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Well, it’s now official 2010 (and has been for a few days now), so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all my loyal blog readers a happy new year! (All my unloyal blog readers can take a running jump :p)

It’s been a good new year for us. We came back home on the Tuesday after Christmas, after which I proceeded to get a nasty cold :( Well, it left me in bed for a day or so. But apart from that, New Year’s Eve went well – we had over a whole bunch of people for a mini party. Kirsty, Sarah, Anne-Marie, Alex and Heather all came round and we played some silly games, at lots of food, and generally chatted.

We didn’t get to bed until late that night (or early that morning, I should say) so we didn’t do much on New Year’s Day in the morning! In the evening we headed round to Anne-Marie’s for dinner and Doctor Who. We did enjoy the last episode of DW, although – to be honest – I’m not sad to see the back of Russell T. Davies. The episode was good although I did feel it went on a bit too long at the end, how much can you drag that kind of thing out? Still, seemed a fitting end for what is really the end of an era. All hail Stephen Moffat, though, I see the weeping angels are back for the next series so that’s something to look forward to!

On Saturday we did a bit of shopping for various random things, and then in the evening went to the pub with Alex, Tom and Heather. Then we went on for a curry at the Ashiana, before heading back to ours to watch some random DVDs.

I think that’s pretty much all that happened in terms of new year festivities… in general, it’s nice to get back to work for a bit of a rest ;) But here’s to 2010, hopefully it will bring many good things!

Speaking of which – I’ve just sent off an email to the Diocesan Warden of Ordinands. Basically that’s the first step on the rung of becoming an ordained Church of England minister. Scary stuff! But exciting, too – hopefully I will hear something back about that soon. I will keep you posted.

The Christmas break has been pretty good so far! I am currently writing this from Phil’s parents’ house. We came down here after the carol service at Fordham on Christmas Eve. We had a pretty safe journey – it was well above freezing (well, above freezing anyway) so there was no ice to worry about. (The ice and snow has all gone now, don’t know what it’s like in Colchester but here it’s all clear).

Anyway. Quick overview of the time so far: Christmas Eve – we both took the day off, so we went over to Ipswich to exchange presents with my parents. In the evening we went to the “Carols by candlelight” service at Fordham, which was absolutely packed as per usual!

Christmas Day – spent the time with Phil’s parents and sister, went to church in the morning, and just relaxed for the rest of the day.

On Boxing day morning we went for a walk nearby with some more of Phil’s family. In the afternoon some family friends came round and we played silly games / had a sing song round the piano etc. The usual kind of stuff!

Yesterday we didn’t do very much, but in the evening we went round to Julie and Dave’s and had a nice evening there. Which included watching Top Gear – I really enjoyed the special! I think the Top Gear specials are my favourites. Can’t believe the most unreliable car in the world… turned out to be the most reliable. (Who saw that one coming?!)

Anyway, this afternoon we are going to see “War Horse” in London, I don’t know much about it but hopefully it will be good. The write-up looks good anyway.

Well, that’s all for now! We’re back in Colchester tomorrow, and then we’re off to see my family on Wednesday. That’s all from me for now. Hope all my loyal blog readers are having a good week!

And I wish you a very happy New Year.

(Don’t forget, if you’re around in Colchester and don’t have any plans – our place for a new year party type thing. Let me know if you can make it :))

On Thursday night last week it snowed pretty heavily. This meant that I wasn’t able to get into work on Friday, but I was able to do some work from home.

And we had another party on Friday night! Fortunately it didn’t involve driving so we were able to walk across town. We went round to Tom’s place for a Christmas ‘bash’, there were a whole bunch of people there and we had a whole lot of fun. This included drinking lots of mulled wine and eating lots of food (and I do mean, LOTS of food. There was enough to feed an army!)

So that was good. Then on Saturday we did a bit of shopping, present wrapping and the like. In the evening we watched “The Hangover”. I’d heard some good things about it from my colleagues. It was quite clever and well-written, but… I don’t think I really got the joke. I’m not sure whether it’s a difference between British and American humour, there just didn’t really seem to be any jokes in it! Kind of like “Wimbledon” (the film) – kind of amusing but it didn’t really make me laugh out loud.

Anyway. On Sunday we went to church twice – despite the snow! After our carol service in the evening – which was relatively well attended despite the poor weather – we went round to Jo’s for some tea.

