Mazi's Blog

October update

2011-11-18T06:50:00.001-08:00

October started with Uni and ended with Placement! October was spent worrying about Debates in class and sorting out placement stuff.

Uni consisted of weekly debates :( and lots of work to do before we went our separate ways for the end of the Month and away to the 4 corners of Scotland for our 7 week placement which leads up until Christmas!

There is one thing I know about debating! I HATE DOING THEM!!!!!!!! But on the other hand I feel really good when I was doing them!

We were getting stressed as normal about getting our letters and responses from placement and then if we had to contact Jude about them! I was supposed to be in Elderly Rehabilitation but I was informed that I had been moved to Vocational Rehabilitation about a fortnight before placement started and that my educator would be on holiday for the first fortnight of me being there so I would be being supervised by another member of the team until my educator returns.

About half - three quarters of the class were mad enough the weekend before going away for placement to want to go into university for a student conference! It was a good day with some interesting speakers and some stuff to think about when working with patients. The one session that I thoroughly enjoyed was the session with Horseback UK who work with Ex Servicemen and Women who have been injured at War and are not able to return into the Army and this charity works with those men and women to help them to create a career change and still feeling useful in society.

I moved down to Edinburgh for my placement starting on the 31st October at the Astlie Ainslie Hospital which is the hospital which had the first Occupational Therapy department in the UK, set up in the 1940's after the wars to rehabilitate Soldiers who came back from the war! Now it is used still by Occupational Therapists and covers the clinical areas of Stroke, Neurology, Amputations, Orthopaedics and Vocational rehabilitation.

Until next time see you later

September Update!

2011-11-15T12:47:00.001-08:00

Well can't believe that this is my September update in November!!! I will try to complete it as fully as possible from what I remember!

I worked on the wards at the hospital for the first fortnight of September before getting ready to move back up to Aberdeen for uni! I worked mainly at Wansbeck General Hospital but occasionally had to go down to North Tyneside Hospital at North Shields (locally known as Rake Lane). I caught up with all of my trainings so that I don't have to do them over Christmas/ New Year. Some shifts were challenging but most were quite simple! The money for the shifts are canny even if I have to get up at stupid o'clock for them! I do have the afternoon and evenings to do what I want.

I did manage to get to a couple of guide meetings at home before heading to Uni. I headed up to Aberdeen for the start of year 3 and met the three boys and Emma who I am sharing a flat with this year! The boys are studying at Aberdeen University whereas Emma and I are at Robert Gordon's. It will be interesting to see how we all get on this year!

I started my 3rd year at uni and have 5 weeks before I start placement leading up to Christmas so will see what happens then!

Until I update again! I must go be sociable with my aunt as I have spent most of this evening on my computer!

August Update

2011-10-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

As I said at the end of the last post I headed off to Holland with the Guides from Aberdeen for an International Camp at Haarlem Jambourette. This was a 10 day camp but we were away for 14 days in total! During this fortnight I felt like screaming and also coming home before it had even started!!!

Groups around us on the Egypt subcamp included: - Burntisland Scouts, Chorley Scouts, Forest of Dean Scouts, Australia, A couple of Holland groups, Lithuanian Girl Scouts.

During the camp the girls took part in Crafts, water sports, camp fires, sports including Frisbee, walking (ranging from a walk from before dawn to after dark to a walk around town). The girls on various days of the week got into the Jambo Journal (Camp Newspaper) including at least one day on the front cover of it! (Unfortunately I am in that one too!)

The girls had fun and they even managed to get in some of the official photos on the website and videos that were made about the camp for the finale.

The website for the camp is : - http://www.haarlemjamborette.nl/2011/ Go into the website and look at the photos.

We all got back to the UK on Thursday 11th August when we had about an hour in Newcastle before the girls and the other leaders had to get on the train back to Aberdeen and I was on the bus home! Oh how nice it was to actually get home and just chill out in front of the TV before Mum and Frances got back!

On reflection I am not sure that I would have as big a team if I was in charge of an International trip away like that. 14 leaders is too many as there are a few who just sit back and let everybody else do it and people like me who feel like they should be doing everything!!

All in all a good trip if nothing else was had by all and it will be good to see if the girls want a reunion with themselves and 'the Chorley Boys' who they all got on so well with when we were away.

Mum started her holidays on the Friday afternoon and we spent a week up just outside Inverness at Culloden. We went to see various places including Losiemouth and Elgin as well as Inverness itself. We were very lucky with the weather as it was nice when we were outside and rained/ did not nice weather when we were inside.

We returned to lovely weather at home and time to just chill out and get things done around the house. I did get a few shifts in at the hospital before the end of the month so there was at least a bit of money coming in to see me through Uni!

Until I get next Months update up see ya later!

July Update

2011-10-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well this is a very very late July Update and is going to be a short one (as I can't remember what happened much!)

Spent the first week/ fortnight working as normal at the Hospital doing between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 hour shifts 3 x per week.

Then there was 5 days where we went down to Brighton as it was Frances' Graduation so went down on the Thursday. Friday we had a day just relaxing in the flat then Saturday we went up to London to go to Guide headquarters to the shop there, then onto Buckingham Palace at Lunchtime.

Sunday again we had a relaxing day in the flat. Monday was spent in Brighton as the Graduation was on Monday Afternoon so we went and saw a display that she had helped to put together at the Royal Pavilion and Art Gallery over the year. She got her Gown, hat and the tickets before meeting up with Gemma and Kate from her course to go into to Theatre. We managed to get into the front row so got some good photos of the Graduation. Frances wanted us to go to a mexican restaurant for tea so that is where we went even though there was a Pizza Hut just across the road which I would have preferred. We returned home to the flat to get sorted for Mum and I coming back home on Tuesday morning.

Wednesday and Thursday I spent packing my rucksacks ready for heading to Holland with my Guides from Aberdeen on the Friday!!! I will post about that trip in my next post shortly as that will be a long post!! For the moment that is all that happened!

June Update

2011-07-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it is over a month since I last posted a blog! It has been a busy time and now am gearing up for heading to Holland at the end of the month!

Camp was at the end of May/ beginning of June and it was an interesting week! The start of the week was wet and very windy and as soon as we were hammering the pegs in they were coming out with the wind! The end of the week was extremely hot and were chasing the shade because it was so hot! Thus said it was slightly damp on Saturday so had to wait to take the tents down! All in all a good week all around though!

Since then I have been working hard at the hospital doing a minimum of 3 shifts per week. I have been working all over the trust but the amount of early starts are starting to wear me down! Am back at work tomorrow then not back until next Monday!

I have learnt that I have passed second year and am straight onto 3rd year with no resits! I am happy about this but would like the hospital to hurry up and let me get some experience with them before I go back at the end of September.

