Mike's musings

A late night

(backposting) And our own fault, for a change, too. We had Victoria, Charles, Sennen and Jack around for supper and videos. The kids (Jojo, Miri and Sennen) watched videos and then failed miserably to go to bed properly for hours (well, Miri was fine...). And the adults had a beef stew (lovely stewing steak which I cooked for about 6 hours), and then watched Shaun of the Dead. Victoria just didn't get it at all. So we tried some Alan Partridge. Ditto. At least she enjoyed Green Wing. But honestly, you think you know someone...

Labels: films, friends

Good book, and a good friend

(backposting) The plane was late, but that meant I had lots of time in the airport. Did some shopping, had some lunch, and read Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archives, which I enjoyed. Funny, clever, chilling at times, but a good read.

And the other thing was that, via a chance Twitter from my old mate Mr Harkaway, I ended up having a very good chat with one of my ushers. With whom I'd not spoken for ages. Oh, we've corresponded on his blog, on Twitter and Facebook, but not on the phone. For ages. He's still very funny, and we really, really must try to get together at some point.

Got to the hotel late, and had a couple of beers with Phil, who's working with me for this customer. A good guy, and I think we'll have a good week.

Labels: books, friends, work

Will it get done?

Woke up at 0555. Told my body not to be silly. Went back to sleep. Woke up at 0825. Too late for the 0800, obviously. So, I got up, and was at work by 0905. Did some work, and then, after some deliberation, decided to go to church. I ended up at St Gregory's, Sudbury. They'd advertised a 1000 service, which was changed to 1030, natch. Given that I'd said that I wouldn't be around this week, I'd chosen this church as somewhere out-of-area, where I could go incognito, and noone would know me. And, of course, there were two people from Halstead there: Val and her husband. This is just typical, and quite amusing. They'd come here because they're looking at houses in the area.

There was a lovely welcome, and the church was pretty full. I liked the service, and they have two curates, too. I think we should arrange a social: the two churches/towns have lots in common, and Helen, the curate on placement who will later join the team, is at ERMC, as I was. Good folks, and it would be fun to compare notes.

Back home, and work, work, work. And around 1700, I managed to get the work finished, which means that the answer to the question in the header is "yes, it will."

Went round to Sam and John-Mark's for a drink, ended up staying for supper. And the girls just got back.

Labels: church, friends, girls, work

Finland, via hospital again

(backposting) This time, the trip was to see a friend and member of our congregation, who's been in hospital for quite a time, and is expecting to be there for quite a long time more. I took a detour on my way to Heathrow airport for another trip to Finland, and was very glad that I did. She really needed some TLC, and it was good to see her as a friend, too.

An OK journey to Finland - the usual work stuff.

Labels: friends, illness, travel

An old friend

(backposting) Today I was taking two services in Earls Colne: a quiet 0800 Holy Communion, and a quite energetic Family Service at 1000 (note to self - I must check the words of a song before encouraging people to clap along when it says "I will clap, clap, clap", because the next verse might say "dance", which means that I have to dance..., and yes, I did, in the aisles, fully robed). At the end of the latter, Pamela, who was a chaplain (then a deaconess, since priested) at Bryanston when I was there, came up and introduced herself. We'd not seen each other for about 22 years, so it was a bit of a blast from the past, but great to see her. She had a strong impact on my faith at that time, and although we've recently got back in touch over email, she lives in New Zealand, so it was a real bonus to be able to catch up with her in person.

In order to give Moo a bit of a break in the afternoon, I took the girls swimming. Jo was back in the big pool, and Miri consented to spend a bit of time in there, too. Miri is now quite a strong swimmer, underwater at least, and we must look at getting her some swimming lessons.

Labels: church, friends, swimming

More school, more work, family

(backposting) What a day! It started with Moo accompanying Jojo to school for her second day: the school likes parents to come in early on in term to get an idea of what it's like, which is an excellent idea. Moo was very impressed with the teacher, and amused by Jo, who wasn't always good at waiting to be called on when she knew the answer to a question - and even when she _did_ wait, would protest: "but I knew the answer, I really did." Best one, though was:

Teacher: "whose birthday do we celebrate on Christmas Day? Josephine?"

Jojo: "Jesus'. And my friend Sennen's, of course."

Ah - and I should have said yesterday that Jojo has decided that she wants the teacher to call her "Josephine", rather than Jojo. I rather like that.

At lunch, a friend of Moo's from college, Sophie, came with her two kids. I didn't get to spend much time with her, though, as work was very busy. Good, interesting, challenging stuff, though - the job's working well, I'm pleased to say.

Last thing to report on Jojo, a little before going to bed who was rhapsodising about one of her friends - a girl - and how much she loved her. She suddenly came out with "Daddy, girls _can_ marry girls, can't they?" I was really proud, "Yes, Jojo, they _can_." Good for her.

Moo and I watched Buffy episodes until Jim (my brother) and Nina (his wife) turned up with their two kids. We got the kids to sleep pretty quickly, and stayed up chatting, eating and drinking till - ooh, well after 11. Really good to see them.

Labels: friends, homosexuality, Jo, work

Ordination and first Eucharist

(backposting) So much to blog about. So much. But I'm still processing it, so I'll put down what I can.

