Phill Sacre

Category: Personal

Miscellaneous ramblings about my personal life. Unfortunately, the most common entry on this blog. Also the most boring / useless. But hey, you never know…

  • Quick update

    Just a quick personal update, seeing as I haven’t posted up in a couple of weeks (shock, horror, etc etc). Over Easter time Phil and I went to Colchester for a couple of days – it was good to pop in to our old church for the Good Friday service, and then on Saturday we had a lovely time over lunch with our friends AJ and Jen. Then we went to see my Mum and Dad until Easter Monday.

    On Tuesday, Phil’s parents drove round and picked us up from London and we drove up to Settle together (in their new Mini Countryman, which I got to drive for some of the journey). They bought a little holiday cottage up there recently, and it was our first visit to see it. It’s a lovely little place, and Settle is a fantastic town – we went there for a holiday once before and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately we had to come home on the Friday, but really enjoyed our stay and we’ll hopefully be back there many more times in the future!

    Now we’re back into term, and it feels like I’m up to my eyeballs in work already – about eight assignments to do this term! It’s all good stuff, but it’s going to be a busy time…

  • Have Wheels, Will Travel

    New CarAbout six months ago – just before the beginning of the current academic year – we decided to sell our old car. It was costing too much to keep, we didn’t need it, etc etc.

    So, it may come as a bit of a surprise to discover that we’ve bought a new car! As it turns out, it’s not actually that cheap to use public transport: even if you book in advance, you’re still looking at around £40-£60 for a return for two people between home and Colchester / Ipswich. Also, booking trains is really inconvenient… we particularly noticed this at Christmas, when we had to make a few journeys between home, Phil’s parents’, my parents’, and Colchester. All this would be manageable if we were only travelling occasionally, but given that Mum’s not been well and we’re travelling more often we thought it might be worth getting a car sooner rather than later.

    So, we contacted Surecar (who everyone seems to use at Oak Hill), and they fitted us up with a 2007 Honda Civic (as pictured). It’s a nice car – it looks pretty space age inside! It has things like cruise control (which I’ve never had on a car before), which should make it easier for longer journeys. The engine should be a bit more efficient than our old car – plus it has a sixth gear which should help with that.

    I remember seeing it reviewed on Fifth Gear a while back (I was watching it last summer I think), they reviewed it when it first came out, and the review was positive. One thing they did say was that the car felt solid and well put together, which I agree with: all of the buttons etc feel like they’re not going to come off!

    So, there you go – we’re now mobile again. It feels good, although now the temptation is to use the car when perhaps I shouldn’t: this morning I saw the weather outside and almost decided to drive up to college rather than walk… but I didn’t. Anyway, hopefully it will be a good car for us 🙂

  • Family Illness: Update

    I mentioned about this time last year that my Mum was not well. Well, she’s been on chemo pretty much since then and, despite the side effects of the treatment, she’s been doing pretty well. However, in around November she started getting a bit unsteady on her feet. We initially thought it was another side-effect of the chemo, however the symptoms didn’t stop – so last week, she went for an MRI scan. Apparently, the first place lung cancer goes is the brain, so the oncologist was a bit concerned.

    We hoped and prayed that it wouldn’t be the case… however, she got the results back on Monday. The cancer has indeed spread – she has secondary tumours in her brain. She will need radiotherapy in order to treat; unfortunately due to the tumours being spread out they won’t be able to target it. The treatment should begin in the next couple of weeks.

    It’s been a bit of a shock, to be honest – although I guess it’s always been on the cards, since she responded so well to the chemo (the original lung tumour disappeared) I didn’t really believe it was going to be the case. Obviously the outlook is not good at this stage, although of course we need to remain hopeful!

    One thing which I mentioned at the time which I still feel now is the place of God in all this. I certainly feel a lot more calm about it than by rights I should do. The past few months have provided an opportunity to reflect on the role of suffering from a personal perspective, and my opinion hasn’t changed.

