My annual address to the nation and the people of the Commonwealth

If only I was the Queen....
But I'm not.
I do however, know the King of Kings. Not only do I know Him, but I know He loves me, delights in me and 2000 years ago - as a testament to that love for me and all humanity - He came to Earth as a baby. Being fully God, He gave up all the glory and beauty of Heaven to live amongst fallen (but not forsaken) man.
And why is this so great?
For two reasons.

1. Easter.

When Jesus came to Earth, He lived amongst those He had had a part in creating, but He came to die first and foremost. When He gave Himself over to death, He took the sins of the world with Him to the grave and left them there; rising again to raise each of us with Him. Through Him we are free of our sin and all of the problems and suffering it brings - if only we in turn hand over control of our lives to Him.

2. His life on Earth.

The bible tells us that Jesus died in His 30s - He had lived as a human being - the only perfect human being, here on Earth all that time. That means that when we go to Him with our problems, the burdens of our hearts and souls, the temptations and failings, God is no distant or abstract figure. Through Jesus we know that God cares, understands our plight and can help if only we ask Him in to our lives. He has been there. He knows. He cares. He longs for us to care too.

Here's what the bible tells us about the birth of Jesus and how important His life will be:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned...
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
Isaiah 9: 2 & 6-7

As is traditional, I've tried to look back on 2010 and sum up how it has been significant to my life as a whole...

It hasn't been a great year for relationships; either with Jesus or with people I know. It is always said of being a Christian that relationships require communication and the same is true of any friendship.
It is a sad fact of growing up that old friends lose touch and drift apart as they move onwards and upwards to new things. I often think of those people and recount the old days with a smile.
The same is true of not so old friends too... Tsk tsk.

Here are my other reflections on 2010:

O Money has been a significant issue this year. Lack of. Nevertheless, I've managed to redecorate my room and I love it. It makes me look forward even more to the day I have my own flat and my independance.

O I started work at Helenswood as an invigilator. My experience at Cantell is never far from my mind and nor are the students. Helenswood is different as are the team, but I like it there too.

O Sarah, Tom and I went away, abroad together for a week to Croatia. Sarah and I also went to Bosnia. Two fantastic countries and the holiday is a definate highlight of my...life so far!

O Applied for and got accepted onto the Open University study course for Early Years Professional Status - they only accept 53 students nationwide and they chose me! It took me the entire application process, including a trip to the Open Uni in Camden (love that place), to see that EYPS is not for me. Eventually I turned down the place and haven't looked back since.

O Keswick 2010! Awesome. Met some awesome new people and got reaquainted with some others. Got to hang out with great kids and young people (including a local youth called Dean)

O Didn't go to Momentum which is something I really and truly regret actually. I though I wouldn't mind, but I did. I really want to go next year - must find someone to go with for sure. Its crucial to my walk with Jesus, this week, I find.

O Bee & Matt and Izzie & Chris tied the knot, Emma & James had baby Harry and Isaac & Becky's baby is due in February! Congratulations all round!!

O Claimed a lot of Job Seekers Allowance and (especially in December) worked a lot at Argos!

O In 8 days I'll turn 23 and begin my 24th year on this Earth. What does the year ahead hold I wonder?

Here's a brief rundown of the next few days anyway...

Dec 21st: Argos 2pm-7pm
Dec 22nd: Argos 12pm-8pm
Dec 23rd: Christmas food shopping and decorating/tidying
Christmas Eve: Argos 9am-5pm
CHRISTMAS DAY: rest 8-)
Boxing Day: Argos 9am-5pm
Dec 27th (Bank Hol Mon): Argos 9am-4.15pm
Dec 28th (Bank Hol Tues): ChRiStMaS with Tom and Sarah in New Malden
Dec 29th: Shopping in the sales in Tunbridge Wells with Mum
Dec 30th - Jan 1st: Peaceful relaxing days with (as far as I know) no work! I have my b'day of for the first time in many years. Normal celebrations usually include cinema and eating out.
Jan 2nd: Argos all day (hrs tbc)
Jan 3rd (Bank Hol Mon): Argos 9am-5pm

That's enough to be going on with for sure!

I wish each and every one of you a peaceful, joyful Christmas and all the very best of everything for 2011.

Don't you just hate sad songs?

So yeah, I was (and still am meant to be) tidying up the living room in preparation for Christmas and decided that I would put a CD on to cheer me on my way...
Sound good so far?
Wrong.
I chose David Gray, and that got me thinking...

So of course I couldn't rest until I'd found and listened to James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover", then I moved on to Bon Jovi's "Always".
Neither of these are songs I would neccessarily listen to on an average day, that's because they have deep and intensely personal meanings to me and certain other people and no-one wants to be reminded of that on a daily basis!