Ordination

We arrived at the church early, and it was lovely to greet people as they arrived. I had problems letting go, and not being the curate: there were other people to sort things out, and in the end, I just had to be an ordinand, get ready, and go with it. I robed up in cassock, surplice and white alb - a beautiful 18th century white alb that Dad had been given for his priesting, and which he passed on to me. We formed up in the St Andrew's Centre car park, and then walked over to the church. Moo was my lay sponsor, and I held her hand as we processed up the aisle together. There's a fair amount of preamble - all of it important - before the actual act of ordination, and I was the third of the 3 to be ordained, but in the end my time came. I knelt in front of the bishop, and the clergy clustered round and laid their hands on me. There were 10, I think: the bishop, the bishop's chaplain (Tim), the preacher (Chris), my father, my incumbent (John), Geoff (from the team), Viv (from the team), Mark and Ian's incumbents and James (a good friend, and previously from the team). Moo says it was a big of a scrum, but I couldn't tell. As the bishop said the words, it felt heavy, and I felt surrounded, and it was good. And then, I was a priest. The bishop anointed Ian's hands, then Mark's, and then mine, and we were done.

The service moved into a Eucharist, and we stood to either side of the bishop as he presided. After we'd taken communion from him, we got to sit down and just relax a bit. The service finished, the bishop took us three, new priests, down the aisle, and it was over, and time for some pictures.

First Eucharist

The parish put together a fabulous bring and share lunch: what lovely people. I had a chance to catch up with a few of them, but also friends and family. Leo, Rosie and Andy, Mark and Jenny, Mum and Dad, of course, Aunty Les and others, too. Si and D arrived in time for the 1500 Eucharist, as did Gary with his family, which I'd not expected. I walked the main players - Dad (serving for me), Sally (reading the Gospel) and Ian (preaching) - through the choreography first, and then it was time to start.

It was an immensely emotional experience for me. Mum later said that the first time she'd seen me cry in church was 31 years ago, and she thought she'd see it again, and it was close. Some of the liturgy, a couple of the hymns, and also parts of Byrd 4-part all had me close to tears. But when it came to the two parts which mattered the most to me - the Absolution and the Eucharistic prayer - it all worked. I'd been worried about the Absolution, but it felt right. Even more so for the Eucharistic prayer. I'd spent a lot of time preparing, and in particular thinking about the actions and gestures that I'd be using, before deciding to go with pretty much the bare minimum. I was boiling in a warm chasuble in a very warm church (Catherine had needed to call an ambulance for a member of the congregation at the ordination service - though I'd not noticed! - and the afternoon was hotter), we had a gospel procession, a Latin mass setting, and pretty "high" setting, but the theology is pretty low for me.

When it came to the prayer of institution, it just felt right to be saying it. And I was just aware that I was not the first person to be saying these words and celebrating this feast, but was part of a long tradition, made up of many, many others. It was just right. And Dad hadn't realised that he would be the first person to whom I administered communion, and that was very special indeed.

Our last hymn was "Jerusalem": a mission hymn. And, although not everyone enjoyed it, we had my favourite piece of organ music: "Dieu parmi nous" (God among us) by Olivier Messiaen. We sat, rather than processed, and it was the perfect end to my first communion.

Aftermath

We finished the day with friends coming back for a barbecue - during which it rained very, very hard. Si and D with Morgan and Boo, James and Ruth and Sally all came, and John and Mo arrived later as the others were departing, giving us a good chance for a chat with them. The girls pleaded tiredness around 1900 and we put them to bed without even a bath, and they were down so quickly that we had a good long time to chat. A good end to a long day, and we went to be tired.

Only for Jo to turn up with a temperature (I took her into the spare room with me) and Miri to go in with Moo, having been woken by Jo's perambulations. Such is life.

Labels: church, eucharist, family, friends, music, ordination

Walking - and blisters

(backposting) Ages since I had a blister, but after two walks, coming to around 6 miles, in sandals which are beginning to fall apart, I managed to develop one. Luckily, the weather's so warm that I can walk around the retreat bare-foot most of the time, and the people running the retreat centre had some special blasters which I can use.

The second walk was with a good friend, Sue, and it was good to catch up with her, to share our thoughts about priestly life, our children, our jobs, and the rest, while walking through the fields and woodland around the centre.

The retreat's going well, and I managed to get some sleep in the afternoon. Last evening staying late at the pub tonight - not sensible to stay up the night before the big day.

Labels: friends, ordination, walk

Weather

The weather's been good, which is excellent. Went to get another gas canister for the barbecue (the last one ran out yesterday) with Miri when Jo was at ballet. And went for a bacon and sausage sarnie, obviously. And wandered around Clare church, which Miri loved.

Lunch, bikes in Clare Country Park, Si, D., Morgan and Boo around for a barbecue this evening. Good to see them all, and sardines in the garden is a whole lot more fun than with just 4 of us. Particularly when Miri keeps shouting, "hiiiiiiiiiiding! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!"

Got "MikeCamel" as a username for Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MikeCamel. I've had the same nick for around 14 years now, so it's nice to keep it. Moo doesn't see the point: neither does D. Si does, natch. Oh, and have you any idea how difficult it is to find a (working) Bible reader for an S60v5 phone? Dull.

Labels: friends, phone, weather

Ironing, gardening, barbecuing

Spent 3 hours or more this morning doing the ironing, which really needed doing. Then gardening, this afternoon, which was fun. The girls are absolutely on their last legs through tiredness at the moment, so it was amazing that they managed to stay awake past 2030 this evening when we went to Si and D's for a barbecue supper. Their friends Naomi and Chris (and Keira, a friend) were over as well, with their kids, and they all played very well: it's a sign that they're all growing up, which is great, but sad at the same time.

On a different note, I've noticed that many of the previous week or so's posts have been rather brief. I'm sorry about this, but it's really been down to the fact that I'm both tired and also trying to work out what's going on with work and redundancy. My current company has told me that they're planning to go through redundancy proceedings, and this is clearly not good news. I'm trying to work out what this means for me, and working on what my future options might be.

