Friday

Well Friday was a long day of working hard. From 9.30am-11.30am. Phew. Then i got the train back to Braintree! Had hot dogs and cheese at Lewis’s (how many people now fancy hot dogs?!) and then sat down quietly for the afternoon while Lewis worked. I did some Christmas shopping online, well more browsing and working out than buying!

Then went to K4J, had fun there. Did a reflection story on the paralysed man being lowered through the roof which went fairly well, they were a bit chatty though! Then we had A2J which Aaron led, talking about depression, suicide and emotions. We split into boys and girls at one point – girls talked about periods, which made all the boys giggle when we had to feedback! We played the After Eight (or in our case Tesco Value After Dinner Mint) game where you place one on your forehead and have to get it into your mouth without using your hands. i.e. wiggling your face. Hilarious to watch. Lewis won, surprise surprise, despite me trying to sabotage his attepmts!! Was a good night, got back about half 11 in the end.

Saturday

Lazy morning, Lewis made yummy egg and bacon rolls for Brunch and Wendy’s friends came over for a bit. We went into town in the afternoon to get some bits, i witnessed a bit of an argument in New Look, the police came in and everything! Then went back and did some present wrapping then went round to Sarah’s for dinner and after bathing and dressing Maddie and Emi, Sarah and Matt went out and left me in charge! Us 3 girls had cuddles on the sofa and then after some persuasion and eventually getting into bed with Maddie and her getting me in a headlock and shouting ‘NO’ everytime I tried to get out, Maddie went to sleep. Then I fed Emi and put her to bed and had a nice evening by myself drinking hot chocolate, watching some episodes of Hollyoaks and X Factor (Do I even need to comment on Britney’s performance?! Shocking. And Ruth probably shouldn’t have gone.) and trying to work out what the limited edition mystery Revels flavour is. Having tasted several but not being able to work it out I have to look up on the internet. Strawberry. Really?! How unimaginative and un-strawberry tasting. Silly. Then Emi screamed so brought her down to wind her and have some sleepy snuggles. Then Lewis came back from his Camp meeting (metting about camp, not….yeh.) and then Sarah and Matt came back and i relayed all the evenings events and then went back to get some sleep!

Sunday

Got up and ironed Lewis’s shirt (hear that Mum, I IRONED!!!! and burnt my thumb in the process), had Frosties for breakfast and went to Church for 9.30am. Church was good,I went up into Sunday School with Maddie and we made a star decoration for the Christmas Tree. Chatted to some people after Church and then went back to Lewis’s for Wendy’s stew and treacle pudding and custard mmmmmm. Then went round to Sarah’s and picked Maddie up with the intent to go swimming but there was a gala on, so we went to Starbucks for coffee and biscuits, walked round Freeport looking at the lights and then drove to the park where we played in the dark and Lewis got stuck on the slide. Funny. We then went back to Sarah’s and watched the George Yard Firework display from the kitchen window – Maddie was not nearly as impressed as we were – then back to church for 5.30pm for the evening service. Chatted to a few different people after the service then Lewis took me back to Billericay (via McDonalds – they’ve stopped donig Bacon Cheeseburger’s at the Braintree one….WHAT!!!! But we did somehow end up with an extra cheeseburger!).

Monday

Picked up at 8.40 by Rachel and we went to the office. COLD. I finally printed my newsletters yay!!! Then the internet went down so we went shopping. For props. Spent £18 on chocolate coins! (Come to a show – we give out chocolate coins!) Went back and it was lunchtime and i spent the afternoon folding my newsletter, writing names and notes and envelopes and sticknig stamps.

Then in the evening I went to Ignite, Sawyer’s Women’s ministry meeting, met some lovely people, drank mulled wine (non-alcoholic for me!), ate nibbles and sang some songs round the piano (that bit was slightly cringey but funny!!). Got home after 10 and went to bed!

Tuesday

Got up at 8.40, got a text from Rachel saying she’d pick me up at 12.35. So…what to do with my morning! I finished off allllll my newsletters and then went into town to post them. Bought some effervescent echinacea (Mum you must be so proud of me) to ward off the bugs which are lurking in the back of my head. Got back and had some carrot and coriander soup with Julie and then Rachel picked me up. We went to the Barn and met David, then from 1pm-3.30pm we went through the sketches with Ollie doing sound cues. Then we packed up and went home. Spent the rest of the day (with a brief interlude for dinner) preparing and finalising stuff for the worship session on Wednesday, watching Holby City (what IS Jac upto?!), dissecting Holby City on the phone to Mum and then having Sarah ring me to complain that Mum was too busy talking to me to talk to her. That’s because i’m the favourite daughter…..haha.

