Thursday, August 14, 2008
Prayers for Chris, Sally and family
Sally, who some of you may know, has much to pray about. And so we do. For her, for her son Chris, and for the rest of the family.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
SecondLife Cathedral
(backposting) Woke up at 0545, 15 minutes before the alarm. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to be meeting in Guildford at 0930 or 1030, so left lots of time. Even getting lost didn't stop me arriving before 0910, so I had a second breakfast, courtesy of the Bishop of Guildford and his wife.The Bishop was hosting a conference on "Web 2.0 and the Church", to which Mark (Arkin Ariantho), Gareth (Gareth Janus), my Dad (with his church law hat on, metaphorically) and a variety of folks from i-church, the diocese of Guildford, and others (not all Anglicans) were invited.
Although it was mainly to talk about the Anglican Cathedral in SecondLife, we were careful not to restrict ourselves to that. We had a tour of the cathedral, we talked about responsibilities, duties, team structures, authority, discipline, finances, resources, theology, succession, and just had a really, really productive meeting. We came up with four groups that will work on their respective pieces: charter/constitution group, legal group, resources group and theology group. I'm engaged with the first, and hope to work in the future on the fourth. I can't do justice in the blog to what a great and productive time we had, and how good it was to share communion with many of the people there. I think that the church - or at least parts of it - are really keen to engage, and see the developments we're part of as being of significant importance to the future of the church: more so than we have so far done ourselves.
At the end, some of us went to the pub for a drink. One of us collapsed, which was interesting. Not from alcohol - he just seemed to faint. I looked after him, called the ambulance, etc. People seemed surpised that I'd know what to do, but that Rescue Diver training just takes hold, I guess.
Labels: illness, secondlife
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Off to Kate and Mac's
(backposting) Jo's not been very well for the past few days: running a temperature, that sort of thing, and when it became time to take the girls to Kate and Mac's in two cars, and she asked to go with me, it was pretty-much a no brainer, as she'd been in - or close to - melt-down all afternoon. Just a thought - presumably the phrase "melt-down" didn't exist until the nuclear age?Anyway, we got there, and Jo in the end didn't stay up to wait for Mouse and Turtle, but voluntarily asked to go to bed. She woke up when they arrived at 2350, but ended up in bed with me, as she was running quite a temperature. Poor little thing.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Man cold
Not very well this morning. Not helped by the fact that I was up late last night. Suddenly realised that we're supposed to be up with Kate and Mac next weekend for Miri's birthday, but I'm supposed to be preaching at 0930 on the Sunday morning. Whoops.And I had a thought about work as well, so was emailing around 2300. Not perfect, but there you go. Got back to sleep again, much thanks to Moo, and a bit of paracetamol helped. A bit shaky during the day. Man cold, you see.
Labels: illness
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Moo and work
(backposting) Well, I wish Moo hadn't had to go to work, but she did. I know it was important, but still: she's really not well. Interviewing people, and if they find the right person, then it'll make her life much easier.I had a long meeting with John, my training incumbent elect tonight: till nearly 2230. We got through lots and lots of things that we need to sort out, from how many services I'll be taking, what books and vestments I'll need, how often we'll meet: all those sorts of issues. It's good to have meetings like that: it's actually quite a good way to bond and create a team.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Doctor
(backposting) Someone went to the doctor today, and should start getting better soon. Well done...Had a good chat with Mark today, who's working with me on SecondLife. We're part of a working group within what could be broadly be described as the Anglican Establishment (the capital "E" makes it seem more imposting, doesn't it?) that's looking at some of the legal and theological issues that arise. We don't often talk - the fact that he's in New Zealand make it difficult - but we overlapped for a while today, which was useful. We're preparing for a mini-conference, and wanted to coordinate, so I've got to send him some stuff, and now that I've talked to another member of the working group, to give him some info, too. Useful conversation.