It also doesn't mean that I'm not thinking about the issues around ontology and ordination, but my focus has been elsewhere. I'll get back to it, but focusing on my work prospects is even more important now that there are 2 children to look after as well.

God will provide. I really believe that, even in the darkest hours.

Labels: friends, garden, god, job

Miscellaneous catchings-up

So, what's today been about? Well:

• we went to see Kirsty and Matt for an early lunch in Cambridge
• I discovered (yesterday, actually) that the Samsung i8910 HD will be out in the UK soon. I covet it, in a wholly unhealthy way.
• I've had 8 comments so far on my blog post from Friday: A problematic ontology of ministry: employment - and gender. Two of these are from bishops who have kindly taken the time to comment: I value their thoughts particularly, as part of the issue I'm addressing is about the episcopy
• I've been playing with Gnome-Shell, and offering some opinions. I don't pretend to any expertise in UI design, but I'm definitely a power user, in terms of how much I use the desktop and what I tend to do with it. I do like Gnome-Shell, and it's exciting to be working on the future of the Operating System that I know and love.

Labels: blogging, friends, linux, ministry, miscellaneous

Up we go...

(backposting) All the way up to Kippen, just north of Stirling. It took us something over 6 hours plus stops - the weather was bad at times, and so was the traffic - but the girls did very well. We got there for around 1600, and Jo started getting to know Anoushka, Matty and Harriet's elder child, who's around 6 months older than her. Kids make friends so easily at this age: it's great. And Jo even had the chance to ride a horse, which went down very, very well, I can tell you.

It was great to catch up with Matty, and to spend some time with Harriet, who we've only met once before: at the wedding 9 years ago, when she had quite a lot of other people to talk to, and things to worry about (being married to Matty would be top of the list, I think).

Went to bed pretty early in a lovely B&B, given the amount of driving we'd done. Moo insists I snored, but luckily I'd had some wine, so didn't wake myself up. Miri woke up in the middle of the night, and came in to Moo, so I went in to the room with Jo - who didn't seem to notice the (alleged) snoring.

Labels: baptism, friends, travel

Meeting a colleague

Another member of the clergy, that is. Si and D have asked me to baptise their youngest in Charlotte, in their local church, and wanted me to meet John, their incumbent. So I came over and had supper with the three of them, while Moo very kindly stayed at home and looked after the girls. We had a good chat and a good meal, and it was a very pleasant evening.

Labels: baptism, friends

Walk of witness

(backposting) Today, I took Jo to the Methodist hall at the bottom of town, where a number of people were due to meet from the different churches in Halstead for a Walk of Witness. I think it's important to witness to our faith, particularly on a day like today, and I encouraged people, for instance, to have "I am a Christian" as their first status of the day today. I found the walk difficult, though. Jo was the only child there (out of around 40 mainly middle-aged plus Christians), and as we walked through the town, stopping for prayers and readings - through a megaphone - I felt uncomfortable, and deeply ambivalent. One of the things that I feel called to do as part of my ministry is to examine whether if I were myself - but outside the church - I'd feel interested in being within it. Today was one of those occasions. It didn't feel right to me. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't happen - maybe it's right for other people - or that I shouldn't be involved - my ministry is broader than just to people "like me", after all - but I struggled with it.

In the evening, we went to Si and D's for supper with Andy and Zae. We were pretty tired though, so left soon after we'd finished watching Red Dwarf: oh, the joys of parenthood...

Labels: friends, ministry, vocation

And it's goodbye from him...

(backposting) It was James' last day with the team today: he's been the "senior curate" since I arrived in the team, and he's been a source of wisdom and support over that time. And he's become a good friend, too. We saw him off at a 1000 service, and he also came to an informal "TECS" service that I ran at Earls Colne at 1800. Oh, and there was a lunch: he gave me a bottle of single malt, which I intend to ensure that he helps me drink.

The TECS service was interesting and fun, though I made a bunch of mistakes in the running of it (no grace, 1 wrong hymn, 1 hymn so badly formatted that it couldn't be read, stuff like that), but I played Lisa Gerrard's "Sanvean - I am your shadow" and Keane's "Again and again", which both seemed to go down very well. James I and finished the day with a drink at the Dog Inn in Halstead. We'll be keeping in close touch.

Labels: curacy, friends

Computer maintenance 102

Back by popular demand, and this time it's "how to get your PC to talk to your dad's old hard drive as a second drive so you can get the data off it".

The easiest way to do it is this (note that if you're running Windoze, you may need to load some drivers first: most modern Linux distributions should do this all very simply):

1. buy a USB<->SATA/ATA kit, make sure it comes with a power connector, too, like this one
2. turn off the old computer, remove the power lead
3. open up the computer from which you wish to get the data
4. disconnect all the leads from the back of the old drive
5. (optionally, but it's easiest if you do) unscrew the old drive from its housing and remove it from the case
6. connect the ATA/SATA cable to the old drive. Only one of the connectors will fit, and it will only fit one way up, but check, because if you force it, you can cause yourself some problems
7. plug the power cable into the back of the old drive (ditto, only one way up, etc.), but don't turn it on yet
8. turn on the computer to which you wish to transfer the data
9. put the USB connector into the new computer
10. turn the power on to the disk drive, listen to it spin up
11. wait for the drive to be recognised as an external drive by the OS: this will take a few seconds (probably more on Windoze)
12. copy the data across
13. unmount the drive via the OS
14. disconnect the USB cable
15. turn off the power to the drive
16. you're done!

The other way to do it, if the "new" machine isn't a laptop, is to open it up and connect the hard drive to the machine using the relevant connectors inside it, but this may not work for various reasons (including lack of relevant cables), and is introduces some risks.

The other, other way is to ask a geeky friend to do it for you. If you trust your geeky friend, if they don't charge too much, and if you're happy that there's no confidential information on it.