    1. There is something wrong with creation. My Mum’s illness is not something which is good, right and natural. It’s an alien intrusion into this world. Right from Genesis 3, creation has been “subjected to frustration” (as Paul puts it in Romans 8:20). The world is not as it should be, and death and suffering are part of that. We rightly weep at these things, for they are not part of God’s original good creation.
    2. That said, God has promised to renew creation. All those who believe and trust in Him will be renewed. Revelation 21:4 says, “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Paul says in Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
    3. God has proven this ultimately through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The ‘firstfruits’ – he has risen from the dead, and in turn at his return those who believe in Him will rise also like him.
    4. In the meantime, until that day, we know that suffering is not in vain. Paul says, again in Romans 8:28, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Although it’s hard to see at the moment, God has a purpose – there is no purposeless suffering. And it’s a great comfort to know, whether Mum dies in 1 year or 100, it will not be the end. This life is merely the beginning.

    Frankly I don’t know what I would do without faith at the moment. If suffering was ultimately meaningless and death the final curtain call, I think I’d be beside myself. As it happens, I can trust in my heavenly Father, the trustworthy creator and redeemer.

  • Happy New Year

    A very happy new year to all my blog readers! Term started at Oak Hill today, my classes start tomorrow, so expect normal service to resume (i..e, long gaps punctuated by sporadic theological reflections and the occasional ‘still alive’ update).

    The photo was taken on a walk we went on yesterday with our friends AJ and Jen, at Wivnehoe. Click through for a bigger version on Flickr.

  • Christmas shenanigans

    I like the word “shenanigans”… I should try and use it more often. Oh, sorry, I was writing a blog post, wasn’t I?

    Aaaaanyway. Last weekend we packed up our bags and went to Colchester (and then, a few days later, we packed up our bags and came back). We hadn’t been up to see the house in months, so it was good to make sure that everything was still there and it hadn’t burnt down or anything. We were also able to catch up with a few Colchestrians who we hadn’t seen in a while: on Saturday we saw Phil and Georg (some uni friends) and their toddler – who had grown a lot since last time we saw her – and in the evening we went to Tom and Cliff’s Christmas party. That was great fun – there are some photos on Facebook if you’re a friend of mine there.

    On Sunday we went to Fordham in the morning and caught up with a few people after the service, and then we caught the train home and went to the carol service at Christ Church Cockfosters in the evening.

    So, there you have it! I don’t know how much I will be blogging over Christmas, but hopefully I will post something up before we head off to see family on Saturday. That said, I do wish all my blog readers a very happy Christmas, even if I wish it to you again in a few days! 🙂

  • Keane and the end of term

    Keane PerformingIt’s been a busy couple of weeks for us: last week (24th November) we went to see Mark Watson at the St Albans Arena. This weekend (30th Nov), we went to see Keane at the O2. Mark Watson was very funny – it was our third time seeing him live (well, fourth if you count the book launch a few weeks ago). Unfortunately the tour is now over so you can’t go and see him, but if you’re looking for a decent comedy gig next time we can recommend him 🙂

    We went to see Keane once before at the O2, so we knew roughly what to expect. They didn’t disappoint: it was a brilliant evening. They currently have a list of the songs they played on their website (as an image) – but to summarise, they started out with “You are Young” (not what I was expecting) from the new album, but that worked really well.

    A few highlights of the night for me were The Hamburg Song (love the song, they didn’t play it last time); Can’t Stop Now – acoustic; A Bad Dream; Is It Any Wonder?; This is the Last Time; and my personal favourite from the new album: Sea Fog (which they only played in the encore).

    I was actually quite surprised by how few songs they played from the new album – I would have liked to hear them play ‘Day Will Come’, which is probably my favourite of the more upbeat songs on Strangeland. They played a lot from the first two albums (only one song from Perfect Symmetry I think). Anyway, it was great to hear it all live, it was a great show and we’ll definitely try to catch them live on their next tour!

  • Still alive, still busy

    Apologies for my lack of updating over the past week or two – it’s been busy! We’re now into our second week back after half term, and work is progressing steadily. I’ve managed to draft most of my assignments, I only have one left to do which I’m fairly happy about. The last one left is my New Testament assignment, which I think will be really interesting: looking in detail at a passage (or several passages) in one of the gospels – great stuff.

