Please see my ‘Pray’ page for news of a recent decision which is going to affect (though not drastically!) the rest of my year.

Thanks xx

Sunday 15^th March

Woke up rather grumpy this morning! At about 6.45, so got 6.5 hours sleep which was pretty impressive. Aching though! Got ready and had breakfast and we packed up everything and set out the church ready for their morning service. We then drove over to Telford, had another wander round the exhibitions, had a hot chocolate and then went in to the final session. Dweeb did a good set, haven’t heard them before but enjoyed it, quite rocky. Then was a gospel group called Blueprint, then The Gathering band did a bit of worship. The speaker was a guy called Phil Collins (CEO of Saltmine Ministries) spoke on Luke 9:57-62, looking at the cost of Jesus. He spoke passionately, but my tiredness made it difficult for me to concentrate. I do remember the story about the students getting out of the car in the lion bit of the Midlands Safari park…and running when the lions moved! The session finished with a couple of songs and then we were ushered out pretty quick! Said goodbye to Dave and Elliott and then we began the journey home. Attempted to go to ASDA petrol station but failed, so drove straight to Corley services where everyone met for lunch. Mmm Burger King! Left there about 3.30 and continued back. Stopped at Cambridge for a leg stretch. Sat Nav later died and we missed the exit off the M11 so came off later and went the scenic route via Ongar! After dropping everyone off we got back about 7, did a bit of cleaning, had well deserved lovely hot showers and some toast! Chatted to Lewis about The Gathering and our opinions etc which was good! Been catching up on emails and Facebook and now going to bed because its 10.35 and I’m tired!!

Saturday 14^th March

(The Gathering. This is Elim’s national youth conference that happens every year, previously in West Brom, this year in Telford. About 3000 young people and leaders attend)

The alarms started going off at 5am apparently. I was woken up at 6, asked Wendy what time it was, gave her a foul look and went beck to sleep! I forgot what it was like to care what boy’s think of you and have to look perfect before they come in. I was just about dressed by 7.45am when the door between us was opened for breakfast. Left to drive over to Telford at 8.30am, Lewis, Matt, Christian, Stephen and I in Lewis’s car. Took about 45mins to get there and park up. Got there and had a wander round the exhibition area and then sat at a table with everyone until doors opened. The venue is huge, main auditorium with the exhibition hall/dining area off it and a food hall off that. Lots of other rooms on two levels for the seminars later on. The main event started at 10am with a gig from rapper Sammy G. He was very good, although not my kind of thing! Recognised some of his stuff from La Roche’s soundchecks! What I did notice though was that the main screen was slightly off centre…how much did that annoy me?! The Gathering Band did a worship set which was great and then Pete Greig spoke on prayer and shared his story which was good. Was distracted for the first 5mins trying to work out who he sounds like…Jack Dee! Then from 12.30-2pm was a break for lunch – burger and chips! Met up with Dave Sharpe (from Lewis’s home church) and him and Lewis were talking geeky stuff and recording podcasts…sigh. 2-3pm was first seminar session; Lewis, Dave and I went to one by Keith Warrington on the Holy Spirit which was interesting. Then a 45min break where I had a hot chocolate and a chocolate doughnut with chocolate in the middle…mmm yum and listened to Dave and Lewis talking! Second seminar session we went to one by John Glass on youth group leadership which was quite good, although not really applicable to me right now. Also a 15min talk about how to practically set up a prayer room, the initiative The Gathering are putting forward for October. Dinner break was 5-7pm, we went out to the shopping centre nearby and bought a Boots Meal Deal, stood chatting to Phil Hannam and Dave for a while, then went back to the venue to sit and chat before the evening event. It started with a gig from Four Kornerz, by this point I was quite sleepy and had to go out for a bit so I didn’t fall asleep! Then the Gathering Band did a set. Mark and Nita Pugh were speaking on prayer, using the Lord’s prayer as a model. Ended with worship and praying for each other. Finished just before 10pm, got back to our luxury accommodation about 11pm, chatted for a bit and was in bed by 12…although not asleep because the girls decided they wanted to straighten their hair. At midnight. Hmmm…

