May
31
2007
0

Shwmae

Well I am back from Wales… I thought I might be able to get web access whilst I was there but my laptop was a bit temperamental so you get the whole lot in one looooong blog instead!! I have had a lovely weekend and I have been thoroughly looked after. I was pretty tired and I feel like I have slept really well for the first time in ages. I have also realised that I have perfected the art of sleeping through any noise a 2 1/2 year old makes in the middle of the night!!!

Saturday
after my very late night on Friday evening I was absolutely knackered driving up to Wales and had to stop for a little sleep. So instead of getting there by lunchtime I arrived at tea-time. So that was Saturday written off.

Sunday
well on Sunday it rained for England (and Wales) so we didn’t really go out. I couldn’t be bothered with church and I can’t really remember what we did for the rest of the day, other than I barely set foot outside the house. Oh yes I do remember what we did! Mr. birdie went out and bought Guitar Hero 2. For those of you not in the know it is a ridiculous computer game and you have a plastic guitar and you have to “play” the songs that come up on the screen (it’s a bit like karaoke for the guitar!) I was pretty good at it, even if I do say so myself, but as there are no photos of me I will have to leave you with the rock legends that are Mr. and Mrs. birdie!! (please don’t kill me for putting these up!)

Mr. Birdie birdie

Monday
Luckily the weather was better on Monday so Mr. b, birdie, The Groover and myself went on The Brecon Mountain Railway. I was particularly amused to find that it left from Pant Station. Well The Groover wasn’t quite sure about it all but he seemed to have got the idea by the end of it… so here are some pretty pictures…

birdie & The Groover Mr. b and The Groover
) The Groover

Tuesday
birdie, The Groover and I took a wander into town… very chilled day 🙂

Wednesday
Having deposited The Groover with the grandparents birdie and I went to Monmouth for a spot of shopping. We have decided that we are officially sad cases as our shopping consisted of craft shops, charity shops and a nice cup of tea. Mind you, we did witness our future when we were in a charity shop. There were these two women who were working there and they were pretty much making up their own rules as the bosses weren;t there. Sadly I can see birdie and I in 40 years being very like them!!!

Thursday
…. and today I drove home… via Reading for a spot of shopping. Much to my horror (oh well OK then, delight) I found a Lush shop so spent ‘a little’ bit of money in there 🙂 It took me hours and hours to get home as there was a big accident on one of the motorways… but thankfully I am home safe and sound and now my cat is giving me the furry cold shoulder.

So, I am assuming that we all missed me, and I shall now end this monologue with my two favorite picture of the weekend…

The Groover
The coolest Groover in Wales

birdie
birdie dressed in her best (the fab pinny was a charity shop buy… for some reason someone didn’t want it!)

Ps) birdie…. did I get the title right?

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
27
2007
3

Queerness

On Friday evening I went to Courage and Peterson Toscano was performing. Peterson describes himself as “a theatrical, performance, artist, a very queer and quirky Quaker, and an ex-gay survivor” and I think that it’s pretty good description to be honest.

I have been going to Courage for about 12 years I guess. I know it might seem a bit strange. I am a straight woman accessing a group for men and women (although it was mainly men I started going) who are gay and struggling with their sexuality, and often their faith. I started going when a gay friend of mine joined, and as I thought I was going to marry this particular gay friend (yeah OK I know I was delusional!!) I got in touch with Courage and they helped me deal with my own emotions. Over the years Courage has performed a really important function for me. They have provided me with the place that I can really be me. So often in the church as a single woman I feel like I am a bit of a non-entity. The church becomes so focussed on families that they forget about the single people in their community. Courage showed me that I could be a fully functioning person. That I could have a vital part to play, and most importantly Courage allowed to feel loved and accepted.

Watching Peterson perform is always funny and often thought provoking. He talked about a whole pile of different stuff on Friday, but one thing he spoke about was language. He talked about how there are so many different ways of describing people in the gay community… LGB, transsexual etc. etc. One of the terms Peterson used was ‘Queer’ and it is a term that I love and I guess in many ways I would include myself in the term Queer. I know I am straight but I am surrounded by people who have ‘alternative’ lifestyles and make really interesting and varied choices. I feel that my choices mean that I have a varied and wonderful and sometimes random community of friends. Queer seems to cover that community quite nicely. I am not sure I want to be seen as “mainstream”. I want to be me…. just Anna. I don’t want to be defined by my job, my sexuality, my family, by the way I look. I am happy to be me.

Oooo… also a quick plug. Peterson is involved in a new website called BeyondExGay. It has testimonies of people who have survived the process of the ex-gay movement and it is well worth a read so go and have a little look.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
26
2007
1

What have I done today?