I have been back up to Aberdeen since coming home at the end of May as we had my district camp for the weekend and stopped over at Sharron's on the way home so that I wasn't driving all the way home when I was absolutely shattered anyway!

Think that is all I can update for now

End of the uni year

2011-05-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Can't believe that I am now officially half way through my course (Exam board depending) and am now on holiday for the next 3 1/2 months! In the last week I have spent at least 6/7 nights working until about 1am and starting at about 8am so lost a lot of sleep which I think is starting to catch up on me now! :( I did get it handed in on time and now I am just waiting on the exam results to come through from the exam board which is being held in the next couple of weeks!

I had a night out on Friday after my extended guide meeting where we did a treasure hunt around Duthie Park! We found it hard never mind the girls that we have in the unit who are not necessarily the brightest button in the box!! Next time we do it with the girls we will have a leader with each group to help them so that they have that extra bit of support!

Sleepover for the Holland group happened on Saturday night and therefore another sleepless night! The girls finally went to sleep at about 1am and were got up at 8.30am! There was a bit of silliness but nothing that we couldn't deal with! The girls were all away by quarter past 1 and we were away by half past which is amazing! I left and came back to the flat to start packing up all of my stuff so that I could get away home asap! I packed between 2 and 8pm when I gave up and chilled out for the rest of the evening so that I was chilled out and relaxed ready for the drive home on Monday morning.

Everything was packed into the car and I once again this year couldn't see out of the back window due to the shear amount of stuff that had to come back home with me! I have sorted out what I want to leave at home and what I am going to take back up with me next year.

I have been to camp with my home unit and had a fantastic week getting dirty with the girls on Friday and also have fun with them getting washed on the water slide. The start of the week was windy but the end of the week was dry and sunny!

Beginning of May Update

2011-05-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

Can't believe we are at the beginning of May already!!! Where is this year going?

Since I got back from Yorkshire I have had a bit of a lazy time with uni work after being really confused due to mixed messages from staff but am a bit clearer now and plan to start working on it full time tomorrow after I have finished my placement diary (I only have 2 days left to write up now after spending 4 hours in the study room this evening!)

I have spent toooooooooooooooooooooooooo much time procrastinating this last month and now for the final month of second year (Where the heck has second year gone too?) I will be working hard and trying not to sleep in too long and just get up and do work so that I can get packed up in the flat and head home on the 23rd May for the 3 Month Summer Holiday from Uni! Although it won't all be holiday as I am working at the hospital and also got lots of trips away with guiding this summer including: -

Camp (Home Unit) - End of May
Weekend Camp (Uni Unit) - Mid June
Guides Y.E.L.L. (National Event) - Start of July
Holland Trip (County Trip) - End of July/ Beginning of August
Trip to Clackmananshire - September

I also have a family holiday and my sister's graduation from uni this summer! I hate being this busy but MAD!

It is now 23.10 and I still feel like working and sleepy so not sure how much will get done but I must get back to the work now before I go for some sleep tonight! See you next time!

End of March/ April so far update!

2011-04-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well I have now been back from Shetland nearly a month which is quite scary as there has been so much going on in that time!

I had two days in uni before I headed home for my Easter holidays from uni which are fixed at the beginning of April and I was off from the Monday of the previous week so I headed home on the Wednesday to relax for a week as there was very little work left to do before our presentation. This piece of work was one of the most pointless bits of work ever to be given to us (alongside the leaflet and the poster which we never got feedback on!!!!!!). I think the whole class would agree that it is just the lecturers being lazy and getting us to do it for them instead! I would have preferred to have had an extra 3 weeks off uni after placement just to relax and get into the next module (which I will come onto in a moment)!

I headed home on the Wednesday with a suitcase full of stuff to mostly leave at home and had about 12 days at home where I worked 4 morning shifts at the hospital. I was on a totally different ward again. This time ward 22 (general elderly) it was all right and have not missed being on a general elderly ward. I had a couple of days at home with Mum on my own (even though she was at work during the day!) before my sister arrived home for her 3 week holiday! I only had a weeks holiday so it was nice to just chill out as it has been a pretty busy semester so far and will be glad when the summer arrives as I will have some time to just chill out and not have to worry about uni work. I didn't have time to meet up with a couple of people who I should have really seen but due to my work and their work there was no time to do it! It will just have to save for when I am finished next month for the summer!

I came back to do the presentation to the class with the rest of the class! That was such a pointless exercise but everybody participated in the group work! Some of the presentations I could see would not work in any way! But there were some good ideas which I hope can be incorporated into the final document. Instead of having a break we just carried on and ploughed through all 7 of the presentations. We had a half an hour comfort break about half way through and was finished 2 hours early so went out for lunch, met with Helen and then I came home and finished off packing my suitcase for the weekend away down to Yorkshire with some of the crazy girls from guiders.co.uk. Jude was supposed to be emailing us as to which group had won and which group are going to have to do it all again to the educators as they will be using the final document as well as the students of RGU! I hope that we won as apart from bias, I think that ours was the best one out of the groups but would like to take bits out of most of the other projects then add them to ours. I think while I am up this morning I might email her to ask what is happening as it is nearly a week since we did the presentations and people are asking me if it has been revealed yet as to who has won!

The weekend started on Friday morning and I got the 09.52 train from Aberdeen to York then from there on to Leeds then Brighouse where we were staying. On the train from York to Leeds I had a Stag party who had come down from Aberdeen and the Stag was wearing a Red Leotard and a Red Tutu, then just before we arrived at Leeds they gave him a Sporon to wear and gave him the challenge of trying to loose the last tassel off it!

I arrived at the camp site about half 5 having not had any lunch or breakfast (I had had two small bags of sweets instead!). I was told to have a cup a soup as tea was a while off as nobody had put the ovens on while Jessica was out picking me up! It was a good cup a soup but could have done better having had some croutons with it but beggars can't be choosers! The weekend had a few hiccups (like us forgetting bits and pieces)but it seemed to go kind of smoothly. As us organisers were in what should be the leaders rooms we were on the main corridor to the toilets so we could hear every time that somebody went to the loo at night as the pipes for the water came through all of out rooms!

On the first night Jessica and I started giggling as both Sarah and Rachel (who were in separate rooms either side of us) were synchronising in their snoring at points and then they would get out of sync then go back into sync after a short while again! I knew that I wouldn't get much sleep on this night but didn't realise I would get such a little amount as for some reason I was awake at 6.30am having gone to bed at half 11 and asleep about half 1!! I was not the first one up as I think that there was about 6 of them up before me including Jessica who didn't sleep very much on either of the nights!