Friday 13^th March

Knock on the door at 6.40am. Fortunately the voice that came out of my mouth was very sweet and in no way reflected how I felt! Got ready and had breakfast and then Claire and I were waiting in the lounge for David. They were a few minutes late and Margaret said ‘ooh, you could have had 20minutes extra in bed!’ Claire and I looked at each other, ‘That was the idea’ exchanged with eye contact! So anyway we got to school, a little late because of traffic so had to sound check quickly. First lesson was Values/Abi/Jerry for the second half of S4. Went fairly well – they humoured us in all the right places! At break time, lots of students came in to take photos of us and ask for our autographs! Second, and the last lesson was Values/Abi/Jerry for the last lot of S2. Began with a photograph for the local paper, with some of the students up on stage with us. Ended on a high note, they were great fun! Then it was lunchtime, sandwiches and yoghurts and cookies, then back into the hall for more photos and autographs. One girl asked me to sign as Abi! Never had to do that before and had to work out how Abi would write! Then the bell went and we had to say goodbye which was sad! The grand packdown started at 1.30 and we were done in just over an hour! Used the school’s massive trolley to shift the gear out to the vans. All loaded by 3pm. Prayed with Taste and had hugs all round as Envizage and Claire were driving back, but Taste staying up in Scotland for a few meetings. So we set off about 3.15 for the long drive down. Had a girlie first leg with Me, Claire and Rachel in the front playing Classical stuff and Queen – singing at the tops of our voices! Next two legs I sat in the back listening to music and sleeping. Woke up at 10.30pm, ½ a mile before Corley Services M6, near Birmingham) where I sleepily, gunky eyed, rolled out the van, gathered my stuff and went and ordered a cappuccino, got out my Glamour magazine (with a free bag!!) and settled in to wait for Lewis to pick me up. The rest of the team left me and set off back down to Essex. Lewis arrived just after midnight and I decided to cause a scene by running and giving him a big hug, like I hadn’t seen him for ages…made it more fun! He drove to Smethwick Elim Church where the rest of A2J and Clacton Elim’s youth group were staying for The Gathering. This year its at the Telford International Centre, so they had all been at the evening session. We got there just before 1am and I got ready for bed as quickly as possible, sleeping bag laid out on the floor ready for me to snuggle into. Hard to get comfy – I forgot how bony my hips and elbows are! Grumpy Laura came out as some girls were obviously very excited about being there, and the fact there were boys in the next room. I was tired.

Thursday 12^th March

Lie in day, hurrah!! Claire had a meeting at David and Ollie’s hosts house at 9am. I was woken up at 7.30 by Margaret banging on Claire’s door and Claire very politely telling her that she was awake. I went back to sleep and woke up when my alarm went off at 9.30am. Got up and dressed whilst watching an episode of Pingu!! This one was about not littering because it could blow onto someones eyes when they’re skiing down a slope and they could crash! Then watched Big Barn Farm where Digger the dog was sad because he thought he had to go, but it wasn’t him it was old Pops who had to go…to the vet!! Anyway…picked up at 11.10, in school for 11.30 where we were setting up some of the lights and bits and pieces for the lunchtime concert. Lunch was at 12.30 – soup and rolls and then the lunchtime concert was at 1pm. Taste did a couple of songs and we did the sketch Customs. Went surprisingly well, although the pancakes fell out of the bunny costume at the beginning… Then for our one lesson of the day! Our Values/Abi/Jerry lesson for the first half of S4. Took a while to warm them up but there were a few key giggly girls that kept it going!! After school we set up for the gig – moving chairs, putting up stands, programming lights, organising props, soundchecking etc. Then we had dinner, cooked in the Home Ec dept. We had lasagnes and chicken pasta and garlic bread and salad and doughnuts! Was all very nice. Then back to rehearse the intro and get changed etc before praying at 6.30pm, letting them come in at 6.50pm and it all kicked off at 7pm! Gig went really well, had about 200 people there. I had a brainwave and used my pink eyeliner as lippie, which was great…just quite hard to get off!! The dreaded Street Tuff went fine and Taste did 60’s classics ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Wild Thing’ which went down very well! By the time Rachel and I got to the stand at the end all of the Check It Out tracts had gone which was brilliant! Signed about 12 photos (mainly Taste ones!) and everyone seemed to have had a really good time! Packed down the extra bits we didn’t need, loaded some suitcases and 2 flats into the van and was home just before 10! The conversation with Margaret went something like this:

M: What time are you up in the morning?
C: Erm, a little bit later than usual.
M: What time are you being picked up?
C: Just after 8.
L: So maybe breakfast at about 7.45?
M: So what time will you be getting up?
C: About 7.15 I suppose.
M: Ah but you have to pack…so 6.30?
C/L (panicked faces): Erm no, we’ll pack tonight, 7.15 will be fine!