Labels: friends, geekery

Computer maintenance 101

I went to Jo's pre-school today, as the computer's apparently broken (again). Here's how to fix a CD-ROM drive:

• unplug all the leads
• take the case off
• take the fascia off
• disconnect the CD-ROM drive
• remove the CD-ROM drive
• press the manual tray release
• pull the tray out
• remove the 4 CD-ROMs that the pre-school children had pushed into the tray
• push the tray back in until the tray release clicks
• replace the CD-ROM drive
• reconnect the CD-ROM drive
• replace the fascia
• put the case back on
• plug all the leads on

A meal with the clergy team today, our last meeting before James goes. He'll be missed. In a good way. He's become a very good friend.

Labels: friends, geekery

Meeting for lunch

(backposting) I met a (clergy) friend for lunch, having gone into Cambridge in the morning, in the hopes of finding a good book about Tomcat. It wasn't just that I failed miserably to find a good book about Tomcat: I couldn't find a single on in the shops I traipsed round. So, I came back home and used the Internet, though it would have been more efficient if I'd managed to find something with it all in one place. I'd hoped to meet an old friend for coffee, but it turned out to be an almost completely wasted morning.

Lunch, however, was good, and we chewed the fat, discussing this and that: it's good to see people you've not spent time with for a while, and just eat and spend time.

In the afternoon, I wrote up the work I've been doing for work: what Daemon noted I enjoyed not being able to talk about. We'll see what comes of it (if anything).

Labels: food, friends

CME Residential

(backposting) Off to a CME residential this afternoon, after a day getting some good stuff done for work. So good to see lots of friends for the first time in a while. Went out to the pub afterwards, which is always fun.

Labels: diaconate, friends

Alpha, and a quiet pint

(backposting) Tonight I attended a meeting about Alpha: it was a chance for those in the area who are thinking about running Alpha courses to get together, meet each other, pray, and hear from Bethan, who works at Alpha International, and spoke very well.

Afterwards, I asked Geoff if he fancied a pint, he agreed to come, we met James, invited him, and he invited John. So the four of us had a quiet pint - and lots of crisps - in the Dog Inn. It was good to chat and unwind.

Labels: drink, friends

Time with friends

We met Kirsty and Matt in Cambridge today, at the giraffe restaurant in Cambridge. It's very family-friendly, and gave us all a chance to chat to each other while we took turns playing with the kids, reading them a book, or just eating. We don't spend enough time with grown-up friends (not that Kirsty or Matt are _too_ grown-up, you understand), but this was good. Very good.

Labels: friends

Off sick

Today I took the day off sick, which I really needed. 3 hours+ of sleep this morning and a quiet afternoon in front of the TV were just what I needed. The antibiotics are still making me a bit tearful ("It's a miracle" TV shows seem to be good tear-fodder, as do random moments in West Wing re-runs), but I'm feeling much better than I was.

I've been enjoying some good banter with a good friend, Nick Harkaway, on Facebook. I know I keep saying it, but you should really read his book, The Gone-Away World. You'll like it.

Labels: books, friends, illness, work

Travel

(backposting) Up early - I heard children's voices outside the door, and did one of those bolt-up-right-in-bed-where-am-I things before realising I was in a hotel and the neighbouring room's kids were in the corridor. Got up anyway, and before long Lee (a colleague) and I were off to Gatwick. Air Transat wasn't too bad, watched Hancock (ridiculous, fairly amusing) and The Incredible Hulk, (just plain silly). Managed not to watch "PS, I love you", which I'm not even going to grace with a link.

After a stop-over in Montreal (grrr), when we didn't even get off the plane, on to Toronto. We arrived a little early, so I managed some meetings, which was very useful. I really miss the opportunity to stand in front of a white board with someone else, designing stuff on the fly: it's one of the kicks of the job. Anyway, got the chance to do that today.

Back to the hotel, drinks and round-table discussion with our CEO, then Brian drove me, Dan and Craig (whose first day it was, though Brian and I knew him from his previous job) to Brian's place. I beat Mackenzie, Rachel and Brian's 7-year-old, at Wii tennis, which is a relief, because he beat me rather convincingly last time I was over.

We then had a lovely meal - just the adults - and Rachel and I drank the nice bottle of Pouilly-Fumé that I'd brought along, as Brian would be driving, and the other two didn't want to drink. Yay! Then, whilst Brian, Dan and Craig had a dull chat about work, Rachel and I had a great long natter about stuff. Ranging through child sex education, faith, preaching, jobs, virtualisation, etc., etc.. It was great to catch up, as although we Facebook each other quite often, we've only met once before, but get on very well.

Then Brian drove us back to the hotel, I managed a single Lagavulin, and hit the sack around 2300.

Labels: friends, travel, work

Preaching and nerves

I'm usually a little apprehensive before preaching, and that's as it should be. But I was really very nervous before preaching this afternoon. We had civic Remembrance Sunday service, starting at the war memorial in the town, and then processing up with the uniformed organisations to a service in the church. The different churches in the town were represented, and I'd agreed to preach.

I chose to preach the following trajectory:

• as a Christian, I can say that death isn't the end, because Christ died for us;
• that doesn't mean the death is good: the loss of life, more specifically, the loss of lives, saddens God, as it does us. Those who have died would not just have been great musicians, politicians, writers, etc.: the people about whom you hear "their death was such a loss". Most of them would have been bakers, and waiters, and secretaries, and administrators, and fathers, and mothers, and husbands, and lovers and partners;
• we should be ashamed - not just a citizens of our town - but as all humans should be, because things like the situation in the Congo, and Afghanistan and Iraq happen despite Omaha Beach, and the Somme and Passchendaele;
• but today isn't about being ashamed; it's about appreciating the fact that we can be bakers, and waiters, and secretaries, and administrators, and fathers, and mothers, and husbands, and lovers and partners because the people who went before and gaves their lives and health for us did so. We should be proud of them. We have a debt that we cannot fully repay to them, but we can partly repay them by remembering them: with love, and with dignity, and with pride.

