funky doo

labyrinth and worship wonderings

Mark Berry (way out west) has a really useful blog with all sorts of reflections and resources and thinking about worship in all it's forms as well as stuff about his pioneer role in Telford. Click on 'worship/prayer' in his cloud to get the full selection.

In the midst of toddler vomiting episodes, car servicing appointments and guests departing from a weekend of birthday celebrations, I have been starting to pin down the thinking and piecemeal preparation I had already done for the Labyrinth in St Alban's on Friday night.

The link above to Mark's blog is to his section of worship and prayer resources and a particular piece that has helped my thinking is titled 'Bored with Worship'. As we start to put together the elements for this Labyrinth and the stations to fit around the theme of 'Darkness into Light' - we're really concious of this being an indigenous and organic process for the people who come and share in it with us. We provide some prompts, some words, some ideas, and leave them to connect them in their own way. We want to enhance the journey, provide a stake in the ground as a point to say 'what am I doing here and what is God doing?', but worship, youth work and faith has to be non-directive...so we go with the flow! Hard for me who likes to have a plan!

It's going to be a different event altogether from the SolidReMix event in January in Chelmsford Cathedral. For a start, we have a much bigger and seperate space, but that means we need to fill it appropriately!!

Here are some pics of the January event:

Holy Space - rest in the centre, BE and take some bread for the journey.

The prayer/reflection wall on the way out - leave an encouraging word for those who follow you or thank God for something he has shown you. Pretty full as you can see!

Seeing yourself as God sees you - created in love and fearfully and wonderfully made. Self portraits...
 
 Some of these elements will be appearing at the St Alban's event, but there will be some new things too, some stolen and others totally original (!) - so we'll post photos next weekend when we've caught up on some sleep!
 

women bishops - some thoughts and questions...

The Church Times this week leads on this issue after the recent publication of proposals of how to begin working on the inclusion of women in the episcopate as agreed at Synod last year.

Maggi Dawn, whose blog I love, has also entered the debate and generated much discussion with her post and I quote this excerpt as an example of it's prophetic and forthright voice:

Maybe we should start a new movement - campaigning for all women to leave the church en masse.  That would change the minds of those men at the top who allow these abuses to continue just as significantly, and maybe a lot faster, than putting a nice face on it and accepting each setback.  It's been a long hard struggle for several generations of women to be heard by the Church at all. The Church has spoken its mind: all but a few who shout very loudly consider women to be essential and equal members. So how is it that once again we are being downgraded with this lame, cowardly,  bullying behaviour? And how is it that the guys in power think that they must include the bullies at any cost?

Many of you know, based on recent posts and personal conversations that a statement often made to me or a question asked of me is something like "You'd make a lovely Vicar dear"...I've already said that it's not going to be me taking that step anytime in the near future, although, God willing, someone close to me might be. I'm totally in agreement with Maggi, and this watered down proposal makes me run even faster from any form of ordained ministry in the Church of England. I'm marginally reassured by many members of clergy whom I know personally, who I hope, sometime in the next 20 years might just make this ludicrous situation work effectively for women.

Let's get real here - and take a leaf out of Royal Mail's book. Sometimes a strike, for want of a better word, is the only way to really highlight and draw attention to matters at hand. Let's see how much children's work, youth work, hospitality, welcoming, flower arranging, preaching, leading worship, setting up, pastoral connections etc. are done in YOUR church if women don't do it?

It is discriminatory, manipulative and cowardly, as well as bullying as Maggi says, to think that a decision taken however many years ago to ordain women as priests can, at this stage be quietly adapted for the sake of the minority. Synod and the church at large has spoken. Let's get on with this. The rest of the world, popular culture, young people, Joe Public, look at us arguing about an issue which is of no interest to them. All the while, people are losing their jobs, having their homes repossessed, struggling with their own personal issues and the world is facing a billion people starving each day and communities are trying to rebuild after tsunamis and earthquakes. Get a grip Revision Committee.

Final quote from Maggi:

The prophet Hosea gave a heartbreaking account of something that is known by countless generations of people who have endured forgivingly in faithless marriages: that there's a very fine line between being a faithful saint and being a doormat. But there comes a time when love becomes the willing acceptance of abuse. And it has to stop.