Labels: humour, illness, secondlife
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Moo's ill
(backposting) So ill, in fact, that she's agreed to go to the doctor. Seems like her tonsils have a nasty infection: tonsilitis. It's not fun seeing her grimace every time she needs to swallow. Hope she's better soon.Took Jo and Miri to St Andrew's, Colne Engaine, for the team Holy Communion Service, which was good. The girls did pretty well, and it was good to attend a service with Clifford presiding. John and Geoff were there, too, and it was nice to meet Mary, Geoff's wife. We started the service with "Christ is Risen", to which the congregation responds "He is risen indeed: Alleluia!". Miri let rip with a loud shout just after the "Alleluia", clearly in response to it, and got some appreciative laughs from around the assembled throng, which was pretty large.
It's fascinating to note that kids of Jo's age have no concept of race or skin colour: I asked Jo if she'd noticed anything about Clifford (who's originally from the West Indies, and black), and other than agreeing that he was wearing priest's clothes, and was quite old (he's retired, so I guess this is OK), she didn't volunteer anything at all, so I didn't mention it. The longer such continues, the better. There was a Tweenies episode later on that we were watching which brought up people being nasty about people because they looked different, and referenced skin colour, but I don't think she noticed, and I turned it off before she could pick up on it.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Jo still not well
Jo was ill during the night, and throughout the day. I had a meeting in London, but managed to make it to the doctors with her: she's just got a viral infection (which also explains the rash). Poor Moo had to leave at 0600 for a meeting in Birmingham, so kept in touch via the phone, but it made her rather sad to be away from the girls when one of them was ill.Tuesday, March 25, 2008
One poor sick girl
Jo was very, very tired when she came back from pre-school, and cold, too, and I put her to bed, where she slept for an hour with a hot water bottle. She woke up much better, and went out to a playground. Got home, threw up in Mel's car. Not well. She threw up again later, but hopefully will sleep well tonight.Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Not well
(backposting) Around 1710, I came downstairs from my office to ask Mel if she might be able to stay late tonight, as I was beginning to feel pretty ill. Unluckily, it soon transpired that she was feeling even worse than me, so I sent her home. Moo didn't make it back till 1830 or so, which meant over an hour of trying to look after the two girls and avoid throwing up. Managed it in the end, and though I spent most of the night on the loo until about 0400.Labels: illness
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Zoo
Sent Moo to bed early last night and did lots of ironing. Felt pretty pleased with myself, if tired. Not that I don't usually do the ironing - I do - but well, I did.This morning I was leading discussion and a service at Great Yeldham. Keith chose the topic for me this time: "What does it mean to live by the Bible?". Fits in rather well with the ethics module I'm doing, so I had quite a lot to say. Keith managed to come - it's always clashed with services that he's been taking before - and seemed to feel it went quite well. I've been tweaking the format of both the discussion and the service afterwards (now 3 hymns...), and it all seems to work pretty well now, thought there's still work to do.
When I got back, I took the girls to the zoo. Not that Jo's not off there again tomorrow (or maybe Tuesday), but we had a great time. Moo really needed some downtime, and although she's getting her voice back, she's still not well.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Cinema trip
(backposting) We decided that a fairly safe, less-stress option for the morning would be to take the girls to the cinema. Miri, of course, would be guaranteed to sleep, Moo (who's still pretty ill) could hold her and have her sleep on her, and I could deal with taking Jo to the loo in the middle of the film (obviously). We discovered that the Cineworld Braintree - our local cinema - was showing Ratatouille, which had to be pretty safe. Unluckily, we'd forgotten how loud cinemas are, and Jo really didn't like the "crashes". She did really well, actually, but doesn't really want to go back soon.Took Miri and Buster for a good old walk today and used the new GPS bluetooth that Moo's given me (early) for our engagement anniversary on Wednesay (I won't be around). My phone supports GPS accessories by default, and it Just Works[tm]. Great stuff. Did about 3 and a half miles, and rather tired out poor Buster.
