Update on Marrow

I just got a letter today from the Anthony Nolan Trust and apparently, the operation appears to have been successful with the guy having been discharged from hospital.

They were quick to underline that this is very early days but I'm feeling very proud of my little white cells at the mo.

They will write to me again some time in January, I shall let you know.

Just to prove I still can

Here's a quick blog.

Not been around very much of late, felicitations to all.

Erm, read the new Harry Potter book - was good, predictable ending but that is just the way I like them thank you very much. I shall refrain from spoiling anything for anyone - though I shall mention that lots of people die in this one!

GB ticket I understand is now bought so I shall be going to Cheltenham with band of lovely 11-16s I think. (Barring flood failure).

Sort of getting used to the Mac but continually harping back to the PC days gone by - cannot seem to keep off my dusty old machine.

Quick Samism and then I shall close,

My little lad (Evo1.3) stayed with his Nana last week and rang home at bedtime. Evo1.1 answered (she's called Katie). "Hello mummy" says Sam, "it's Sammy"
"Oh no," says Evo1.1, "this is Katie"

"Nope" says Sam, "it's definitely Sam"

Was it really last February?

Seems like longer than that I last blogged.

Anyway, just been on a great holiday to Corfu, the greenest island of Greece, people really lovely, scenery awesome, land - sea and air.

But I'm back now, and I thought I'd let you know something that I'm up to. I have been on something called the Anthony Nolan register for about 15+ years. You might remember that Anthony Nolan was quite a high profile young lad who died of Leukimia about 20 years or so ago. In his honour, this register was set up to increase the likelihood that people suffering from similar diseases in future might find a bone marrow match.

Well, after all this time, I am now a match for someone (don't know who, you're not allowed to find out).

It used to be called bone marrow donation, but its a bit different now. You have to have 4 sets of injections on 4 consecutive days to make your body produce stem cells, they make you feel really achy and as if you've got flu - had my first one yesterday, apparently it gets worse and worse as the days go by (poor me lol). Then on Sunday, I have to go to London to have my last injection and then on Monday, they will put me on this machine that takes blood out of one arm, circulates it through a machine which filters out the stem cells and then goes back into my other arm. This takes about five hours and hopefully it'll be enough, if not, I'll have to do it again on Tuesday, but I really hope not.

It's a bit more real for me at the moment because a friend of mine just died of Leukimia - in fact, its his funeral on Monday - the day I will be donating - God's poetry I think, but I am sad I'll miss it.

If anyone is interested in signing up by the way, you can find out how at www.anthonynolan.org.uk/

They are particularly interested at the moment on men aged 18-45ish as they are likely to get more time out of them, but anyone is welcome (actually, there may be an upper age limit of 55). (The reason they prefer men is because they are unlikely to be pregnant in that time frame ;) )

Well, thought I'd dip my toe back into the virtual pond, hope everyone is well,

Evo
x

New blogger

Well, I have been forced into it now.

Can't say that I notice anything different just yet though. I use Gmail anyway. - Have google bought blogger I wonder?

Well, I thought it is well worth letting everyone know that I - me - have just tidied up my desk. I can actually see the wood again, how's that?

I am still extremely busy but something really needed to be done.

There you go, that's my February diary note.

Soupstar Soaperstar

I can only be accused of being half a "insert bad name of your own choosing". I do not watch all of this, just the coronation St gang and Hayley T cos I think she is actually a good singer. Sky+ to thank for easy editing.

Antony Cotton is my winner. His voice is mediocre at best but he is such an entertainer. I can really see him with his own Barrymoresque chat show. However good the others are, they don't have any stage presence.

Thumbs up to David Guest though, very amusing.

Vote Antony!

Happy New Year

Well, yesterday was all a bit of a cloud.

On Friday, Evo1.2 was chasing Evo1.1 down the stairs and caused her to fall down the bottom couple of steps. She complained about it being a bit painful but as true caring parents, we told her to belt up and get to bed. Well, yesterday it was still hurting her a bit across the top of her foot so I took her to casualty.

Four and a half hours later, it is confirmed she has a broken metatarsal - or near there anyway. No PE for a couple of months and potentially no school for a few days.

But after four and a half hours in the waiting, you are sort of confronted with these weird thoughts of satisfaction. Imagine If we'd waited that long and nothing had been wrong? At least we didn't waste our time.

Oh well, she seemed very pleased with her break and couldn't wait to tell all of her friends about it.

I can't remember this, can anyone else?

Oh well, perhaps it is a girl thing.

Happy New Year to all from all at Evoland.

And a merry Christmas from me

I know I haven't been very active of late, but here I am with a proper catch up blog. You were wrong Karin ;) and a merry Christmas to you - btw, the village of generosity seems to be offline?

Right, where to start. In the world of work, I have had a very busy time of it. I have been working on a deal which has lasted nine months and in the end needed to get done otherwise the buyer would have gone bust - and it happened with just a day to spare. And since I only get paid if these things happen, the same could be said for me too - but after working 20 hr days for the last week or two, I am now able to relax again and think about other things. Well, almost. I am still working on two other deals which are meaning I have to drive down to London on a fairly regular basis but hey ho, they are coming along nicely so the stress levels are acceptable.

I meant to report on this a long time ago but have not been able to, but what have my youth been up to. They have been making me very proud is what. The Gospel truth is something which is most easily given to people who understand life as we do. Someone from the slums of Hull does not want to hear holier than thou details from a person with a posh twang to their accent - it just don't work. And similarly, school children react most favourably to their friends. Well, my youth - by their own intiative have staged an evangelistic event to their non-Christian school mates - with only the smallest of help from me.

I was pretty worried that they would have put a lot of work into it and then nobody would turn up and they would be disappointed. We had a live worship band, doughnuts, marshmallows and hot chocolate and chat, testimonies from the kids themselves and a guest speaker who plays for the most succesful football team in Hull - Hull City!

And when the night came, I needn't have worried, in our small to medium sized family centre, we had 120 teenagers crammed in - it was awesome indeed. And the night went precisely to plan, apart from the speaker who was arriving at precisely 830 to give his talk was still not with us when we began the song that should have been right before him. I was expecting that I was going to have to get up there and give a message to all of these hungry kids myself and was a bit worried they might have eaten me alive - but after getting the band to play just one more song, I popped out and found our footballer and thankfully brought him in.

His testimony was powerful and the whole room were mesmorised by his witness. Some of the things he said were challenging to the extreme and I could feel the tension in the air as the young people thought through their own lives. 20 people made a decision to accept God into their lives that night. Everyone considered it. I'll leave it there.

I can't help remembering that last year at this time, I couldn't walk and I weighed 3st more than I do now. Very glad to be on this side of the tunnel.

Just finally to say that, if we've argued at all this year, I'm sure it was mostly my fault. I don't really mean it - I'm sorry! But don't worry, I'm sure normal service will soon be resumed.
xx