and phoned my sister. I've had loads of texts from everyone, and my CD collection has grown, and now boasts the sounds of The Zutons, The Kooks and Keane. Wonderful! I'm finally getting things I want!

I've had my hair cut, well sheared. The lady was a trainee, who is going into cutting so she can earn more money. She kept walking away to get her supervisor, who looked like she'd been sucking a lemon, rather than chewing gum. She was chatting about Chantelle (of Celeb BB fame) all the time! It looks rather attractive, if I do say so myself, lighter at the bottom, worth it, because it was free!!

Lunch was taken at Hanningfield reservoir, with nan, Mum, mike and paul (mikes friend), it's a nice little resturaunt, but service was slow, so Nan got annoyed! Since getting home I've tried to work out what is wrong with the MP3 player - with little luck. I hope Technical Support is on his way home (otherwise known as Dad). I'm going to the Boar tonight to drink fruit jucies and rehydrate myself. I think I need it after two nights of drinking.

I was going to post some photos of the party that Dad mentioned but I can't transfer files, so you'll have to look at my flickr account a bit later on! The other thing you can look at while your here is my Dissertation is on the web, ready for you to read!!

At the moment Mike has my camera, my expensive digital one! He's at his prom looking good, in a light blue waist coat and a carvat. He's going to boil though, I feel sorry for the lads, but the girls must be loving wearing a dress today! I trust him to take some good photos and not to break the thing!

Birthday drinks here I come!!