The idea was that I was arranging a team trip to the cinema to see Fame. One of those occasions where you mention it and everyone’s like ‘Yeah!!’ and then the excuses come in when it actually comes to it. (I’m totally usually one of those people!) So Saturday Me and Keel went to Chelmsford. It was crazy!! I forgot how much I hate town centres on a Saturday anyway, but there were loads of weird and wonderful things going on. Photos here: Street Diversions show a little bit of some of the things. There were some builders performing outside the old Woolworths which was quite good fun. So we wandered round a bit, I went to O2 to try and get my phone sorted, got a coffee from Costa (poor girl wasn’t having a good day!) and spent much of the afternoon in the park watching a sculpture which breathed fire and water! Went to see Fame at the cinema in the evening…hmmm. I was so excited, but actually left disappointed. I really enjoyed the film while it was happening…but when it finished I realised that nothing had actually happened, and they didn’t even do the song!

Sunday I went to LWCC again with Tricia, and really enjoyed it. They have custard creams at the end of the service…always a good thing! We had roast dinner and plum crumble…can’t remember the last time I had a roast and crumble, good times! By this point I had spent much of my time texting round people to try and organise some sort of gathering. So i headed off to Lake Meadows in Billericay, met Keel, Becca and Ben and we spent a couple of hours in the park. Ben climbed a tree…that was about the height of excitement. Then he went home and the three of us went for cranberry juice/J2O/Orange and Lemonade/Chips/Chocolate Fudge Cake/Pepsi/Coffee at Wetherspoons!

So overall I enjoyed my weekend. Now for rehearsals and preparations for Grantham. And we’re off bowling on Tuesday night.

www.85design.co.uk is now up and running. Very exciting!

Tags: Becca, Ben, Bowling, Chelmsford, Chocolate Fudge Cake, Costa, Custard Creams, Fame, Grantham, Keel, Lake Meadows, LWCC, Plum Crumble, Roast Dinner, Street Diversions, Woolworths

So the past week has seen me going to the airport to meet Lois back from Peru (hurrah!!), buying a tent, putting up the tent, Maddie weeing in the tent, an incredible lunch at Joyce’s and much line learning and rehearsing with the legend that is Mr Andrew Dimon.

Today I met Lois in Chelmsford and we did a bit of shopping but mostly chatted which was so nice. I have missed our girly chats, laughs and our habit of thinking and saying exactly the same thing at the same time. It’s great to have you back Lois, you bring a smile to my face. And thanks for my birthday present and my hat!! Photos to come if you’re lucky.

Tonight has been packing. Packing for camping. Such a headache! I have now given up and will finish in the morning. So much stuff to think about and who knows what the weather will do. I’m not a camper. I like my luxuries. I’m kind of excited, kind of dreading it. I don’t like bugs and i absolutely hate getting wet. I’m really hoping it’s going to be better than i’m expecting. But all that will be far outweighed by the great time we’ll have getting to know the kids and seeing what God is going to do.

Off up north we go!

Tags: Camping, Chelmsford, Liv'It, Lois, Maddie, Packing, Peru, Tent

Sunday – MTC Sawbridgeworth

Got up at 10.30am…ah bliss! Slowly got ready, cooked myself fried egg and beans on toast, added a new page to my blog and was then picked up at 12.45pm. Picked up the van from the office and Rachel, Ollie and myself travelled to Sawbridgeworth, listening to Christmas songs and singing at the tops of our voices (Me and Rachel, Ollie just shakes his head in dismay). We got to the church just before 2pm and was greeted by a guy who looked at our van and said ‘wow, you got a load of guys in the back there?’ to which Rachel replies ‘I wish!’ and then hastily feels she has to explain herself ‘erm, to help us unload all the equipment…’ Haha, funniest moment!!
We met Dan and David there and spent the afternoon setting up, working around the pews and immovable lecturn, but wasn’t all that bad. We had a nice little room and our own loo backstage…going up in the world! Dinner was a chicken casserole, bread and blueberries and cream.
Show started at 7pm and went very well. Not as many mistakes as the previous night which was good! Backstage during the show we had many an interesting conversation including the best way of going to the loo as quietly as possible…
After the show we chatted to the people there, mainly from the church itself but heard some really encouraging stories of people who had brought friends/relatives and were interested by it, or it had slightly changed their perceptions of Christians!
Packed down and started loading at 10.40. I was chief shouter outer of the order in which things needed to be loaded, tis great fun bossing the boys about!
Got back to the office about 12pm, nice crunchy frosty leaves to jump on, Rachel’s car to de-ice and a slightly unnerving moment when she found a pair of gloves on her front seat which didn’t belong to any of us…but then Ollie realised they were his!
Home by 12.20, jumped into bed and couldn’t sleep because I was cold, so i suppose got to sleep about 1.15am!

Monday

Alarm went off at 8.10am, snoozed it til 8.30am and then got up, got ready, left the house at 9.30am and the trains worked perfectly and i was in Chelmsford by 10.10am! Did some Christmas shopping, met Lewis about 10.50, we had coffee and then spent a few hours Christmas shopping – including eating a Marks and Sparks Christmas Sandwich (pretty good, but not as good as the Sainsbury ones me and Lois used to have whilst Christmas shopping for Superdrug makeup. aah, those were the days!) Left Chelmsford at 3.40pm, back at Bob and Julies just after 5pm, watched Neighbours (so predictable, yet shocking at the same time!!), had dinner (Gammon, veg and jacket potato mmmm and a raspberry/chocolate/creamy cakey thing) and watched Love Actually. Ahhh feel christmassy and warm and slushy inside!

Tags: Chelmsford, Christmas Sandwich, Christmas Shopping, Frosty Leaves, Gloves, Love Actually, Neighbours, Sawbridgeworth