So, yeah....

The future of the church of England

2007-11-15T22:46:00.000Z

I'm glad to see that our Vicars in training still have a sense of humour. Ridley G staircase

All in all a jolly good weekend

2007-10-29T15:19:00.001Z

Annual Barn weekend - this time in the New Forest, was good as ever. Chatting, walking, sharing food, playing some games and sleeping (but not a lot). Time well spent. Here are a few pics:

Personal but not too personal

2007-10-16T15:40:00.000Z

Reading Anna and Lucy’s thoughts on the Facebook vs Blog discussion has got me thinking about why I haven’t blogged for a while.
I think I have enjoyed the personal but not too personal element of Facebook, verses the deeper personal disclosure of Blogging. There’s just too much effort required on all fronts in the world of Blogs and I’ve opted for the simplicity and shallowness of Facebook instead. Does this mean that I have become shallow? Perhaps, but let me try to explain.

The last month or so has been pretty pants in my neck of the woods. Who in all honesty actually wants to read about that? What could I write about that that is worth anyone else reading? Surely it would just be self-absorbed dirge to anyone but me – stuff to put in a personal journal but not an online one. Why would anyone want to hear me whining on my Blog? Why should I inflict this on people?

Also, when you’re feeling tired and fed-up it’s just too much effort to write something that sounds good enough to put on your Blog. It’s much easier to put a comment on Facebook saying ‘(name) is fed-up’ or ‘(name) is very tired’ and leave it at that. These kind of things in the Facebook world don’t require a response – your friends can read it and move on, or at the most put a comment on your ‘wall’ which says ‘hope you feel better soon’. You’re not asking for any advice or any concern, you’re just saying ‘things are a bit crap, but there we go’.

Can anyone else relate to this or am I talking rubbish?

The end of blogging?

2007-09-27T13:58:00.000Z

Has Facebook really brought about the death of blogging?

hmph

2007-08-11T19:51:00.001Z

Tried to organise a fun morning of cleaning the church this morning with the extra incentive of 'home-made by trainee vicar's wife' cake at the end. Could be quite a fun morning I thought, bunch of people doing a bit of weeding and a bit of mopping and dusting with some music and some chatting and some tasty cake at the end.

Fellow bloggers can you guess how many keen and committed people turned up besides myself?

1

Trying to work out if I went about advertising it really badly, whether people just don't want to muck in and clean the church they worship in every week or whether people are just to darn busy or too flippin lazy.

Ah well, Hannah and I ate a lot of cake.

and relax....

2007-08-09T18:40:00.000Z

Really enjoying a slower pace of life at the moment as many things have stopped for the summer. It's so nice to have a chance to catch up on things that I haven't had a chance to do for ages, to have some evenings at home watching TV and some more time and space for going out and doing fun social things. Am also counting down the days until we go off on holiday - not long to go now. Ahhhhh.

Musical genius

2007-07-25T17:11:00.001Z

Paddy pointed this out to me today - check it out - it's class. Thomas the Tank Engine vs 50 cent

raaaaaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnn

2007-07-23T17:32:00.001Z

rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain,rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain,rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain,rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain

Mother-in-law's 50th

2007-07-21T10:50:00.000Z

Mum Burley's 50th birthday last Saturday. Good to have all the Burley clan together and get some snaps of Rich with his 2 Grandmas and the Burley siblings with boyfriends/girlfriends/wives. First time I think I've played pass the parcel at an adult party.

Question

2007-07-15T16:52:00.000Z

Am I the only person sad enough to be watching Big Brother this time round? Will any one else admit to it? It doesn't count if you know people who are watching it - only if it's you.

Who needs Big Brother?

2007-06-29T11:49:00.000Z

Recent entertainment at Britten Place:

A settee which had been put in the communal gardens (who knows why) was then set on fire, resulting in a very bad smell, followed by big fire engine with flashing lights and lots of firemen.

One of the neighbours was taken ill and the doctors car with flashing light arrived to whisk him away.

Neighbour downsatirs has been banging and shouting freuqently.

Neighbour downstairs hoovering and playing loud Christian music at 1 in the morning.

Neighbour downstairs heaving her tall upright fridge and 2 televisions out of the house and leaving them outside her front door!

Rain

2007-06-27T19:08:00.000Z

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain rain,

Settlers of Catan

2007-06-13T22:01:00.000Z

Had an ace weekend in Enfield with the Potts and the Deans. Great to chill out with some quality people, eat some gorgeous food and play Settlers of Catan! Got another couple of games of Settlers in last night when Rob and Jo came to visit, and left at 4.00am! Thankfully I had predicted a late night and taken today off work in lieu for all the extra hours I've been working recently. Really wanting to be back in Leamington for more quality evenings like this, although we're planning a quality evening out in Cambridge hopefully next week, possibly involving late night punting - yay!

Aaarrgghh again.

2007-06-05T18:47:00.000Z

Vicar's wife syndrome

2007-05-30T17:28:00.000Z

Uh-oh - is this a taste of what is to come? Vicar's wife syndrome

Actually I can only relate to some of these so maybe we'll be alright, and anyway I do really like baking. More cake anyone? No? Oh well, another slice for me then.

The Zimmers

2007-05-28T21:04:00.001Z

If you haven't already seen this or heard about it, check out the single by The Zimmers released today.

Class.

Matt Berry and Jonas 3

2007-05-21T21:23:00.000Z

If I'm going to make my ears bleed I would hope it would be to something far more worthy than the likes of these guys.

Matt Berry and Jonas 3 we said, bit of comedy, bit of music - probably a bit like Bill Bailey. We like him. Burley error of gigantic proportions.

First hour - Jonas 3 playing some of their noise. Less stage presence than a thimble. I kept thinking, when are they going to be funny? They weren't. I kept thinking, when will I be able to actually hear the words of these songs? I didn't.

