Egypt

At 4 am this morning Paul and I arrived back from a week in Egypt, staying at a glorious hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, by the Red Sea. We dithered for ages about going away, wondering if it was worth the money, and decided only about a month ago that it was, that unless we went away we wouldn't switch off from the world and relax, have some time to invest in us.

So with this, and some guaranteed sunshine, as our goal, we booked into an all inclusive hotel, for a reasonable amount of money, but encouraged that we weren't being too extravagant by Val and Ivor, who had a lovely holiday in Scotland for about the same amount of money (they had 2 weeks but were camping)

Apart from a very cramped, noisy flight we had a fantastic time. The weather was wall to wall sunshine, daytimes of 34C, dropping to maybe 28C overnight. Every day beautiful blue skies, spent lazing by the pool, or the beach, reading, listening to music or talks, or just chilling, swimming, or in Paul's case snorkelling.

Evenings started with a glass (or two) or champagne (ok Paul - the heathen - drank beer) followed by a lovely meal, then sitting out on the terrace, chatting over a glass (or two - do you see a pattern!!) of brandy - putting the world to rights or planning future holidays ( that safari we've been talking about for ages, a villa in Italy with kids and whatever co they have), talking of friends, family, life.

Decent sleep in a lovely room with aircon and blackout curtains and a seaview.

Lovely people, nothing too much trouble, who remember what you like to drink......

I'll gloss over the evening wasted by the stomach bug, even though I was very very careful.......

Paul had an amazing trip up Mount Sinai but wrecked his feet with blisters and aching muscles, I had a lovely manicure...I do feel a little guilty that I didn't venture outside the resort but maybe next time. This time was for chilling.

And I feel rested, and that our marriage has benefited from this investment, we, Paul in particular, have been very busy, and he flies to New York for nearly 2 weeks tomorrow, and this is how we chose to live but its important to give 'us' time too.

And of course I missed home, and the kids, who coped amazingly without us, and I'm glad to be home, and whilst I'd rather have another week off, I'm happy to go back to work tomorrow. This time last year it was very different.

So I have much to be very grateful for. Photos to follow..

Blogging?

I follow a number of blogs- friends, family, children, some near, some far. Most (like me) blog intermittently. I love reading them - I love the insight into their days and weeks, to know some of what is on their hearts and minds, it helps me think of them, and pray for them. Some are more prolific than others. And this caused me to a) write a new blog myself and b) use it as a gentle prompt (not to be misconstrued as a nag :P ) to said people to blog themselves :)

 

So what is happening in my life? Work is going well, ignoring my part is some toe trodding last week (not deliberate - far from it, but as someone said maybe new teams entering 'storming' phase). I genuinely enjoy this job, the work I get to do, the people I work with, the amazing kids and families.

 

Sarah is done - completely done, in a week. She's waiting for a job, hopefully peacefully, cos we are, God has a plan.

 

PJ comes home tomorrow for the summer - I'm sure he'll be busy but I'm really looking forward to it.

 

Hannah is still busy busy, started new placement.

 

Paul is mega busy too (he's working at the moment!) but we're going out for a meal tonight and in 2 weeks we'll be in a plane on our way to Egypt and lots of sun sea and sand :D

 

So all ticking along nicely - which I've realised is when I tend not to blog, but I enjoy hearing nice things happening in other people's lives so you may too....

 

Phew!

The last 10 days have been the most intense I've had to experience for a long time. If you've read my previous post you'll know one of  the reasons, I was glad that I could be there for his parents, although when they asked me to give the tribute I nearly crumpled completely. Because I also had a huge exam on tuesday and I could not see how I could manage to do both. Which was the point......

So I said yes, and spent time talking to his parents, and lots of their friends. And I revised and practised and then revised and practised some more. The bank holiday weekend disappeared in a blur.

On sunday, at church in the evening I had time to cry a little for this young man, and time to lean on God, and hear him whisper that the point was that not only could I not do these two things in my own strength I wasn't meant to - I could only do them in His strength.

And on tuesday I spent 2 hours being observed and questioned on my assessment skills, and early on wednesday I discovered I'd passed.

A few hours later I attended his funeral and did my bit and his parents were happy with what I did - I think I did him justice.