So with 5 days to Christmas Day, I'm listening to sad songs. Might listen to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol now, just to complete the full set...

For those of you thinking "why", well its cos I couldn't find the Christmas compilation that I had to put a different CD on, and that just happened to be David Gray, which just happened to remind me of James Blunt and it went on from there.
Oh well.

Which happy song should I listen to to counteract all of this?? Darn. I'm too depressed now to think of happy songs...
I'll get back to you on that one.

LATER

I've found the song!! Its called "Affirmation" by Savage Garden. Its the kind of song that you can boogie around the room whilst singing along and dusting down the ornaments in preparation for decorating!

We've got the Christmas chocolates out in their special festive bowl (a mixture of Roses, Celebrations and Terry's Chocolate Orange Segsations) and now we're just about ready to start on the tree!!

A Very Busy Christmassy Week

16 DAYS TIL CHIRSTMAS

23 DAY TIL MY 23rd

Whoop whoop!!

All in all it has been a very busy week, what with one thing and another - and another and another! Let me start at the beginning...

Monday was a lazy day where we did nothing, so I'll just ignore that.

Tuesday I had the dreaded dentist in the morning!! Once a year is way, way enough to be going. Unfortunately I have to go back next week and have a liitle hole filled in. So I didn't get away that lightly :-(
In the afternoon I was invigilating and it was very, very cold in the hall for the hour and a half RE exam that I had to endure.

Wednesday I had Argos work and I ws running around like a mentalist trying to get out of the door in time to get my bus. I was meant to have half an hour for shopping, but the bus got delayed by a break down truck that blocked the road for ages. Tsk tsk.
Although my shift finished at 5.30, I stayed on at work to get a lift to the Argos Christmas Party which was at the White Hart - 3 course meal for £5!! There were 28 of us, including 3 who've moved onwards and upwards to new things since their Argos days.

Thursday (today) Mum had a hospital appointment at 10.25 - thus we didn't get out of the hospital until gone midday!
We popped home, had a quick whizz around doing the bits and pieces we needed to and then headed off to town. It was the RBL Women's Section Christmas Party and we had lots of Christmas cards and party food to take. There was lots of food, crackers, merriment and giving of cards. So all in all that was a pleasent afternoon!
We had some errands to run in town, so that came next and we were late getting home so KFC came to the rescue for dinner!

Friday is to be Christmas decorating day.
I'm invigilating between 8.30 and 3.30, so when I get home, Mum should have cleared up the living room and Dad should've gor the decs down from the loft. Then we can have much fun putting them up!!
Roll on the weekend...

Saturday and Sunday are both Argos days pretty much so the weekend will pass in the blink of an eye and the blur of the till queue.

Then that brings us around to next week and, by then, only 11 days til Christmas and 18 til my b'day!

Apart from work, the highlight of that week is the Age UK Christmas Party on Wednesday at St Clements Restaurant in Mercatoria and, even better, we get a 2 course Christmassy meal for free!

Got plenty more work lined up over that week too, so no rest for me. No more exams until after the New Year though, so invigilation will be on hold until then.
Argos will be stepping up their efforts though and in Christmas week I've got such desirable shifts as 12pm-8pm on Wed 22nd. Don't you wish you worked at Argos???

So happy times for all! Well I'm happy anyway, got all the Christmas shopping done, just waiting for one more item to arrive in the post and then I'll be happy.

Hope your countdown to Christmas is a happy one too!

The Advent of the White Stuff!

Morning all! I won't risk saying "Good morning" incase you're stuck on a train still trying to get home from work yesterday, or you've fallen over in the ice!!

So, yeah, we have snow. That's the major news. Current measurements are 13" or 33cm in my back garden and its still sporadically falling. Yesterday and today have been snow days at Helenswood where I was meant to be invigilating. I went in to Argos for a 3hr shift yesterday and also got in to school for the Maths exam on Tuesday. Today we're venturing only as far as Sainsbury's (directly across the road from us) and the back garden to take amusing videos of the dogs like this one:



The snow began over the weekend and hasn't really let up since. So now we're on snow day no 2, most of the country is on snow days actually, so there's been plenty of kids roaming the streets with sledges and throwing snow balls etc. Speaking of sledges, we had to put a sign up at work to say that we didn't have any sledges available for sale cos the 18 we had in stock were reserved for other customers - that's if they could get out and down to Argos to collect them!!

Very excitingly I now know what I'm buying everyone for Christmas! Parents are all done and dusted - apart from one thing for my Mum which is in the post (and therefore may take a lil while to come!). Sarah and Tom's presents are also available but getting hold of them is weather-dependant!