During the day there was a mixture of activities that people had put down to do including Archery, Crate Stacking and Geocaching. The Geocachers went off and said that they were only going to be an hour and 3 hours later they returned having gone to the pub for a swift one!! They seemed to have enjoyed the Geocaching and I think have all become addicted to it! I would have gone but was enjoying sewing badges onto my camp blanket instead along with about half of the other participants on the weekend! Beside sewing badges onto my camp blanket I was in the kitchen for most of the time washing dishes and helping Jessica with the cooking for the other 48 participants!!

We were very lucky to have a camp fire organised by the Scouters who run the campsite and I learnt a couple of new songs this weekend which if I had written them down I would have shared them with my unit. There were a couple of songs that I would not even dream of teaching the girls (Yogi Bear for one!! Especially after the rendition I heard on the train going from York to Leeds and the Stag Party mentioned above!!!)

I managed to set the fire alarm off in the main hall of the Charles Wilson Centre building on Saturday night as I managed to stand under the smoke alarm with the birthday cake that was made for the 4 birthdays that were over the weekend! Kirsty and I got dressed up as Bobby and Phyllis from the Railway Children and we were two of very few people who actually got dressed up for the party at night! I loved how co-ordinated we were considering that we hardly talked about what we were doing for the party. Jessica and I lasted through until about half 11 before attempting to get some sleep! We just got into bed and we could hear lots of people talking in the main room so I must have got out of bed at least 4 times to go and ask them to shut up and I think Sarah next door got up at least 2 times also!!

Jessica and I were up at half 6 on Sunday morning again to get the food organised so that the Scottish girls who had to be away at half nine so that they could get away so that Amy could get her Bus back up to Aberdeen then the train from Aberdeen to home! After the girls left we got our traditional organisers presents and I went back to cleaning the kitchen and the pots and pans before finishing off my personal packing as I needed to be at the station for my train at quarter to one then my adjoining one back up to Aberdeen at 4! I nearly missed this one as if I had been a couple of seconds later then I would not have been able to get on the train as I was attempting to get on the Southbound train instead of the Northbound train! I had a burger at the Pub at the station before I headed to my train and it was not nice so I only at half of the burger and the chips were overdone! I didn't have time to complain as I was heading for my train!

I arrived back into Aberdeen at 21.10 and was so glad to be back in the deen! I headed back to the flat and got into my room where instead of heading to bed I became wide awake having been sleepy for most of the day and so the Insomnia spell started! I had to at least try to get some sleep as I was in class on Monday morning but as well as not being sleepy then I had one almighty cold thanks to a very 'generous' man on the train on Friday he passed on a cold to me! I suffered with it for about 3 days after the G2G!

I headed into uni on Monday and met up with the group. There was about a third of the class missing (mostly Irish) and we were effectively starting a new module as this module was introduced back in September but then no teaching for it until now with a month left before it is due to be handed in! When we left the second class of the day we were thinking it was such a waste of time to be there and also more confused as to what we were doing with it! After talking to a number of people who were actually in class afterwards most people were more confused so I emailed Jennifer asking for some clarification as to some of the discrepancies are! She eventually emailed back today so I can now carry on with the portfolio and I think that the rest of the class may be a bit clearer as to what is needed!

It is now half 3 in the morning and I am still wide awake and wish Insomnia would go away so that I could sleep properly! I am certainly getting some little jobs out of the way when I am sitting here in the middle of the night! Until the next time Bye Bye!

End of Placement and time before first lecture back in uni!

2011-03-23T20:06:00.001-07:00

Well my last week of placement was an epic failure! I managed to get an initial interview done alright but everything else seemed to go wrong from the word go when my educators were back from holiday/ the sick!

I had my final report on my final day which should have been earlier in the week and to be honest it didn't matter when they did it it was still going to be as bad as it was! I got a D which is a pass but I would have liked to have got a higher grade. I think at half way I would have got a C but my confidence and knowledge went dramatically downhill this last week! I now have some serious thinking to do over the next few weeks as to if I am on the right course still and am I willing to put in the extra work to try and get my knowledge up to the level that it should be!

Since coming home I have hardly seen any of my flatmates as they have all been out at uni every day where as I have not had uni until tomorrow (this morning!)! I can't wait to catch up with everybody as we haven't seen each other since January and our last presentation!

I have had one day where I spent quite a bit of the day out at uni meeting up with one of the first years and then having a meeting with the guidance people as I need to do something about my confidence and self esteem before my next placement as I think that that had something to do with my final grade! There is a waiting list to see the counsellor so it may not be until just before we break up for the summer that I get to see her or it may be when we get back in September!

I have since I fell on the Ice in Shetland been having increasing pain in my wrist and typing on a normal computer keyboard due to the angle of it is painful and also writing for long periods of time! I had a meeting with one of my tutors about what they can do to support me in classes before I see the consultant in May for it! She sent me along to the Disability service to see what changes can be made! I have an appointment on Monday morning with them to see what can be done from the University side of things and I need to make an appointment at the Doctors to see if they can chase up the Hospital and get a quicker appointment for me. I would doubt that they can do that but it is worth a try!

It is one of the girls birthdays in the flat today and they had a drinking session last night here in the flat and they did go out but they didn't seem to stay out more than a couple of hours for some reason! I'm sure I will find out tomorrow when I see them! I did tidy the living room for them after they went out as I hate seeing the mess that they leave the place in after a session! They did say that they would clean it up today but was not sure what time they would do that and I might have friends over this afternoon when I am finished in uni and I wanted it tidy for then!

I should go to bed now as it is now after 3am and I need to be up in less than 4 hours! Whether I will actually sleep or not is another matter but that seems to be the way with me at the moment!

Penultimate Placement Update

2011-03-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

Can't believe that I have only got 4 days left on placement now!

I have had a strange week as I got a phone call last Sunday from one of my educators to say that she would not be in this week so I had no educators all week as my other educator was on holiday!

It felt weird having no educators as I was my own boss in effect! I managed to organise some work with the hospital OT's this week, including shadowing for the whole day and an initial assessment.

I enjoyed my day at the hospital and felt at home there! I think that this will be where I work once I qualify!

I had a home visit on Friday which i had to do on my own as my educator was still not in! It went well and feel that I need to reflect on it as it was the first one that I did on my own and felt more confident afterwards! I think that I will be better from now on and be a bit more confident!

I have spent this afternoon packing for home on Thursday and generally trying to do some jobs that I have to do but they haven't gone very well so far! Will be heading ot bed shortly so that I am alive, awake and enthusiastic for tomorrow at placement!

This week I have up to 3 days in the store so it won't be much actual OT work but I can't do anything about that as we are doing a massive stock check and logging of all the equipment that is in there!

