Saturday, January 16, 2010
Ballet and friends
(backposting) After ballet (and a bit of time for a clean-up), we had Richard and Ellie (his daughter) and Laura (the au pair) over for a fry-up lunch. Great fun, and we chatted and chatted for ages. Didn't get that much else doing, and we were stuffed till the evening. But good to see them, and the girls had a great play. The new upstairs lay-out, with the bunkbed in one room, and the playroom next door, is working really well.Labels: girls
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Long day
Left at 0620, got home at 2110, which counts as a long day. Didn't help that the train home was very slow indeed. Had a good day, though: one of those "you know, I'm really damn good at my job" days. Got to see Miri for 10 minutes this morning, but not Jo. And I forgot to phone her, which made me rather sad.Our friend Victoria has painted the girls' playroom (was Miri's bedroom), which means that we can now start doing lovely things with it.
Labels: girls
Friday, January 08, 2010
Bunkbeds
They've arrived. What an enormous relief. And the girls are so, so happy. And I'm so, so happy because I didn't have to waste hours of my life and a good part of my vocabulary on putting them together: the delivery guys did it for us. Moo put some stencils up on the wall, some fairy lights on the bed and a little book light on Jo's bed. And all is well in the world.In other news, I may be going to the US this month after all. And I ordered a watch with my Amex points. The clasp on my current one broke for the 3rd time, and the last 2 times it happened, it took weeks to get it fixed, as it's a Citizen, and it seems that noone stocks the parts. And Moo was getting bored telling me the time. Really very bored. So, a new one.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Preparations
(backposting) I am, in fact, making a major contribution to the Christmas preparations today: I am looking after the children. This might seem like a simple task, but in fact, it is not. This is for three main reasons:- they are very excited
- they are very tired
- Moo keeps discovering that we've forgotten things that we need
The girls stayed up until my parents arrived around 1900, and then failed (in Jo's case) to get to sleep for approximately an hour.
The season is upon us!
Labels: Christmas, girls, shopping
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
At home with the girls
Jojo's not great when she's not got things to occupy her mind. We were at Sainsbury's by 0815 and had a cooked breakfast there before doing rather more shopping than I'd expected. Then back home, and we tried to keep the girls busy. Making sausage rolls, using my computer (starting to teach Jo how to touchtype), making plaster moulds, all that sort of thing. It's hard on Miri, because Jo needs time on her own - or doing stuff with adults - and Miri really wants to be with her sister.Oh, and we wrapped all the presents tonight. Oh, the excitement, again.
Labels: girls
Monday, December 21, 2009
Snow, more snow
(backposting) Mel really doesn't like driving in snow, so I drove the girls over to her house. I then went and bought my very first yarn. Very exciting, and you can find all the details over at my account on Ravelry (I'm MikeCamel there, as everywhere else).Back home, and spent 90 minutes on the bathroom, then did the kitchen, too. Even wiped around. Astonishing. And got the new work email account working on my phone.
I went to pick up the girls in the late afternoon, and the weather got rather interesting on the way back. Not fun, and I was aware that Moo was driving home at the same time, but we all got home safely in the end.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Being in charge
(backposting) We took Jo to ballet, and after that I took the girls out to a restaurant (well, I say that, it was a Frankie and Benny's), and then to Haverhill Cineworld to see Planet 51. They did very well (and no loo-breaks during the film, which is a minor miracle), though with about 30 minutes to go, I suddenly discovered that my lap was not my own. The film falls into the "mildly diverting" category, but I think they enjoyed it.When we got back (and after a cup of tea), I foolishly agreed to take Jo around the village to drop off some cards that she'd refused to write before school finished yesterday. 2 were fine, but we discoverd that despite her protestations, she really had no idea where her friend Ellie lives. Didn't stop us driving around several times, and the tears, but I did my best.
Watched the first 3 episodes of the excellent Generation Kill. Really into it, I have to say.
Moo spent much of the day working, poor thing. But some big bids have come up, and she wants to have a good clear run over Christmas.
