Lies

This week's question from Christian Women Online is...

What are some lies out in the world (secular views) today about women that contradict what God says in His word about how women should be/act? Diving a little deeper…What are some lies that are still out there in our Christian circles about women?

Hmmm, this is a question that I approach with caution for two reasons, firstly I am not as familiar with the Bible as this question suggests I should be; and secondly - despite the first reason I do know that there are sections of the Bible that we just would not dream of applying to modern life such as killing someone for working on the Sabbath (and I have to admit that I only know this because I watched the West Wing!)

My first thought is that the Bible was written in a vastly different era and while Christians should at least study it in order to develop a deeper understanding of their faith, I do not think that we should take it as written (!) that this is what God says. Which, I know, is a strange thing to say seeing as the Bible does form the basis of the Christian faith! But, what I do think that we need to remain aware of is that the Bible is God's word as interpreted by others, i.e. the patriarchal society that was in force when the Bible was written, and we need to reinterpret it according to today's society.

But that's getting off the subject! I think that one of the strongest secular views about women is that there is the perfect size for women, you know what I mean - women are denigrated for being too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too whatever! So how on earth are we supposed to know what the 'perfect' image is if we are bombarded from all directions that we are too something?

I am certain that there are others who could select better snippets from the Bible, but like I hinted above - I am just beginning to find my way around the Bible and my own faith, so here goes...in Isaiah 29:16 it says

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of the one who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

This to me completely throws out the general societal view that women should attain the perfect image, after all, who are we to say that God got it wrong by creating the tall or skinny or brunette or deaf or autistic or whatever else we may be! Okay, so I am not actually focusing on what the Bible specifically says about women, but the point is that there is no standard that we are held to other than we were made in his image as it says in Genesis.

I feel as though I could say a lot more about this, but then I get all tangled up in what I feel about this particular issue and how so many women (and men) deal with such emotional trauma because in the eyes of others they are not perfect or even attempt to attain a standard; when what we should really be doing is accepting each other for who we are rather than frowning at them because they have another biscuit or even frowning at them because they are picking at a salad and not eating enough!

Argh - like I said - I think I could waffle on for a books worth on the subject, so I will leave it at the point that there is no such thing as the perfect image and that there are far more important things in life to worry about!

Book deals

I read so many books that I am always keen to buy them at bargain prices, which is why it was so very annoying to see a pair of books (wrapped in sealed plastic) on sale at the local supermarket for a reduced price - something like £7.99 for the pair rather than £6.99 each.

However, the pair of books was Blood Brothers and The Hollow by my favourite author Nora Roberts. I have been waiting for The Hollow for a while now and already have Blood Brothers - they are books two and one in a trilogy, so as you can imagine it was rather irritating as I didn't want Blood Brothers - I've already got it!

I did ask the store staff if they had a single copy of The Hollow, but they didn't AND what made it even more irritating was that the sticker said something like £7.99 for the pair or £3.99 each, but they wouldn't let me buy an "each" because the books were sealed!! Grrrrrr

I suppose I could have bought them and then sold on the other or given it to someone, but it was the principle of the thing! And yet, I still don't have a copy of The Hollow, so I am reduced to pouting! Oh well, at least I know that there are copies in the UK and then Borders now probably has one sitting on the shelf, so I can make a raid soon if not today.

Update - I got the book!! And I got it as part of a buy one get one half price, so I also bought one my Triple Eight Challenge books - a book about Shakespeare by Bill Bryson, so I am suitably mollified!

paranoia

Hmmmm, I am going to need to rein in the paranoia that NaComLeavMo is instilling in me because no-ones commenting!!

I had lots of comments the first three days, but nothing today, and it slightly depressing to know that I will never ever, ever, be able to compete with Confessions of a Pioneer Woman who is currently up to 7206 (yes seven thousand two hundred and six) comments on one post because she is giving away a Zune! All I can say is that her inbox must be groaning and her eyes a bit sore with all that reading and that I am not in the least bit jealous! ;-) Updated the following morning to add that she now has 10528 comments and the competition is closed!!

I have to remind myself that not everyone wants to read what I say, nor has the time to comment on everything and that is it not the end of the world if I don't have another comment; and perhaps I should actually write something new (and interesting) if I want to catch your attention!