Tags: After Eight Game, Babysitting, Bacon Cheesburger, Britney, Carrot and Coriander Soup, Chocolate Coins, Christmas Shopping, Cold, Dark, Echinacea, Egg and Bacon Rolls, Fireworks, Holby City, Hot Dogs, Ignite, Ironing, K4J, Mulled Wine, Newsletter, Park, Periods, Police, Revels

Tuesday

We started the day in the barn, learning monologues, trying my best not to be distracted by David! Then at 10.30am we went to the office as David and Rachel had a NET (National Evangelism Team) meeting from 11am-1pm.So i was sat by myself, on my own, shivering upstairs with my laptop,learning my monologue, working on a video I’m making, trying and failing to print my newsletter and perhaps visiting facebook once or twice! Then Rachel went out in Ivor at lunchtime, I ate the gammon out of my sandwich and carried on working on my video. Then the fire alarm went off! Oooh excitement for a Tuesday afternoon.We trooped out the building and over to the bit of grass the other side of the road (our designated meeting point was the only tiny bit of grass to be in the sunshine!), but it was only us and one other unit out so while i head counted, Lindsay went into the main reception to see what was going on. They had no idea but assured us there was no fire so we went back in with the siren still going and had to carry on working til it stopped! I borrowed (with permission) the radiator next to Lindsay’s desk because its COLD upstairs!! We spent the afternoon talking about the Christmas show, sorting out props and generally faffing, before going home at 4.15pm.
I went upto the library to take back some books and get some new ones, stretch my legs and get some fresh air!
Dinner was pasta and sauce and apple pie and custard…mmmm Then spent the evening sorting out for Wednesday, and more importantly catching up with Holby City (silly anaesthetist, annoying Faye and horrible mean nasty Jac!). Had a reasonably early night.

Wednesday

Alarm went off at 5.05am. Hadn’t slept very well so wasn’t too chirpy. Got ready blurry eyed, Rachel picked up Ollie and then me at just after 6am. We drove to the office, jumped in the van, got a few metres before David saying the oil light was on so slamming on the brakes, Rachel leaping out to check the oil, throwing open the side door to get some more, filling the tank, jumping back in and zooming off. (We’re a theatre company – everything is dramatic!). Not too much traffic, got over the bridge before 7 (Toll prices have gone up!! £1.50 now!) and arrived at Christchurch High School just after half 7 after slight difficulty finding it (They go there every year, you’d think they’d know where it is by now!). Had to wait a bit for Andy (the guy organising us for the day) to come, then we had to move the van, unload into cages,get it all in the lift, then down a loooooong corridor. I think we started setting up at 8.05 and were done and soundchecked by 8.35! Pretty good going. We had 5 lessons, all Abi (and with the first appearance this year of Jerry Springonion – David, very funny!!! all year 9s. By the last lesson, a lot of them had seen it already and were skipping lessons to see us, saying our lines before us – very annoying! We also had a first ‘appearance’ of the teacher in one particular scene (David backstage just going ‘blah blah’ into a microphone – but sounding very much like Pingu), so hard to keep a straight face! Rachel also introduced ‘Mr Sharp’ as another teacher in an attempt to make me smile! Was a good day, the pupils were very vocal throughout, difficult at times, but generally ok!
By the time we packed down, carried everything down the stairs because the lift wasn’t playing ball, loaded and left it was 4.20pm. Hit traffic before the tunnel but was moving all the way. I tried to hold my breath through the tunnel but inhaled a bubble so ended up spluttering everywhere. A fairly violent game of punch when you see a mini developed between me and Rachel, as we were giving advice to David on how to be more ‘alluring’!! Back to the office just after 6, unloaded and then back to Billericay at 6.40pm. Had dinner straight away (Jacket Potato, Sausages, Creamed Parsnip and Carrot, Apple Pie and Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream) then spent the evening finishing my newsletter, tidying my room, finishing my video, printing labels and went to bed!

Thursday

Lie in!! Rachel picked me up at 9.45am…aah nice! We were in the Barn all day, blocking monologues, going through the other sketches and learning and blocking the final one. We watched an episode of Doctor Who in David’s attempt to get me to like Doctor Who…it was called Midnight and was actually quite good! All took place in one room and was all skill of acting…so it was educational! I had egg sandwiches today, yum! We decided we’d worked hard for the day so finished at 4 and came home! Got to the end of Wednesday in writing my blog, but then the computer crashed grr. Watched Neighbours (Yay for Libby and Dan) and the news, then had dinner – Salmon & parsley sauce, new potatoes, creamed parsnip and runner beans, blueberries and mango sorbet. Then this evening I have been writing out my testimony and content for some links that we did in Scotland and I’m going to watch Never Mind The Buzzcocks, pack for going home, have a bath and go to bed!

Tags: Apple Pie and Custard, Ashford, Bath, Cold, Doctor Who, Fire Alarm, Holby City, Monologues, Mr Sharp, Neighbours, Pingu, Testimony