Very snowy here, and around -5 Celsius. It turns out that negative numbers aren't a big thing to Jo when explained with regard to temperatures. Worth remembering.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Giraffe time
(backposting) Off to Giraffe in Cambridge with two very tired girls, after Jo's ballet in the morning. Moo had taken Kate and Mac to Cambridge for the Christmas shopping, and we met them for lunch. I took the girls to Waterstones to buy some nice books afterwards, and then we headed back home because they were just so knackered.Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sleep, iPhone, cold, work
Yesterday's entry finished with a question: would the girls sleep in? The answer, of course, was a resounding "no". They woke up around 0530, though they stayed in their room till the statutory 0615.So everyone was very tired. I was presiding at the 1000, and Mum and Dad brought the girls over for it while Moo worked. A good service, and I do enjoy delivering a blessing to Jo and Miri. Afterwards we went to Dickens Restaurant for lunch, and then Mum and Dad headed back home while Jo got very sad. We took the girls for a walk (sold mainly as a chance to jump in puddles), but not before we'd had some time to play together as a family: messing on the playroom floor with Marble Run.
The girls went down much better today, and I did a bit of work. A bit of a relief, as I got something finished which I wasn't convinced I'd manage to fix even tomorrow morning. Oh, and the iPhone? Dad's got a new one, so I spent a fair amount of time on the phone to Orange, whose number reallocation system seemed to have failed for the weekend. Lee knows that he's not supposed to allow Dad up to see us with technology that he's not yet mastered.
Labels: family, girls, phone, sleep
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Shocking coincidence
(backposting) If I'm honest, it's probably more than coincidence, which makes it even more shocking. Dad and I separately bought a top each in Freeport. Now, it's not surprising that we both bought a top from the same shop (Crew Clothing) - but the same design, in the same colour? That's just embarassing.The girls are ridiculously tired, so we let them have an hour or so's sleep in the car this afternoon. In hindsight, this may have been a bad idea, as I discovered at 2020 that they'd turned the light back on, having failed to get to sleep.
Will they sleep in tomorrow?
Labels: girls
Friday, November 20, 2009
Working on the plane
(backposting) I'd had to take the only flight - and class - available back today, which ended up being at 1405, and business class. This meant that as well as having more room and a decent meal, I was able to a couple of hours' work on the plane, alongside the 45+ minutes I'd done in the airport.Got in around 1500, and headed off to park on the M25. Oh, it's dull. But I got back, absolutely knackered, at 1815, just in time to see the girls into bed. They were so pleased to see me, as was I to see them. Mum and Dad had also arrived for the weekend, so we had some duck and managed to stay awake for a while.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Not the day I'd hoped
(backposting) I spent 6 hours or so working, while the girls played. Their cousins arrived after luch, and there was lots of playing. They've not seen them for several months, and they love them so.I headed back home around 1615, once the girls headed off to the Loughborough Fair. It was a difficult decision: I'd have loved to go with the girls, but I'm really worried that I'm going to miss the big deadline coming up. I had a horrible drive back: yes, the weather was awful, but I kept nearly turning back, because I was missing the Moo and the girls so much.
But I got home, and did a couple of hours' more work.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Going out to lunch - properly
(backposting) It's been a while since we went there, but we had lunch with the girls at Scutchers in Long Melford. It wasn't cheap (not helped by the fact that we bought some of their award-winning smoked salmon for Christmas), but what food. The girls did pretty well, and, for a really good restaurant, it's brilliantly child-friendly. I don't think we've visited for maybe 2 or more years, but they were pleased to have us back, and it was a great call.Went round to see some friends in the afternoon, and went for a walk. We'd promised the girls that we'd go out in the evening to a see a bonfire and fireworks, and we were both 90% certain that they'd completely freak, and we'd have to head home early as soon as the bangs started. But they did really well. We stood a way back, but had a good view, and they loved all the colours, and even quite liked the noise. So, a real win.
