Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Serving
(backposting) Today was my first church engagement since ordination: a Area Team Meeting, held in Halstead. I went to a service of Holy Communion in the church first, with just me, James (the other curate, presiding) and one of the people going to the meeting. So, "when two or three are gathered in my name", indeed. A lovely, intimate service: it made me think about how I'll be taking communion services in a year's time.The meeting went on till 2115, and then I drove up to Loughborough. This is service. My mother-in-law's ADSL router had died, and she really needs to have Internet access for some work she does. Moo and I looked at possible dates to go up, but decided that just doing it might make most sense. So, I left the Halstead around 2130, and got to East Leake around 2345: a good, fast trip. Said the evening office, had a glass and a half of wine, and went to bed.
Labels: church, communion, diaconate, family, service
Friday, June 20, 2008
Home - via Somerset (and utter, utter incompetence)
(backposting) Yup, we left the cottage around 0900 (not so difficult, as we'd mostly been up since around 0530. Headed for my parent's place in Somerset, and got there whilst the morning was still fairly young. Mum was there, and we had doughnuts (and why not). My parents' new broadband was due to come live today, so I said that I'd investigate. I turned on their PC and rebooted the router. Good news: the router had an ADSL connection. Unluckily, the connection to Demon (their ISP) wasn't working. Odd.A bit of history. Why, you may, ask, did they need "new" broadband? Well, they have two lines coming into the house: a main line (very old) and a fax line (newer). They decided that they never use the fax, so they might as well cancel it and save themselves some money. You're ahead of me, aren't you? One day, they tried to access the Internet, and it didn't work. Why? Because the ADSL was on the fax line. So, they recommissioned the fax line.
To their surprise, when they did this, ADSL didn't come back on. No problem: they phoned up BT, who said that it would take 5 working days. Today was the fifth day. Can you spot the mistake earlier in this paragraph? Yes, they'd not phoned _Demon_: they'd phoned BT. Some bright spark (a sales person, of course), said that it would be back just as before, and they'd still be able to use their old email addresses. These were both lies, but, as I discovered after about an hour on the phone, they now had BT Broadband.
Not what they wanted. After a great deal of discussion, they cancelled this, and reordered Demon Broadband. They shouldn't be charged by BT, as they were missold. However, in order to speed things up (they'd been without an Internet connection for over 2 weeks), they paid the standard £175 + VAT to fast-track things so they should be up on Wednesday. Cancelling the fax line did _not_ save them money. Somewhat the opposite...
If I hadn't spent nearly 2 hours on the phone, spoken to at least 6 people over at least 10 phone calls, I'd find it more funny.
Jim, Nina, Florence and Frankie joined us in the afternoon, and all the kids got on very well. We headed home after supper and a bath for the girls and got home around 2220. Jo went straight to bed, and Miri didn't. B*gger.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Princess
(backposting) We went to Sidmouth again today. Jo had some pocket money, and Moo, Kate and Mac took her shopping (Miri was asleep in the car with me). "Please, Mummy, just this once, can I have something with a princess on it?"We're fairly firm about the pink thing and the princess thing. I'd generally say not firm enough, but on this occasion, maybe just firm enough. Luckily, Moo couldn't find anything.
But then Jo wanted a shrimping net. Specifically, a pink, princess shrimping net. I'd joined the party by this stage, for coffee and cake. It appears that nobody manufactures pink, princess shrimping nets, or if they do, then they don't sell them in Sidmouth. Even finding a pink one was causing a problem, but once we managed that, our joint brilliance (and a set of Disney Princess stickers) suddenly gave us options. We headed down to the beach.
Took a while for the sea to go out sufficiently, but once it did, we had a fantastic time in rock pools. Nobody had told me, when I was a kid, that I'd get a chance to do rock-pooling again when I was older. And, to be frank, it's even more fun when you've got kids to share your successes with, and their successes to share. We caught shrimps, (very small) sea slugs, a couple of small fish, crabs, sea snails and seaweed. It was great. It was really great, and this, for all those who were wondering, is what being a Dad is really about.
Miri just wandered around sitting down in the sea whenever she could. Chips on the beach, then off to Ottery St Mary to look around the church with everyone and "enjoy" a frankly catastrophic tea & cakes, then back for our final evening. (Foot note: Jo was more than a little disappointed to find that Disney Princess stickers come off shrimping nets when wet. Useful to know next time).
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Rain and fossils
(backposting) I'd like to say that I'm a great fossil hunter, but I've discovered that I'm really not. Charnmouth is supposed to be pretty good for this sort of thing, but I took a while to find anything, and it wasn't very impressive. I'm sure that 2 of the 4 fossils _were_ fossils, though. It rained. Moo got concerned that if I didn't find anything, I'd force everyone to stay on the beach in the rain for ever until I did.We then went to Lyme Regis. Not as posh as Budleigh Salterton, but pleasant, and we had a decent fish meal. The restaurant was astonishingly child-friendly, but the people at the next table were very, very weird. Sounded like an Internet date, with a _very_ dull bloke talking to a poor (?Eastern European) woman about how he didn't really like white wine, but they could have a glass of champagne in the hot tub in the evening if she liked. Oh, and his stomach problems. And how big spinach salads are in the US. And what happened when he visited HP. Et cetera. I wanted to sidle over to the table to her and say: "run, run for your life! We'll keep him occupied. It's not too late to save yourself..." On a side note, when I take Jo to the loo, and we visit the Gents, and I use the urinals, she's started to complain if I don't aim for (and hit) the hole. It doesn't help the concentration.