Ah well, we thought, we're sure Matt Berry the 'comedian' will make up for it. Second half, voila Matt Berry, accompanied by Jonas 3. I'm sure this gig was advertised as comedy. I didn't even smile, let alone laugh, and I'm not that difficult to amuse.

Jonas 3 on their own were crap, Jonas 3 plus Matt Berry were even more crap.

This evening's experience reminds me of the marmite ads. Half of the audience were leaping around, singing along to the songs and generally lapping up this strange excuse for comedy. The other half sat, bewildered, waiting for the show to get started. Quite a few left, quite a few refused to stand when Mr Berry kept encouarging us to, many did not join their hands in even a pretence of applause at any point.

Are the Burley's getting old and not grasping the gentle nuances of modern comedy or is Matt Berry just a very sad man?

A few months ago Rich, me and Marcus went to see 'The Ice Crystal Maze' at the ADC theatre in Cambridge. A student production by some guys who were taking their first steps into comedy. Some of them would definitely have been better sticking with their physics degrees. Some of them actually froze on stage and couldn't think of any jokes. It was dire. This evening's show was worse. £10 which was certainly not well spent.

You win some you lose some. Let's hope the next one's a winner. Ross Noble, I'm sure you won't let us down.

The memories

2007-05-21T17:04:00.001Z

Anyone remember this? 12345

Genius.

Aarrggghhh!!

2007-05-15T15:20:00.001Z

and that's all I have to say on the matter.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

2007-05-01T15:22:00.001Z

hmmmmmmmm

My celebrity look-alike collage.

Well, Rich did always used to say he fancied Willow from Buffy the vampire slayer....

Mahnahmahnah

2007-04-27T07:50:00.000Z

Remember this? Muppets mahnahmahnah

Ireland

2007-04-22T21:28:00.002Z

Tried to put a load of photos of our Ireland trip on here but it kept crashing. Check them out on my page on Facebook
Go to 'photos' on the left hand side and choose 'Ireland April '07'

Nikki's wedding

2007-04-03T15:11:00.001Z

A couple of photos of Nikki's wedding for any of you who know her.

Ouch!

2007-03-30T17:55:00.000Z

I hit my head on the corner of a wall on Wednesday morning (don't ask!) and had a bump for a few days and now have a very fetching bruise. I have had a minor headache ever since. Is that normal or should I go to the doctors?

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeee!

2007-03-25T16:39:00.000Z

I've had an absolutely brilliant birthday weekend thanks to a wonderful husband and some very very good friends.

I had a really lazy morning on Saturday, slept in until I felt awake enough to get up and had a very tasty bacon butty for breakfast. Rich and I went to check out a local art gallery which has recently appeared which was quite strange but an experience nevertheless. We then went into town and had a yummy lunch and visited the Fitzwilliam museum.

We returned home for what I thought was going to be a quiet evening in with the two of us eating curry and watching a DVD, although I did wonder why Rich was planning on making 3 different currys for the two of us......

It turned out that Lucy and Paddy had arranged with Rich that they would come round for dinner as they were over from Leamington for the weekend visiting relatives. Jon and Anna then joined the party, driving across from Enfield for the evening. Just as I was laying the table for the 6 of us I heard a knock at the door and opened it to find Pete and Tash on the doorstep, having driven over from Sevenoaks! What a fantastic surprise! I feel really lucky to have so many wonderful friends who would go to that kind of effort to make my birthday really special and such a talented husband who cooked a very impressive curry feast for us all.

Spiritual Direction 3

2007-03-21T19:16:00.000Z

Had my third Spiritual Direction session today. I had spent the last week or so wondering about cancelling it as I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about this time but I decided to go anyway.

As it turned out we had another really helpful and encouraging chat. She seems to be getting to know me quite well already (I suppose that's what comes of me being forced to talk about myself for hours!) and again has helped me to confirm some important decisions I needed to make and has built me up by acknowledging the importance of some of my passions in life and thoughts about the church.

I set up a tiny 'prayer room' in our flat last week and have taken away some things to help me experiment in praying in different ways. I am really quite excited about doing this.

More photos from our window

2007-03-20T17:20:00.000Z

Lovely Leamington

2007-03-13T21:56:00.001Z

Off to Leamington this weekend. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait.....

Mum

2007-03-06T20:21:00.000Z

Went to visit my folks at the weekend, which was very nice - watched the lunar eclipse together, which was pretty special. My Mum isn't doing too great. They are talking about starting her on Chemotherapy soon. To all of you who pray, would appreciate your prayers. Cheers.

Neighbour part 2

2007-02-28T22:28:00.000Z

This post follows on from Rich's post yesterday. They did indeed take our neighbour away yesterday morning and they put her in a mental health unit for ONE night. After which they sent her back to her flat. She returned some time this afternoon.

When I got home from work tonight at 6pm, ready to grab some dinner and be back at church for a meeting at 7.30 I returned to the familiar shouting coming from downstairs. After a while I realised that the shouting was coming from outside so I looked out the window to discover our neighbour in her nightie, running around the pavement at the front of the houses.

After a while she came knocking on our door. We ignored it for a bit but after 5 minutes or so we took pity and decided to answer. She told us again that she had died the other night and showed us where she was bleeding (she wasn't). We ended up going back to her flat with her and sitting with her for a while as she was scared to be there on her own. Rich had phoned the police, who again took 2 hours to respond. As I left for my meeting, having not had a chance to have any dinner, I saw her running around in her nightie again.

Apparently the Police did eventually come and have taken her away again but how much they can do will 'depend on her mental state'. We're going to risk staying here tonight in the hope that they won't send her back in the middle of the night and we can get some sleep.

The other strange thing that has happened this week is that somebody stole my bicycle saddle!! I went to cycle to work on Monday and it was gone. What a strange week - roll on the weekend when we are away!

10 things that scare me

2007-02-25T13:43:00.000Z

Wondering if I am a big baby or if other people would find it quite easy to think of 10 things that scare them? Here are mine:

1. Wasps
2. Public speaking
3. Driving a car
4. Confrontation
5. Watching a scary film if I am on my own
6. Scuba diving
7. Walking through fields of cows
8. Rich's gollum impressions
9. Our nasty neighbour
10. Swans

Oh dear......

