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This weekend was fairly relaxing, as weekends go, although I think we were both pretty tired: obviously needed a break!

On Friday night we had 21 as per usual. I was doing the talk, on Malachi 1. I think it went down well – I’m beginning to get to the stage where I find I don’t need my notes so much. I hardly used them at all on Friday night. I’m hoping that over time it will get to the point where I can do the same thing with a proper sermon, i.e. I’ll just be able to deliver it naturally without appearing to be reading from notes! Public speaking is harder than it looks, you know… but hopefully I’ll get there with practice!

Anyway, after 21 we came back home and watched “Ashes to Ashes” with Anne-Marie and Sarah. I’m on tenterhooks for the last episode now! Interesting how Anne-Marie’s theory about what happened to Sam seemed to be correct. I can’t wait for next week… I want it to be Friday already!

On Saturday we did some shopping in the morning, and in the afternoon we headed round to the church hall round the corner from us (St James the Less, the Catholic church) and met A-M and Sarah there. There was an event going on in aid of the A-Z Childrens Charity, with music and cake (two of my favourite things). After that we headed over to Wivenhoe to watch Doctor Who. This week’s episode did seem to divide people – I really liked it, in fact all four of us did, but apparently some people disagreed. The next two episodes will be interesting though – a two-parter written by Chris Chibnall. (Chibnall gave us the travesty that is the last episode of Torchwood series one. But he also wrote the first episode of series two, which I recall quite enjoying. So let’s hope it’s an upward trend…)

On Sunday we didn’t go to church in the morning! It was our week off so we enjoyed a lie-in. We did go round to Mike and Liz Neville’s for lunch though, with another couple from church, and had a very enjoyable afternoon there. Afterwards we went to Sunday@6, and then back home again and watched last week’s “Outnumbered”, which was very funny.

So there you have it! And Alex, now you know why we weren’t in for your call yesterday :p

… that pretty much describes our Friday night: at 21, we were studying Haggai. Laura dressed up as Haggai, in something which was meant to look a bit like sackcloth, and did the talk in character. I think the kids really enjoyed it! – and there were less of them this week, so it wasn’t quite as manic.

Afterwards we came back home and watched – that’s right – Ashes to Ashes! Sarah came round as she had just had dinner with her work colleagues in town. So, the three of us watched Ashes together. What an episode! [SPOILER WARNING] I still don’t really have a clue how it’s all going to end. I really don’t know. I still like the purgatory theory, with Keats being the Devil or something like that… but beyond that… ?! How the whole Ray and Shaz “Life on Mars” music thing fits in, and them seeing stars, I don’t know. Either way the next episode is shaping up to be good.

Late on Saturday Anne-Marie and Sarah came round as they had just been somewhat let down by a letting agency / tenant / landlord / some combination thereof. After judicious application of the internet, maltesers, and pink lemonade I think they were feeling better and went off to look at another house round the corner. We then headed off into town to do some shopping. In the evening we went round to A-M and Sarah’s house to watch Doctor Who, followed by a few episodes of “I, Claudius”.

I thought this week’s Doctor Who was excellent – probably the best of the current series so far (better even than the weeping angels). It was funny, a bit silly, but at the same time had a good story – even if it didn’t quite stand up to close scrutiny it was good. Just what Doctor Who should be like, in my opinion.

On Sunday we went to church in the morning, and then went our separate ways for lunch: Phil had a ladies lunch at Fordham with Laura, Jen and Tash, and I went over to AJ’s with James and we had pizza and watched “Platoon”. I’d never seen Platoon before – it was good! Quite harrowing, but worth watching. And John C. McGinley a/k/a Dr. Cox from Scrubs was in it! He was really different but quite recognisable. Strange seeing him in something else.

Anyway, after all that we went to Sunday@6, and then came back home and watched “Mallrats”. So that was pretty much our day :)

I had to get the bus into work today. The car developed a bit of a shake since it was serviced a couple of weeks ago, so I had it looked at. Apparently the driver side drive shaft needs replacing – it had seized up completely! So bizarre. To coin a phrase, “Cars do the darndest things”. I have been wondering about maybe replacing the car – although Saabs are generally good quality and last for a long time, they’re not immune to things wearing out – it’s a ten year old car and I drive it a lot (250 miles per week, give or take a bit). I did look into the cost of leasing, but that would be £3000 per year, and you’d still have to pay insurance on top of that!

