HAPPY BLOOMIN' CHRISTMAS!!!!

woohoo!!! It's christmas day! as I sit here in my parents house the famous christmas clock has just struck 11am and played We Wish You a Merry Christmas! Which I want to wish anyone reading this blog right now!


You may or may not be interested to know that the Santa toilet seat I talked about in a previous post does not play music - much to my great relief! Here is a picture of it:

Have you ever seen anything like it? Mum got it from the Keeneze catalogue - I'd be interested to know how many of these toilet seats they actually sold. I can only imagine my mother buying one! It feels a bit like someone's watching you there I feel a bit uncomfortable with that!

so far we've only opened a couple of presents each and I seem to be taking after my mum coz I left the price on my dad's present - doh!

Anyway, since my last blog post, as always for everyone at Christmas, I've been really busy and all over the place. A couple of weeks ago I went to Copenhagen with my parents, Richard and Heidie and my auntie Anne. We stayed in a new youth hostel (which was a contradiction in terms with the old fogies!) - all 6 of us in one room!! Now as ridiculous as this may seem, it was actually ok. The youth hostel was really lovely (and cheap which is unique in Copenhagen!) and the room, despite having 6 of us in it was spacious enough. We did a lot of shopping (woohoo!), we went to "The Tivoli" as mum calls it which is the botanic gardens/amusement park and at Christmas time they also put in loads of christmas stalls as well. It's really beautiful at night with all the christmas lights.

We saw the statue for Hans Christian Andersen the famous storywriter who wrote The Little Mermaid - a statue of which we also saw:

They've also made a modern-day statue of The Little Mermaid which is really ugly and scarey - I did not like it!

It gives me the creeps yeah?

Anyway, we also went to Malmo in Sweden for the day. Mum wanted to go into some of the "attractions" such as the Guiness Book of Records Museum and the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. I'd already done the Ripley's one in Blackpool so Richard went in with the oldies whilst Heidie and I did some shopping. Anyway, I'd prewarned Richard that there was a bit in the museum about gurning:

It encourages people to look in a mirror and have a go at gurning for themselves - unbeknown to them, the mirror is two-way so people who have gone on before can watch you gurning away from the other side of the mirror and making a complete fool of yourself! Apparently, mum and Auntie Anne (just as I thought) fell for it hook, line and sinker - I only wish I'de been at the other side of the mirror!

Since being back, there's been the usual christmas celebrations. Every year at work I've organised a little christmas party to do with the nativity story. The first year it was an Angel Party, then a wise men party and this year we had The Nativity Party. Everyone had a special part to play and dressed up. We had a little carol service with a little quiz and a thought and then we ate some speciality food from the mangerscene - such as manger cakes, straw (chipsticks), sheep droppings (chocolate raisins) and donkey doo (chocolate truffles). We had some lovely Angel punch to wash it all down.



Bless everyone at my work for joining in! I love them lots for the way they humour me and go along with my hairbrained ideas. I'll really miss them when I've gone.

So, I've also finally been ice-skating. Didn't get round to doing it in Winchester, didn't get round to doing in in Copenhagen. Finally got round to do it in Southampton - which was fairly disappointing because the ice rink was probably no bigger than half a gym hall so it was a bit crowded. However, there were some spectacular falling over from Liz (which I missed - bummer!), Helen and Matt. We then went back to Suz (top host) for a fantastic feast. I had everything nicely set up for the guests to get a really christmasy welcome. I pretended that we would surprise Suz with our carol singing when she answered the door. So I got them all to sing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" and when Suz answered, we'd set the snow machine up to send snow out of the bedroom window and fall on them! Aw it was lovely!!!

So that's it just about. I'm now down at mum and dad's with Richard. Heidie's in Denmark with her parents but will join us on Thursday. Dad's off visiting some of The Salvation Army centres in the division. Mum's making the lunch and ironing Richard's pants and socks (WHAT????) Richard's playing with my new ipod nano coz he can't play with his new ipod until he buys his laptop (which i reckon he'll do tomorrow coz he can't wait!) and I've managed to sneak onto someone else's wireless network (thanks mate whoever you are!) so I can finally update my blog which I've strangely very much missed doing. Just another normal christmas day in the Bradbury household which is the fact that there's nothing normal about it! Every year it's different in some way so you don't get bogged down with traditions. It's really chilled out and just lovely. Thanks God for an ace family who I love so very much.

