Mike's musings

Back home

(backposting) We were heading home and decided to pop via Snape Maltings to have some coffee and cake. Clearly the café was closed. But we noticed that they have apartments for sale. We'd like one. They're rather out of our price range.

Labels: holiday, home

Home again

(backposting) Well, we packed everyone up - Moo in the back with the girls again - and headed off mid-morning. We stopped (thank you, Little Chef). A fair amount of sleeping on the back seat, which was pretty much the idea.

A little catch-up on Miri. Over the past few days, Miri has learnt lots of new things, including:

• how to walk forward when she's being held up
• how to to pull herself up to standing more confidently
• how to say "Mamamama": even in context a couple of times
• how to say "woof" when presented with a dog toy
• how to move back to sitting from crawling position
• how to crawl forwards (usually only one step, though!)
• how to tell us when she's hungry (she says "nyum, nyum")

Labels: home, miri

Flying home

Ryanair - I'm not convinced. But I got home OK, which I was pleased about, obviously. Both Jo and Miri were both very pleased to see me, which really made my day, particularly as I'd been pretty miserable this morning: just a bit home-sick.

Miri's looking older _again_: I think it's the hair, which is growing quickly.

Got home to discover that Kate and Mac's computer isn't working. Sounds like a powersurge has wiped the ADSL router's memory. We've decided to pop up tomorrow and I'll see if I can fix it.

Labels: home, Jo, miri

Tidying, cleaning, preparation

(backposting) That's what today was about, basically. Mum and Dad took Jo out for coffee and cake, Miri had a sleep, and we tidied, I stacked the logs, took the bottles to the bottle bank, etc.. Kate and Mac arrived after lunch, and later, so did James, Alex and their two girls Jemma and Alice.

Jo and Jemma got on well when they met in Cornwall in September, but none of us had any idea how well they'd get on today. They had a lovely time, running around, playing together and the rest. Poll and Lee arrived a little later, after a bit of a frantic trip to Halstead by me and my mum for passport forms, and some IT help for Dad (aaargh!). Poll and Lee headed off to supper and left the rest of us to a lovely chicken casserole from Kate. To bed, with Miri in our bed. Not as much sleep as we'd like.

Labels: home, miri

And home...

(backposting) Got home around 1100, having had a bit of a sleep on the plane, and in the car on the way back (always worth mentioning that I wasn't doing the driving). Really felt OK, and got a fair amount of work done in the afternoon.

I'd bought quite a few presents, and Jo's new coat, in particular, went down very well indeed.

Labels: home, travel

Going home

In an hour and a half's time, or so, I'll be getting on a plane to go home. I've accrued enough air miles that I'm able to upgrade to "Executive First", so I'll get a good seat and a chance to sleep, which is good. I'm ready for home, I really am.

I've bought lots of presents for the girls (including Moo): just one of those trips (and the Canadian dollar's very weak at the moment, which helps).

Did some coding today. It's been a while. Nice to have the chance: I'm working on a PoC (Proof of Concept) for an idea I had this week.

Enough. Home soon.

Labels: geekery, home, sleep, travel, work

Burn them! Burn them!

(backposting) We lit the fire for the first time this season: it's suddenly gone cold. Turned on a couple of the night storage heaters, too. Brrr!

Work's _so_ busy all of a sudden: it's like people have finally worked out it's not holiday season any more, and have got their backsides in gear. Maybe that's connected to the change in temperature...

Labels: home, work

More sales training, then home

Another day of training: it was useful. A long trip back home round the M25, and it was slow, but at least moving. Tired tonight.

Labels: home, work

Back home

(backposting) At last. After a long hard week, some final discussions about worship over the week and a final Eucharist - to which we decided that Moo, Jo and Miri really couldn't make it - I drove home, had half an hour with the girls, and then took Jo to pick up Buster. It was so lovely to see everyone, and great to be home.