I think it went down OK, and was fairly accessible to the children in the congregation.

Moo brought Jo and Miri to the 1000 service, and Mark and Jen turned up, too. I'd not met her, and she seems good.

Labels: friends, girls, Moo, preaching, services

Fed up

Tired, not feeling great, hemmed in: just generally fed up. Thanks to James for agreeing to have lunch. Just needed someone to bitch at, really, and he did a good job.

Labels: friends

Lunch

(backposting) I met James for lunch today. We get on very well, and we had lunch in a pub. Unluckily, the pub we went to only had one pudding, and neither of us fancied it. So, we went to another pub for pudding. That makes sense, doesn't it?

It's one of the best things about my curacy so far is the friendship that has grown between James and me. He's full of support, and at the same time, we get on very well: lots of jokes at each others' expense, that sort of thing. I hope that the next curate we get - assuming we get one - is someone with whom I can get on as well. Because it's a real help: he's a good man.

Labels: curacy, friends

Job

Hmmm. The job's very busy at the moment, and I'm being pulled in at least two directions. One is a more sales-oriented pre-sales technical support role, and the other is the more purely development-led role. A careful balance to strike: recently there's been less of the former (holidays throughout Europe), and I've concentrated on the latter, but things are hotting up on the sales front (which I'm very pleased about, because that's good for the company). Hmm again.

Had a good chat with Nick (Harkaway/Cornwell) about his book today. It's really very good. People who've read it will recognise the reference in my introduction (at the top of the blog page).

Labels: friends, work

The Gone Away World

The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway is an astonishing book. I used to know Nick very well, and I'm not surprised by the book: he's a very bright, funny and imaginative guy, and the book sounds like him. It has his voice.

It's funny, learned, complex, exciting and many other similarly descriptive words. I can't rate it highly enough, or encourage people to read it enough. I'm trying to think what more to say, but I suspect it's going to be one of those books I read again and again. Think: Tibor Fischer, John Welter, Neal Stephenson, Iain Banks. All of these are favourites of mine (and should be of yours).

Labels: books, friends

Tomorrow's the day

The only reason that Mel's wedding is important is, basically, that Jo gets to be a bridesmaid. We've been looking forward to this for months, and I really can't tell you how excited she is about it. If you ask her what her dress colour is, she'll say "burgundy". Actually, it's white with burgundy roses, but it sounds good, doesn't it?

Work's getting madly busy. Which is interesting and good, but still.

Labels: friends, work

Friends over

(backposting) Tonight, James (the other curate at Halstead) and Ruth (his wife) came over for a barbecue. We'd already established that they'd stay over, so that everyone could have a drink or two. I did the food, they brought the booze. And we did have a drink. Or two. We had a very companionable evening, and ended up playing on the Wii (they're now thinking of getting one, and convincing Ruth's dad to get one as well), chatting and (in my case) playing and singing Finzi songs on the piano. Till far too late. But we had a lovely time, and it was good to have a break from work, which is pretty much all I've been doing this week, as the girls have been away.

Labels: friends

Psalm 55:12-14

I hope that this quote wasn't aimed at me personally, though maybe it was:

 12 If an enemy were insulting me,
       I could endure it;
       if a foe were raising himself against me,
       I could hide from him.

 13 But it is you, a man like myself,
       my companion, my close friend,

 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
       as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

It came at the end of a comment by Simon on my entry for Tuesday. I'm also not sure whether the phrase "A very clever - if utterly dishonest - piece of spin" was aimed at me personally, though maybe that was, too.

I wasn't intending to spin. I've not caught much of the coverage. The quote I used was the first relevant one from Rowan that I could find. And maybe my post came over as too triumphalist.

But what I'm really feeling, deepest down, is joy. I truly believe that woman's ministry - women's full ministry, as lay people, deacons, priests, bishops and, yes, archbishops - is equal to that of men's in the eyes of the Holy Spirit. And I mourn for those who feel betrayed, and shut out, and for friends, in particular, who feel that way. But those who feel that they have been institutionally excluded, and their ministry belittled, and ignored, and spat upon, have a right to feel joy. And I hope that none of that joy is the perverted joy of seeing ones opponents downtrodden, because that's not what Christ taught us. I certainly don't feel that way.

I say again - I've not caught much of this. I wasn't there. I can't talk about people baying for blood. But I do know a number of people - more men than women - who have worked for this for years, because they believe so strongly, and theologically, that it is the right thing.

Simon - and all those who feel that we, and I personally, have played the part of Judas (as that section from Psalm 55 is often read) - I pray that we can find a way to walk together. Please remember what we have shared together. And I ask your forgiveness.

Amen.

Labels: forgiveness, friends, sin, women

Gays, women and evolution

Drove into Cambridge today to buy a book about Windows 2003. Very big, very heavy book. Looks useful, though. Lots of work in the afternoon on Windows stuff and Xen, which I've decided to try out.

During the day, had a discussion on a mailing list I'm part of (hi, guys) about the Church. Why does everyone believe that the Church is backward-looking, reactionary and bigoted? That seems to be the set of messages that everyone picks up. So, questions ranged from whether women should be priests, to my views on homosexuality (I'm for it ;-)), to the virgin birth, to whether I believe in evolution (well, of course I do - d'oh!). It's good to have the opportunity to talk about this stuff with people, and I firmly believe that it's an important part of my calling. When I first felt the vocation, part of it was the question "if you were you, but not part of this Church, would you want to be part of it?" The obvious answer is, "no". And the obvious second part of that is, "well, go and do something about it then." That's what I'm trying to do.

