The Big Whoopsie!

The girls had (another!) day off school today. It is Columbus Day. This is (obviously) a holiday that we don't celebrate in Britain so, here are some facts about Christopher Columbus:

Born: 1451 in Genoa
Died: 1506 in Valladolid, Spain
Nationality: Italian (Genovese)
First sea voyage: 1465 aged 14
First voyage across Atlantic: 1492 - arriving in October
Commisioned by: Spanish monarchy (esp Queen Isabella)
He thought he had found a new naval route to India.
He crossed the Atlantic 4 times in 10 years.
No one knows for sure where he is buried.

Not, it has to be said, that I heard anything about Christopher Columbus at all today.

The younger girls mostly played with Barbies.... pretty much all day. I did take them geocaching and we found two - of course we were helped by HSM Sharpay doll. Always in need of extra pairs of eyes when geocaching!

I had my first major accident in the kitchen today. It happened with a blender while making smoothies. Nope, no digits missing and nope, the smoothie didn't shoot out the top of the blender like it does in the movies (although this is actually possible with this blender. I know. I've tried.). Apparently, I didn't secure the bottom of the blender so when I lifted it up to pour it..........
Well, needless to say, it went EVERYWHERE!!! It didn't help that there were blueberries in it so when it got on the carpet, it was insanely difficult to get out! It didn't help that dinner was ready at that precise moment and, you know, we couldn't have overcooked broccoli.

It all ended well. The mess was cleared up, the carpet de-blueberried, and dinner served on time with no soggy broccoli. I made some more smoothies. I was nervous but you know what they say, if you fall off the horse you get straight back in the saddle! The new batch did make it to the glasses but wasn't as good as the first. No more blueberries!

Not sure what lessons were learnt.... maybe just that not everything is like it is in the movies!

Hallowed Harold

When you work with kids stuff happens that you really just couldn't make up.
Michella has just started to take CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine - yup I looked it up on Wikipedia because I had no idea what it stood for either! Actually, I still don't understand it!) which she was very excited about because it means that on Wednesdays she gets signed out of school early, like Julianna does. She even gets CCD homework and we were going over it one afternoon. They have started by teaching them the Lord's Prayer which they are having to memorise.
So here is how it went:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
HAROLD be thy name..........

Nope, you just can't make this stuff up. It certainly gave me a giggle!

The Jeans of Humility

Yesterday I came to the realisation that I have very few clothes to wear. With the cold weather (oh, so cold!) and the fact that I had pretty much worn out last years cold weather clothes, a shopping trip was definitely on the cards. I took myself off to Cross County Mall and there the damage was done!
I had some things in mind to buy - a body warmer, a fleece, some jeans and maybe a couple of shirts. Most things I got and duly wore them to pick up the girls from school.
My new jeans are a really dark wash, a size smaller than the last pair I got and fit really nicely. I felt so smart and I decided to wear my boots with them for added effect! So I'm strutting along... pick up Michella and then walk to the other end of the school to pick up Julianna. I was chatting to one of the mums.... for no less than 10 minutes!!..... all the while feeling really great about myself when she goes, 'Hang on a sec' and peels a label off my jeans. It was one of those long sticky labels which helps you find the size in the shop. Unfortunately it also helps other people see the size that you recently bought when you forget to peel the label off. Ooops!!! Most embarrassing and certainly put me back in my place!
What can I say? Pride surely does come before a fall!

God The All

O God whose will conquers all,
There is no comfort in anything
apart from enjoying thee
and being engaged in thy service;
Thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what to me
thou makest them, and no more.
I am well pleased with thy will, whatever it is,
or should be in all respects,
And if thou bidst me decide for myself in any affair
I would choose to refer all to thee,
for thou art infinitely wise and cannot do amiss,
as I am in danger of doing.
I rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal,
and it delights me to leave them there.
Then prayer turns wholly into praise,
and all I can do is to adore and bless thee.
What shall I give thee for all thy benefits?
I am in a strait betwixt two, knowing not what to do;
I long to make some return, but have nothing to offer,
and can only rejoice that thou doest all,
that none in heaven or on earth shares thy honour;
I can of myself do nothing to glorify thy blessed name,
but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to thee,
I know that thou art the author and finisher of faith,
that the whole work of redemption is thine alone,
that every good work or thought found in me
is the effect of thy power and grace,
that thy sole motive in working in me to will and to do
is for thy good pleasure.
O God, it is amazing that men can talk so much
about man's creaturely power and goodness,
when, if thou didst not hold us back every moment,
we should be devils incarnate.
This, by bitter experience, thou hast taught me concerning myself.

Taken from The Valley of Vision - Arthur Bennett

'I can of myself do nothing to glorify thy blessed name, but I can through grace cheerfully surrender soul and body to thee' This is something that I am learning...... learning slowly, but still learning.

Geocaching

I don't know how I managed to get into this game. I really don't. What I can tell you is how enjoyable it is!
I first came across geocaching when Rob, a man in our church, started doing it and then a few more started to get interested. My first real taste of geocaching was when I was home this summer and we spent an afternoon with the Hackers. We found two geocaches that day.
My Dad bought his GPS this summer and we found his first one (hidden by the Hackers) on my last night at home.
What is geocaching? I don't think that I could describe it better than it is on the website so give that a look.