I have had the day off today and it has been very busy… so here is the exciting list

– cleaned my house from top to bottom
– changed my bed
– done about a million loads of washing
– went to the pool and swam 60 lengths
– went to the Post Office
– did my ironing
– went to Courage (more about that soon when I am a bit more awake!)
– went to Hard Rock Cafe at 11.30pm for dinner

Tomorrow I am off to birdie’s for a few days. It is now gone 3am and I have not packed for my trip. If you are reading this birdie please don’t expect me to be on time!!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
24
2007
1

One of the hardest things…

… about Pilates is trying not to break wind during certain exercises.

Too much information? Surely not!!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
23
2007
7

Freecycle

A little while ago I put an advert on freecycle asking if anyone had a flower trough they didn’t want. I needed something to raise the plants up a bit as the sun doesn’t get over the wall by my front door enough. Anyway, a nice lady offered me this….

Freecycle original

So, once I had got my hands on it, stripped the varnish, sanded and painted, it now looks like this….

Freecycle trough all decorated!!

Pretty isn’t it? – and it matches the colours on my blog!! I think it ended up costing me about a fiver to do which I think is pretty good going 🙂

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
22
2007
4

How embarrassing

I had been asked* to facilitate one of the groups today on a Continued Professional Development course. There was a real mix of people there, but quite a number of GP’s which was brilliant as they are really hard to persuade to come to training like this. The morning was about crack cocaine and the afternoon was about substance misuse and families. It was all pretty interesting, except for the service user representative who irritates the crap out of me, but anyway, that’s for another day.

My embarrassing moment came when I arrived and sat next to this guy who I thought I recognised. So I said to him, “Oh I think I recognise you, where have we met” to which he replied “Yes we have met. I am your GP”.

Luckily he laughed as much as I did.

* Actually “asked” in this context means that my boss had been asked to do it, but couldn’t be arsed so he volunteered my services instead!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
21
2007
4

No rest for the wicked?

In which case I must have sinned badly in a former life.

I have had such a busy day today. I had loads of clients to see and then for some reason we had lots of phone calls, all of which needed to be dealt with. I ended up leaving my desk today looking like it was a pile of recycling. To top it all I had to go to a Child Protection Conference this afternoon. It was the shittiest of all shitty conferences. I work with the mum of the family who has a problem with alcohol, although she is doing really well at the moment. It was clear from the minute I set foot in the room the social worker was colluding with the father of the family and it was just the most uncomfortable place to be. I decided that I had to speak my mind which ended up with me nearly getting punched by the father. Such a pleasant way to spend my afternoon.

Now I am sitting on my sofa, in my my pyjamas with a nice glass of red wine. Better 🙂

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
19
2007
1

Grandpa “Gideon”

My Grandpa Emile is 93 today ( tired to find a photo of him but with no success!) Sadly he is not living at home for his birthday as his second wife, my Grandma Mary, had a fall and fractured her pelvis and is in hospital and Grandpa is too frail to look after himself.

Anyway, I managed to track him down to my aunt and uncle’s house today so that I could phone him and wish him happy birthday. He is such an encouragement to me. He lived through the second world war and he was evacuated to somewhere in England, and his first wife died of breast cancer many years ago. He tends to get a bit weepy when he is talking to his grandchildren and he loves us all so much. When I was little he owned a greenhouse and we used to wander up and down the plants picking and eating the tiny over-ripe tomatoes. Even now the smell of vine tomatoes transports me back to that place.

He is such a Godly man and has been a member of The Gideons since he was about 16. My Mum told me that when he asked my aunt to go and collect some clothes from his flat for him he also told her that he needed “at least five Gideon Testaments”. Last year he told me that he has witnessed to thousands of people and he continually prays for opportunities to talk to people about his Saviour, but that he had never had the privilege of leading someone to the Lord. I was gobsmacked by this tenacity, and I still find this sense of faith and calling awesome. Even at the age of 93 he continues to talk about Jesus and he consistently talks about his faithfulness. I wish I had half his faith and he is such an awesome inspiration to me.

Anyway, if anyone reading this has a spare moment, please pray for Emile and Mary – both for her healing and for him as he is seperated from her.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
19
2007
2

Hug me

I was thing about the video that I posted below…how powerful is some positive physical contact in our world these days?

The people that I work with can be unbelievably needy, both in physical, but also in emotional terms. I have often found that some positive physical contact can break down more barriers with my clients than an hour spent talking. When I think about the women I work with often their only physical contact has negative connotations… whether it be because they are sex-industry workers or victims of domestic violence, or purely because they are drugs users and perceived as being “scummy junkies”. I have discovered how powerful it can be to give them a hug… sometimes you suddenly see their vulnerability which they usually manage to hide behind a strong and often aggressive front. Don’t get me wrong… I am always careful about how I go about this. I make sure that there are other people around, which often means giving them a hug in the corridor before they leave, but it seems to me that small bit of positive physical affirmation makes the world of difference in my working relationship with them. It’s a bit of a shame really that the NTA doesn’t monitor the outcomes of hugs… I think they have great results!!!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
May
19
2007
2

Free Hugs

This is brilliant!!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |

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