Labels: church, friends, geekery, homosexuality, women

An old friend

(backposting) Well, she's not that old, but we've not seen each other for around 19 years, so Carolyn and I got together in Singapore, where she lives. It was great to meet up, and we spent about 4 hours chatting over curry and Tiger beer. Who we'd been in touch with, things we'd done at school, things we'd done since, etc.

Work didn't go well.

Labels: friends

More sleep

0720 from Jo. Wow.

Went into Cambridge, bought some books for work, returned some to the UL, handed in my final essay, attended a security seminar in the Computer lab, and ran into (the lovely) Scarlet, who'd not seen for around 10 years. They've moved back to Cambridge, and we intend to meet up for a barbecue, and to let the kids get together.

Labels: friends, sleep, work

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

ERMC day 1

Got there in the afternoon, had a good session on preparation for essays a number of us need to write on Christian Belief and Ethics. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to write about: it's a reaction to Edelman's No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, which I've mentioned before, in terms of eschatology. Only just getting my head round it, but we'll get there.

A hint for anyone planning to walk into a nun's bedroom in the middle of the night, assuming it's the bathroom because you've not bothered to check, and you're looking at a copy of Thomas à Kempis' "De imitatione Christi": make sure she doesn't wake up, and get out very quickly.

Picked up a free copy of Thomas à Kempis' "De imitatione Christi" today.

Labels: ERMC, friends, humour

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

Meeting a friend

After a morning which included an hour and a half of discussion (in which I didn't participate) on the most appropriate resolution at which to print barcodes on airline tickets, I met James, a good friend from Cambridge (with whom we also got together in Cornwall last year with his family), for lunch. We had a very good meal just off Lake Geneva, and it was excellent to see him. We'd love to get over for a while, but finding the time isn't that easy at the moment. We do owe them a visit, given that they came over with their girls for Miri's christening.

Labels: friends, work

Rural ministry

(backposting) Today's topic at the ERMC weekend was "rural ministry", and very interesting it was, too. Gave me a bunch of things to try, and to think about. It was led by Jill from The Arthur Rank Centre, who had an astonishing amount of statistics, experience, stories and ideas. Some of the people on the course found it less relevant, but then again, I'm based in the country, and given how I feel about towns and cities, likely to remain that way, so it was good for me.

Last night I stayed up till 0100, but didn't feel too bad. I got around 6 and a half hours' sleep, which really isn't too short of normal, but thought I'd go to bed a little earlier tonight. Say 11. We started learning some British Sign Language from Andrew, a guy on the course who's a chaplain to the deaf. Learnt the Lord's Prayer (which I can still mainly remember), and other useful words and phrases like "beer" and "Doctor Who". Ah, past 12. Well, still chatting, and doing some real theology and pastoral (ask the others who were there). Hmm 0100.

Went to bed at 0200. Lots of water - and I'd finished drinking a while before, but not the best plan.

Labels: ERMC, friends

New Year's Eve

(backposting) Giggle Factory (Sudbury), after a Waitrose trip and the purchase of the next stage of car seat for Jo. Miri really needs to move to the next stage, and Jo's ready, so we've passed hers down: this is _much_ cheaper than buying the next set up for Miri, so it's worked out quite well. After coming back from all that, Jo and I took our scooters to Clare Country Park. She was given one for Christmas, but Jen gave me a scooter 5 or so years ago. It's harder work than I'd remembered - though I never really used it much - but we had great fun. Jo started to get it pretty quickly, including gliding, which really does require quite a good sense of balance.

After that, a quick supper for the girls, and off to Si and D's for a New Year's Eve party. Nora (a bloke), Kate, Chris, Naomi, Debs, Andy, Zae, Moo, me and a goodly number of kids. Lots of alcohol. Pheasant (shot by Si), ham (not shot by Si, as far as I'm aware), chocolate, including a dessert of which I'm pretty proud. A number of us ended up in their hot-tub (in swimming costumes, it should be stressed). Moo and I left around 0100 with the girls. I couldn't find my shoes...

Spent quite a lot of time having pastoral conversations, which was interesting in and of itself.

Labels: friends, party

Miri's baptism

We started late. Only six minutes, but it does help to have the relevant person there to be baptised. Same goes for funerals, although there's old precedent for marriages by proxies. Dad celebrated, James P., Kirsty, Victoria and Si were the godparents. I preached on potential and belonging to the family of the church, and Miri only cried briefly, which was a surprise, given that she wasn't on very good form.

Then we all went back to our house for lunch and drinks. Lots of adults, and lots of children underfoot. We were a little worried that Jemma might get left out when Turtle turned up, as she and Jo get on so well, but not at all. Oh - it turns out that the rules for "What's the time Mr Nudey Wolf?" are pretty similar to "What's the time Mr Wolf?" as played by (naked) children with little grasp of the standard rules.

Some people stayed late, some didn't. We had a great time. James, Alex, Jemma and Alice, Kate and Mac all stayed overnight again.

Labels: church, friends

First tooth

Yup, Miri's first tooth has come through. Centre bottom, left. Yay!

D. popped in with Morgan this afternoon - just, of course, as work really kicked off, but that's typical. Lovely to see her, and Boo (Charlotte) has grown nicely. She did say that Miri basically looked like a toddler, though...

Had a good supervision with Keith. I'm going to be doing a joint Great & Little Yeldham service on the 2nd Sunday of each month, and he's approved the ideas that I had come up with for liturgy.

