Fractured Thoughts in a Fractured Week

For the most part, I am basically content with my lot as a working family bod. I get through, you know? However, these last few weeks, I have found myself longing for one of those lives where I get to sit down and think and write and muse and the like. I just haven't had time to do it and I miss it. You will find that these thinkings that I jot down will reflect that at the moment. Sorry.

Anyway, this week. HOH had a birthday and was very touched by the amount of wishings of well that he received when I posted the photo above on Facebook. He was amazed how many of the people there remembered him. (TBH, he didn't remember all of THEM, but we are putting that down to age and being busy and the like) FOW2 did the cake which was disgustingly chocolaty and wolfed down by all concerned.

For he sake of sanity, we sallied forth to the cinema as a family. HOH and FOW2 went to see Branagh's Macbeth live from Manchester. They loved it. FOW2 wasn't too sure about the fight scenes. Apparently, people who were quite obviously winning their bit of the fight would keep insisting on pirouetting round in a full circle, thus leaving themselves open to being run through in the backwards area, mid twirl. I explained to her about dramatic effect and all that but she has seen too many episodes of gritty American drama to be impressed by that. 
FOW1 refused Macbeth so we went to see The World's End. I went into this with a totally heroic "Things I Do for my Kids" kind of vibe. However, it was really funny. Very British. Not quite as good as Hot Fuzz but certainly in the ball-park. (Don't go if you have a thing about bad language. It puts the G in gritty in that department)

I read this, this week. Family Secrets - Living with Shame from the Victorians to the Present Day. It is a big , fat book stuffed to the drawstrings with facts - most of which are quite depressing. I learnt more than my small brain can take. The most edifying bit was finding out that the condition Downs Syndrome was named after Doctor Langdon Down, who, in 1866 opened a huge home for children with mental disorders - not to hide them away but to give them the best chance of education and a better life. It was only in the 1920s that the idea of hiding the children away took hold. Dr Down and his wife were part of the Evangelical Movement which sought to translate their faith into actions and also two more names on the long list of Christians who make me feel that I am playing at it.

I have just realised that the font has completely changed but I don't have time to look at it. Am off to make chicken butties before evening service. We are doing Joseph and it's really good. You think you know everything about Joseph just because you have heard it so many times and can sing all the colours in the coat in the right order, but there is so much in the account that is relevant to normal people. Am loving it.
That's it for now. Carry On!

Wadjda

Telegraph.co.uk

Quick Film review....

Wadjda. Made by Haifaa al-Mansour,   first ever female film  maker in Saudi. (Laughs in face of patriarchy!) It's about a girl, who wants a bicycle. Bicycles aren't encouraged because of possible damage to ladyparts. Girl still wants bicycle. Er. Yep that's about it. She charms the living daylights out of anyone who comes within a hundred yards of her as does the whole film. Funny and sad and clever.
Dunno where you will get to see it as cinemas are full of Idris Alba in dinosaur suit knocking ten bells out of everything but if you see a chance - take it. (In the words of the great Steve Winwood)

Waving not drowning

Hello.

I am not dead, Not quite. I am however, completely, totally, utterly overwhelmed. 

First I was ill. In bed ill. Mysterious virus.
Then daughter gets mysterious virus.
Then Mother moves south. Wagons are rolling. Vans are being unpacked. Virgin is messing up the Internet.
Work is in overdrive.
I have emails from Noah that I haven't replied to.

I am catching up but I am doing it very slowly.....

But I am here. really I am and I am soon to be back so try not to forget me. In the meantime. this is lovely.

After a difficult day.

This will do your bits good. I know you have all probably seen this but I just wanted to show it to you because it makes my heart sing. A deaf child hears for the first time. 

Trying hard not to keep trapping my head in the door...

It hasn't been a bad few days. No one got stuck under anything heavy. No one got lost in the woods. There is actually only niggly things niggling I think. It hasn't been a great time though. I have let worry get the better of me. I have allowed myself to get annoyed by things I cannot change. I have been disappointed in myself for allowing this to happen again. Because I know myself and when I allow worry to over take me, I become less faithful and when I trust God less I become

• A bit toxic. I have less patience with people who need my patience. Then, because I have less patience and am snappish, I feel guilty and then I feel more toxic and so it goes on.
• Shattered is what I become. Easy rhythms become hard and need effort. Plus I don't sleep as well so I am genuinely pooped. 
• Sad and fearful. Where is this Christianity stuff going? Is there a point to all this?
• A nasty piece of work. People who are doing better than me begin to get on my nerves. People who aren't better than me get on my nerves. No-one can win. Least of all God.

So it was good this morning to hear about Leah and Rachel in Genesis 29 and 30 and the problems that they caused for each other and also that things that happened to them seemingly through no fault of their own. It was good to hear that through the mess (and believe me I have no mess at all against what looks like an episode of The Sopranos here) that God was working through everything. He was listening and answering and the original promises had not budged one inch. I think it's all good in the end.

It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10  

Read this week. Pure. I found a recommendation for this on the Being Me blog which is jolly good so I hot footed it to the library and had to wait 3 weeks so that was a good sign. Anyway, it's really different. It is about the clearing of an old graveyard in the middle of Paris just before the French Revolution but in some ways, that is incidental. It's haunting and draws you in to a time and place even though you don't understand it.Sometimes, when people say a book is well written, I am not always sure what they mean. I think I understand here. It's not what you would call incident packed but I couldn't leave it alone

Saw this week. Despicable Me 2. Just really funny. what do you want from me?

Technical stuff now. If you follow this on Google reader, it is a dead duck from tomorrow so you cain't do it no more. this may be your opportunity to slip off un-noticed but if you want to stay - you can follow though Bloglovin - there is  a button on the right or via email. Or like me on Facebook. S'up to you really. would certainly appreciate it if you stayed. 

Anyway - wow, that was long this week. Am off to watch Mumfords at Glastonbury  Loved Chic the best so far. Rolling Stones never popular in this house because they apparently stole Stevie Wonder's/Otis Redding's/Bobby Womack's careers. Don't think it  helped me that someone on Twitter said that The Stones reminded them of the Wonga Advert. Ah well.