Birthday

Today is was my birthday and although more or it was a normal school day it was fun as well. My classmates brought me in a cake and card which was really nice. And all in all it was an easy enough day.
The cake was a very chocolaty one and the card was really nice so that was fun.

I don't have much work on at the moment so that is peaceful.  I have a few admin type things to do but not all that pressing so I just came home and ate some of the food that Rebecca and Mum sent me for my Bday.

Party and Friday night

Yesterday was great. We had a party here at the flat, in part this was a very belated housewarming Emily and I had intended to have one it just took us a little longer to get properly settled into the flat and it organised than we had thought it. So it was good to do that, but it was also an early birthday party for me. (Organised brilliantly by Emily.)
It was quite small (around 11 guests) but really really enjoyable there were a few people from school. Including some of the new first year students. Some people who Emily knows thought work and I know though Emily and Mandy who is one of my friends though Ammadown. It was really fun and exciting evening with lots of drink and snack type food.  One of my gifts was a really rather pleasant signle malt, so as i had some of that and a couple of Canadian bears I was a little merry but not too drunk.
That said I was too tipsy to attempt to cut the cake, (again a big thanks to Emily) with our flats knives which are huge. But luckily at least one guest was still up to cake cutting. So that was one good thing. I also got to have a lie-in and relatively restful day which is good because we are going to a Young Adults thing organised by LJ, which ought to be fun but I wouldn't have wanted to go very tired.
The other positive thing that has happened is in Daf Yomi we have finished Tractate Barachot, which feels like a big steep.
Nevertheless I found the first week back at school some what challenging. And there is already a lot on my plate. But feeling pretty happy after such a good and upbeat start to the weekend. And I think part of how hard I found the start of school was the lag of the High Holy Days which was really positive but also very tiring.

High Holy Days Two

I am now back in the flat after leading services at MLJC for Yom Kippur.  I am pretty pleased with how things went. Although it was, as always very tiring and by the end I was so shattared that my shofar blast at the end was not either all that long or all that loud.
On the bright side, my service leading was better than it had been last year and I was really pleased with how both my sermons went.
The next day I had a look around Manchester Cathedral, which is surprissingly not something I have done before. It has had a very interesting history.
Then it was home by train.
All in all happy with how things went. Now on to the 3rd year proper.

High Holy Days

I'm currently very busy, which given that its nearly Yom Kippur is not at all surprising.  This year my High Holy Day Community is MPJC Rosh Hashanah went very well. People liked my shofar blowing which was probably the best I've ever done.
I was also pleased with how my sermons went.  I am home (Newcastle-under-Lyme) at the moment partly just for a rest but also for Rebecca's Bday.
Working on my Yom Kippur sermons and Torah readings. Okay but still a bit stress making.  Today I went to Menorah partly to say Hi to Haim Shalom. It was fun to be back in Menorah if only for a morning.
I have a lot do still, but so far I'm enjoying the third year.

First day back at school

Today was my first day back at school. Really more orientation than school proper, we were introduced to the new school program and to the new first year.  Tomorrow we have some classes, which are make up class for sessions which we are going to miss latter in the year because of High Holy Days. I am slowly reading my way though the new handbooks.
I think I have finally completed the work required for the project I am doing for limmud.  But should go to bed now as I have to be up at 7am tomorrow to go and study Talmud.

Wait!, when did that happen.

I am home again on a flying visit, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and thought it was time again to make a posting here in this blog. So Hi people over here.  I am a third year now. Which is scary, I mean very scary.  Looking back over year two it does feel as if I learnt a lot. Although at times during the year itself it didn't really feel as though I was leaning all that much. But somehow in the end I did.  For example as I was writing my essay for parshanut (classical commentaries on the Biblical text). I found that yes I could read Rashi, and Rashbam, and Radak, Ibn Ezra was a little tougher but even so it was doable.
Also looking forward to the High Holy Days although its still a massive amount of work but it feels so much more realistic than it did last year. Also in myself I feel more assertive and confident. However, I still don't feel as fully formed (rabbinically speaking) as feel I should be/hoped to be by this point. But its probably a exponential process.
I have also been to NewPort and had my assessment, the lady doing it said she had never quite seen a profile like mine (which is at least in part unsurprising but a bit wired nevertheless).  So this is the still before the storm (Yomim norm) and then the 3rd year. The new AGrad.dip and working more in the community.
I have had a chance to catch up with friends. Went out with Matthew and Mandy. We ended up at the same pub where Emily and I ended up at during our not all that successful trip to IKIA.

Back home for a bit.

As the title of this post suggests I am back home for a bit.  But first I went to Manchester to have a meeting with my community for the High Holy Days. I am feeling pretty confident about how this is going to go (much more than I was last year).  But Manchester had changed much more than I would have thought. (Although it has been more than two years ago so I guess I shouldn't be surprised).  I then headed back to Stoke where I am now.
Apart from starting the process of getting ready for the HHDs, I got my results for the second year, which I passed. Overall I was pretty happy with my results. Although it was a somewhat mixed bag.  I am also finding time to do a bit a light reading which is fun and something a really don't get much time for during term time.
I knew that this is a short post but its really only something of an updating one.