Mothers Are Wonderful

Just the other day my mum with no request on my part re-sewed a button on my coat which was very close to being an ex-button of my coat.

Mothers are wonderful.

Words and That 'Orrible Thing Racism

So there has been a lot of talk recently about words, their meanings and everyone's favourite football topic of rascism.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Spurs play, I say pleasure because a) it was my mate's birthday and b) I like watching football. Now the fact I'm a Gooner makes this a little more interesting.

Some observations on this -
1. I did not spontaneously combust upon crossing the White Hart Lane threshold, this may have been due to my proximity to a vicar.
2. I only heard them sing "stand up if you hate Arsenal" twice in 90 minutes. Maybe it was our seats up in rafters but compared to how this compares to my brethren I was pleasantly surprised.
3. Whoever you support, defender/keeper balls up will always amuse/annoy you.
4. The applause for Fabrics Muamba was awesome, and his stoic attempts to hold back the tears and thank the Spurs fans was heart moving.
5. Singing "we'll sing what we want" is typical macho posturing probably fueled by alcohol and the collective being infinitely thicker than the sum of it's parts. I would add it is probably sung at every ground in the country. Still I think it is really a quite stupid chant if you think about it but so it goes.
6. I had a lot of fun, thought the Spurs fans for the most part were good natured and knowledgeable. But then again that is probably more a reflection of the three Spurs fans I was with.

And now on to the rather thorny issue of that Y word. Now I am very much open to being corrected on this but my view goes thus -

Yid is an offensive term for a Jew, therefore to a Jewish person this is a rascist term. Now in a similar way to black people co-opting the insult Nigga/er I can understand that. BUT as I would guess the majority of Spurs fans are neither Jewish through descent or religious choice I think the co-opting of this phrase however entrenched is a misappropriation. If I decided to refer to myself as a Nigga I would get all sorts of abuse and rightly so for I am a white middle class man from London.

So unless someone comes up with a convincing argument I think the use of the word Yid is at best in bad taste...

Busy busy busy

So the last few weeks have been busy and eclectic to say the least.

It started a couple of weeks ago with an email from one of our suppliers inviting me to the Pharma Times Business Manager of the Year Awards. So far so good. Except it was the next day AND black tie! So that evening I went shopping and bought a dinner jacket and suit. The next day I schmoozed, drank champagne and ate lovely food at the Royal College of Physicians.

Two days later I and my merry band of men/wife were channelling our inner Mumford/Rend Collective depending on your particular bent as we made sweet music for Faith Missions Trust annual celebration. Much fun was had by all.

The wife and I then enjoyed a half term break involving a canal walk I'm London, James Bond, a few days in fair Lincolnshire and a visit to Warwick Uni to see her old stomping ground. Oh and some gorgeous cake. Less said about diet coke the better though.

The weekend saw me win three straight games of 7 Wonders much to the wonder and amazement of all. I'm amused at people's surprise when I'm good at something. Or maybe they just think I'm flukey.

Saturday night saw the band take to the stage at Trinity I'm Harrow and rock the socks off all 20 people who bothered to come. My sincere love and thanks to you all. Twas much fun even more if the stage is very cramped.

So busy but good.

I'm blessed to have some fabulous friends and family.

Measure of Growth

I think it is a measure of my personal maturity and growth that there are 25 profiteroles in the fridge, my wife is out for the evening and I ate toast.

Chocolate Brownie

Delicious. That is all...

Blogging for my Wife

Not gonna lie this blog is all for my beautiful wife.

Only problem is I'm a little bit tired and we are both sitting on the sofa watching the end of Sister Act... great movie.

I'm so blessed, being able to chill after a long day with such a good and gorgeous person.

So thank you wifey for firstly being my wife, secondly for being so kind and patient with me, thirdly for being so ridiculously wonderful/pretty and fourthly for wiggling your booty at me.

`True love, you'll always be my true love`

What Am I Known For...