This may not necessarily be an interesting post, but it's all I can come up with at this moment! What I would like to know though is how do you overcome writers block, do you make something up, rummage around for yet another meme, delve into your memory banks, pick something that happened today and really focus on it!? What to you do to inspire yourself?

Memorial Day

As I was looking around various blogs yesterday I soon began to realise that it was Memorial Day, an American holiday that commemorates those that have fallen during conflict.

As far as I can tell, this holiday is beginning to take on a slightly different meaning in that it reminds people to say thank you to those who have joined whichever branch of the Forces and are willing to put their lives at risk.

Now, it may well be that you don't agree with why they are putting their lives at risk or feel that we shouldn't be 'celebrating war' as some see such events as doing. However, while I don't know about America, or any other country for that matter, I do think that here in the UK we don't do enough for our soldiers and their families.

There is a move afoot in the UK to have an Armed Forces Day - a holiday Monday some time in November. Again, this has stirred up all kinds of viewpoints, from the basic "yes, lets have another holiday Monday" which isn't the point, to the more complex views on how we should be supporting our men and women in better ways rather than having just another holiday!

Whatever your viewpoint may be I do get the feeling that here in the UK we no longer treat our soldiers with the pride and patriotism that we used to do, or at least that the photographs from the World Wars seem to suggest that we used to do.

Does anyone out there feel differently or think that that respect should be earned and not automatically granted? Personally I feel that we could show our support in many more ways and at the very least we should be far more open about out support for these individuals even if we don't agree with the politics behind some of the recent deployments.

NaComLeavMo begins

Well, actually it began yesterday - a whole month of efforts to leave comments all over other people's blogs! I am thoroughly enjoying it and it has made me realise that as much as I love getting comments I am not particularly good at leaving any!

However, that's the good thing about NaComLeavMo as you have to leave a minimum of five comments and return at least one that has been left on your own blog. The best thing is that once I get started I want to keep going, so it is very likely that I will be writing more than the daily quota of comments and hopefully establish a new habit as I know that it is not very motivating to be writing blog posts that no-one seems to respond to!

I have already had some new comments on my blog and have visited others and left comments and that's how it all starts, how you begin to establish bloggy relationships and start to exchange ideas and thoughts and generally discover a whole other world out there!

So, if you are wondering why your blog never gets any comments, then it is likely that no-one even knows you are there!! You need to begin commenting and taking part in collective blog events so that people know that you actually have a blog and will begin to visit and leave you messages!

And on a day like this - a very very wet holiday Monday - it is a good day to rummage around the blogosphere and see what been written lately!

Show and Tell

Show and Tell was never a part of my childhood education, probably because I am British and it just doesn't seem to be a part of the British educational system, at least it wasn't about 20 years ago, perhaps it is now, I don't know.

Anyway, Mel of NaComLeavMo (see button on the left!) fame has a bloggie Show and Tell on Sundays and I thought that was such a good idea that I am joining in.



Firstly I would love to claim this brilliant photograph as mine as it was taken using my (then) new camera, but I can't as that would be mean! It was taken by Sandy, the son of the family that I lived with for a year. And this is the point of my Show and Tell, that tap is in the kitchen that belongs to Sue, Jim, Sandy, and Mim; four lovely people who opened their home to me about three years ago when I moved from the North of England to the South and couldn't sell my home in time.

I remember having toast from home-made bread and sitting around the kitchen table chatting and laughing and generally having a good time discussing all manner of things under the sun while Sandy laid on the floor thoroughly exhausted from all the GSCE revision, or while Mim made spiced biscuits, or while Sue and Jim were talking about the bargain of the week from Tescos!

I have a smile on my face now just remembering that year; I just hope that they all understood how very grateful I was that they offered me a place to stay, how much I enjoyed their company and loved being part of their family for a while.

another ponder

What is a positive tradition or godly character trait that you learned from your extended family that you hope to pass down to your own family?

Given that last week's thought to ponder was about negative traits, I shouldn't be too surprised that this week's is about the positive! This one is slightly different though as it includes the extended family rather than just the generational line, so I think that this about seeing the positive wherever you find it and then encouraging your own family to emulate those behaviours.

Of course, this then raises the issue of just what the extended family is!? As the "extended" family is such a subjective term I think that I will leave that one alone and concentrate on the question that was actually asked!! As I think about this subject I begin to realise that it is surprisingly hard to think positively about myself because as many people will know - it is easier to focus on the negative rather than the positive.

