Bad spelling

I have always been abad speller, but this next paragraph makes me feel better. Believe it or not you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh, and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt

Too cool for play school 

Pointing out the Rabbits (they are hiding) 

Local Deer 

Charlotte and Julie with Rosie (Charlotte trying her mind controll trick) 

Down on the farm

After going back to be twice (long story) I was up by 10am. We spent the afetrnoon travelling. Went to Castlerock, a seaside town with a beautifull beach, just left of the Bann mouth on the north coast. With buggy, we were not going onto the beach, so we went round the frount and the streets, which seem to be paved with dog poo. Escaping the village just before gatting caught by a funeral, we headed to Lesley hill open farm. Charlotte got the be scared of a horse, confused by rabbits, and ignored the guinypigs. Very tactile place with lots of tame animals you can pet (including a deer) and plenty of signs telling you to wash your hands. It will be a better place to visit when Charlotte is older, but we are glad we went.
Ended up for a cuppa at the Rountrees. Haven't been there for a few weeks, so it was nice to catch up.
Charlotte is stil teething, but not as bad as last night, so we managed to get 'Bourne Identity' finished. I liked it, kind of an American James Bond. Would of been better if I didn't have to pause it every few minuits to explain the plot to Julie (it was a bit complicated). Carol and Billy have 'Bourne Supremecy' on tape for us.
Taping BBC3 tonight for 'Farscape' and 'Teen Angels'

The long Good Friday

Friday was a long day. Only four turned up, and they seemed to enjoy it (even if one kept asking when we were going elsewhere, accompanied by a bored face). We didn't quite make it up Slemish, mainly because there is no path and we thought it was a bit risky, considering the YPs we had. Enede up in KFC, not McDonalds. Not any more impressive. I won the bowling with an impressive (for me) 107. Its not impressive that I won, no-one else could bowl well.
Charlotte is teething again, and finding it hard, again, so there was no way I would make it to the Dawn Service in Ballintoy harbour. Some of our congregation walked. It took them 3 hours, starting out at 2.45am. Nutters! Service was good, but a bit of strain withthe Praise Group (all five of us). It just isn't fun anymore. Good flannel board sermon.
Dr Who was well worth the wait. Great humour, and the story kept me watching, but definatly aimed at a younger audience. The title and interiors of the TARDIS are a bit too close to Farscape for me. Looking forward to the series. Have watched four Farscapes this weekend and now need to finish Alien V Preditor. I am not fussed at all on Enterprise. Jule and I watced the forst half of Bourn Idedtity last night. Hopefully the last half tonight.

And just to keep up with Ruth...
Breakfast - Porridge with stewed apple, decaf instant
Lunch - Roast Ham, cabbage, potatoes (boiled and roast); Banana & Ice-cream
Tea - cheese on toast, lowfat yoghurt and fresh fruit (plum & apple).

..wobble but don't fall over

Today was a bussy day in youh work world. I was a bit pushed for time preparing before coffe shop, and being holidays, coffe shop wasn't quiet. Staight after we made the final preparations for Lunchtime Quest, before the hotdog binge. Why do young people only like sausages with bits of eye and bumb in it, and not good butcher sausage?
I did todays talk, and found that narative doesn't work with these guys, and they are none the wiser about Nicodemus and the his relationship with Jesus. We finished the wall art. A bit of plaster board we can screw to the wall, it had a cross made up of newspaper headlines (Christ crucifed for our sin) and at the four corners we have (1) the three crosses (for the two criminals talked about on Monday)(2) a roman solger (the talk on Tuesday), (3) an empty tomb ( for niocodemus who helped burry Jesus), (4) John 3 v 16-17 (what Jesus said to Nicodemus).
With after noon and evening drop-ins, it seems like a long day. The last hour of tonight was good, because we had a 'Bulls eye' cfompetition.
Quest finishes tomorrow with a day away to Slemish, McDonalds (groan) and bowling. Could be another long day.

Writing on the wall (in chocolate)

Bit of a strange night. Caught some boys acting suspiciously under the stairs and went to investigate. Alot of litter, and 'UVF' written on the wall in Chocolate(?). Of course nobody wrote it and nobody littered. Really fed-up with the bigotry, really fed-up with the disrespect of anything that isn't theirs (like the littering), and really fed-up with the perpetual lying.

Ruth had a group of the older boys in a quiz. It started really well, but digressed into 'who can answer like a pervert'. Ruth handelled it well by taking the first answer, therefore if you were 'only joking', you got a wrong answer. Annoyed a few of the boys.

Dr Who and the Garlics

Normal night, with Sammy trying to kill himself by shaking electric cabels so that a dozen street lights go out. He has also been told by a teacher that we were taking to the Ed Well about him. Not very profesional of the teacher.
Still trying to talk to young people about Dr Who. Nearly made a break through with Philip, who told me he remembered Dr Who, "and those robots, the garlics". So close. It did bring some images of these machines shouting "EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!"