Prayer

2007-02-19T18:14:00.000Z

PRAYER (I) George Herbert

PRAYER the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth ;

Engine against th’ Almightie, sinner's towre,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six daies world-transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear ;

Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bels beyond the stars heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices, something understood.

Prayer (after Herbert)

Prayer, a plea for understanding; tormented heart,
An inner paradise where all needs are met;
A glimpse of what could be, an end, the start;
A blanket of light, covering all debt.

Leaves caught by the wind, spirit set free,
Tongues of fire, a crown of thorns,
New sight given so man can truly see;
The wild birds tune at the break of dawn;

Removing the blockade, warmth in the storm;
Strength for the weary, united war cry;
Earth raising upwards, the stars in the sky,
The wonder of life, an angel born,

Tip of the mountain, the rainbow’s soft glow,
The sea of life into which all rivers flow.

2007-02-18T16:34:00.000Z

It doesn't take a trip to the other side of the world to see a beautiful sunrise. Took this from our kitchen window a couple of weeks ago.

Who paints the skies into glorious days?
Only the splendour of Jesus.

Arrrggghh!

2007-02-13T17:53:00.000Z

Electoral roll .... APCM ...... PCC ......... Easter services .......... Staff reviews .......... Contracts........
Feeling like there is a bit too much to juggle at the moment.

Snow!

2007-02-08T18:45:00.000Z

Last night it snowed and I walked to work enjoying the creak of the clean white blanket under my feet. We were all a little excitable in the office as we arrived this morning. We decided to do a bit of team bonding and make a snowman - which became a snow family - parent, child and dog! It was great! Here we are standing in front of the church with our artistic expression - notice how the parent it opening their arms to welcome people in, the child is lifting its arms praising God and the dog, well it has a stick...

Spiritual Direction 2

2007-02-05T18:50:00.000Z

Thanks to all those who offered me some advice on spiritual direction following my post a few months ago. I had my second session with my spiritual director last week and it made a lot more sense this time. I decided to follow Steve’s advice and make up my mind what I wanted to talk about beforehand. This led to a really helpful chat, which moved me a long way along the path of making some important decisions.

At this time in my life I am in a place where nearly everyone I spend time with is a keen public speaker. I’m working and socialising with ordinands and church leaders most of the time, as well as other friends who simply enjoy speaking in front of lots of people. I had begun to feel that there was something wrong with me for not wanting to speak in front of large groups of people and was feeling really under pressure to overcome some kind of ‘issue’ I felt I must have with this. While I think I do need to reach a point where I can speak in front of medium sized groups without being intimidated my spiritual director helped me to see that God has created me the way I am and that there are some things I just don’t like to do and may never like to do. This is not to say that I should use this as an excuse and there are certainly things that I don’t like doing that I am learning to do better and moving on it, however there are some things that it is OK to say are just not for me and that doesn’t make me any less of a person. Sounds obvious I guess but it was so freeing to hear someone say that it was OK to not want to deliver talks and bible studies and to show that they saw value in some of the quieter and less public giftings.

Tim Minchin

2007-02-02T17:30:00.000Z

Rich and I went to see Tim Minchin at the Junction last night. Pretty good comedian and a good night out. Check out his video clip called 'Canvas Bags' and his audio clip 'If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out (Take My Wife)' on his website. I wouldn't recommend listening to many of the others if you are easily offended.....

Health and Safety in the Workplace

2007-01-24T18:28:00.000Z

Yesterday I attended the worst training day I have ever been on. It was on 'Health and Safety in the Workplace' and it was painfully boring. Now I know that to most people this isn't the most exciting of topics but I do believe that most subjects, if presented in the right way can still be reasonably interesting. This was not.

We entered the room and were sat at tables which were in two lines along the length of the room, facing each other. What amused me was that in a course where they talked extensively about how we should look out for the ergonomics of our desks and make sure we are not twisting to see our computer screens we had to sit twisting all day in order to face the front of the room where the trainer and the projection screen were.

We sat at these tables ALL DAY, from 9am to 5pm. We did not leave the room except to go to the toilet. The session was run by 2 men, one was actually reasonably good - he had a fairly expressive voice, cracked a few jokes and told us a few interesting stories of workplaces he had visited where there were Health and Safety risks. Unfortunately it was the other guy that ran most of the day. He had a seriously monotone voice and absolutely NO sense of humour. He was obviously very very interested in Health and Safety (good thing as it's his job - fair enough) but was not able to communicate his interest and knowledge in a way that could engage us.

By half way through the afternoon it was clear that everyone there was losing the will to live. If the trainer guy had any kind of self awareness or people skills I think he would have noted that the body language of everyone in the room was telling him that they were bored and frustrated. One of my colleagues fell asleep and I had to poke him with a pencil and another one of my colleagues started throwing pencils around.

I really do appreciate the importance of good Health and Safety Policies in the workplace and of course I am concerned to do all I can to keep the staff and the congregation safe, however I really think it is a waste of my time to have a 40 minute lecture on how to use a ladder safely. In December I climbed a high stepladder in order to decorate our 10 foot Christmas tree at church. 2 of my colleagues helped me, one held the ladder and one passed decorations up to me. The ladder was safe and secure the work mates were responsible. Following my discussion with this trainer I was informed that only people who have received training on how to use a ladder and deemed competent in ladder usage should be allowed to perform such tasks and that next Christmas I should consider either:

1) Not having a Christmas tree at church.
2) Having a much smaller tree so that I do not need a ladder decorate it.
3) Getting some scaffolding to erect around the tree and using this to climb up to decorate it.
4) Hiring a 'cherry picker' electrical extendable platform to stand on and decorate the tree.

I am toying with the idea of finding out about local 'ladder safety courses' and attending what I'm sure will have to be a 3 week intensive course with a full examination on ladder handling techniques, after which I will take great joy in changing my job title to Mel Burley - PA to the Vicar/Church Office Coordinator/Ladder handling Coordinator.