Labels: films, GPS, illness, Jo, walk
Friday, February 08, 2008
Moo's home
She was planning to get home quite late, but is feeling pretty horrid with a flu-y cold, so left her course at lunchtime, which meant she was back in time for the girls' supper. Lovely to see her, even if she's not 100%. At least it means that I can give her lots of TLC.Monday, January 21, 2008
Man flu, day 2
Well enough to work. Only just, obviously. Lots of work done, though, so maybe I'm not _that_ ill. Strike that sentence. Glands up. Sore throat, streaming nose and eyes.Of _course_ I'm ill.
New CEO today. Sounds decent enough.
Labels: illness
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Man flu, day 1
Temperature, feeling horrid. Church or bed? Moo sent me to bed.Monday, January 07, 2008
Patent disclosure
One of the great things about working in a tech company who take innovation seriously is that they encourage you to write up ideas. Today I wrote up a patent disclosure that I'd come up with at the ECC conference last year. I'm quite pleased with it, to be honest. Obviously can't say anything more than that.In the evening we went to a private viewing of some work by a friend of ours who really isn't very well. Prayers, please: can't really say more than that.
Oh, and a friend of mine, David, has been appointed Rector of St Anne's, Soho. I believe it's OK to say so, now. Well done him! It's a great position, from what I can tell, and I think it'll suit him well.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
ERMC and home
Woke up feeling even worse - not just a bad throat, but really ropey and shaky, too. Excellent session on work and ministry: very helpful indeed. Thought about going home early, but glad I stayed for Communion, I'm pleased to say.Wednesday, October 17, 2007
More -ve
(backposting) Woke up at 0130. Finished vomiting at 0630. Water, followed by weak Ribena, and a single piece of lightly buttered toast in the evening. At least Jo's better.Labels: illness
Monday, October 15, 2007
-ve, +ve
-ve: Jo's been sick this evening. Asleep now.+ve: I've got Alien Arena 2007 working on my box at 1600x1200. Nice. And free, of course.
Labels: computers, illness, Jo
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Not very well
Haven't felt very well today. Suspect that it's non-specific idiopathic man-itis, so I think I'll be better tomorrow. We had an Internet outage for a couple of hours today: scary!Please pray for Chris and Sally and family: Chris is ill again.
Labels: illness
Monday, September 24, 2007
Migraine
I've never had one, thanks be to God, but Moo gets them from time to time, and today's one of those times. I've sent her to bed, and thankfully she was able to eat some toast before she headed upstairs.Had a fascinating chat with a couple in their late 80s from Long Melford today about their lives. They've lived through some very interesting times in some interesting places, and I learnt more about them than I think they expected me to - they seemed worried that they'd just chatted to me a bit!
Labels: illness, Moo, placement
Monday, July 30, 2007
Lessons learnt
We ended up going to Trebarwith again, and had a lovely time. We arrived a little early, as the tide was still pretty much in, but it went out fairly fast, and we installed ourselves on the sand. Moo spent most of the time on a little chair we bought (apparently it's difficult to breastfeed on the sand) for her. Miri spent most of the time feeding and sleeping and gurgling. Jo spent most of the time running around saying "I love it" again. We found a green millipede, two different types of anemone, limpets, a sea louse, some small fish, barnacles, lots of mussels and some small waves to jump over. The bigger waves were a little too scary, obviously, but I was allowed to spent a few minutes in them later in the day.Jo got a little cold and tired, and lost it rather, which was quite understandable. She's still not well, obviously, which doesn't help. Lots of running around in the garden again "I'm a bear", "now I'm a tiger", "you hide: no, let's both hide: here. Boo!" You get the idea.
Dad phoned me this morning to tell me to buy The Times. Hard to do, obviously, but a brief article about how the Jesuits are telling Catholics to embrace SecondLife for missionary work. Good for them.
Oh - and I forgot to mention. On Friday, Miri giggled for the first time, and then laughed. It's the first time, and it was for me, which was lovely.
Labels: holiday, illness, secondlife
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Two important lessons
(backposting) These lessons are:- don't take a pushchair to the beach unless you're _sure_ there are no rocks to clamber over, and the sand will be firm;
- don't try to change a baby only a couple of metres from the shoreline if the tide's coming in.