Labels: ERMC, home

And really home, and Buster, and Meg

(backposting) We headed home in the morning, and had a pretty good drive home - Miri slept all the way. Meg's home, but not well at all, and although she's not eating, she's tolerating being given food via a syringe. We'll be taking her back to the vet's on Monday to see what's next.

Buster, on the other hand, is very well, and pleased to see us all. We suspected that he might play up a bit, but he really hasn't.

There was a message on the voicemail saying that I'm expected at a deanery evensong tomorrow night, to talk to people at vocation. This is terrible, terrible timing, as it's over Jo's bedtime, and as Jo's just not sleeping for long periods, that means that Moo will have to juggle them both. There was little getting out of it, and as Moo's likely to need to have to do this at some point next week anyway, she very kindly told me to do it.

Spent some time on SecondLife tonight with Lee, who seems to be big into it, and to have plans for making money.

Labels: buster, home, meg, vocation

Home

I've got:

• no voice. At all
• lots of give-aways from the show which I've distributed between the 3 of us. One of the exhibitors had a bin into which you could dump give-aways that you didn't want, and which they'd donate to needy children (with some money on top)
• a sore throat (see above)
• lots of snot
• plaudits from colleagues for my booth hosting
• permission to take Moo out for a seriously good meal on the company as a thank you
• some good books to read
• some badges and bracelet things (you know, like the "make poverty history" ones) in rainbow colours
• some fun presents for Moo for our engagement anniversary (14 years)
• a personal assessment to write...

Labels: home

Back home again

(backposting) So, only four hours of sleep, and I had to miss the first session of the day. I really needed some help with last night: Helen listened, let me cry, all the rest. I need to be honest with the blog, where possible, and the need for cry was really about powerlessness: about not being able to help and fix things.

Helen has suggested that when I'm ordained - I'm too busy now - I get some counselling training. Knowing how to deal with issues when the arise, knowing what's possible and what isn't, and also how to deal with the effects on me, too: that sort of thing. Over the years, I've found myself performing this sort of role with a variety of people, and having some sort of training in it would make a lot of sense, so I welcome Helen's wisdom.

A very good service - communion, as always - then lunch and home. Back a bit before Moo and Jo - who's still very coughy. Got a nice one developing myself, actually.

Labels: counselling, ERMC, home

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

Back home - just

(backposting) A very good meeting in Zurich, which should lead to some good work. Again, only just got home. Heathrow was pretty much closed, but they still seemed to be flying to London City airport. Well, they would have been if the Swiss (International Air Lines) plane I was on hadn't lost one of its landing lights on the way to take-off, thereby needing it to be taxied back to maintenance, have said landing light replaced, and then take off 30 minutes late. At least it was only 30 minutes.

Got home to discover that Jo had gone down easily, but that Moo was still suffering really badly from a nasty cold. As she's pregnant, pretty much the only thing she can take for it is paracetamol, which doesn't help much. I ended up sleeping in the spare room, as I don't have the heart to wake her for snoring, since she's pregnant. I'm a real softy, me.

Labels: flying, home, Jo, meeting, Moo

Not yet

This is Jo's latest, and I'm not sure why it's so affecting. Maybe it's the way she says it, and maybe it's the awareness of time she shows - at the same time as a complete disinterest in our terms of reference (and why should she have an interest in them?). Have you finished your milk? Not yet. Do you want a wee? Not yet. You get the message.

This morning, there was a frost, and Jo asked Moo, out of the blue, whether the white stuff was snow. She saw snow last year, but she can't remember it. I talked about it a couple of days ago, but I'd have put it in the "so abstract I'll be surprised if she remembers what it is when we actually see it" category. Children are monstrously amazing. Just beyond the intellect.

I love my daughter, however awkward, manipulative and downright annoying she can be. And she can. But she cuddles me, and we've agreed to talk while I'm in Canada ("Canda") next week.

Labels: home, Jo, Moo, snow