September Weekends Away

WEEKEND ONE
Sept 12th-13th. Surrey.

I trained it up to New Malden on the 12th after spending around 20mins trying to get the ticket machine to issue me witht the correct ticket! So it was the train to Clapham Junction and then the little urban train to New Malden. Sarah met me at the station and we headed back to hers straight away! I got to see Archie again, which was good. I was shocked to be reminded just how small he is - it must be because I live with a giant doggy here at home!
We chatted for an hour until Tom arrived - and then continued chatting!! Twas so good for the three of us to be back together again and catch up - just like our dear old days in Connaught (to which Sarah will return when she goes back to Soton to study!). Tom and I gave Sarah our presents there and then, because mine was a bit too delicate to take in to Kingston!! Tom got Sarah the brand new Monopoly - Monopoly City, which is all fancy and fandangled (and, I'm afraid, over my head as a non-board game player!) The two of them had a great time examining it until we had to leave.

We headed to Kingston for 6.30pm to meet the others at the train station. Dave (Shearn), Jo (Sanderson) and Georgie met us there and our destination was straight across the way! Everyone got stuck in to chatting and catching up and getting to know one-another, so that by the time we reached Frankie and Bennies, there was a good old rapport established.
We were seated in Frankie and Bennies and immediately got stuck in to examining the menu, chattering away and another exchange of cards and gifts. Sarah had a few essays to read in her cards too! We ordered and drank, ordered and ate starters, ordered and ate our main course, ordered and ate desserts and then felt very full up indeeed!
I started with cheese and bacon skins, then had a lamb shank with mash and veg. By that point I was stuffed. I did consider dessert, but decided there wasn't room!! Some of the others had desserts and Dave put the sparkling candle from his in to Sarah's, to make it special for her birthday!!
Sarah's parents were very kind in paying the first £20 for each person!!

Well stuffed and very happy, we headed downstairs to the bowling alley, where Sarah had pre-booked two games on a lane WITH BUMPERS!! The boys seemed to think that this was below their dignity, but they did end up benefitting from them rather a lot!!
I actually can't remember the scores but the boys did rather well and it all got a bit confuzzled when Georgie had to leave near the end of the first game and Dave and Jo had to go mid-way through the second game, leaving Sarah, Tom and I with 2 goes per round - we all ended up doing better on the other peoples' goes than our own!
However, it was nice to have a small and then a smaller group to hang out with and just enjoy ourselves! I hadn't been bowling for years, and for years before that, so it was nice indeed.

We said goodbye to our third muskateer soon afterwards, as he had to catch the bus back to Ashford and go to work the next day! Sarah and I were picked up by her Dad (and Archie) and headed back to her house. We watched the News and then all turned in!
The next morning, I thought I'd actually had a lie-in and was up quite late for being in someone else's house. I stayed in bed for a while, then showered and dressed. Then I went to find Sarah - she was still in bed and, unfortunately for her, I got her up rather earlier than she was expecting! We had a lazy morning, chilling out with Archie etc and then when Sarah's Dad got back we had a delicious lunch.
Later on, they drove me to the station and we bade each other farewell, with a promise to keep in touch (cos I'm terrible at it!). I took the train in to London, then the Tube to Oxford St to do a little shopping. When in London as they say..... I popped in to UniQlo and Primark and a few others - most notably, the Disney Store - and spent a rather enjoyable afternoon browsing! I didn't spend anything though :-(

Then I headed back to the train station at Waterloo, to head Hastings-wards! On the noticeboard however, I noticed the next train (to Tunbridge Wells) said change for Hastings on it!! Confusion. So I asked the guard - he told me there were no trains to Hastings that weekend due to engineering works - which had also been a problem on the Tube!
In the end; I got the train to Tunbridge Wells, a Rail Replacement Bus from there to Wadhurst and then a train for the final leg of the journey to Hastings! So, after leaving Sarah's in New Malden in the early afternoon, I didn't get home until near on 7pm!! But I did have a nice little jaunt in to London aaaaand, when I popped in to KFC, I got this awesome thing called a Krushem, which was Malteaser flavoured - its a sort of cross between a Shakeawy and a McFlurry.

At the end of the day, I got home in one piece, before dark and it hadn't been too bad an end to a very lovely weekend!

WEEKEND TWO
Sept 19th-21st. Suffolk.

And so, the weekend after that saw me heading in the opposite direction - to Suffolk. Mum and I went to weekend with Alison & Geoff, old friends of ours from way back. We drove. It took 3hrs, there were no incidents - as opposed to the Southbound carriageways of both the M25 and the A12, which were at a standstill. The weather was nice. I was ill and had lost my voice. Having set the scene...