PCC

2007-01-20T17:35:00.000Z

Why are PCC meetings soooooooo loooooooong??

Bass Guitar

2007-01-08T18:05:00.000Z

I got a bass guitar for Christmas last year from my gorgeous husband. I really wanted one. I chose it myself. I was really pleased with it and excited about learning to play it.

Problem is I can be sooo lazy! I have hardly picked it up over the past year and although it makes an attractive and funky looking peice of furniture in our lounge, that wasn't really the idea.

So, I have to decided to act as if I got it this Christmas and recapture the excitment of owning a very cool instrument and dammit if I won't learn to play the thing and become that very funky looking female band member loitering in the background that I had pictured.

So my friends, you have my permission - and in fact my plea - to keep on asking me how I'm getting on with learning to play my bass. Perhaps if I feel guilty enough about letting people down if I don't practice that will give me enough incentive to get off my ass and do it!!

"Oooo, deep psychological problems of needing to please people Mel?" I hear you say - maybe, but if it works in this instance I'll go with it.

Goodbye 2006

2007-01-02T23:09:00.000Z

Well, 2006 was a strange year. When I think of it I kind of tag the last few months of 2005 on to it - that's when we moved to Cambridge, Rich went back to full time education and I changed my job, quite a few times.....

So, you are the honoured readers of one of my few instances of going against the prescribed way of doing things, as my look back at last year is really a look at sept 05 - sept 06.

Job positions I have had:
1) Teaching Assistant at 3 different special needs schools working with children from age 5-18 with a whole range of special needs.
2) Notetaker at Cambridge University taking notes in palaeography lectures.
3) Nursery helper.
4) Interpreter for deaf actor David Sands (winner of best actor at the Remark Film and TV awards) at rehearsels for a play in London.
5) Receptionist for a company called Aveva.
6) Teaching Assistant using sign language for a 6 year old deaf boy.
7) Teaching Assistant for a 10 year old girl with cerebral palsy.
8) Production assistant for the Active hands company.
9) Job focus tutor for Power to work - helping people with mental health problems and learning difficulties to write their CV's and learn basic skills.

New experiences:
1) Going on strike!
2) Being made redundant (not related to going to strike thankfully).
3) Travelling to the other side of the world and seeing the beautiful sights of Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, as well as the very smelly Hong Kong. Holiday blog
4) Paragliding, parasailing, snorkelling with sharks and turtles, scuba diving (well almost), full-day hike on a glacier.
5) Cycling as my main mode of transport.
6) Driving - finally took my test in March.

Worst bits:
1) Mum being diagnosed with bone cancer and everything involved in that.
2) Leaving so many close freinds in Leamington, who I still really miss.
3) Accepting that a job in sign langauge wasn't going to happen at this time of my life.

Best bits:
1) Making new friends and getting to know people in Cambridge.
2) A great few days post Christmas with my Mum, Dad, Brother, Rich and Jo.
3) The barn weekend in Wales.
4) A couple of comedy punting trips - particularly one after a few pints.

Best films - some older some newer:
1) Crash.
2) Serenity.
3) Love Actually.
4) Metropolis.

Best gigs:
1) Beth Orton at the Corn Exchange.
2) The Infidels at Soul Tree.
3) Jem at the Junction.
4) The Delays at the Junction.

Favourite foods/drinks of the last year:
1) Bread (nothing new there).
2) Sherry!
3) Duck pancakes.
4) Mango chutney.

5 things you probably didn't know about me

2006-12-21T21:48:00.000Z

I've been tagged by Steve Tilley - see his blog for details of the little game. So here are 5 facts about me....

1) I still have three ‘Christmas Storyteller’ cassettes from when I was about 6 years old. I still listen to them every Christmas and really enjoy them. I still get scared by a couple of the stories and would be reluctant to listen to them if I was in the house on my own. Rich has spent a lot of time these past few weeks transferring them onto CD as the cassettes were dying from so much use – it is one of the best Christmas presents ever.

2) My big brother Rob fell off a cliff when he was 20 and spent a year in Salisbury spinal unit, having dislocated his neck. He was paralysed from the neck down for a long time but gradually regained some movement. He now walks short distances on crutches and uses a wheelchair. Since his accident he has travelled the world, been skiing, bungee jumping and done pretty much anything else adventurous you can think of. He is my hero, and my inspiration to do the exciting things in life.

3) I have written about 400 poems and songs. I started writing them when I was about 12, had my most productive period while I was at Uni and write them occasionally now. The majority of them are pretty rubbish but a good handful are not bad and I would really like to get back into writing them again.

4) I spent 6 weeks of the summer of 2000 in a little village called Ozd in Romania. I went with the Christian charity Oasis, along with 2 other girls. We helped run a number of holiday clubs for children from alcoholic families and taught English to the local village children. I went to Romania again in 2002 to visit the sister church of the church I grew up in and to help with the kindergarten there. The country has a special place in my heart and I would like to go there again soon.

5) I hiccup about 5 times every single day.

I'm going to tag

Si
Lucy
JonPotts
Andy
No pants Pete (I know you read this Pete - it'a about time you put a comment on!)

Spiritual Direction

2006-12-12T19:36:00.000Z

I'd never heard of having a 'Spiritual Director' before we came toRidley. Every ordinand and their spouse has the option of having one of these. I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm not sure I really understand what it meant to happen though. You meet with someone who 'directs' you spiritually? How?

I suppose it works quite differently for different people but I'm not quite sure how to make it work for me. I had my first session today and it was alright but felt quite strange. I'm not very good at just talking about me. I certainly feel it would be good to have some direction from an older, wiser Christian but I'm not quite sure how to make these sessions work.

Has anyone else had a Spiritual director, or been one? What is your understanding of what it's all about?

