I think I can, I think I can

I have a headache, withdrawal symptom of no food I think. Day 2 of the post-Christmas diet, I CAN do this!

On better news I'm 4/5ths of the way through my second assignment... roll on 21st century architecture.

Feeling and love

Week 3ish of church...

As I understand it, feelings don't really come into love. Swooping gushes of joy are a an extraneous bonus. Talking of the incarnation this morning we were told, 'if you don't feel excited and joyful, you should!'

Actually I feel quite overwhelmed, and it all seems so removed and heavenly that it feels difficult to relate this to my life here and now. I'll acknowledge the incarnation is amazing, but do I feel joyful? Should I feel joyful? I don't think it matters what I feel, it IS.

On a good point I talked to an old friend of my mum's and she said it had made her day to know that I'm okay. That was nice.

One of us reads books so the other doesn't have to

... is the philosophy in the Foster household, I'm sure you don't need to guess which one of us is which!

One of my unspoken resolutions for 2008 was to read more quality books and stop borrowing so much chick lit from the library. I kept a list in the back of my diary so I could check if the quality has improved and I think it has a little... out of a grand total of 44 books read this year (that I've remembered to write down anyway) I can highly recommend a handful!

I've already blogged on The Shack and The Rules of Parenting so here's the rest in no particular order:

Saturday by Ian McEwan - the most quality writing I've ever read
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Beloved by Toni Morrison - if you want to understand why Obama being black caused such excitement read this
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
The Island by Victoria Hyslop
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates - film coming on 30 January 2009 with the lovely Kate and Leo.

Awesome homemade present from Ben

Preparation

I love setting tables, something about the anticipation and prettiness. This is for Christmas breakfast tomorrow morning.


Happy Christmas everyone!

Reasons to go to church

1. Not missing out - some Christians somewhere might actually be having a good time together.

2. Soaking in all those pearls of wisdom that old people have... not only the old people, just learning from people at different stages of life.

3. Living as a head Christian isn't very fun - you know how it feels if you've been stuck in the house and haven't spoken a word out loud all day?

4. Understanding more about and getting closer to God - reading theory is all very well but there's something different about doing and observing faith.

5. Meeting new people, making new friends

The Rules of Parenting by Richard Templar

Perhaps a little bit prematurely I've been dipping in and out of this book lately. Before you all get excited we are not having children yet as they would probably appreciate a bedroom. Getting onto the proprty ladder is our first priority.

The Rules are in 100 bitesize chunks in 10 chapters covering staying sane, attitude, discipline, personality, siblings etc. It's been interesting for me reading it because it's enabled me to put my finger on things that weren't right during my childhood and it's helping me discover why and what would have worked better. Beyond that it's really helping me take in what an awesome responsibility being a parent is.

I highly recommend it whether you're a parent, thinking about it or you have children who have moved away - it even has a section on dealing with grown-up children! It will probably stay on my bookshelf for years and years.

Goop

Goop is a nice website, at least I like it's concept. Written by Gweneth Paltrow but down to earth (apart from the massive budget you would need to try some of her recommendations in hotels and restaurants!)

Interior design - temples

I'm studying a really interesting course in interior design, currently working on my second of 12 assignments. This one is looking at the influences used in buildings from the 16th to 21st centuries.

For instance, how many times have you seen a Greek temple? Never been to Greece?

Temple of Zeus


Chatsworth, Derbyshire


Holkham Hall, Norfolk


Marble Hall, NU's head office in Norwich


City Hall, Norwich


Not very interior, but architecture is turning out to be a fascinating and important starting point. An interesting point is that interiors tended to match exteriors quite rigidly right up to perhaps the mid 20th century. Now it's much more likely that you might find a sleek open-plan minimalist interior in the shell of an old farmhouse cottage.

I'm enjoying The Home Show on Channel 4/4OD at the moment with the yummy architect George Clarke. I'm a sucker for makeover shows but this one is really inspiring and has some great tips on styles around the world. It's great for hearing vocabulary I've come across in my course being used in context, helpful for distance learning.

The Shack

I've been off work for the two days now (flu) and, being bored and sleepy, a book while wrapped up in bed is the perfect way to pass the hours. Yesterday I finished The Shack, a book I came across by chance while looking at books in Tesco months ago for a birthday present.

The blurb says... 'The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?"' I've rarely pondered much over that question, maybe I've never dealt with pain big enough to have to question God's ultimate goodness.

For me what really touched me was the portrayal of God. For ages now I've been stuck in what I feared God would call a lukewarm mindset. I haven't stopped believing that God is awesome and worthy of praise but I couldn't muster up any excitement or real-ness about that. God was becoming a distant being, someone who might love me a bit but would one day judge me and reject me for having such a passive and small faith.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who might want to read it but I think it's completely changed my attitude. I'm not worried anymore! God and I are going to take this tiny seed of belief in my heart and make it grow again.

I highly recommend reading The Shack - I'm definitely going to revisit it soon.

Bendy bus

A little bit of Norwich made an appearance on Top Gear this week!