phillsacre.me.uk

Yes, that’s right! I’m eschewing a weekend type update for a “midweek” update. In which I tell you about what’s been going on, mostly at the weekend, But hey ho, never mind.

The past three week nights we’ve been out for dinner with people from church: on Friday night we went round to James and Tash’s for dinner, and we had a very nice BBQ and spent some time with them. Then on Monday night we went round to Tim and Katie’s for dinner. Tim is our home group leader, and they live not far away from us, so that was also a very pleasant evening. Then, last night, we went round to John and Christine’s, where James and Tash were also having dinner! So that’s been three nights out with people from church – bliss. (Or, perhaps, bless, whichever is more appropriate).

Aaaaanyway. Apart from being out to dinner several times, on Saturday we spent a fair amount of the day preparing for the arrival of Peter, Martina and Albert – our friends from Germany. They arrived late afternoon / early evening kind of time. Albert is now 17 months old and he’s quite lively – he’s at the age where buttons are fascinating, and it was quite a challenge watching out that he didn’t (a) harm himself; (b) wreck the place! Still both Albert and our stuff managed to survive.

On Sunday we went to Fordham in the morning, to both services, and then came back for lunch. In the afternoon we had a few people from church round who wanted to catch up with Peter and Martina (Peter was formerly the apprentice at Fordham). After dinner, Sarah came round and we all watched “Sherlock” together.

I didn’t think this week’s episode was quite as good as last week’s but it was still very good and we really enjoyed it. I really hope they make some more episodes, it’s just been so enjoyable it would be a real shame if they never made any more!

Well I feel like a bit of a social butterfly after the weekend we’ve just had!

On Friday night we enjoyed not having 21 by inviting Anne-Marie and Sarah round for dinner and general watching of things (The IT Crowd, I Claudius…). Then on Saturday we headed down to Kent for Alex’s housewarming / birthday BBQ. Despite the M25 being about the worst I’ve ever seen it (it took about 1.5 hours to do the ten miles between the A12 and the Dartford Crossing) we got there in the end and had a really good time. It was nice to see a few friends again who I haven’t seen in a while too. The time we had was all too short but fortunately the drive back was quick and uneventful!

We had to drive back that evening because on Sunday morning we were out to see Makaila Pepper-Bradbeer’s christening. It was a lovely service, Makaila even smiled during the christening! – and I think everyone enjoyed it. Afterwards there was a bring and share lunch, so we stayed for that too.

That concludes a rather rapid round-up of what’s been going on! To be honest it’s a bit too hot to go into more detail… it was apparently 32 degrees on my way back from work today (according to the car at least!) – it seems to have cooled down a bit now but that’s still pretty warm. Hopefully it will cool down a bit tomorrow. That’s pretty much all for now!

This month has turned out to be a pretty busy one for various reasons! We were quite grateful to have a bit of a break on Friday night actually – there was 21, but instead of having our usual meeting some of us were watching the England football match. I didn’t see the previous England match, but I have to say this match was probably one of the worst performances I’ve seen by England – ever. Absolutely pathetic really! Still, that’s England for you I suppose! It wouldn’t be the world cup if we weren’t all disappointed.

Anyway, on Saturday we did a bit of shopping during the day. Then in the afternoon we headed round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s to watch some I, Claudius and Doctor Who. This week was the penultimate Doctor Who of the season, and I really enjoyed it! I think it was left in a pretty hopeless place (in terms of bleak, not that the episode wasn’t good) but I’m really looking forward to seeing the last episode to see how it’s all resolved. After Doctor Who, however, we had to head off pretty quickly to Fordham: the Savilles are unfortunately leaving us in a few weeks, so we were having a leaving party for them. It was a really nice evening as well, a fitting send off for them I think!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning, and then afterwards we were round at the Savilles for lunch. We felt quite privileged to be asked actually – as mentioned they are leaving soon, so we thought they might have more important people to see or things to do than have us round for lunch! Anyway, we had a really nice afternoon there.

Afterwards we popped round to see Anne-Marie and Sarah briefly, to discuss Doctor Who and Life on Mars and various other things. Then, we came back home and… watched some Life on Mars. So that’s pretty much our weekend!