Ice-cream, doughnuts (don't start - we're on holiday).
We'd started off in Boscastle, and then headed off to Trebarwith, which is a lovely beach. We were there around 1400, which was a little late, as the tide was coming in very quickly, but we'll know better next time. May well return on another occasion. Without pushchair.
Poor Jo's being very good about not scratching, and she's been better in herself today. Had a lovely hour or so running around in the cottage's garden, pretending to be various animals, hiding, chasing, playing with a beachball: all that sort of thing. She really gets play with other people now, and it was a real joy: _she_ was a real joy to be with. No spots on Miri so far.
Labels: food, holiday, illness, Jo
Friday, July 27, 2007
Off on holiday!
(backposting) Got up just before 0400. This was planned. Well, we'd _planned_ to get up dead on the nail of 0400, but Miri woke up a few minutes before, so Moo did, Jo was already in with Moo, she woke up, I heard them from the other room, so we decided to get on with it. We left around 0430, which is pretty good.I'd packed the car the night before, to a litany of swearing. At one point I got annoyed and needed to throw something at a wall (an outside one, I hasten to add). Unluckily, what came to hand was a chocolate biscuit. Not heavy enough, and so bad aerodynamically for throwing at walls that it just caused Moo to laugh at me, which wasn't exactly the effect for which I was hoping.
We made very good time, and decided to stop off at my parents' house for a while to catch our breath. We couldn't get to the cottage in Cornwall before 1600 anyway, and we'd left early in order to avoid the bad M25-M4 traffic, so we'd broken the back of the journey already. Poll and Lee had already headed off to their respective works, but Mum was there, and Dad hadn't left yet, so we got to see them. In fact, we stayed till around 1100, and I had a bit of a sleep.
Spots appearing all over Jo's back, and a few on her tummy. We stopped near my parents' and got some children's painkillers and calomine lotion. A friend with whom she was playing on Wednesday came out with full-blown chicken-pox on Thursday, so we had an idea what was going to happen, and by the time we made it to the cottage around 1700 (we'd turned up a little earlier, but it was still being cleaned, so we'd visited Port Isaac for a little walk, followed by the family staple of C & C (Coffee and Cake) - prefixed by an ice-cream, as we're on holiday) ... to return to that sentence ... it was clear that she had full-blown chicken pox. Nothing on Miri yet, but hmm.
Tomorrow is Sophie's wedding. We phoned. They have a 9-month old, and lots of children are expected at the wedding, and when we phoned to suggest that they might prefer us not to come, they took us up on it. We weren't surprised, but Moo was very upset, though she quite understood. Sophie was Moo's best friend from college, and we'd organised the trip specially to come to the wedding. Some tears, lots of cuddles, and I started plotting.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Yes, mastitis
(backposting) The midwife decided we should go to the nurse practitioner, who took one look and said "mastitis". So, anti-biotics it is. Not that this will help with the cracks, of course. Moo's just in so much pain. It's also really hard on Jo, as Moo really doesn't want her to see what will look like Miriam hurting her mummy when she has a feed, so we're having to keep Jo away for something that should be a great family time. I'm finding it very difficult, too, and although Kate and Mac's heading off today meant that we have a little more time to ourselves, there's more to do, of course.I'm praying, and walking, and going with what I can.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Mastitis?