Will update again either on the boat on Thursday night or when i am back in Aberdeen and settled back in so it may be the beginning of next week before an update as got a busy 3 days when I am back as Friday is meeting up with the girls from Uni, then guides, then possibly out at night! Saturday is my birthday so spending most of it in the pub I think watching the 6 Nations final then Sunday is a Pioneering day with the girls that we are taking to Holland!

Week 5 Update

2011-03-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that this time in 2 weeks I will be back in Aberdeen and Placement will be over! We have been told to do an additional piece of work while on placement which is a Case Study! :(

I am still so bad about my diary writing but there hasn't been much happening this week and spent 3 out of the last 5 days in the office full time! :( I have been doing bits and pieces in the office for my supervision and trying to master the art of note writing to the standard that is needed to be put onto the computer so that it is able to be read by all other professionals who are able to access the system!

We had the team's monthly meeting on Tuesday morning and some of the issues that was discussed at last months meeting was once again discussed! We are shutting down the service except for emergencies for 3 days in a fortnights time (my last week) so that we are able to stock check and get all of the equipment onto the computer system.

I am really wanting to go home now and be around all of my friends as I am soooooooooooo lonely up here. I will be glad to see at least one friendly face from the time I leave work to the time I go to work again the next morning!

Weekly Update

2011-02-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

Well that is my 4th Week over! Can't believe that this time in 3 weeks time I will be home and probably still recovering from my night out for my birthday! lol

Had an interesting week this week and been as far North you can get in the UK! Went up to the northern most Island of Unst (Via Yell, as there is no other way of getting to Unst! lol). That was a hell of a long day as I had to be at work for 8.20am and didn't get back to the office until nearly 4pm, then I went from work at 5pm to guides which didn't finish until 9pm then walk home!

This is Me at the most northerly bus stop in the UK. Yes there is a TV, chest of drawers and a chair there!

I got my first bit of positive feedback this week too! It is amazing how good you feel after a little bit of positive feedback you get!

I have had an amazing weekend too as on Friday I was part of the procession from the Hall to the spot where we burnt the boat, following Vikings (Men dressed up with full beards!). I got a little torch (fire on the end of a piece of wood!) as I couldn't carry a big one as it was too heavy! We walked the short route which was about a mile long around to the site of the boat which was to be burnt! There was the traditions of the burning of the boat before we returned to the hall for the party! It was a ceilidh where the band was obsessed with the American Two Step! But I did learn a couple of new dances and want to go dancing again soon, even if it is just in the clubs when I get back to Aberdeen! Amanda and me left at 2am as we were falling asleep in the hall and it didn't take me long to fall asleep when I did get to bed! I have got myself into such a routine that I was awake at 7am naturally but I turned over and went back to sleep for another 3 hours! We went to tidy up the hall from last night as it was a mess and then Amanda and Roddy took me to see the lighthouse before heading back to the house where they got ready to go out for a meal on the main island and I joined them on the boat back then headed back to the flat and chilled out watching the rugby, before an early night!

I am now trying to get myself sorted out so that I am ready to go back to placement tomorrow for week 5 of 7! Can't wait to go home but would love to explore the islands a bit more, if only I had a car so that I could go and do that!

My diary writing is desperately calling me to go and write up the last 3 weeks! I have got so bad at writing it all up so must go and do at least two days!

Next post hopefully next weekend if not before!

3rd Week of Placement

2011-02-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well I'm nearly half way through my placement! I can't believe I am half way all ready!

I had my half way report on Friday morning! I have my half way phone call on Monday lunchtime!

I am passing at half way but I can be achieving more as I am holding myself back with my lack of self confidence and lack of pushing myself to look for opportunities (can't remember the word that I want to put in here!)! They say that if I just do that I could be achieving a B instead of a D as I am currently achieving! We went out for Fish and Chips afterwards before I headed home for my half day for study. I came home and chilled for the afternoon but I will have to do the work that I was supposed to do then tomorrow as I have to have it done for Monday morning.

I have seen only a few people this week as Clare was not in on Thursday afternoon due to her son not being well and being sent home from Nursery. We were supposed to see two clients in the afternoon but I had to cancel them for us so I had an afternoon in the office to do some jobs that I needed to do either for my supervision or my portfolio for university!

The weather has been horribly wet and windy up here this week but have walked to work every day but have a couple of days had lifts home from work.

I was given an opportunity to go to a Stroke support group on Thursday night which was a meal at the Chinese restaurant in Lerwick. It was a lovely evening and was good to have an evening out of the flat other than for guides which I missed this week due to work load.

Will try and update here soon again, maybes next weekend!

First Fortnight of Placement

2011-02-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Well this is the weekend at the end of my second week up here in Shetland on placement!

I have now been all over the mainland! Been virtually to the top of the island and the bottom too!

I am learning loads about equipment and the various people who get issued it!

Been in placement for 9/10 days as I was ill last weekend! Query Gall or Kidney stones! It is when you aren't well that you miss all of your friends and want to be back with at least somebody that you know and are likely to be comforted by!

I have seen lots of clients with a wide range of conditions from Cerebral Palsy to Arthritis! Wide ranges of age including Centenarians!

I have got one visit to other services organised and am organising another possibly 3 on Monday so it is all good and I have to feed back in my next supervision!

Not much social life up here although there are some celebrations a week on Friday where I will be going to work in the morning and doing a 24 hour shift as it is the Bressay Up Helly Aa and have been invited to join the celebrations so not to refuse it I said yes and am soooooooooooo looking forward to it!

Will leave it for now and will try and blog next weekend on my week on Placement

Update before Placement

2011-01-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

Not updated since before my last presentation so thought I should update before I start my placement on Monday!

I completed my second presentation with the other group on the 20th and was sooooooooooo glad that it is over! I have now had the result of this presentation this evening and have passed the presentation, now just ot wait for the results of the essays now!

On the 21st Karen and I travelled down to Edinburgh to go onto visit Beth in Ireland! It was a very good 5 days and could have stayed longer! Will have to go visit her again in the summer to see more of Northern Ireland! We went to visit the Giant's Causeway, Caves at Cushendun and surrounding area.

Since coming back from Ireland I have spent the last day and a half packing for heading up to Shetland for my placement! I am now on the ferry heading up there and am getting hungry so am going to go get some food and try and charge up my laptop before it dies on me!

Thank God that is over!

2011-01-18T09:21:00.001-08:00

We had or first of two presentations this morning! I am so glad that it is over!

Ours was third last of 8 but by the time it came to ours I was ready to jump out of the window I was soooooooooooooooo bored! I wish that they had split the class in half for these presentations!

I spent most of last night trying to finish off the presentation ready for this morning but one person never sent me through their stuff so I had a late night/ early morning!

I was bored enough in the session that I started to complete one of my challenges for the 101 things in 365 days! I have started next year's list of activities!