Do have a look at Maggi's post and the comment conversation - a great 10 minutes of your life worth wasting!!

simplicity and uncertainty

 A new Monday morning dawns and I seem to have fallen into a pattern of Mondays being an office/admin day. (well, it's worked the last few weeks, but a quick look at the diary shows it's the last for a while!) It works quite well as I get ahead of myself and the rest of the week seems to pan out better, notwithstanding the unexpected stuff of life with a toddler and in youth ministry!

I'm especially appreciating the space today as I get back to the nitty gritty after quite a grotty weekend.

Recent posts make no bones of the fact that, as a family and as individuals within that, we are in a bit of a state of flux. The history of all that goes back a long long way...around the time that Andy and I first met and he had returned to faith. Questions about our role in church leadership and which of us might be called to priesthood, ordination, church planting etc etc have always been around. They would at various times return to our present thinking for us to question and then would return to the back of our minds.

Our move down to Essex in 2006 was a response to a heightened sense that God was doing something new and different at that time - He certainly was as M came along pretty smartish after that! Her arrival and the move and the newness of jobs, church and location have all allowed us more space to say 'what now?'

In recent years, our understanding of our calling, as individuals and as a family has been in a certain language - church leadership, youth ministry, leadership development, mentoring....and along with our visit to the States in 2008 and my time at Pilgrimage and being immersed in LifeShapes stuff and The Order of Mission, we have had a lot to think about and process.

I'm always a bit sceptical when things that seem painful have a happy ending - they always seem to in other people! However, I can testify that out of the pain of my back injury in June, something became very clear. We were enjoying a weekend as a family as I was off work and we went for a (slow!) walk one Saturday before coming home for M to nap. During the nap time, I was leafing through youthwork magazine and was struck by a job vacancy which leapt out of the page at me...

The conversation that ensued involved us realising that we somehow needed to make space for Andy to explore the possibilities of ordination and the priesthood, specifically within the Anglican Church. He was first told/asked to consider that journey when he was 19 and at Oasis Youth Ministry in Manchester. It's been asked again more recently and become a more regular conversation (with others, rather than amongst the two of us) and we've always greeted it with a hmmm...But this was a realisation in both of us and this particular job provided a possible route, giving space as well as a return to an Anglican Church to gain immersion in that culture and the structural support that would be required.

With all that zooming round our heads, and the closing date for the job not until mid September, we plunged into our busy summer and talked about everything that was happening during car journeys and whilst trying to sleep at Soul Survivor! We put a number of fleeces out - and through those, God made it clear to apply for the job. Despite this, at one point I told Andy I couldn't go ahead, I loved my job too much and we needed to take things slower...but he and others rightly reminded me that the job had leapt out at us for a reason, and we needed to allow due process to happen. So I did apply, with some trepidation and reluctance but a huge amount of excitement and a sense of the possibilities opening up to us.

I've never been in that position - applying for a job when I didn't need a job or from having a job that I loved. It was a strange experience. My current job is one which has moulded around me, where I have found a niche and I see that God is using me to be effective in the local church. Although hugely challenging a lot of the time, it resonates with so much of where I know God wants to use me. As a family it works for us, it fulfills my need for people contact (although not always enough face to face youth work sometimes!)but I also have to be very self disciplined in how I work and managing my time effectively and spiritually.

I spent a long time over the application. By the end of it, I was fed up with the 'selling of myself' that such a process requires and I was glad to be done with it! Most of the time, I felt totally crippled with self doubt, could I do this if I got it, how would I cope with a job with such responsibility and the pressure of what the job might allow Andy to do as a result did feel like a big weight. Overall, it was all a hugely painful process - the thought of the implications of moving again (it is not a local job), the upheaval that would cause, the starting over (I had a stupid dream about there not being any hairdressers in the new place and my barnet getting out of control!!) and there were people that we wanted to make aware of this possible next move and whom we have hurt just in the telling. Despite the excitement and what this opportunity might all bring, we felt pretty crap.

And so we waited....and on Saturday, I got a letter to say that I hadn't been shortlisted.

Andy was in Brighton on the bike ride...so I stewed and ranted and cried a bit by myself. I talked to a few people...the general response was confusion, sympathy, surprise and sadness with a big fat dose of relief...one lovely person told me I'd always be top of their shortlist! A part of me was glad that I didn't get shortlisted - the door has been firmly closed and locked and there is no wondering about 'could I have done better' as there might have been with an interview.

And today, I sit here in my office, sorting out the mundane and pushing paper around, doing some emails and prep for training and I wonder...what is God doing? He's doing something, that's for sure and I'm running into that, cos He is my strong tower and my hiding place.