(backposting) Although Miriam's doing better, Moo's having real problems with the breast-feeding, and she also has horribly cracking problems, if you see what I mean (I don't want to be blocked by the link police...). Every feed causes so much pain that she's in tears. Kate and Mac are helping hugely, but it's really hard for all of us.Oh, and I barbecued tonight, which was great.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Jaundice
Didn't sleep too well, and Jo played up in the morning, but Kate and Mac took her downstairs, and Moo, Miriam and I stayed up and had more sleep. Lots of it. By the time we were up, Jo had headed off to toddler group, and Kate and Mac went to do some shopping in Clare. This left the house quiet for us to try a bath with Miriam - her first. She loved it, and was completely chilled out by the experience.Moo's breast-feeding, and having some problems with it this time - unlike last - so is needing lots of support, but when the midwife came to visit, she showed a different technique which Moo hadn't used yet this time round, and which helped enormously. That was the good news. The bad news is that Miriam's jaundice hadn't improved enough for the midwives, and they wanted her to have a test to see if she needed treatment. If we lived closer, they'd take a sample and drive it to the hospital, but we're too far away. This meant that the midwife booked us into the SCUBU (Special Care Baby Unit - the first "U" is there to make it easier to pronounce, I think!) for a test, with the possibility that Miriam and Moo might need to stay in. This really wasn't what we needed at all, and although the chances weren't high, they were certainly real - and the reasons could range from standard "breast-feeding jaundice" (minor) through an infection (possibly major) through to liver problems (possible long-term major). And nobody wants to set foot in SCUBU if they can possibly avoid it, believe me.
We left in some trepidation, and I spent some time on the phone to my sister-in-law Nina (who's a GP) and my brother, Jim (who's a paediatric registrar). Both of them were very reassuring, and at least we knew what questions to ask.
I'm pleased to say that Miriam came out well under the levels needing treatment, and we came home tired, but happy. And hugely grateful again to Kate and Mac.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Parents here
Mine arrived yesterday afternoon, so were around today. I went to the doctor's again today. The appointment was to check my blood pressure - which is down to 120/80 (a huge improvement), and I also asked for help as to what to do about my throat and voice. Nothing other than a throat spray, and rest, so I'll do what I can.Had a sleep in the afternoon, and then helped Moo a bit preparing for Jo's party tomorrow. Oh, and there's the rugby, tomorrow as well...
Monday, February 19, 2007
Another week
The doctors have given me another week off. Hopefully that'll be enough to get me fighting fit again. I've got some voice back, but still don't feel great, and have a pretty terrible barking cough. I've agreed to be available for the odd conference call here or there if required, as the guys really need some support, but I'm going to try to be careful. On top of everything else, I've now got a bad shoulder, too, which is seriously annoying. I suspect it'l go as soon as I'm well enough to spend some time walking around and taking some light exercise.Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Hallucinations
I really don't like hallucinating, which is something that happens quite regularly to me when I have a temperature. So, the last couple of nights/days have been interesting. I don't tend to see things, just know that all's not quite right: for instance, all I wanted to do last night was sleep. But no - the "helpful Christian voices" wouldn't let me. Sounds lame or scary, but it's just a bother, to be honest: I know what's going on, and I'm not ill enough to be taken in.Having been awake most of the night, this came along. Don't know whether I should really be posting it, but hey...
The Conversion of Saint Raul, or "reclaiming a poster boy"
(Coming to us in the near future, if we're not careful...)Raul sat on the train, feeling rather pleased with himself. They'd got 6 new ones in London - of which 4 were down to him, and 1 of which he'd claim as an "assist" - and he had a good lead in Bristol, which is where he was going now. He'd got the relevant bishops' emails (sometimes, it seemed, provided somewhat unwillingly, but OAfJ knew how to pull the relevant strings), and he had some good contacts in the local media. In fact, the national - and even international - media were beginning to take notice of the work of Outing Anglicans for Jesus, and there'd been quite a scrum when Raul had thrown the last incumbent's vestments onto the muddy street outside the church and ritually burnt them, before handing him over to his bishop. Of course, it wasn't all high-church Anglo-Catholics, so you had to pick your desecration carefully, and one of Raul's favourites had been a nasty piece of work called Stephen, who'd finally confessed when the OAfJ had thrown his copy of "The Message" onto a bonfire in the church hall car park.
Just then, as the train passed through a tunnel, there was a flash of light. Raul was blinded, and ducked down onto the floor, sure that the train had hit something, and that the carriage would at any moment start to buckle. However, nothing of the kind happened, and he was about to get up, when suddenly he heard a voice.
"Oi, Raul. Why are you picking on me?"
"Jesus Christ," blasphemed Raul, "who the hell's that?"