Update on 101 challenges

2011-01-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

I have now 'locked' my challenges into the 101 challenges website so there is no going back now!

This is my final list of challenges that I am going ot complete this year!

http://www.101in365.com/mazi159

I will be updating here as much as I can! I am hoping to blog about placement as much as I can so will be updating more and more as it is only 2 weeks before I start my placement!

101 challenges in 365 days

2011-01-11T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here are the challenges that I have chosen to do so far: -

Finish Queen's Guide Award
Sew all of my badges onto my Camp Blanket
Cook more meals from scratch
Meet up with Katie every time I am home
Type up at least one section of my song file
Lose Weight
Read at least 10 books off the BBC book list
Finish at least one Cross Stitch
Finish at least one piece of Lacemaking
Keep a diary when on placement
Keep a log of hours spent on guiding over the year
Finish Commissioner's training
Start the Senior Guides on their Baden Powell Challenge
Go to a 6 Nations Rugby Match
Virus Scan my computer at least once a month
Do a baking every month
Hand in an assignment before its due date
Complete GGUK Walking Scheme
Make a list of 100 books I want to read
Have a girly night with Beth once a month while at uni
Add 20 new songs to my camp file
Visit my friends in Ireland
Visit at least 1 tourist attraction in Aberdeen that I have not been to before
Give up chocolate and sweets for lent
Organise all of my guiding stuff
See 5 films at the cinema
Do 5 Guide Badges
Do 5 Brownie Badges
Do another 5 challenge badges that have been made up by other guiders
Complete a whole colouring book
Make my own Plate Bag
Complete the Brownie Seasons badge
Borrow 100 books from the uni library and read/ use them for assignments/ research
Walk 365 miles in the year or Lands End to John O Groats
Complete all uni work set
Write my blog every month on time
Try and get a cloth badge for my camp blanket from everywhere I go
Sort out files for uni modules
Get some work experience in an Occupational Therapy Department over the summer
Spend at least 7 nights in a tent in another country
Take a photo a day for a year
Publish above photos on Facebook
Watch all of my DVDs
Listen to 5 Books on CD
Go to the beach at least once a month
Watch a film from every year I was born
Make a CD/ Play list with every song that was number 1 on my birthday
Write a list of 101 achievements that I have made up to now
Write with my wrong hand for a full day
Keep my room tidy for a month
Make time for me once a week
Keep a food diary for a month
Donate Blood as often as possible
Get into size 16 clothes
Ask for help when needed
Wear make up more often
Learn to be more confident
Learn how to stress less
Learn to say NO
Pass 2nd Year
Find 20 Geocaches
Update my CV
Start planning my trip to Australia
See the Northern Lights
Try 10 new foods
Go to the Swimming pool at least once a month
Go to an International Camp
Eat my 5 fruit and veg per day
Learn to recognise 5 constellations
Make at least 1 item on the sewing machine
Create a list of my Pin Badge collection
Create a list of my Rubber collection
Create a list of my Pencil collection
Make a list of 100 films I want to see
Do an additional course over the summer months
Expand my family tree
Go for a week without going on guiders.co.uk
Send 100 virtual hugs in a week
Create my own cook book
See a pantomime at the theatre
Make sweets for my friends at uni for Christmas
Learn to count to 101 in 3 languages other than English
Spend a whole day in Pyjamas
Read a classic Novel
Go the the theatre at least once to see something other than a pantomime
Make a picnic for all of my friends
Sleep under the stars
Watch all of the Harry Potter films in order over a weekend
Attend a guiders.co.uk get together
Upload all photos to the computer
Put all photos into proper albums
Label all above photos
Keep up to date with notes for uni
Complete module to do lists
Find a poem that reflects every month of the years weather as it happens
Watch the 100 favourite Children's films
Keep diary up to date with all work/ uni/ placement appointments!
Update Trainings for work
Get a haircut every time I am home
Update all trainings for work
Create Next Years 101 goals

I have now got my 101 and even got a couple in reserve for next year!

January So far

2011-01-11T13:31:00.001-08:00

Well even though it is only the 11th today it has already been an eventful month!

I started with a shift on New Years Day at the hospital and then another couple before heading back to Aberdeen on the 7th. Think I worked it out that I had worked over 50 hours over Christmas!

I chased up my placement in Shetland yesterday as I am due up there at the end of the month and I had not heard anything from them despite sending my letter to them at the beginning of December! They had received my letter and it had been passed onto my educator who was snowed out of the office for a fortnight before Christmas and had only just got back into the office yesterday and was in the process of writing an email to me about my placement! I now have my information from them I just now need to rearrange my accommodation as my planned accommodation has fallen through today! I wish I had checked my email when I was in uni now instead of when I got home and could not do a thing about it!

I have today handed in all of my assignments this morning and feel so much happier having done it! I heard about a few people who had not managed to get all of their work in so they have failed the module if they had not already sorted out an extension to the work!

On a non uni note I sat the other evening when I was avoiding work and started to write a list of 101 things I want to do in the next 365 days! I have managed to write 89 of them and will publish them in another post shortly. I want to achieve this this year so that I have aims to the year! I have just thought of another one to add to the list while sitting here and looking at the pile of uni files that I have piled up beside me :(!

I thought that this was going to be a short post! Ha ha ha!

December Update

2011-01-11T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well I think this is overdue now!

December flew over far to fast this year and am back at uni for the assessments!

Spent all of my time either in class in uni or in the study room writing essays that were to be handed in today! I did enjoy working on them but got a bit bored of writing uni work all of the time and was glad to spend a bit of time 'relaxing' at guides as a way of getting away from all my work that I had to do! I managed to get two of my essays written before going home for Christmas so I knew that they didn't need very much work to do them when I got back after the break!

I finished off the year after Christmas working just about all of the time at the hospital. I didn't work New Year's Eve but the days around it I did!

Well that is a quick update of my month in December as I can't remember much more about it now!

November Update

2010-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well November has been quite uneventful really!

I have continued to go to uni and been in every day apart from 2 at the start of the month when i went home for the weekend and missed the Friday and the Monday! I was ready for a break and the 4 days did me the world of good! I have since had a day in Edinburgh at a Conference at Queen Margaret University for Occupational Therapy Students. It was a good day but a very long day as I had to leave the flat at 5am and didn't get home till after 10pm due to delays due to the weather that we have been having.

I have continued with my guide unit up here and done a range of activities including a couple of craft nights so that they can all gain their craft badges this term. We are going to Switzerland in 2012 so need to get thinking about fundraising ideas for that but also I am going as an adult on a county trip to Holland in the summer to an international Jamboree. Am looking forward to it but think that it will be hard work!

Still not had the chance to do any of my crafts since heading back to uni this year but hope in January I may get a bit of time after I have done my assignments and presentations!