Neighbour

2006-12-11T18:56:00.000Z

Forgot to mention, our neighbour has not been at home for the past week or so. It appears her door was broken down again so we assume the ambulance had to come and take her away while we were out one time. I hope she's being looked after a bit better now and that they will increase her care when she comes back home. In the meantime we are enjoying some peace and quiet!

Busy busy busy

2006-12-11T18:46:00.000Z

Never before have I uttered the words 'I'll be glad when Christmas is over'. I love Christmas!

However, Christmas when working in a church is busy busy busy and I'm longing for a bit of a rest.

A few photos from the barn weekend

2006-12-04T18:23:00.000Z

Pine needles in my pants

2006-12-04T18:18:00.000Z

After battling with St Barnabas' 3 metre Christmas tree today I have spent the afternoon with pine needles itching me all over, inside of all my clothes and bringing me out in a big itchy rash. Am now shedding them all over our flat as I walk about. I'm sure the hazards of pine needles weren't included in my contract...

My DNA

2006-11-30T20:08:00.000Z

Thought I'd give Anna's quiz a try...

My DNA

Barn weekend number 4

2006-11-28T17:43:00.000Z

What can I say? A receipe for happines:

Take one barn and 20 quality people, mix in a few stupid games, plenty of yummy food (thanks Becky!), great conversation, a walk in the countryside and a big fat pub lunch. Bake for a weekend.

Best weekend I've had all year. The only downside was having to say goodbye.

The return of the neighbour from hell

2006-11-20T19:49:00.000Z

Aaaarrrggggghhhhhhh!!!

Yes fellow bloggers, our troublesome neighbour is causing us grief again. After about 6 weeks of peace since we got back from our travels she has spent the last 2/3 weeks building up to a noise frenzy.

It started with occasional bangs and slams and the TV on loudly. It moved on to music at full volume with more and more bangs and slams and shouting. It moved to the next level last night, with slams shaking the flat and waking us up every half an hour or so through most of the night. We had about 3 hours of disturbed sleep and I spent the first half of my day at work today feeling really jittery and knackered!

We've decided to stay at Marcus' tonight to ensure we get some decent sleep. Judging by past episodes it seems we will have trouble for the next couple of weeks. Oh joy.

First 'proper' week

2006-11-17T19:17:00.000Z

Just finished my first 'proper' week at St B's, after Becky officially finished last Friday. I think it's fair to say that it has been really quite stressful! I was expecting it to be pretty full on so at least it didn't get me by surprise. Got to work tomorrow too as it's a 'Leadership Day', means I'll have worked 52 hours this week. Taking a day in Lieu next Friday ready to set off for the barn weekend, which I'm really really looking forward to. 2 days with a bunch of pretty much the best people in the world. Yay!

What's your theological worldview?

2006-11-13T18:11:00.000Z

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern.

You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

Emergent/Postmodern

68%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

54%

Neo orthodox

54%

Classical Liberal

43%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

39%

Modern Liberal

36%

Reformed Evangelical

29%

Roman Catholic

29%

Fundamentalist

25%

Which muppet are you?

2006-11-11T20:32:00.000Z

You are Kermit the Frog.
You are reliable, responsible and caring. And you have a habit of waving your arms about maniacally.

FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS:
"Hi ho!" "Yaaay!" and "Sheesh!"

2006-11-02T17:38:00.000Z

Just came home from work, put the stereo on and checked my emails. 10 minutes later I realised that I had been listening to Bob Dylan for 10 minutes without realising it. Rich had left the CD in and I'd just played what was in there. I guess he can't be that bad if I didn't notice and have to turn the CD off. Just had a look at the album cover to see which one it is - it's 'slow train coming' - much more tuneful than the CD I blogged about a few months ago. Still, now I've realised Im going to have to take it out and put on something else.....

2 weeks in

2006-10-27T16:33:00.000Z

Had my first proper stressful day at work yesterday and my first proper good day today. Not that every other day so far has been middle of the road but these were days I came away from thinking - Arrgghhh or Yay!

Yesterday I worked a 12 hour day, starting at 9am and working through until 6.45pm as there were quite a few meetings in the day and then the Vicar needed a load of stuff done, which took ages! I then took half an hour to go for a walk before going on to visit another Cluster and introduce myself to them etc. Home at 10pm. I don't mind a day like this occasionally but I won't be happy if they happen more than once every couple of weeks. I have a sneaking suspicion this could be the case unless I am very firm with myself and my boss from the start - hmmm, must work on those assertiveness skills.

Today on the other hand was a start at putting those skills into practice. I came in at 10am and left at 4pm to make up for some of the time yesterday. Got a load of stuff done, had good chats with a few people and started settling myself into my new desk (which the previous PA has now vacated). Is nice to have a little 'home' in the office with some familiar pictures and things.

Off to Huddersfield this weekend to see Rich's folks. Back in time for a day of church stuff on Sunday - all good practice for the future. x

Bob's wedding!

2006-10-24T16:20:00.000Z

For anyone from school who may be reading this, thought you might like to see this picture of Bob and her husband!!

Comments

2006-10-24T16:17:00.000Z

Just realised I had the 'no annoymous comments' thing on my blog so apologies to anyone who tried to comment but couldn't because they don't have a blog. Have switched that off now.

A week and 2 days into the new job. All going pretty well I think, although I have moments of 'I'm not sure I can do this!?' but generally enjoying it. Am starting tonight on doing the rounds, visiting all the 'Clusters' (bigger small groups) to introduce myself. Most of their meetings seem to involve food - it's all good. italian tonight - yum.

My weemee

2006-10-23T21:35:00.000Z

The Weatherman

2006-10-20T18:36:00.000Z

Watched the Weatherman last night. Good film, I'd recommend it. One of those very 'normal' films where not alot happens but you see normal people interacting with each other and with what life throws at them. I don't usually like Nicholas Cage, particularly after seeing him ruin Captian Corelli's Mandolin, but he was actually very good in this role - maybe because the guy was a bit pathetic and he has got a bit of a pathetic looking face!?

