I must be mad

I've only just sat a sack-load of exams/essays and here I am hitting another deadline. And its an optional one! ::::::::::slaps head::::::::::::
Why am I so last minute (truth be told; had an agony-fest weekend: see last post) plus the admin person at college was hiding all the forms that I needed to submit this appeal for credit.

(actually, like most large institutions: universities, the Health Board, the Home Office, the Dept for Work and Pensions - only One Person can give you the form you need and if that One Person is sick or on holiday or nipped to the 'loo you've had it; you'll need to come back another day to Get The Form)

Thanks for good friends who take sympathy on part-timers and take library books back, pick up forms, hand in paperwork etc etc :-)

Actually I am so busy with kids work with so many things kicking off just now, both positive and errrrr, more challenging, that I almost don't know what to do next. I seem to remember November as being quiet in my schedule....umm, nope, not this year! I've been digging out my Willow Creek leadership stuff to check what I am supposed to do next. Don't think that's the point somehow but don't tell on me!

What are your handy tips for managing time and tasks?

God made dentists

I want to record here how fantastic my dentist Tracey is.
I have been suffering from niggly on-off pain for a couple of weeks in the lower jaw. It ERUPTED on Friday night to full blown "I'm crying" pain. Nurofen Extra and Brufen calmed it a little - till 3am .......

Phoned my dental surgery's emergency number and got to see Tracey at 10.30am today (a Saturday!). It's been fairly complicated to diagnose but I have acute pulpitis - an inflammation in the pulp of one of my teeth. I have had this before. The scunner is that my filling was taken out to check for this and there was no more decay there..apparently sometimes the nerve shrinks back and gets inflamed in response to a filling, which it senses is a foreign substance in the tooth.

Wow, and there was me thinking teeth were fairly inanimate pieces of ??? hard stuff (don't know what you call it!)

I have had loads of ligacaine (isn't that in an Eels song?) and am feeling sore but better.
Tracey has phoned me twice to check I am OK - God bless her - and also to see if she needed to start yanking the root out tonight in an emergency procedure.

I received some prayer from other members of church on Friday morning; at that point it looked like I wouldn't be able to get an appointment to see my dentist till later in the month; and it was a precious 10 minutes where I felt "safe in God's hands" - that I could trust him with my teeth. Makes sense really - seeing as I am supposed to trust him with my life.

Thank you Father for Tracey!

Things I Read

Thanks to Hippo Critic, who helped me make my blog a nicer place to visit today. All he needs is a cup of coffee and a laptop and he's a happy guy.

I need to explain my "What I'm Reading" list, before you think I'm either a bit-over-the-top on the religious front or a shallow "footballers' wives" fan (and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either!!!!!)

1. The Bible.
I try to read this every day. I almost manage this but I don't beat myself up if I don't. It is immensely important to me. We didn't mean the picture to come out that huge. Roll on blogspot version 2.

2. The Herald should be no. 2 but I got my html a bit muddled. Because I used to teach politics I feel unprepared for the day if I haven't read a quality broadsheet. I kind of like having the Scottish dimension. The Herald manages this and doesn't skimp on the International section. However, it doesn't feature enough in-depth analysis like, for example, the Guardian/Independent manage. I am also rather fond of a couple of the Herald journalists. I like their campaigning stance. (headnod to Billy Briggs and Damien Henderson - liking your style)

3. Heat magazine. I DO NOT buy this every week. But hey, I like reading it.. I maybe buy one once every six weeks? Does that make me a shallow person? I like to think of it as my homework for my contextualising the gospel class. For the same reason I like some of the glossies like Cosmo. Can't stand OK and Hello though. In my church there is a squad of us who recycle glossies like Heat so loads of people get to read a bundle.

Also beside my bed (and propping up my Things To Do List nicely) are volumes by RT Kendall, Robin Parry and David Crowder.

What's on your bedside table just now?

Down in the dumps...

Down in the jungle yesterday, down in the dumps today. Not like me. I must be incubating something. "Stuff" that wouldn't normally upset me is making me teary. (and it's not PMT!)

I fell asleep on sofa during Spooks.

Hmm.

Down in the jungle...

Work today was like being in the Amazon. Average temperatures of (what felt like) 90 degrees, humidity 98%.

And all because of two thermostat-less radiators - so hot they could hardly be touched- in a small room with twenty 4-5 year olds (my own striptease loving son one of them). Hats off the the group leader who had them dancing, drawing, playing blind man's buff, shooting hoops (is that what it's called?) and doing a "Rolf Harris" to tell a Bible story with a thick marker pen and flipchart paper. What a talented guy. I stand and marvel. Yet again I feel so privileged to be in my job. I miss my old job so much sometimes as I have gone on about before in this blog, and at other times I don't at all. I can't deny that God has called me to be where I am.

A quick shufty-round the other groups found hot toddlers throwing mega bloks in frustration. Owch.
Oooops, time to call maintenance in to deal with the radiators. Why oh why in church buildings is it either freezing or boiling? Answers from the QSs who read this on a postcard, please!

I'm not feeling so well today - very unlike me - so off to sleep now.
(It's probably due to the diurnal temperature range!)

Inverse law of tidying-up

Why is that when you have a day clearing out and tidying up, you actually end up with more mess than you started with? That was one of today's experiences, in these last few days off.

Yesterday I had a (half) day in library, reading about contextualisation of the gospel, which I rather enjoyed, but then I realised that I had a case study to do for the final assignment and I started to panic a little in thinking about where I'd find my cross-cultural case. Pah, why couldn't I just end the day enjoying the feeling that I am actually ahead of reading rather than at the dog's tail of the work needing done?

Today I had a (half) day clearing out and tidying up, ending up with more mess in the process. Why is that? I call it the inverse law of tidying up or sorting out filing. It's the same in my office.

What are your techniques for dealing with troublesome piles of paper/mess/household junk?

Decluttering gives me more clutter to get rid of..............

One week on.....

Wow, can't believe a week has passed since I last blogged. I had a lovely time in Aviemore and Inverness with the family. The batteries are fully recharged and I am raring to go - just home and the phone is ringing ferociously with questions about the kids work over the coming weekend.

Got loads to post - including "just how many members of your home church can you meet during one trip to the Highlands?" "Hospitality - the continuing drama of life with a 4 year old" and more on "Labour's get-tough policies on asylum and immigration".

But it will have to wait - am off to see Children of Men tonight. I am looking forward to admiring the work of Clive Owen - is it OK to say that? He really is a great actor.