Who know’s what will happen…lets wait and see!!!!

Wednesday 11^th March

Up at 6.50am and picked up at 7.50am. Got to the school and soundchecked and got ready for the day. First lesson was for S3 – our Values/Abi/Jerry lesson. They were great and got really involved and it was good fun! Then it was break time and we had a free until 11.55 where Ollie was arranging lights and  we were sorting props and just having a bit of a breather! Then we had a Big Questions Lesson with S5, Big Ears and College went much better! I was then involved in the panel for Q&A, the two questions that were asked being ‘Why is Religion based on faith and not fact?’ and ‘Why is the Bible sexist – why were all the disciples men?’. We then had a quick lunch in the conference room, then back to the hall for a lunchtime concert. Taste did 3 songs and we did Gnome. Had about 250 students there who were very noisy so it was quite difficult, but great to see so many of them! Last lesson was the other half of S3 with our Values/Abi/Jerry lesson. This lesson was completely different to the other S3 lesson – this group were very talkative, all the way through, especially the front row, which made it quite distracting and difficult to keep going! Matt also put my Vaseline in my hood as I went on as Abi, so that meant in the first bit I was so busy concentrating on it not falling out that I had no idea what I was saying or doing! Fortunately Abi comes quite naturally so I don’t think I did anything wrong! After school we went back to Andy and Joy’s hosts to meet, planning tomorrow, including the gig, and Friday’s lessons. We also talked about the day – especially the difficult last lesson. We were especially talking about how easy it is to focus on those that don’t want to listen, but actually you don’t know how many others were listening! We met two gorgeous border collies, one of whom seemed to take a particular fancy to Claire’s armpit!! We then went out to Fintry Parish Church for a meal with everyone and those hosts that could make it. Gavin had made a DVD with footage from the week to show our hosts – was quite funny to watch!! I had vegetable curry for dinner which was really nice, although I had stomach ache after – think I ate a bit of onion! Meant I couldn’t eat any of the gorgeous looking pavalova L Got home just after half 9, showered, phoned Lewis and went to bed!

Tuesday 10^th March

Woke up at 3.45am and 6.25am, both times thought it was time for my alarm to go off, but had that lovely feeling of being able to snuggle back to sleep when I realised it wasn’t! Got up at 6.50 and got ready, had breakfast and we were picked up at 7.50am. Got to school at 8.10, set up mics (I have had to go onto the Spare headset as mine was apparently distorting. Keel likes to blame everything that breaks on me!) and sound checked ready to start at 9am. First lesson was for S2’s and they were brilliant!! Really got into Abi and Jerry and joined in with all the songs. I did my normal summary of the message behind Abi, it was nice to go back to doing that again! We had doughnuts and coffee and breaktime and then it was time for the next lesson. Same format as before for the other half of S2. They were quite quiet and didn’t join in much but the lesson still went well. Lunchtime we locked the hall and went to the conference room where one of the teachers had laid out sandwiches, crackers, cheese, fruit and kitkats. Went back to the hall and some of the students had managed to get into the hall and were sat in the dark waiting for something to happen! We went in and put on some of the lights and then the power went (Keel of course blamed me). Couldn’t find the trip switch (sparking the conversation: ‘If you were a school hall, where would your trip switch be?’) so had to find the caretakers. Power came back after about 10mins which was a relief! Quite a few students came into the hall, many of them hadn’t been in any of our lessons but were just curious as to what was going on! Last lesson was the same format for S5’s and 6’s. Was a bit apprehensive as to how they would react and at first it was quite hard work but once they got into it, it was quite good fun! Bit distracting half way through as more people came in but nevermind! During Jerry we do a mock X Factor with 4 students as the judges. The guy who was Louis, when asked ‘Do you think Abi has the X Factor?’ replied ‘No, but I think she’s got the XXX Factor, if you know what I mean’ Well everyone was really laughing, I have no idea how I managed to keep a straight face I was quite shocked!!! After school we had a quick debrief and then were back to Margarets at 5. Got a bit glammed up before going out for dinner to the Glass Pavillion. It’s a restaurant on the coast in Broughty Ferry with amazing views! We had high tea  - I had hunters chicken and a ginger beer and there was toast, scones, cake and tea and coffee. All for £10!! We chatted about all sorts of things and watched it get dark and the lights on the horizon looked stunning. Also the full moon reflecting on the sea was just stunning. Took lots of photos but they don’t do it justice. Driving back through Broughty Ferry, the houses are gorgeous! Claire has gone out for a Taste meeting and I’m going to have a shower and get an early night!