So I still think the car’s worth keeping around for a while longer. I’ve had it 18 months now and only had two things go wrong, which is not bad for a ten year old car!

This reminds me of an old Dilbert cartoon. The usual gang discover that the boss has died sometime on Thursday afternoon. Wally’s reaction? “Three day weekend!”

Well, this time the three day weekend was due to a bank holiday. No-one has died (no-one who I know, anyway). It was a nice one, too!

On Friday evening we helped out at 21. It was busy this week – quite a few of the year sixes have joined us, so there were about 15-20 youngsters – and they were pretty lively! Still, I hope they will settle down over time. Afterwards, Anne-Marie came round to watch Ashes to Ashes with us. It really is compelling viewing – I wasn’t into Ashes to start off with, but it’s really got me hooked! I’m really looking forward to the end of the series… I hope it’s a satisfying conclusion though. We’ve come up with some interesting theories (well, to be honest, I think Anne-Marie has done most of the work in that respect…) so we’ll have to see how right or wrong we are.

On Saturday it was Evie’s first birthday party. Evie is Phil’s god-daughter, her Mum Jo lives just round the corner from us. Anyway, it was a really nice time, I’ve never seen so many babies in one place! But I think all had a nice time, and the sun shone so that was also good!

After that we went round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s house to watch Doctor Who. I thought this week’s conclusion was really good – probably one of the best of the “Nu Who” episodes. Definitely the best of this series so far. I’ll have to see how it stands to repeat viewing though, as a few people I know didn’t like it so much. After that we watched the final episode of ‘Blackpool’, which was really good. The whole series was very clever – really well put together: the drama, the music and the lighter moments all seemed to blend seamlessly. Probably one of the best things the BBC have done in recent years. (I think it was BBC…) The twist at the end isn’t really a ‘twist’ in the Hitchcock sense, but the way the characters change leaves the series with a much different conclusion to the one you might have expected. Good stuff.

Anyway, on Sunday we went to church in the morning, then didn’t do much in the afternoon, and then went to Sunday@6. After that we came back home and watched the original ‘Pink Panther’ film which I hadn’t seen in ages. I’d forgotten just how funny it was, some classic moments in there!

On Bank Holiday Monday we went round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s once more. We had lunch at the Horse and Groom (which was very nice, and reasonably priced), and then came back to ours to watch various things including: two episodes of “I, Claudius” (can’t believe Brian Blessed is in it!), and “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (which Sarah hadn’t seen before).

All in all, it was a very nice, relaxing weekend! And a four day week to boot, what more could you want? :)

Yep, this weekend was indeed a weekend of firsts. To an extent. I shall start with Friday lunchtime: I bought my first ice-cream of this year from an ice-cream van! It was such a beautiful day, it felt right.

Then, I came back home to find that Matthew, Ellie and Samuel had arrived. It was the first time they had been up to Colchester with Samuel, and they were staying with us for the weekend. We had a nice dinner with them before hading out to 21. When we came back we watched “Ashes to Ashes”, which didn’t disappoint. My favourite bit was the graffiti – “Gene Hearts Sam”! The creators of the show do seem to like putting in these little things for the fans, even if it’s not important.

Anyway. On Saturday we did a few bits and pieces – popped over to the recycling centre in Colchester to get rid of all the cardboard packaging the PA system had come in, and then went up into town for a few bits and pieces. After a small lunch we headed over to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s for a BBQ. They had laid on a veritable feast! There were potato wedges (had to mention those first, as they had been requested ;), salmon, marinated chicken breasts and wings, kebabs – both with and without meat – and generally enough food to feed a small army.

So that went down a treat, the grown-ups loved the food and I think little Samuel enjoyed the company! After that we headed back to our house for Doctor Who, which was a good episode this week. I think everyone enjoyed it, despite the annoying Graham Norton trailer over a tense moment at the end. And then we just sat around and chatted for a while. All in all it was a great day, let’s hope there are plenty more like it!

Then on Sunday morning Matthew and Ellie said their goodbyes before church. After that we went to Fordham, then had lunch, didn’t do much in the afternoon, and then went to Sunday@6. I was leading music, and unfortunately it ended up that I was the only person singing! I can’t really play and sing at the same time very well. But nonetheless it seemed to go well, a few people said thanks afterwards so it can’t have been that bad.