Apart from all those things, I’ve been playing a fair amount of Red Alert 3: I ordered it last week, and it arrived on Friday. It’s got pretty poor reviews on Amazon, but I think there was a problem with DRM / Product Activation which made people give it bad reviews. Perhaps I went in with low expectations, but I’ve actually been really enjoying it. Someone said that it wasn’t as fast-paced as RA2, which I don’t quite see at the moment: it appears to be just as fast-paced in terms of the missions.

The graphics are decent, and I like with what they’ve done with the units. The only problem is, it is a bit complicated for my tiny brain. Each unit has an ‘alternate fire’ mode, for example, which I never use. (Although I probably should…) Oh, another minor problem: Apocalypse tanks can no longer defend themselves against air attack. I suppose the ability did make them a bit too powerful in RA2, but nonetheless it is annoying. You now have to remember to include Bullfrogs or MiGs into your attack force – not necessarily a bad thing I guess, just keeps catching me out! I do like, though, that there are more airborne and seabound units, and in fact several units are amphibious. The battle is much more ‘all across the map’, rather than just being fought purely on land like it was before. Even with Kirovs and Black Eagles / Harriers in RA2, air attack was pretty limited – and I don’t think anyone really used to battle on the sea, outside the missions.

Aaaanyway, the above is only my experience after playing through most of the Soviet campaign (there are three campaigns – Soviet, Allied, and Japanese). I’m really enjoying it so far, and look forward to completing the rest!

It’s that time of year again! On Friday night we had the 21 Christmas party. It went down pretty well, think all the kids had a good time. Then on Saturday we did a bit of Christmas shopping (nearly all done now… so close to the end!) In the evening we went round to James and Tash’s house for some Christmas drinks, nibbles and games. We ended up playing “Pass the Bomb”, which was good fun, and just generally chatting.

On Sunday we had church as usual, and then went to Sunday@6 in the evening, where I was leading. So, in general, it was a good weekend. I have a youth leader’s Christmas party tonight, and then it’s not long to go until the day itself!

Quite looking forward to Christmas this year, I need the time off and it will be nice to see family! Going to try and take it slowly. Anyway, it’s absolutely freezing tonight so I’m going to try and get warm next to a radiator! All for now…

Just thought I’d better update before I forget everything that’s gone on at Christmas! On Christmas Eve we went to the carols by candlelight service at Fordham. It was absolutely packed! Around 300 people in the church – a church which has a seating capacity of about 150. We put out a whole load of additional chairs but there were still people standing at the back. It was lovely to see so many people there, though – and I think everyone enjoyed it. The music went well and Mike did a good talk.

Afterwards we went to Ipswich to stay with my parents for Christmas. We had a great time with my family, we played a few games and what have you – all the kinds of things you usually do at Christmas! And on Saturday we came back home after lunch, and as of yesterday we’ve been down at Phil’s parents.

So… in general, it’s been busy but great fun! My Mum got a webcam for Christmas which looks brilliant – we had a chat with my aunt in Australia using Skype. I might have to get one.

We’ve watched a fair bit of TV over Christmas too – haven’t seen the Doctor Who special yet (curse our Freeview recorder which didn’t record!) but we will catch up on the iPlayer soon. We also didn’t see Top Gear Vietnam special (we watched The 39 Steps instead), so another one to watch on the iPlayer. The new Wallace & Gromit was good but I didn’t think it was as good as the previous ones.

Aaaand, I think that’s pretty much up to date. That’s all from me for now!

Had my work Christmas meal at lunchtime yesterday. We have our Christmas Eve carol service at Fordham tonight. I feel like Christmas has finally arrived!

Aaanyway. I hope that you all have a lovely Christmas this year, and do spend some time reflecting on the Christmas story. Remember, despite all the cute pictures of Joseph and Mary and the baby in a manger, Jesus is so much more:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20

The reason for Jesus’ coming to earth? To “reconcile” us to himself – to make us friends with himself, instead of enemies!

Take care and I’ll probably update sometime over the Christmas period.

Firstly, let me just wish all my readers a happy new year (if I have not already done so in person)! Our new year began well – more on that later.

We had a really nice Christmas break. On Christmas Eve, we went to the carol service at Fordham, which was absolutely packed! It’s been getting more and more busy over the past few years, and this year was no exception. We had people sitting down in the choir stalls, even a few chairs down by the altar! It was great to see so many people there. Straight afterwards we headed down to Kent to stay with Philippa’s parents for a few days.