I read a tweet earlier today which got me thinking; aforementioned tweet basically was saying that shouldn't Christians be known for the positive things they stand for as opposed to everything they are against. The later being the pervading world view - Christians are against x, y and most definitely z.

That got me thinking, what am I known for?

Do people know I am Christian?

If so, is it because of my Christlikeness or because I said something?

And either way, am I a positive influence, friend, colleague etc?

In some ways it is possible to answer these questions and in other respects impossible, there are a myriad of different reasons for the way people react to oneself and sometimes it has nothing to do with what you are like as a person or how you behave.

Anyways, like I said it got me thinking, and I want to be known as a follower of Christ, not because of what I am against but because of what I stand for. Love, justice, truth, peace.

Lazy Boy

My beautiful wife pointed out to me that it has been quite a while since I blogged... Therefore this blog is dedicated to her. Even more so because it's the weekend and she's stuck at work. Teaching eh, it's not all holidays!

While she is out, I am on the sofa watching the Paralympics. I've seen 4 world records already this morning, which has literally left me in tears every time. Whatever anyone says or thinks, these athletes are out of this world and such an inspiration.

So what have I been upto the last couple of months, a very condensed update:
Promotion at work, am now managing a new team which is a great opportunity.
Went camping in Shepton Mallet at Soul Survivor festival with the young people from the youth work wifey does - great time, encouraging, fun, muddy, sunny, inspiring.
At Soul Survivor finally broke my duck of getting knocked out the first round of the 5 aside football tournament - managed in wellys to boot! (we got knocked out in the next round, but hey!)
Band has been a little bit quiet, but hopefully will be sending the demo off to gig venues very soon.
Had two weddings over the summer, was so nice being there, two completely different days but the overwhelming sense of love and community was wonderful.
Friends, food and neverending washing up!


Anyways, time for this lazy boy to  get off the sofa and do something.

Been Awhile

It has been awhile since I last blogged, sometimes I struggle with consistancy (and spelling but that's another thing entirely).

The wife is now on summer holidays, has completely changed the dynamic of our evenings/mornings. No longer is early to bed and early up, instead we have late nights (this week mainly watching Grey's Anatomy) and late mornings! Just a shame I have to go to work!

So I just downloaded some new music - http://www.noisetrade.com/futureofforestry - check it out, tres good!

Need to eat some cake and play my guitar, prep for the gig next week.

Wife Will Be Home Soon

I dunno what it is; maybe it's me, maybe it's love, maybe everyone is like this. I hope I never lose it and because of this I realise that I am going to have to work at it but...

I love it when I know my wife will be home soon.

I might actually just stop now and go and sit by the door like a cute lil puppy waiting for it's owner or dinner or something!

Selfishness and The Complainer

I'm currently sitting in my usual seat, on my usual train, going to the place where I work. The sun is shining, it is warm, it is by all accounts another beautiful day. I'm wearing nice clothes, a lovely new tie my brother and sister in law bought me for my birthday(reminds me of my ole school tie).

I live in a wonderful apartment, have plenty of food on my plate, water, beer and wine to drink.

I've been married for nearly 14 months to a woman who is both beautiful and kind. Loving and intelligent. She drives me places, puts up with all my stuff cluttering up her place. She is patient with my idiosyncrasies, and doesn't get too mad with my emotional ups and downs.

And against this back drop of supreme blessing I am selfish, my words are lacking in grace and full of complaint.

As ever she is a fountain of sensible thought and suggested I make a list of things I want to change;
So...
Instead of gossiping, pray.
Instead of overthinking, act.
Instead of complaining, do something.
Instead of sitting on my behind, be creative.
And finally do more stuff for my wife.

The Daily Grind

Not every day is easy.

And not every day is filled with good things.

I do however believe that every day is a blessing and an opportunity to make the most of.

However some days are much easier than others.

Right now my throat is sore and I feel rough, I have close friends who are going through hard times, it looks like my guitar isn't going to be ready for the gig at the weekend and I'm unlikely to see much of my wife this evening. However, this does not detract from the fact that today is a blessing even if I can't always see that.