I also think that it is quite hard to unpick what you do and where it came from because I think that if we are fortunate we are molded by more than one person so I think that it is not a case of identifying one tradition or character trait that you can actually pin down to one person! If we take the case of education as a positive tradition, my parents have always encouraged me to study, my teachers have opened my mind, my classmates challenged my thinking, and so on.

But, taking the same example, I can say that Pops (Dad's Dad) is the person that comes to mind when I think of life-long education because right up to the end he always had a pile of books from the public library - a pile that was usually evenly balanced between fiction and non-fiction as he was always interested in learning more, knowing more, and understanding more. I can picture him now, sat in his chair, pipe in his mouth, by the window with the books stacked up on the windowsill so that he could read in comfort whilst being able to look out at his beloved garden.

Along with many other positive traits, I hope, this is one that I would like the younger members of my family to absorb. This constant interest in the world around us, this eagerness to understand history, investigate science, delve into philosophy, in fact - anything! Just because compulsory education ends at 16 it doesn't mean that we should stop learning, but how many of us pick up a book that's non-fiction, how many of us watch something on television that's not drama!? (and, more to the point, enjoy it!)

Books versus Films

A few of the blogs that I read take part in a regular posting theme called Booking Through Thursday, which offers up a question for everybody to answer, and usually on some variation on the subject of books (naturally!) and until now I have never taken part.

This week's question caught my eye though and so I have decided to answer!

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

The main reason that this question caught my eye is because a few weeks ago I bought four films that were based on four books written by Nora Roberts, so this is a relatively fresh experience that I can bring to mind. As you may already know, I am a serious Nora Roberts fan and devour each and every book she publishes as well as reading them again and again and again!

So, when I heard that four films were being made, I was both pleased and anxious. Pleased because I could then have a visual representation of the books, anxious because I just knew that the films would be different to the books and would perhaps put me right off ever watching a "film from a book" again. (By the way, those films were Angels Fall, Montana Sky, Blue Smoke, and Carolina Moon.)

When I watched the films over the course of a weekend as I just couldn't wait, I ended up with very mixed feelings! Although I can't remember which was which now but two of the films were slightly disappointing and the other two were about right, having said that, all of the films made me want to reread and enjoy those very books again!

The two that were disappointing were so because they strayed just a little too far from the books or didn't quite convey the complex relationships in Nora's books! A common element of all films was that the producers had to edit and change or exclude bits here and there in order to make 90 minute films rather than three hour films! Now, I can understand that but it does mean that the films will never be as good as the books, they just can't be!

The two that were about right did follow the books a little more closely or were at least more true to the ethos of the books even if bits were edited out. At the end of the weekend though, I did enjoy all four films, particularly on the understanding that they just would not be the same as the books, and I think that this the point - Books and Films are two very different mediums so we shouldn't really expect the same results from them.

Above all, I expect to be entertained whether reading a book or watching a film and if neither can do that then they have failed in their purpose; not forgetting that it takes different things to entertain different people so what I like someone else may loathe and vice versa!

So, despite my mixed feelings about books made into films, I am glad to hear that four more of Nora's books are to be made into films, using the same production company and I look forward to watching them! First, for watching them for the pleasure of a nice film and then for the pleasure of reading them all over again!!! ;-)

By the way, I should add that I will only go to the cinema if I have read the book first and that is because I am deaf and so few screenings will have subtitles, so I ensure that I get maximum understanding and therefore pleasure by knowing the story well!! In fact the only films that I have been to see at the cinema in the past few years is Harry Potter!! Of course, I know that there will be differences between the book and film, but it is good enough for me and means that I can enjoy the big screen effect!!

Arrrrgh!

I spoke too soon!! Went for a run this morning and at first all went well and then towards the end of the run my left calf started to hurt again. I kept going as it wasn't too bad, but has now been problematic all day - it's fine when I'm not moving around, and not so bad when I walk, but when I go up or down stairs or move a bit fast it is quite painful!

Fortunately I work somewhere where I have access to a physiotherapist!! So, I emailed the physio and asked her for some advice and she was pretty much able to diagnose me there and then. As it turns out, I have been doing the right stretches, but have been missing out a crucial one!

It would seem that most people are unaware that as well as the main calf muscle there is another one called the soleus and it is this one that I have not been stretching! Due to the nature and position of the pain, the physio has been able to say with some degree of certainty that I have small tears of the soleus and need to work on stretching the muscle as it is the "scar" of the tear that is contracting the muscle and making it painful!

