stress and stuff

The stress of producing drafts of chapters and updating stuff is getting to me. I have taken to cake and other stress relievers. This week has been a mad time as it seems just as I get into writing I have another project on the go as well. Poor old Eva has had to go to our trusty childminders Heather and Eric for this week and next as both Mark and I are working. She is loving it though...it's just the having to get up for me to get her to south Liverpool by 9am that is hard (on both of us).

Monday was a PhD day that started wit an Every Child Matters group meeting to plan the playday event (which took place on Wednesday). So after and hour of sorting that out I came back to my office to crack on. I achieved quite a lot I think. Though I did have to do quite a lot of Greenbelt planning and got distracted by a few parish duties.

Tuesday was the day I shall refer to as Burger Day! I spent the morning with Henry and Mark (the reader at St Peter's church) planning the sermons and services for St Peters for Autumn and Winter. It was a great morning of sharing and panning. I had to then fix a puncture (we keep getting nails in the passenger tyre - not by accident I am afraid). Thankfully it just needed patching up and only cost £6 but I think I may have to deal with 'those that nail' because it is on its last patch. I then popped in to see the youth club and discovered that the BBQ for the playday hadn't been sorted so had to go to ASDA to get 200 burgers and then cook them. It took me 6 hours to pre-cook the burgers. The house stank of burgers, I stank of burgers and Joe managed to block the drain with the burger fat...so I had to get a plunger and industrial unblocker to free the yack. But it was all soothed by the lovely 3 course dinner Eva and Joe cooked Mark and I (and 2 guests). A lovely lovely treat.

Wednesday was the playday...we were opening a new playspace that has been created on derelict land near us. It is a nature play garden and has the potential to be fantastic. It all came together in the end - someone else took over the BBQ which meant I didn't have to stick of burger grease for 2 day running. The fire- engine turned up, the community police officers were positive, the housing associations were supporting and turned up with freebies and balloons, the street-dance group were great and the games (skipping workshop, drumming workshops, facepainting, flower arranging) that were organised for the kids went down well. The weather was great as well. I was very impressed by the whole event. But, I was cream crackered...and it was another day of low achievement on the PhD front.

Thursday I cleaned the church - the theatre company have vacated and it needed a good clean. Then cracked on with some work in the afternoon. Mainly prep for the 2 services I am leading and preaching for on Sunday.

Today is my day off... Eva has a friend over, I have just been to the shops and dropped off my sewing machine at the menders...now I am going to eat cake and read a book...Mark is off to set up the show for tonight at the old police station on Lark Lane. Joe is off out into town later and the girls are on a sleep over so it won't be a quiet night for me. Hey ho.

Just had a bit of time to look over my supervisors corrections of my latest chapter...it wasn't ALL bad. But there is a long way to go. Hey ho.