I decided to look into how many geocaches were in my area over here in America. I found rather a lot. I thought, 'What better way to explore my surroundings?' So I got myself a GPS and started searching!
I took the younger girls to find one on Friday evening. They LOVED it!! I'll definitely be taking them to find another tomorrow or Wednesday when they have no school.
I also looked out a few in NYC on Saturday. It was so difficult because there were so many people about..... I felt very conspicuous! But I managed to get five!
I can't wait to look for some more!

From Liechtenstein To Darlington

This is a little article about one of our recent signings at Darlo:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2008/09/from_liechtenstein_to_darlingt.html#037148

I think his last five fixtures are definitely interesting playing Macclesfield one week and Germany the next!

The Shack

I was recently lent a book to read. It is called The Shack by William P. Young.

Now apparently this book has caused quite a stir (just look at the sheer amount of customer reviews on amazon.com!) but I hadn't heard of it until it was loaned to me. When I took it to one of the girls' soccer practices two of the mums jumped on it and told me that they had heard rave reviews on it.

I can understand why this book has had such an effect on people because it challenges so much about modern Christianity. The problem is that it really does not challenge it in a biblical way. The book left me confused as to what it was really talking about and when I came to discuss it, I was really lost for words. I felt so muddled up about it and I knew that The Shack didn't sit right with me but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I was also given this critique to read on The Shack and found it extremely helpful. It raised all the points that were nagging at the back of my mind and couldn't put into words.

I think the most worrying part was when he creates the idea that Jesus is only one of many ways to get to God. Here's the thing:

Jesus is the only way to God.... He is not just the best way but the ONLY way!

No doubt I am glad that I read the book. It gives me a new understanding on what I believe but probably not in the way that the author intended. He has challenged me to look more to scripture than to other people and books for what I believe (He hardly mentions anything in Scripture at all in the book). I just hope that those who read the book will not take it as another Bible or a holy book. That would certainly be very dangerous!

Trash Cans and Big Bottoms

Last week Vinny bought a new bin for the kitchen. It is not just any bin, however, oh no! It is an Automatic Infrared Trash Can! Who'd have thought that we needed one of those! The girls had great fun with it when they came home from school on Friday - who needs expensive toys like a Wii or a Nintendo DS when you have an Automatic Infrared Trash Can??
I say all this but actually it is quite a handy thing. No hands required! The only problem is that I walk passed it and my bum sets off the infrared causing the bin to open! Now that is an incentive to lose weight if ever there was one! I think I'll just try and give it a wider berth in the future... it really isn't good for the morale!

Summer 2008

Such a long time since I've posted!! Ooops!!

I had a great summer, despite the fact that Darlo didn't get promoted!!

Spent most of the time in Rhode Island getting very burnt at the beach. It was so fun and it turns out that I love the water... except when there are jellyfish! We went crabbing which was great! I caught four - I'm an expert already!! :-)

The highlight of the summer was my two weeks at home. I surprised my Mum, Beth and so many others by arriving a week early (it was always planned that way! Aha!).

I had such a good time surprising them all!!

We had a week at Keswick - wonderful as always! We went to the meetings, sang lots of Stuart Townend songs (cos he was leading the worship!!), went geocaching, rowing, had two birthday parties (for Beth and Meg), had a girly day with face masks, popcorn & M&Ms and Cranford! and finally made beautiful music with Beth's Boom Whackers! We got the William Tell Overture down!!Beth and Meg blowing out the candles!

Our girly day!

Geocaching with the Hackers. Ben was our guide!

Castlerigg Stone Circle. With Ben and Bethan!Boom Whackers! So Keswick was fun but there was more!! At home we had a 'Pudding Party' Open House - lots and lots of desserts! Wonderful! I made a chocolate meringue pie! Glad it worked out cos it was the first time I made it!

Over that weekend I met two new little people who I've never met before:

Molly, the third little one next door.

and Jack, Lucy's little boy.
On Sunday afternoon I drove up to Glasgow and went to church there in the evening. Then Dad came up by train on Monday morning and we drove up to Grandpa's. Grandpa took Dad, me, and the Dunballochs to The Priory for high tea, then I watched the girls dance in the Inverness Tattoo.

We drove home again on Tuesday (stopping at the Ross's in Edinburgh where Mum met us - not totally sure why!). The rest of the week was filled with seeing people and being places. Sarah and I babysitted Jack, I had tea at the Hackers' new house.

Mum, Dad and I went to Betty's and we had the prayer meeting at our house because of all the work going on at the church! I even managed to visit the shrine....... no shirts! Still waiting, Dad!!

All in all, an amazing trip home! I think I got the only two weeks of nice weather that Britain had this summer! Saw many people and many places...... felt like I'd never been away!

Back in NY we were visited by an old nanny, Liz (great girl!!) and an old friend, Sophie! (I love ya!).