Anyway - nuts! is all I can think at the moment, still I now have some specific exercises to do to strengthen and stretch the muscle and I shall see how I get on, but it is unlikely that I will run again for a few days which is so irritating and I have to keep an eye on getting back into it because, as I have said before, I know myself well enough that if I don't get back into it soon I just wont do it again!

Still, I'd rather be patient and work on the exercises rather than push on and then be forced to rest for much longer, buthopefully this is a problem that I can resolve and then get running again (awaiting the next injury to come along!!) ;- )

Woohoo!

It's a lovely bright and slightly chilly morning and I am back!! I went for a week three C25K run and it felt good - a bit tough after not running for a week, but with the sun shining on my face it felt great to be outside, if a bit breathless!!

I also changed my routine slightly to include a warm up and stretch from the Davina DVD, hopefully this will reduce any aches and pains like the one that stopped me running just over a week ago. I did have a tingle in that self-same calf this morning, but kept running and it soon went away - just under use I suppose!!

But yay - I am so pleased to be back in the running groove! I hope to do a bit of catching up in the running stakes so that I am not too far behind when it comes to the virtual 5k!

By the way, I now have a new mantra - "the only way you'll succeed is to keep going" (courtesy of Michelle as guest poster at 5minutesformom), this mantra is perfect for many areas of my life - running, losing weight, procrastination, tidyness, and so on!!

habits

Can someone tell me why it takes far less time to break a habit than it does to create one!!?

I had given myself a week of rest from running after that leg pain I had a week ago and fully intended to get back to it this morning....and did I?

Ummm, "no" would be the short answer!! It was too easy to snuggle up in bed and pull the covers over my head! I will try again tomorrow and I really really don't want to let myself down in this as the pounds are slowly but surely coming off and I feel so much better for it - I walk better, I sleep better, I feel better - stronger, fitter, more capable.

Of course, it is an excellent side benefit that I am now able to fit into clothes that were too tight for me, including a lovely purple t-shirt that I never wore before! However, the lack of exercise at the moment means that I am hovering around the same weigh point and nothing is moving!

What I need to do is get to the point where my day feels funny if I don't get some exercise in, where it become such a habit that I don't think anything of it and it is simply just another thing to do automatically like brush my teeth after breakfast!! There must be a million quotes and sayings that say something like "nothing worth doing is easy", so I need to find myself a personal mantra that I can dredge up to get myself moving! Does anyone have a personal motivator, that one phrase that reminds you of what you are doing and why? Do share!

In any case, I have signed up for weelittleme's virtual 5k race, so I had better get cracking!

More pondering

What is one habit, negative pattern, or sin that has been passed down your family line from generation to generation that you do not want to pass down to your own family line? What steps are you taking to make sure the habit, pattern or sin is not repeated in your own family?

The thought to ponder this week from the Christian Women Online blog comes with a qualifier - "this question is not meant to condemn anyone, but to hopefully bring about a positive change in your family’s life", which supposedly makes it a bit easier to talk about a negative habit or pattern.

I find this a very difficult question to ponder because each generation is so different. In fact I think that my parents had already decided not to bring up the four of us the way that they were brought up, so I don't think that I can really say anything about previous generations and pick up on something that has been "passed down" the family line.

However, I do procrastinate (as has been mentioned on this blog before) as does my Dad! I don't have any children to try and discourage from this habit, but if I did then this is one of the major things about myself that I would hope not pass on! Dad and I have spoken about this a couple of times and we both know how bad procrastination makes us feel because the longer we put something off the worse we feel, both for not having done something and for having it still hanging over our heads.

Procrastination can cover anything, from the smallest task to the largest, and as Dad and I both know, it can be a vicious cycle because the longer we put something off the worst it gets as the task eventually takes on gargantuan proportions and gets put off for even longer because of how bad it makes us feel. This is not something I would wish on anyone; and the sad thing is that both Dad and I know how much better we feel when we just get on and do something, and yet neither of us seems to know how to break out of that cycle.

Like I said, I don't have children to avoid passing this on to, so that question doesn't really arise, but if it did then I'd like to think that I would teach by example, or perhaps be forced to teach by example as children are no respecters of procrastination! You do what you have to do otherwise family life falls apart when the laundry starts stacking up!