Despite the forecast (we're back on weather now), the day was pretty good. We wandered round Lyme Regis, and Jo got a braid in her hair, which she's very pleased with.
In the evening, Moo and I went out together (on our own) for dinner for the first time in over a year, we reckon. The last time was before Miri was born. It was lovely, and work was paying (some sales thing we won in Europe a few months ago). We really ought to try it again soon. Nothing romantic afterwards, however, as Miri decided to wake up and take over an hour and a quarter to get back to sleep.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Eden Project
(backposting) Although it's over an hour and a half from Venn Ottery, we all wanted to visit the Eden Project. Moo, the girls and I had visited it twice last year, but Kate and Mac had never been. Combined with the facts that their tickets were only £10.00 each (OAP), and the tickets we had bought last year were still valid, it was an easy decision. Miri did lots of walking, partly because Jo had failed to sleep in the car on the way down, despite being very tired from too little sleep the night before, so hogged the pushchair. Miri, however, was in her element. She particularly liked the tropical / rainforest biome. She held my hand and walked through almost all of it, raising lots of smiles from those around, and shrieking at all of the little streams and waterfalls.Moo drove back to the cottage and I slept, as did everyone else. This caused problems later, as Jo just refused to go to bed, and ended up staying up early (she got "early" and "late" confused today, for no obvious reason).
Monday, June 16, 2008
Budleigh Salterton
We went swimming again in the morning, and then my Mum came to visit, given how close the cottage is to my parents': only a little over an hour. We felt strongly that we needed to visit Budleigh Salterton. One of the reasons that we wanted to go was because of the fantastic Giles Wemmbley Hogg, Budleigh Salterton's most famous resident. Budleigh Salterton is quite posh. Kind of. It has a very pebbly beach, and dogs aren't allowed on it during the summer. Which is fair enough, but a bit awkward, as my mum had brought their two dogs in the car. And as she'd initially forgotten they were there when she arrived at the cottage, we did feel that they deserved to be out of the boot. So, we took turns heading down to the sea-shore with the girls, and then sitting with the dogs on a bench. Had tea at a lovely tea-room up a side-street: Jo wasn't allowed ice-cream on its own, after an incidence of disobedience earlier in the day (and two warnings), but I did allow her to have it _with_ some chocolate cake. And I got to eat quite a lot of the cake as Jo wouldn't finish it (and that was after a lovely scone with jam and clotted cream).Labels: beach, family, holiday
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Off to Devon (via Dorset)
(backposting) After a day at work, it's off on holiday! Moo got back around 1700, we fed and bathed the girls, and then drove down to Rosie and Andy, my aunt and uncle, who live in East Chaldon (or Chaldon Herring). Their daughter Merryn was there, which was an added bonus, and we got there sometime after 2200. When we set off I phoned them, to no answer, and as we were going round the M25 I tried again: no answer. So, we tracked down their local pub, and phoned them there. Yup, that did it...The girls took a long time to get to sleep, and I probably shouldn't have stayed up till 0130 drinking single malt and rum (separate glasses)...
Friday, June 06, 2008
Fog
(backposting) So, at Moo's suggestion, I took today off, as she'd swapped her usual Friday to today, and I'm off on an ERMC weekend (my last!) from tomorrow afternoon. We decided to go to Felixstowe Old Harbour, and drove there through beautiful bright sunlight.But as we approached the coast, we could see cloud. And then fog.
Do we care? No, we don't! We had a lovely time at the seaside, both girls, us and the dog.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Miri's sense of humour
(backposting) Miri thinks that lots of things are very funny. In particular, warlking over to you pretending that she's going to give you something (a toy, a book, or even a cuddle), getting close, then shaking her head madly, turning away and toddling off. This is hilarious (particularly the head-shaking), and everyone gets to play.Monday, June 02, 2008
Home alone
With the girls, obviously. Moo's off for a couple of days on a course. The girls behaved beautifully, and went to bed very well. Miri took 40 minutes, but was only messing for half of that.Saturday, May 31, 2008
Jo, ballet and me
Jo's very first ballet lesson today. Moo, Miri and I all turned up, and Jo needed some help as she was a bit shy, and so both Moo and I (at different times) joined in. Yes, me in my Doc Martens, doing ballet and basic tap moves. We hadn't known that there was going to be tap, so we went off and bought her a pair of shoes for that, as her Crocs didn't really work very well.Nice walk, then gardening. No, really. I got assaulted by a budleia branch. No, really.
Labels: family
Friday, May 23, 2008
Aunty Kitty's funeral
(backposting) We left around 0900, and got to Liverpool a couple of hours later. We met at Karen and Paul's house: I'd met him before, but not sure about her. They're lovely, the two kids we met were both great, too.When the funeral cortege arrived, Jo - to whom we'd explained about the funeral being about saying goodbye to Kitty - had lots of questions. Really good questions for a three year old, I thought. She wanted to know what was in the box (coffin): "just Kitty's body: she doesn't need it anymore". "Why doesn't she need it anymore?" "When will we see her body?" "Why's that lady walking in front of the car?" This about the funeral director, who, it being Liverpool, walked the first 100 yards and the last 100 yards of the journey in front of the hearse. I explained about tradition, and Moo and I talked about the importance of ritual. Much of the funeral ritual that's common in Liverpool is pretty alien to me, and doesn't really do much for me, but it _does_ for other people, particularly Kate in this case, and if that's what's needed to help people say goodbye, then that's fine. It was really helpful for me, actually, from a ministerial point of view, to learn this.