Got home, worked. Things are very, very busy, and I need to get some bits and pieces completed as soon as possible.
Labels: food, girls, walk, work
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Tired, tired
(backposting) Well, yes, me. But mainly the girls. Jo had ballet - twice (practice plus an exam), and I took Miri shopping during the second excursion. I also had to take Danny, one of the cats, to the vet, but he was fine after all. Great, great tiredness from Miri and Jojo.Saturday, September 26, 2009
Bunkbed time
(backposting) We decided the other day to buy the girls a bunkbed for Christmas, and today we told them about this. This is because Mum and Dad wanted to buy the girls something special, and they'd agreed that accoutrements for bunkbeds - mainly duvet, pillow and cushion sets. So the timing worked quite well.Went for a great walk in the afternoon - one of the ones I used to love from my childhood. Both girls did lots of running, which was pretty impressive.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The house, the girls
It's really good how having children at school and pre-school starts integrating you better into the community. We need some insulation put in the roof (yes, I know I could technically do it, but I could also technically put my foot through several ceilings), so we got the dad of one of the other kids (who's a builder - the dad, not the kid) to come round and look at it. He was very helpful, pleasant, and seemed to know what he was talking about (there are some complicating factors, as we have a very old house). So we'll almost certainly get him to do the work. Oh, and it's so much nicer giving work to people in the local community. Good stuff.After the excitement of peering into our loft spaces (we have 3 different ones - see above about old houses), we took the girls swimming for about an hour and a half. They had a great time, and we were all very hungry afterwards, so headed down to one of our favourite local cafe-restaurants. They took 20 minutes to even take our order. And it took another 15 minutes for the first of our drinks to arrive (and that was after hassling), with the others arriving some 10 minutes later. Luckily we'd ordered some garlic bread (which came around the same time as the second set of drinks), and the girls were very, very patient. We ended up getting stuffed, and came back to "garden". Well, sit in the garden watching the girls putting on "Shows". You know the type: "Falling down show", "Bouncing Show", "Skipping Show", "Beach Show" (they stripped down to underwear and pranced around to music with pom-poms as microphones), "Rain Show" (they added umbrellas) and "Snow Show" (they pretended to shiver). I've got some of it on video, and intend to save it for when they have their first serious boyfriends. Oh, yes.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Services, and holiday
(backposting) I presided at two services today: an 0800 at Halstead, and a 1000 team service at Greenstead Green. I preached on the what the basics of Christianity might be at the 0800, and was just presiding at the 1000. Every time presiding is different, and that's still really exciting.Then, after lunch, we headed off towards Diss. On the way, we stopped off at Bressingham Steam and Gardens, which Malcolm, Halstead PCC treasurer, had suggested as a good day out. The girls loved the Galloper (a carousel), and some of the steam exhibits. They also loved going round the gardens on a narrow gauge (or mini-something) steam train. As we were headed off, we found a big warehouse with lots of trains and carriages in it. Jo's first reaction was "boring, boring, boring" (spot the aspiring teenager), but she almost immediately got really into it. Of particular interest was a royal carriage with a bath in it.
We got to the hotel, whose main attraction for us was that they had one room with an adjoining side room which the girls could sleep in. We watched some of The Wizard of Oz, which Jo really got into, and then we headed down to supper. A proper, grown-up supper. With both girls. They did really well, and we were proud of them.
Labels: communion, girls, holiday
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Home alone
The girls are away at Kate and Mac's this weekend, so I'm home alone. We started off the day driving to Sainsbury's, planning a lovely fry-up. We got there at 0735 - the shop opening time being 0730 - but the café wasn't open yet, so we did some shopping. And _then_ we went to the caf&ecacute;. No fry-ups. And no clue about anything else either, it seems. But I bought a pair of trousers and a shirt for work. And some food for the weekend.Got home, had a sleep, did all of the ironing whilst listening to the cricket. We've set them a good target, but, well, the pitch is holding up better than expected.