As my life is just me and the cat there is no-one that is affected by my procrastination, but then I have to think "yes there is - me!" It is a funny thing to say and may sound a bit egotist, but I AM affected by my procrastination as it makes me moody and grumpy, so I have a duty to myself not to indulge in self-defeating behaviours, but it is so hard to do and I think that it will be a work in progress for the rest of my life. However, they do say that in order to overcome something you need to understand it and I think that I am getting there with all this pondering on my blog!

NaComLeavMo

If you know anything about blogging you will know that there is something called NaBloWriMo, which is short hand for National Blog Writing Month (I think) and those that sign up have to write one post per day if they are participating, which is a good way of getting people into the habit of blogging.

Well....do you remember my post about someone else's post about how comments are valuable to bloggers? Yesterday, purely by chance, I came across this blog that is setting up NaComLeavMo, which is all about a month of leaving comments! (in the words of Mel - more conversation than you can shake a stick at!).

This will be taking place between the 25th May and the 25th June, so thirty days if not one of the twelve months! I am looking forward to establishing more connections and having some good conversation, want to know more - visit the blog I mentioned above!

Charger Saga

Or should that be "sarger chaga"!?

I have been without a mobile phone for what must be a month now as the charger lead broke - not entirely, but it definitely wasn't working! I tried to charge the phone using the car charger on the way over to Cambridge but that wasn't particularly effective, in fact, it was useless! (mind you, it did give me just enough power for me to be alerted to Mum and Dad's arrival at the B&B so that I could let them in!)

When I tried to track down a new charger I had the most abysmal success - not one phone shop had the lead I wanted. I had all kinds of suggestions like "try the stall in the market" (no they didn't have anything either) or "try ebay", which made me wonder about why it should be so difficult to get hold of a phone charger.

Of course, it all made sense when I realised that the company that made my phone - Sendo in case you're wondering - went belly-up in about 2003. It just goes to show how unaware I am of the latest thing in phones that I didn't realise that the phone that I have isn't compatible with anything!

But it still works, and I have about £20 worth of credit on it and as I only use the phone for texting (and not all that often either) I decided to rummage around on the internet to see what I could find and fortunately I didn't even have to go as far as ebay as I found a company that sells phone chargers.

Now that I have one that works, I can be reunited with my phone, however, it does make me wonder why oh why can't leads be standardised. I mean if they can make standard USB leads and stuff (or create connectors that work) then why can't they have standard charging leads for mobile phones! Naturally I realise that this is a stupid question as it is all to do with profit!

At the end of the day though, I don't need a new, fancy, bells-and-whistles phone and the (sendo!) phone still works, so I am going to stick with it for as long as I can!

smoking fingers!

Had a bit of fun the other day and discovered that....

95 words

I always thought that I was fast but I didn't think that I was that fast!! I have to say though that this test is merely typing out a series of utterly unrelated words, I would have thought that a 'proper' test would use correct sentences and stuff like that. Oh well, I still type 95 words per minute!!

P.S. am also testing out the new blogger advance post capability - am actually writing this on the 12th May, but have post-dated this so that it appears sometime in the future! (wont be near a computer at all on Wednesday 14th May so that is a good day for a post to appear!)

Haven

Every spring for the past two years there has been a pair of swans on the large pond that is near where I work and this year is no exception, the swans are back and they must be happy there as they have a clutch of seven chicks!

So, I had to dig out the camera and take a few photos. Naturally I didn't want to get too close as I know full well that a protective swan can be quite fierce! I did manage to take a few photos before Mummy (or possibly even Daddy) swan waddled out of water and cast me a few threatening looks!

Thoughts to ponder

I am quite aware that my blog is a bit shallow at times, I mean...just writing about what I do or see or take photos of isn't going to be very revealing is it!? So I think that it is about time that I did a bit more thinking about things like my youngest brother who ponders everything!

So......I have just started reading Christian Women Online and they have a new feature in the form of a weekly meme via their internet devotions page, although strictly speaking I wouldn't call it a meme, but nevertheless it should give me a few things to ponder on each week.

And this weeks thought? What is the greatest lesson you learned from your mother or a mum-like figure in your life?

Clearly this is tied-in with Mothers Day over in America as today is the American celebration of Mother's Day - the British day was back in March when I was in Australia and I am horrified to think that I can't actually remember whether I left a card with Dad or not!

