stickers

sofia has been in the wars. she fell over on friday and had to go to a&e. lots of blood apparently. zac and mum went with her (and julie, the nanny) and before the nurse had even touched her, sofia said "all finished, all finished" in between sobs. the nurse used those sticky suture things to close the wound, and as they were leaving, zac said to sofia "say thank you to the nurse for the stickers"

darling girl.

boo with mummy

war wounds

magical

mum and i went to see mozart's 'the magic flute' last night at the royal opera house.
i never understand people who think opera is boring or incredibly serious.
there are lots of funny bits in the magic flute, as well as some beautiful music.
a real treat

john o'donohue

the great, wise, witty irish poet and priest john o'donohue died earlier this month. it seemed like he had so much more to give.

there's a great obituary here

oh and

... both live events cost £10 each.

don't be fooled into thinking live events are expensive.

you can go to the rose theatre for £5 and sit in the pit at the front (ok, so it's on the floor - but you get a great view)

live london

there's nothing better than a live event.
teesh and i went to see teddy thompson at dingwalls in camden on wednesday evening. he was brilliant (and i won't bore you by moaning about the people talking behind us).

last night mum and i went to see 'uncle vanya' (chekov) at the rose theatre in kingston. it has just opened and is rather swanky. an excellent play with an excellent cast.

beautiful eva may

humbling

this week is holocaust memorial week, and assemblies at school have this as their focus.

it is great being a form tutor to older students (18 year olds) because they are able to process more complex ideas, and very often assemblies and church services aimed at them are also a reflective opportunity for staff. today we watched an excellent short film produced by the holocaust memorial trust. you can view it here - and i would highly recommend taking 5 minutes out of your week to do so.

secondly two students from the upper sixth spoke about their recent visit to auschwitz. they were able to go with 120 other sixth formers from around britain last november. they were obviously very moved by the experience and their photographs and descriptions of the place really brought the horrors of the holocaust home both students and staff.

st cuthman's

i have just returned from a weekend retreat at st cuthman's in west sussex. it is a beautiful old house set in lovely grounds. it has two roaring log fires burning all day - keeping it extremely cosy. the food is also excellent.

you can choose to go for a directed retreat, a silent retreat, or just a relaxing (quiet) weekend. i chose not to have a silent retreat, but because i went on my own, there was plenty of time for reflection and quiet. and plenty of time for reading - a bit of theology, a bit more fiction, and lots of newspapers.

welcome to the world

kelly and darren had a little girl on friday morning - eva may.
isn't she gorgeous?

eva may

happy easter!

when i went into my local tescos on new years day there was a huge creme egg display with the words 'happy easter!' printed above it.

is the world going mad?

easy does it

i have been easing myself back into work - a quiet week by my standards. but a fun one nevertheless. i stayed in monday evening, and i'm in tonight. just catching up on some home admin.

salsa was funny last night - january is always really busy with new-year-resolutions. hundreds of girls, and a few guys. i'm hoping some of the girls will leave - to even up the boy:girl ratio a bit. it was nice to see chano and the gang and to do some laughing.

the kite runner

mum, marcus and i went to see the film ' the kite runner' last night. i cried and cried and cried. if you haven't read the book (by khaled hosseini) - i would highly recommend it. the film is also excellent, although take some tissues.

happy new year

hny to everyone. hope 2008 turns out to be full of laughter.

today we had our brech family christmas do - with aunts, uncles and assorted cousins. the family just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

maggie helping sofia

martha