Well it’s very nearly Christmas! I only have a couple of days left at work (well, two half-days really – tomorrow afternoon we have the Christmas meal, and the day after I think they usually let people go home in the afternoon.)
I thought I’d better post up a quick summary of what we’ve been doing over the past few days anyway! Last Friday we were at Emmanuel Church, Billericay for the annual ordinand’s evening. Apparently last year it was cancelled because of the snow, but this year it was fine. There was some snow but not enough to stop us getting there! We saw James and Tash, albeit briefly, and we also were able to speak to a few of the people I met at Audley End.
On Saturday we spent the morning doing a bit of shopping and various Christmas related chores (posting off cards, presents etc). In the afternoon we met up with Alex, Tom, Dan and Alison at the Castle (the pub, not the actual castle) for a few drinks, before heading on down to Sloppy Joe’s. By this time it had been snowing hard for a couple of hours – as we were going in to eat the traffic on the high street had been at a standstill for about half an hour! The restaurant itself was pretty empty, although as we left another group of people came in. I do feel quite sorry for restaurant and shop owners at the moment – so many people must cancel because of the weather, it must be quite disheartening!
Anyway, after that we went over to the Odd One Out for a few more drinks, and then back to Tom’s place to watch an episode or two of Father Ted. All in all, a good evening!
On Sunday we didn’t manage to get out to church because of the snow. Apparently the hill in Fordham was not in a fit state for driving, so we didn’t attempt it. We did, however, go round to Tim and Katie’s house (our home group leaders) for a get together, with Mike and Dani and Stepheny. We had brunch, and read a Bible passage together, and generally had a good time. We stayed there until about 2:30 and then headed back home. In the evening, Phil made it out to the carol service at Eight Ash Green – unfortunately I was feeling a bit rough so I stayed in and kept warm!
And I think that pretty much brings us up to date with what’s been going on. Nothing too exciting, but still! I don’t know what my updating will be like over the next couple of days so – if I don’t write a proper update before, I wish all of you a Happy Christmas 🙂 I do sometimes write a little Christmas spiel, but this time I think I’ll skip that – but I will link you to this beautiful advent him (Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending). We sang it at church a couple of weeks ago, and I love it! This version is a bit on the slow side but seems quite appropriate for this time of year.
(Oh, and one last thing: quick car update – still not fixed. Hopefully next Wednesday But I’m not too worried about it too much over the next few days, I don’t think anything is seriously wrong, it just needs the dealership to take a look at it.)