The funeral was quick, and Kate managed admirably with the eulogy, and we headed off to the cemetery for the burial. The free church minister who'd taken the funeral said a few words at the graveside, a few people said a few words, and Jo - who, like all of the kids, was a paragon of good behaviour throughout - blew some bubbles over the grave, which was lovely. I'd been pretty anti having her put anything in the grave: despite what I've written above about ritual, I don't like the imagery of putting things in a grave as if they're needed, or might be going somewhere.
We had a meal afterwards, and then Moo drove us to East Leaek with Kate in the back with the girls. I had a bit of a sleep, had a cup of tea, said goodbye to the girls, and drove home. Pretty tired when I arrived.
Labels: family, funeral, ministry
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Off to Kate and Mac's
(backposting) Jo's not been very well for the past few days: running a temperature, that sort of thing, and when it became time to take the girls to Kate and Mac's in two cars, and she asked to go with me, it was pretty-much a no brainer, as she'd been in - or close to - melt-down all afternoon. Just a thought - presumably the phrase "melt-down" didn't exist until the nuclear age?Anyway, we got there, and Jo in the end didn't stay up to wait for Mouse and Turtle, but voluntarily asked to go to bed. She woke up when they arrived at 2350, but ended up in bed with me, as she was running quite a temperature. Poor little thing.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Today, I shall mostly be ...
- ... sleeping in (but not as long as Jo and Moo)
- ... taking the girls swimming with Moo
- ... spending more money than I meant to in Waitrose
- ... clearing the dog poo off the lawn
- ... mowing the lawn (first time this year, if you exclude the two strims it's had)
- ... stepping in several instances of dog poo that I missed
- ... barbecuing with Si
- ... drinking beer with Si
- ... eating the barbecued food with Si, D, Morgs, Boo, Moo, Jo and Miri
- ... drinking wine with Si and Moo
- ... geeking with Si
- ... whilst drinking more wine with Si
- ... going for a walk with the girls, Moo and Buster
- ... having a bath with the girls (but not Moo and Buster)
- ... putting Jo to bed (very quick!)
- ... clearing around a bit
- ... loading the dishwasher
- ... doing some washing up
- ... and ... finishing my last essay for ERMC. YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!
Labels: drink, ERMC, family, friends, geekery, swimming, walk
Saturday, May 17, 2008
A great woman
Some people are known to all, and some are great in a quiet way. Moo's Aunty Kitty died this morning with a member of family at her bedside, though Parkinson's meant that she'd not been able to know anybody for quite a while. She was always the mainstay of the family. She never married, but was always first on the scene for a family crisis. She worked all her adult life for Littlewood's - and for everybody else. And noone could wield a hoover or clear plates like her at 0730, even if people were still in bed.She's where she should be: in God's hands, where she will finally know herself again.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The lapping of water against a hull
(backposting) It's a long time since I heard that sound, and it was a joy to join Victoria (Miri's godmother) and Sennen (her 3-year old) on her 25 footer in Brightlingsea harbour, even if we didn't get the chance for a sail, as we had 3 toddlers with us. The lapping, gentle slapping when a wash hits, and the slight rocking. Just beautiful.I even rowed the dinghy back to shore - quite a strong current at that time of day, most of the effort was just trying to keep the direction right.
Moo had spent much of the day getting an essay done (it's not just me!), and so my taking the girls out gave her a chance to do that. We all left for Jen's, where we had a barbecue and a fair amount of fizz before heading to bed around 2200, just 45 minutes after the last of the girls (who were _so_ excited) had fallen to sleep.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Frankie!
(backposting) Well, we'd not met little Frankie - Jim and Nina's new little one, and Florence's little brother - until now, but we drove to just the other side of Bedford and had a lovely time with them. Not the most welcoming pub in the world for kids, though I suspect it would have been better if the weather had improved, but it was great to see them all. Frank shares Jo's birthday, so it should at least be easy for us to remember when it's coming.I was supposed to have a ministry meeting for SecondLife tonight, but was absolutely shattered, so we both went to bed early.
Labels: family, secondlife
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
What a day!
A day when things took a long time to go well. When I tell you that I was ringing colleagues in Canada at 0400 their time, you might get an idea of how things went. But we got there in the end: all was working by the time I walked out of the door around 1745, and the customer was very happy.Finished reading Marriage after Modernity by Adrian Thatcher. Very interesting. He makes a case for marriage being special - or different, maybe - because it's child-centred. He's very positive about other models, but suggests that this is the over-riding difference. What I like is that he's ontological about it, rather than teleological: you don't _have_ to have reproduction as the aim of a marriage, but that's more than often what it ends up being about, and it's the relationship type where it's most central. Interesting.