I've also updated my home laptop to karmic alpha 4, had an Indian take-away, and am watching Chain Reaction. Amusing and moderately diverting, but not High Art[tm].
Labels: cricket, films, food, geekery, girls
Saturday, August 08, 2009
And ... home
(backposting) And I slept for around 4 and half hours on the flight - maybe more. This made a huge difference, and I didn't do at all badly during the day, though I had a few minutes over lunchtime, I was pretty much OK all day.It was so, so brilliant to see Moo and the girls, and as I called ahead a few minutes before I arrived, they were waiting, waving from the sitting room window. I got home in time for late breakfast, and then we played on the new Wii Fit (lots of fun, and the girls can manage some of it), and then we headed off to a café for coffee, cake, some shopping and some time out.
During the afternoon, I had to attend a wedding in order to prepare for my very first (as celebrant/president), next Saturday, and the preparation for it, which I did after it.
But I was back in time for the girls' bedtime, and a proper introduction to the Wii Fit from Moo. She wept with laughter at my attempts to do the "Hula" game. I can't blame her.
Labels: girls, home, wedding, wii
Friday, July 17, 2009
Graduation
From pre-school. It was seriously sweet, and there were tears. From me, too. The pre-school had made certificates and little mortar boards, and they called them up one by one. We got it on video, of course.And the girls were _so_ tired that we had to fabricate an excuse to drive to a supermarket so that they'd both get some very badly needed sleep. Holiday tomorrow.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Fete
(backposting) There's something very English about a fete, and we went to the Clare one today. It rained a little, which is important for a fete, but only started raining properly just as we left, which was helpful, but kind of disappointing in a weird way. The girls had their faces painted, I had a pint of local bitter (Augustinian from Nethergate, since you asked), tasted another (also Nethergate - Essex Border, very nice, and I'll keep an eye out for it), courtesy of Cura (who seem to deserve a shout, we had fresh doughnuts, that sort of thing.I'm shattered at the moment - and often being moved out of our bed, sometimes there to be joined by Jojo, if she wakes up, too, and am usually woken up some time before 0600. I had a bit of a doze just before lunch, but it didn't seem to make much difference. Neither did going to bed around 2100 tonight. Oh, well.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
The girls and us - a family
We've suddenly - over the past week or so - got to a new stage with the girls. They've recently discovered how to play together. Not just playing for short periods of time, but extended, really complicated, involved play. They'll spend over an hour together doing role-play, drawing, colouring, having tea-parties: the whole deal. It means we can do other things such as gardening or tidying, or even have the odd minute together. And it also means that we can have more family-based times together.It doesn't work all the time, but Moo and I have been turning to each other and commenting on what a fantastic weekend we've had. I think it's to do with concentration and empathy: once both Jo and Miri have reached a particular level of each, they can participate in each other's worlds for extended periods of time. They're now really sisters, and we're a new type of family.
On a different tack, I preached at St Peter's Bocking at evensong, for James, who's currently associate priest there. I preached (again) on Isaiah 35, but this time on how it relates to Pentecost. I talked about our responsibility to work towards the parousia, when the Kingdom of God will be realised, and how maybe, when we don't feel that any of the obvious charisms (though I didn't use the word) such as prophesy, speaking in tongues, preaching, teaching, etc. have fallen to us, we can still "strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees, say to them that are of a fearful heart: be strong, fear not, behold your God will come".
Labels: family, girls, preaching
Monday, April 27, 2009
And back we come...
(backposting) So, I'm a godfather again, this time to Mischa, a lovely little 4 month old. After the service, a number of us headed over to Mentieth Lake, and took the little boat across to the island on which the ruins of Inchmahome Priory are situated. Well, some of us took the ferry - but others decided that the hotel bar was a better bet, and therefore didn't get wet in the driving rain. But it was fun, and I'm not complaining, and we did rib the others about it.After lunch, we headed on the mammoth drive back home. About 8 and a half hours, with a break at Kate and Mac's. We got home, tired, around 2330.
And we have the two best girls in the entire world.