So we have 23 days til Christmas now. I had every intention of getting myself an advent calendar but it never happened :-( Nevertheless, Mum and I have already opened the Christmas chocolates, snack mix and, last night, the parents got started on the Christmas booze! Very festive.

As I hinted at in the title, we're also now in Advent! Advent Sunday was last Sunday and now we're looking forward to Christmas Day, marking the day when the Light of the World came into it as a baby. Remember the words of John 1: 1-12 that reminds us that "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it" (v5) and "Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" (v12).

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Well we've been out in to the wintery wilderness - I wore my wellies and the snow wasn't far off of the tops! People were parking everywhere; you couldn't tell kerb from road or distinguish any parking spaces. Sainsbury's is completely out of bread and milk:


The dogs certainly seem to enjoy the snow and I have too, but I have to admit with a great deal of reluctance, that, after a while, the novelty value wears off and you realise that its going to have cost you pretty much a week's wages! Also the temperature is due to drop to -6C tonight, so I should freeze my bum off tonight in bed!

That's about all to report at the mo. I'll be back to report as significant events unfold (should there actually be any - since the whole country is at a standstill!)
Dress sensibly and wrap up warm - have fun while the white stuff lasts!

Tis the season...

Well lots of people would say its not yet the season for anything, but I am feeling decidedly as if Christmas will be here any day! This is, of course, no thanks to eBay who have a countdown to Christmas Day on their homepage.
Argos also have all of our Christmas decorations up and literal hordes of people buying literal hordes of presents for kids every single day.

Plus there's been the added pressure of the annual Christmas meet-up with Tom and Sarah which means that I have to really think about what to buy them! The current situation is one down and one to go - but I'm not saying which one, cos that would be telling!!

I've also heard tell that the Coca Cola advert is on TV - I haven't seen it yet - when I see it, it'll definately be Christmas, that's for sure. I sure do love seeing that ad, it never fails to get me in the Christmas spirit!

As for the 'rents, that shopping is also well under way, which is indeed very good - cos in previous years I haven't had the faintest idea what to buy them, but this year I do, so that's great too.

I'm also looking forward to 2011 - it should be a very good year and I'm anticipating lots of great and nice and memorable things happening. I hope 2011 will be the year that I move onwards and upwards with my life and career - with any hope I won't be the only one either!! I've had the whole of 2010 to - not vegetate - but to be at home, work at Argos, go back and forth to see friends and to be free to see and do and experience things and just be chilled out.
Now I need to go and be proactive and get a nice (hopefully well-paid) job, to be able to fund all of th crazy adventures that I want to get up to in my crazy life! I really like the idea of being financially independant one day and having a good and stable job is the key to that.
Now, being a History graduate, doesn't exactly lead to a career (in most people's minds) except teaching, so I've kind of been a bit at sea and not really - if I'm perfectly honest - applied for any jobs this year. This week, I'm appying for two. I'm also considering a mission trip for next summer.

However, that's all for next year. Right now we are 38 days away from Christmas, celebrating Jesus' birth in the most un-Christlike manner possible. So I need to nail my shopping - selected gifts and also a great many cards to get - and make a move on gettin ghte house tidy so we can have some semblence of decorations up...

Also it'll be my birthday and I'll be 23. I think its quite grown-up to be 23, what do you reckon?
Enough of my ranting and postulating on the subject of Christmas, the nights are drawing in and the days are getting much colder. Today we had to have the back door open all day because we have workmen here to do the guttering and they needed to plug their tools in - it will be great when their done, cos the guttering won't leak outside my bedroom window all night when it rains - but right now it must be colder inside than out!!

See's you soon peeps!

Remembrance

As October goes on and November approaches, all talk and a lot of time in our house goes on the Poppy Appeal.

It's very important to us not to forget the sacrifices made by members of our Armed Forces in times of war and dangerous duties overseas and also to preserve the memories of conflicts past now that those who fought in them are few (and dwindling) in number.

Mum and I were out selling poppies right from the 20something of October and our duties didn't end til Sunday just gone. For me - designing and editing the programme for the Festival of Remembrance at the White Rock Theatre - work had begun much further back in the summer and I saw the programmes (600 of them plus inserts) right through to completion. I was onhand at the Festival (14t Nov) to sell the programmes and poppies and to help Mum and others going up on stage with their bits and pieces.

We always make sure we watch the Festival of Remembrance from the Albert Hall, the morning's events at the Cenotaph and Songs of Praise for Remembrance Sunday on the TV too. All in all, its a busy weekend, having been at work both days but its well worth it. I also get to see some of the serving members of the Armed Forces who are local to this area as they take part in the Festival. I always find it a powerful - and important - thing to remember that they are my age, some of them younger and yet they do a tremendous and courageous job, one that I could never do.