Whatever you're doing this christmas I hope it's not too stressful and that you just take time to relax and enjoy the company of the people you're with. Don't get bogged down with the tradition unless it brings joy! I really pray that you really enjoy the gift of hope that God gave in Jesus. Remember that this gift was the gift of a Wonderful Counsellor, a mighty God, an everlasting father and prince of peace which brings hope and all you need for all you face.

take good care

laters
cx

Jesus Goes Shopping

I think I'd like to go shopping with Jesus - he'd be cool fun! I have no problem being like Jesus after watching this! He's wicked man!
laters!
cx

Oh No! Not the Nativity!

Today I went to my first carol service which is pretty good going considering carol services down this way started at the end of November and it's now the 10th December! Anyway, it was a lovely one. It was a children's carol service. One of the little girls sang as a solo Away in a manger no bed for the crib - bless her and she sang it so well - no hesitation. Well if you're gonna get something wrong, you might as well do it confidently! Last year Mary got stage fright and locked herself in the toilet! They had to quickly find a substitute Mary - who incidently did very well all things considering!

Now my next comments are not in anyway related to what I've experienced at the carol service today but just some random thoughts I've recently had. It's funny how every year it's expected that the children will do the nativity in all the carol services and it is lovely but I also keep thinking about a line in a poem called If which says this: "if you give your worship and people think it entertainment then you're a child". I wonder, do we have the children doing the nativity because it really add to our worship or is it because they are just entertaining us and it's a token way of involving them. When we laugh because they make mistakes, forget their words, sing louder and more out of tune than the others, start to undress, have a fight over the cuddly sheep, wave at someone they know in the audience etc... how are we making the kids feel about what they have prepared to give to worship? This is the greatest story ever told yet we wanna see how cute and funny it can be. It's certainly something I'm challenged about now. Having said that, Jesus told us to be more like children - in their simplicity and authenticity. Therefore, when they make mistakes, forget their words, sing louder and more out of tune than the others, start to undress, have a fight over the cuddly sheep, wave at someone they know in the audience etc... in the middle of the nativity - I guess we should be happy because they are being just as God wants them and made them to be.


Am off to Denmark for the week with my family early Tuesday morning but am travelling to Chelmsford after work tomorrow so that we're nearer the airport. Hopefully, I'll get there in time tomorrow to catch up with my dear friend Rach and Christina and Julia and have a bite to eat at the Foxy Loxy - one of our favourite eating establishments (mmmnnn Hunter's Chicken!). Suz is also up there at the moment looking after her dad - Geoffrey - who is back in hospital. Geoff has a rare disease that affects the muscles - a bit like MS but it gets better, but very slowly. Geoff has had this now for 3 years and has remained so unbelievably optimistic about his situation in all that time. He has been such an inspiration to everyone who knows him and has been to see him but I think it's all getting a bit to him now - which is perfectly understandable. So whoever's reading this blog - can I ask you to pray for him and Suz as she supports him. Life has not been easy for them both and they're not the sort of people to make that a big thing. Every trial they have faced they have dealt with so positively and so strongly. God has been their support and strength in those times. I know that he doesn't give us anymore that we can handle and gives us all the resources we need to deal with each situation but seriously now - enough is enough! This is one of those occasions where we don't know the answers and are dealing with the loose ends often involved in following God's will. I just pray and would ask you to pray that God will continue to comfort and give both Geoff and Suz his peace and strength right now. At the beginning of this illness, Geoff really struggled with the step into my block of flats - it's his nemesis. When he conquers his nemesis - there will great celebrations on that final day! I thank God for them and the massive love and support they have given me. God bless 'em and God bless you all!

laters
cx

I'm a Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) Part 01

Oh Jesus be thyself to me a living bright reality yeah?
laters
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Elastic Band

Right! Everytime I watch this it makes me laugh so much. It reminds me of my office!
laters
cx

Brassed Off!