As I said at the beginning – this June has turned out to be pretty busy. This weekend wasn’t bad, but next weekend we have the 21 weekend away. That will involve camping and I’m not entirely sure I’m looking forward to it! That said, I’ve taken the Monday off work so I’ll have a bit of chance to recover. I bought a new sleeping bag a couple of months ago which is apparently rated down to -9 degrees, which should keep me nice and warm at least! – despite the month it does get quite cold in a tent overnight.

Unfortunately that does mean we will miss both the IT Crowd AND Doctor Who, but I think we’re just going to have to suck it up and catch up when we get back on Sunday. Speaking of which, I don’t think we can actually record channel 4 so I guess we’ll have to put up with the crapness of 4 on demand. Aaaanyway, I’m a bit tired, I think it’s time for bed!

This weekend was a very special weekend. Phil’s sister Roz – my sister-in-law – was getting married! Phil travelled downon Wednesday night to help set up. I stayed in Colchester for a couple of nights and then headed down on Friday morning.

I will spare you most of the details but suffice it to say that Friday was mostly spent preparing the barn for the wedding reception. I set up and tested the PA system I bought a while back, and that was working beautifully (more on that later).

In the evening we (as in me, Phil, Phil’s parents, and Roz) went to dinner with Matt’s parents and family, which was a really nice evening! Then on Saturday morning it was all go. I gave Phil and Roz a lift to the hairdresser to have their hair done fairly early morning, and after that headed back to the flat to prepare. Phil and I headed off mid-morning to the church (the wedding was at noon). Phil was playing Roz up the aisle on piano – Handel’s Largo from Xerxes (which is the same piece of music that we had :) She did a really good job, although was shaking like a leaf afterwards!

The service itself was lovely – Darius, who was leading the service, did a really good job and had a very nice manner. Matt did once make a mistake in his vows, saying ‘lawfully wedded husband’ rather than ‘wife’, which caused much amusement! But it went without a hitch. Phil and I were playing piano and clarinet together during the signing of the register, which seemed go down fairly well too. We just played a couple of nice arrangements of hymns I have.

Then, after the service, it was time for the reception. That, again, was a really lovely time – lots of catching up with friends and family we haven’t seen in a while! I’m getting to know some of Phil’s family better now so it was good to see them again. The meal was a BBQ, unusual for a wedding but absolutely perfect! Delicious food provided by the caterers (Total Hospitality, I think). Then, we had the disco. I was DJing, and I think it went down well. There weren’t many people on the dancefloor for the first hour or so – mainly because the weather outside was so nice I think people wanted to stay outside! But once it turned to dusk people came inside and the dancefloor filled up pretty quickly.

I have to say on the subject of the PA system… it was more than up to the task. It managed to fill the dancefloor without even breaking a sweat (or whatever the sound system equivalent is). I had the gain on the amplifier turned up to about half-way, and the volume control on the mixer set to about half way, and that was pretty darn loud. So I was happy!

So. Let me quickly wrap up the rest of the weekend. After Matt and Roz had left, we cleared up the barn and finally got back to bed around 1AM. On Sunday morning we drove back to Phil’s parents’ to have lunch, and then headed back home. That wasn’t the end of the weekend, though! When we got back in, we had just enough time to dump our stuff before heading out to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s. Long story short – they had been moving house all weekend, and they needed to get all of their stuff out of the old house and generally clean it up by the end of the day. Most stuff was done, but it still took the four of us until about 10:30PM to clean up and pack everything into the car (over several trips). Anyway, it was a pretty stressful time for all of us but they are eventually settled into their new house! I went round this evening to set up the TV (more on that some other time, perhaps, for reasons which will become apparently should I ever decide to write about it…) and the house was looking much more like a home and less like a dumping zone for bags of stuff.

Right, that’s pretty much it for the time being. That was our weekend! Many congratulations to Matt and Roz, and also best wishes to A-M and Sarah for the new house :)

So, last weekend was the second of the two May bank holiday weekends. It was a pretty good weekend as they go, it felt like we got a fair bit done!

On Friday evening we had 21 as per usual, but then there was no Ashes to Ashes afterwards :-( We did spend an hour chatting to Anne-Marie and Sarah over Skype though, mainly about Doctor Who / Ashes, so it softened the blow a little!