Alison, Geoff and their dog, Shadow, live in a little village called Holton. Its nowhere near any big towns. They live in a little cottage that they're doing up and its all very country-fied and peaceful.

We spent most of the first evening chatting, catching up etc and we had a BBQ, it was so warm! Very nice indeedy.

On Sunday, the only full day we were there, I spent most of the morning playing on Alison's DS (which is pink!) in bed. We finally walked to the Farm Shop in the nearby town of Halesworth in the early afternoon to get some veggies and cake! We walked Shadow there and I waited outside with her. People came up to coo over her and stroke her etc - as is to be expected because shes a rather cute black Labrador x Retriever puppy!
We had a late Sunday lunch: roast chicken, roasties, yorkies, veggies, gravy etc and then had a lovely tart for dessert. It was incredably warm, but cos I was ill and my bodytemperature was all over the place, I kept taking my jumper on and off literally every two minutes!

That evening we went with Alison to walk Shadow over whats called "The Round". Basically rolling hills, lovely countryside etc - she's a very good dog off of the lead! I took a fair few photos, of which I may add a couple here later. The weather was still gorgeous.

We left around lunch time on Monday, having had a late and lazy breakfast. We stopped for lunch at a Little Chef somewhere in Essex. I'd like to give a special mention to the waiter there who coped - wonderfully - on his own for most of the time we were there. Finally we got home at 5pm. I'd recovered half of my voice by this point! I couldn't believe we'd bought the warm weather with us from Surrey, twas very nice.
Alison's coming to stay with us at the end of October!

Right, phew, I'm finally up-to-date! Now I need to go to the Post Office before it shuts... See you in October!

The making of James and Emma Marshall

I have to admit I had a little panic when I first heard the date for the wedding, because I thought it clashed with Momentum, but all was well in the end!
So I travelled straight from Momentum on the morning of the 27th, to Soton where I (in my dreams) moved back in to my old house! What I actually did was move in to Ruth's room for a couple of days.

I spent the rest of that day sorting myself out and just chilling out, enjoying sleeping in a bed and having a nice shower (not that the showers at Momentum weren't nice - they were for once!).

Friday, I spent the whole day out on the town, in and around West Quay. Had to visit my old haunts: Primark, Peacocks, New Look, M&S, Fat Face, Freespirit etc and I bought myself a lovely new Roxy purse and a pair of shoes which I then wore to the wedding!
In the evening I painted my nails and then watched a couple of chick flicks to get me in the mood for the happy occasion the following day.

The wedding itself was held at Above Bar Church, so I hopped on the the U6C, which, much to my shock was *free* that day, due to the Boat Show in the City that day. I got the bus with Nikki, Izzy, Gill, Isaac & Becky, Jo and Fay.
The bridesmaids dresses were a lovely dark teal colour and they were the first thing we saw on going in, because the 2 Rachels (Brooks and Cook) were there.

Got chatting to lots of familiar faces whilst were waiting for Emma's entrance: Mandy, Lizzie and Kathryn & Roly. The ceremony was pretty awesome, with a really good selection of songs etc and great involvement of people important to James and Emma, like his dad and all 3 ministers from ABC.
Afterwards we went to Watt Park for the photos (which were taken by Roger Eldridge). Then those who were invited went to the proper Reception, whilst a group of about 10 of us headed off to get something to eat elsewhere.
Me, Lizzie, Lois, Fay, Jo, Issac, Becky, Tom, Kathryn, Roland walked to Pizza Express and then indulged in pizza and desserts! Lizzie and I shared a really beautiful and yummy tiramisu which made my day!!

We were there for a few hours and so it was time to head over to the Reception/evening activity by that point. It was held at the Southampton Park Hotel and there was a live jazz band who did more sedate and then more active numbers in turn. There was a fair bit of dancing and messing around (mostly by James and his groomsmen!) It rapped up at 11pm and I was lucky enough to get a lift home from Kathryn in her new teachers' car.

I had to pack up all my stuff before falling in to bed and then headed home in the morning. Just as I'd been to work the day before Momentum started, I went to work the day after I got home.

Then - shocking - it was September and I have no idea where all of the time has gone! All of the PGCEers are installed in placements or back at Uni and Argos will soon be taking on their Christmas staff...

This weekend sees me jetting off to Surrey for Sarah's party and to Suffolk the weekend after! Tis all jolly.

