I’m tired !!!
Last night we began our festivities with a night out .. in celebrating Christmas with our Upnor cafe family ! It was so good to relax, eat drink and get to know each other a bit better ... some a bit too well 🤣🤣🤣
It’s been a busy old time as we head into the period of Advent ... a time to prepare ... as much as I absolutely love this time of year but right now it feels a little bit like entering the eye of the storm ! There feels like so much that needs to be done it’s almost too overwhelming ; yet I’m sure it’s not just me that feels it... even without the busyness in work there’s so much to do secularly to try and ensure Christmas happens ... but at what cost ?
Marc and I have been trying to re think how we approach or rather what we can put in place to ensure Daniel at least gets the most out of Christmas this year without becoming overwhelmed and overloaded ... all the busyness, the presents, the stuff that “needs to be done however can become a proper distraction from what the season is all about . And now with the political state of the country we’ve got another terrible distraction eating away at a growingly hostile country in a general election .
These next few weeks my prayer to myself as much to anyone else is to take some time to stop , take stock , think and prioritise what’s important , to not be distracted by the unnecessary but embrace the important things in life !
These last few days amidst the busyness it’s been great to spend time with friends and special times with family , to see Les Mis with my Aunty , to take time out to take the kids to Frozen , to spend time Being with friends.
Advent .... a time to prepare ... a time to get ready, a time to Be .
Saturday, 30 November 2019
Sunday, 13 October 2019
News Alert !
I’ve been very quiet in my blog over recent times and even on social media . Most of you know that I love it but as a family we’ve been working some stuff out which we’ve had to do just as a family.
My job obviously isn’t just a job , it’s not even a vocation but rather it’s a calling ... over the years it’s got us into Alsorts of weird and wonderful places including Bosnia , Indonesia and Strood !!!!!!
All I’ve ever wanted to do was to follow that call ... if you’re not a believer and reading this you’ll think this is crazy and I can’t fully explain it but ultimately it’s about going to serve (work) where God feels we are best used with our skills and talents.
I can’t deny the last few months have been difficult as we worked this all out.
My job was contracted for 5 years and being 3 years in thinking about the next step was inevitable... we especially wanted to think about moving for secondary school for Dan as Kent has a grammar system which I’m not a fan of !
To cut a long story short after 4 months of reflections , rejecting ideas , coming back to them and praying ... a whole lot of praying .. who family , with priests and even with a nun !!! We came to the decision to apply for a job and I was offered it ... in Lancaster .
Some of you may know Lancaster is Marc’s home town and where I went to Uni. It’s a long way from Kent and that part breaks my heart .. literally in two infact in many pieces , my parents are here , my sister brother in law and most beautiful
Little niece are here , my best friend and his family are here along with other very close friends and people I now see more like family than just friends ... hope you know who you are ! But we still feel Gods call on us to make the sacrifice and start a new challenge ... being a “proper vicar “ in a church in fact two churches but pioneering out of them !
The timings are sketchy it won’t be until next summer as For Dan we felt he needed to finish the academic year ... so plenty of time for au revoirs !!
If you’ve got this far thanks for reading and happy to share the extended story over coffee , gin etc any time xxx
My job obviously isn’t just a job , it’s not even a vocation but rather it’s a calling ... over the years it’s got us into Alsorts of weird and wonderful places including Bosnia , Indonesia and Strood !!!!!!
All I’ve ever wanted to do was to follow that call ... if you’re not a believer and reading this you’ll think this is crazy and I can’t fully explain it but ultimately it’s about going to serve (work) where God feels we are best used with our skills and talents.
I can’t deny the last few months have been difficult as we worked this all out.
My job was contracted for 5 years and being 3 years in thinking about the next step was inevitable... we especially wanted to think about moving for secondary school for Dan as Kent has a grammar system which I’m not a fan of !
To cut a long story short after 4 months of reflections , rejecting ideas , coming back to them and praying ... a whole lot of praying .. who family , with priests and even with a nun !!! We came to the decision to apply for a job and I was offered it ... in Lancaster .
Some of you may know Lancaster is Marc’s home town and where I went to Uni. It’s a long way from Kent and that part breaks my heart .. literally in two infact in many pieces , my parents are here , my sister brother in law and most beautiful
Little niece are here , my best friend and his family are here along with other very close friends and people I now see more like family than just friends ... hope you know who you are ! But we still feel Gods call on us to make the sacrifice and start a new challenge ... being a “proper vicar “ in a church in fact two churches but pioneering out of them !
The timings are sketchy it won’t be until next summer as For Dan we felt he needed to finish the academic year ... so plenty of time for au revoirs !!
If you’ve got this far thanks for reading and happy to share the extended story over coffee , gin etc any time xxx
Friday, 13 September 2019
Vague
Apologise for being vague on many fronts here but it’s out of necessity for now !
This week, the last 5 days have been horrific difficult and emotional on many fronts.
Last Sunday we had (in my humble opinion!) a really powerful service at Abbey court school bringing the school community and the church community together for the first time! We invested their brand new scout pack, our scouts presented them woth a new standard, we heard from the Bishop and great worship was had . I also conducted the most beautiful thanksgiving blessing of a little girl in the afternoon with over 140 guests and the. Celebrated a colleague being vicar in his parish for 20 years!.... it was a very busy but blessed day!