Labels: baptism, friends., girls, travel
Monday, March 16, 2009
Yesterday revisited
I was lying in bed last night, tired but content, and I thought I'd just blog a bit about some of the things I did:- I looked after Jo as she vomited, then slept, then vomited again
- I took Miri to church
- I took two Mexican visitors to our church under my wing, guiding them through some of the service and chatting afterwards
- I took Miri swimming
- I took Jo and Miri to the park (with three friends and their Mum)
- I prepared lovely scrambled egg and smoked salmon (with chipolatas on the side) for supper for Moo and me
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Sleeping in
(backposting) It's not that often that we get to sleep in, but I was up and dressed by 1106, which isn't too bad. Not that much later for Moo. We had a lovely meal at The Punchbowl, and then headed up to The Wool Clip, where Moo bought some wool (one lot at my suggestion, as I hope she's going to use it to knit something for me). Then back to the cottage to finish off the 2nd series of The Wire. What a great programme.When we phoned the girls, Miri said "I miss you, too" in response to me. It's lovely when they learn to speak properly.
Labels: family, girls, Moo, television
Friday, February 27, 2009
Holiday
So, I'm up in a cottage in Dent with my lovely wife. I've been watching Ice Age on DVD, the cricket (West Indies-England test match) and random religious broadcasting on Sky, and the news. And Moo's been knitting.And that's it. We've not been looking after the girls. Because Kate and Mac (my parents-in-law) are.
It's the first time that Moo and I have spent a night away together without the girls since Jo was born, now 4 years ago. We know this isn't good, but we're so pleased to be here, and just relaxing and spending easy times with each other. Many thanks to Kate and Mac.
Oh, and I've managed to get this machine online despite not having the relevant documentation, remembering stuff I last had to do around 3 years ago, about which I'm pretty chuffed.
Labels: geekery, girls, holiday, Moo
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Little Miri
Not well yesterday, not well today. Seemed to be getting a bit better, so we agreed that we'd all go to Sudbury shopping this afternoon (rather than just me and Jo: you should have seen Miri's shoulders' slump), and then she threw up in the car. Yeuch. And then Jo decided that she needed a wee at the roadside, and that turned into a poo. By the time everyone was finished, we decided we might as well complete the trip to Sudbury, and I stayed in the car with Miri (who we'd stripped off and wiped down, to be fair), and Moo took to the marvellous Rafi's (or "Spicebox", as it's officially known), and got some curries. And we had a chicken xacutti tonight. Yum.Jo's really, really pushing it at the moment.
Oh, and I realised this evening that I'm down to preach tomorrow at the 1000 at Halstead. We're commemorating the Conversion of St Paul, and I'll be talking about redundancy.
Labels: girls, illness, preaching
Friday, January 23, 2009
23/01/2009
Originally uploaded by MikeCamel
Not exactly coordinated, but we're having fun.
Labels: girls
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
History
I was going to blog about my trip to Canada next month, or about being in Eindhoven today, or how work has suddenly got a _lot_ more interesting. But today is a day of history, and, like most of the blogosphere, I suspect, I can't avoid talking about that.Hopefully, my two daughters watched at least some of the inauguration. Jo, at nearly 4, is too young to realise the importance of what has happened today, and Miri, at nearly 2, will have to be told that she was sat in front of it. What's more, I didn't want to explain to Jo why having a black man as President of the United States is such an important thing: she has maybe a few more months or years without understanding prejudice, and I'd like her to have those while she can. But it _is_ a big day, and I know I wasn't alone in wondering if Obama would survive to be sworn in. He has been, and he now faces one of the greatest challenges any American has ever faced. God be with him.
Labels: girls, history, travel, work
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Ballet dress
Miri spent all day in a dressing-up ballet dress. Jo did actually have ballet today, and Moo her while I stayed at home with Miri.
- Miri: "Where's Jojo?"
- Me: "She's at ballet with mummy."
- Miri: "Me? Me? Me?"
- Me: "No, darling: maybe when you're a bit older."