Momentum 09

22nd-26th August 2009, Bath and West Showground, camping on Purple 6 with SUCU.

Travel: Good. Not including the massive jams on the way down.

Set-up: Swift and slightly puzzling. The debate over the perfect place to pitch and which way the door should face was extensive.

Arrival of camping buddy: Tom actually arrived after me, which is stunning considering he's coming from Surrey and chose the moment I'd gone to get a programme from Information. Oh well, once Tristan had moved his car Tom pitched next to me!

Food: We'd carefully planned each night's menu beforehand, so I had bought the exact amounts of stuff we needed. Tom supplied the stoves and gas - excellent coordination! We BBQed on the first night and patronised the stands on the last.
There were assorted trips to the crepe stall etc in between.
We found that my tent was an excellent wind break to cook behind and so since its pretty high up and open on Purple 6, we were lucky!

First meeting: You can't match the anticipation and excitement of heading over to the Big Top on the first day! 3500 other people, Mike Pilavachi, Andy Croft, an awesome worsip band and a great talk - all a great taste of the am and pm meetings for the next four days.
As usual I was also interested in such matters as the drummer's facial expression (or lack of), the hairstyle of one of the guitarists, whether or not we'd see the return of Desert Scarf Guy, which songs we'd be singing and who was leading worhip...

Sung) Worship: I'll admit I had trouble - initially - getting on with some of the new songs, most of which came from Ben Cantelon's new album "Running After You" and the Tim Hughes live album "Happy Day". Although, one of my favourites was actually from Matt Redman's new album "We Shall Not Be Shaken": "You Alone Can Rescue".
Twas led by Sam Parker and Andi Arganda most times and then when he arrived, Tim Hughes shared the leading.


Tentage: Well I was camping solo for the first time at Momentum - it was odd not to be sharing with Rachel, but she was preparing for James and Emma's Wedding in Soton (see next blog!) or Kathryn, but she was at her brother's 18th.
Tom was in his tent opposite.
On the plus-side, I had a 4man that you can almost stand up in (if you're my height) to myself!! There was plenty of storage space for food etc and for 2 people to sit on the floor.
On the down-side, when the wind reached gale force 10 and I *honestly* thought that my tent was going to blow over and away, I was on my own. But the heavy boxes of food held the tent down, so all was safe and secure in the end! I also came up with an excellent way to keep warm - which *just* kept my body temperature above freezing!

Seminars: Went to some really varied seminars actually, but they were all very helpful in emphasising that its all about RELATIONSHIP with God. In a relationship, you spend quality time together, you know each other, you tell each other things, you trust each other and that doesn't suddenly change because something bad/unexpected/challenging happens.
Twas a real challenge to me to Pray, Study the Bible, Meditate, Serve and Worship. Yet instead of feeling condemned, I was encouraged, so all is good!
Must mention the Dating seminar run by Tim+Rachel Hughes. I've never seen a seminar so full up - and then they told us to split up in to girls and boys > pandemonium! We were so close to them and each other it was funny. But it was very good as the whole thing was composed of questions from us! I find it funny that Tim Hughes is so reserved in real life, but he gives a really good example of a Godly guy and it was encouraging to see.

Weather(!): Always worth a mention when it comes to Momentum. Weather at home prior to departure was very hot and sunny - this of course ended the day we travelled down to Somerset, it rained. The rain made appearances on at least 2 more days and there were very strong gales most days. The sun did make appearances, but never very strongly, it wasn't sunbathing weather.
The funniest occasion was on the morning of the last full day when it was - funnily enough - raining. We were all in the Big Top, in the middle of the worship in the Main Meeting. Now there is the occasional tiny hole in the roof of the marquee, but this was something entirely above and beyond. A veritable torrent of water was coming in - directly over the top of the very-expensive-looking drum kit! Now there was a little roof on the top of the drum enclosure, but it didn't cover the drummer himself and I think he got a wee bit wet!! I noticed it before he did, but then when he did realise, it was highly amusing how he couldn't stop but kept casting nervous glances upwards!

God: God was very good to me at Momentum, teaching me lessons in the way only He can. Gently yet firmly. As I said, He spoke to me about relationship with Him, which I'm working on! He also provided a lovely lady from the Welfare Team called Angie who helped me muchly in a couple of sessions after I had a fight with the floor under the power of the Spirit!

I may add more, but that's most of it! It was an awesome few days and a well-needed break. God did awesome stuff and I was reminded of how great He is! I'll be back again soon. Much love.