"Right first time," said the voice, "it's Jesus, who you're persecuting. Now, get up, get off at the next station, and you'll get your instructions."
The other OAfJ officers with Raul were flabbergasted - they'd heard the sound, but couldn't see anyone. Raul, trying to rescue something of his dignity, got up from the floor of the carriage, but when he opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything. So they helped him off at the next stop, which was Bristol Temple Meads, the city station. They found a hotel, but he was completely blind for three days, and didn't touch a morsel of food or a drop of drink.
Now, in Bristol, there was a rector of a church in the city who was called Andy. The Lord called to him while he was tidying up after youth club, "Andy!". Andy took his mobile out of his pocket. Caller ID showed "THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY", which he was pretty sure he'd never set up in his contact list, so he decided to go with it. "Yes, Lord?" he answered.
The Lord told him "Go to the Hotel Judas on Straight Street and ask for a guy called Raul Tarsus, as he's praying. In a vision, he's seen a man called Andy come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
"Lord," Andy answered, "you've got to be joking. I've seen this guy in the news, and all the harm he's been doing to the community in London. And he's come here with authority from the bishops to out and defrock anyone who's even remotely queer."
But the Lord said to Andy, "Get off your backside! This guy's my chosen instrument to present me to that post-Christendom society you're always on about, the media, and all those so-called "God-fearing Christians". I'll show him how much he'll have to suffer for me."
So Andy, somewhat against his better judgement, made sure he still had his mobile (in case God changed his mind on the way), put on a rainbow bracelet (might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb) and headed off to the hotel. They showed him up at reception - he had his dog-collar on, after all - and, full of trepidation, he entered Raul's room. He placed his hands on Raul, and said "Brother Raul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the train here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something seemed to fall from Raul's eyes, and he could see again.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Christians: choosing who to love
I'd hoped to spend some time on this, but as readers of entries passim will realise, I'm not at all well (update below), so I'm going to keep it short.My intention had been to write from two directions:
- as Christians, we don't get to decide who we should love: we're supposed to love everyone (including ourselves). This includes people of whom we may not approve - and I'm thinking in particular of gay, bisexual or lesbian people. And gay, bisexual or lesbian Christians, too.
- we should maybe realise that other people don't get to decide who they love, either: and I'm thinking in particular of gay, bisexual or lesbian people. And gay, bisexual or lesbian Christians, too. God made each of us the way we are, and we must remember that Jesus told us to "love your neighbour as yourself", which means that we must realise that people must love the selves that God made them.
Sorry to be blunt - I expect comments (though I may delay responding to them all until I'm rather better).
Synchroblog
Today is a "synchroblog" on the subject of spiritual warfare. If you've liked what you read here, or, more particularly, if you didn't, and you'd like to read some other opinions, please visit one of the other participating blogs:- Christian Sexuality as Ritual Worship at Phil Wyman's Square No More
- Christians: choosing who to love at Mike's Musings
- Loving God, Loving others, loving self- responding to the Goddess- a feminist perspective at Eternal Echoes
- Trinity by Mike Crockett
- Prophet's Passion at Adam Gonnerman's Igneous Quill
- A Love Supreme from Fernando's Desk
- What is this thing called love? at Steve's Notes from the Underground
- Love as it should pertain to us missionally? at Webb's Stumbling into the Kingdom
- Divine Eros by Handmaid Leah
- Loving the Other by John Smulo
- The Conjunction Between Sensuality and Spirituality by Matt Stone
- The Blogger Whom Jesus Loved at Jamie's More Than Stone
- Love Them Patriots at Calacirian
- I'm a better lover than I used to be... by Billy Calderwood
- Young people in on love by Tim Abbot
- The Art of Making Love....and Soap at Cindy's Tracking the Edge
- Being Missional: Love Comes Before Power by David Fisher at Be the Revolution
Update
For those of you with an interest, I'm definitely still ill. Got around 2 hours of sleep last night, woke up with a temperature and alternate shakes/sweats. Doc gave me antibiotics and the week off.Labels: illness, love, sexuality, synchroblog
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Still ill
(backposting) Title says it all. Moo's being a real stalwart, particularly as she's not 100%, either.Saturday, February 10, 2007
No post
I'm only blogging because I do. Feel crap, low ebb, don't want comments, don't want email.Intend to get anti-biotics, instead.