Monday 9^th March

Early start!! Woke up with a jump at 5.35am when Margaret was banging on my door to check I was awake…my alarm was due to go off at 5.40am. Had that horrible panicky feeling when the only rational reason you come up with is that the world is ending! Got ready and breakfast was at 6.15 – cereal, croissants, toast and rolls, then David picked us up at 6.30. We sang Happy Birthday and other such related songs to him…as it’s his birthday! Got to the school early. This week we are at St Pauls Roman Catholic Academy – the school is brand new, only open since Christmas and so is gorgeous and shiny and smells of paint! Had a reduced set up time and some technical problems including my mic not working and Keel was on the case for some time (dodgy lead we eventually discovered!). The first lesson was for S1’s from 9-10.45 was a Values lesson, so Taste did a couple of songs and a game, we did Abi and Jerry, Taste did another song, Andy interviewed me (Why was ‘Abi’ created and why did I want to be in Envizage), and Taste finished with another song. It went really well. Then it was break time and the students started to crowd round the hall to see what was going on. La Roche broke up a fight and therefore had an opportunity to talk to the 2 boys involved. Second lesson was for S6 from 11-11.55. We did a Big Questions lesson: Song, Big Ears, Song, College of Knowledge, Question and Answer. Big Ears went a bit wrong, College went very wrong but it was quite funny!! I was on the panel for Q&A and there was one particular guy, Lewis, who was clearly highly intelligent and had studied Darwin and theories to the creation of the world intensely and was asking us some deep questions. Andy answered most of the questions fantastically, Lewis was becoming quite forceful in his arguments and Andy was very calm in his answers. It was very challenging for us and caused much discussion throughout the day. We had a free the next lesson to set up lights, and Lewis came back and had a chat with Andy. Then it was lunchtime, we went and ate in the conference room and gave David his presents then joined some of the teachers and pupils in the chapel for mass. I felt quite uncomfortable as I don’t know much about Catholicism and their beliefs. I think it’s all to easy to criticise their way of doing things, when actually I admired their reverence  for God. The acoustics of the tiny chapel gave quite an eerie echo though! We spent the rest of lunch in the hall and loads of students came in to chat to us. Ollie asked me to man the sound desk and Keel said ‘But she can’t, she’s a woman!’ (meaning I would be womaning the desk). I of course took this as a sexist comment and milked the apologies for the rest of the day! I was chatting to a few S1s from the morning lesson…the most memorable comment being ‘When you were playing Abi, I thought you were putting on that voice but you weren’t. That’s how you talk.’ Hmmm…not funny! Last lesson was the rest of S1 from 1.35-3.25 and followed the same pattern as Lesson 1. At the end of school some more lights were put up and we then went for de-brief, plan and prayer time until 5. Made our way back to our hosts for dinner. We had prawns and thousand island sauce for starters, a gorgeous pasta bake for main and winter fruits crumble and cream (50% lighter than normal cream, so its ok it’s good for me!) for pudding! Claire and I then had a really good chat before getting ready to go out. Joy and Andy picked us up and we headed to the Post Office Bar (guess what it used to be before it was a bar?!) to meet everyone and celebrate David’s birthday. General hilarity, photo taking, Dalek cake eating evening of fun, including Keel’s and my regular discussion/debate/argument on pronunciation of words like cup, mud and bubble. Have now got back, its 22.22 and I’m going to have a shower and go to bed!