Well Richard and Heidie have finally arrived and it's so good to see them! We've all be waiting for this day for ages! They had a great welcome home. Mum arranged for a little salvation army band to play carols as they arrived and she also got the SA chaplains at Heathrow to help out with getting R&H through customs quicky and getting permission for the band to play. As the plane was going to be late, we did a little bit of carolling beforehand and collected some much needed funds for the chaplaincy service at Heathrow. Anyway, bless Ian (Scott)! He organised for a few bandsmen from Chelmsford SA to come along and play (Matthew, Keith and Andy) plus a couple of odd players (emphasis on the 'odd' as it was Nick and I!) Mum decided that she wanted the band to wear red festival tunics! Now when I heard that I may be needed in the band, that was one thing but then to be told that she wanted me to wear a red festival tunic well, I was not best pleased! Neither was Nick. Nick who at his own candidates farewell to go into the college for officers wore his shorts and army polo shirt! and what made me laugh was that she thought I would moan about it more than him! At least i still know where my uniform is in my cupboard! At least it gets an airing about once a month! Nick's has probably got mothballs! Anyway, my mum bribed me to wear the red tunic - yes bribed! This is meant to be a lady of God! She is corrupting me, her young impressionable daughter! Needless to say, I'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth! So I agreed to wear it and mum agreed to pay for a third of the cost of my new MP3/MP4 player! That is a very good deal if you ask me! Anyway, we finally got back to Southampton where Suz had bought in food from the chip shop. Richard was very excited about having a sausage and chips and a can of iron bru. He ate it down like he'd not seen food for a long time - bless him.

They've now left to go and catch up with all their friends starting with Nick and Lisa in Stratford. We've spent the past couple of days shopping pretty much all the time! I never need an excuse to go shopping so I've been in my element really and Heidie's always very good for encouraging the shopper in me and I in her. She bought the same coat as me today so we were walking around West Quay this afternoon like twins - we also bought the same skirt yesterday (of course the only difference is that she buys the size loads smaller than me because I'm a fat rat!). Today I also managed to do something which you dread doing in a shop. I picked up an ornament to show mum as a suggestion for a present she could buy for someone but I unfortunately dropped it and broke the hands off of it! Thankfully, my mum liked it so bought it and I bought the superglue to fix it! I was very embarassed!

Yesterday, we went to Gunwharf which is one of my favourite places to shop. We went to the Water Margin for lunch which is a chinese buffet. It's like a massive canteen but the food is excellent and this time it was Heidie's turn to eat like she's hasn't seen food for ages! Yesterday, I also bought a new suitcase for my holiday to Zambia next year and any other journeys where a considerable amount of clothes are going to be needed. It's a very exciting case and very good value! Last night, Heidie and I were doing some investigations to see if we could fit in the case! We both did very well but we did feel like we were suffocating so couldn't stay long inside.


As you can see the case is quite bright. I left it in the shop whilst I looked around the shops some more and went back to collect it when we were finished. Mum told Richard to shout when he saw me but when he did see me, he told mum that he didn't need to shout because I was shouting loud enough with my new case and that was without speaking because it's so bright! Oh well, at least there'll be no mistaking it in the luggage reclaim bit!

So the parents have left and I'm getting ready to go back to work tomorrow for a couple of days before I'm off again! What a life! I have a good job!

laters!
cx

Praise God! I'm Healed!

This is me! Praise God I'm healed! I LOVE SHOPPING!!!! After writing my last post, Suz was concerned and felt that she needed to help me find myself again and find my love of shopping. So she suggested a quick visit to some shops this afternoon. Now it was touch and go for a few minutes because we did choose a very busy time to go to the centre of Southampton shopping (Saturday afternoon - 1st weekend of December!) but I coped and all of a sudden ..... Just as I entered Accessorize ... I found me! and from then on in it was easy! We shopped and shopped as if no identity crisis had ever befallen me. However, it was coming to the end of the shopping spree and I was becoming slightly disappointed because I had bought nothing for myself. Suz had bought me a coat but this was my Christmas present from her so I still hadn't bought anything for myself. We went into M&S as the last shop before the carpark and the disappointment was growing. I was just browsing around, and then I saw it and took it to the counter almost immediately. This was when I knew that I had been healed completely - because I bought a bag!! It's just so good to be myself again!

So tonight, I have put up my christmas decorations. I'm not sure my flat looks particularly christmasy though. I thought I'd put them up now for when my brother and his wife (Richard & Heidie) come home from Zambia on Tuesday. They don't really celebrate christmas in Zambia although it is meant to be a predominantly christian country. Seems strange, therefore, not to celebrate probably the most prominant christian festival! but hey - never mind! Richard & Heidie will make up for it when they arrive back home to all the palava we get caught up in, although I'm really not quite sure what some people here in the UK think they're celebrating at christmas anymore. Every year we say it's all getting a bit out of hand but every year it seems to get worse. My mum loves christmas and goes a bit mental mickey with some of her christmas decorations. One year she got a mat so when you walked in the door you stood on it and christmas music played. Another year she got a clock which plays christmas music on the hour. This year, she has bought not only a doorpull - you hang it over the door and pull the cord and it plays music (I'm very honoured because she also bought one for me! Luckily, or unluckily it doesn' fit over my front door so is on my living room door instead) and apparently, she's also managed to acquire a christmas toilet seat cover which I think might even play music as well not sure if it's sensor operated or if it plays in time to "noises" - one things for sure, it will be interesting to see how it works so watch this space! It would seem that mum is looking for as many christmas music playing novelties as possible. It's very funny and endearing really. The other thing my mum does which has become a family joke is the fact that she always seems to leave the price on her presents! This year Richard and I will probably be watching closely to see how many presents we find out the cost of.