On Saturday we did a bit of shopping in the morning, and various jobs that needed to be done. Then in the evening we headed round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s to watch Doctor Who. After the rather unpromising start last week, I have to say it didn’t really improve! A few things didn’t really make sense to me, and it just … well, I don’t know, didn’t grab me. Can’t quite put my finger on it but I tend to agree with A-M on this series of Doctor Who: it just hasn’t grabbed me in the same way that previous years have. I think part of the reason is that it’s actually quite difficult these days to do a Doctor Who story which hasn’t been done before. I really like Matt Smith as the Doctor, and I think there are some episodes which have been well written and executed, but in general I don’t really quite look forward to it in the same way I looked forward to Ashes to Ashes. (Quite possibly because the two have been running on parallel and, frankly, I looked forward to watching Ashes far more than DW).

Speaking of Ashes… I’ve ordered the Blu-Ray versions of both series of Life on Mars. Amazingly, it was cheaper to order the two series separately as Blu-Ray discs rather than order the DVD boxset of series 1 and 2! (The Blu-Ray series were also one £1 more expensive than the DVD versions, which I thought was a pretty good deal. Especially when the likes of Star Trek is still ridiculously expensive to buy on Blu-Ray).

On Sunday we had church in the morning, and then went round to my parents for lunch. My sister was there, and we had a good afternoon chatting and catching up. Afterwards we came back for Sunday@6, and then home to watch ‘High Fidelity’. (A good film, by the way, would definitely recommend it to anyone).

Then on Bank Holiday Monday we went round to Phil and Jenny’s briefly to see them and meet the three-week-old Makaila. She was beautiful, although I don’t think she particularly enjoyed being held by me! Then we went round to Anne-Marie and Sarah’s, as it was A-M’s birthday. We had a nice picnic lunch (inside, because of the weather, but we did get our picnic hamper and mat out so it wasn’t a dead loss!)

In the afternoon we wandered down to Wivenhoe May Fair, which was pretty good although we didn’t spend a huge amount of time there. After that we all came back and watched ‘Einstein & Eddington’ (which I really enjoyed), and then just chatted for a while.

So, there you have it! In a nutshell, that’s what we’ve been up to. Tonight, if the weather is good, I think we’re going to meet Alex and a few other people for chips on Wivenhoe quayside. Which should be fun.

… 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!

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? ;)

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!

I’m getting very slack – it’s now Wednesday and I haven’t updated with a usual weekend style update. Well, if you’re lucky, I might toss in some news of what we’ve been up to mid-week :p

Anyway. Friday night – 21 as usual. Saturday – I spent most of the day preparing for Sunday morning. In the evening Phil went to Chelmsford for Rich’s party, unfortunately I was still preparing so couldn’t go. But I did go to Sarah and Jon’s for a couple of drinks – they are leaving Colchester (sad times), so I thought it would be nice if I could pop round once I’d finished my preparation. It was a really good evening anyway – I caught up with them, and Andy B and Helen. We also played ‘Buzz’ and ‘Singstar’ on the PS2, which was good fun! At the 21 Christmas party this Friday we will be having a Singstar competition, should be good fun.

On Sunday I spoke at church, as I have already mentioned, and then we went round to Dennis and Christine’s for a sort of student lunch. I say “sort of” because they invited a few students along, but also invited us. But it was a nice afternoon anyway – I was very full by the end of it! And then we went to Sunday@6 in the evening.

So there you have it! And the mid-week update, as promised. This is very exciting stuff, as I’m sure you can image: on Monday Phil had a PCC meeting, so I stayed in and started re-watching Torchwood (“Children of Earth”). Then, last night we went out for dinner with Jo, who now lives just round the corner from us. (She has a 6 month old baby so she appreciates having adults to talk to!)

Um… yes. Not much else to say at the moment.

This weekend has been a good one! On Saturday afternoon Foz came up from London. We went round to see Bob and Ruth, who Foz knew from his student days and who now go to Fordham.

Afterwards we headed round to Steve & Karen’s for a gathering of people and spent most of the evening chatting and hearing random stories from a friend of Foz’s who I hadn’t met before.

On Sunday morning we went to church, and then in the evening we had the youth service. I was playing piano in the band, so we had a music practice for it beforehand. It all went well – the whole service! There were more people there than at the last youth service, and I think they all seemed to enjoy it. Apart from one or two minor blips the music went without a hitch, and people were able to sing all the songs without problems. AJ’s talk was really good as well – it involved a lot of audience participation which I think went down well!

Fordham are going to start up a second service on Sunday evenings which I think is going ot be more like a youth service. Hopefully that will pick up some momentum and will go as well as the youth services have gone.

Aaanyway, that’s all for now!