Sunday 8^th March

Alarm went off at half 6 and I stayed in bed til 6.45 then got up and got ready as quietly as possible so as not to wake anyone up! Bob and Julie did come downstairs as I was leaving so maybe I woke them up! Rach picked me up at 7.30am and we went to the office, loaded up and set off at 8am! So, long drive to Scotland, stopping every 2 hours. Travelled through sun, rain, hail, sleet and snow! I discovered Cathedral City Cheese Snack Packs mmm yummy. Taste stayed in Linford until the last leg when we persuaded Keel to come join us in Ivor which was fun! Got to Gavin’s (SU worker) house about 7pm and then everyone was dropped off at their host houses. Claire and I are staying with Margaret (Gavin’s Mother In Law) in her gorgeous house. She used to run it as a B&B so we had a room each with TVs! We had dinner – soup and rolls, salad, ham, cheese, melon, chocolate cakes…we were very full! Sat chatting for a while and then went up to bed just after 9, with hot water bottles. I unpacked a bit, room is very warm with big thick duvet and blankets. Had a shower and snuggled down for the night!

Saturday 7^th March

Had a nice lie in, got up about 9.30 and had breakfast with Mum and we chatted for a while and compared diaries for the next few weeks! I then got ready and walked into town for my Specsavers appt at 12.30. The lady checked my eye and said it was all better, although I have got a small scar left on my eye which will probably show up in future eye examinations! Was supposed to be meeting Lewis but Matthew Dransfield had visited with someone and so was running late! So I wandered around town for a bit until he was ready. We did a bit of shopping and then went back to his for lunch, Wendy and Becky were there too. Then decided to go out to Notley Bowl for a walk and a run and jump on the play equipment! Lewis tipped me off some bouncy chair thing and I tried to get my own back but failed! Then Lewis was off to a Essex Christian Camp meeting and I went to the cinema to meet Loïs from her last shift at Cineworld. We went to Tutti and ordered drinks and a caramel pecan brownie and hot chocolate fudge cake to share. We had a good chat about stuff and her upcoming trip to Peru! I gave her a bracelet and I’ve got one the same. Then her Mummy very kindly offered to take me back to Billericay as all the trains were replaced by buses. Said goodbye which was very sad L Got home around 9 and Bob and Julie’s daughter Mandy and her husband were there. I arrived just in time for dinner and a glass of wine! Then excused myself to finish packing last minute bits and get some sleep!

Friday 6^th March

So I was up fairly early…about 8.30 which I feel is pretty good when I didn’t have to be out til 12.45! Spent the morning finishing off my essay (apart from a read through and conclusion which I’ll do another time!) and packing. So complicated, had a bag which was to go with me to More To Life and then staying in the van for Scotland, a bag to take with me to More To Life and then home for the night, and a bag for Scotland. Very confusing! Managed to get myself sorted and then had soup for lunch with Julie before she went off to speak at the Women’s World Day of Prayer. Rach picked me up just before 1 and we got the office with plenty of time to spare. Met Dan and Mandy there and we left the office at 1.30pm. Due to be at Ilford at 2.30pm so plenty of time. Went to fill up with diesel and check water and tyres and then on our way. Hit traffic on the A120…Rachel decided to turn off, we had no idea where we were going, ended up going through Hornchurch and hit more traffic and ended up being almost half an hour late, oops! David met us there. So a slightly reduced set up time but we managed! Had a bit of fun with their screen which was suspended from the ceiling. We decided to project onto it but it was about 2 inches too low and wouldn’t go up, so we had to curve it to rest on top of our flats. Then had some fun with sightlines and blue material but got it all sussed in the end! I was quite nervous about this one as our rehearsal yesterday had gone so shockingly and Mum and Lewis were coming to watch! We had dinner – Chicken with leeks and apricots, potatoes and veg followed by strudel and custard. Had a few line runs of the bits we always got wrong. Got a text from Lewis at 6.50pm to say they were already here….yes that’s 40mins early. Yes, that’s right, Lewis was early!!! See, he can do it when he wants to! I peeped through the flats and saw him and my mummy sat there, then I was very nervous!! The performance went very well, although I think the church were a bit disappointed at how few people were there. Had a cup of tea and a custard cream after whilst chatting to a few people. The minister of the church grew up in Braintree so we chatted about that for a while, and then him and Mum were talking about people that they both knew! Pack down was fairly efficient, with Lewis to help carry stuff out to the van! We left at 11pm, me with Lewis and Mum, took about an hour to get home, I stayed at home home, in my nice bed with a hot water bottle!