Christmas brings with it so many different emotions for so many different people. It can be so stressful to make it a happy occasion because of many reasons including family situations, past memories of bad christmases, loneliness, debt, living up to so many expectations with presents and relationships and so the list goes on. For me, it just makes me so grateful for what God have given to me in my wonderfully understanding family and friends and the best gift he gave to me - Jesus and the peace and joy that he brought. Wouldn't it be great if in every household this Christmas Jesus enters so that the tension and negative emotions disappear and people celebrate the real peace, joy and love which was God's gift to us in Jesus.

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

laters
cx

It's the end of the world as I know it!

Right! It's a disaster. Now this is normally me:

I love shopping! It's brilliant! I love it even more when I've got nothing planned for the day but to shop shop shop with my mates (good shopping mates: Suz and Rach - see below)

We just chill out and have a good old laugh. We shop, drink coffee, shop, eat lunch, shop, refreshment and shop. Then we go home and play wih our purchases! O the joy!

However, I've come more and more to the realisation over the past couple of days that this is more like me:

Yesterday I went for a look around the shops but wasn't in the mood and couldn't be bothered - what is that all about? I COULDN'T BE BOTHERED!!! I can always always be bothered shopping! and today, I went to the beautiful Tescos - my local and just was uninspired and only ended up buying caramel shortcakes as a consolation for the ways I was feeling!

So you see, it's a disaster! I don't know who to be anymore! Who am I? I do hope that this is just a blip in my life and that I can find my identity again.

Tonight I was going to look after my beautiful godson Hayden because his parents Caroline (my cousin) and Russell were due to go to the final practices for the big carol service on Sunday. Hayden is the most beautiful boy in the world - his father will not thank me for calling him beautiful - that's how you describe girls he would say. Anyway, poor Hayden had a collision with the ground today and had to go to hospital where he was stitched up just above his eye. So because of this, Caroline decided that she would stay in to make sure he was ok. I'm kind of glad about that because I wouldn't have wanted him puking on me if he was suffering from concusion. Last time I looked after him, his thank you present to me was a nasty sickness bug where I thought I had died and gone to hell! Anyway, I going to see them tomorrow to check up on them and I'm really quite excited about it.

Also today, my friend Liz text me to get my prayer mat out because her twin sister Nic who expecting a baby, waters broke in the night and the baby isn't due for another couple of weeks. Now a couple of weird things happened today because of this. Firstly I sent an email out to a few friends to tell them to get praying and all of a sudden as I'm having a chat to Manda on the phone about it, I get an email from no other than Nic herself - I asked her what on earth she was doing as I thought she was having a baby! It gave me a fright! She seemed as calm as anything waiting for the midwife. And secondly, I sent a text to liz to see if there was any news later on today. Liz told me that there wasn't but that her lower back had been killing her all day. I thought (because her and Nic are twins) that she was going to have a phantom baby and have all these sympathy symptons and was quite excited about that. When I mentioned it to Liz she told me it was because she thought she had a cold coming on - doh! How can she be thinking about that when her twin sister's about to give birth!

isn't life just a bit weird and crazy sometiimes - you just never know what's around the corner. A couple of people have used this cliche to me this past week. I'm watching out more carefully for those corners at the moment because some of them you just don't want to be going round - but keep right on that straight road! I've gone down some corners in the past couple of days I'm not happy with. I'm having a few days rest now.

Bed for me now. I think today has been the longest day in the history of the world!

laters!
cx

Saliva City!

So last night was kidz club which I help out at. We have two clubs at my church on Monday evening. The first one is for 6-10 yr olds and the 2nd one is for up to 13 year olds. The 2nd club is just a hang out club - we put snooker, table tennis and other games out for them to just chill out at. About 20 kids come along and it's good fun - we've made some good relationships with them all. The 1st club is cracking! I love it. It's more structured and so each week we try and organise something for them. We have seven boys who come along and they are so funny. Last night we had a challenges night. We gave the boys different challenges like how many sit-ups they can do in a minute and how long can they go without blinking and so the list goes on. The best challenge was to see how long they could keep a malteser in between their teeth. After a while, the saliva builds up and then we get them to bend over and all the saliva dribbles out on to the floor- it's so funny and the boys loved it! What a laugh! It's great working with that age. They are so brilliant.