It also reminds me of the links Hastings and East Sussex have to the Armed Forces. Not only are young men & women of our town represented in all 3 Armed Services, but we have links to 47 Reg Royal Artillary (who have freedom of the town) and the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (one of the most senior in the Army) has East Sussex as one of its recruitment counties. It's important for me to remember these guys and girls because of the great work they do and their close connection with my home town/county.

So, as of before the Festival, Hastings and St Leonards had raised over £30,000 for the Poppy Appeal with lots more collecting tins still to be counted etc. So I say "good show" to the people of our town!! I can't wait to hear what the actual grand total is...!

So the Poppy Appeal is over for another year now, but the work of the Legion goes on: 24/7, 365 as does that of HM Forces wherever they are in the world. I look forward to getting my Poppy Press throughout the year and seeing other ways that I can support our troops.

Lest We Forget

Also in November, the wondorous occurance of me getting to go to Southampton occured!! I stayed with the wonder that is Miss Ruth Gill, in her palacial student abode. I got to see the Uni again and the city - we also went to Portsmouth and Winchester (where hilarity ensued over parking) to o some shopping and just spend some quality time together, while Ruth had a week off. Now she's having to get stuck in to the joys of 4th year and the dreaded dissertation :-(
It was a visit that was long overdue and very thoroughly enjoyed indeedy!

Work at Argos (of course) continues to proceed in Christmasy type fashion; we're getting busier, customers are getting stressier - all in the name of celebrating (supposedly) the birth of our Lord. So that brings me up to date with the life and times of yours truly.
I want to dedicate this blog entry to Ben and to Ian, and also to Brian - stay safe guys.

Blogadoon of the 9th month

Hello everyone.

Now, I know it has been a significant amount of time since my last blog, but I didn't want to blog just for bloggings sake. So I'm going to put a summary of all that happened in September here and that'll make it even more awesome than ever!!

HOLIDAY obviously!! Sarah, Tom and I spent a completely wonderful week in Croatia, taking in the delights of the ancient city of Dubrovnik and visiting some other places too - the most notable of these was Mostar in Bosnia. I find it so amazing that I can now say I've been to Croatia and Bosnia (though I've never been to Germany or Spain!!)

Every day of our Croatian adventure was packed full of new experiences and all sorts of fun. We walked the Walls of the Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), visited the Cathedral, went to see the War Photography Exhibition (very poiniant considering the recent nature of the conflict in that part of the world), took a trip to the island of Lokrum: with its botanical gardens, crumbling citadel and gorgeous views. One day Sarah and I took a minibus tour to the city of Mostar in Bosnia. Not only was Mostar great to see and spend time in, but the experience of driving through Croatia and up in to Bosnia was wonderful.
The city of Dubrovnik is beautiful; steeped in history, with beautiful sea shore and coast, majestic buildings and fountains dating back to the 17th C and a wonderful blend of old and new as the bustling city spreads out from the walls and presents constant reminders of the all-too-recent war. We took a cable car (the cable car had only been reopened a month beforehand, having been destroyed in the war) up to the mountain that was a fortress in the war and has a museum up there.

When we got back, there was only a couple of days before Mum and I travelled to London for the Under London Blitz Experience organised by the London Transport Museum. Alydwich Tube Station (closed since 1995) was reopened for one weekend only and we went down to platform level for an hour or so.
There, they'd bought a 30s tube train for us to go on, decorated with all of the War posters they could muster, and many actors (dressed as a Spiv, a WVS woman, an ARP warden and a sheltering housewife) to give us a real taste of the war years. We took lots of pictures and they simulated an air raid overhead. Also there was a chance to buy lots of war related stuff and they made the whole thing even more authentic by parking an old style London bus (complete with old posters etc) outside the tube to add to the experience.

The following day was my great aunt and uncle's diamond wedding anniversary party. I feel that being married for 60 years is a blog worthy feat for sure! We had a pleasent afternoon where we nearly burnt a hole in my cousin's dining room table and got to hear all about the family travels to NYC and DC and had a great family photo taken (which I must see if I can get a copy of!).

All in all September was a great month for me. I hadn't been on holiday sinc we went to Morocco in 2007 and the memory of that holiday will forever be marred by the fact that my Mum didn't really enjoy it, even though I did!! So I can't really reminisce over that one in public, but with Croatia I can. I'll also always be able to look back through my passport and see the Croatian and Bosnian stamps there!

Now on to October and (brrrrr) November, for more awesomeness related to my life.