Me and My brother ...

Then...


and now ...


I'm not sure who's changed the most!

I love him. I miss him.

He's the best brother.

cx

They know it's near the end ....

Now I know my house isn't really like the house in Beauty and the Beast where all the household things come alive but I'm sure all my household appliances know that we're coming to the end of a very beautiful and happy time in this flat and are now on strike. First my washing machine carked it. It started making a very weird noise Sunday afternoon and then there was the burning smell. it happened mid spin and so I stopped it early and unfortunately the towels still had a lot of water in them. I put my heater on to help dry them off and left it on all night. In the morning it was so hot I thought I was in a sauna! It was ridiculous! Now my electric toothbrush has carked it! It jut won't charge. What's that all about? It's a disaster.

In anticipation of the end I cleared out my clothes, bags and shoes tonight. I filled two black bags. I feel a bit disappointed I wasn't more strict with myself and got rid of my clothes but you never know when you're going to need them. Maybe I'll have to have another go when i actually pack them up to leave.

Finally, I would like to announce that people are just not praying hard enough - the forecast for the weekend is still rain! Let me be clear - I DON'T WANT THE RAIN THIS WEEKEND!!!! I cannot cope with another wet camping weekend. However, this time I'm so going to be ready for it. Tomorrow I am going out in pursuit of wellies and waterproof trousers. I feel very sad about the rain.

laters
cx

It's not just food ... It's M&S food!

This has been a perfect end to a lovely bank holiday day for me! I have had such a chilled day and completely loved it! I really needed to have some me space today. I got up late, watched telly, talked to my big bro and HB on the telephone, got showered and dressed about 2pm, went to Southsea seafront for a long walk with a cup of tea and kit kat break midway, came home and did some ironing (what?), then suz came round and made tea with not just any old food but M&S food! Lovely Lasagne and salad and then the most beautiful dessert - Strawberries dipped in chocolate! mmmmnnn! You see Sainsbury's and M&S are terrible for those cheeky adverts which shows the most divine food. One evening we were watching telly when this Sainsbury's advert came on for the most beautiful lemon sorbet! Well, as quick as you can say Jack Flash Suz and I were in the car and driving round to the BP garage to get some lovely pudding that vaguely resembled this beautiful lemon Sorbet. We wanted to get back home before the end of the adverts. Anyway, we ended up just buying a solero ice cream instead - well seeing BP don't do adverts for their food! They'd stink! So a number of times now we've watched with great longing the M&S advert with the strawberries and chocolate dip and finally succumbed tonight - it was lovely!



So now - a perfect end to the evening - we are watching Ocean's 11. Oh my word - so much beauty and gorgeousness in one day!

I love Southsea Seafront. Wherever I move to I always think it's important to find one place where you just love to go to and know that you will feel free and feel close to God. When I lived in Scotland I loved going to Loch Lomond for this very reason and now down here Southsea Seafront is that place for me. I love the vast expanse of the sea, I love that there's always something happening on the sea, I love the spaciousness of the pavement and the flatness of it, and today I loved the wind blowing in my face, it felt like it was clearing out the cobwebs ready for the freshness of the summer and the exciting next few months.

I'd like to finally add that I am doing ok on the cruzshuz. I am mastering one foot quite well at the moment and have only nearly broken my back twice. I shall persevere! Greg said:

that I would keep at it for 2 weeks and then give up! I most certainly will not give up! I'm determined! You just see if I'm not!

Well that's about it for today. This week I'll be getting ready for NRGize which is an activity camping weekend Ian and I are organising next weekend for 24 10-14 year olds. Last year it rained the whole blooming weekend and we all ended sleeping in a barn on the Friday night because our tents got waterlogged! I am soooo praying for no rain this weekend. Unfortunately I've just checked the 5 day forecast and rain is on the menu! Big fat pooh! Please pray for no rain. I don't think I can cope with another wet camping weekend! Last year, I took a picture on my phone of my bathroom with all the candles lit and the bath nice and full of bubbles and every so often looked at the picture when I felt particularly cold or skanky and it helped me to keep focused on 5pm Sunday evening when I would actually be able to enjoy that bath for real. I'd like to confirm that the bath I had on that Sunday night was heavenly! I am expecting more of the same this year.

night then!

laters
cx

OOO aargh me 'arties!

So i've been to see Pirates of the Carribean now. It was good - a bit long and very weird but good. I laughed quite a bit. I didn't like it when Davey Jones killed a man with his beardy tentacles - Frances and I both covered our eyes at that point. The best bit in the whole film was when one of Jack Sparrow's alter egos exclaimed "nobody move - I've lost my brain" - he literally had lost his brain (I guess you need to see this to understand how truely funny and surreal this was). I turned to Frances and told her that I am always saying that!

