Long Walk & Camden on USA TV

Yesterday we went for an afternoon walk outside the city. We hopped on the train for 40 minutes and half-way through the ride, Andi says 'This looks like America!' Translation: 'I can see green grass and trees!' The plan was to walk a little bit, stop at a pub, and then finish the walk back at the station. However, shortly after leaving the pub, we missed a turn somewhere and ended up wandering around these fields for an extra hour, so by the time we got back to the train station we were exhausted.

Then last night, I watched the Ravens game. Here's the crazy part: There's a new advertisement for Windows called "I'm a PC". On the one that aired last night, there are lots of people who say 'I'm a PC, and I wear a suit' who are wearing all types of specialist suits. Then one guy says 'I'm a PC, and I don't wear a suit'. Behind him is clearly visible the pub that's around the corner from our flat! He's standing on the pedestrian bridge that crosses the canal and leads into the West Yard of Camden Lock market. I was so excited I stopped the game and rewound it to make sure.

Shelter Art Show

Our annual art show to raise money for the homeless shelter we work with is in advanced planning. We have a venue (St. Michael's again), artists (currently six, we'd like a couple more), and plenty of enthusiasm. What we don't have is great marketing/advertising skill. How do we actually get the word out so that we get people actually coming; and not just people, the RIGHT people? Those aren't rhetorical questions...anybody have any suggestions?

Market Prayer

This morning we met for prayer at Yumchaa in the Market. It was only two of us, so quite tiny. Spent half-an-hour praying for our friends and naming the things that we see in the market and in our own lives that call us to turn our attention and our hope away from God. Our hope is that as we name these things, the resurrection of Jesus will cause these things to lose their power over us and our city.
For those of you who follow our lives closely, you may notice that we switched the morning of prayer from Tuesday to Thursday. While Tuesday was good for the tea-shop because it was so quiet, we found that it's been TOO quiet in the rest of the market, and so we've opted for Thursday when more people are around.

Bowling

We took the girls bowling this afternoon. We were intending it to be a family thing, but they each really wanted to bring a friend. So in the end we took four kids bowling. It was a blast. The lane has these ramps that let you put the ball on top, take aim, and then push the ball to send it flying down the lane. It was fun taking the girls and sharing the experience with their friends from school.

Harrison's Rocks

I went to Harrison's Rocks in Sussex yesterday afternoon with my friend Dave. It's a popular climbing destination, and our first trip out of London for some 'real' outdoor climbing. The rocks are Sandstone, which makes for messy holds and slippery shoes, so not the best experience from a pure climbing standpoint. BUT, the weather was absolutely perfect, and it was great to get out of the city. We said "The Climber's Prayer" that I had written (i.e. stolen from the psalms) and then hiked about a half-mile into the woods to get to the rocks. I could have stopped without even climbing, the scenery was so beautiful. But the climbing was fun too. Some pictures:

Dave setting up our top rope on our first climb

Me and Dave (squinting into the sun - yes, it is sunny sometimes here in England)

Me jumping a small chasm to get down after a bit of bouldering

Dave flying above me

Dev Meeting

"The Dev" is our local goth/alternative pub, serving Hobgoblin beer. Hobgoblin's tag line on their poster is "Afraid of the dark, lager boy?" with a picture of a mischievious goblin holding a pint of the redish drink. I had my first 'meeting' in the Dev a few days ago. One of the artists who is doing work for our art show in October agreed to meet there to discuss the details. Here's a pic of the sign above the bar. It reads:
No Smoking
No Drugs
No Younguns savvy?
The Staff are the law
Do not startle the trained monkeys

First Day of School

The new school year started today, and the girls were very excited about it. Andi couldn't sleep last night - at one point she came out and asked if she should start getting ready (this was at 11 o'clock at night, mind you). This morning they woke up early and got their new uniforms on. They especially love their new shoes that we got at Target while we were back in the States.
They packed their lunches while I made breakfast, and we even had time for a few pictures before we all made the 10-minute walk to school. Jodie had made a card for her new teacher, and Andi made a few for some of her friends. When we got to school, Jodie wanted someone to walk her to her new classroom, but Andi said she would go up by herself. The halls were crowded with kids and parents trying to get settled into the first day. Here are a couple of shots from the morning: