Playing catch-up

Isn't it amazing how there is no time to write anything when you're busy? You're either doing something or are too tired after doing something to write about the something you've been doing.

Since I last wrote:

• The summer football league has started. In the three games we've played so far I think we've scored 2 and conceded 25 or more. I told you it was going to be difficult. I don't approve of ungraded football leagues.


• I've figured out I can access the company network from home via my work laptop and our wireless network meaning I can work from home when I need a day of peace and quiet to get on with something particular. It was my boss's idea too!


• I had another meeting to go to in Wellington and yet again didn't get further than the conference room of the golf club across the road from the airport. At least this time our plane took off and circled over the city so that Gabi could point out the sights for me.


• The new Exploring Discipleship course started. It was a great night and all seemed to go well. I was going to say it went smoothly but that would ignore the fact that Ryan was meant to do the talk, was ill and so I had to step in at late notice. Apart from that it all went smoothly. And was very encouraging.


• We had Kirsten who is one of Joanne's workmates over for dinner along with her husband the other Saturday along with Lisa & Steve and Lisa's brother who is in town from Sydney. (Roast pork, roast potato and kumara mix, broccoli & cauliflower cheese followed by chilli chocolate self-saucing pudding and icecream)



• I spent two days (getting back today actually) in Akaroa on a work conference. It was the same head office work conference that we had in Hanmer around the same time last year. It was the first time I've been to Akaroa and the sun's shone so it was good to get a bit of a sense of what everyone raves about. Sure, it's a nice little town (in the middle of an exploded volcano) with some French street names in line with its history but I still don't quite get why everyone thinks it's so amazing. The accommodation was better than sufficient, the conference venue was impressive, and the winery we went to for dinner last night was a lovely little spot.

This weekend we're going to Hanmer for the weekend. Kirsten (see above) has organised a whole group of us to go up there. I'm not sure the weather's going to be spectacular enough to do much outside but even in the rain the idea of relaxing in the thermal pools seems inviting right about now.

Black fingers

It's been one of those weekends where we didn't get to sit down for long. We bought some stain for our fence, some paint for the pergola, a lawnmower and a strimmer. I stained the wood on the pergola while Joanne finished the undercoat yesterday and then today we gave it a first coat of paint while I put together the lawnmover and strimmer. Oh and I took the ski racks off the car and rearranged the shed and garage a bit. I took a photo of Joanne painting this afternoon in her overalls but she won't let me post it. We still have to give the pergola another coat of paint sometime and give the wood bits another coat of stain too. And do something about staining the fence - all 175m² of it.

It'll be so good when we're able to sit and enjoy the garden, but at least if we get all this stuff in the spring it will all be ready for the summer. Oh, and we have a barbecue now too. I'm still not convinced of the benefits of a gas grill oven thing outside but I guess I'll learn. I've been brought up on charcoal and it's hard to get the smoke out of my eyes.

My talk seemed to go well the other week by the way. I got some encouraging feedback and people did seem challenged by what I had to say. Thank you for your prayers.

I had a full-year appraisal on Friday at work. It seemd to go well too. Lots of encouraging words and appreciative words about my work in the past fourteen months. It's nice to be valued, I guess.

The summer football league starts on Tuesday. It's going to be interesting to see how we do. The summer league is not graded so you get players from all levels playing. I don't expect to score quite as many as I did in the winter league.

Jetlag - kind of

I really dislike the first working day following the change to daylight savings. The whole week, in fact, is pretty disagreeable. Your body thinks 10:30pm is really only 9:30pm so it's not ready for sleep, but then you have to get up at 5:30am because the clock says it's 6:30am. So you spend the whole week yawning and don't properly adjust until the weekend. I think it's getting worse as I get older too.

It's kind of like when I was back in London and had meetings in over in Europe. I'd fly the night before and then struggle to get to sleep as my body would think it was an hour earlier than the clock did. And then getting up in the morning would seem extra early too. I spent a few too many days yawning my way through meetings in Europe.

Another trophy

Not me this time, but Joanne. She had her club end of season dinner and awards night last night and managed to pick up the 'Most Improved Player' award for her team. I am most proud. She gets to keep her trophy for the year, and it's engraved on the back with her name and everything.