First day

2006-10-16T16:27:00.000Z

First day in my new job today. Nicely eased in as I only had to work 11am-4.30pm. Mainly just met quite a lot of the 'Ministry Team', read lots of stuff and had a tour around the church and offices.

The person I am replacing is still in post and we will be overlapping for the next 3/4 weeks. This is a good idea in some ways as it means she can fill me in on alot of the stuff I need to do and I can see her in action and ask questions as we go along. However it feels quite weird to have started the job and yet not really have started, as she is still there. Makes it a bit difficult to get on with anything as what will be my desk is still her desk, what will be my files are still her files.....

Got a compliation CD in the post today from Lucy and Paddy - some class tunes on it, which I'm listening to now. Inspired to resurrect the musical education we provided for each other at Uni by recording complication CDs (well, in those days they were tapes! Does that make us old?) for each other. Yours in in progress guys. Cheers.

Cheeky quiz

2006-10-12T08:42:00.000Z

I don't usually read the 'Companions' page in the paper (honest!) but in an attempt to put off doing any work today I thought I'd glance through. Came across this one which I thought was quite unusual:

"ENERGETIC & fun Christian seeks amazingly slim and tall soul mate who is also a born-again servant of Jesus."

Just how slim is 'amazingly slim' exactly? Are they asking for amazingly tall too or would just 'tall' do? Why not just say 'seeks Christian' instead of the cringe-worthy 'born-again servant of Jesus'? Are the requirements in order of preference,
1. Amazingly slim
2.(amazingly) Tall
3. Born-again servant of Jesus?

So, what do you reckon fellow bloggers, is it a man looking for a woman or a woman looking for a man? Guesses on a postcard please.

How Nerdy are you?

2006-10-11T08:51:00.000Z

Just done the nerd test (Yes, I am bored at work and desperately searching for something to amuse me). Here's what I got.

New Job!

2006-10-07T15:58:00.000Z

Got myself a new job! As of next Monday I will be working full time as 'PA to the Vicar and Office Co-ordinator' for St Barnabas church - one of the big Anglican churches in Cambridge. It's only 25 minutes walk from our house and the Vicar who I will be PA to is also our landlord!!

Am really pleased to have something that I can get stuck into and settle in after a year of bits and pieces of work.

It means Rich and I will have to attend different churches for a while but we might be able to work something out if we attend evening services at one and mornings at another - we'll see. Anyway, am very excited and pleased. Bring it on....

Temping

2006-10-03T16:15:00.000Z

Am temping at the moment, working as a Basic Skills Tutor for the Careers Development Group. My first day yesterday consisted of sitting around doing no work (there was literally nothing for me to do) chatting to the Administrator, who also did no work.
The organisation run a government funded initiative to help people with Mental Health problems and Learning difficulties to gain employment but they are not open to clients on Mondays. Why they asked for me to come in that day is beyond me.

Today was a little better. I spent most of the day working with a guy on writing his CV, which was fairly interesting and I felt that I was able to help him quite a bit. However there were only 4 clients that came in all day. The administrator assures me that it will be busier tomorrow but we shall see. Thankfully I'm only booked for 3 days so tomorrow is my last - in some ways it's nice to be paid quite well for doing vey little but I'd rather be busy and not have the guilt!

The joy of mornings

2006-09-28T07:18:00.003Z

Rich and I are usually night owls but adjusting from Hong Kong time back to British time has meant that we've been ready for bed at 8pm and wide awake at 5am! Very strange but actually quite nice to wake up with the sun and have time for a relaxed morning. We even had breakfast together the other day. I don't expect it will carry on for long as we'll be wanting to go out later than 8.00 in the evenings but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Have been sorting through our holiday photos and trying to select some to make up an album. I tested out the full 800 photos show on my parents the other day and understandably my Dad fell asleep. Got it down to 150ish now which I think people should be able to cope with.

OK Go

2006-09-26T07:18:00.000Z

If any of you haven't seen this yet you've got to check it out - possibly the best music video ever www.youtube.com Let me know if you hear of any treadmill dance classes - I'll be there!

Holiday

2006-08-15T12:01:00.002Z

I won't be writting on this for a while. For updates and photos of our trip to Oz and NZ check out our holiday blog

Flipping Bob Dylan

2006-08-11T21:58:00.000Z

Call me ignorant, call me uncouth, call me a fool, call me what you like but I just can't stand flipping Bob Dylan.

I know it's been said before (by many a wise person I must add) but the man just can't sing! How has he sold so many albums? I'm told that the words of his songs are 'explosive' 'timeless' yadda yadda yadda - if I could get past his drawling whiny voice perhaps I would agree but the sound of him sliding his voice up a few pitches in what really is glorified talking actually makes me writhe in agony.

The combination of that and the cheesy folk music is just too much. All credit to the guy for persuading people that his 'music' is worth investing in but surely he is sitting at home chuckling saying to himself 'and they didn't even notice I can't sing - suckers'. 'Oh no' says Chris from Coldplay, 'he can sing, he just chooses not to' - whatever.

Yes music boffins, I'm sure his songs have had a huge influence on bands and musicians I enjoy listening to - so excuse me while I take the flipping Blonde On Blonde CD out of the stereo, hide it in a plant pot and replace it with a CD by one of those bands, who can actually hold and tune and sing without wailing. Thank you very much.

'O'

2006-08-09T11:44:00.000Z

Having been inspired by some of the poets at Latitude Festival I've attempted to write a poem using only (well mostly) the vowel 'O'. Needs some work but here's the first draft. Might try to do one for each vowel.

Jon’s got one more ounce,

He don’t own no phone,

Sold to the monobrow,

No dog, no bone,

Only dope.

My brother’s lost his Mojo,

Boy don’t know how,

Looked around slow

Looked high looked low,

No Mojo.

Rob wants to know

Who stopped Old School?

Country Rock found a home

On Radio One - OK for some

But too slow for my bro.

So Jon and Rob

(Older bro, big 3 0)

Throw Old School occasion,

Only got no dough,

So found Jo.