Labels: friends, miri, worship

Meeting old friends

(backposting) It's been years since we saw James ("JP") and Alex, but we'd decided to ask him to be one of Miri's godparents (or at least a sponsor if he wasn't baptised - though it turns out that he has been). JP (again, it appears that we're the only people who call him that) and Alex live near Geneva, and we went on a very ill-fated skiing trip with them at least four years ago. JP was head of the student union when Jo was woman's officer at college, and we've always got on well. I spent a lot of time with JP, and Moo with Alex, and we got straight back in the groove, which was fantastic. They're both divers, and we're already thinking about arranging some sort of diving holiday (and no, Moo won't have to look after both of ours _and_ both of theirs while we're diving: we'll sort something out).

We met at Polzeath beach (well, obviously), and one of the best moments was when Gemma was following me and JP to the surf, and came out with the immortal "you're my two favourite daddies". Whoa...

So, we borrowed from body boards, and James taught me how. Not much surf, but fun nevertheless.

Popped up to Tubestation: impressive. A Methodist-Anglican initiative, cafe, skating area, Internet access, looks like a good place.

Labels: church, diving, friends, holiday

Bank holiday - aargh!

(backposting) Just when you want some rest, it's a bank holiday. Moo really deserves some, as she had to look after the girls all last week, one of whom (Jo) caught a bug, and kept throwing up. They were all with her parents, but Jenny, Turtle and Mouse were there, so little rest was had by anyone. Did a bit of work in the front garden with Jo also "helping", and in the evening when to Si and D's for a walk with the dogs and then supper. Ended rather later than we'd planned, but had a good time with them all, plus Andy and Zae.

Labels: friends, walk

Gardening, barbecue

(backposting) In a somewhat desperate attempt to make the garden habitable, I cleared lots of brambles today. It's nice to have blackberries, but I prefer them not actually to grow in the garden. The other reason was that Victoria and Grenville came over for a lovely barbecue this evening. They waited until Jo was asleep, brought Sennon around, put him to bed, and then we had a lovely time. Grenville headed off around 2200 to do some work (!), so the rest of us stayed up. Moo went to bed around 0000, but came down at 0100 to tell me to sort the dog out, as he was still barking. This saved Victoria and me from drinking even more of the Scotch/Irish whisk(e)y that we'd been consuming, and was generally a good plan.

Today's toddler quote is "I got some in!". Jo had said that she'd get herself some milk, and had gone to the fridge to do so. I'd told Moo not to worry, because Jo's milk (full fat) wasn't opened, so she wouldn't have a chance. The sounds of "glug, glug, splash" made us realise that the other milk _was_ open, and being a resourceful young person, Jo'd gone with that. The cry "I got some in!" was accurate, but the stress would have been better placed on the word "some". Well, Buster got to lick lots of milk from the floor, and Jojo felt pleased with herself.

We prepared Miri's room today. Soon, we'll put her in there overnight, but Moo didn't think that today was a plan.

Labels: children, food, friends, Jo

Wii - and hot tub

We went into Cambridge, and I bought a Wii today. Jo can already play the tennis games as my doubles partner - serving fairly well and hitting the odd lob here and there (to be honest, I don't know exactly what a lob is, but she's hitting some balls back). It's great, and quite a work-out. Unluckily, I did the "find your Wii exercise age" thing on the Sports game, which is the only one we have atm, and it appears that I'm 64. I'd had the odd glass or two beforehand, though, so...

What's this about a hot tub, then? Well, Si and D have recently moved house, and we went round for a barbecue, and to see the lovely little Charlotte Phoebe Plant. She's tiny - only just 6 pounds (though she's only a little over 2 weeks old) - and Miriam looks more like 6 months old next to her. It turns out that their new house has a lovely shower, but no bath. Not inside, at any rate. Instead, it comes with a hot tub outside. Designed for four, and Si and I fitted very well into it with a glass of wine each and a child to look after, while D and Moo looked after the littles. Si lent me a pair of swimming trunks, but I'm planning to leave a pair over there for next time.

He's planning to come over to work from home at my house on Monday, as he doesn't yet have broadband and needs to look after Morgan. Oh, and he doesn't have a Wii yet, either.

Labels: computers, friends

Two wedding anniversary presents

You might think that this title might refer to the present that I bought for Moo, and the present that she bought for me, and which we exchanged today, as it's our 12th wedding anniversary today. But no. Moo's apparently ordered a present for me, but it's not arrived yet. And she thinks that she probably threw out the card she bought, in her mad recycling frenzy on Thursday night. I gave her a present - a lovely bag from Roots which I bought last week, and a card which I bought yesterday.

So what, you ask, is the second present? The gift of laughter. We went out to a nice pub for a meal with our friends Kirsty and Matt (hi, Kirsty!) over lunch, and while we were waiting for service (which seemed to be for much of the meal), I took Jo to play in the grass area. There were some deckchairs. Jo and I sat in one each, we got up, we moved around, Jo and I sat in the same ones again. *Crack*

I had to 'fess up to Moo and to the pub (who were fine about it). Moo thought it was very funny, particularly because I have some form with breaking seating furniture. This comes up quite often in the family, and I thought I was very generous to share this story with Moo (although Jo would probably have grassed me up anyway).

Labels: friends, humour, Jo

Prayers offered, prayers answered

First of all, please pray for Sally, and her son Chris. He's got serious heart problems, and went to the Brompton for tests today. He's got "atrial flutters, which apparently isn't good if you've only got one heart atrium left. So, prayers for them both and all their family and friends.