Dumbledore, A Boring Blog and Taking Out A Mate

So I aged over the weekend.

And the way I feel now on Monday, no wait Tuesday morning I feel it.

I'm now 32, it's not 35 mind you*.

All in all I had a pretty fabulous weekend, as I look back on it I realise how blessed I am. Friday night with the wife, a movie and a romantic maccy ds.

Saturday taking my guitar to Denmark Street to get fixed (tres expensive but will be worth it - thank you wifey and MIL). Followed by watching the FA cup final in a pub in London with some chair crashing moments* and then seeing the amazing Demon Hunter.

My birthday with breakfast and treats in bed. We then travelled to a small town near Cambridge to spend 24 hours eating, drinking and playing games - uno, poker, power grid, who's in the bag. "LORD OF THE RINGS"... "Dumbledore?"*.

No!

And Monday was celebrating my lil bro's bday, some footie and food and good company.

The first half of the game I managed to miscontrol and pass the ball twice, chop my mate in half when he was clear on goal (not proud of that) and then I scored - right foot, BANG (shot nearly broke the goalies wrist, not proud of that either).

Went on to play much better and score a perfect hatrick, diving header (amazing!) and a left foot tap in after a lovely little passing move through the defence and round the keeper. Feeling the effects of playing on grass in trainers. Aching.

Seeing family and friends, such a joy. So thanks to one and all for being a part of it and making this weekend what it was.

And here ends my boring blog which currently is not monetised!*

* = in joke (sorry!)

The Joy Of The Retweet

Tis a strange ole world that we live in here in the 21st century. Methods of communication have become so diverse and intrinsically linked with the way in which we operate as human beings.

Last night on my way to play football, or soccer if you are so inclined, I tweeted that I was listening to an album by one of my favourite bands!

This morning I awoke to a message on my phone saying Project 86 has retweeted you.

Now I was very sleepy at the time but this little piece of 'news' made me very happy. But the question I find myself asking a few hours on is why? Why does a retweet bring such joy?

Affirmation? The craving of acceptance? Recognition, even if fleeting, from someone I admire? A deep seated void in my soul?

Hopefully it is not a reflection of the profound need to be loved. I say this because firstly I believe that need can really only be satisfied by God and secondly as a very happily* married man it would reflect poorly on that relationship.

I think I'll pencil it down to "I love this band and they showed a bit of love back" and that is a good thing!

Tomorrow though when I wake up, I shall try and interact with the two who love me unconditionally first before I find my acceptance in Twitter. And I might also ponder how I can communicate and interact with the world in more positive ways. Whether that's less time on brightly lit screens or being more positive on them.

* understatement

The Subtle Reminder of God's Abundance

At present we have a kind of financial situation. Now before people start worrying or getting their underwear of choice in a twist don't worry, we are not about to be evicted or some such other catastrophe!

Anyways, on Sunday evening as the wife and I do most Sunday evenings, we left church and hit Jacks. For the uninitiated Jacks is a purveyor of fried foods. Our routine for the last year has meant that as soon as we walk in they now say hello and get our order for us. We don't have to ask anymore. One day this may become an issue if we ever fancy a different meal but right now it's pretty cool!

Yesterday we were running late, got there about fifteen minutes before they were closing. And they said to us, do you want 3 battered sausages instead of 2. We were like err ok then. So we got a free sausage.

Now this might not seem like much BUT for me it was a timely reminder of God's blessing and abundance and how he can make more out of something. We paid the same price, £5.10 but got more.

Right now the facts or whatever we care to call our situation say one thing but that doesn't mean we have to be tied down by it. God's economy is rather different to the world's one.

Am gonna be trusting in the One who says I can meet all your need.

Getting Excited

So my band - Starting Over - is in the process of recording a demo.

Tomorrow evening I will hopefully finish the vocals which will then leave it in the oh so capable hands of Christian to mix and master and make us sound good.

What I have already heard sounds epic. The sound was really big and full and I'm very excited by it.