Well, there you go then. it's nice to know that Monday is a holiday as well! I'm not doing anything and I'm really really looking forward to that. If it's nice I might go for a walk by the beach - I want to make the most of it before I have to move to the black bogie London. I'm feeling really sad at the moment about leaving life down here on the south coast. It really is a very beautiful place to live. I'm also feeling very sad about leaving all my friends. Sometimes I have these feelings when I'm on the brink of a big change that things will never be the same again and it makes me feel unhappy even though I'm excited about the future. I'm sure you understand.

laters
cx

I am very blooming happy!

This is for two reasons:
Firstly, I eventually managed to get some Heelys - except they're not heelys but Cruzeshuz! - on ebay for a very favourable price. Of course I had to try them as soon as they arrived at my work yesterday and I nearly broke my back! I will master it! people were being very discouraging! Instead of telling me that it looked fun and that I would master it etc... they kept talking about how they didn't want me to break any bones! Anyway, reckon if I wear them around a do the odd skate every now and again I'll eventually get the hang of them!



Secondly, I am happy because last night I had my fundraising ceilidh and it was jolly good fun! about 50 or 60 people came along and I made £273 profit! wicked!!!! What a laugh! Almost everyone got up and danced and those who didn't dance had a good time laughing at those were attempting to dance. No major calamities apart from Chris falling on Ian - or maybe it was the other way around - anyway it was a bit of a pile up but they got up and seemed to be ok only hurting hips and hurting pride! The other calamity was my shoes busting so I danced in my bare feet instead and now have a blister but it was so worth it! I love love love a ceilidh and everyone else seemed to last night as well - what a wicked time!

God bless everyone who came along and god bless everyone who supported the evening in whatever way! Thanks!

Now I'm going off to see Pirates of the Carribean - that will be nice - to spend some time with Johnny Depp.

laters
cx

Och Aye the Noo!

So as part of my journey into the training college, I have to raise money for the Candidates Fund. So next Friday night (25 May 2007) I'm organising a Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-lee). To find out more about Ceilidhs check out one of my past posts: http://mayibeabrightstarshining.blogspot.com/2007/02/noo-that-whit-i-ca-ceilidh.html written on 24 February.

The cost is £5 which includes food and drink and it starts at 7pm. If you want to come along then let me know and I'll give you more details. It would be good to see you there!

laters
cx

It's all Victoria's fault ...

Yes it is! It's all Victoria's fault - the reason why I am frantically trying to buy a pair of heelys. Now for those very uninformed and uncool - Heelys are the trainers with little wheels in the heels:



Now I have been looking at these shoes with great interest for a whle and really wanted to have a pair but never got round to it. However, after chatting with Victoria the other day she told me that at the kids club they have on St Peter Port they have a sub-club called the Heely Club. The kids all come with their heelys on and and wheel around - they're even going to do so dance routines! Wicked! And so she said that she's also bought a pair so I thought that I would like a pair as well because when I go over there in the summer - I don't want to be the odd one out!!

Now I thought also that they would come in handy when I'm at camp because there's an awful lot of walking around and then I could also take them to college and skate around the campus! how cool would that be?

So I was bidding on come cool ones on Ebay last night but some nasty person got in with a winning bid in the last minute!!! How absolutely frustrating! However, I was saved because I've since found out you should get a bigger size than you normally do and I hadn't so I hope whoever bought those shoes knows that!

I'm now bidding on some others - I'll let you know how I get on! They're quite expensive so if anyone finds any cheap ones - I need a size 7 - let me know!

laters
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Alright Guv'nor

So it's official - I'm a properly trained school governor. I spent my day in Hampshire Golf Club in some very interesting and helpful training. I was dreading it really - mainly because I didn't know anyone. I've worked out two main things about being a school governor:
1. Pass everything to someone else - in particular the Headteacher or class teacher.
2. If the school goes into Special Measures (when it's failing) it's the fault of the Governing Body!

So there you go! Despite the burdern of responsibility in ensuring the school excels I am very excited about being a school governor. It's really amazing to think that your decisions can have such a big impact on the lives of many children - you have a real chance to indirectly influence them.

Talking of influencing children; on Sunday I sat next to Hannah in worship at The Gap. Hannah is six and she is Ian and Louise's oldest daughter. I work with Ian (he is the Divisional Youth officer) and Louise is the associate officer at The Gap and a fellow school Governor. Anyway, Hannah always sits next to me, Lesley and Fi when we're at the Gap. Hannah is beautiful (all the Davis children are beautiful). So we were all standing singing. I had my thumbs in my jean pockets as I was singing. Hannah was sitting down. Then she suddenly got up and spent a while putting her hands in her trouser pockets and then stood just like me! It was a really lovely moment and nearly brought a tear to my eye! It just reminded how children watch everything you do and I was also reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein where he says something like "being an example is not just a way of influencing a child - it's the only way". Ever since I read that quote in the Tug of War document about 5 years ago (this document was a report of research the SA commissioned to be done on it's children's work) it has had a massive impact on me and has been proven over and over again - children really do watch you so closely and that is a real challenge to me as a person.

