Cold and Raining

Hi all,

Today as I write, I sit upstairs in out main bedroom looking out of the window. It is raining outside and windy too. In the words of Paul Simon:

"And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I"

Now I'm obviously not focusing on the die but on the grace. By His grace, here we are!

Its also freezing. To the rain, cold and wind I say Yay - bring it on. I have left the middle east (note the lack of capitalisation - an indication of my contempt) and am loving not being there. In fact, we all are. In the words of my good friend and around-the-world-on-a-GS-1150-adventurer: "May I never go back there!"

We find ourselves settling into the idiosyncrasies of English life. For example, it is possible all over the world to order and be served a toasted chicken and mayo sandwich - Janene's favourite lunchtime repast. Now it is possible to order one here but not to be served one. In fact, although one may place the order, said order will be rejected. Why? Because it turns out it is illegal to reheat mayonnaise here. Why? Because it contains eggs and one may under no circumstances, on pain of death (or worse, an evening with Gordon Brown), reheat anything containing eggs.

I can't help but wonder if this means one must remove the eggs from a chicken prior to the roasting thereof.

Of course, the workaraound is to order the mayo separately and add it surreptitiously after the fact.

On the domestic front, we have our own idiosyncrasies. Our landlady left behind a very pretty plant on the mantelpiece, which Janene has been watering religiously. Noticing that it has not yet died, as indoor flora tends to do, and given that we were in search of a centerpiece for the table owing to an impending visit by our friends the Cases, yours truly picked it up last Friday, only to discover that it is a plastic replica of a plant as opposed to the real thing.

Now, although utter nonsense, one can understand that certain personality types need to believe in treating plants with kindness, talking to them, baking cookies for them, buying them Christmas presents and serving them lunch etc. However, applying this to imitations of plants is, methinks, carrying things a little far.

The kids continue to settle well into school and I think it could be said that they have settled.

All for now, as the rain plays its quiet tattoo on the window.

Blessings

Surprise Surprise, I'm in England!

Once again, yours truly was blessed. My company let me leave on the 7th and so on the 8th, I hopped a plane. My bags were packed, I wuz ready to go and so I went.

But, I didn't tell the family I was coming so, at 04h00 on the 8th, I arose, chucked my meagre belongings and myself into my hired car and hied me thither unto the airport. After confirming a free upgrade to business class, I flew from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi, where I lounged in the business clas lounge and caught a flight to Heathrow after 4 or so hours of said lounging.

Upon arrival at Heathrow, I proceeded to catch a bus to Luton airport and then a cab to the house. I got the cabbie to drop me down the road, snuck up, rang the bell and hid around the corner. Janene looked out the window and declare to all and sundry that there was no-one there. She then opened the front door (perhaps not the entirely wisest move) whereupon I announced my presence to the surprise and (fortunately) delight of all present who, (fortunately) numbered only 3.

So now here I am looking for a job and trusting in God for His provision. Please continue to pray.

This week has been interesting, with plumbers fixing floods, meetings with recruitment companies and the odd pint of bitter thrown (or should that be sloshed?) in for good measure.

We've also spent some time visiting parks and countryside - something you can't do in Dubai. What a blessing - to be able to do outdoors stuff for free as a family.

Apart fro the overwhelming beauty here, the other overwhelming thing is how expensive everything is. Quite a shock. Lots of eating out is a thing of the past for the Balls and we have to be really careful until I start earning an income.

We're also looking for a church - have visited a couple but not sure where to settle.

Blessings to all for now.