Playing guitar for 4 hours to record 3 tracks was interesting. For one of the songs, we broke it down into 7 parts, and excluding the muck ups I recorded each bit 4 times. 28 tracks just for guitar! Rock on!

More Grace Than I Deserve?

My wife has become a sounding board for my more stupid "things". This has led to a decrease in stupid "things" making their way onto t'internet etc. It also means that she bears the brunt of my stupidity and saves the world from a fair chunk of it.

At times it is amusing, other times it is sad and no doubt frustrating for her. Through it all I am amazed at her kindness and compassion towards me. She has made me a better person and as in her profession she has taught me many things.

Case in point when I wanted to rant about someone complaining about a by-product of the very thing they've been wanting for ages she rightly nudged me towards silence! Time and place and a whole heap of grace.

All this grace reminds me how blessed I am, how generous our God is. How I really should complain a lot less and help a lot more. We have been shown grace so we can show grace to others.

As my good friend pulled me up short this morning; my journey to work was troublesome and wet but instead of using the time productively I wasted it... If only he'd text me an hour earlier!

365 Days Ago

365 days ago we got married.

Today is not our anniversary though as it is a leap year, so tomorrow is the "celebration". And in style it shall happen! Champagne on the beach.

It may be in plastic glasses, it may be pouring with rain as it's Devon but who cares?!

The last year has been the best year of my life. And what is so amazing is that it has really only just begun.

May God bless you and make his fave shine upon you.

The Biggest Loser (wasn't me)

So The Biggest Loser diet is officially over. Final weigh in was last Friday and the results were very good.

Various stats:
Overall I came 7th (out of 15).
I lost 13 lbs or 7.11% of my body weight.
To win I would have had to lose a further 6 lbs.
The winner lost 10.48% and second place lost 27 lbs!

All in all I was very pleased. Near enough one stone gone, now for the next stone to go. The whisper at the office is that Round 2 begins after Easter. Sounds like a plan to me.

Now where did I put those Easter Eggs?!

Four Days and Counting

Seems crazy to think the best part of 3 months has passed and the Biggest Loser diet competition is drawing to an "exciting" conclusion.

I say exciting, or is it more of a damp squib? What a squib is I have no idea. And should it have two b's? Squibb or squib?!

Anyway, after a hugely enjoyable and terribly unhealthy weekend we are back on the straight and narrow. My calorific intake meant that I wasn't hungry til lunchtime today! While I ate my tuna sarnie, grapes and orange juice I went for a half hour walk in the sunshine. Lovelyjubbly!

Hopefully we'll "finish" strong in the competition as opposed to letting ourself down.

My new desk neighbour, although technically I'm his new neighbour mentioned his hope that the progress of the last few months would continue. I suggested we could not only be desk buddies but diet buddies too! What larks. Although in seriousness I do feel that the regime that I have "imposed" upon myself is sustainable. I just hope that a few more lbs fall off between now and Friday!

I think we are on track

Today was the penultimate weigh in and the prognosis was good!

I have lost half a stone since beginning this diet (biggest loser) "competition" in January. Am thoroughly chuffed. I'm now down to 13 and a half stone. Heading in the right direction. Hopefully will lose a fair few more pounds over the next two and a half weeks. Final weigh in is the end of the month.

The bottom line though is that this diet has helped to implement an eating regime which is sustainable and not going to depress me! Okay, the lack of snacking can be hard at times but now it's "slipping" once or twice a week rather once or twice a day! And that is something I can live with.

And I shall celebrate all of this by cooking dinner for my gorgeous wife!

Beware The Words

Beware the words which pour forth from the orifice of the face.

Now to some this may sound amusing, others sad, some stupid and others may nod sagely and pray for me.

My darling ninja wife was struck down last week, a particularly horrible bug. I said that perhaps I could get it to aid my weightloss...

Five days later I was struck down with the same thing. T'was sly to begin with, but over the course of six hours I went from feeling a tad perculiar to wondering if this was what the apocalypse was like. Until you have run into a bathroom and had the question "which end" in your head then frankly you've not been ill.