Until next time bye bye

October Update

2010-10-30T15:36:00.001-07:00

Well it is Halloween tomorrow and the girls have all gone out in their fancy dress tonight as they are all in at 9am on Monday morning so not best to go out tomorrow night!

Uni is going ok but the pressure is on now as we have been given 2 topics a week to research and get our heads around on top of assignments and class work! Feeling slightly overwhelmed with it all but I am sure that I will get there in the end! I am at the moment going to Shetland for my 7 week placement at the end of January.

I continue to help out at guides on a Friday night and with half term just passed we had a fortnight off them although we did have the Centenary Finale in the middle of it so we still got our guiding fix! lol A good night was had by all that participated and are already asking about the Big Gig or an Olly Murs concert for next year! We are looking at going as a county and getting a convoy of buses down to it! That will be a very early start as it will probably Manchester/ Birmingham this year!

My crafts continue to be neglected although between Mum and me we have made my new uni bag and my dress for the ball in a fortnights time! I have now got my jewellery and my bag to go with the dress, bolero and shoes, although I think that I might go and try to get some new shoes, but not sure where I will find them! Will be on the lookout for white pumps until the ball! I have also managed to start rearranging my camp blanket so that I can fit a few more badges onto it! Will try to get some more on at Christmas time when I am not doing my assignment or working at the hospital!

Think that is all I have to tell this month so until next month! See ya!

September Update

2010-10-03T17:46:00.001-07:00

Well it is slightly late this month but here it goes

I started the month off still working at the hospital at home and am looking forward to receiving the money for those shifts! I am now not working there until probably Easter or next Summer due to the amount of Uni work that I have! We have 2 presentations, a Report and 2 Essays to write for January! Bye bye Christmas! I'll not be seeing you again this year!

I had a great weekend away with my Aberdeen Guides the weekend before I moved back up here for Uni! We went up to the Abernethy Trust at Nethybridge for the weekend and the girls had a brilliant time and thank god they were almost asleep on the way back! Mind I could have killed 6 of them on the Saturday morning as they kept us awake until after 1am and woke us up at 6am! We weren't amused! I stayed with my guider overnight on the Sunday and went home on the Monday after planning some crafts at hers in the morning.

I went home on Monday and came back up with all of my stuff for University to move into halls on the Thursday ready for the girls to come back on the Friday morning. They had an early flight so were at the halls by 9am on the Friday morning! I am now suffering from a bad case of Insomnia and I think I need to go to the doctors about it as this is night number 5 of it!

Think I am going to go and try to sleep as I am at uni in 8 hours time leaving in 6 hours!

August's Update so far

2010-08-17T05:08:00.001-07:00

Well I know that it is only half way through August but though that I had better update you all so far.

The month started at Centenary Camp in Leeds for Girlguiding UK! I managed to get onto the Adventure On team so didn't have any early starts compared to the general cast team! It was a week of sunshine and showers, got a suntan by Tuesday but then soaked from Wednesday to Friday night! We came home on Saturday afternoon once Mum was finished her duties as she was on car parking duties! I managed to go over on my ankle about 30 minutes before heading for home. Even now over a week after doing it in it is still not right!

We came home on the Saturday and on Sunday I picked up one of my friends from the Airport and we headed up to another of my friends houses where I stayed until the thursday morning when I left for my final exam and headed home. I am happy at how they went but have to wait until the end of the month for the confirmed results and as to if i am going into second year or going back into first year to resit the modules.

July's Update

2010-08-17T04:47:00.000-07:00

Well July seems so long ago now and not that much to report!

I finally got some work at the hospital and now am aloud to work on 3 wards in total, including the ward that I was working on before heading up to Aberdeen for Uni!

Started the month off with the Chillingham Rally and it was one wet and windy day.

I should really have got down and did some sewing of badges onto my camp blanket this month as we have the Girlguiding Centenary Camp at the end of the month/ begining of next.

Will update you all again at the end of the month for August

June's Update

2010-07-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well this month's update is a bit late again!

June has been really uneventful really!

I have been finished uni since the 4th June and travelled home on the 5th June having given the flat a clean from top to bottom! Yet yesterday got a bill for over £100 for cleaning of my room, the hall and the kitchen floors! I have emailed them for more information about it and to contest it!

Since being home I have managed to get 3 shifts at the hospital as they told me a fortnight ago that unless I get a 16 page document signed off I can't go onto any other ward across the trust! SO annoyed as I hadn't heard of this document until I phoned them up for shifts! I want to get this document done asap so I can get back down to Rake Lane!

Guiding wise I am back at 1st Dudley for the summer although I did go back up to Aberdeen a fortnight ago for the weekend to camp with the unit up there! Loved it and slept in a Hammock for the second night and would do that again next time! Have had 50 badges to sell for the district and so far 43 have been reserved and 13 have already been posted out!

I have got through so many reading books recently it is unbelievable! I finally finished off Julie Andrews Biography, book about noted left by flatmates and The Notebook and am almost finished Brown Owl's Guide to Life which is a bit weird but a good read! Not sure what to read next but am sure I will find another book to read soon!

May's Update

2010-06-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well I'm a bit late with my update but here is May's update!

I was on placement for the full month and finished at the begining of June with that! I must admit that I am glad it is over and I shouldn't have to do another Mental Health Placement unless I am mad enough to do one for my elective placement at the end of year 4! I enjoyed it but I know that mental health is not for me and I would much rather go into a physical placment as that I what I am more interested in!

It was interesting bringing all of my stuff home from uni in my car as there was just soooo much stuff to pack into my little car! I managed to get almost everything in but had to leave some stuff at the Guide hall for the summer! Everything here is almost packed away for the summer and only got a couple of pieces left to put away which I should do this afternoon!

Craft wise since getting home I have managed to do some of my lacemaking but not much else! Will probalby manage to do some over the summer before going back up for resits and then back for year 2 of my course! Got a bit of a busy summer coming up as got camp with my Aberdeen Guides in a fortnight's time and then got Centenary Camp in Yorkshire in August, then up to Aberdeen for my resits and then possibl to Ireland to see my friends then back for camp again with my guides again in September before back to uni for the next year of my 4 year course!

Guide Wise I am now looking after 5 guide units in the division to make sure they are all ok and trying to work together on activities and leadership. I must be mad taking on the role while I am at uni but I might as well take the opportunity while I can and I always have the support of Meg and the leaders on guidrs.co.uk and also Sharron from my uni course who is also a guide guider!

I will leave it there and update again next month!

April Update

2010-05-08T06:16:00.001-07:00

Hi all just a quick update as haven't been on recently!