This is what we know: we know Andy is called to the priesthood, but we don't know how or in what 'way'. We know we want to respond to God's call, for Andy specifically at this time but for our family overall. We know for that to take place, we need to be back in an Anglican Church to allow that process to happen. We know we need to honour the process of selection that is required and we want to do that well while exiting and leaving behind other things in a godly and sensitive way. We know God has it in hand and we know He loves us. We know that this has been His call on Andy's life since he was 19. And we know God has never let us down and won't this time.

These are the simple facts - we share with you what we know...and we wait for God to make the next step clear. It's OK, because He is in control. I have no idea whether applying for THAT job was the wrong decision or whether we just needed to go through that process to make the priesthood path clearer. Who knows...but I'm glad we're not going anywhere for a while!

Andy's is the pink bum ;-)

 

eee, shut that door!

A few doors have been firmly closed today - not just closed but locked really!

At the risk of continuing to be a bit cryptic, I'm staying where I am and am pleased about it. Relieved too, as I know others are!

As for the nominations to the episcopate, there may be a Smith going in that direction (one step at a time, you understand!) but it ain't me!! Thanks for the encouragement though - I'll start stashing fairy liquid bottles for the white plastic supply. I hear priests are skint so cost saving methods are a sensible pattern to adopt!??

Andy has returned from his 100 mile cycle around Brighton and Eastbourne for Cherish Uganda and he and his team have almost raised their target £1000. If you fancy helping them inch a little closer click here. Me and M had a lovely day at Barleylands with fantastic sunshine and lots to do.

Just finishing off our Harvest Family service outline for tomorrow - using a whole heap of different things including Nooma (Rich), Desert Island Discs and Advent Conspiracy...should be good!!

unwittingly compared...

I follow a large number of blogs...on Google Reader, usually from those based across the pond or outside Essex, apart from a few (Paul, Sam, Elwin). Recently looked into some more local stuff to keep track of some interesting church politics and what is happening in the search for the new Bishop of Chelmsford.

So, this morning, on a bit of a whim, I made a comment on the Ugley Vicar blog which was asking for suggestions of names for possible candidates.

My comment:

my understanding, in the role I have, is that there are so many vacancies currently in Dioceses around the country that there will have to be new Bishops consecrated to fill all the gaps...so anyone is possible. I don't however think Chelmsford will get a 'new' Bishop as we are the second biggest Diocese in the country, but there might be some interesting shifting around of the current Bishops and Archdeacons...

And the response...

Richard Brown said...

Alice Smith for Bishop, now there's a thought. Well-known in the diocese (at least in my part of it), full of life and with lots of good ideas - a veritable John Sentamu! (I have heard it said that all dioceses in need of a Bishop want another John Sentamu).

Blimey - slightly hilarious on many fronts, I'm sure you'll agree!!....and requiring a large glass of wine this evening to calm myself down! However, nice to be part of the discussion and to have some response from someone who I have obviously met and who thinks I made some sense. Thank you Richard Brown, whoever you are!! Do let me know if you ever read this and I'll buy you a drink!

Back to the Merlot - BTW, I vote Tim Jones for Bishop, anywhere...one of my favourite people, an amazing leader, fantastically uniting, humbling, challenging, understanding of the spectrum of church tradition and not afraid to stand up for justice - see this example.

Evening Services at All Saints Maldon

Our friend Alex from Falcon Camp has been piloting a new format monthly evening service last term at All Saints in Maldon, which is continuing this term. My hubby was involved in helping with the sound etc and preached on one occasion.

The publicity and such info appear below - so please do spread the word, give it a go and let us have some feedback on here as Alex is a regular reader...!

1st September - where did that come from??

A return to normality begins today as we return from Greenbelt (hubby) and parents into a half day of prep for school, work and nursery all beginning in earnest tomorrow.

It's been a great summer all in all - highlights include Falcon Camp fun, Soul Survivor B and being squashed, party hats, hen do, U2 360 tour, some great food and friends to share it with.

There have been some hard parts too - I'm still struggling with a remnant of a chest infection and don't feel particularly ready for the days ahead with work. Other issues, mainly involving our thinking and strategising about the priorities we live by and how we live more of a kingdom life not a life dictated by culture are a little harder to summarise here...but all linking back to my blog on Anglican identity, what it means to be church, how to live out the call placed on us by God and what we 'need' to do that...

