rough ride

Had a lot of ups and down this week.
Downs

1. Had to bar philip for a few weeks. This 17 yearold decided with his friend to put vasaline on the door handles and windows. After Ruth cleaned it up, and they did it again (as well as throwing a plastic bottyle near a horse and rider). So they were barred for a week. But Philip decided to swear very loudly outside the Cornerstone when the Homework Club children were in. He got a warning, and then ignored that. So now he is out for two weeks. Lastnight he was hanging around the porch, which filled up with litter and spilled drinks very quickly. There was also terrorist graffiti scraped into our door. Then Philip decided to yell secterian insults upi the street, from outside the Cornerstone. That didn't set me upp fir the best night. The others were ok (apart from the ones Philip was telling to do 'bad' things), just a bit loud (but one fella does pick on ones he sees as weaker than him). Really wanted to stay at hoem today. Just shows how one bad boy can bug you.
2. No West Wing this week.
   Ups
   
3. Getting on great with new lad Eamon. Really keen to interact and join in. Has a bit of bother from some, but seems well able to cope. Good guy.
4. Today I got a pay rise and real compliments from the boss. Nice to have that, and different from a church setting, where you seldom get a payrise, and are made to feel guilty for asking for an increase along with inflation.
5. Recieved my Bob Hope CD. Great stuff.
6. Julie and Charlotte (and I'm not just putting this in because Julie will read this).
7. Off untill Tuesday.

Sunny days

Great weekend. Got the lawn done, and what a weight off that is. Started on Friday evening, and finished on Saturday morning, with strimming in the early afternoon. The mowing took about 3 hours, with changing the box every 7 steps. It's looking good now (a bit strawy, but that does not matter to me) but the vegitable patch will take a lot longer. I tried to strim it, but the strimmer didn't make a dent in the weeds. Julie sudgested weed killer. That is why I do the garden.

Later in the afternoon, we dandered into town and even tried the new sweet shop. Quarter of white Bon-Bons. Bought new sunglasses for the car, and nearly bought a new hat (somewhere in my deep subconcous I must be paranoid about baldness. Saw a TV programme the other day that sudgested men grow beards when they start to go bald.), but might go buy it for our holidays.

Made our own burgers for tea. Great taste, and if a remembered the bread crumbs, maybe they would stick together better. Dr Who after Charlotte went to bed. Good solid ending to the frst two parter. I do like the way it focuses on the life Rose leaves behind. Thay shouldn't of shown the Dalek in the teaser, but I am looking forward to it. He he.

Sunday was my turn for Church and communion. Out to the Rountrees after lunch. As always, good craic. Nice to see Jennifer beating Caroline up occasionaly. Charlotte is getting more teeth, and it took her quite while to get down last night, and she then woke between 10pm and 1am. Good job I was off thismorning.

We went to Coleraine look prices for roof bars for my car, and eBay wins. I then bought new trainers in Dunns(£27 for two pairs, I feel ripped off). We let Charlotte run free with the rains. SHe would of been everywhere if we let her. Must be very overwhelming to have so much that you can go to see now. Loves to head for shop stores.

My compost doth overflow. 

Newly cut back lawn (but a vegitable patch that might be left a 'nature resurve') 

Newly cut front lawn. Even the starlings are pleased. 

A fair and free election

Great fun today talking to the boys about the how the democratic process is a fair and free election, where the people choose from alist of candidates the best person to represent them in both the British Parlement and the local council. How each citizen over 18 years old can choose based either on party manefesto, or looking at the individual candidate, what are seen as the relevent issues and our own needs compare.

The boys then decided to tear down all the SDLP posters in town because they are catholics.

Thud. Thud. Thud. ( sound of head hitting wall)

It's Japanese for 'terrible wind'.

Was back at work today, and got cheesed off tonight with some of the boys attitueds to other races, religions and, well, anybody different. It's as if they think they are the best, without ever having to prove it by little things like bettering themselves with education or work. Every time you try too talk to them about this, they retreat into thier own ignorance of how the world is. Such a small view of the world. Such a big view of themselves.

To cheer myself up when I got home, I decided to look up farts on the web ( also because i have a terrible wind problem since getting bettererish).
If you want the answers to questions like 'what is fart gass made of?', 'how much gass does a normal person pass in a day?' and 'do fish fart?', then 'Facts on farts' is for you.
You may be interested in the dangerous sport of lighting body gasses. Lockergnome encyclopedia explains the thery and dangers.
Two products for those interested (and evin I lost interest at this stage) are the book The Gas We Pass: The Story of Farts, and to save you from those embaresing moments in the office, the invention GasBGon.
Me, i'm just taking peppermint tablets, and hopeing for the best.

Charlotte tries out for 'Pope Idol:2005' 

"It runs in my family..."