Two things struck; one, although it's difficult to prove it has reminded me that our words are extremely powerful and they do hold sway over many things. As the old adage goes, we reap what we sow. And two, my poor wife having to firstly go through this and then secondly look after me while I went through it!

So in future I will be a little bit more careful about wishing sickness on myself to aid weightloss. And I will continue to be ever so grateful for the kindness of my wife who has been amazing this weekend. How she put up with me I don't know, she obviously must love me very much because I was not a pretty sight for most of the weekend, and as I haven't shaved for over a week now rather hairy!

On the subject of the diet, decided not to weigh myself to next week. Just in case any weight that has been lost is then regained in trying to get healthy after the weekend's exploits! Although I am hopeful that with all the extra walking I have been doing over the course of the last week that I will keep heading in the right direction.

Proof Reader Needed

I may also start implementing a policy of wife proof reading all my posts before posting.

Goodness knows what has happened to my spelling, I used to be good at it didn't I, but somink has wong of late init. Whatevs I spose. 

Back Up and Running

Okay so sort of running!

Taking the chiropractors advice seriously and listening to the concern of my loving wife I am endeavouring to slouch less, exercise more, might even try hoovering tomorrow!

In all seriousness, I had one of those desk assessment things done by the health and safety person. A lovely lady, who when she saw my desk said "please tell me you've never had one of these before"! So now I know how to use my chair (stop sniggering, this is very important stuff) and have proper lumbar support. No comments about carrying extra timber please!

I have also implemented a walk more policy, so every morning this week I've walked from Paddington to Marylebone.

And I ate half a banana today. Not that this is important.

Running is still the next plan, but with everything else that has happened I don't want to push myself and the back too fast too soon. Got another appointment on Saturday before band practice.

Can't wait to play the new song, I have a feeling it is going to be epic! My bandmates/brothers are such wonderfully gifted musicians who are so much fun to play with. Will let ya know how it goes!

Back Down

At the behest of my wife and because of the concern of friends/colleagues I have booked an appointment with the chiropractor for this Saturday.

Hopefully it'll be a cracking time and no cause for concern!

So I've backed down on my stereotypical man response of "it's fine, nothing to worry about". Who said men can't change eh?!

Weight took a bit of a hit at the weekend; I say weekend, more like week, a lot of very tasty food consumed. The combo of Valentine's day, bad weather, bad back etc has led to a distinct lack of exercise as well. Something that will be rectified, assuming Jeremy my chiropractor is happy with me to do such things!

I will get back on track with the whole weightloss thing. I will!

All Things Work Together

Saturday night I woke up at 3am ish finding it difficult to breathe and in a considerable amount of pain.

My amazing wife, who usually sleeps like a log woke up too. And provided some comfort while I was in discomfort. After my body had calmed down a bit and we were back in bed we attempted to get some sleep. A tad difficult to say the least as I realised I couldn't lie on my side, which is how I sleep!

A few prayers, painkillers, massages and hot baths later and it is Monday morning. The back is still not ready for work as up until this point I haven't been able to sit without pain or the ability to take a deep breath! So I am stuck at home... what to do... watch tv... so I pick up the guitar. Found some lyrics I had written a few weeks ago. 2 hours later a new song is completed. 1 hour later I've recorded it and emailed it too my band mates Dave and Will. Good times.

This is the first song I have written since last year when I composed a song for my dear brother's wedding.

I was reminded that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. My back is slowly on the mend and am hopeful I might make it to work tomorrow. But if I hadn't been stuck with nothing to do and a lot of time to "kill" I would never have written this song.

Too Harsh On Myself?

Yesterday I had the final part of my yearly review. In it my boss gave me my grading for the year.

I was pleasantly surprised in some respects as to how well it went and how complimentary she was. Once again she picked up on my 'unwillingness' to sell myself. Which got me thinking about how often I do under sell myself.