Labels: children, family, theology, work
Sunday, March 09, 2008
ERMC day 2 - Resurrection and Ascension
A very enjoyable day, with three sessions on Resurrection (Christ's and ours) and Ascension (Christ's). Really got me thinking, and firming up exactly what I believe. Might get round to discussing this at some point, but I ended up being more orthodox than Gary had expected!Stayed up rather late (0300) discussing many things. Must remember these books for the essay I discussed yesterday:
- Celebrating Christian Marriage by Adrian Thatcher
- The Family in Theological Perspective ed. Stephen Barton
- also found this when searching Amazon: Life Together: Family, Sexuality and Community in the New Testament and Today by Stephen Barton
Labels: ERMC, family, theology
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Mother's day
Got Moo to church today, for a Mother's Day service at Kedington Church. This is in the benefice which Si and D have just joined, and where they were going for a Mother's Day service, so we joined them. A truly family-focused service, with lots of families there: mothers, children and fathers. The priest took an informal but reverent communion service, told the story of Moses in the bulrushes to a bunch of children (and me!) sitting on the floor in the nave (with adult participation). Jo, Miri and I went up for communion (Si was very impressed that the priest blessed Charlotte, their youngest, as "Boo"!), and Jo managed to get herself blessed twice: she moved from one side of me to the other as Miri was being blessed.Moo really liked the informality of it, and how everyone was involved, which I'm very pleased about.
Fry-up for brunch, some tidying and then a walk with Victoria, Grenville, Charles and Sennen. Back to theirs for tea and drop scones. Yum. They're good friends, and it's always good to see them.
And interesting blog entry from Sally. which is definitely worth a read.
Labels: church, family, friends
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Family values
I just read a very interesting and well-argued paper in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics called "World Family Trends", by Don Browning. In it, he looks at how trends in families, and in particular, what he calls "father absence" have led to increased poverty, increased risks of physical and sexual abuse and reduced chances for children, among other issues. He argues strongly that "there should be, as a matter of ecclesial and public policy, a presumption towards encouraging the formation and maintenance of intact families. This rule has exceptions, but they do not undercut its importance as a cultural and religious guide." (p. 246, author's italics).I was impressed by his arguments, but the more I thought about them, the more I realised that they seem entirely predicated on the idea of family as a relationship between adults and their children. And I thought back to what I'm reading slowly in parallel: Edelman's No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, which discusses how society seems to construct itself on an imaginary future Child, and how we might want to think beyond that. And, whether you agree with Edelman or not, there are, and there always will be, couples who can't have children, or who have lost children, or don't want to have children. These may be for medical reasons, for psychological reasons, reasons around sexuality, or just preference. And we shouldn't ignore those.
A project like that laid out in Browning's article, where the argument seems to be almost completely around children, doesn't provide any good reason for why those people should be married, or even called "a family". That doesn't mean that they shouldn't, of course. But I think that part of what Edelman is getting at is that just by making such an argument, and not even referring to these other issues, such an article assumes an indifference to such people, and such relationships, which serves to diminish their "importance" within the discourse of which the article is a part. And that discourse is part of our society, so there is a danger that such people and such relationships become devalued and made less normative even than they already are.
I'm not saying that this was Browning's intention. He might even have considered making points around non-child-based families (I've just made that up), but that he didn't still makes a negative point, particularly in such a heteronormative - and child-centred - society.
References
Browning, Don (2001) "World Family Trends" in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics, ed. Gill, Robin, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Edelman, Lee (2005) No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina.
Labels: family
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Church, walk, ironing, scrabulous
Took Mum, Jo and Miri to Halstead, where James was celebrating and preaching. Jo's tiredness showed through, and her attention span was much shorter than usual, but she did OK: Miri was a star. At communion, James very kindly gave me a portion of the priest's wafer, which I was very touched by.After lunch, we met Si, D, Morgs, Boo and Murphy (their dog) for a lovely walk near them, and had tea and chats before heading home to put the girls to bed. I cooked a chicken, and Mum did the ironing. Lots and lots of it. We're _very_ grateful! Then Mum and I played scrabulous, trying to get some decent scores against the people with whom I've got games going. She's _vicious_!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The kite
Not much sleep last night, and a trip to Freeport was a little fraught, but we managed it. I'm pleased, because I bought a bookcase which I really need for all those theology and work books. After lunch, though, Mum, Jo, Miri and I went to Clare Country Park to play with the kite that Jo had been given for her birthday on Thursday.Got it put together, got it up. Moved to a better place, with more wind: in fact, there was just about the right amount of wind to get it up and staying up, but you needed to run a bit to keep it there when the wind dropped a little, which meant that from time to time, when Jo had it, it dropped to the ground. But we worked round that. Until Jo had it, was running away from me, I called her to run towards me, and she let go of it.
I ran. I really, really ran, and I thought I had it. In the end, it was getting away, and I threw myself after it. But to no avail. The end of the string, with handle, ended up 4 metres up a thorn tree. The kite itself about the same up another thorn tree. I tried to get it, but was needed to comfort Jo, who had completely (and understandably) lost it. And I'm not just talking about the kite.
We offered to try to find a replacement, or go for coffee and cake: she chose the former. Luckily, the local store had a cheap kite (£1.99!), which we bought, but once we got it up, she was worried that we were going to lose that one, too, that she wouldn't hold it herself, and soon refused to let me put it up at all, dissolving in tears. The poor thing's really tired at the moment, and was just beside herself.
So, coffee and cake this time. She demanded some cake, and, having had half a forkful, insisted that she was still full from lunch, so left it to me and Mum. But we had some nice tea to go with it.
As we were leaving the café, we spotted a girl of no more than 8, with her father/grandfather, and ... a kite. We asked, and yes, he'd managed to get it down with a long stick. He offered to give it back, and it was clearly what Jo wanted, so we accepted: and the little girl's lip began to wobble: quite understandably (again). So, I offered her the kite that we'd just bought. And _Jo_ started to lose it. Again, understandably. The bloke was lovely, but was visibly relieved when I told him that we'd bought the second just round the corner...
