Recently in Family Category

New blog entry?  Well, Jon posted a rambling today and I've been thinking about it for a while so here it is.  Not sure if anyone out there reads these (a perpetual question) but I do hope that it's more than just a mumble!

I'll start with some news.

The Old's have moved church!  We are now ensconsed in Rugby Christian Fellowship (Elim) and it's fantastic.  Full of challenges, new relationships and new experiences.  All very exciting.

Next a quick grumble.

I would dearly love to meet up with the person in the council who is responsible for pedestrian crossings.  On my journey to work (approx 1 mile), I pass through 1 lollipop crossing and 4 pelican / puffin crossings!  It is utterly insane and has added at least 10 minutes to the journey, which over 1 mile is nuts.  If I wasn't doing school and evening activity runs either end of the day, I would SO walk!

Finally a thought.

How come germs are so tiny but cause so much havoc?  Sarah had a slight cold this time last week.  This cold developed Friday / Saturday into a hideous chest infection which has her signed off work for the whole week.  She's been really poorly and all because of a tiny little germ.

Another thought...

With all the money being thrown at formula 1, how come it falls down to the driver to put out his own car fire (Kovaleinen, Singapore)???

Be good.

D

Follow me on Twitter - @derek_old

No, it's a blog entry!!!

Thought I'd share an "aaaah" moment.

Last Sunday we sat down with the kids for dinner and suggested that rather than throwing random ideas at us for Christmas, they might like to write us each a list.  This is a first as, up to now, we've not done lists with them before.

Anyways, Jamie said, completely out of the blue...."Christmas isn't about presents, it's when we remember the birth of Jesus".

Neither of our kids ever really ask for much and that was so nice to hear.

They both then sat down in front of the telly and wrote down ideas of DVD's they'd like!!!

Sophie is a sneaky greedy cat!

She has become rather taken with Whiskas Senior cat food.  To such an extent that she is trying to play each of us off against the other by standing near her bowl and miaowing everytime someone goes into the kitchen; in the vain hope that we might not know that she's already been fed!

No idea why I blogged that - sorry.

Now for some (as they say in the Little Mermaid, "Human Stuff").  Yesterday was a very busy day.  I left Sarah and the kids at home to go and play my guitar at Church.  It was quite an odd service; the address (sermon for older types) was really interesting and educating - all about the start of the Christian calendar - I wonder how many people realise that the years are calculated on a Christian calendar???  It was also odd because, although there were quite a large number of people there, the atmosphere was really flat.  Very odd that such a short time after really CELEBRATING Christmas, people seemed to be simply going through the motions of being at Church on a Sunday morning and just reading everything that was put in front of them.  Well, who knows what was really going on.

I then picked up the rest of my family for a visit to my Mum & Dad's for the day.  They had laid on an amazing spread for us and for my brother and his family.  Loads of really good food.  Don't know if either Mum or Dad read this, but if you are - THANK YOU!!!!  Graham and I took the kids for some de-bouncing in the park in the afternoon and then back to Mum and Dad's for tea!!!!  For the main part, all the kids were really good all day and it was very chilled and relaxed.  It's great that we all live so close to each other and that all the kids get on so well.

The day ended with the final band practice for the BIG party on Saturday night.  I think we have pretty much nailed the set list now and we should be able to make a pretty good sound for all of Vic's guests to have a good ole boogie to.  Let's see on Saturday - I'll let you know how it goes - maybe post a pic or two.

TTFN

Hipp

Christmas this year has been fab.

The kids have (for the most part) been on great form.  They have grabbed the Christmas spirit with both arms and legs and given it a great big hug.

We had quite an odd build-up to the 'big day'; read Sarah's blog for more info (www.realyouth.net/chalkbored).  I was asked to sing in SummerSault's with Renaissance Voices on the Saturday, which was great fun (good food too!).  Then there was the carol service at Church on the Sunday.  3 busy days at work followed, during which time, Sarah and the kids carried on with various preparation and tidying jobs.