Thursday 5^th March

Forget it, I’m wearing my contact lenses! In the office today. Big scary reviews with Lindsay. Started off the day checking email and facebook and sending some emails. Then did something really exciting! Dan needed a recording of the Footprints Poem for a Golden Years event coming up so wanted me to do it. We recorded in the new studio which is very flash, used a proper microphone like you see the professional recording people use and I had headphones and everything! So exciting. Worryingly only took 2 takes, and I had to listen back to them…ugh my voice is so high and squeaky! Then I sorted out all the props for More To Life, All About Abi and the other sketches for Scotland. Then it was my review with Lindsay, Rachel and David. Took about an hour and went really well! Talking about what I’m enjoying and not enjoying, what I need to work on, future plans etc. Then it was lunchtime – Covent Garden Tomato and Basil soup…really good! We spent the afternoon faffing a bit and line running More To Life (which really didn’t go very well!) and loading the van. Also finished off a bag of chocolate éclairs! And got to tick the last box on the grid of plays/sketches…a momentous occasion!! Got home at 5.15pm, had a cup of tea with 4 white chocolate fingers…oooh so nice! Watched Neighbours…nooooo Harold!!!! Actually had tears in my eyes L and Home and Away then had dinner with Bob, Louise (their daughter-in-law) and George & Ruby (grandchildren) which was good fun, the children were on top form! Cleared up and by then it was 8pm! Written up some blog entries while listening to my new Chicago Soundtrack and shall have a fairly early night. Not leaving til 12.45 tomorrow, so the plan is to get up early and do stuff in the morning! Lets see what happens…

Wednesday 4^th March

Couldn’t wake up today. Stayed in bed for an extra 10minutes and then forced myself up! Another glasses day, ugh. Said goodbye to Hazel and met Lindsay on the way to pick up Ollie. Met everyone at the barn for training. Ryan said to me ‘You look dead today Laura. No I didn’t mean it like that…I meant dead inside.’ Such a way with the ladies! Joth Hunt (Baptist minister and husband of Sue Hunt who works for SOLID) took the teaching session on Matthew 6:1-18, looking at giving, praying and fasting. Was very interesting and helpful, especially the stuff on fasting. Felt slightly guilty eating lunch after that! We then had personal time, scripture test (one of today’s was the Lord’s Prayer – brilliant!), share and pray with Lindsay and Ryan and then Lucy did worship on why we were created and looking at our blessings, which was really good. Went into town after training and got some more books out of the library. Walked home and had a cup of tea with Bob and Julie before forcing myself to do something constructive, tidying my room up a bit and writing some blog posts. Then Neighbours (rubbish ending today, and they are so waiting for proper Libby to come back before she gets married!) and Home and Away and a little bit of Hollyoaks. Dinner was Lasagne and Vegetables and homemade trifle. I don’t usually like trifle but this one is really nice!! Coffee and now watching Waterloo Road. Didn’t see last week’s and Maxine is dead and I don’t know how!!!

Tuesday 3^rd March

Had horrible dreams that I was being chased and shot at all night, felt quite stressed when I woke up! In the barn today rehearsing, got there for 9am, Ollie as well and we set up and then had a drink and chatted for a bit before going through the Gospel Lesson explaining to Ollie where the sound cues came in. We then rehearsed it again, timing it this time and it’s 40mins long…really doesn’t feel that long when performing! We still forgot bits and laughed and tripped over our words but it wasn’t bad! Had lunch and then rehearsed once more before Mike, Joy, Dan, Mandy and Ann came to watch! Rachel had made cakes with icing and hundreds and thousands on for our guests! I felt a bit nervous about performing in front of them but it all went really well! They gave us some feedback and suggestions and then they left, we packed up and went home! Got back just before 4 and met Hazel, a friend of Bob and Julie’s who has come over from Jersey to see her son and is staying here tonight. Managed to get on the internet to update my blog before Neighbours and Home and Away, then it was dinner time and had a coffee after and chatted with Julie and Hazel. By that time it was Holby City…Linden and Faye?! Time to update my blog, look at my next essay title, learn my memory verse and then go to bed!