It was a fairly standard Christmas (i.e. presents, seeing friends, having Christmas dinner etc) so I’ll just post up a few notable bits. On Boxing Day we went into London to see a production of Rapunzel at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (see a review of it here). It was really good – an innovative take on the traditional story. Well worth watching if you can go – it’s not just for kids!

On Friday, we came back home overnight, and then on Saturday went to Ipswich to see my parents. We stayed there until Monday, and then came back on New Year’s Eve. Matthew and Ellie had a party at their house to see in the new year, which quite a few people came to. That was a really good evening, much fun was had. We played a game of ‘Chinese Whisper Charades’ (or whatever you call it), which is a cross between chinese whispers and charades (amazingly enough!) which was incredibly funny. I recorded a short video of it which I may post up at some point.

On New Year’s Day, we went to the Sun Inn at Dedham with Alex for lunch. For some reason they were serving Italian food (I don’t know why a pub in the Suffolk countryside was serving Italian food?!) but it was certainly very delicious.

Anyway, I should probably mention a few Christmas presents… I got a new guitar from Philippa, which I will try and learn to play gradually. I got Philippa a Logitech Harmony 525 Universal Remote Control (she doesn’t like the fact we have a rapidly growing number of remote controls). I will definitely be blogging about that at some point in the near future – I’m still awaiting a reply from Logitech support…

I think that’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to over the past week or so!

… “I don’t know who she is, but she really packs ‘em in!”

So goes the old (cartoon) joke, where the above line is spoken looking at a poster outside a church for ‘Carol Singers’. I expect you can now guess what we were doing this weekend! On Friday evening we had a practice for the carol service on Sunday. Philippa was playing her clarinet in the music group, and we were both singing for one of the songs (properly, with like parts and everything!) I had one or two misgivings about singing the bass part (my voice doesn’t really go down that low) but with a bit of practice I just about managed to get there.

On Saturday we went into town to do a bit of shopping, and in the evening we drove over to Wivenhoe to meet up with Alex & Elisa and Dan & Alison. We went to Papas Fish & Chip shop for dinner (felt like we hadn’t been there for ages!) and then went to the Greyhound for a few drinks, a chat – and some darts! It was a really nice evening, now that Alex in particular is down in Kent it was good to be able to meet up and have a catch up.

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning for the Christingle service — I always worry a little that something or someone will catch fire from one of the candles, but mercifully there were no accidents! In the afternoon we went round to Jo’s flat for tea and mulled wine (Jo works at the university with Phil). Afterwards the three of us headed to Eight Ash Green for the carol service there. It seemed to go really well – everyone was quite cheerful at the end, and the music sounded good from where I was sitting at least (behind the musicians, unfortunately, in the choir stalls).

Afterwards we came back home and watched ‘Jersey Girl’ – the only Kevin Smith film at the moment which doesn’t have Jay and Silent Bob in it. I was actually very impressed with it – it wasn’t half as bad as all the reviews made out! I would recommend watching it even if you’re not a fan of Kevin Smith films. It was quite sentimental in places, but generally very good. Probably not ‘buy on DVD’ good (we recorded it on the Freeview box!) but well worth a watch.

On Saturday we went down to a family friend’s 70th birthday party. My parents came round at about 10:30, and shortly afterwards some friends of theirs arrived to drive us the relatively straightforward journey down to (near) Heathrow. Unfortunately, the north circular was rather busy so it took us a bit longer than it should have to get there, but we managed in the end! We got there at about 2:15 or so. So that was quite a good afternoon, it was good to see people who I hadn’t seen in a while and afterwards we went over to see my sister and niece and nephews. So all in all it was rather a good day! I’ve put some photos up on Flickr if you’re interested.

On Sunday we went to church in the morning. We stayed on afterwards to practice a couple of songs we’re going to be singing at Christmas – two Graham Kendrick songs! I really can’t sing from music so I’m going to have to practice at home, fortunately we were given the sheet music so I can play it on the piano and learn it that way.

In the afternoon we didn’t really do much… in the evening we watched “Blazing Saddles” (a Mel Brooks film) and then Top Gear. We watched ‘Blazing Saddles’ because a friend of ours recommended it. He apparently doesn’t like Spaceballs, though. Now I don’t know about that… I actually didn’t like Blazing Saddles that much. It was quite random, had its good moments, and of course was very silly, but in general it just didn’t have such a coherent storyline as Spaceballs, and I don’t think had quite the charm.

So there you go, that was our weekend!