More OF Less.

Firstly, the title of this blog was meant to be More OR Less, but a typo has led to the title it now has and I think it's important, but I dont know why yet, so fasten your seatbelts and join me for a ride.
Here's a round up of stuff that's been happening in my world lately and hopefully it will give me some insight as to why I might be feeling like I do and what might be the next thing I need to think about/do/ react to/ instigate etc.

Firstly,I haven't been well and it's not really so as you'd notice, but I have found the effort of feeling less that 100% really irritating - or it could just be the onset of old age.I have been even less diligent around the house than normal because I've felt tired. I have been more snappy and less tolerant with the people I love. I have been wondering why people seem to make so much fuss about such daft things.

Those proof readers amongst you will notice that I have used firstly twice - which isn't a typo, it's to high light a thing that has quite literally driven me nuts lately, which came to a head only yesterday when we went on a family day out to Eagle Heights in Kent.

A really good afternoon out, even though it was very cold.

One of the many things that made it good was the number of shows programmed in during the day - falconry, reptiles, mammals etc, . The keepers were great and really knew their stuff, but we soon got to realise that there were a number of words they used INCESSANTLY, which were, 'Basically' , 'Before we start' and 'Firstly', even when we had quite obviously moved on to the second point.

For example, 'Welcome to the Reptile show and before we start ( BEFORE WE START ??) we are going to show you Billy the Boa'

Now this might have been a ploy to make us get excited about what was going to happen after we start, but in all honesty I felt sorry for Billy who was great entertainment, but was somehow in the overture rather than the main event.....not The Main Event, but hey, there's a thought for next time.

'Firstly, we are going to basically tell you about Billy and then we are going to bring him round for you to touch' Great - we love touching snakes...no really we DO!

'Ok so, firstly, before we start ( again) can I say that basically Billy....blah blah...' I lost the plot at that point.

So, after the Main Event, I had a day off which was really tough, as my brain was in complete overdrive so I didn't really benefit, which might be why I still feel odd. However the next day I visited a corps who were hosting an Ultimate Church Visit - open house at the Salvation Army for local schools. They had done a tremendous job in advertising and contacting schools and for three days the hall was packed with children learning about the Who,Where, What, Why and When of the Salvation Army.

I was involved with the History Zone and one group finished early, so I took them to look at the crest on the lecturn. There were all standing on the area in front of it which, for those not familiar with a Salvation Army Hall, is our formal place of prayer. I asked the children to step off and explained what it was and what we did there and they ( 12 of then) asked if they could pray.So I said yes, and it was amazing.They were reciting their school prayer, talking about pets and releatives who had died etc. The teacher came over to find out what was happening and she was really cool about it, which was a relief.

I loved that!

Our Corps are now out of our building and sharing the URC just round the corner and we have had a good old explore and it really is a sensational building - lots of places for the kids to run around and get lost prior to FOJ club!

Last Sunday was our first 'stand alone ' day, but as I had already driven 80 miles and run a Fun Morning at Colchester, I really couldn't settle to the new regime. There were also lots of people away on holiday, so it seemed really empty, but hey, the Holy Spirit doesn't head count and I felt really blessed towards the end of the service - it's going to be OK, it really is.

The other reason I may have been a bit edgy was that I felt quite tired after spending an amazing day with our friends Keith and Fiona. I think the last time we had quality time with them was when we went to America with them 18 months ago ( wow, time really does fly), so it was a well overdue event and we celebrated in style.

We went to watch the Mighty Arsenal play Bolton and it was my first trip to the Emirates Stadium. Initially I was underwhelmed to be honest, I mean it was exciting but I couldn't initally see how we would get in, which somehow seemed really important at the time. It was a bit like an ivory tower.
Anyway, once we were in, I have to say that for a place, it is cool, overwhelmingly huge and very RED! By the second half I had found my Football Voice - it's been longer than I can remember since I last went to a match, so I was initially a little shy (!) - and Arsenal won - yeay!
We then went back to their house, ate a massive Indian take away and watched the Rugby, which doesn't really come close to explaining why it was a good day - it just WAS!

UP to date, I am looking forward to spending another day with Joe, Elyse and Thomas today, probably shopping , but certainly visiting my sis on law and her baby twins who are still so tiny and I haven't yet seen both of them awake yet - maybe today??

We went to see Ratatouille yesterday - jury is out as far as I'm concerned, but the kids seemed to enjoy it.

So - there you go.

Having re read blog this for posting I notice that I have begun to use the word INITIALLY fairly often, which goes to show that vocabulary can be catching and illustrates a point Billy Connelly used to make in his show, that the more you take the mickey out of somebody for doing a certain thing, the more likely you are to begin doing that very thing yourself - so be warned.

As far as the title goes, I'm no nearer to discovering why it's important, but it might be the seed for a new blog at some point - even if it's only to stop Kirsty going mad at me about not blogging.