So, there are decisions and changes in the offing in Smith world - not too much detail allowed here at present but your prayers are appreciated if you're that way inclined.

Will get back to Monday updates next week and hope that your return to the world of September is swift, flowing and not too traumatic!

An Anglican at odds with herself...

It's been some time since I've been so prolific on this blog...but this is a post that has probably been brewing since our visit to Tennessee last summer...so I'm writing what I feel. This by no means represents the views of my Diocese or Episcopal Area or my current church; it's just a way to make sense of my history and my future and where I sit in the crazy world of the Anglican Communion and the Body of Christ.

(warning, a bit long winded, but bear with me!) make a cuppa and pull up a chair!

I am a Christian to the core but an Anglican as my history and my path thus far. I became a Christian at the age of 15, being part of a local (5 minutes walk) church which just happened to be Anglican (Church of England). Youth workers there discipled me, taught me the faith, helped me process, journeyed with me. Friends there remain - many Facebook friends, others I see more regularly, one is now a spiritual director of sorts. As far as I was concerned, this was church...I didn't really know there was any other 'type'. It was only when I embarked on my year out that the denomination issue really came home to me. But I was pretty certain of my faith, what I believed and my relationship with my Saviour and I enjoyed getting to know new 'reformed' ways!

At Uni I spent time at a Black Pentecostal Church and at an ex-Brethren Christian fellowship church and really began to understand the variety and beauty of the ways in which church happens and what it means for different people. I loved the fact that I had a choice, but I also knew in my own mind that there were clear issues around which I had strong opinions. The place of women in the church always troubled me...both my Uni churches didn't encourage women to speak apart from in offering 'testimony'. I grappled with this instinctive rebellion alongside what Scripture says, particularly in Paul's writings.

When I moved to my first Parish youthworker post, I don't remember particularly taking much notice of the theological standpoint of the church I was applying to when I filled in the form. In the Sunday morning service during the interview weekend, I knew I was at home. I resonated in my soul and my spirit with the 'form' of the worship. Yes it followed a familiar Anglican pattern, but it was FAMILY. People spoke the words to each other and administered Eucharist in a profondly moving way. It all brought me screeching through the previous 4 years of my life and squarely back to this Anglican heritage that I hadn't really realised was so embedded within me.

This 'Anglican legacy' that I live with is a comforting knowledge but it hasn't been a bind. I've been in 2 non-denominational churches since then, as well as an Anglican Church...I'm in relationship with Jesus, that makes me a Christian first and an Anglican somewhere down the line in terms of how I define myself.

HOWEVER, that doesn't make me unreactive to all that is and has been happening with the worldwide Anglican Communion. I am not really someone who is interested in the detailed discussion, motions, votes, although I do follow a few choice blogs that keep me updated (mainly Dave Walker on Church Times blog).

Our visit to Tennessee last year, to a church in the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA) was a profound experience, in which we had to acknowledge the distinct and seemingly irrepairable differences that had come about leading up to and directly after Gene Robinson's election as Bishop. Just recently the founding of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) seemed to be, to me anyway, an incredible shoot of collective possibility, as factions, denominations and church traditions met together in the forming of a new province which focused on mission and extending the kingdom to those who DON'T YET KNOW.

This is the rub: the Church of England is too focused on maintaining what it has and keeping the people in the pews happy. (I speak my own opinion here but I travel a wide area and talk to a lot of people so I am making a considered generalisation). Mission, Kingdom, talking about Jesus and making disciples is RARELY the top of the agenda. Running programmes, thinking about Alpha, doing a fun day, etc. are all important but not at the expense of the fundamental call of Jesus - to go, preach the kingdom, heal the sick, share people's lives, Acts 2 living. People in this country are frightened to leave their churches...and the Church of England has made people believe that there is a threat to the existence of the church from those who are already within it - women and homosexuals.

This is utterly crazy talk. The fundamental basis of the Christian faith is that through Jesus, who broke himself open for us, we can find wholeness in our brokeness. The foundation of the Eucharist (read more about this thinking in Rob Bell's book Jesus wants to save Christians) is a broken body and spilled blood. A sacrifice made once and for all - FOR ALL. 

(some great stuff on this blog reflecting on this teaching)

Frankly, my opinion of the Anglican Communion at present, and to be honest, other churches that I know well and not part of this 'worldwide family', is that 'it' (the church) is not prepared to sacrifice itself for anyone else. It's investment focus is on keeping the status-quo and if there was anything further from Jesus mind, it was the status quo. 