At this point, we gave up and went home.
Jo's very tired. So are we. I think the whole birthday and build-up have been a bit much for her, and she's really not getting enough sleep at the moment. Not that we are, either. I'm away three nights this week, and hope to get some sleep. Assuming that _I_ make it that far.
Now: anyone know of any good theologians talking about religion in cyberspace/online? Preferably in the UK.
Labels: family, Jo, online, theology
Friday, February 22, 2008
New nephew!
Bad me: I was thinking so much about our hospital visit that I forgot to add that Jim and Nina had a baby boy yesterday: Frank Peter Osbourne (sp?) Bursell. Yay for them.Saturday, February 16, 2008
What's being a priest about?
I had an interesting conversation with a priest recently who was complaining about having to spend a full half hour talking about clearing leaves out of gutters during a buildings and maintenance meeting that he was attending: a subject about which he had nothing to say, and no interest. This meant he got back home very late, after a 14 hour day. Where's the priestliness in that? Where does it say that he should be using his time like this?I was saying that I will have almost the opposite issue: I'll only have the chance, on the whole, to do the more "obviously priestly" bits. He was saying that maybe as an SSM (Self-Supporting Minister), I'll have something to teach people about what's important about being a priest. But I responded that I think there are problems there, too, and lots of them. Yes, I'll do services, and preaching, and home groups, maybe, and these are important: but when will I get the chance to have chats with people in cafés, talk in queues in the bakery, make hospital visits and all the rest? I think that there will be frustrations on both sides, and yes, we'll both have things to teach each other.
On the other hand, travelling has its upsides, too. I had a fascinating talk with a woman on the plane to Barcelona, Anya, who was saying that she envies me my faith. We had a good discussion, in which I explained that faith doesn't always mean certainty, and can - should, I'd say - include time for doubt. And it was clear to me - and I said so - that if she is ready to say that she envies faith, then she's already what some would call a "seeker". So, we talked. Did she walk off the plane looking for a church to go to? No, but she's not averse to taking her son to church. I think she now sees that the love she shares with her family can be seen by some - certainly by me and most Christians - as God-given, and I don't think she rejected that out of hand. She met someone, I hope, who wasn't entirely different to her, and reasonable, not weird, and talked in ways she could understand and relate to her. That's enough for me.
Labels: faith, family, ministry, priest
Lots of calls
(backposting) Lots of calls today. Lots and lots of them. They went pretty well, I have to say. We also drove to Kate and Mac's for Kate's birthday, and a pre-birthday party for Jojo, as Jen, Jake, Mouse and (most importantly for Jojo) Turtle are coming to visit tomorrow. How is it that the busiest days are often the ones when you've slept for only 5 hours the night before? Heigh-ho, at least the calls went well.Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Zoo
Up at 0645. Hang-over, 5 hours' sleep. Moo let me get another sleep in, which was very kind, and after a while, we went to Dick's café in Clare for brunch: a full English breakfast. Which really helped.Then to the great Colchester zoo, where I fed an elephant (with lots of other people): Jo got scared, so I did it for her. Moo and I spent lots of time trying out the new camera lens, Miri spent lots of time sitting in her pushchair looking at animals, and Jo just ran around a lot.
We discovered today that Jo thinks that the words to Scouting for Girls' song "James Bond" are "I wish I was Jake's Mum", rather than "I wish I was James Bond."
Miri's saying "Daddy" now, and is cruising. Time to start watching her near steps, methinks.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Quiet day
(backposting) Well, that was the plan, anyway. We went shopping in Sudbury - groceries, etc. - how come the bank is closed all Saturday? Ridiculous. Oh, and we bought two new car seats for Jo (one for Moo's car, one for Mel's). Jo's not ready for them yet, but they were half-price in Halfords, so it made sense. Then we took the girls to the Giggle Factory, to give them a chance to tire themselves out a bit - well, Jo, anyway.The rest of the day was tidying, quiet play, etc.
The girls are still waking up in the night, but things seem to be improving somewhat. I stayed up rather late playing Trauma Center: Second Opinion, to which I'm somewhat addicted.
Labels: family
Thursday, December 27, 2007
More presents?
(backposting) Yup, that's right: yet more presents for Jo. Catherine's cousins (or a selection of the 5) and her aunt turned up after we'd made a trip to the exciting Loughborough (some general shopping, and a new camera lens using money for Christmas). Lots more attention for Miri and Jo, who was late to bed again.Wednesday, December 26, 2007
St Stephen's Day / Boxing Day
(backposting) I slept on a sofa last night, in my own parents' home. Poll and Lee were staying over, Moo had Miri in with her (we tried having her in the cot, but it was not to be), my parents were in their bed (fair enough), and Jo was in a single bed, too. Didn't sleep too badly, to be honest, and we left after breakfast to Kate and Mac's.There, of course, was Turtle. And Jen, Jake and Mouse, of course, but mainly Turtle. I had another sleep (after more driving). We opened presents. Well, Jo opened lots of them, of course. The girls played. We had supper, Turtle completely lost it, they left, and Jo went to sleep. A great day: the two cousins just love each other to bits. And spent quite a lot of time dressing up in Jo's new "Supergirl" and "Stephanie" (from Lazytown) outfits. Including the pink wig...