And now I'm really relieved and I have a lovely weekend to relax and sunbathe. But I am aware that for his parents this is just the beginning....

 

sad.......

Yesterday a little boy I had the privilege of knowing for 6 of his 7 years, died. It was time, some might say more than time. He had been poorly for so very long, but even on the day that turned out to be his last, he smiled, he enjoyed stories, he welcomed his family. And then he left, very very simply, leaving everyone reeling with shock, even though we knew we should have been expecting it.

 

But I wanted to remember him, and record somewhere, how special he was, I will forever remember his smile and his gorgeous curls. And to say how amazing his parents are. They have walked an impossible tightwalk, between doing everything that made his life as free from symptoms as possible, and not doing too much, or too little. And they did it with love and care and humour.

 

So in what have been the 2 most difficult days of my new job (so far), I can say that I wouldn't have been anywhere else, that I am very grateful that I was there, at his 'parting' and afterwards for his parents. And that I hope that I helped. I think it did. My hope is that I was able to be God's presence in that place. That I was able to walk as Jesus walked.

 

And I know there will be more days like this - it is inevitable in this job. Which makes me very grateful for all the people who have carried me (and the family) in prayer. Thank you.

'Stay-cation'

Today is the last day of my lovely 11 days off work. I haven't been away (hence 'stay-cation' a phrase coined by a friend at work), and Paul and Sarah have been at work, but I've had a great week. PJ and Hannah have been home from Uni, and there have been lots of bank holidays so lots of family times.

 

We've had several BBQs - a great Brombley favourite, both at home and at friends. We've spent some great times with family and friends, with the house frequently full of very welcome extras. When we were moving here our hope was that it would be a place where all were welcome, and as our children have grown into young adults this has not diminshed but grown, with their friends needing a occassional home from home.

 

And I've had time to relax, time without alarms, without days full of appointments and jobs to be done, time to potter and get things done in a relaxed manner. And I have gardened and tidied, and washed, and shopped, and optitioned (!) and even excercised!!!!!! All backed by lovely sunshine - I dont think it's rained once :)

 

So - a lovely break :)

Am I still enjoying my new job?

This is a question I'm asked quite often. I guess, 2 1/2 months in its not unreasonable, although I wonder if they think I would answer 'no' even if it were true!

Which it isn't - not at all - I love my job :D And it's not just that its not my old job!

I'm enjoying working much more closely with children and their families - this was what it was all about, and I am, and its growing. It's early days and I'm having to be patient but it's getting there.

I'm working really closely with the doctors at my new place, and I'm learning loads. Combined with the course I'm doing (which is really really hard, and part of me hates, and I may fail (because its tested with OSCEs - observed practice things which I find impossible) but the learning is really useful) all my old skills are returning and being added to with a load of new ones.

Everyone I work with is lovely, I have a few people I count as friends already and more that are well on the way. I love the value the organisation puts on patients and staff. I love its can do, positive attitude.

I'm making links with new teams, and on the whole these are going really well. Some much better than I hoped, some much as I expected. There's only one that isn't as good as I hoped which is an old link, but I think its about stuff they are going through, but either way I don't expect it all to work.

I am so less stressed, I'm not dreaming about work, I don't count down the minutes to my day off, I don't panic about whether my work phone is on or off........I could go on.

Best of all, in small ways, I'm making a difference for the children and families.

And I know that a lot of my old colleagues are in a difficult place, with huge changes that begin today, lots of uncertainty. And I'm very grateful.

Madness?

Why would I voluntarily spend the vast majority of 11 hours straight, on my feet, running round after 22 kids, with a couple of hours in the middle where there were 50+ kids? Then sleep over with said 22, on a lilo, on the floor of a cold office? Especially as obviously this involves not too much sleep.

Because the kids are fab. Because the team are the most amazing people, including most of the people I love most in the world. Possible because I'm mad? (confirmed by the overuse of 'most' in that statement!)

But maybe it's because we had chance to talk, debate, sing, laugh, and share about the person who we believe to be the make of the Universe, who we can also call 'papa', friend. And I will gladly do this stuff if it means just one of these amazing kids grew even just a tiny bit, in their relationship with Jesus.

But I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, and a day off tomorrow :)