Fireworks, Friendships and Fifty Young People!

It's been an interesting weekend.

In September, we switched RE:fresh (our coffee-shop drop-in for 14-18s) from a Monday to a Friday. On Mondays, we used to get about 15 people coming, tops. Since the switch it's been steadily increasing. On Friday, it exploded.

There were 53 young people there.

It was great, actually. There was a real mixture ... lots of the guys from the church but lots from outside as well. We had several who have never been before, and, now it's a bit colder, everyone was inside. It wasn't without its challenges ... it was very crowded and the XBOX was in great demand ... the usual crowd couldn't get anywhere near it, which was a shame, but at least it was popular! And the two Mexican girls who have been coming taught me some Spanish, which was cool ... after my French excursion, I'm turning into quite the linguist (slowly!). I arrived home after RE:fresh exhausted, but thrilled with how it had gone.

As soon as I got home, Laura decided it was time to try and persuade me, once more, that I really ought to have a 30th birthday party. I've been really against it, but I find I'm coming round to the idea, provided Laura and Emily do all the work for it! We'll see ... it looks like we'll be in the Old School Rooms on the evening of 20 December after all!

Laura went off to London first thing on Saturday morning, and I had coffee with Tasha and lunch with Alice, which was cool. I finally made it up the The Mall to see Claire in Waterstones, and just made it as she was finishing her shift. Claire has posted her "testimony" on our website and it's great ... I'm so proud of her! And while I was at The Mall, I also bought the Kooks album (yay!).

I thought I was facing an evening being a Billy No Mates, but it improved! I managed to invite myself to go down the fireworks display at the primary school with the Hepburns, which was really nice. I'm a big fan of theirs and love any time I can spend with them! I had a great time with them and Emily, who met us there, and, to cap it off, they invited me back for a meal .... so much better than sitting on my tod at home eating a chow mein! So an unexpectedly delightful evening with some great friends. It was great!

We're off the The Mix in Bristol this evening, and it's all about sex, so that should be interesting. Laura should be home by the time I get back ... it's amazing how much you can miss someone in two days!