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Day!
(backposting) Not up too late, and not up too early, to be honest. But Jo just had a lovely Christmas. Mainly because she got to open pretty much every present, whether it was for her or not. She's not desperately well, but thanks to sleeping through half of the service that we attended at Cheddar church this morning, managed the day OK.Presents included:
- 20 balls of wool (me, from Moo): so that she can knit me a jersey
- a scooter (Jo, from my parents): something she decided a couple of weeks ago that she wanted from Father Christmas (my Dad had a quick word with him)
- a spa day (Moo, from me): she really needs a pampering day
- The Scouting for Girls CD (me, from Moo): marvellous
- multifarious small presents for Jo, which kept her happy opening things through the day
Labels: Christmas, church, family
Friday, December 21, 2007
Haircut
Yup, haircut today for all of us bar Miri. And I got a major new document out to work, which I was very pleased about.Oh, and don't forget present-wrapping (which Moo did most of, to be honest).
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Router fixing
Left home at 0830 this morning up to Kate and Macs. Only took me 5-10 minutes to fix the router: the problem was what I'd expected, and I had notes on what I'd needed to do last time. This time I've saved the config, and written notes on how to put it all back together. So, we had a chance to see them, and Nana Stick, who Moo hadn't spent much time with at the Christening. Back home around 1910 - girls both took a long time to get back to sleep.I've had a paper accepted at a conference in February, it seems, which is good: but I've had to send a photo of myself, which I hate.
Oh, and Liverpool lost: what _was_ Benitez thinking with that formation?
Labels: computers, family, football, work
Monday, November 26, 2007
Back to work
Moo took the day off and went with her parents on the traditional Christmas shopping trip to Cambridge. Miri ended up in our bed, and I actually managed to get to sleep while she was actually screaming, which is quite impressive.I had a supervision in the evening with Alan, on modern hermeneutics and the Psalms. Interesting differences in our use of them in a liturgical setting. Got home, slept on the other side of the house, to give Moo more room in our bed with poor, coughy, teething Miri.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Hospice - day 2
My second day at the hospice - and there's to be one more next week. Again, a fascinating and interesting day. I started it with a visit to a funeral directors. I'd never been to one before, and they were very helpful and accommodating. Spent some time with another member of the chaplaincy team, including taking communion and talking to some of the day centre patients.My mum had turned up by the time I got back, and went to get my dad later on: they're staying at a pub nearby, as we've got other people staying with us this weekend.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Anniversary (and mensi-versary)
15 years ago today, Moo and I officially started going out. We'd known each other for a couple of weeks, and were getting closer, so we decided to "make it official". Moo was only in her first term at Jesus College (I was in my third year at King's), and it wasn't a move that was met with complete approval, particularly by her elder sister Jen (also a third year). In four months (to the day), we were engaged, though we kept it secret from pretty much everyone (including Moo's family) for nearly a year). We got married about 2 and a half years later, in King's College chapel, and haven't looked back.Miri is also exactly 6 months old today. Crawling quite confidently backwards, sitting up (once placed in that position) unaided, two teeth, very chatty, very happy, and loves her little sister to bits.
Driving
Today, my brother Jim and I went to Silverstone (we stayed overnight with Alan and Chris, his parents-in-law last night), and did the Lotus Experience there. It was brilliant. What cars! We had a briefing, an initial 4 laps with an instructor, a short break, and then another 5 laps with the instructor (faster and more confident this time), a lap with the instructor driving (_much_ faster!), and then a quick debrief. I loved it - Jim preferred the lap when he was being driven - and I can really see the point. 100+ miles an hour round the track - braking _hard_ for the corners, beginning to get the racing line. I'd love to do it again. Then back home.Labels: car, family, happiness
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
"My own bed..."
0610 this morning:- Jo (waking up next to me in the spare room bed): "I slept in my own bed all night!"
- Me: "No, you didn't!"
- Jo (plaintively): "Why?"
- Me: "Because you came into my bed in the middle of the night."
- Jo (with conviction): "I'll try to sleep in my own bed tonight."
- Me: "No, you didn't!"
My night?
- Last night, bedtime - Miri's unsettled, so Moo takes her into our room, I take the spare room.
- 2310 last night, Jo gets out of bed. I take her back to her room.
- 2340 last night, I go back to bed: Jo seems to have settled.
- 0015 Jo comes into the spare room.
- 0420 Moo comes in to say that Buster's barking. I go downstairs, then up to my side to do some Facebooking.
- 0450 after some time with Buster, he still won't settle. I let him outside. I watch some TV to give him some more time.
- 0510 I let Buster back in, and go back up to bed.
- 0610 Jo wakes up (I haven't got back to sleep).
Apparently Turtle, Jenny's eldest, won't watch Underground Ernie, which Jo loves. When Moo asked Jenny why, she answered, with a shrug, "Talking Underground trains?".
Labels: buster, facebook, family, Jo, miri, sleep
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Apples
"Mike," said Kate at lunch, "before you go, I'd like to make use of your extreme length, please."At this point, Moo lost it.
It transpired that she wanted to use my _height_ (I'm much taller than most of the rather height-challenged McLaughlin clan) to help pick some cooking apples.
But that's not how it came out. Missus.