Great bit from writers Square, in the Cathedral Quarter.

Titanic Town

After a busy few weeks, colds, chicken pox, and over tirdness, we had our night away in Belfast.
We left Charlotte off in Larne and headed on the buss to Belfast. We had a great time. We waundered around the shops. I bought the Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Volume 1, which is a great read, and follows onto teh classic 'Ground Zero' TPB. I also got a cheep Christmas tree star. Great value at £1.50. Julie was waundering around the girly shops and bought girly stuff. We did go round s few shops together, and then headed for our hotel, the Europa. We were on the 10th floor of 12 with a great view north, looking over the Grand Opera House, Black Man BIFHE, and on to Cave hill in the background. The room was good and spacy, and the bed very big. We went to the Brasery restraunt in the hotel for tea, and had an average meal (I thought my duck was a bit salty).
Julie picked the movie, Hostage with Bruce Willis. Good plot (you werent sure who was going to live) but a bit bloody. I spent some of the movie trying to decide when Willis went from 'fun' characters to 'stern' characters. Must of been when he lost his hair.
On the way back to the hotel we went to a Spar, and there was a bouncer. There are more bouncers in Belfast than I have ever seen, and they are all linked. The Europa must of had around 8.
The Breakfast was great, good selection, but we did have a conversation with a still drunk guy beside us, while his wife franticly fed the child and him. We spent the morning going around the cool buildings along the river and Cathedral Quarter. It was nice to tell Julie some of the interesting histories and stories of Belfast.
After the big breakfast, we spent lunch in Starbucks, just sitting around. It was a good weekend.
Charlotte had a good weekend as well, untill she saw us and remembered we wern't there for the past day. It took her a while to calm down. SHe si now back at nursery, and nearly walking.

Time travelers strife

With my excitment about the new Dr Who on Sat 26th March, I talked to some of our boys at work (Always looking for ways of showing how cool I really am). They never heard of him! WHat on earth do schools teach them. My favourit Dr was Colin Baker, mainly because in the comic, he had a penguin as a companion.
Gary came into drop-in today saying, in a calm everyday way, that he might have mumpsa nd he was going to the Dr in 20 mins. I chucked him out, telling him that because Charlotte hasn't had the MMR yet, I didn't want to risk her getting it. He came back after the Dr and said it wasn't mumps, but some type of throat infection. Gary made sure Charlotte wasn't in danger. It may seem like a wee thing, but really made my job worthwhile.

Cool building beside City hall, Belfast. At th every bottom of pic you can see four pictures of old Belfast industries: Pressing, linin weaving, ship building and biggotry.  

Strapping figure of a youth worker. 

Talking Rubish

This weekend has me doing 4 talks. The first three were for the young people attending MountJoy PCI family weekend. I didn't feel it went well. I was given the brief of three talks, around 1 hour, mix of kids between 12 and 16. I decided to talk on freedom, based on Galations 5. I ended up with 8 YP (good number) and only two of them were willing to listed in any way. I even lost two of them to the primary aged childrens group. I wasn't prepared for that kind of talk, or I would of come with just doing games and just before the went blurt out "Jesus loves you!". The first 'weekend' i have ever done that I have felt the message i prepared have been of a decent quality, and I may use it again, given the oppertunity. But given the oppertunity, I will ask more questions on what exactly is expected. I always promise myself that I won't speek at anything unless I am given a topic, and this just provs it. OK, I sound a bit negative, but it wasn't all bad. I did connect with the YP on a small way, and I did stay faithfull to the Gospel.

Tomorrow, Sunday School is Nessie giving her testimony (really looking forward to that), and Speaking at Ruths YF on 'Relationships' (have done various parts of the talk befoe recently, and dealing not only with boy/girl stuff, but friend and parents). Should be good, as i know most of the kids.

Julie got a phone call from the Nursery (http://www.sandcastlesdaynursery.co.uk/) saying Charlotte has Chicken Pocks. She seems to be laughing her way through it.

Girls together. 

Charlotte sick 

On the mend

Charlotte has had a day with Granny Carol and Granda Billy and is feeling better. I posted a photo of sick Charlotte, wearing her "happy hat". It didn't seem to work. But she does laugh a lot, incase you think she is a miserable child. She took nearly 80- mins to get down tonighty, and still woke at 10pm. I hope she is down for the night.
I used Dolly thismorning in assembly about prayer using the Story of Dr Helen Rosevere, the parcel and answered prayer. I feel i am getting better at telling children stories, making it interesting and having a point. The more I see those with a real gift, the more I can try out new skills. The head in GPS is very good with the children. He spent a good 7 mins in a "pantomime act" with the children and was still able to gat their attention back within seconds.