I have had all my exams for the year and only have 4 weeks of placement before the long summer holidays (Nearly 4 months!)! Can't believe where the last 2 weeks have gone on placement! Nearly half way through it already! I know that I have passed one of my modules for this semester but still awaiting the results for the other two modules which are due within the next couple of weeks!

Placement is currently going OK, just a bit slow as there aren't very many patients to see in the hospital that I am working in and therefore am struggling to achieve some of my aims and objectives as yet, but there is time yet! Up until now I have spent most of my time in the office doing work for my weekly supervisions!

I am heading home for the weekend next weekend to collect my car so that I can bring everything home in one go at the end of my lease here are uni! I can't wait to get my car back and also to be home even though it is only two nights!

Monopoly has not been touched since my last update but did manage to get a little bit of cross stitch done on another piece (Christmas tree decoration) a couple of weekends ago and want to finish it but have lots to do for placement!

I continue to help out with my guides on a weekly basis but have got annoyed with them so much in the last couple of weeks as I have been so tired from placement! I was ready to strangle some of the little darlings last night! I have been coming home and sleeping for at least an hour each night!

I saw the physiotherapist about the Tendinitis in my wrist 4 weeks ago and am due to see her again next Monday afternoon. I have been bad at keeping up with the exercises that I am supposed to be doing to build it back up again. But I had a change of tablets which seems to have made a massive improvement to it and I have only had one day when it has played up in the last fortnight, which is amazing considering it has been playing up for the last few months!

Think that is all that has happened since my last update

Hope to update again soon

March Update

2010-03-24T03:15:00.000-07:00

This semester so far has been quite busy

So far we have had loads of practical sessions in preparation for going out on placement on the 26th April. Thoroughly enjoying this module as this is the way that I learn best! The reflections that we have to do are killers if you let them mount up like I did but am now up to date with them and can get on with some of my other modules work now.

Not enjoying the mental health module at the moment but we all have an assignment to do on the module for the middle of April. I personally don't want to do this module but it is on our syllabus so have to do it!

Physical Dysfunction module is getting there and there is a mixture of lectures and tutorials which are good because we can apply the knowledge that we gain in the lecture to the tutorial. The yellow book that we have to fill in in about half done but want it finished by the end of the week so that next week I can concentrate on the assignment for Mental Health.

I am so looking forward to going home at Easter as it will be a break from uni work and I will be able to just relax before coming back from the exams and hand in dates before going out on Placement.

I have got my placement here in Aberdeen so can just stay in halls until it is over! Finish placement on the 4th June and that is the date that we are finished for the summer!! I do have to come back in the summer as I have to resit two exams from January.

My guides continue to surprise me but am still thoroughly enjoying working with them. We are on holiday until next month now as it is a week to Easter and the kids are on a fortnight's holiday but some of us only have a week off from uni! I get to go home on Good Friday and come back up the following Friday.

My crafts continue to be neglected at the moment but hopefully when I get a bit more time on placement I can get some more time to do them.

January Update

2010-01-16T05:01:00.001-08:00

Another month where I have nearly forgoten to update my blog! So here it goes

Christmas was a bit eventful as I signed onto the Nurse Bank and I am sure that they had forgotten to organise some shifts for my Induction! But did manage to get two shifts before coming back up to Aberdeen. They were ok. Will be back doing a few shifts when I am back from Thursday night! Also on xmas day we didn't have turkey! We had a roast beef dinner instead! Mum made us a roast turkey meal before I came back up and will be trying to rearrange my xmas meal for my friends some time next month!

Am currently in Abderdeen as I have 2 exams this exam session! I have sat my Structure and Function exam last Tuesday, I think it went well but have a feeling that I will be resiting in August! The next exam is this Thursday - Sociology and Psychology :( I'm really not looking forward to this one but I suppose that I have to get on with it!

I continue to work with my unit here in Aberdeen and had a christmas party last night as it was our first night back after xmas! (We ran out of weeks last term!) Last week was cancelled due to the amount of snow that Aberdeen and the surrounding areas had had over xmas!

Wish that I had time to do some of my cross stitches at the moment but not got my hoops up here so will have to hunt them out when I go home!

Think I will leave it at that until the next time!

I must start updating here more often!

2009-12-06T05:59:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that the last time I blogged was back in April!

Update you all on my ways since then!

I managed to get all my work done for the exam board (Just) and have now got a Foundation Degree in Applied Health and Social Care!
Because I passed my Foundation Degree I got a place at Robert Gordon's University to study Occupational Therapy.
I am thourghly enjoying the course but can't wait to go home at Christmas as I have already been away from home for 11 weeks but only have 12 days to go!
I did my camp licence and passed that even though they took forever to get it back to me! (I got it back in October)
I have managed to join a guide unit here in Aberdeen so continue to do my guiding up here whilst studying.
I have only had time to do a small piese of Hardanger despite me bringing both Lacemaking and Cross Stitch up with me to do!

2009-04-20T06:34:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I have managed to move jobs again. I am now working at Rake Lane Hospital working on an Elderly ward with 24 patients. It is a great job and I do get a few laughs from them! I will be working here until I go off to University in September to study Occupational Therapy. I will probably be going up to Aberdeen but I do have an Interview at the University of Cumbria in Carlisle on Wednesday so will have made my mind up by the end of Wednesday as to where I want to go to!

I have just come back from a brilliant weekend with friends from the website guiders.co.uk. I have some great memories from this weekend that will haunt me for the rest of my life! We managed to 'kill' an official guiders top, it was a great stress releiver for us all as we hated it so much!

My cross stitch Monopoly is slowly coming along and will probably not get to do much of it in the next few weeks as I am doing my Guide Camp Licence at may half term and got my college work to finish before then also!

Until Next time!

Update

2008-10-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well it has been an eventful couple of Months since my last blog.

I have been moved from one community house in the trust to another so am now based at Blyth instead of Dudley, as we still have 2 spare beds and the house at Blyth is short staffed at the moment so have been shunted across ther until at least the new year. They have advertised for these posts but are not interviewing until next week so it will be early into the new year before they get started if it takes as long as it did for my CRB to come.

Back at College now for year 2 of my course and am starting to get back into the swing of the sessions after my long break (May - End of September). Can't wait to get this year over and done with so I can get onto the occupational therapy course at Northumbria.

Have done lots of cross stitch on my Monopoly board am 3/4 of the way round the outside with frame so am hoping to get that finished either tonight or tomorrow night, then I can start to fill it in with the names from the Newcastle and Gateshead version which I have managed to get a copy of from one of my colleagues at work.

Am busy doing some of my Lacemaking qualification at the moment so that needs doing as it is to be assessed in June next year as I am using it for my Queens Guide Award which has to be done by Spring 2010, so no pressure yet!!! Am getting another part of my Award hopefully signed off in a couple of weeks time when I go up to Scotland for Innovate through the Guides. Innovate is supposed to be us as members of the Girlguiding UK having a say on what happens with the movement! But it never works out this way.