Today at work has been crazy. Yesterday Ian (who I work with) and I decided that we would try not to laugh at all today. However, by the time I got to work I'd already laughed very heartily about 3 times so I was on to a loser from the beginning. When Ian came in, he took ages to walk up the stairs and when he walked in the door he had this face on him which was trying so hard to not to laugh. He explained that he had walk up the stairs slowly so to get into the right frame of mind not to laugh - which made me laugh. It was hopeless, within ten minutes, both Ian and I had laughed millions of times! However, I love laughing! When I die, I want to die laughing! Wouldn't that be a fabulous way to die? I was thinking of the song Uncle Albert sings in the film Mary Poppins when they float to the ceiling because they are laughing so much:


I love to laugh
Loud and long and clear
I love to laugh
It's getting worse ev'ry year

The more I laugh
The more I fill with glee
And the more the glee
The more I'm a merrier me
It's embarrassing!
The more I'm a merrier me!

Some people laugh through their noses
Sounding something like this "Mmm..."
Some people laugh through their teeth goodness sake
Hissing and fizzing like snakes

Some laugh too fast
Some only blast - ha!
Others, they twitter like birds
Then there's the kind
What can't make up their mind

When things strike me as funny
I can't hide it inside
And squeak - as the squeakelers do
I've got to let go with a ho-ho-ho...
And a ha-ha-ha...too!

We love to laugh
Loud and long and clear
We love to laugh
So ev'rybody can hear
The more you laugh
The more you fill with glee
And the more the glee
The more we're a merrier we!


The rest of the day was just crazy like that - laughing all the time. People were just in a very crazy mood today - especially this afternoon. It was ridiculous. Looking back over the day and what we were doing, I find myself thanking God that I can laugh! I know that there's probably many people in this world right now who can't bring themselves to laugh for many reasons. I thank God that despite all the things that have happened in my life, I'm still able to laugh now. They say that laughing is very good for you and is like a jog on the inside. I reckon in that way I'm in good shape! I thank God that he has surrounded me with many people who also love to laugh! I love laughing!

However, with that in mind, I am now feeling a sense of mourning as tonight was the last in the series of Trinny and Susannah Undressed. I absolutely love Trinny and Susannah! I think they are very beautiful, strong and wise ladies. And I do believe that the way you dress says a lot about you but also makes a whole difference to the way you feel about yourself - rightly or wrongly. Their new series has been really emotional to watch. I love the way that they make people feel better about themselves the way they are now. They don't try to change their actual bodies but try to make the best of them. Bless them! I hope someone buys me the new Trinny and Susannah book for Christmas. I'm not buying it now in the hope that someone will! We laughed at the possibility of Trinny and Susannah coming into our office and making over all of us working there. I reckon that would be a real challenge but very very funny!

Right, can't write an epic again so I'm finishing up now. Remember, laugh - see how much better it makes you feel! Come on, you can do it!

laters
cx

Panda Sneezes

This so cute and funny. Every time I watch it it makes me laugh. As always, children can make a massive impact on our lives!

WHO AM I???

DISC profiling yeah? This is what we did in work yesterday. It was basically training to see what sort of person you are in your team. There are 4 main categories - Dominance, Influence, steadiness and conscientious. To start there were about 28 questions. Each question had short character descriptions and you had to mark which out of the four you were most like in a team and which one you were least like. From that we got points which we plotted on this grid and that somehow worked out what sort of person we were. My highest two (by far) were i and s which were Influence and steadiness. Which figures - especially the influence. In a group it means that I tend to be motivated by relationships rather than task. I am quite an encouraging person but also require that for myself. I don't like to be kept out of any social activity going on (which would be hard in my office because I'm the one who generally organises them!). Anyway, it was interesting because there was only one Dominance in our office which worked out well because it was our boss! Most people were a mixture of conscientious and steadiness. There were only two influence and I was one of them. I read the description of my two characteristics and it was freakily like me! Which challenged me because we all like to be individuals. God made each one of us unique and special - there is no one else like us - well that's what we preach but yet I fitted into this box perfectly along with many other people who have done this training and worked out to be this type of person as well! I wasn't happy about this to be quite honest! So perhaps my aim in life now on is to fit into none of these characteristics but to make up a brand new one which IS unique to me! However, perhaps there is some comfort in knowing at the times when you feel a complete weirdo freak that other people feel and act the same way as you. Also, one of the supposed character weaknesses of being in the influence category was that you tend to be excitable. Now, when in the world did it become a weakness to be excitable? Are we all meant to walk around like blooming Zombies now? What's that all about?!?!?! I understand that there are negative points to being excitable - but you can say that about many characteristics can't you? I know that being excitable can mean that you might be slightly annoying to others at times and that perhaps you may make rash decisions but on the whole I would say that excitement brings about enthusiasm, motivation, happiness and is a generally positive emotion. It also means that you never really get bored of life! Look I know that this shouldn't be taken too seriously - and I'm not doing that but these are just some points about this that I wanted to get off my chest. Is being excitable a weakness? Discuss!