With Liz we were in Rhode Island..... we went to Six Flags New England and Mystic.

With Sophie I stayed in the city for the weekend. It was awesome! We went EVERYWHERE!! It was so great to have a good friend around!!

Well, that just about brings me bang up to date. The girls are back at school, Michella turned 6 yesterday........ We're all just trying to get back into a routine!

At the moment I'm pretty much gutted. Darlington lost the play-off semi final against Rochdale. Believe me, it went down to the wire. Penalties. Jason Kennedy missed. We lost. Gutted.

I'm annoyed for a couple of reasons. The game was at 12pm UK time which means it was on at 7am here. So I had to get to Nevada Smiths for then which meant I had to catch the 5.51 train. Not fun. Especially since one of the neighbours decided to have a really loud party until 2am this morning.
Darlington had a 2 goal lead at one point. We should have held it. We should have gone to Wembly. I'm annoyed. I'm gutted. I'm sick of League 2!

Ok, so I never did review the year. I think basically I was going to say that the year ended in a way that I could never have forseen at the beginning of the year! I thought I would be in my fourth year at Glasgow Uni but I ended up in Westchester in New York looking after 3 girls.
Who'd have thought it??

I've now been here for 7 months and I can't quite believe it! Time really does fly!

I'll have to write more later!

Some time soon, probably later on in the week, I think I am going to sit down and review my 2007. A lot has happened!

To be honest, not much has happened here lately so I don't quite know why I am updating this. I'm sure I'll be able to find something to ramble on about though!

On Saturday it was Julianna's last official Saturday in the city. It was a bitter day..... so cold! We wandered round China town trying to find things for her to take back home as presents. I hate China town. It is so busy and people are always in your face trying to sell you things. It is grim. But eventually Julianna got what she wanted (or didn't want as it turned out) and we headed to Times Square and met with Sara........ and had some pizza, looked around a few more stores.... I bought Relient K's new record called 'Let it snow baby.... Let it reindeer'. Catchy! We went to the Rockerfeller Center to check out the famous tree. Pretty impressive. Then a Starbucks stop where we met up with Carina. Finally the Connelly's the Irish pub. Great fun.

Will be very sad when Julianna leaves!

but at least England won't be going to Austria and Switzerland either........ shame!!..........

Just a quick note on the Scotland match being totally objective.....
Now I know Italy had a goal wrongly disallowed but (ok, objective bit over!) COME ON! That should never have been a free kick to Italy at the end.
We deserved to go to Austria and Switzerland more than anyone. We worked our socks of (and by we I include the fans!) to get where we did and it all came to nothing!
My Dad said, 'It is just sport.'

Yeah. Whatever.

Wow! It has been so long since I updated my blog!! Ooops! Been kinda busy!

So I'm in the US of A. At the moment I'm having a great time (even if I did weep a lot on Saturday when Scotland lost to Italy. So emotionally draining!). The family that I am working for and living with are great. The girls are generally ok, although can be difficult. I'm making some new friends..... two of which are the ones I hang out with most - Julianna from Brazil and Sara from Italy. Wonderful girls!

So I'm living about 40 minutes on the train away from NYC. It is great. We go there almost every weekend. I love it, although when it is really cold it ain't so fun!

Have been to two amazing gigs since I've been here - Kaiser Chiefs and Switchfoot and Relient K. Going to see KT Tunstall on Wednesday. I love that I have the opportunity to do that kind of thing.

It is also Thanksgiving on Thursday. Of course, I am going to the Thanksgiving Day Parade in the city and I'm really looking forward to it even though I'll have to get up excessively early! But it is a once in a lifetime thing so I can't miss it!!

This is just a short update. But I will post some pictures soon!!

I also agreed on a placement yesterday. I am really happy with the family that I am going to live with next year! They live in New York and have three girls aged 12, 8 and 4. Six families contacted me in all which I was really pleased with but it made for some difficult decision making!
I am now really excited to start my year in America!

I am now:

Miss Joanna Macdonald MA (Historical Studies) with Merit!

Ok, some pics from Austria...... This is the view from Sophie's garden!
Her house
Sophie and her Mum and Gran
Sophie's younger sister Valerie
Sophie and me

And again
Peter (whose flat we stayed in in Vienna) with sons Bernhard and Georg with Sophie

Gosh! It has been a long time since I posted on here........ I guess that is cos I thought no one reads this but now I now that at least one person does! Hi Sophie!! :-)
Quick round up:

Had a brilliant time in Austria..... just fab! Apart from shoes that ruin feet in Vienna.... not fun and they still are not back to normal! Was awesome to see Sophie and her family and mainly just relax! Brilliant! I will maybe try and put some photos up when I next use the laptop!

I managed to pass all my uni exams so I am graduating next Wednesday at 4pm. I really can't be bothered with it all but I guess it is just one afternoon.

Finally, I got accepted onto the au pair program. SO excited and extremely nervous!!!!

Also the Campbells are coming to Darlington today. I can not wait to see them! It is a shame that David isn't coming too. It is weird that he won't be preaching in our church at all this year. But it shall be great to catch up with Mairi, Meg and Tina!