Problem – no one’s told Jo

Joy of Old School grooves,

So Jo don’t know,

Not bothered for dope

Or Mojo.

So Rob and Jon throw do

For only those two,

Smoke most of dope,

Enjoy Old School grooves

Nobody shows,

Only Rob’s Mojo.

Pac Man 2p's

2006-08-07T18:46:00.000Z

If any of you, like me, like to spend a couple of quid in a good old tacky sea side arcades, check out the new Pac Man 2p machines. Based on the orignal 2p machines with the slidy bits that push the coins down, but with a very exciting added feature where if the 2p's you drop in slide through one of the 6 'fruit' panels a little pac man on a computer screen fires a ball with that fruit on it and if it matches other fruit on the screen you get bonus 2p's fired in. Hit the jackpot with the fruit and you get 50 2p's fired in in one go. Very exciting for someone as easily pleased as me! Yay!

Lands end to John O'Groats

2006-08-02T12:24:00.000Z

.....well almost. Just got back from holiday in Scotland and Cornwall.

Started with a hen do in Leamington last Saturday and then up to Selkirk in Scotland to visit Rich's Nana for a few days, stopping in Lancaster for lunch - nice place. Much playing of Scrabble and watching bats in the garden with Rich's Nana, climbed some hills (not with his Nana - I don't think her mobility scooter would have managed the 1:1 gradient!) ate lots of fish.

We drove the scenic route back to the Midlands, checking out lots of little towns around the Cumbrian coast and camping for a couple of nights in Morcombe. Big town but definately seen better days and seemed to be full of old people. Lots of wandering around and enjoying the sunshine. We then drove down the the Midlands, stopping off in Bridgnorth for a bit, which was also nice. Cool old Castle ruins which looked like they were abo0ut to come crashing down.

Met up with Lucy at her building site in Brum and she drove us down to Truro in Cornwall on Friday afternoon/evening. Bowker wedding on Saturday which was really great - they are a quality couple and their thoughtfullness for others and inventiveness really made the day special. On Sunday about 15/20 of us met up at Perrenporth beach and went body boarding in the hail with 5 foot waves. It was fantastic - borrowed Lucys wetsuit this time and couldn't believe how warm I was!

Lucy drove us back to the Midlands on Monday. We had a timing stroke of genius and managed to arrive at Junction 27 of the M5 at exactly the same time as my brother and Jo travelling from Swindon down to Devon so stopped and chatted to them for a bit. Rob is still trying to persuade us to have longer in Australia than New Zealand on our trip. I'm sure he has a point but we're sticking with our original plan, espeically as NZ is the main place we wanted to go to in the first place.

Was hoping to see the Mytery plays in Cov on Monday night but it was absolutely chucking it down. Really gutted as they sound amazing.

2 weeks until we go to Oz and NZ! Can't wait!

Mum

2006-07-21T20:08:00.000Z

My parents came to visit us in Cambridge yesterday and we took them punting. This may not sound like a particularly amazing thing but it really is. Last October my Mum was diagnosed with Secondary cancer and was really ill. She could hardly walk and was in a lot of pain and we didn't think she would be around for much longer. Now she is on some cool medication and is able to walk about and travel enough to come and visit us! It's not cuarable and I know there are difficult times ahead but she is so much better now than she was and it's like we have bonus time at the moment because things looked so bleak 6 months ago. Praise God for modern medicine and for his timing.

Love Thy Neighbour

2006-07-18T13:31:00.000Z

As anticipated, madam downstairs is indeed having another episode (not that she ever really finished her last episode) and kept us up for most of last night slamming doors full whack every half an hour or so. I am usually quite a patient person but this is getting ridiculous.

'Pray for those who persecute you' - does being 'persecuted' with noise from downstairs count? She certainly seems to be getting at us for the heinous crime we have commited of living in the flat above her. To be honest I think she's already one prayed for lady judging by the Cheesy Christian CD's she plays at full volume any hour of day or night which I think have been lent to her by a local church. I wonder if she'd appreciate some drum and bass as much as we appreciate her musical interludes? Stop it Mel, 'love thy neighbour.....'.

Surely there are only so many times the Council can mend someones door because they keep slamming it so hard it breaks. Surely there are only so many times they can buy her a new TV because she has put her old one in the garden (she is on TV number 5 in the last 2 months), along with her hoover, suitcases, bookshelves........you get the idea. Surely there are only so many times she can fill up the communal bin with all her household items (mugs, plates, pictures from the walls, DVD player etc) so that the bin men won't take it away for weeks. Surely there are only so many times she can be bought new household items only to throw them away again. Surely there are only so many times the police can be called because she's put a suicide note on her door only to find she's perfectly alive. This woman is clearly unwell. I just fail to see how unwell she has to be before she gets the care she obviously needs.

Latitude

2006-07-15T10:58:00.000Z

Went to Latitude Music Festival for the day yesterday www.latitudefestival.com It was really good. It is much more about the Arts as a whole and not just a festival for music with a few extras thrown in. There were 4 music stages/tents, as well as a Theatre Arena, a Comedy Arena, Poetry Arena, Literary Arena, Music and Film Arena, Cabaret Arena and Live Arts Arena.

It was the first one of this Festival and although it had not sold out there were enough people to give it a good vibe. There were loads of nice little touches such as picnic tables and bridges and toilets all painted green with white flowers so the whole places looked really nice (granted we only went for the first day, before things had a chance to be puked on etc). They had even sprayed the sheep in the field you walk through to get to the tents red, green or yellow!

We saw some good bands - Snow Patrol were the headline act and they were really good, although I couldn't see much when they were on. We also saw the Lemonheads, the Crimea and Cord - who were all good, although Cord were quite ordinary. The lead singer of the Crimea started the set by stumbling his way into the audience with his microphone and stand and stood among us for the first song. He looked absolutely wasted but put on a good show.