After that we came back home, crashed out and watched “Monsters Inc” on Blu-Ray. It was the first High-Def film we’ve seen which I think was better in HD than it was in SD. (Although the previous films had their moments, the detail on Monsters Inc was pretty impressive). I’d quite like to get Star Trek (the new film, not the original series) on Blu-Ray but I’m going to wait until it comes down to a more reasonable price!

Right, I think that’s a decent summary of the weekend. Oh, and if Anne-Marie or Sarah are reading this, *waves*. That wasn’t a technical post was it? ;)

That was probably was one of the most cryptic titles I’ve come up with to date! It’s due to the fact that on Saturday, Phil and I went back to the house in Woodbridge where I spent most of my formative years. (Well, I wasn’t there the whole time, but that’s where we were living).

Anyway, after I went off to university – nine years ago – my parents moved to Ipswich. But they didn’t sell the house, the rented it out. Anyway, my Dad is retiring next year, and they want to sell the house. So, they gave the tenant notice, and she moved out last month. The past couple of weeks they’ve been spending a lot of time at the house trying to get it into a state where it can be sold.

You may have guessed that the tenant didn’t exactly leave things in a pristine state. If I’m honest, it was actually pretty awful what she did. She removed a lot of the work surfaces and units from the kitchen, she ‘painted’ – badly – various places, the whole place was filthy… I could go on. On Saturday Phil and I spent most of the day helping Mum and Dad to get the place cleaned up. Phil went into the garden to do some tidying, and I spent the afternoon ripping out a rather badly installed network.

I think she must have had someone come in to network the house (why she didn’t use wireless I don’t know – I think it was available in 2001, but I would guess these network points were installed well after that). Firstly, there were holes all over the house to allow the cables through the floor and up into the loft. Then the cables were basically run across the walls, i.e. there were a boatload of cable clips keeping the cables in place. Unfortunately in some places the cable clips had broken, letting the cable basically droop down! In other words, it was a mess.

So anyway, I basically ripped out the whole lot, leaving a large number of small cable clip holes – but at least it was better than leaving it there. I don’t think anyone else would have wanted it to be honest!

It was quite funny to see the old house to be honest – my room still had my old desk unit in it (which my Dad and I designed and built), but apart from that there was no furniture there. It’s been so long since we lived there that I do feel like it’s not really home any more, but it did bring back a few memories! Good times. Still, live moves on.

That took up most of our Saturday afternoon. Then, after that we went round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s to watch Doctor Who. It wasn’t a bad episode this week although I don’t think it was exactly a classic. Then we watched the next couple of episodes of ‘Blackpool’ (really enjoying it, only one more episode to go now though!). Oh, and I should mention that ‘Ashes to Ashes’ was also good on Friday night – still so many questions, but I’m really looking forward to the next episode though! Phil says it’s kind of like old school Doctor Who, where they did six part stories and you were kept on tenterhooks until the next week!

On Sunday we weren’t at church in the morning (unusually), so we did a bit of gardening and the like. Then we went round to Jo and Evie’s and spent the day in the park with them, which was a really pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Then we went to Sunday@6, and afterwards watched ‘Young Victoria’. It was a fairly entertaining film but not one I’d really want to watch again to be honest – not my cup of tea!

… so goes the song ‘Holiday’ by Vampire Weekend. Well, we’ve just had a week’s holiday (technically a bit more than that, because of the Easter Weekend), so I suppose I should briefly sketch out the details of what we’ve been up to! I can’t remember everything so just a fairly broad overview:

On Easter Sunday Phil’s parents came up with Roz and Matt. They met us at church, and then came back for lunch afterwards. We ate our own body weight in lasagne, and then went out for a walk (we needed to I think!). After that Anne-Marie came round for tea, and after Phil’s family had gone we spent the time discussing Doctor Who and Ashes to Ashes.

Anyway. On Easter Monday we went round to Laura’s for brunch. (Laura is a friend from church). AJ and Jen also came round, and we spent the day together. We watched ‘The Proposal’ (which was surprisingly good), and then a couple of episodes of Gavin & Stacey. Then we went out for a walk in the countryside near Fordham. After that, we all headed round to AJ and Jen’s for dinner, and watched ‘Flash Forward’ (the first one Phil and I had seen, which looked pretty good although definitely something I’d like to watch from the beginning.) So that was a really nice relaxing day!

