End of the holidays

We're just coming up to the end of my last holiday period while at Ridley - from here on it will be back to that more normal pattern of booking time off like most people have to do.

Actually holiday allowance isn't that bad - the equivalent of 6 weeks off a year, and no more than 6 Sundays. And this year I'll arrive in the parish after ordination and we'll be almost straight into the summer holidays!

But what have I been doing for the last 4 weeks of the Easter break? A bit of everything really!

Much of the first week was spent on a mission in Rugby. This is part of my course requirement, and as I'll be writing an essay for assessment I can't say too much here because, bizarrely, if I post details on my blog and then write similar sentences in the essay I may fail an on-line plagarism checker, causing myself to fail! All I'll say is that a team of 8 spent 5 days working with a team of 3 churches in Rugby, supporting them in their aim to reconnect with their communities - it was 'interesting', busy and tiring, but worth it.

After that my parents visited for a few days, then we spent the Easter weekend in Dorset. Along the way we met up with old friends, old churches, visited our new house, and our old house, and ate too much chocolate.

Upon our return we realised that I go back to college on the same day that the kids go back to school, so we had to replan what we had thought would be children-free days to later dates. A few lazy days at home, a few days out, and hey presto, it's suddenly the end of the holiday. I wish I could show siginficant progress on my 4 essays which are due in next term, but that would be tricky. I guess the mission one is half written, and I have at least chosen what the other ones will be, and even started a bit of reading for my Old Testament one, but the weeks ahead are going to be busy, especially as I need to hand some in a few days early in order to be able to go and decorate the new house in late May.

That in itself is a major distraction - when I'm reading a worthy book I'll realise that I've been thinking about paint colours, floorcoverings or electrical applicances. On the upside, we have spent quite a lot of time in retail therapy, disposing of some of the relocation allowance that I receive, and most of the purchases have been made.

From today it's just over 8 weeks until the removal van arrives, 11 weeks until my ordination. 4 essays, a house to decorate, a whole pile of forms to fill out, and a croquet tournament to win!!