Labels: family
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Barbecue
(backposting) Not only did we barbecue today, we barbecued last night as well. In the drizzle. Kate and Mac have a thing about this. Didn't bother me - I wrapped up warm - but it is a _little_ odd, don't you think?Wales were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup by Fiji. This is huge, and won't easy for Lee, my brother-in-law. After the match, which Jo had watched some of, we went outside to play some football (not having a rugby ball with us), and she kept picking up the ball and trying to spin pass it out. _Go_ girl.
Labels: family, food, Jo, rugby
Friday, September 28, 2007
Work, work, work
Well, all I said about work yesterday is more so today. Lots of major stuff coming up, having to be dealt with. I rather like it, to be honest.Now at Kate and Macs: expect alcohol soon...`
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Middle-aged exercise injury
(backposting) We thought we'd try somewhere else, so we went to Daymer beach. Fewer shops (one total) than Polzeath, and the tide was out. But that turned out to be a good thing, because we played beach cricket:- Me - 17 no, but playing against the new ball
- Polly - 14, bowled Jim (?), caught me
- Lee - 18, should have retired hurt (see below)
- Jim - 21, and that was playing right-handed half the time (he usually bats left-handed)
- Polly - 14, bowled Jim (?), caught me
After we got back, Jo and I had a discussion. The nub of it was this:
- Jo: Why did we go to the beach.
- Me: To have a good time.
- Jo: Why did we have good time?
- Me: We went to do fun and exciting things. Is the beach exciting?
- Jo: No.
- Me: Really?
- Jo: Do you know what's exciting? Maps.
- Me: *silence*
- Me: To have a good time.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
BAck to Polzeath - and family crisis
(backposting) Polzeath beach. It's where we finished the last holiday in Cornwall, and was the obvious place to start this one. Even Dad came. Dad's not big on beach holidays, and it turns out that it's my fault. We went on a beach holiday with my uncle (his brother) Bob when I was around 6, and the plan was for us to have a lovely time at the seaside, bonding. I was terrified of the surf, it appears, so we couldn't bond, the family fell apart, the economy collapsed (it was a little before the Winter of Discontent), nuclear proliferation increased, and global warming officially kicked off. (Which is why, Catherine points out, we decided to try again 31 years on).We had a lovely time, all joking aside, and people (read "my parents") were quite impressed by Jo's playing in the surf (she's 2 and a half, and not terrified).
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Prime birthday
No, I'm not 41. Or 31. Somewhere between that, which should give you all the clues you need.I've asked for money from people to allow me to buy a cassock, which I really am beginning to need. Poll and Lee gave me a nice top, and Moo and the girls also gave me a random Wii game which has been annoying me throughout the day! (Which is kind of the point).
I was a bit grumpy to begin with, as I woke up rather early without enough sleep. Got a bit happier when my main machine broke: seems like a motherboard (Mobo) issue, which will require a new box, though I can use lots of bits from my old one. This made me happier because it's quite an old box.
Got a bit more grumpy when I had a look at our finances, which aren't really in a position to be buying a new box right now, after our recent holiday.
Had a good lunch with Ian, though. He gave me some good feedback on my evensong last Sunday:
- don't saunter when processing! Maybe OK when on my own in a small parish church, and he wouldn't want me not to be me, but... Entirely fair!
- at times, when I made announcements to the congregation, I didn't face them. Also entirely fair, though Ian did take my point that more than half of the people in the church were actually in the choir: in the other direction!
- I intoned the responses in a very formal way. Not how he does it, but no problem. Just good to know the style that I used by default. It was pretty intentional, actually, and it's such a lovely acoustic that I loved singing like that there.
A small supper, as I had a good lunch and lots of cake.
Labels: birthday, family, services, singing, walk, wii
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Church (twice)
Jo came into our room in the middle of the night. There's a surprise: we must fix this, though. Slept quite late for us, though: past 0730. So, took Jo to Eucharist at Long Melford, where, before the service, Ian asked me if I was planning to sing tonight. He meant whether I was planning to intone the responses at the evensong that I'd forgotten I'd be taking.Jo did very well at the service, but I was dreading telling Moo about evensong, because it meant that she'd have to put Jo to bed on her own. In the end, she was very good about it, but I did feel very bad.
Jo had her paddling pool out, I mowed the lawn (a major undertaking) and cut back one of the buddleia bushes (not a minor undertaking either). Simon from Castle Hedingham came round, mended a puncture on the push chair, and we went to Clare Country Park with Jo's bike. Not that she'd ride it, of course.
Came back, played a little (Jo in paddling pool), and I went off to evensong. Enjoyed singing in a choir - not very challenging music, but still - but best of all was intoning the collects. In a good acoustic. Fantastic. "The day thou gavest" as the last hymn: one of my favourites.
Got home, discovered that Jo hadn't been too bad, cooked supper, watched a Harry Potter DVD (... & the Prisoner of Azkaban), went through my work emails to clear the decks for tomorrow, wrote this blog entry.