After church today we went round to Mark and Renee's for lunch. I can't believe it's been ten months since we had them over to ours. Ten months! Time passes so fast, eh? The afternoon ended with a game of football in their garden. Me, Zack (their eldest) and Ethan (their youngest) vs Mark, Josh (no.2) and Jessie (no.3). There were better skills on show than in the some of the games I've played this season. While our garden has been being done over the past five months I've been taking regular photos from (pretty much) the same spot to record how progress has been made. As the garden is now (pretty much) finished (apart from staining the fence and pergola slats, and painting the block bits of the pergola) I thought I'd share this with you. Step-by-step progress. Hopefully it will work...

Sat still

It feels like I haven't moved from this seat all weekend. I must have because I've managed to fit in going out to a Teppanyaki restaurant for Anthony's birthday last night, going to church this morning and joining Bek & Si in the Botanic Gardens for lunch after church and for a wander. Other than that though, I've not moved from my desk.

The reason is that I've been writing a talk. At St John's there's this monthly thing called the Gym. To quote the Facebook page "The Gym is by Young Adults and is for Young Adults. Each night there are two talks from the bible on a topic, supper, time for questions, and a great chance to chat with other christian YA's". It's called the Gym because "it's a spritual workout!" Well this time around, on October 2nd I've been asked to give one of the talks. Last weekend I did a whole load of prep on the passage (2 Corinthians 8 and 9 if you're interested - it's on providing generously) and this weekend I had to turn all those notes into a talk. My main issue is that that's two whole chapters. And my talk is meant to only be 15 minutes long. I've heard someone preach two whole forty minute sermons on those two passages. How am I meant to condense all that down to 15 minutes? Working out what to leave is quite tricky. At the moment I'm about 700 words over, I reckon. Will anyone mind a 20 minute talk instead of a 15 minute one do you think? I would be very grateful for prayer please. Both for my prep and for when I give the talk a week on Thursday. Much appreciated, thank you :)

So yeah, other than that, as I say, last night we joined Anthony in a Teppanyaki restaurant in town for his birthday. Just in case you don't know Teppanyaki is it's where you sit around a hot griddle thing and the chef cooks your food infront of you, together with all the showy entertaining bits, flairing his implements and spice shakers and chucking egg around and stuff. It's a whole cullinary-visual extravanganza. I've not been to one before so it was a great experience.

And then today after church Si & Bek and Joanne & I bought a nice fresh bagel to eat in the Botanic Gardens and then went for a wander. I do like that place. Every time I go it changes with the seasonal plants and flowers and stuff. The daffodils are fully out now and the tulips are just beginning to come out. There's colour pansies everywhere and in a few months the roses will be in full bloom. I'm not big on flowers and plants and stuff but they put so much effort and hard work in to the Botanic Gardens that it's hard not to enjoy what there is to see and enjoy as you wander through it all by the river.

Not just for the glory

On Saturday Joanne and I went my football club's end of season awards dinner. Well, I say dinner. In the end, when we left at 10 the aroma of savouries was just beginning to fill the air but by then we'd committed to finding something to eat elsewhere. But that's not why I'm telling you about the evening.

There was ten or thirteen or so senior teams that are part of our club (as well as innumerable kids teams) and so there were a good number of players and their partners present. The main part of the night was made up of each team's results being read out and then the awards being presented to each team's player of the year and players' player of the year. Then we got around to the golden boot awards for the top scorers of the season. There was one award for the women's teams, one for the men's upper grades and one for the men's lower grades. And it turns out that I'd won the last of these. My 17 goals this season was the most scored for our club by anyone else in the lower grades (whatever they comprise). Which was a nice surprise.

I went up and collected my trophy and medal and had my photo taken and everything. I had to then hand the trophy back (something to do with it being really difficult each year tracking them down from previous winners) but got to keep the medal. For my first season back playing competitive football for over 15 years I'm quite happy with how it all ended, especially since I'm not as fit as I could be. Pre-season training starts now.

My mum would be proud

Given the season has probably finished I came home tonight and cleaned my football boots. I guess what my mum told me growing up must have gone in. Too often as a kid I'd dig my boots out of the back of the cupboard in September, at the start of the season, and find it hard to tell when boot ended and where mould began.