February 2011

It's been another busy month so here's a snap shot.

At church I signed up last year to do the intercessionary prayers. This is the section of the service that is almost meditational, and it's quite a big deal. You write the prayers and then you present them by standing at the front and meditating out loud, leading the congregation. These are usually in several sections - praying for our neighbourhood, our country our world, or thereabouts - but the emphases are up to you entirely. I've been praying in my head since I could think, I think. At church I've stood up to do the readings since I was about 13/14 - I remember practicing the pronounciation of long words and the pacing of the thing with dad when I was still a kid. How hard could this new responsibility be? But then the reality of leading between 50 and 200 people's private, most innermost and deepest thoughts started to sink in. Writing one of these Intercessions is a big deal. Well I've done two now, the most recent in February, and I'm just glad I don't have to do it weekly. But all the same it is a rare thing, and one that gives me some satisfaction. I've had some good feedback, and as I tend to be quite heartfelt they usually see that, at least, I'm in earnest. This was my most recent attempt:

Intercession Prayers

Help us to follow our consciences honestly, and stay close to You in thought and word and deed; not to judge ourselves too harshly and to seek inner peace day by day in this busy world.

Help us to be nurturing, loving missionaries of your truth, Lord. Help us to forgive ourselves and others, letting go of guilt and ridding ourselves of any obstacles to a healthy relationship with You.

In Your mercy... Hear our prayer

This Valentines day and every day help us to build loving relationships with each other; with members of the church congregation, with family and friends. Help us not to succomb to celebrating the superficialities of modern life but to develop meaningful relationships with each other, celebrating the example you set for us. Help us to do this daily in remembrance of You.

In Your mercy... Hear our prayer

Lord God, help us to be mindful of our motivations and integrate our celebration of You into our daily lives and not push you into the corner. We pray that with Your guidance we accept the joy of knowing You; help us to avoid lapses into self doubt or arrogance, and the pitfalls of imposing our particular belief systems onto others. Help us to truly love our neighbour and accept them, not to find them threatening but have the faith that You will guide each of us on our own journey.

Help us to avoid arrogance and self-congratulartion but to seek out humility. Not to be self-congratulatory

In Your mercy... Hear our prayer

Lord, we place our friends and family into Your care for safe-keeping. Guard their hearts, bodies and minds from pain and injury and guide them in their life's journey. Help us to let go of personal sadness and place into your hands that which we cannot control. We commemorate those known particularly to us who are in discomfort or pain, facing financial or emotional problems. We particularly remember...

In Your mercy… Hear our prayer

Finally...

God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, And wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; Taking,

as Jesus did, this sinful world As it is, not as we would have it; Trusting that You will make all things right If we surrender to Your Will; So that we may be reasonably happy in this life And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen

 A few weeks ago Al brought home his newest toy, a very nice silver Ford Mondeo! It's gorgeous to drive and as it's diesel it'll hopefully be more economical to drive... we hope! I drove it to Worcester to see my old workmate from Leukaemia CARE, Kirsty. It was great to see her and her little girl. We hadn't seen each other since her last day at the charity before she went on maternity and now she's got a toddler plus another one on the way! Shocking how time goes by...

Me Lisa and Danielle went to see Russell Howard on tour at the NEC, and despite almost never having seen him on telly and not knowing what to expect, he was really good! We had a great night out anyway. Me and Danielle met in Birmingham at Chez Jules, a gorgeous little french bistro that is around the corner from Cafe Rouge. It's cheaper and nicer I think, and more genuine. The idiosyncratic chaotic organisation of the place just lends to the French bistro feel, the waiters are all french, or nearly, and it's just lovely. Anyway we had a good meal and then headed out to the NEC to meet Lisa, who finished work later than Danielle. I hadn't been at what is now called the 02 Arena since Smash Hits Poll Winners Part in 1993, when I went with mum who sa through the whole thing with her fingers in her ears! To be fair, I don't blame her, some of it was fairly appalling - 2 Unlimited I'm thinking of you. Before that, when we were about 9, me and Lisa had been in the same stadium to see Kylie Monogue on her Locomotion tour!!! And now something like 22 years later we were back there together to see a comedy show! One guy and a comfy chair (a lazy boy recliner, like in Friends) didn't fill the stage quite like Kylie and her band had, but once I got used to the venue and Russel Howard's quirky style I couldn't stop laughing! Must get hold of Danielle's photos from the night.

The next day I went out on Vicky's hen do which was quite a hoot! We met up at Red Pepper in the Mailbox and then hit a few bars. Collette set us all off on a mission to write dares for Vicky to complete and pretty soon she was asking blokes in the bar to wear her veil or buy her a drink; all very innocent but a real giggle. Feeling tired I headed home at about midnight and they were in full swing.  The week after Alex, Nathan and Leon all headed off to Pete's stag do; clay pidgeon shooting followed by drinks in Moseley. Al came home in good spirits, competitive spirit satisfied and once more I mused on how creative the boys have all been when it came to their stag do's. They's had such a variety of activities I've always been a tad jealous at not being an honorary boy!

Kate and Vicky the bride to be

Back to... reality

I'm back at Ernst & Young and pretty much over my cold. Alex has had a course of antibiotics and thankfully is back on top again. We are starting a new shift pattern however of two weeks starting at 8am followed by 1 week starting at 9.30. I thought I'd die when they announced it! Mosely Town FC have even won the last few games so we're full of new year cheer!

Work's going well; it's busy season for us and for Alex too. But we've booked off a few days in April so we have something to aim for - no actual plans yet. We wondered about going awy, maybe abroad, maybe Britain... we'll see.

