Last trip to Bournemouth

http://flic.kr/p/aLBzxP

I've just come back from a great Ladies Festival in Bournemouth. Thank you so much Chris and Barb for inviting me. I was so pleased to be able to celebrate with you. It was also lovely to hear how much you mean to so many (and that's was only a part of your life). It wasn't a surprise in the sense that so many people love you guys and miss will miss you. It was so good to see how many good and genuine friends you have.

I really wasn't prepared for the speeches. I should have realised when I first sat down at the table and felt emotional it would be difficult when it came to your speeches. Actually it was too much at the ladies blessing/song. I'm even blubbing thinking back to it. As soon as you left the room I had to get to the ladies and have a good howl.

I cannot believe how long I lasted on Saturday. It was a very long day. I got up and went swimming at 8with Pam and Kerry. It was a great way to start the day. It was great to get some lengths in. They were shorter than my normal so was able to get more done without stopping. I cannot get into a swimming pool and do more chatting than swimming.

I had hoped to get some rest before I met up with Sharon later. There were a few who wanted to go down town after breakfast so I joined them. Hmm, plan for rest didn't happen. By the time Kerry and I had finished shopping and headed back towards the hotel it was time to meet Sharon.

Talk about time flying. Sharon and I sat on the beach catching up and getting lots of rubbish blown in our direction! Before we knew it it was fast approaching 4 pm - later than I wanted to start getting ready. It was good seeing you, Shaz again. It felt like it was only yesterday we'd seen each other -apart from the amount of news we had to catch up on. I know we're not good at forward planning, but get your diary out and get a flight booked over here, hun! You did say it would be this year...

I got ready in 45 minutes. I was very calm, even when my hair wasn't doing what I wanted it to. Then my zip on my dress broke. So instead of panicking I realised there should be people having per-reception drinks in Chris and Barb's room. I thought I'd ring for some help. That was evidence of improvement in me - asking someone for help and not being so independent. Barb came down, took the dress back up while I put on Friday's dress. If it came down to it I'd have worn it again. I'm not sure how long it took but with a bit of pinning and covering we managed to get the zip up as far as possible and cover most of the rest. So original dress was back on again.

I still don't know how I managed to make it to around 2.45am and get up on Sunday for breakfast just after 9. Probably having a coach at 11am helped!

It was so hard saying bye to Chris and Barb - not too sure where Megs went. I'm so glad they didn't decide to move to Oz straight after this weekend. I wouldn't have been able to come. At least this way there are a few more memories to be made before we have to say see you soon. I'm not too sure when I stopped blubbing, at least it wasn't continuous.

I need to work out when my next visit will be. I know when I want to come over but need to see if my line manager will have a re-think about authorising it, but that's another story (and one that isn't appropriate to make public).

I find it hard returning home to an empty house after spending time away with people. Although it is different this time. I may have similar struggles to before but now have the head and heart knowledge of where I belong and know I am no longer defined by "being single". I am so much more than that.

Row, row, row your boat...

I've downloaded a daily Bible reading plan application onto my blackberry in the hope that at the very least I can read something every day. Of course, that hasn't happened. I've just worked out I can go back to the days I've missed and read them. So that's what I've started to do.


One of the bible plans is "The Essential 100 Challenge". I thought it'd be good to read some of the more important verses to refresh my limited knowledge of the Bible. I try to read with an enquiring mind - not "just read" the words.

I'm sitting here with my phone, trying to find the first missed passage. Back and back I go - I'm only on day 34 but flicking back seems to take ages. Aha, found it. Day 2! Surely not! Oh, now I remember, I didn't realise you had to click the forward arrow for it to register the passage has been read. I remember reading the passage and thought I'd read it again.

I was struck by Noah and the ark. When I'd finished reading Genesis 7 it made me think about why God had felt He needed to do this. I'm not questionning the all-knowing God, but what was the world like for Him to do that? How does it compare to today's world? And the question I've heard alot - if you heard God saying build an ark, would you? Of course, He's promised to never flood the whole earth again so He'd probably never ask us to do that.

So many questions are flying around my head. The main one is - if I was asked to something out of my comfort zone - totally out of my comfort zone - how obedient would I be? What about you? Do you think you'd do it?