Now part of that is me not wanting to be a douchebag and so ridiculously self absorbed but at times it means that I undervalue me. And that is not being humble. Humility is knowing ones worth in God's eyes and treating other people with respect, deference and love.

So maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on myself and actually be a lil bit more outspoken about the good things I've done.

Next weigh in is on Monday. Last night we went out for dinner for a dear friend's birthday. I had a sandwich, ate a salad and shared a pudding with my delightful wife. If this isn't progress I don't know what is!

Spelling Errors

More than a little ashamed of the spelling errors in the previous post (as pointed out by my amazing school teacher wife!).

Science teacher... Which pretty much sums out the horrific nature of that spelling error!

3 Down More To Go

Monday was first weigh in and after some amusing misunderstanding on my part I can reveal that I've lost 3 pounds. Which is a pain cos lunch from Tescos is £2.50! What larks.

Ok, so the lil piece of paper from Boots says I now way 13 stone 11 lbs. Which when I thought meant I'd only lost a pound in three weeks was depressing. When my darling waif of a wife pointed out that meant I'd lost 3 I felt much better. Mainly cos I'd been ill and thus done no exercise.

So 3 down more to go as the exercise kicks in this week. Footie on Tuesday was freezing, but 90 mins of gentle labour was a good start! I still ache though... Maybe that jog will happen tomorrow.

Silence Falls but the Ninja is Strong

I just felt like having a ridiculous heading post. Although speaking of ninjas, my wife has the immune system of a ninja.

So the sore throat that I mentioned last week... it properly got worse. Friday morning my voice had disappeared and my throat felt like sandpaper. It was not good. I thought I'd be sensible. Rest up and be back up and running in no time! Oh no no no. I managed to make it to the wedding on Saturday, which in hindsight might not have been the most sensible idea I've ever come up with. I was left absolutely shattered. My beautiful wife wife ended up going to the reception without me as I curled up on the sofa and coughed up lumps of flem! Tasty, not! By Sunday evening the sandpaper throat had just about disappeared, the aching limbs subsided, the power of prayer and cake no doubt. Leaving behind just a common cold.

So now I am just sniffing, sneezing and occasionally grumpy, no wait that was a dwarf, I'm occasionally coughing. We are on the mend. Thank the good Lord. My wife, unaffected. like I said, ninja!

So during this time of resting I have mainly been watching House, season 6 which I got for Christmas. And there was this great line which in context was facetious but to me was an encouragement and challenge. "Behind all the God stuff... more God stuff". It got me thinking, I want to be like that. I want more of "Christ in me, the hope of glory" which reveals more God stuff and reveals more of who I actually am. Brain not quite working enough to go flesh that out any more.

Needless to say my wife has been amazing these last few days, putting up with a weak, coughing, sneezing, sniffly, boring husband. I love you wifey.

Finding Excuses To Fail

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on myself, but then again maybe not.

Last week I didn't make it out for a run. Two fail marks. Now in my defence my foot hurt, but was that an excuse?

I attempted to make up for it with some press ups and sit ups and other assorted exercises but still it isn't really two runs...

I also had a mahoosive fry up. Oops!

Anyways it got me wondering if I find excuses just to fail. Not deliberately of course, but maybe subconsciously. Or perhaps I am overthinking all of this. I guess we shall see if I go for a run tomorrow.

Right now it's Tescos and vegetables to cook my amazing life saving wife some dinner.

Not Sure If It's Going Or Not

Fell asleep last night with my throat deciding to complain. As a 'singer' albeit it a very lazy and unprofessional one I tend to notice these things early. I'm not sure if it's going or not but I really hope not.

Times like this I am reminded of my parents and the wonderful legacy of their tutoring. One of their favourite things to do is remind us of God's promises. And specifically in this case ones on healing.

Was discussing some of those verses the other night with my delightful and astounding wife.

So as I lay in bed right now, with le wife out, I'm recalling some of them to mind. I love the one that says and they brought the sick to him and he healed them all(Matt 21v14). Jesus was awesome. And for those of us who believe, He still is.