Labels: church, family, play, work
Friday, August 03, 2007
Driving back home
(backposting) We left around 0930, and stopped off at my parents. Spent an hour or two with Mum, had some lunch, and caught Dad just before we left. The drive wasn't too bad, and the girls didn't cry much.Heard the news tonight that there's a case of Foot and Mouth in Surrey. Bad news: time for prayer.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Kate and Mac
I had a sudden idea last night, and we invited Kate and Mac to visit. Lovely to see them, and gave Moo a little bit of a break.Labels: family
Monday, July 09, 2007
Lightning
(backposting) I travelled down to London City Airport this evening to catch a plane to Munich to do an audit. As I headed down past Braintree, it became clear that I was heading into a pretty big storm, and although I didn't get much of the rain, I started counting the lightning flashes. I saw 14 over the next hour and a half or so, but more than that: I actually saw 11 of the actual forks: one right onto a petrol station (which seemed OK). It was brilliant, and wonderful.When I got there, the plane was 20 minutes delayed, and by the time we set off, it was more like an hour, but we got off, dodged storms across Europe, took quite a lot of turbulence, and made it into Munich airport in time for me to get to the hotel almost dead on midnight. Only one pillow, but the hotel helped out quickly on that when I asked. Took me ages to get to sleep though.
Poor Miri is teething, which means that she's taking a long time to settle, and sometimes will just get upset for no obvious reason. It must be really hard for her, but we've discovered that she loves watching Jo, who also loves singing to her, and that sometimes Jo can calm her down when neither of us can. They're lovely together, and it's great bonding for both of them. At the same time, Jo really gets to know that she's helping us out, which is really good for her.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
5 and a half hours
(backposting) We slept OK again - though Jo wet the bed, for the first time ever, poor thing. She seemed to have forgotten about it by the morning, though, which was good. To church (Moo came with Miri as well), and a good sermon from Victor, the incumbent, about the responsibilities and difficulties of preaching, which resonated.We then had a lovely meal with all the family to celebrate Mum and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary: well done both of them! Good food, good company - pity I couldn't drink, as I would be driving.
Only 5 and a half hours, but more stops this time, as Jo wasn't feeling great, and Miri kept crying, which was fair enough. Moo and I had a few hours after Jo had gone to bed, and Miri was quiet, to be with each other, which was a bit of a treat.
Oh - and as of today, it's illegal to smoke in a public, enclosed space anywhere in England. Yay!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Farm, pub
(backposting) Jo did very well, and slept OK - though it took Moo a long time to get them down: nearly 2 hours. I was sleeping in another room, and did OK: no surprise given how frazzled I was after all the driving (though Moo did over an hour of it). We took the girls (including Jim and Nina's lovely Florence) to a farm place where we'd been before, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Jo's a bit off, though, and still very tired, so things got a bit hysterical from time to time.In the afternoon, we had a family photograph for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary tomorrow. It was _much_ easier than anyone expected, which was an enormous relief. We'd hoped to have it outside, but it was raining (of course), so inside had to do.
In the evening, Polly, Lee, Jim, Dad and I went to the pub after Jo had gone to sleep (there was no way I was going to be allowed to go until she had - quite rightly!). We had a lovely chat: it's good how we really do get on as a family when we get the chance.
Labels: family
Friday, June 29, 2007
7 hours
(backposting) Down to my parents. The M25 was terrible. In the end, we cut and ran - M40 to Oxford, A420 down to the M4, then across to the M5, south for a while until the Gordano services, and then cross-country via Failand and Barrow Gurney to the A38 and then down to Winscombe. It took 7 hours to the minute, including the rather necessary stops for the girls' and our sanity. Lovely to see everyone, and all, but...Thursday, June 28, 2007
IT support, sleep, driving, deal...
Not in that order. In fact, sleep's not really in there at all. Jo had nightmares, and had to come in with me. The problem was compounded by her waking a few times, still anxious, and then migrating across the bed several times and waking me up. I didn't get much sleep.I had to drive up to the East Midlands for a meeting today: interesting, though nothing there right now. On the way up, I rang Kate and Mac (my parents-in-law) because Moo said that they had problems connecting to the Internet. This isn't _always_ their fault, but a quick call suggested that it might be something outside their capability of fixing, and as my meeting finished around 1220, I had time to go there, fix their ADSL router (which had lost some settings), have lunch, and then head home.
At home, there was a letter from ERMC. Not a positive one, and rather depressing when I was so low on sleep. I'm late on some assignments, and although I thought things were under control, they seem to have escalated rather alarmingly, and quickly. In the end, I took Miri and Buster for a walk, and settled things down. I think we're OK, in the end, and I'm going to call them tomorrow.
Last, but not least, we finally got a contract through from a customer I've been working on with a colleague today. It's a biggish one in the long term, and I'm quite proud of how we've closed it.
Labels: ERMC, family, sleep, travel, work
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Walking, preaching, zooing and training
So, I'm sitting in front of Britain's Got Talent (please, oh, please don't let either of the two children win: and if one of them has to, not the dancing one - why am I in tears, oh _puh-lease_?), after quite a day. Father's Day, for course. Presents:- card by Jo
- picture of Jo and Miriam in a frame decorated beautifully by Jo
- Pirates of the Caribbean CD (from the first film) - great
- Songs for the Young at Heart, which is good car listening
- Jimmy Carr - Live Collection (very rude, but _very_ funny)
- Of Works before Justification.
- Works done before the grace of Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea, rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
But we went to have lunch, and then off to the zoo, which Jo enjoyed a lot. Was too scared by the "big train", but did the small one in the "familiar friends" area twice.
Then, as Moo was putting Jo down to bed, I took Miriam and Buster for another walk. Heaven knows that I don't treat my body as a temple, but I love walking. Hard, through the country, preferably with a dog, and a child strapped somewhere about my person. There's something so liberating about the physicality of it which I never would have expected to enjoy. So we thank God.
Labels: family, preaching, walk, zoo