Labels: illness
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Yes, cold
(backposting) Except this time, it's about the cold that I've got, and which is re-establishing itself. I'm feeling pretty crappy, and generally streaming. Apart from not feeling very well, things went well today, and I had some good meetings. Bailed on supper - again - as I just couldn't cope with the thought of going out and being with lots of people in my current state.Friday, January 26, 2007
Getting there
Beginning to feel a bit better. Helen from ERMC sent me a book, which is helpful.Labels: illness
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Signed off
The doctor's signed me off for a week to get better. Kept wanting me to tell him that I'm down, but I'm not, really, so wouldn't!Labels: illness
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Crying at civil servants
In the best of all possible worlds, the act of ordering a new passport shouldn't involve having to cry at any civil servants. But it was all going very well, I'd been awake since 0430, and I'm clearly not well. What a nice man: God bless him for giving me the benefit of the doubt (despite my rector not having filled in part of the form correctly - which I should have checked).Phoned home, cried. Tube, train, car home. Slept.
OK, so I haven't _really_ taken it easy enough. Will try now. Need to listen to:
- medical opinion
- Catherine
- friends
- family
- my body
- even God.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Baby Tommy
We heard today that baby Tommy died on Thursday. We know now more than that he was tired, and an inspiration to his parents. Please pray for them.The fact that I'm still feeling ill rather pales into insignificance.
Labels: church, death, illness
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Birthday/new baby preparations
(backposting) Still ill - really not well at all, but Jo's birthday's coming up, and we need to get her new bedroom ready, partly so that the new baby can have hers. So, I've had to do quite a lot, as there's a bunch of things (lifting, putting things together, reaching high stuff, carrying) that Moo can't do as she's pregnant.Felt a bit better in the evening.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
Slow down!
Well, Sally's entry today could have been written for me, or at least parts of it. Went to see the nurse practitioner at our surgery today (thanks, Sally, among others), as I've not been sleeping, and can't seem to throw this cough/sore throat/run-downness/etc.. Lack of sleep during the night (and then having to crash during the day) is a classic sign of raised blood pressure, which I remembered. And, indeed, my blood pressure's gone through the roof, with readings of 170/110 and 150/101, neither of which is particularly reassuring, and Pat (the nurse practitioner) reckons it might well be partly a result of the viral infection generally running me down, which causes my body to put its blood pressure, which makes me tired, which makes me more run down, which causes ...So, she's increased my dosage of head-exploding pills (named because that's what they're designed to _stop_ happening), and I'm to have a blood test once they've had a chance to kick in. Last time, my bloods came back fine: I don't have high cholesterol or anything, just a predisposition to high blood pressure ("ideopathic", which means "we don't know why, and you're odd", as far as I can tell). Checked, and although it would be good to get more exercise when I feel up to it, that won't be the reason. Neither is my diet or general life-style of particular concern*. So, what should I do? Take it a bit easier is the answer.
I'll be leaving the house before 0800 tomorrow to drive to Swindon for two meetings, then driving back, then going to a seminar in Stowmarket. Don't expect to spend much more than 8 hours in the car. You've got to laugh.
Which, actually, is part of the point. I need to make a conscious effort to back off a bit, I think. I don't mind driving - in fact, unlike Moo, I enjoy it - and I'll listen to some good music, kick back (metaphorically), and chill out a bit. Just need to remember to do it. A bit of passive spirituality is called for, I think, and I might even burn a special CD mix to help myself along.
*(I've never smoked, and don't drink to excess. Well, not often. And, you ERMC folks, you see an unrepresentative sample. Honest.)