Anyway - the greatest lesson learned from Mum? This is a tough one because, as I am sure it is with most mothers, she had (still has!) many lessons to give me! However, I think that the main thing that I have learnt from Mum is determination or perhaps that should be persistence!

Let me explain, after bringing up the four of us (which takes a lot of persistence I am sure!), Mum went back to work and established a whole new career for herself as a teacher of severely disabled children which in itself takes a lot of persistence and determination as she helps those children find a way to communicate their needs instead of taking out their frustration on everybody (you should see the bite marks on Mum sometimes!).

I know that I could not work with such disabled children myself, but I love talking to Mum about her "kids" and I love seeing Mum get all excited about a seemingly small yet huge step forward that one of them has taken. What I never forget though is the sheer determination that this takes on Mum's part as it is never just a case of demonstrating what to do, but going through the same small step over and over and over again until the child makes that link and then begins to do it for themselves.

It never takes days either, but months to achieve and understanding in the child's mind that this particular picture card means something and that if they hand it over without prompting then they can have it. These children are extremely autistic or very severely disabled and lack the means to communicate verbally, so any way they can communicate is such a huge leap and must be so profoundly rewarding for Mum, but not without persistence and determination.

I am sure Mum wont mind me saying this, but she has also shown me determination in getting healthy. Mum has lost over two stone in this last year without being silly and going all crazy about dieting and calorie counting but simply by eating sensibly and doing more exercise. This, I know, takes determination especially when Mum is like me and likes her chocolate too much! Mum has shown me that it is possible to lose weight sensibly and with determination, which is why I am now doing daft things like pulling a muscle whilst out running, but I have to say that I am now eleven pounds lighter than I was and this takes determination, which I am still learning even with Mum's example as Mum has clearly grasped a lesson that I have yet to learn...determination means keep trying, keep going, don't give up! Mum, I love you, but you know that!

Ow!

It must be bad karma! I missed my run yesterday in favour of a lie-in and so went for the run today instead.....I only managed the five minute warm up, 90 seconds run, 90 seconds walk and half of the three minute run before I pulled something in my left calf. Ow! Ow!

I walked home, with an attempt at running again just in case it was merely cramp, but no go - ow! So, it looks as though I shall be re-doing week three of the programme once my leg is rested up and all better. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long as I didn't push it or ignore it.

But ow! And I was doing so well too, it was a nice bright sunshiny morning and I felt good about it all despite the arrival of Aunt Flo!! (too much information I know!) I am determined not to jump off the wagon altogether just because of this minor set back, once my leg is better I shall be trying again - perhaps I simply didn't warm up enough.

Stay tuned for progress on the Couch to 5k programme! P.S. I have to get this leg healed soon cos I have agreed to take part in the virtual 5k as hosted by weelittleme!

News!

As manager of the library I rarely get to open the daily post anymore, so I missed the excitement of opening a letter from the Director of Workforce and Education (fancy name for Human Resources!).

You have to understand that this was no ordinary letter as it said that the library team had been nominated for and won the hospital's Special Achievement Award (Team Category) for 2008 - woohoo!

There is a presentation followed by buffet lunch on the 23rd May so I am rounding up the team for that day as we don't all work at 11am on Fridays and it would be nice for all of us to be there. Of course, Trish is off on holiday - swanning about Italy - so she can't be there, but I am determined to get everybody else in the expected photograph!

We are now all quite curious as to who nominated us and why, if only because we don't see or job as being any more valuable or praise-worthy as anyone else in the hospital. Don't get me wrong, it is lovely to be given this award, but we don't work in order to get plaudits, we work because we need to get paid!

Ha ha, no lets be serious now - we work in the library because it gives us satisfaction when students carry away piles of books, when there are people studying quietly in the library - there is one on a computer, one on a laptop and one reading a journal article right now. We work where we do because it gives us satisfaction to find that journal article that is oh-so elusive but needed desperately (i.e. yesterday!), to carry out searches for information in order to help someone prepare for their poster presentation in Belgium!

And yet, and yet....it is rather nice to think that someone thought so highly of us that they nominated us! So, thank you!

huh...

...Matt and I were just discussing the other day as to how comments on your blog makes it all feel worth while. How you then know that you are not just writing to nobody but that someone is actually reading your rubbish erudite witticisms!

