Brrr

December arrived with a vengeance this morning - it was cold & icy. I could find neither de-icer or scraper so had to attack the car windows with a credit card while J did some last-minute homework printing. We made it to school just in time. On the way back I was listening to Premier Radio & they were talking about World Aids Day & someone was describing a trip to Uganda on which she'd come across a 7 year old boy bringing up his 3 year old brother all alone. They lived in what was basically a heap of mud with a twig fire & were eating white ants. She was able to get help for them, they're now at school & the older boy wants to be a doctor. I really hope he makes it. But in Africa there are so many children like them orphaned by AIDs & so many grandparents struggling to bring up grandchildren & earn a living. It's very sobering to think about.
For the first time in ages I was able to go to the housegroup. This has changed quite a lot as several young mums now come along with a couple of babies who are very sweet but quite distracting. There was only Sophie & me there this morning from the original group. Sophie had brought mince pies & Christmas cake but I don't like mince pies & resisted the cake as I'd trying hard to lose weight & was feeling very encouraged as this morning I managed to get into my dark blue jeans! For the first time in 2 1/2 years!
Sophie had left behind her notes & was relying on mine which were sadly very brief as Sunday was the anniversary of my mum dying & I kept trying not to think about it during the service but then thinking about it anyway & also I felt the sermon went off track theologically & so did the woman next to me who's got a degree in theology ( it wasn't our usual preacher). A couple of people in the group said they found it helpful though so I don't know.