Monday 2^nd March

Alarm went off at 7.15 and I was actually quite awake! Gorgeous sunny day today. Showered and dressed and had to work out how best to do my hair when wearing glasses. Decided on up, with the front section clipped behind my left ear. Ugh I don’t like my glasses! Rachel picked Ollie then me up and we went to the office to collect the blocks and props and went over to the barn. It all looked so pretty in the sunshine, just wanted to be outside! Spent the day rehearsing Gospel Lesson, we didn’t do too badly in remembering! Finished about 3pm and Rachel and I went to Toys ’R’ Us to buy 2 plastic swords for props and saw loads of Iggle Piggles! (Maddie’s favourite character from In The Night Garden for all those of you not up to date with current kids programmes!) Went to the fabric shop to et some elastic and then back by 4.30pm. Had a cup of tea whilst collaborating all my diaries and calendars and trying to organise my life…or at least the next few weeks! Watched Neighbours (aaah Dan’s ex-wife is back….and is she pregnant?!) and Home and Away and a little bit of Hollyoaks…no idea what’s going on there at the moment! Dinner was smoked haddock pie and veg followed by posh chocolate ice cream and blueberries! Had coffee whilst I read my Bible and then retired to my room to listen to my Mamma Mia soundtrack and write some blog entries. Nearly ended up jumping on my laptop as it frustrates me no end with its slowness and sillyness. All is good though! Its not 9.45pm and I’m going to get ready for bed and ring Lewis!

Sunday 1^st March

Up at 8am and Lewis and I walked to church. Lewis was leading worship and I was singing as part of the band. Sarah and Emi came to church and during the sermon Emi was supposed to be sleeping but was determined to stay awake. Her eyes kept closing and her head dropping onto the front of the buggy but she kept pulling herself upright, it was very cute! Eventually I pushed her back and she didn’t have enough strength to pull herself up and snuggled into my pashmina and fell asleep! After church, Lewis and I walked round to Sarah and Matt’s and we had dinner that Matt had cooked and was yummy. Maddie was being naughty and had to sit on the naughty step. She kept peering round Emi’s chair to get me to look at her. It was so hard to not smile!! We then all went for a walk down the railway track, playing hide and seek with Maddie’s little Iggle Piggle. Maddie did loads of walking and running! I taught her to jump on the cars going under the bridge, was hard to tear her away then!! Stopped at the park where she went on the swing and then the massive long slide on my lap…except my bum’s too big for it and we got stuck halfway! Met Auntie T and went back to Sarah’s, then Lewis and I walked back to his, had Eggy Bread and I packed all my stuff. Sarah picked me up at 7pm and took me back to Billericay, listening to Mamma Mia loudly all the way back! Got back at 8pm, unpacked and sorted out my stuff ready for tomorrow before bed!

Saturday 28^th February

Up at 7.45am…on a Saturday!! Lewis took me into town for my Specsaver’s appointment at 9am. My eye is better but I need to wear my glasses when I get back to Billericay. They wanted me to go for an appointment in Billericay, middle of next week but they are fully booked for 3 weeks! So will be coming back to Braintree next Saturday for a checkup. I then had a look at glasses, I need some new ones, but the ones I like cost between £80-£125 so not likely!! Lewis and I then went to Tesco to buy some last minute bits for the meal, to Boots for Blue Plasters, then back via the milkshake shop! I had a raspberry one which was ok, Lewis has a Turkish Delight one which was quite nice, though a bit lumpy at the bottom! Went back to make the Lemon Meringue Pies and had scrambled egg on toast for lunch. Then had a bit of a nothingness afternoon, watched last weeks episode of ‘Let’s Dance for Comic Relief’, with David Mitchell’s hilarious and quite impressive interpretation from Flashdance. Had a shower and got ready for the evening, transported all the food down to the car and got to Church for 5pm to set up. Went to Tesco to buy chocolate, marshmallows, strawberries and grapes for the chocolate fountain. Everyone was dressed up smart, I wore my black knee length prom style dress and heels, Lewis was in shirt and tie! We catered for 17 people, which was quite good. Starter was a choice between Melon Balls with Raspberry Coulis or Vegetable Soup. Main was Spaghetti Bolognaise or Ratatouille; pudding was waffles with chocolate sauce or lemon meringue pie with either cream or ice cream. We had a good little system going in the kitchen and had no major disasters! The waiters and waitresses also did a very good job. Lewis and Stephen played some Jazz and Larissa and Gemma did a dance, a couple of people read poems and all in all it was quite a successful evening! Massive clear up operation and we were home by 11pm to collapse!