    Apart from that, I don’t have any particular news! I’m having thoughts about writing a series on this blog about the Trinity – I started writing a post but then realised I should probably finish reading the book I’m currently reading (which is about the Trinity) before starting any kind of series on the Trinity…

    I know it’s not really good blogging form to apologise for how much you’re not blogging. Still, when have I cared about good blogging form, eh?!

  • What Larks

    Well, it’s been an interesting past few days! We went to a wedding down in Cornwall. Neither of us had been to Cornwall before, so it was a new experience!

    Because we sold our car recently, Phil’s parents very kindly let us borrow their car (it was a lot cheaper to borrow their car than to hire a car). They dropped the car with us on Friday morning, and so after lunch on Friday we packed our stuff and headed off. We decided that it would be better to break the journey on the way rather than drive all the way to Cornwall in one go, so we stayed at the Exeter M5 Travelodge. The journey itself wasn’t bad: heavy traffic for much of the way down – as well as rain – but we made good time and got there at about 18:30.

    On the Saturday morning, we headed off after breakfast and made good time. We got to our hotel at St Ives around 11:00 – it took a lot less time than Google seemed to think it would. We were staying at the Treloyhan Manor Hotel, which we can recommend: our room was very comfortable, very plush, and the place itself was beautiful.

    Anyway, we headed down to St Ives itself for the wedding around midday, which gave us a little bit of time to have a wander beforehand. I took a few photos (one of which is above), and then we went to the St Ives Harbour Hotel for the wedding. The ceremony itself was a civil ceremony, and we enjoyed it. I’m not really a fan of civil ceremonies to be honest – only to be expected really! – but I think they did it well. Afterwards, we went up for the reception, where we remained for the rest of the day.

    Phil and I didn’t really know anyone apart from the bridegroom, but we were sat at a table with a few of the bride’s university friends and we got chatting quite quickly. We also had a great time on the dancefloor afterwards – the DJ played a few songs which you hardly ever hear at weddings (e.g. Metallica – Enter Sandman and a Nirvana song, the name of which escapes me). Although I’m still annoyed that he didn’t play my request (‘Basket Case’ by Green Day), and he also managed to cut off the second half of ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ which wasn’t brilliant. Although that did mean we got ‘Paradise City’ so I guess that was a silver lining.

    Anyway, we got back to our hotel about midnight, and crashed! We headed off the next morning after breakfast, and had a great journey back. We only stopped off for about half an hour to have lunch, and got back to Phil’s parents about 16:00. We had some dinner with them, left the car there and got the train back to ours – we finally arrived back home about 20:00.

    All in all, a tiring weekend – but good! I feel much more rested now after having had a couple of good nights sleep.

    That said… it was all a bit fraught yesterday evening. Phil went out for the evening, and I was inside working on my sermon for this Sunday. Around 20:30, everything went dark – there was a power cut! Fortunately my laptop had a fully battery so I was able to keep working on my sermon. But when after 15 minutes the power still hadn’t come on, I started worrying a bit: I could see lights in a few other houses in our road, and in particularly I could see that our next-door-neighbours both had lights working. So, I called up e.on energy and reported the power cut. At about 21:30, someone came round and took a look at our meter. We have a digital meter here – and it was dead, indicating that there was no power coming into the property at all. There was nothing he could do – he said they’d have to dig up the road!

    So, today Mrs Phil stayed at home for the morning while I went up to college. I came back home about midday to let Phil go into work, and found that the workmen had discovered a fault outside our house. Apparently there’s a fault in the middle of the road – which means they will have to come back tomorrow and dig the road up, with all the problems that entails! For now, they’ve left us with a generator which is providing us with power. It’s a bit noisy outside, but at least we now have power and hopefully they’ll fix the problem tomorrow.