Bad Day at the (Metaphorical) Office

Days one through three of le diet were a resounding success. I say success in that not a hint of chocolate or other illicit substances,  mind you I've no idea if any weight has been lost yet.

Day four though was another matter, a bad day at the office; the metaphorical one that is, work was actually okay. I got home and was doing the washing up while the big bang theory blared in the background and suddenly I felt faint. Hunger pangs engulfed me. My head feared the worst.

So I left the dirty dishwater and sat down upon our lovely red sofa and ate six Thorntons chocolate.

Now the good news is that after the chocolate I no longer felt quite so faint, was fortified to finish the washing up and cook my lovely wife some dinner. The bad news is that it was a minor setback on le diet plan AND has reminded me just how good chocolate tastes. I'm almost salivating thinking about it now.

Oh well, we fall down, we get up again. We fail, we start over.

I endeavoured to make up for it this morning - a banana and an orange for breakfast. And if my foot is up to it I will attempt the first jog of 2012.

Patience is (usually) Rewarded

I say usually because I really am hoping being patient right now is gonna pay off! I have a massive hankering for chocolate/any sort of snack. I'm hoping that if I patiently chew gum and drink tea this desire will be beaten and I will hold out for dinner.

Yesterday, playing footie for the first time in many weeks I was handily given a lesson in patience. As I carried round my 'extra timber' and spent the opening exchanges of our 7 aside game in defence/goal I wondered if it was going to be a frustrating and annoying evening. However, I remained patient and didn't get too annoyed and ended up scoring a hattrick and setting up a fair few for others. Turned out to be a good return to footie. *note to self - be patient and don't give up!

I ache a bit today but not as badly as I had envisioned either, which is good!

This morning I got a text from a dear dear friend and I thought I'd share it cos it made me smile!

  'Seeing as I've now got a commute to use, I figure I'll reverse the polarity and send you an early morning text. Unfortunately, the bible verses I read this morning were about millstones and the end of the world. So, in lieu of that, a line from a children's song: God loves you and I love you and that's the way it should be. AMEN! Have a cracking Wednesday.'

Thierry

To many it isn't important. And to those who it is important it is advisable to maintain perspective. But Thierry Henry scoring the winning goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup 3rd round was a beautiful moment and reminded me of the joy of life.

I am so very blessed. A wife who I do not have enough superlatives for. Friends and family who love me just the way I am. A roof over my head and clothes on my back. Some rock n roll in my ear. And Mr Va Va Voom returning for The Arsenal.

Tonight as stage two of the diet kicks in and I do some physical exercise - Tuesday Night Football - I shall be ala Sir Thierry Henry!

Now to work on that beard...

Only joking my love!

The Biggest Loser

So... diet... hmm... oh dear...

But it's not all bad news.

Having seen my weight balloon like a *insert own simile* and with the announcement at work that The Glee Club (don't ask) were doing a version of that bastion of enlightened television The Biggest Loser my diet is kicking in again.

The 10 quid entry charge with the potential of winning all the entry fees for the biggest weight loss combined with the attached picture showing I'm now hitting the scales at 14 stone is some pretty good motivation.

So no snacks, no chocolate, no donuts, and normal sized portions. Did I mention no chocolate, oh ok. And exercise. Football on tuesdays. Runs on thursdays and the weekend. Plus if possible Wii fit and Just Dance/Zumba on the Wii.

I feel skinny already.

And fit and ripped and raaaaa!

No actually I feel hungry. Where's the snacks?!

Wife's Away, Band Will Play

Today, my beautiful wife gets her Christmas present from her mum. The present (which I am endeavouring not to be completely jealous of) is a shopping trip at Westfields.

Right now I'm 'drowning' my sorrows in yule logs! Only joking, I'm really pleased for her. Will be a lovely daughter mother day with retail therapy! I am eating the yule logs though!

So today while the wife is away the band will play. This afternoon for the first time in too long the band is getting together and playing. I am tres excited. Going to try out a new guitar pedal as well!

Rock on!