- Miri: tears. Lots of tears.
Labels: girls
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Nativity play
Today was Jo's first nativity play, and she was the Angel Gabriel. None of the kids had anything to say: one of the teachers read out the story, and they sang along to / did actions to a bunch of Christmas songs and carols. But it was lovely, and she was so happy.She was, however, yawning through most of it, and so were we. This could have been something to do with the fact that we were (all, including Miri) up at 0210 this morning, and none of us got a whole bunch more sleep, though Moo, bless her, let me get back to sleep for an hour or so after we all got up. Jo was in with me, Miri with Moo. Miri would burst into tears every time Moo told her it was still night-time. Jo came up with the line "But Daddy, angels don't sleep..." (and wouldn't be convinced that little girls who were going to be playing angels not only do sleep, but also _need_ sleep).
So, they're both knackered, and so are we.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Quotes from the girls
Jo (part-quoting a poem she's learnt): If you may, if you might, stay up deep into the night. Asking God for gold and silver fishes. And if you're good, Miri, I'll give Daddy some of them.
Me: Jo, do you think it's better to ask God for money, or for happiness?
Jo: Happiness. And money.
Miri: 'ney! 'ney!
Jo ("reading" her Bible to Miri): A hundred years ago, God was born, then Jesus died.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Looking after the girls ...
... but not myself.I had them for most of the day, Moo got back around 1530. Cough. Ow. Headache. Ow. Cough (again).
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Sleeping the clock round
I was going to blog on something major today, but I'm going to hold off. We're planning to go to bed, and it's not something that I want to treat without giving it the time it deserves. In the meantime, Moo got back with the girls late this afternoon. It's lovely to have them back, and Miri seemed very keen to cuddle up with me on the sofa.I had a quiet day, and lunch with the clergy team, talking to a possible new curate. Did some shopping, spent some time on Facebook, did some reading, was disappointed in the England rugby team's score against Australia: that sort of thing. I'd slept pretty much round the clock, so I've felt pretty much OK all day.
Labels: blogging, curacy, girls, sleep
Sunday, November 09, 2008
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.
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
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Emotional
Two reasons:- we had a confirmation this afternoon, in Halstead church. We had 21 candidates (of whom 4 were baptised in the same service), and 2 people received into the Church of England from another church. I was emotional because it has a lot in common with my ordination service, and that's not that long ago. It brought lots back, and, however, odd it feels, I keep knowing that I'm doing the right thing.
- I missed the girls' bedtime again. Second night in a row, and although Moo was fantastic about it, she shouldn't have to be. It's not so much missing putting the girls to bed, as much as the fact that Moo ends up doing it on her own, and it can be really hard. This made me feel sad.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Zoo time
27/09/2008
Originally uploaded by MikeCamel
We had a lovely, lovely time at Colchester Zoo today: just Miri, Jojo and me. I took the girls to give Moo a day off, as I'm off on work travel for nearly 2 weeks tomorrow.
Jo was considerate, patient, obedient, sharing, kind, sensible and generally a joy to be with, and Miri toddled around happily. One of the things that Jo wanted to do was to take some pictures, and this is one of them. She still hasn't got the whole "framing" thing yet, but she _is_ little.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Off to lovely Gothenburg
What a lovely city. I don't think I've ever visited before, and I've picked the right day for it: sunny, some wind, and around 21 degrees Celsius.Just phoned home, and Jo's a bit sad: that's the way it is sometimes. She passed me over to her little sister saying, "Miri's a bit happier than I am." Seems she didn't want to tidy (know the feeling...).