But I am filled with a strange hope when I read about the formation of the ACNA and it's attempts to restart...the AMia could have stuck to it's guns, stayed seperate and not risked further collaborations, since it is already doing well by itself. But this sacrifice gives me strange hope and it's something I want to keep an eye on. 

On the flipside I am frustrated that, just by writing this, I am running the risk of being categorised as a conservative evangelical...yes I am, but no I'm not. Why is it that we have to categorise ourselves in our doctrine and worship styles?? As I outlined above, I've done a bit of everything and ultimately, I'm still in the same place I am. I'm comfortable in the sense that I trust God to work these things out...but regardless of 'theological standing' I am not seeing many churches that are working out the Acts 2 principle in a way which is authentic without becomign ghetto-ized.

My mind is so all over the place with this, so please forgive the random junctures. 

Preaching: who is it for?? Is it so we can be confirmed in what we think and go away feeling happy that we have it right...or is it meant to be about starting a discussion, bringing questions, grappling them together and then taking then OUT THERE...?

Worship through singing: is not a performance and is not the way we should grade a church. Excellent worship is not about it being tight or beautifully sung or contemporary or traditional. Surely it is about HOW it enables each and every person to draw near to God? The Bible clearly states that when one or two are gathered together in His name, Jesus is there. Do we need to invite him in? Does the quality of the worship affect my relationship with God? It shouldn't...but it does. How have we allowed this to be the norm...cos it is in my life and the circles I move in. Should we say to the person who leads our singing (whether organist, guitarist or vocalist) 'that was great this morning' or 'I didn't like it'...I hear those comments every week...not sure that's the right place to be?

Sundays/Church: I'm having major issues with church right now...passionately believing in it and yet finding that nothing is peaceful within it. Now I could be falling into the same trap as I outlined above and probably I am to some extent, replying on feelings...I don't enjoy or feel content or challenged at church right now (not just my own but everywhere). I feel disatisfied...More than anything, I want to be reconciled with myself and the fact that I feel ultimately Anglican at my heart and my heritage, but I am not comfortable in the core of any church structure. Some of the meetings I was in this week frustrated me to a point of jacking it all in...maintenance and buildings and keeping the bare minimum rather than saying what is working and how can we develop and encourage and resource it? Going to a non-denominational seemed to give me (us) the freedom to explore and be questioning and be on the margins without anyone thinking that was odd...but we have slowly been sucked in. Maintenance is still a prime focus and while there has to be some stability, the same old concerns come throough for me and attendance and membership and being categorised are the things that identify you. I don't think I want to be so pinned down anymore. Sunday after Sunday we rush around, packing cars, picking up instruments, setting up, setting down, teaching, singing, talking, eating and drinking and then we go home and get set up for the evening activities for the same people...something is wrong. 

Something is wrong because we are so busy on a Sunday and a Thursday and a Tuesday with church stuff that we don't stop to talk to our neighbour who is doing gardening out the front or the family opposite who arrive home the same time as us. We lose half a day of Sunday, which should be a day which focuses on God and we spend that half day setting up a service when we could be out there meeting people where the actually are, which isn't in our building.

Finally...some key thoughts from the blog post I linked to above....with my own italics added:

A church is invited to be a Eucharist to its community - broken and poured out...

Luke 22:18 - "Do this in remembrance of me."

What if Jesus was using this in a broader sense of saying, "Do this (what you see ME DOING) in remembrance of me?"  ...an invitation to be a living eucharist for the world we live in.

Too often, we try to reproduce another church's Eucharist without being broken or poured out.  The reason it worked there in the first place was because SOMEONE poured out.  So we need to ask the question: What does it mean for me to be a Eucharist to these people (in our communities/culture) here and now?

If our church was removed from our community, who would protest?

What does it mean to be a "good gift" to our community? 

There is always a cost...  If Eucharist is "pouring out" you must allow time to pour back in.

Where are you in the Eucharist rhythm?

I've been writing this piece a while now and it should probably get published. Regular readers, my friends and soul mates, those who we've journeyed with me and Andy before will recognise this restlessness from times before - sorry!!...be assured that it's the same questions we've always had, just seen through the telescope of world affairs in the Anglican Communion and our current context. We've grown up a lot, especially since having M and we don't do the spontaneous, quick decision making anymore, can't and shouldn't. And we certainly want to do our thinking and wondering with you as we take stock a bit...so however long we've known you, or even if not at all and your a stranger in person but a friend of the blog, talk to us in the comments - recommend books to read or things to consider, tell us your journeys...