I don't know who was more excited about Christmas, the kids or Sarah and I.  We thought long and hard before getting their presents.  Jamie has great ambitions to being a skateboarder, so he has duly been kitted out with a board, helmet (with flames) and pads (thanks to Paul & Weedie).  Caitlin just wanted her old DS 'fixed'.  We did investigate the fixing option, but it was no cheaper than a new one, so she got a nice new pink one.

Their faces were perfect on Christmas day.  True pleasure and excitement.  Top responses to make a parent happy.

When it came to our visit to Church, the kids were sitting at the front with the vicar and all the other kids for the traditional "what did you get kids?" slot.  Martin (the vicar) asked the kids why we gave presents at Christmas.  There were quite a few blank faces - even amongst the adults.  It just goes to show how the commercialism of Christmas has taken over.  One child was asked who had given us all a special gift at Christmas.  The expected answer was God, and the present he gave us is Jesus.  The child duly responded "Santa Claus"!!!  Much hilarity at the comedic response but also quite telling that Christmas simply means presents.

I'm not really sure how much C & J get about Christmas, but we have not had any "I wants" or "I must have" from them at all....I guess we might be doing alright after all.

Anyways, I hope you all had a great Christmas, despite illnesses or credit crunches.

Back to you soon.

TTFN

Hipp

How odd is the human body?  Not just mine!

I had to take Thursday as a "work from home day" as Mastr Jnr Old had an adverse intestinal reaction to something.  How the body induces such extreme reactions and yet  so successfully recovers and restores absolutely amazes me.  Apparently a combination of flat coke and ginger biscuits significantly helps the recovery too!

Anyways, while off on Thursday, I was cooking some lunch and simply coughed.  Nothing out of the ordinary most times, but this time "OUCH".  Something in my lower back let loose and really hurt.  Now, this has happened before and been OK.  Other times, it has involved extensive osteopathy.  To cut a long story short, I have just got back from the out of hours doc who has very kingly prescribed me a course of Codeine to help reduce the pain!  Praying for a quick recovery on this one; a similar recovery time to Jnr would be good!!!

As for the cakes, Mrs O has been a busy bunny again today, creating another masterpiece of bakery for our 'not-so-little-any-more' lady who celebrated 10 yrs on this wonderful planet last week.10 Fab years I must add.  The cake is one chosen by the little lady herself and is a house-shaped design, absolutely COVERED in sweet things; icing, dolly mixtures, jelly tots; boiled sweets, lollipos and oh, did I mention the icing???

I'll let you know about the sugar rush another time.

TTFN

Hipp

Interesting blog entry title...?

Quick blog entry this one as I'm soon to get into the M6 car park!

Small pleasures - filling the car up and ending up with the digits in the litres dispensed display showing a larger number than the cost of the fuel dispensed!!!

Big pleasures - going to a wedding tomorrow of a really good friend with the prospect of catching up with lots of old friends. Oh, and the small issue of Caitlin being a bridesmaid!!!

TTFN

Hipp

What a time it's been of late.

Work has thrown a major curveball which I can't say too much about but it's complicated things.  I do really enjoy my job and like the constant learning process; also the fact that I am responsible for my own targets means (normally) that any pressure I get is probably self-inflicted!

I'm playing my bass loads more at the moment too, which is awesome.  Not only am I back into the swing of playing most Sunday mornings, but I am also playing for a good friend's birthday party in January (yes I have definately not got to work Vic!).  This has meant learning loads of different styles of songs and practice.  Really cool tho.

I'm nearing the end of the current OU course.  Been quite a challenge this one too.  First level 2 course that I've done.  All the assignments are marked and showing good results; just hope the exam result does me justice too.  Then.....what's next?

As for home?  The pace has really picked up there too.  All back to school, but the evenings have also suddenly crammed up.  Sarah has just started helping with the Ignite youth programme on Wednesday evenings.  Not a problem on it's own, but combine this with Caitlin starting singing lessons on a Wednesday and Jamie having beavers too, it all starts to fill up!