On Tuesday and Wednesday we did various things around here, a bit of sorting out, etc. On Wednesday evening my parents came round for dinner, so it was good to see them!

On Thursday we headed down to Somerset to see Matthew, Ellie and Samuel. It was a bit of an eventful journey – about 20 minutes down the A12, the engine warning light came on! Given that the car had only been serviced and MOT’d the day before I thought this was a bit odd. I called up the AA, and they basically said if you haven’t noticed any performance degradation or anything like that, it was probably just an engine sensor gone wrong (or something like that). Nothing to worry about, carry on as normal and get it checked out by a garage when you can. Well, that delayed us by a bit, and then we also got delayed on the M25 by roadworks and the like. So we finally got to Evercreech at about 3:30ish! A fair bit later than we were intending, but still.

We said hello to the Dawkins, and then checked in at the Belfield House BnB where we were staying. It was a very nice place, and very cheap! I would definitely recommend it if you need to stay anywhere near Shepton Mallet. After that, we went back to Matthew and Ellie’s to have a very nice roast dinner, and then chatted for the rest of the evening.

On Friday morning we wandered around Shepton Mallet, finding out a bit about the local history, and having a go on some cool outdoor exercise machines in the park! After that we went round to Matthew and Ellie’s for lunch, and then headed over to King Alfred’s Tower for a couple of hours. (There are some photos on Matthew’s Facebook). Then we had dinner, watched ‘Outnumbered’, and just chatted until it was time to go!

Saturday morning we said our goodbyes and headed back – and had a much better journey, we were home by 2:00 (after leaving later)! It was a real joy to meet little Samuel (four months old now!), and it was sad to say goodbye, but we will see him – along with Matthew and Ellie – in a couple of weeks, which was a nice thought to leave on :)

In the evening we went round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s house to watch Doctor Who and Ashes to Ashes, both of which were very good. I must admit, I do think I’m enjoying Ashes more than I’m enjoying Doctor Who at the moment – just because of the puzzle element of it! I just can’t see how they’re going to resolve all the questions, but I hope that they do. Just the kind of thing that keeps me watching something (kind of like Heroes season one, but better).

*phew* Sorry that was so long, I just like to keep abreast of what’s been going on. Hope you all had a good week anyway. Back to work for me this week, still. I am taking delivery of a PA system at some point, but that is a story for another blog post – when it arrives, hopefully this week!

Well, the Moore Course is all over for another year few months (they usually run from October / November until March / April). I have to say I’m glad to see the back of it this year – not that I haven’t enjoyed the course, but working all day and then coming back home to do revision is actually quite wearing! We’ve got all our evenings pretty much free this weekend, which is the first time in absolutely ages that’s happened.

Anyway, the exam itself wasn’t too bad. I hesitate to say it went “well”, but really I just mean that in comparison with my expectations it could have been a heck of a lot worse! My marks have been going down steadily over the past few years though so I expect that will probably happen again. I will be annoyed if I failed though. I think that’s unlikely, but then you can never really tell.

Aaaaanyway, after the exam we went to lunch with the others who had done the exam. We had a nice lunch at the Sun Inn at Dedham (where we usually go). I had a lovely Ploughman’s, which had a variety of excellent cheeses. After that we went home briefly, and then we were out again for the “JOY” event. that was a youth event for churches in Colchester, which actually seemed to go pretty well. There must have been around 80 or so young people there – enough to make it busy and worthwhile, but not so many that it was too packed. I think they all enjoyed it as well, there was a great atmosphere!

So that was Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to church in the morning, with Jo and Evie, then came back for lunch (and I mowed the lawn for the first time this year – couldn’t believe how long the grass was!). Afterwards we went out to Fordham for a Bach Motet (Jesu Meine Freude — ‘Jesus, My Joy’) which was beautiful.

Apparently it was composed by Bach for the wife of a civil cervant (a postmaster general or something like that) who had died. It seems a bit wrong somehow that Diana, when she died in 1997, got a recycled pop song. This woman, although I don’t think she was ‘important’, got one of Bach’s most famous and beautiful pieces.

After the Bach it was Sunday@6, and afterwards we went round to Jo’s for some Wii action. So there you have it, that was our weekend!