    So, there you go! That’s been the last few days. A good weekend, followed by a slightly stressful start to the week. Hopefully it will be all sorted tomorrow, and there won’t be any other disasters for at least a month…

  • Biking, Book Launches and Biopsies

    I mentioned last time that we were selling our car. Well, the car sold on Monday: someone came to collect it, and I watched them drive it away. It was indeed a strange feeling! But it was somewhat mollified by going to buy a bike on Tuesday.

    I popped over to Halfords in Enfield, and bought a new ‘hybrid’ bike. When I say hybrid I don’t mean it has a combined petrol / electric engine – I mean it’s a cross between a lightweight racing bike and a slightly more heavyweight mountain bike. They seem to be popular at the moment: they’re often used for commuting (which is what I’m going to use mine for).

    Unexpectedly, they built the bike for me there and then and I was able to ride it home! Well, I say ‘ride’… I walked it most of the way through Enfield (after having not ridden in ten years I didn’t want to ride it on busy roads) – but I did ride it most of the way back from Enfield to East Barnet. I’d forgotten how much effort it actually takes to cycle – in my teenage years I had a paper round for a couple of years and just got used to cycling. I don’t remember it ever taking so much effort, maybe I was just fitter back then. The crazy thing is, my old bike was a heavy steel-framed beast: this weighs in a fair bit lighter, being an aluminium frame!

    Anyway, on Wednesday I decided to ride it up to college – which is up a fairly steep hill whichever way you go. I took the slightly easier route, and – much to my surprise – I managed it! Hopefully this will be a positive step over the next term, not having to do a 20+ minute walk every time I need to go in.

    So. Moving on: Wednesday evening, Phil and I headed into London for Mark Watson’s “The Knot” book launch. In case you are unaware of him, Mark Watson is a comedian who Phil and I really like. He’s just written a book, it was launched at the Edinburgh festival but this was the London launch. A group of people gathered in St-Giles-in-the-Fields to hear Mark reading a few excerpts from the novel, and generally entertain us! It was great fun. Unfortunately we had to head off before the second part of the evening, but before we left Mark signed our copy of the book 🙂

    So… that brings me to yesterday. I went into hospital for the biopsy I mentioned before. Basically they needed to take a bit more skin to make sure there were no satellite lesions. I went into hospital for 9AM – and I didn’t get into theatre until gone 3PM! So it was a long wait – but after that, it was done pretty quickly. I was out by 4PM, and then we were discharged about 7PM (would have been earlier but they were really busy).

    Anyway, I’m just glad it’s all done. Hopefully that will be the last of the facial surgery I need to have done, if I take care in the sun. I have the stitches removed on Thursday next week, and then I have a follow-up dermatology appointment in December.

    So… that’s how my week has been! All ready for term to begin next week … I hope!

  • Skin Cancer

    So… yesterday I went into hospital for my follow-up appointment. They had the results of my biopsy, after my procedure a few weeks ago. It turns out that the mole I had removed was actually… a malignant melonoma. It’s a relatively rare form of skin cancer which, if left untreated, can cause problems (i.e. do the nasty usual cancer-y trick of spreading to the lymph glands and killing you eventually).

    It was a diagnosis I wasn’t expecting, to be honest. I’d heard that cancers of the skin were often benign but needed to be removed, so I was expecting something like that.

    On the plus side: they removed the lesion at an early stage (it was 0.8mm deep which I think is pretty good); they couldn’t see any other moles which might be a problem; and there was no swelling in the lymph glands in my neck which means it hadn’t spread.

    What they need to do now is do a wide skin biopsy – i.e. remove some more skin around where the took the mole out, just to check they caught all the melanoma cells. That will mean I’ll have a slightly bigger scar on my right temple, but it will fade and I think I can live with that.

    In general, the doctors were very reassuring: they use the word ‘cured’ of the melanoma, which they have repeatedly said to my Mum is not possible for her lung cancer. Assuming that they find the cancer hasn’t spread (which they seem to think is likely), the main things I have to worry about are a 10-20% chance of the cancer recurring, and taking as many precautions with the sun as possible.

    So there you go. I have, or to be more precise (hopefully) had, skin cancer.