On a different note, I was just about to be driving past Si and D's house, and thought "Si's away this week - I know, I'll phone D and see how she's doing." So I did, and she told me she really wasn't well. She was waiting for the midwife (who was already running late), but told me she didn't want to come round: she'd be all right. So, I carried on, dropped off some dry cleaning, and decided to ignore her: I popped round. She wasn't well, and I decided to wait round for the midwife. Good thing, too - the midwife wasn't happy. So, I took D into hospital. Picked up Morgan on the way, Terry, his grandfather, picked him up at the hospital.

In the end, she's fine. Lots of prayers answered there. Si's back from Edinburgh (caught an early plane), and all's well. It's what friends do.

Labels: friends, prayer

Porky, Jen and Jake (and Turtle and Mouse)

(backposting) Jen, Moo's sister, came over with her tribe today. A veteran of crackedness and mastitis herself, and a great provider of moral support, I was so pleased that she could come, and Jo had a good time with her cousins.

Who, then, is Porky? Porky is Jo's imaginary friend who turned up a few days before Miriam turned up. We see (well, that's the wrong word) quite a lot of him. he had a brother or sister at some point (Ollie), but no sign recently.

Oh, Jo was running a temperature last night, and ended up with me in the spare room. I actually ended up feeling guilty because I got more sleep than I would have done with Moo and Miriam.

Labels: family, friends, sleep

Magnificat

"He hath showed strength with his arm..." - thank you, Herbert Howells (St Paul's service). Just doing my 10 minutes in front of the (muted) TV. Mary really had some things to say - not that Simeon didn't, of course.

I was back at work today, and got lots done, although my voice still isn't entirely sorted. I was supposed to have a supervision with Keith today, but he's not well either, so we've postponed for a while.

Forgot to post yesterday that we had a midwife visit yesterday. Yet another midwife - we've had very little continuity this time, but it doesn't bother us particularly. On her advice, we're off for a check-up at Colchester Hospital on Wednesday. They're not particularly worried, but the deal is that if you're measuring more than 3 weeks off what your expected size is, you're supposed to go and have a check-up. Jo was big, too, but not as big as this one. Moo's 32 weeks now, and measuring 39. No wonder people are asking her how long she'll be at work for - and that she's beginning to get more uncomfortable.

A good friend of mine from school emailed me today to catch up. We've talked a few times over the past couple of years. She suffers from mental illness (there are more people around who do than you might expect), and not all of her family know. She has a supportive husband, though. I'm really pleased that she keeps in touch - she was such a good friend at school, and one of those people it would be a shame to lose touch with.

Labels: friends, Mary, Moo, music, pregnancy

Jo's birthday party

We had a lovely time. Kate and Mac turned up in time for lunch, and we were raring to go for 1400 (despite Jo announcing, dead on the hour, that she wanted to go up to her bedroom for a sleep). Milly (+ Kate and Graham), Digi and Kalila (+ Nik and Tosha), Ruby and George (+ Jason), Max (+ Elizabeth) and Sennen (+ Victoria) all turned up, as did Mel. Everyone got on pretty well (helped, for the adults, by some beer and wine - important that it was the policeman father who brought some of the former and started things off), and we had very few tears (none from the adults, as far as I could tell). The food was good, as was the company, so a good time was had all round.

Wish I could say the same about the rugby. We're 57 minutes in, and it doesn't look like we're going to win. In fact, a white-wash is still a distinct possibility.

Labels: friends, Jo, rugby

Jo's new bed

Si and D came round today, and Si (and Morgan, a bit) and I put together Jo's new bed, the last piece of furniture for her new bedroom. We've been clean to get her into her new room as part of her "turning 2" (soon) celebrations, because we didn't want her to think that she was being turfed out of her current room by the arrival of the new baby. She slept in it for her nap this afternoon, and we made the decision to move her into it today. We went to see our friends Kirsty and Matt in their new (well, in July) house in Cambourne, and Jo had a lovely time, but we got back quite late, and she was therefore very sleepy. It meant that she went down quite quickly - we'd been concerned that she might be a bit over-excited. So, she's now in her first proper bed. She looks so _small_ in it.

The midwife came to visit this morning (coincidentally, arriving just before Si and D had to head off, so we didn't get so say goodbye properly). It was Debbie, who looked after us last time: she's not been around before for any of the appointments, and it was lovely to see her again. Moo's 29 weeks today or tomorrow. And measuring 36 weeks. She was measuring 34 weeks this time last pregnancy, and second babies do measure bigger, apparently, but still...

Labels: baby, friends, Jo, travel

Last post of the year

Sitting watching Sense and Sensibility, which we recorded last night. We love Alan Rickman.

Not sure there's anything much to blog about, to be honest. Meant to take Jo swimming, but all of the pools in the area seemed closed, so Sennon and Victoria came around instead, and we went for a walk. Made flapjacks, ate them, or some of them. Moo made a lovely fish pie for supper.

We've got a new synchronised blog coming up on the 10th January: spiritual warfare, which is a new subject for me.

Here's to next year, 2007. May it bring Light into the life of all who read.

Labels: cooking, friends, swimming, walk

Back home

It's lovely to be back. A pretty good journey home, and in the afternoon, our friend Leo came to see us. She's a pretty big time grown-up EU lawyer, and isn't over in the UK very often - in the end she only managed to get over for a little over an hour, but it was fantastic to see her.

I've still got an essay to write. For the 5th. It needs to be on Church History, and I've chosen the following:

Analyse and discuss the relationship of Christianity and one other faith during the period studied and any impact of this today.

I'll do Islam, because the second half is pretty obvious. I've only got 3000 words or so to write, so it shouldn't be too much of a nightmare.

"I'll do Islam". Well, you know what I mean...

Prayers for Sally's son Chris, who's in hospital.

Labels: essay, friends, home