… when I say that, I don’t mean that I have any problem with the content of Ephesians. It’s just getting to the stage where I want the exam to be over already! Maybe then I could get my evenings back. Still. We haven’t been up to much over the past few days – the usual really.

Last Friday was the last 21 of this term, as there’s a youth event called ‘JOY’ this Saturday, and then after that it’s Good Friday. After Easter we have the week off work (take four days off, get two thrown in for free! – bargain).

Anyway. On Saturday, Phil’s parents came up in order for us to put up some trellis. We went to the garden centre in the morning to buy it, and then came back home – only to find that we couldn’t put it up! The reason was, the posts supporting the back fence are far too unstable. I think we need to get the back fence replaced, unfortunately, so we had to shelve the trellis idea. Still we did manage to have a productive day – we put in a couple of new plants in the garden, and bought a new standard lamp.

On Sunday, apart from church in the morning, we spent most of the day revising! We did go out to the park with Jo and Evie and have an ice cream, and then fed the ducks! It was a lovely day, would have been a shame to waste it by staying inside for most of it.

So that’s pretty much the weekend. The only other thing I have to report is that I have arranged a meeting with the DDO (or, to be more specific, the assistant DDO) for 13th April. So my application is moving on slowly! Exciting stuff, even if my going into ministry is still (a) to be decided; (b) even if it is, a long way off!

That’s all from me for now anyway. I’ll probably just be revising the rest of this week, it will be so good to have the exam all out of the way on Saturday!

Another quick update about the weekend. On Friday night we helped out at 21, which was mostly preparing for the youth service on Sunday night.

Then on Saturday we did some shopping in the morning, followed by some Moore Course revision in the afternoon (the exam is on 27th, so just under two weeks left to go now. It will go by quickly!) Then, in the evening we had AJ and Jen round for dinner. We made a curry, and it seemed to go very well. AJ even took a picture of the bombay potatoes in the dish and set it as his phone wallpaper! I’m not quite sure why, but they did look good. Afterwards we played games, mainly a game called “Cranium” – which was great fun, although it was probably one of those evenings where you had to be there – and then we played Uno. It’s the kind of evening we should really do more often!

Anyway. On Sunday we went to the Mothering Sunday service in the morning, then back for lunch and a bit more revision, then out again for the youth service. So, there you have it, that was our weekend!

Well, not really, but I was on Saturday. For most of the day. The reason was, on Friday night we had the 21 overnighter. Now, I’d love to tell you why it was an overnighter, but the truth is I’m not really sure… we basically spent an hour or so playing games / praying for the ‘JOY’ event that’s happening in a couple of weeks, and then spent a couple of hours playing on the Wii or watching a film (the former for the boys, the latter for the girls) and then we went to sleep. Well, that is to say, some of us went to sleep.

I tried to go to sleep, but I met with limited success. AJ had left the heating on so it was very warm in the barn (it didn’t help that I was in a sleeping bag which was rated down to -9! I guess it will come in useful at the weekend away though – last year I was too cold in the sleeping bag I had), also I was sleeping on an airbed which was not the most comfortable think in the world. So I was pretty tired by the time morning came round!

Still, it was a good night. The kids really seemed to enjoy it anyway, so that was positive.

On Saturday we did a bit of shopping. I bought a couple of new CDs (Seasick Steve’s album, which I’ve wanted to get for a while now, and also ‘Is This It’ by The Strokes which I’ve always seen but never got round to actually buying before. They were on offer in HMV…) I also bought the Black Books box set (three series of comedy brilliance for £12, bargain), and I also bought a new shirt and trousers for work. In the evening we didn’t do much! Anne-Marie came round and stayed for dinner, and we watched some Black Books and Frasier, so it was quite a relaxing evening which I think we needed!

On Sunday we had church in the morning, as per usual – although as per, well, not usual – I was down to lead. Only I didn’t. Unfortunately I only found out about it this week, and due to one thing and another I felt like I couldn’t really lead! So I will have to lead that service some other time. Not really a big issue though. Then, in the evening we went to Sunday@6 and afterwards watched ‘Lark Rise’.

So that’s pretty much our weekend! Not much going on this week, tomorrow evening Anne-Marie and Sarah are coming round and we’re going to watch the last part of ‘Ashes to Ashes’ series 2. Apparently the two final episodes are some of the best TV the BBC put out last year, so I’m quite looking forward to it!