And when lots of energy and effort has been put in to such things there can often be a back lash .. these week we have taken it on all fronts ... I actually feel like I’ve been through the eye of the storm and have not quite exited yet!
As always I’m always grateful to dear friends and family who have shown their support in the various different situations and the support we have had has been lovely . I’ve again learnt the very important lesson of talking and sharing how you feel with others it really does help !
I am heading into a new working week thoroughly exhausted (it’s now 12.44 I’ve been in bed 2 1/2 hours and gotten up several times unable to sleep!! The joy of an ADHD Brain!)
There really is no point to this except to say thank you to those who are walking with us .. we have a great faith that God is bigger than humanity and has our family in the palm of his hand guiding us forward .. but the journey is a struggle sometimes and hopefully writing it down will enable sleep to come !
As well as Abbey court being my weekly highlight I also discovered a local cafe selling dairy free Ben and Jerry’s ... all can’t be bad !!!
This week, the last 5 days have been horrific difficult and emotional on many fronts.
Last Sunday we had (in my humble opinion!) a really powerful service at Abbey court school bringing the school community and the church community together for the first time! We invested their brand new scout pack, our scouts presented them woth a new standard, we heard from the Bishop and great worship was had . I also conducted the most beautiful thanksgiving blessing of a little girl in the afternoon with over 140 guests and the. Celebrated a colleague being vicar in his parish for 20 years!.... it was a very busy but blessed day!
And when lots of energy and effort has been put in to such things there can often be a back lash .. these week we have taken it on all fronts ... I actually feel like I’ve been through the eye of the storm and have not quite exited yet!
As always I’m always grateful to dear friends and family who have shown their support in the various different situations and the support we have had has been lovely . I’ve again learnt the very important lesson of talking and sharing how you feel with others it really does help !
I am heading into a new working week thoroughly exhausted (it’s now 12.44 I’ve been in bed 2 1/2 hours and gotten up several times unable to sleep!! The joy of an ADHD Brain!)
There really is no point to this except to say thank you to those who are walking with us .. we have a great faith that God is bigger than humanity and has our family in the palm of his hand guiding us forward .. but the journey is a struggle sometimes and hopefully writing it down will enable sleep to come !
As well as Abbey court being my weekly highlight I also discovered a local cafe selling dairy free Ben and Jerry’s ... all can’t be bad !!!
Saturday, 7 September 2019
New start
It’s that time of year ... routine returns , meetings back up in earnest .. and the thoughts of days out and ice cream are but a distant memory !! Although we didn’t go away away we had 14 days split across the 6 weeks visiting family and friends and having a really lovely time . The boys were very chilled and got on amazingly well together !
And then back to earth with a bang as Elijah began full time school for the first time this week !!! We didn’t think it would be a big deal as he’s been in the nursery already but boy were we wrong !! He certainly made his feelings known at home but thankfully he was very good once at school each day and went into class without so. I hope as a protest and has come out smiling each day . His highlight the first day was the deputy head having to help him see what was for lunch as he was too little to see over the counter! His staple has been jacket potato and beans and fruit but hey if he’s eating something that’s a win in my book!
Dan has struggled more but held it together in school as is his style. And we’ve had lots of cave time and decompression at home !
I’ve always hated September .. I’m not sure why because I really enjoyed school up until I was 16 but think it’s the thought of getting back to normality and routine rather than the free form the holidays can take plus the extra time with the boys Has been truly wonderful !
The next few weeks are pretty crazy and pressurised too but I’m sure we will get used to autumn and it’s boy long really until The joy and wonder of Christmas is it 😉
And then back to earth with a bang as Elijah began full time school for the first time this week !!! We didn’t think it would be a big deal as he’s been in the nursery already but boy were we wrong !! He certainly made his feelings known at home but thankfully he was very good once at school each day and went into class without so. I hope as a protest and has come out smiling each day . His highlight the first day was the deputy head having to help him see what was for lunch as he was too little to see over the counter! His staple has been jacket potato and beans and fruit but hey if he’s eating something that’s a win in my book!
Dan has struggled more but held it together in school as is his style. And we’ve had lots of cave time and decompression at home !
I’ve always hated September .. I’m not sure why because I really enjoyed school up until I was 16 but think it’s the thought of getting back to normality and routine rather than the free form the holidays can take plus the extra time with the boys Has been truly wonderful !
The next few weeks are pretty crazy and pressurised too but I’m sure we will get used to autumn and it’s boy long really until The joy and wonder of Christmas is it 😉
Sunday, 21 July 2019
The boys are back!!!
When the opportunity for Marc and Elijah to go to Marc’s cousins farm for a week arose it was a no brainer... the last chance to take Elijah before the big move to start school full time in September,... what I didn’t contemplate was just how hard it would be for me .. Dan and I have had a lovely time spending quality 1:1 time together but we really missed Elijah and Marc .. Dan so much he even slept in Elijahs bed !!