Other than that, the beer's gone good (and with head!!!), the broken limbs are healing (both mine and my brother's - yay plaster off!!!) and we push forward with gusto and purpose.

Right, time for a coffee.  Next blog....something different I hope.  Now I'm back, I really don't want this to just become an online diary. 

We'll see

TTFN

Hipp

Interesting start today.  Went over to Melton Mowbray with Rich Evans to collect a trailer he won on ebay.  When we got there, there was a problem with the PayPal payment, so we had to pop to Tescos to get some money.  Anyway....long story short, they now have a nice little trailer ready for their holiday next week.

While this was going on, Caitlin was getting her jazz exam results....she got 86% (honours)!  Christine Anderson was very pleased with and for her.  We are SO happy.  Not because she got a good score, but because she got acknolwedgement for all her hard work in something she really loves.  We have also had compliments about how happy she looks while she's dancing.  That's because she LOVES IT!!!

After lunch, Caitlin challenged Anna to a Cluedo marathon.  Seeing that Jamie needed an energy burn, I took him for a cycle ride to Graham & Helen's.  Round trip of about 6 miles.  He actually cycled most of it, rather than walking and I reckon it took about an hour and a half to do the total trip.  On top of all that, it was drizzling immensly (if you can describe it like that?) and we were both soaked, but J was not bothered.

Very chilled evening and looking forward to worship in the morning.  J starts swimming again too so ..... roll on Sunday!

TTFN

Hipp

PS - We had a beaver investiture this week too.... Clip to follow when Jon's helped me!

On numerous fronts, I've been truly blown away this weekend.

Firstly, I went out for the morning with Si on Saturday to SoundControl in Birmiungham, while Caitlin did dancing stuff (including an exam which she seemed remarkably calm about).  Si wanted a pedal for his guitar and I wanted to pop over to see if I could get a new amp head.  Was a great time, and successful on both fronts.  (Now have a mighy 300W to play with instead of the 180W I actually paid for!)

Secondly, we had Richard and Lois and the gang round for a BBQ last night and had a very chilled time.  Stress-free and social.  Also great to catch up a bit - not seen them in eons.

Thirdly, I went to Church this morning and had a not-so-fine practice - nothing seemed to work.  Prayed about it and the worship during the service felt so much better.  Really enjoyable and spirit-filled (quite poignant considering that today's Pentecost! - If you don't know what I mean, ask your T.O.)

Fourthly, popped over to Sarah's school for a bit this afternoon for the kids to pretend to be guinea pigs on the new climbing wall.  Again, nice chilled out time watching the kids excel in physical activity.

Fifthly (is there such a word?), we finished off the day at my cousin's house for a BBQ to celebrate her little boy, Ben's 4th birthday.  Great to catch up with my cousins and also Helen and Graham.  They had a bouncy castle and it was funny watching them all bounce off the walls and each other in a relatively confined space.  J was particularly taken with the spicy chicken twist kebabs.  So taken that he wanted the recipe!  He was a bit disappointed when he discovered that they came pre-packed from Tesco's!

Why is this so amazing?  Well, the sun has not stopped shining throughout.  The weather has been so uplifting and fantastic.  Also, we have had chance to just spend time with people this weekend which is what it's all about and it's been GRRRREAT!  Cheers, big man!

Special day today.  Jamie started at Beavers last Wednesday.  He is known as a kit for the next 4 weeks, which is apparently the name given to junior beavers (can't call them babies, now can I?)  They invited him to come to the St Georges day parade in town today and he was very excited.

The colony (group of beavers) made shields this week for them all to carry.  He was very proud walking through the town with his fellow beavers.  It was also great to see my brother and Lewis (my nephew) in their Scouting guise too.  Really quite cool.

While waiting for the parade, I had some time just me and Caitlin too.  She is such good fun and really good company.  All in all - quite a proud Daddy day!  Just wish they wouldn't get so giggly at meal times!!!

I've popped some photos on Flickr which you should be able to see on the left.

TTFN

Hipp