Sunday, August 31, 2008
More National Trust
So, after I got back from the 0800 and 1000 services, we headed off to Ickworth House, another National Trust property, and one which Si and D recommended to us, for the adventure playground, if nothing else. We had a very good time, and both girls did lots of running (or, in Miri's case, waddling fast) around. The adventure playground was, indeed, excellent, and both both Miri and Jo had a good time. We were just packing up when the rain started to come down pretty hard, so we were pretty pleased with ourselves.I'm slowly getting better at the choreography involved with deaconing. Remembered the corporal at the 0800, at least. Got a couple of other bits wrong, but not too bad. I took the first part of the 1000 at Greenstead Green (a team service, though Viv wasn't there as she was ill), which went very well. I also deaconed at the altar for John, though he prepared the elements. We had to get extra wine ready (we realised in time), but then I came over with the lavabo, rather than the water in the cruet (apparently it really is called that), so we used that, as we were getting behind. I'd point out that we used the water _before_ John washed his hands.
Mel seems to have had a rather good hen night...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
You _can_ eat porridge through a straw ...
... but not the lumpy bits. And it goes everywhere.Today's revelation brought to us by our sponsors: Jojo and Miri.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Girls back home
(backposting) The girls got back this evening, and we got them both back to sleep fairly quickly, which was good. I was a little worried about Buster today, as he's only eaten 1 out of the past 5 meals, and has been dry coughing a little bit. So, I took him to the vet. The one I saw knew Suzy (who died from a heart complaint), and was very understanding about the fact that I'd brought him in. His eyes were a little gummy, and it turns out that he has a bit of a temperature, but at least his heart sounded OK. She said to bring him back tomorrow morning if he didn't seem better tomorrow.Friday, July 11, 2008
Girls away
(backposting) Today, Moo took the girls to see Kirsty in Cambridge. I was privy to the further plan, though: to go on to London for Turtle's 5th birthday party. Turtle is Jo's cousin - Jen and Jake's youngest - and Jo loves her very, very much indeed. Jo slept some of the way, and realised as they got to Dulwich that they were going to Turtle's house. She then got stressed, on realising that it was a fairy party, that she didn't have an outfit. When Moo told her that she'd packed both girls an outfit, there was much relief, and Jo came out with the lovely phrase, "Mummy, what would I do without you?"They were going to come back tonight, but to my great unsurprise, Moo decided to stay, which I think was the right decision. I went out to meet James - the other curate at Halstead - and his wife, Ruth, who'd I not really met before. It was my first - but probably not my last - trip to a pub in a dog collar (it was me in the dog collar, not the pub, in case you're reading this, Gary). It felt a little uncomfortable, to be honest, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
I also met John and Mo, who are back from Africa, and seem to have had a good time.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
A busy day
Muffins for breakfast (freshly made by Moo), Disney princesses game (Wii - Jo and (mainly) me), hoovering, church (girls and me), scootering (Jo), lunch, bottle runs (recycling - me and Jo), drive to Braintree Freeport swimming pool (closed for a gala), drive to Halstead swimming pool - fantastic jumping in and even swimming by Jo, and swimming underwater, completely unfazed, by Miri - home, walk to the chippy for supper, only to discover that it's closed, drive with Jo to Sible Hedingham, fill up Moo's car with diesel, get some cash out, go to kebab/chicken takeaway, home, supper (chicken and chips and scampi for Moo), a few minutes of Mama Mirabelle's home movies (gotta love Floella Benjamin), bath (girls and Moo), bed.Since then, I've put my phone back together (software, that it: it crashed and I had to hard boot it), and done an hour and a half of ironing. Now sitting down, watching Midsommer Murders.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Kentwell Hall
Those fish are scary. There's a moat full of them, and when they realise that you're going to feed them, they swarm. Very scary. Jo didn't mind. Moo did.The little lambs were nice, and Jo loved them, as did Miri.
The lawn got its first cut today. As usual, I had to do a major dog poo clearance first. And as usual, as I'd left it so late, the first cut wasn't with the lawn-mower, but with the strimmer.
Labels: girls
Monday, April 21, 2008
All's well
Jo didn't go to pre-school, but was fine other than that, and so we're relieved. Did lots of work on a document that's due on Wednesday, meaning that I should be able to make it to Infosec Europe tomorrow.Miri went to sleep nice and quickly: not so Jo...