Holidays

2008-08-09T03:55:00.000-07:00

I am on half way through my 2 weeks holiday from work and need to do something constructive!!! I have logged all of my Cherished Teddy Ornaments and have just over 300 of them! I am looking for a copy of the Newcastle and Gateshead Monopoly so that I can get on with my Cross Stitch of it!

Got a job interview on Thursday for two Occupational Therapy Assistants jobs at the same time as they are being interviewed at the same place by the same people. The jobs are based at Alnwick and Blyth so could be going to different places when I go back to College in September for Year 2 of the Foundation Degree.

On the craft side I have finished my Flip its stamps and it has gone off to be framed without me taking a picture of it and am also nearly finished my Hollyberry SAL too just need to work out how I am going to add the beads onto the tight bits of my work!!!

My week

2008-07-16T03:53:00.000-07:00

We still have 2 spare beds at work so are still overstaffed at the moment so am starting to look for other jobs again as there is no career opportunities in this job, I am bored with not much to do in the house because there are too many of us for all of the jobs and am starting to wonder what is wrong with our house for the rooms not to be filled almost imediately!

Not got much stitching done this week as have been working all weekend and Monday so had a relaxing day yesterday met up with some friends for Lunch as they were working even though they are supposed to be on holiday this week!

Need to get on with my Lacemaking but have persuaded Frances to spangle some more of my bobbins for mew to get on with the next piece as I was short.

Am getting into cardmaking and need some Merry Christmas Stickers to finish off some of the cards I have made for next year!

Update

2008-07-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

Well finally got all my work handed in for college and it is being assessed tomorrow for the University!

Stitching wize I have nearly finished my Flip Its SAL only got May and half of April to do. Hollyberry has started to be cut but not got much done as I have had a full weekend of activities this last weekend. Going to start my Monopoly SAL when I have finished either Hollyberry or the Flip Its.

Saturday was my organized trip for the Guides to Whickham Thornes where they all took part in 4 activities which were Archery, High Ropes, Snow Tubing and the Assault Course. Good day was had by all even though it was absolutely chucking it with rain all day. Even some of the guiders (Including myself) got involved in some of the activities (especially the snowtubing!)

Sunday was the Chillingham Vintage Rally where we help out every year as it was originally on my grandparents farm but now on the Wooler showfield. Good day was had by most people we sold Frances' jewellery for her while she was in Bulgaria!!! Helped tidy up as usual and got the plaque for attendance.

Back to work yesterday and sent to another house as they were short staffed and we were overstaffed still as they still have not filled our two spare rooms.

Update

2008-06-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

Well I have now been in my new job 4 months and it is a bit better than my last one which had an awful lot of politics around it. This job has a lot of sitting arround during the day because the clients are not that energetic. We have had a death since going there, so we are down to 3 clients so we also have to cover some of the other houses in the trust as we are classed as overstaffed for the number of clients that we have at the moment.

I have just about finished year one of my Foundation Degree. Will hopefully have it finished this week to hand in next Tuesday. I have found it hard but have had some good support from Katie and Ingrid who are also on my course.

Have not had much time for Cross stitch lately as I have had to get this work done for college but will hopefully have more time over the summer to get some done.

Start on Monday

2008-02-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

Well I finally start my new job on Monday 9am. Am so looking forward to it now that I have my coursework for college out of the way and have got time to myself for things that I want to do.

Went to Durham day before yesterday and spend lots of money on beads for my Lacemaking! Was going to go into town today but because it has been snowing on and off all morning I am not going, maybes another day!

Finally finished work

2008-01-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

Well it is finally over! The hell that was the Heatherfields! Got two weeks off and then I start my new job on th 4th February! Woo hoo!!!!!!!
Went out for a meal at the Metro Centre today and enjoyed it so much.
Finished Winnie the Pooh and have started on my Ozark SAL again now that I have a little bit of time again!

Put my notice in at work

2008-01-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

Well I finally done it I have put my notice in at work and I leave a week on Saturday! I have been wanting out for a while but it will soon all be over! Don't know when I am starting my new job but I am going to have a couple of weeks between the jobs anyway! I will be able to keep upto date woth everything that goes on as I have Joanne who will tell me what is going on on a Tuesday night at Guides!

New Job Update

2007-12-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Just recieved the CRB form and health screening for my new job, which I will probably be starting in the New Year now as it is apparently 7 - 8 weeks for CRB checks to be done!
I applied for this job back in June, the Interview was in August, my employer did the reference about 4 weeks ago and got the CRB form today and it will hopefully be sent off tomorrow with my acceptance for the job. You must remeber that this job is an NHS Job and they are really slow!
The job is doing the same as I am doing now but we will only have 5 clients maximum with 3 - 4 staff on during the day. Compared to 5 staff and 17 - 18 residents at my current employment.
People at work keep on asking me when am I leaving and I have to say I don't know as it could be seven weeks before my CRB form comes back!

I'm back

2007-12-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

Just got back form my weekend away and have got lots of ideas to do with the unit and division/district in the coming years!

The journey should have taken 2 1/2 hours to get there but because of the rain and the dark it took us 4 hours to get there! It wasn't so bad coming back but we had a few 'Sunday drivers'!

Will try and get some photos of the crafts we did over the weekend up soon. Once I get the camera found!

Going away at the weekend

2007-11-29T02:37:00.000-08:00

Goin away for the weekend with Jill on a training weekend to Waddaw Hall in Lancashire for the Guides.
It is a training on 'A Year Arond the World' - International-themed programme ideas for all sections including games, crafts, traditions and festivals throughout the year.
It should be interesting to see what others around the country do for Thinking Day

So long since I posted

2007-11-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since I posted and there has been alot of news since then!

In the summer we had all of Mam's Cousin's (bar one) in Scotland! There are 12 of them all together!

The picture at the top is of them all with one of my second cousins Ewan

I have started a new job working 48 hours a week in a care home 9 miles down the road from us. I work on the Young Physically Disabled Unit (YPD Unit) where we have 17 residents at the moment. They are long 12 hour shifts but they are over and done with for the week.

I belong in Amsterdam!

2007-02-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

I belong in Amsterdam!
Find out where you belong to at
http://www.blogthings.com/whateuropeancitydoyoubelonginquiz/

Peachy Biscornu

2007-02-14T00:52:00.000-08:00

Finally got round to doing my biscornu on Saturday night and am ready to stuff it. Will post a picture of it soon.

Will have to go back to my Flip its once I am finished this one.

New Blog

2007-01-28T07:43:00.001-08:00

Well this is my first blog on my new website
Hope everybody likes it