So imagine my surprise when I came across a post all about comments and how comments are bloggy "pay", but at the same time I am not sure I agree with the idea of leaving a comment on every single post I read. I say this because once I find a blog I like I usually end up reading each and every post that then appears in my rss feeds and if I were to comment on all of them....well, I simply wouldn't get any work done and would feel like a blog-stalker!!

But as Matt says, it is just nice to get a comment or two, particularly from people that haven't commented before!! Have you got anything to say?

Changes

As you can see.....I have changed the style of this blog! As much as I liked the old format, it was so narrow it was bugging me and according to the research I have done I had chosen a template that was more tricky to widen than most, which is just typical really!

This lighthouse one I also quite like - it's wider and there are more distinct breaks between the stuff in the left hand column. In any case, it's good to ring the changes sometimes - get me out of a rut!

Anyway...on to other stuff! Had a bit of a lie-in this morning as it wasn't worth going to work for 08:30am when I was meeting a senior colleague at 9am for coffee at Starbucks (about 25 mins away from work) where we could discuss an upcoming meeting nearby at 10am.

Quite a civilised way to start a day really - with a latte! This latte was followed by a successful meeting albeit with a wobbly start discussing lack of communication between the senior colleague and the even more senior colleague (I just stayed out of it!!) before we got down to the nitty gritty and then we left at 11am on a positive note. (which still means that I have a lot of follow up work to do this coming year!)

So...how do you like the change in blog style?

Update

Yes, I am still doing the Couch to 5k programme! Today week three starts which means doing the following....five minute brisk walk to warm up and then two repetitions of 90 seconds jog, 90 seconds walk, three minutes jog and three minutes walk.

The first three minute jog wasn't good, if only because I kept looking at my stopwatch only to find that just 15 seconds had lapsed!! So, when I had to run for three minutes again I ignored the stopwatch for as long as I could and that wasn't too bad.

I also decided to run my route in reverse (the route I mean, not me!! It would be quite funny to go backwards though!!) just to give myself a change of scenery and not to be too predictable and just to catch those stalkers out!! ;-)

Next week is going to be harder as I think that I have at least one five minute run to do, but I am going to ignore that for now as I still have two more sessions of week three to do, which should boost my fitness for week four!

Three day weekend

Hooray for three day weekends, I wish every weekend could be a three day one!! Fortunately the next one isn't that far away as the Spring Bank Holiday is only two weeks away.

At the moment I have no plans for the next Bank Holiday weekend, but this weekend just gone....I spent in Cambridge with my nearest and dearest; in fact, I think that it is the first time in simply ages that we have all (Mum, Dad, brothers one, two, and three, sister-in-law, brother two's girlfriend and my nephew and niece) been in the same house together!!

I have to clarify that statement as we didn't actually stay in the same house as it would have just been crazy! Mum, Dad, Matt and I spent the nights in a lovely guest house in Cambridge - the Victoria Guesthouse if you are interested. Ben and Elizabeth were camping (!) in a village nearby and other than Ben suffering hay fever I think that they were quite comfortable!

We had a great time, lots of gifts were exchanged as there had been a few birthdays recently. My nephew, Tom, had a great time with his new cricket set. He's only four so it was a simple plastic set, but nevertheless he had great fun with it over the weekend, especially as he had many bowlers, fielders, and umpires all willing to play!

I also got enticed into having a go on Andy's xbox wireless steering wheel!! It even comes with a pair of pedals for acceleration and braking!! Of course, I was terrible at it, kept crashing and going far far too slowly. Mum was kind enough to use her brand new digital camcorder and so my reactions are now preserved for posterity!! Fortunately I don't have a copy of this, but if I do get it then I just might post it for you all to have a good laugh!! (I certainly caused plenty of hilarity in my audience!)

Synchronicity

I thought that I was seeing things this morning on the way to work!! I was just driving out of the village and just ahead of me two yellow City-Link courier vans went round the roundabout in opposite directions at the very same time! It was quite strange to see but somehow reminiscent of ballet or some sort of dance!

Then when I got to work I saw two men walking down the road in the same direction on opposite sides of the road, both talking into their mobile phones - a practically perfect mirror image!! I don't know if someone is trying to tell me something!

Anyway - went for my run this morning and got a bit of a stitch towards the end cos I was trying to push it a bit and step it up! It soon went away after walking about 30 seconds so that wasn't too bad.