Thanks for your time...for getting this far at least! Having finished your cuppa (as instructed at the top) have a nap now!

I will ;-)

Top Ten Tips for Longevity in Leadership

As part of our regular Diocesan Youth Worker Forums, we welcomed Bishop David Hawkins, BIshop of Barking and Lead Bishop on Youth to address us on this topic in May.

I offer you below an amalgamation of my notes and my esteemed colleague, Mark Lake's notes. Hope this gets you thinking:

1. Know you are loved by God - means you are prepared to take risks.

2. Know ur loved by someone else - deeply and respectfully. Not a yes man but a critical friend. We are never called to do ministry solo.

3. Have BIG VISION with a big capacity for disappointment. If we believe who God is, then we must have huge vision. Church is too ready to settle for smaller and smaller visions. We must have the capacity to hand things back to God even if it doesn't work out. We can't possess the vision - it is always God's in us. 

4. The BIG 'YES' - be able 2 say NO! - make sure u prioritise and what u say Yes to fits your vision nd beliefs. Not focusing on what I should say NO to, but what I SHOULD say YES to.
    Basis for this in Luke 4 - Jesus reading Isaiah in the synangogue:

     Share the gospel
     Care for the community
     Renew the Church

What is the main focus of my ministry at the present time?

5. 'Be a Calvinist on your knees and an Armenian on your feet' - all about grace and God and all about me to work hard for God.                                                                                                                 

6. From good to great - in a recent survey, humility was top quality for CEO's of top companies. Praise others when things going well, when not going well, took responsibility themselves.

7. Problems are opportunities! Transforms how u tackle situations. Don't say can't! Build a 'Can Do' climate. We have Good News! To think this way is a discipline, takes practice. If we are in the Redemption/Hope business, how can we say CAN'T?

8. Be able 2 say 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry' and be able 2 live it!

9. Have a passion outside your ministry / job. Something that takes u outside yourself so that u can find yourself. definition of the word Eccentric

10. Don't take yourself too seriously, but take God and your job / ministry, (and everything) else very seriously.

 

it's feeling like a good day!

Hey! how y'all doing? Good I hope and happy Tuesday!

It's Tuesday night and I'm enjoying a night in and enjoying listening to my husband laughing a lot at our latest Love Film delivery - Young Frankenstein - his choice not mine! I'm waiting til The Other Boleyn Girl gets to the top of our list! He's enjoying it and that's why I bought him the subscription so that makes me happy!

I had my meeting with Bish Laurie and Peter Collins from Traidcraft today...which i think was helpful on both sides. Peter reflected afterwards that although the message about encouraging preference towards Traidcraft in this credit crunch was not realistic, he now had other ideas about how to support the furtherance of the development agenda that is a key distinctive of Traidcraft's work (in contrast to other supermarkets, who sell Fairtrade but don't invest in development and bringing producers out of poverty). The only down side was that my other colleague, Paul the Faith in Action Adviser for the Area forgot to come...I blame nappy brain as he has just added to his family with the arrival of twins to add to his other 3 children who are 7 and under!!

I dropped Peter off in Chelmsford to kill some time while I went to my next meeting which was the inaugral gathering of my new support group. This is a different way of organising my supervision and accountability in this role and it was very affirming and encouraging. I'm grateful to those who agreed to be part of this process of reflection and hope it will firm up all I'm trying to do in this role and help me think strategically in terms of it's future sustainability.

A lovely bonus today was that Matilda and Andy came home early from school/childminder's and so while Andy took Peter to the airport, I had the latter part of the afternoon with my lovely daughter. She was in fine form, language and sentences forming at a rate of knots and her sense of humour really developing too! She's now in a big girls' bed and her favourite word to describe it whenever she gets in is 'cosy'!

I also got to speak to my lovely friend Jenny (a different one from the previous post!) who is also Matilda's godmother, just to confuse things even more...maybe we'll have a Jennifer next to make things totally off the wall!! Anyway, Jenny has been in hospital recently with appendicitis which made her very sick and poorly, so she's just recovering and getting back into things.

So, I'm off for an early night cos I can't watch the CSI Vegas while Andy's got his film on!! nighty nighty (pyjama pyjama!) x