I am gutted to say that I a never got to see The Polar Express last night after my rantings about it in my last post. I had every intentions of seeing it but then got caught up with chatting to my boss. Now if anyone knows my boss, you will be aware that once you get him started talking - there's just no stopping him! He is a good guy, a really good boss, a really sincere christian example to me and we have a good laugh. He was once the private secretary to the general of The Salvation Army. I know that he gets quite a bit of stick within TSA about this job being a cushy number. The nickname for people in this job is "the general's bag carrier" but I find his stories about it really interesting and i could listen to him going on for hours. He recognises that this job did allow him loads of amazing opportunities but with those amazing opportunities also came some real challenges; having to cope with the almost constant travelling like being in Pakistan for 5 days and then getting home only to fly off somewhere else 36 hours later for a few days - yes I know all you travellers would think this was great but to be doing this for 3 or 4 years (or however many years it was) constantly i don't reckon is great and not good for your whole body clock. It's not like it's a holiday when they get to these destinations is it? They didn't stay in the best hotels all the time. They had to stay in some awful places where the food was dodgey, the sheets were not clean, the toilet was a pot and not eating properly for days on end and anything you did eat there was always the fear it was going to have a negative effect on you - so you'd have to make sure you took enough of the necessary medication for such times and have to carry on regardless - put a smile on your face even though inside your stomach you felt like Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks were having a wrestling match and having to deal with people who had dillusions of grandeur as to how important they were. All of this is not in the least bit my idea of a cushy number! However, they did get to visit some amazing place, staying in some amazing hotels, meet some amazing people and experience some amazing things and he never complains about it - the positive experiences far outweigh the negative and the negative ones were all character building and perhaps many of them you wouldn't want to change. So he says that when (and a big IF!) I become an officer, if I'm ever offered this job I should jump at it. Unfortunately we realized after saying this that really only people who fit into the Conscientious category (like he does) would be suitable for this job because you had to be very organised and quite task and end result orientated. I don't think that this job is suited to someone like me who is an 'i". I don't think they'd want someone too excitable!


I think quite alot about the pros and cons of The Salvation Army being such a big part of my life and the discussions with my boss last night about his job with the General brought about a bit more thinking. I was brought up as an officers child. My parents were (and still are) Salvation Army officers. Now the demands of this job meant that they were pretty much on call all the time, so were out pretty much every evening, we had to spend most christmas days at the army, no particular place felt like home because we had to move around a fair old bit, so you were changing schools and having to make new friends which was a right pain and often you as the offspring didn't leave home to go to university like most in the family rites of passage but the parents left you to go to another appointment. I reckon that there's a number of OK's (affectionate name for officer's kids) who have a massive chip on their shoulder about this and I guess I can understand why because we didn't get a lot choice or say in this lifestyle - it was chosen for us (in many cases before we were even born) and I guess there have been a number of occasions as I've grown up when I have could nurtured the negative feelings about it. But then I actually look back on my life so far and just thank God for the amazing opportunities being an OK has given me. I have lived in some brilliant places. I have met some brilliant people and made some great friends. Because of a special bursary offered to ministers children, I was able to go to a private school which was one of the best schools in Edinburgh and this gave me such a good education. I have had my eyes opened to some real interesting, sad, scarey, funny, amazing experiences all which have helped mould me into the person I am today. Plus I have had THE MOST perfect example of parents anyone could hope for. They have been two of the most brightest stars shining in my life and have been brilliant examples of what being a true christian is about. If i do end up being an officer as well - which is what I'm planning on doing, if I'm half the officer my parents have been, then I'll be doing well. In all walks of life there pros and cons and it's easy to walk around with a chip on your shoulder about the cons. But as christians, God never promised us that life would be easy. He didn't promise that we would never have hard times. He promised that he would be with us always and give us all we needed to get through. He came to give us life in all it's fulness. He told us to celebrate Him (and in Him we celebrate life) all day every day. We're told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. All of this reminds me that life is so much better when we concentrate on the pros rather than the cons. That we acknowledge the cons as character building and learning experiences but that they don't dominate our lives and our relationships. It's something I'm still learning at times but I'm trying hard to live by. A quote I read recently: 'I can complain because the rose bush has thorns or rejoice because the thorn bush has a rose - it's up to me"

