Home Alone!

Today is the first day of  a 4 day marathon...

My wonderful family, Husband and parents have gone off to lead a conference for a few days leaving me and Daniel home alone!  As time off and holidays are so precious I have decided to try and juggle work, Daniel and survival all in one !

I think I must be mad but so far things have been ok, Daniel is at pre school now so that gives me a few hours to cram work in and evenings are free to work solidly whilst he sleeps so how is it going..

Well so far so good, we have had just one melt down when I had an unexpected meeting during toddlers, Daniel afterwards told me he didnt like me talking when I was there to play with him!! ( lesson learnt!) I have managed to cook a home made healthy ish dinner that was eaten and finished with an ice cream treat!! ( dairy free) Daniel went to bed and so far I have finished a sermon and a funeral, a reference for a dear friend and cleared a ridiculous number of emails...

But I am shattered...I can cope because i know in 4 days time the cavalry will be back and the pressure will be shared yet again.

So, how do single parents do it? My hat yet again is taken off to those people who day in day out have to cope on their own with EVERYTHING. It is so easy to take advantage, forget to appreciate the things we have in our lives, until they are gone, even if it is only temporarily!

I am so grateful for what I have been blessed with and never again will I take any of it for granted...

so til Friday....I may look even more haggered than usual, I may be seen running around, driving around more than usual, I may even forget many things...I just hope and pray that the week will be one of blessing and not stress for Daniel more than anyone ;)

HAPPY IN HOO

This last few weeks have been manic....we had a residential weekend away last weekend in Aylesford Priory for a course Marc and I are on...we took Daniel with us as Grandma was teaching on the course too and so Grandad also came along  to have Dan during the sessions....it was an awesome weekend of learning and reflection but also slightly exhausting worrying about Daniel as he didn't eat much all weekend and struggled to get to sleep at night....but he left that place saying it was "So Great!" and asking when he could return....that boy would totally thrive living in community!!

Then, we came straight back into Bishop's visitation week...a week where the Bishop travels around the deanery...in our case Strood, and looks at all the different things we do, talks to the clergy and local community where given the opportunity to discover what issues there are. 

Unfortunately the Bishop was unable to visit some of the  things I am personally involved in but I did get a chance to present my work, the things and projects I am involved in and the things I am really passionate about. I found myself becoming really passionate and excited about    the place in which we live. I just totally love the Peninsula and Hoo specifically!

Since leaving the North West I don't think I have really ever felt so much community spirit....you can go out just for a walk and people stop and chat whether you know them or not, you have a coffee in Taggs and conversations naturally start... in spite of wearing a dog collar....and we find ourselves involved in some amazing things with some wonderful people....this makes me happy!

My only anxiety is the future...the unknown....can I sell to the Bish the amazing work that is here on the Peninsula...can we sell our case to the powers that be that 4 years is just not enough time to develop stuff....who knows...but for now I am so happy to be here!!!

Work, rest and play

This last week has been a real mixture of work, rest and play...after a very manic, exciting, exhausting and envigorating Easter weekend of services and celebrations I managed to collect a rather nasty chest infection resulting in ke just about making it through all the services I was leading but then hit the ground hard with coughing all night and sleeping very little...not the best start to our time off..

However despite being ill and exhausted we managed to have a really lovely time away at our parents caravan...we toured the local castles of Dover, Deal and Walmer and as many Costa coffee shops as we could possibly find...purely to drink soya lattes to enable us to thaw out from the -2 degree temperatures !

Daniel also enjoyed going swimming every day and dancing the night away at Sparky's Crew club and even had his first ever street dance class !

Being away really gives you the chance to take stock of life and reflect on things. I really do love my job, love the people I get to meet and spend time with in the name of work... But I trully love my family...despite disturbed nights sleep, mountains of ironing, eating battles  and the other joys of having a toddler I do feel truly blessed to be here right now with my wonderful family