We've started back at theatre too, which is great cause I was very keen to get going with again. Having had 6 months off I'd really misssed the intereaction, having a project, developing new skills and the weekly fun of being in the group.  Thanks to a combination of factors (in particular a certain A.D.) the last show had been particularly stressful. But I've got gret feelings about the new show. Everyone is gelling and there is a fabulous atmosphere; a real team spirit.

I'll let the poster do the talking:


Odd Couple poster 2011

 That's right - I'm joint lead and thrilled!
Thrilled because my friends have all got parts, but mainly cause I'll learn so much from Sheila. Sheila's brilliant and very experienced and she's going to be hilarious; so wish me luck!

The original Odd Couple film poster is below for you to compare

Original poster

Our photo was shot on Thursday night, thanks to Graham's talents at getting and organising favours. He is 'the man who can' in the group! We went to a photographers' studio in the council house and changed. I had been asked to get a beer and a burger which I'd bought at lunchtime, so by this time it was warm beer and cold burger! We must've had 50 shots taken some were of me eating the burger and drinking the beer; yuuuk! Every so often I'd burst out laughing or Sheila would smile. But in the end they got enough shots that they thought they could do something with them! It was a fun experience. All those times that Uncle David got me to pose when I was growing up might have actually paid off! Wouldn't like to do it for a living though...

Now all I have to do is learn my lines and get the New York accent straight...

Feliz Navidad y un prospero ano nuevo

Just a quick message from the Harris household to all friends and family: Happy 2011!

It is very weird to think that yet another year has gone by. For our goddaughter Emma a year constitutes a major percentage of her short life. The children of friends and family are growing up; our jobs change; our skills develop; our house improves and the years pass. We moved here on 10 December 2004 and it feels like a lifetime ago.

So here's to 2011 - may it bring us all surprises and new experiences. May our families strengthen their bonds, and those close to us grow in confidence and strength of purpose. Let 2011 be the best year yet!

Un mensaje rapido del hogar de los Harris a nuestro familia y amigos: ¡Feliz 2011!

Es muy raro pensar que otro año mas está terminado. Para nuestro ahijada Emma un año constituye un porcentaje mayor de su vida corta. Los hijos de amigos y familia se hacen grande; nuestros trabajos cambian; nuestros habilidades desarollan; mejoramos nuestro casa y los años pasan. Mudamos aqui el 10 de Diciembre 2004 y me parece como si pertenecía a otra vida entera.

Asi que brindamos al año 2011 - que nos traiga sorporesas y experiencias nuevas. Que nuestras familias se fortalecen, y que la gente a quien más queremos crecen en felicidad y determinación. ¡Que 2011 sea el mejor año aún!

Then suddenly it's Christmas; Y ahora Navidad

So Christmassy it's untrue!

I went along with Laura, Emma, auntie Vanessa and granny Gill and grandad Richard to the Dudley Canal Trust's Christmas event to see a mini panto of Cinderella. We got to go on a barge through the tunnels to see Cinders, Buttons Griselda and finally Santa himself. And warmed back up again with a cuppa and a mince pie. Needless to say Emma had a ball!

The Collins Family

Look at that!

Then I drove to Coventry to see my mum in her choir's Christmas concert. She's in One Voice which does a mixture of lively and quiet international songs and carols. They sing Polish, German, French, South African, Gospel and just about any song from anywhere in the original language. The concert was very good, as ever, and itwas heart-warming to see mum singing her heart out. There is something really great about singing in a choir - maybe in a few years I'll go back to it because it is a joyous sensation. So here they are in action. Many people will not associate the words 'a shrinking violet' with my mother but due to her short stature and her unwillingness to stand on the front row for more than 5 minutes it was blinking difficult to get any decent footage.

And then the flu came. It was faily inescapable that after everyone in the office and also Alex got the killer bug that I would get it too. For over a week now I've been pathetic; coughing lots and generally sounding a bit like the devil. But I'm recovering, and just in time too because...

It's Christmas!

So excited... I'm getting better, all cosy and warm and the snow outside is making the world very pretty. I'm sorry. I know everyone's having a really tough time because the car won't start; their plane's been cancelled and that evil snow is making them put on 50 layers of clothing each time they need to leave the house but for me it's not been so bad. The buses carried on regardless (thank you Travel West Midlands); the streets were not completely full of annoying people because they'd all stayed at home; I've not had to face a full-on shop at Sainsbury's because we can't drive there; and a few days ago I had the first snowball fight that I can remember having (except when I got pelted in the face by Alan Cartwright at school in about the 3rd year, thank you Alan).

The tree

The hearth

el pesebre

Pads blending in

On Saturday Emma came over to help me make choc chip cookies as a Christmas present for Claire. It was the heaviest snowfall yet and instead of going on to the shops Nath and Laura ended up staying while we made our cookies. Almost 12 hours later they went home. We had the best day! Even in my flu-riddled state I enjoyed the day. We made the cookies obviously; me and Emma played lots of hide and seek, chase the cat and jump on the bed (her 3 favourite games); had dinner; watched a film; played ten pin bowling; and Alex rugby tackled me to the ground mid-snow fight. It was the best day snowed in ever!

Me and Emma mid-fight

 The only inconenience was not being able to get the car out of the drive for a few days, even despite a push from our neighbour Paddy. This could potentially put an end to our hopes for a Christmas in Coventry with my parents so watch this space...

Trying in vain to get the car out

Walking to Al's parents