laters!
cx

Hands Up for Coffee!

I love going for coffee with Marilyn! She's one of the nicest but craziest ladies I know next to my mum and Heidie! Every month or two we meet for coffee - just as friends but also as a support to each other. Our coffee sessions last for most of the day. We met at Starbucks at 10:30am today and we finished about 2:30pm! It's crazy! We reckoned that if Starbucks had one of those loyalty cards where you got a stamp for every coffee you ordered and then had a free one every ten coffees then we would be claiming our free coffee in one sitting! Anyway, Mazza - (as I affectionately call her - and Bazza her husband!) is great and I love her dearly. She's one of those people who you sit down and look at and just want to tell everything to her coz just by listening and smiling she makes things right and she's just so caring and encouraging. She really is a bright star shining in my life. God bless her!



Tonight I went to Dorchester to catch up with my mum at my auntie Anne's flat. We showed Auntie Anne and her friend Sandra the photo's from our trip to Zambia - just let me check, is there anyone who has not seen these photos yet because I'm sure between my parents and i we have shown the world and his wife! and just in case someone hasn't I've put in a cheeky couple of pics of our safari - the beautiful hippos and cheeky dung beetle. My Auntie Anne is something else. Once you meet her there's no forgetting her! If you ever watch Last of the Summer Wine there's a character on it called Marina who is Howard's fancy piece. There are likenesses between her and my Auntie Anne but Auntie Anne is about 20 times worse. when she talks she could go in competition with a fog horn and I have never met anyone else like her in my life. She and mum are like opposite ends of the spectrum the only common bond is their craziness. Nevertheless, I absolutely love her and wouldn't swap her for any auntie in the world. We're all going to Copenhagen for a few days next month and she is determined to get herself a danish man like Peter Schmichael (I take it he's danish - I'm not sure - that's what she says). I'm not sure if she'll find him in the christmas markets but I'm all for looking!


So the Toad in the Hole .... Oh my word! It was absolutely lovely and if you could only taste it over the website I'd let you have a slice from the picture which shows Suz showing off her prize-winning creation. Well done Suz with some very nice roasties and peas and sweetcorn - you just can't beat it. I bought a nice cherry pie and custard for pudding. I rolled home that night I tell you and I'm still rolling!


So tomorrow we're having a training day in my office. Its the DISC training - not sure what that stands for but apparently it's about finding out what role you take on in a team. It should be quite interesting. I like doing things like this - finding out what sort of person I am. I shall update you as to what I find out about myself. In the evening I'm going back to Petersfield to check out their kids club. They're showing the Polar Express which I'm very very excited about. It's a beautiful film and the animation/graphics are amazing. I went to see it in the cinema originally with Suz and Rach. There were many gasps of amazment from us during the film because of the graphics - it was so lifelike. The best bit is when the elves are just about to meet Santa Claus and they start with a "oooohhhh" which starts quietly and gradually gets louder and they move their arms from one side to the other above their heads and then break out into "You better watch out, You better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town" and then there is an enormous cheer and Santa appears! Woohoo!!!! It's sooo beautiful. If you've not seen it - DO! and do it this christmas! do it now before it's too late!

laters!
cx

Another Culinary Delight ....