It’s also been tough as I’ve had to work full time sort Dan and cook (those who know me know how much I struggle with that one!!) however we have survived , we’ve not been ill and the food has been edible , we’ve survived .. exhausted but survived !
What I have realised is I really need to develop some hobbies , when dan went to bed I’d juat go back to doing work , on my day off , all alone for a whole day I had no idea what to do with myself .. I even popped into the office for a cup of tea !!! From September I need to re think my time off !
But for now the boys are back chaos has returned and I am in my happy place !!!!
It’s also been tough as I’ve had to work full time sort Dan and cook (those who know me know how much I struggle with that one!!) however we have survived , we’ve not been ill and the food has been edible , we’ve survived .. exhausted but survived !
What I have realised is I really need to develop some hobbies , when dan went to bed I’d juat go back to doing work , on my day off , all alone for a whole day I had no idea what to do with myself .. I even popped into the office for a cup of tea !!! From September I need to re think my time off !
But for now the boys are back chaos has returned and I am in my happy place !!!!
Monday, 8 July 2019
Joseph
It won’t have gone un noticed that Daniel and I went with The Monty’s to see Joseph at the weekend .... it will also not have passed you by to realise just how long I’ve been waiting to see this show. Now we live in Kent it seems crazy to many that I never got to the West end to see it previously especially considering my deep appreciation for a certainty ant Donovan 🙈...however at the time we lived in Bolton, money wasn’t free flowing and a trip down to the big smoke (train, tickets, somewhere to stay) was just way out of any comprehension so instead I was given a programme a colleague of my dad bought on their visit , I got the tape then the cd for Christmas and I learnt the words off by heart!
Saturday was so specially because after 28 years I finally got to the London palladium a nd I got to share it with daniel seeing it through his 9 year old eyes of awe and wonder and yes the icing on a very beautiful cake was Mr Jason Donovan returning this time as the Pharaoh! My expectations were high and even those were exceeded, it was everything I’d ever dreamed of and more .. and yes I apologise there was singing and some cheering (ok a lot of LOUD cheering from a group of us very exciters to see Jason !) and when my niece asked if we could go to the stage door who was I to refuse
I would love love love to see it again before it finishes its short run ... if you get the chance and don’t mind like us being in the gods go go go go 🎵😜
Saturday was so specially because after 28 years I finally got to the London palladium a nd I got to share it with daniel seeing it through his 9 year old eyes of awe and wonder and yes the icing on a very beautiful cake was Mr Jason Donovan returning this time as the Pharaoh! My expectations were high and even those were exceeded, it was everything I’d ever dreamed of and more .. and yes I apologise there was singing and some cheering (ok a lot of LOUD cheering from a group of us very exciters to see Jason !) and when my niece asked if we could go to the stage door who was I to refuse
I would love love love to see it again before it finishes its short run ... if you get the chance and don’t mind like us being in the gods go go go go 🎵😜
Tuesday, 4 June 2019
Holiday !
It may have crossed your path that we had a holiday last week ... 3 nights and 4 days of totally exhausting magic !
You see some 7 years ago my mum promised Daniel she would take him to disneyland ... 7 years later we went to Disneyland Paris !
We are very blessed as my parents paid for the whole family to go together in the easiest possible way .. we got the Eurostar from ebbsfleet some 10 minutes from our house which took us straight to Disney , our bags taken to the hotel so we could head straight in to the park . Some of you also know that Daniel is blessed with “spider” powers his name for his ADHD and ASD tendencies , this along with my sisters epilepsy enabled them to receive a green card meaning we could queue in the disabled entrance away from the crowds with a reduced time to wait . This was a real game changer for us it took out some of the stress for Dan and enabled us to really be able to relax .. and when things got too much we managed to escape to the hotel pool. (Where we bumped into someone from church !)
There’re were so many highlights ...meeting Disney characters , seeing amazing shows and the parade, the illumination show and fireworks... the wide range of rides even Grandma was brave !! But what I really loved was quality time just the 9 of us , life has been pretty stressful of late all round so the chance to chill out, having fun and just being in the magical bubble called Disney was a little piece of wonderful escapism. !
You see some 7 years ago my mum promised Daniel she would take him to disneyland ... 7 years later we went to Disneyland Paris !
We are very blessed as my parents paid for the whole family to go together in the easiest possible way .. we got the Eurostar from ebbsfleet some 10 minutes from our house which took us straight to Disney , our bags taken to the hotel so we could head straight in to the park . Some of you also know that Daniel is blessed with “spider” powers his name for his ADHD and ASD tendencies , this along with my sisters epilepsy enabled them to receive a green card meaning we could queue in the disabled entrance away from the crowds with a reduced time to wait . This was a real game changer for us it took out some of the stress for Dan and enabled us to really be able to relax .. and when things got too much we managed to escape to the hotel pool. (Where we bumped into someone from church !)
There’re were so many highlights ...meeting Disney characters , seeing amazing shows and the parade, the illumination show and fireworks... the wide range of rides even Grandma was brave !! But what I really loved was quality time just the 9 of us , life has been pretty stressful of late all round so the chance to chill out, having fun and just being in the magical bubble called Disney was a little piece of wonderful escapism. !
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