Which brings me to my third point in this blog - Not only do children watch you closely but so do adults. I have been in a foul mood today. I don't think there is any particular reason for this but I think I literally did get out the wrong side of the bed this morning. I normally get out the side of the clock but today I got out of the other side and when my routine is changed it sometimes makes my grumpy. Ian said that I had 3 pairs of grumpy pants on today - he's right and I'm quite ashamed of myself. I'm not particularly nasty when I'm grumpy (well maybe only a few sharp comments but they're more utterances under my breath) but I'm just a bit quiet and low. Sometimes when I get grumpy if I tell someone I'm grumpy it's enought to make me laugh and take my out of my mood but I just couldn't shift the cloud today. I remember my mum saying that when you feel down, get out and see your people. So this afternoon I had to lead my first Cameo Club (come and meet each other club) which was really great and I enjoyed doing it. One little lady there called Ruth (I know this because she told me about 30 times) is in a home and this afternoon she was sitting on the end of the row. As I was playing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square by Vera Lynn Ruth started to fall asleep so Steph had to move herself next to Ruth so she didn't fall off the seat. Aw bless her! It was a real ministry to me doing that this afternoon especially when the theme was My Favourite Things (thanks Suz) and we were thanking God for all the things he has created for us to enjoy so that we can live life to the full! Doh! and here's me - Miss Grumpy pants! I'm suitable chastised because I knew people noticed and I feel bad because of that.

So I was going to be baby sitting the Davis clan tonight but Esther is teething so Ian has stayed in with them. I'm having a nice evening in watching As Time Goes By! Brilliant.

laters
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Yoohoo! I'm Home!

Finally .... After nearly a month of being away from home I am finally back. I actually got home from Africa last Thursday evening only to leave at dawn the next morning to travel to Roots in Southport where I have been working in the Kids Tent.

However, before I tell you about Roots and what a brill experience it was, I must tell you that I nearly did not make it home from Zambia! The Monday before we left, Rich, Suz and my parents visited Chaanga and I stayed at home because I didn't fancy the 3 hour off-road drive. Anyway, I took beautiful Ronaldo out into the garden for a little wander and toilet break.

Beautiful Ronaldo:




Suddenly I noticed something in the grass and realised it was this snake rearing up at me. I got a shock but quickly grabbed hold of Ronaldo and got her inside and shouted for Heidie. I showed her the snake and she really panicked so phoned Richard. However, Richard was off road somewhere so couldn't do anything about it so he suggested she get some of the men over in the vehicle yard to come over. I told her to tell him that it looked like a cobra because it had that flat bit on it's head but I think he thought I was exaggerating (I can't think why he would think that!) So some men came over. I thought they would be all macho and laugh when they saw the snake but they were really scared! They confirmed that it was a Cobra and then set about stoning it to death. They really threw those stones with great force. It made me think about people being stoned in bible times and how truly awful that would have been. At one point they hit the snake with stone with such force the snake flew into the air! At first I didn't want to watch but then I got a bit hooked so watched the whole thing. Once it was dead, they threw it over the fence! When Richard came back mum, dad and Suz wouldn't get out of the car until they knew all was safe! I was very very brave! I'm only disappointed I didn't take a picture but i was just completely focussed on saving my life!!!! So I've tried to find a picture on t'internet but i got the complete creeps looking at all the pictures of cobras!

The next day we travelled to Livingstone so Suz could see the Victoria Falls - oh my word it was so wet there! Even wetter than last year! What was also really cool was that that evening we saw a lunar rainbow or a moonbow at the falls. It only comes when there is a full moon and can only be seen in four places in the world - the vic falls being one of those locations. It wasn't really colourful - more a cloudy white but was amazing to see and actually to see the falls at night was so beautiful as well.

We also went on The African Princess for a sunset cruise. We cruised down the river zambesi, taking the beautiful scenary and enjoyed nice food and drinks. It was very colonial and I decided that mum and suz looked like characters from an Agatha Christie film:


So after Livingstone we travelled to Lusaka where we met up with Heidie and had a nice meal in the evening. We stayed in Lusaka that night in a backpackers hostel called Chachachas which was very interesting. We stayed there because we had to get up early to go to the airport the next morning.

I had a great time in Africa. I experienced many many new things and so am due many fanfares of the day. it was so good to see Rich and Heidie. We had many laughs and lovely times together. I love them very very much and am overwhelmingly proud of them and all they have achieved. I miss them very much. I'm not sure when we'll see each other again. I'd like to see them at christmas and see my new neice or nephew but I'll have to see if I can afford that. Other than that, I'll see them next May when they come home - either on holiday or for good depending on what they decide.

Well I was going to blog about roots but I'm just so tired that I think I'll leave that for another day and go to my beautiful bed instead!

laters
cx