My friend Suz she is a blooming fab cook. Tonight's culinary delight is Toad in the Hole. She's never made it before but I reckon it will be just beautiful. She has got the gift of hosting and I think I'm very good at being hosted! Anyway, Suz and I used to share a house with my bro Richard (whom I love very very much and miss loads - he lives in Zambia you know). The deal was that Suz and occasionally Rich would do the cooking and I would do the washing up coz I hate cooking so much! Anyway, she's moved down to Southampton now which is very good for me because I was getting quite sick fed-up of my cooking so have been making the most of it! and what's even better now is that Suz has got a dishwasher! Sooooo I don't need to keep to my side of the arrangement! Cheeky!! Suz has just said that she loves cooking! Out of the blue - no one asked her to say it and quite frankly she can keep it! I hate cooking! I'm not the worst cook - I can cook. I'm more in the Won't cook if I can help it group. If I ever find the man of my dreams (a very big IF because my experience of men recently is making me crazy! Is there ever a dream man? A debate for another day) Anyway, if I ever find the man of my dreams amongst many other attributes (standards standards!) he really must have the gift of cooking and enjoying it. I will do the washing, I will clean the toilet (I strangely find that rewarding), I will dust, I will hoover, (I would say I would iron but I'm not overly sure what that is!) but I will not cook if I can absolutely help it! I just don't like it! Have I made my point? I tried watching Saturday Kitchen to inspire me but it just made me salivate and just go and make myself another slice of toast. However, having said that, I do enjoy Tesco's Finest Chilli and Pork Sausages with wedges and roasted vegetables. mmmmnnnn! Sausages are just delicious.

Today has been a bit of a nuisance day. Ian (who I work with) and I were going to deliver a lecture on communicating with Children and Youth at The Salvation Army Officer training college in London tomorrow. We were flapping this morning getting our stuff organised and then Ian had a phone call from Lou - his wife to say that she had taken the third child in his collection (a long story - and a long family!) to the doctor because he has a chest infection and the anti-biotics weren't working so the doctor told her to take him to the hospital for a chest x-ray. On having the x-ray done, they found that poor baby Benny has got Pneumonia in both his lungs! God bless him! So they're keeping him in hospital for a few days. The wee soul! Anyway, that put a halt to our visit to London tomorrow so our flapping was wasted!

So only 2 weeks today until my brother Richard (or big dick as I sometimes affectionately call him!) and Heidie will coming home for Christmas from Zambia. They work for The Salvation Army out there at Chikankata hospital (check out his blog: www.charliechikankata.blogspot.com). They've been there since May last year. We went over to see them in April this year and had an absolutely fabulous time. We're going again next April. Anyway, I miss them so much. I know before they went they lived in Scotland so I wasn't seeing them very much then either but it was a lot easier to see them should the opportunity arise! Sometimes, I wish I had another brother or sister (delivered by the stork of course!) as it's a bit lonely with rich being so far away. I hope that God doesn't tell them to stay there! Rich is one of the funniest, most generous and most wisest person I know. And Heidie is one of the most beautiful but craziest person I know and when they are together they make me laugh.

Right - the toad in the hole is ready. I can't tell you how excited I am about eating it! It's taken some time to make but I know it will be worth it! will tell you about it.
laters!

Woo hoo! I'm a blogger!

This is very exciting! I've finally decided to get blogged up! I don't know how it will all work out and whether I'll be motivated to keep it going for long but hey - I'm gonna give it a try. I wonder if I can make my life seem interesting? It's interesting to me but I just wonder if it will be to people who read this?

Today, I have led the worship in Peterfield. It's been a fun day. I like the people at Petersfield - they're really lovely people who are very welcoming and make me laugh. The kids there are so keen and happy to be there and that's so encouraging. In today's society there's so many other things for kids to do on a sunday that church often loses out. These kids from Petersfield are made to feel loved and cared for and the adults really take a keen interest in them and each other. You know, you can have all the up-to-date technology etc.. but at the end of the day I reckon what most people want is to be made to feel loved and cared for because life can be so busy and inpersonal and that's more of a pull than any state of the art stuff.

However, I will say that Petersfield has been a very cold place for me today - my feet have been like blooming blocks of ice and I have been glad to come home just to thaw them out. I'm looking forward to getting into my bed because I've got the electric blanket on ready to warm up my tootsies!

Have had a nice time unwinding since I've got in - checking out my emails and watching CSI - I love the new channel Five US coz it shows CSI all the time - it's cracking! I don't know what it might say about me that I really like programmes like this. I've really missed Midsommer Murders tonight. Mum and I normally have a wee bet to see how many murders there's been. It's brilliant Sunday evening viewing. Mum and dad often have to visit Midsumer Norton as it's in their area for work. I always get slighty worried when they go there - I don't want them to be any of the murders I'm betting on! I make sure I tell them to be careful when they're going near the place - you just never know!

Well my feet cannot take it any longer. I'm off to warm them up. So my first blog is finished. I've quite enjoyed doing it really. I didn't think I had that much to say!

laters cx