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?!