Labels: girls
Monday, April 14, 2008
Lovely kids
The girls were just lovely today. Mel gave Miri some stacking cups, and she spent ages and ages putting them up, knocking them down, putting them inside each other, pulling them out: you get the idea. Jo was just lovely, and they were a joy to be with. Sometimes it's just great being a dad.Labels: girls
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Pastoral work
Sometimes you need to reach out, and I offered someone on SecondLife my phone number to talk. She called, and we spent nearly 1 hour on the phone. Mainly, she just needed to chat, and that's fine. I actually can listen...The girls have been away today with Moo at her parents. Mostly, I've been studying for my (last!) ERMC essay, doing lots of reading around the family and marriage, but I've also walked the dog, put the washing through, hoovered and general stuff. It's been lonely without Moo and the girls around.
Labels: girls, pastoral care, secondlife
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Moo's off!
Yup, she's got a course till Friday evening, so I'm in sole charge of the girls until then. 3 full nights, and another evening. I'm hoping that they sleep really well. They both went to bed and to sleep very well, but I'm sitting downstairs and can hear Jo coughing, so we'll have to see how it goes.Labels: girls
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Back to Polzeath
(backposting) We arrived a little later, partly because we knew that the weather wasn't supposed to clear fully till the afternoon. On arriving we went and bought some postcards, a bucket and spade for Jo, a hat for Moo, and a wetsuit for Jo as well. We should have got one earlier in the week, but there's some room to grow into it, and we'll be back in a month or so.Jo looked great in the wetsuit and it certainly kept her much warmer. We put up the UV-resistant tent (for Miri - it's been very helpful all week), and I took Jo to jump in the waves and do some rock-pooling (which she'd enjoyed yesterday). Then we went back to Moo. Although the weather had cleared from the morning (there'd been rain overnight), there was some _serious_ cloud coming in from the Atlantic. We then saw the rain coming down, which meant that we had some time to prepare. People were running for their cars, Moo put Miri into the tent, and got Jo in there as well. No room for me, so I hot-footed it to the sea and the surf. I was already in my wetsuit, and it was much warmer in the sea, and I stayed there until it finished raining, lovely and warm and happy.
I got back to the tent really worried that a UV-tent wouldn't be water resistant, but it turned out that the girls were all dry, and had had a fantastic time.
We had a good rest of the time, and towards the end of the time we were there, some people set up a booth. Turned out it was the Polzeath Family Mission. They seemed to be offering some good entertainment for the kids, and I was pretty impressed. Caught a couple of minutes of a - what? sermon? homily? chat? - well something that was being amped up. Arguing from natural theology - "we're called to look beyond what we see to a creator, who created all we see around us", that sort of thing - isn't my thing, but they had a decent number of people, and I picked up a flyer: they're doing quite a lot of work.
We stuck around for a late lunch (pasties, chips), and then headed back to the house. As we were heading back, we had a call from some friends of Kate and Mac (and therefore Moo): Sally-anne (sp?) and Mike. They live near Redruth, and we'd left them a call earlier in the week. Although it was last minute, we ended up joining them - and about another 20 people - for a lovely barbecue. Jo stayed up past 2100, not having slept on the way, being absolutely manic, mainly with the youngest of their kids, Christina. The family - and, in fact, all the guests, many of whom were also family - were great, and we had a fantastic evening. Because we're not stupid, and as I wanted to get some sleep - I'll be driving lots tomorrow - we put Jo in with Moo and Miri.
Labels: girls, holiday, weather
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Girls back
Moo, Jo and Miri got back around lunchtime - in fact, we met at Freeport for something to eat. I'd slept through to 9am (!), and then got up and done things like get some more food for the dog, get rid of some of the more obvious thistles and brambles in the garden, get some food in, and even have time for some tea and cake at the Cafe Clare.I took Jo to pick up Buster, who was very pleased to see us. I gave him a bit of a groom, which he really needed, and he seemed to settle down OK. Did some work on an ERMC assignment, watched an Alan Partridge DVD with Moo.
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