We also sat in on most of a play in the theatre tent - a really endearing little play with one actor and 2 guys in guitars who seemed to be strumming quietly over the top of a CD soundtrack - that was a bit strange but the actor was good and we got badges at the end which said 'I have more trees to climb' which made me happy.

Simon Evans performed in the Comedy Arena and then again alongside some guy off the TV (can't remember his name) and 2 others in a kind of 'Have I got News for you' thing in the Literary tent - very funny.

The Poetry tent was really good (expect that it seemd to have loads of beetles and spiders in it that crawled on you when you were sat on the ground trying to listen!) - it was great to hear some quality poetry and see it performed well. I used to write a lot of poetry but haven't written much lately - it's inspired me to have another go. I may even post some on here. We spent quite a lot of time in there and saw Saul Williams and lots of other equally good performers. One guy did a poem about how much he hates Victoria Beckham which had some comedy lines:-

"Little girls want to be her and she just lets them
No, there's no one I hate more than Victoria Beckham"

and

"I'd like to get her on the playstation and beat her up on Tekken
No, there's no one I hate more than Victoria Beckham"

We also saw Howard Marks, who was actually quite an engaging bloke had some interesting things to say.

All in all a really good day out and well worth the £40 day ticket. I reckon we might go for the whole weekend next year.

Films

2006-07-12T16:50:00.000Z

Hello fellow bloggers. Anyone seen a good film lately that you would definitely recommend watching? We are on a free 1 month trial with www.lovefilm.com at the moment and making the most of free DVD rental for a month. Would definitely recommend it.

Off again

2006-07-10T13:48:00.000Z

The neighbour's off again. The violent door slamming has been increasing in frequency and volume over the past few days and she's just chucked her big wooden bird table in the communal bin. Looks like we may be in for another episode.....

My first fight!

2006-07-09T19:08:00.000Z

Got into a fight last night, my first ever one!

We were walking up the Parade in Leamington Spa (one of Britain's most likely places to have a fight - not) and this girl asked us if we had 40p so she could make a phonecall etc etc. We said no and I must have smiled without meaning to particularly beacuse she looked at me and said 'Are you laughing at me? Don't F***ing laugh at me' and grabbed my arm and flung me across the pavement!!! So there I was tottering a bit in my heels and saying 'I'm not laughing at you' and she was pushing me around a bit, blatantly wanting a fight and Anna was saying to her 'leave her alone, there's 4 of us'. Not that the 4 of us looked threatening in any way but it was worth a try. Thankfully her equally scary friend then came out of a phone box, grabbed her and yanked her away saying 'what are you doing?' and we took this as our opportunity to make a hasty exit (as hasty as you can be in heels mind you) to Zizzis.

Another of life's rich experiences there. I seem to have had a few of them this year - I've been on strike, been made redundant and now I've been in a fight. I wonder what will be next? Travelling to the other side of the world I suppose, bring it on.....

Holiday!

2006-07-06T18:44:00.000Z

After years of talking about going on a long holiday to New Zealand and months of planning a trip to New Zealand, Australia and a stop somewhere else interesting it seems we are finally ready to book some flights! Went to STA Travel today and had a really good chat with a guy there about our ideas. We've come up with a plan, flying to Singapore for a few days, onto Sydney, up to Caines and down to Brisbane, over to Aukland and around NZ ending in Christchurch and then back via Bali, Hong Kong or possibly somewhere else. Am well excited about it now is actually seems real. Will confirm flights and start sorting Visas and all that tomorrow. Yay!

Weekend

2006-07-03T22:26:00.000Z

Went to Bassingbourn Church weekend this weekend. We camped in a field owned by a couple who live opposite the church and enjoyed a couple of days of gorgeous sunshine and good fellowship. It was a really good weekend and had a really great family feel to it, we ate together, sang together, learnt together, chatted together, played stupid games together, watched England lose the football on penalties together and were woken at 4am by a Cockerel together.

'Mr and Mrs Dean' (weyhey) came over on Sunday and we had a fun few hours punting on the River. Was good to see them all newly married and brown from their honeymoon. There is something so special about these friends who we have been through Uni with and grown up so much alongside.

Have come down with a stinky cold after having a sore throat over the weekend so was off work today. Is about 31 degrees and very sticky and just feels wrong to be all sniffly and drinking honey and lemon drinks!

Pipped

2006-06-30T13:35:00.000Z

Job interview today. Pipped to the post again. For once it would be quite refreshing to have someone say,
'Sorry, we thought you were rubbish, you couldn't do this job in a million years'
instead of
' you were a very strong candidate and your enthusiasm really shone through. It was a really hard decision but in the end we had to give the job to someone with more experience than you so you were just pipped to the post'.
Pah! Even I know that enthusiasm isn't enough. I never liked sign language in the first place anyway.....

Punting

2006-06-29T14:00:00.000Z

We went punting again on Tuesday, with Eddie, Hannah and Marcus. Hannah and I had 'won' some vouchers for losing the pub quiz (we were against a load of Cambridge Students) so we used them to get a meal for 5 of us and 2 bottles of wine for free!! They then took ages to serve us so gave us another bottle of wine for free as an apology! We were pretty merry by the time we got into the punt and had a great laugh trying to get further along the backs than we did last time and throwing reeds/weeds at each other. All got really wet and came home smelling of fishy water. Am looking forward to more good nights out in Cambridge as we get to know people better.

Finally a blogger

2006-06-27T13:59:00.000Z

I usually find I'm quite good at figuring out how to do things on t'internet but for some reason the whole blog thing proved a bit confusing. I tried to set up one of these a few months ago but couldn't seem to get the links to work. Had to pull the helpless wife card on this one. Cheers Rich.

Blogs - what a classic way to avoid starting on any of the things I should be doing now - 'I'll just have a little look on people's blogs' - perfect. When my job went down to mornings only 2 weeks ago I had a whole load of ideas for interesting, exciting and productivwe things I would do with my free afternoons. I'll start on them tomorrow....

Day 1

2006-06-26T20:59:00.000Z

Mel has entered the Big Brother house...