Labels: illness, spirituality, work
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Recovery
I've got to get well soon. I'm not sleeping at all well, and having to sleep during the day for at least an hour during the day, and it's seriously, seriously deep. Coughing, still.It's been an up and down day. I was a bit miz this morning, having upset Moo last night. Jo's been really hard work, and neither of us has really been feeling great. I had a sleep after we got up, felt guilty about it, took Jo to Long Melford for church, which was OK, but generally involved less liturgy, and more child-minding, than I'd really like. Very welcoming, and a good service, but (as I've mentioned in blogs passim, I believe) this taking a child to church has really opened my eyes to how we can't make assumptions about the extent to which people enter into the liturgy. We went out for lunch at the Bottle Hall pub. Good food, good beer, Jo was a pain. We went back home, but the day ended very well as I took Jo swimming. She loves swimming, and it really cheered me up, too. A good evening, too, and I did the ironing. We're watching the end of the 2nd Green Wing series. It's just genius, and it's got Sally Phillips (of, among other things, the fantastic Smack the Pony, yes, she's gorgeous, though I don't usually go for blondes at all) in it, too.
Spoke to Ian, Rector of Long Melford about the possible ERMC placement, and, feeling brave, gave him not only my contact details, but also the URL of this blog. He'll get the former anyhow, but the latter has some risks attached to it, particularly given Friday's posting. But I decided that honesty's the way forward. Heigh-ho. Ian - if you're reading, hi...
Labels: ERMC, illness, Jo, Moo, sexuality, sleep, swimming
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Coughing so hard...
... that I threw up. Nice, huh? Coughed a lot overnight, and woke up at 0600 coughing more and more. Had breakfast OK, and was about to head back to the customer's, when I started coughing big time. Made it to the bathroom in the hotel, and, well, threw up part of breakfast.Rather than going into the customer, I drove home instead, and had a sleep for nearly an hour. Part sleep, part dreaming, part hallucination. You know the sort of thing. Felt better afterwards, and did a lot of work, but took it easy.
Jo's been coughing madly for about half an hour. She's kind of asleep, but I'm not sure it's going to last. I'm going to try to take her in with me tonight, in an attempt to allow Moo some sleep.
Labels: illness, sleep, travel
Saturday, December 30, 2006
No delight in death
They killed Saddam Hussein overnight. It was a legally and politically justified decision, I'm sure, but I can't take delight in it. I'm absolutely opposed to the death penalty, even when the guilt of the accused is without doubt, and the crimes are horrifying. But I struggle, struggle with the taking of a life - even in war, but yet more in situations such as this. I can't see that we have the right - I, at least, couldn't take it on myself, and I'm glad that our nation does not practice the death penalty, because as a citizen, I would be party to it.Went to Digi's 2nd birthday party today: his parents are Tosha and Nik. Lots of people, and Jo had a good time, as did we. A really nasty drive back home - seriously bid rain and surface water on the road for much of it. Couldn't go above 35 for much of it. Money's not good at the moment. Heigh-ho. And I've got a nasty throat. If that's all we've got to complain about, though...
Labels: death, illness, money, party, responsibility
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christians awake, salute the happy morn!
A lovely family Christmas with Kate, Mac, Nana and Aunty Kitty. A great 0900 service in Rempstone - 10 people, which ain't bad - a very good sermon. If we don't allow ourselves to move beyond the infant Jesus to an understanding of an adult Jesus, then our faith will never be adult, either.Moo had to go to the emergency doctors when she finally admitted that her earache, throat pain, sinus pain, jaw pain and eye pain really _weren't_ getting better, and that she needed to find someone to give her some medication. Not so easy, given that she's pregnant, but they agreed to give her some antibiotics, and hopefully she'll get better soon.
Alleluia! Christ is born! Alleluia!
Monday, December 18, 2006
London
(backposting) A trip to London, worked out better than I thought it would, and I'm becoming resigned to the fact that my boss has decided to send me on sales training. In fact, having bought (at his request) SPIN selling by Neil Rackham, I'm beginning to look forward to it. Now _there's_ a strange thing!Poor Moo's not well, and I'm off Zurich tomorrow.
Labels: illness, London, meeting, Moo
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