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Still trying to make life work…

Yikes! Really sorry for the delays on these folks…. going away and being ill have slightly impacted upon my free time and things have just been so crazy lately. Don’t know about anybody else out there but we just seem to be rushed off our feet at the moment and even a 48 hour day wouldn’t be long enough right now.

Anyway – I have FINALLY managed to get some desktop backgrounds done for week 1 and weeks 6-10 of the Making Life Work series we have been doing at KingsGate.

Wowsers, what an… “inspiring” (i.e. scarily challenging) series it has been so far with not a week going by without several “OUCH” moments and many action points being brought out either in my own study or in the small group discussions. But, despite the pain, the series is absolutely superb and totally spot on for what I need – this is definitely going to be a life-changing series and I am making sure I have all the sessions downloaded to be listened to over and over again in the coming days, weeks, months and years…

Continue reading “Still trying to make life work…”

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Can I breathe now?

… and…. relax

Lewis Hamilton is the Formula One World Champion 2008! YIPPEE!

After nearly two-hours of nail biting chaos, with the most unbelievable final 5 laps in history, the UK now has a new F1 world champion to be proud of.

When Vettel managed to get past Lewis with only 4 or 5 laps remaining my heart sank – surely he couldn’t lose it 2 years in a row…. then Glock slowed down, tyres shot and no grip in the last-gasp rainfall allowing Lewis to take that all important 5th place and our house erupted with cheers and tears as he did it.

We have watched Lewis race in FRenault and beyond, and followed his career closely, so to see him win the ultimate motorsports title (well, one of them – along with Le Mans, Indy 500 etc 😉 ) was a very emotional moment.

I just hope that next year he doesn’t leave it until the last corner of the last lap of the last race to clinch number 2!

I must finish this by saying Congrats to Massa as well – if he had won the title he would have also been deserving but after the race he totally proved how mature he is these days and what a gentleman he is. I did feel sorry for him and his family when they thought they had got the title only to lose it right at the end. I personally feel the right guy won but, as I say, Massa was a very very worthy rival and I hope this wasn’t his last shot!

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Making Life Work – or at least, trying to!!!

We’re now 2 weeks in to the new season of teaching at KingsGate, using Bill Hybels’ rather excellent “Making Life Work” book to take us through Proverbs and then looking at how this can affect different areas of out everyday lives.

The first session was looking at Wisdom – and boy did I feel foolish by the end of *that* one! (and supremely challenged it has to be said), and last Sundays session was about taking the initiative and “getting a grip)

As part of the series everyone in housegroups were given a copy of the book to work through and to study as a follow-up on the Sunday teaching and to use when we meet as groups. We have also been challenged to learn one proverb each week in line with the sermons.

It’s YEARS since I’ve done any form of memory verse and getting back into the habit has proven to be somewhat fun! Yeah, I know that I need to do more of it… but I’ve gotten out of the habit and now I really need to work to get back *into* the habit.

As an aide-mémoire I have started to create some desktop background images containing relevant images along with the proverb of the week… and being the sort of person I am, I thought I’d upload them here. (And by “the sort of person” I mean the sort who forgets so often it’s useful to keep such things on the Internet where I know I can find them wherever I am!)

So here they are in all their glory – to get hold of the images for parts 2 to 5 simply click on the desired image and then save it for your consumption. Hope they help others of you out there as they are helping me! Continue reading “Making Life Work – or at least, trying to!!!”

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One day a year – you can be proud and nationalistic!

Ah… the proms – specifically the second half of the Last Night of the Proms.

A joyous occasion where sitting in front of the telly belting out patriotic tunes is fully acceptable and totally enjoyable. You just cannot beat it. A rousing chorus of Rule Britannia and the joy of our true national anthem (I wish!) “Land of Hope and Glory”

This years event was one of the best I’ve ever seen with the conductor really enjoying himself and looking so proud to be there (as well as actually sticking around to sing at the end) and Bryn Terfl was really going for it and joining in with the whole lot.

Sir Andrew Davies has always been my favourite conductor as he always did the proms justice, and since he left we’ve had nobody who has embraced the night with such passion but Richard Norrington was definitely up there with the best of them.

We let our daughter stay up to watch them this year, her first proms, knowing full well that it would be a very late night for her (since the proms never run to time!) and it was definitely a great evening sharing the event with her.

I did watch some of the other proms as well this year, and I cannot wait until they show the Dr Who prom of course – roll on the 2009 season! If it’s half as good as this years then it’ll be a supreme event.

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By the SEAT of their pants

I admit it – I’m not a big fan of Seat cars, nor their race teams and I am definitely not a Jason Plato fan… but I am stunned and disgusted by their almost cavalier announcement this week that they are quitting the British motorsports scene straight after the BTCC finale on the 21st September.

This means the end of Seat as a works team in the BTCC as well as the end of the pretty exciting Seat Cupra Cup support series which has been used by youngsters, wannabes and BTC “rejects” for the past few years and is always a laugh to watch, with some good racing as a bonus.

Now what really disgusts me – and yes, that is the right word as this affects a lot of people who work and race for the company – is the fact that the announcement has been made so late. The drivers heard about it on the same day as the rest of the world (incidentaly Plato was only one year into a 3 year deal with the team – breach of contract perhaps???) and the crews and all drivers will now be faced wondering what on earth they will do next.

Darren Turner has said he’s looking into GT – and good on him, he’s a great driver and I have enjoyed it when he has done well (which is a problem when he beats manufacturers I like)

It’s also a stun as BTCC is going through a major revival recently – it’s got brilliant TV coverage, Alan Gow is running the series really well and the racing and attendances have been getting better and better with each weekend… SO WHY PULL OUT NOW???????

It just doesn’t make sense – just when we thought the heyday of BTCC was about to re-emerge, this comes along and slaps us in the face. We need MORE not less manufacturers… why don’t Ford race their Mondeo against the new Insignia with VW putting the Scirocco in alongside the Accords/Civics of Honda and the Laguna Coupes of Renault with BMW 3 series being pushed all the way by the Toyotas/Lexusesesessss.

Yeah – there’s a credit crunch… our bank balance feels it all the while of late – but this form of marketing is great and hugely entertaining.

Come on manufacturers – open your eyes to the wonders of the British (and indeed – why not the WTCC) racing scene!