A week in brief

Every night this week I have thought to myself "I want to blog, but I'm too tired...I'll do it tomorrow". 

BUT not tonight! I just want to get things out of my head so I can have some more room for new things. Here is the week in brief:

Monday: Had my appraisal, which was really positive. Got given a few goals and challenges to work towards which have been making my brain spin non-stop. I went to see a young person we work with and their parents to speak about the person's behaviour at one of our projects and wow - reminded me that some families are really broken. Also made me realise how lucky I have been.

Tuesday: Was a bit of a rubbish day - me reacting and being misunderstood got me into trouble at work and the day after a really good appraisal I was then on the verge of having disciplinary action. Thankfully it was all sorted by the end of the day, but it was a bit of a stress in the meantime. Spent my evening catching up with Sian (friend from school/uni) at a really nice restaurant. Yes I did manage to throw a glass of water EVERYWHERE pretty much as soon as we sat down but the waitress was lovely and the evening was a lot of fun.

Wednesday: Spent the morning looking after a little guy called Theo - we went and did a tour of estate play parks in Deptford...there are a lot! Then had an afternoon in the office sorting out various bits and bobs. In the evening went to see a play in Peckham called "The Girls - Stories from the PRU*". It was immense - defo not a happy story but it was a story about what goes on in young people's lives to make them end up in PRU's (pupil referral units - where you get sent if you are kicked out of school and no other school will take you...full of naughty kids). All the actors were playing themselves 4 years earlier and it was very very powerful. Would recommend - it's moving to Brighton next I think.

Thursday: Had a lie in! Also at our Girls Group in the evening they had had an invite to Alpha at my Church. Surprisingly they wanted to go and see what it was about. Now these girls generally don't go to Church - a couple have never been, some have gone just for special occasions and others are forced to go every week. So we took 9 and they got on pretty well - we had chicken for dinner which was always going to go down well! They listened to the talk and engaged (some more than others) in a discussion. 3 of them want to go back which is really positive. I had been convinced it was going to be a nightmare and that they would be really anti. God is bigger than my expectations - thank goodness.

Friday: LONG day. Had a meeting first thing and then managed to squeeze in a quick coffee/cake with my friend Rebecca from Church/school. Came back to the office and had my teams first pastoral meeting with Sarah (another friend from Church) who is looking out for my team this year. Other work happened and then this evening I was on the bus project we run in Deptford and it was a bit mental because just getting there on the bus I saw a motorcyclist get knocked off their bike, and then while we were setting up 2 cars crashed just next to where the bus was parked. Kids were great though and had a really enjoyable session.

It's been really busy this week - got a chilled weekend though. Also got some news to share, but can't quite share it yet...watch this space.