Charlotte is still sick. She had a cou[ple of loose nappys, and is still barfing (latest this morning). I am also ill, with nausia, headack and now dioreah (bad spelling may be a sise effect. Ruth ciovered for me this morning, and Derek this afternoon, while Carol and Billy came to look after Charlotte.
I slept for 45 min thismorning (before taking Charlotte to see Dr) and 90 min this afternoon. Had two slices of toast and several drinks siped. I am so proud that at 7.30pm I went to the loo and farted. No trickle, just a fart. This is a good sign (unless you smelt it).
Updates on bowl movements as they occur.

Change of plans

What I planned for my morning off:

• Paint shelves
• Go to dentist
• Mow lawn (first time this year) and possible weeding.

What I did do:

• Take day off work to look after barfy child.

Charlotte boked round her last night, then thismorning at breakfast. She perked up after a two and half hour morning nap (after watching 'Farscape'). She decided to wait untill a) I was out and b) she had a belly full of milk before doing the barf tonight. SHe is now sound asleep in the only PJ's left. We recon its a milk reaction, and Julie will bring her to Doc David tomorrow.

Really anoyed that I still haven't got the garden seen to. It takes untill mid March for the soil (ha, more like super sticky stuff) to dry enough to walk on, and a good day or two for the grass to dry. Add to that the problem of not being able to adjust the height of the mower. Only days that I could of done it weather wise, we were away etc.

On the pluss side, our wee libruary has spurted out a Graphic Novel:Star Wars: The Last Command.

Had a Sunday School teachers meeting tonight, and decided on Childrens Day and Sunday School excursion (not quite the name used). Sunday 12th June and Saturday 18th respectfully.

Just something I noticed in relation to the comentarys of the Popes funeral, a GMTV reporter in Rome comented that the scean was like a football match, with the singing of the hynms.

On a foot note (he, he, he) Charlotte was measured for shoes as being 4H, but we do have some very child friendly shoe shops in both Coleraine and Ballymena (us going to the latter).

Just a reflection of herself 

Front garden 

Vegitable patch (but the Rubarb is going well) 

Code breaker

Just finished 'The DaVinci Code'. It was a page turner, but for the wrong reasons. Brown created anticipation by having questions that he kept waving in frount of you, and promising to answer later. Example.

"Sophie, I must tell you about your Grandfather, and the secrets he hid from you."
"Yes Robert, I have been waiting all my life to know about that, so do tell."
"I cannot tell you now, it's only chaper 20, lets wait until chapter 36, and that will build the tension."

The good thing was that the chapters were short, but book ended as if Brown ran out of good ideas to streach out, so he added a twist for no reason.

The worst thing now is having to read "Unlocking DaVinci's Code: Mystery or Conspiracy?", "Preaching Another Jesus: Decoding Dan Brown's DaVinci Code Hoax", "Breaking The DaVinci Code: Answers To The Questions Everyone's Asking", "Secrets of the Code: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind The Da Vinci Code" and "De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code".

New shoes for the wedding (and her first. Spent the first hour after the shop just sitting in the buggy, looking at her feet). 

Charlotte watching high-lights of Popes funeral (while eating stewed fruit with hand). 

Mens' Fellowship

We had our mens fellowship last night. A great night. There were only six of us there, but it was a mighty time. Thsi is the first evening meeting of encouragement, after a breakfast in Jan and aclay shoot in Feb. After Kenneth lead some praise, I spoke on how teen males that I work with, and their perceptions of manhood. A great discussion came out of that, and even went on after the prayer time and over tea and ginger snaps.
Really felt part of a group of christian men, and living Proverbs 27v17.

Super fools

Too cheer me up, i found a great wee site that poke fun at stupid comic covers. May sound dull to you, but I have been laughing away.

Birthday Girl.

Yesterday was Julies Birthday. She isn't too well and not one of the best Birthdays she has ever had. But she did get gifts from me including 'How to Remodel a Man: You Know It's Impossible But You Want to Try Anyway' by W. Bruce Cameron, and 'Bride And Prejudice'. I tried to fool her by wraping up one of my Batman Graphic novels, and it worked. It was early in the morning. Caroline was round in the morning and that was as good a time as ever to have the birthday cake, which is one of Carols chocolate cakes (yum!).
The evening I was in work. We had a mission. We had been building up to this for weeks, giving the guys and oppertunity to ask questions. A local minister from Ringsend, Colin, came, but was he prepared for the six boys who turned up?
Colin was very good, giving two short talks, and the question time in the middle. He kept it simple and easy to follow. Some of the boys got lost as soon as he opened his mouth, the defence shield clouding their minds and the mear hint of the Gospel, but some listened. The question time was a bit of a disaster. Our thinking was that some of the boys who had been asking questions over the past few months, would have the chance to ask them here. Of course they didn't come and few questions were, shall we say, limited. "Did God eveolve from a monkey?" and "Was he gay?" were the cream.
We did have challenges: six question quiz, streangth test (with a bathroom scale and the percentage of their own body weight they could squeeze) and using the electro shock game. The winners got a cream egg, which one boy moaned about; "Is that all I get?" He got the egg for answering 4 questions out of 6, in the childrens trivial pursuit. WHat was he looking for, a degree? Fortunetly, the other winners were a lot more gracous.