Potential New Futures

I played indoor softball last Saturday.  I think I'm going to let it be the last time I play indoor for the season.  Outdoor season starts in just two weeks so I can wait for that.  The indoor one seems much rougher and slightly more dangerous because we're in a confined space and that ball bounces around like a pinball.  I got a bruise on my thigh from when a girl threw to first and hit me (the runner who was practically squatting down to avoid getting hit).  Luckily it was a girl who was a beginner.  Otherwise it could have hurt much worse.  On the other hand, if she wasn't a beginner she might not have missed and hit me in the first place.  I got a big bruise on my calf because I was standing too close to the baseline when a guy was running home.  He knocked me hard enough to spin before falling.  I don't know if it was the fall, or just bad positioning when changing direction quickly, but my back suffered a lot of muscle damage too.  I never get back pain from outdoor softball and I rarely get bruises (or broken bones).  It was fun, but I'm really looking forward to real softball.  It was awesome to be able to wear my batting gloves for the first time, though.  They make me feel empowered.

Tim worked at the Bop (Roehampton Duty) Friday night, and didn't finish 'til about 4am because the lock broke on the closet where we store our kit so they had to drag it all to another member's flat for safe keeping until the university can fix the door.  Some of that stuff is really expensive.

Tim's been teaching me how to do blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope.  It's tricky, but fun to practice for the real thing.  I'm also learning British road signs finally.  I got my British provisional license while I was in uni.  It's good for 10 years, but if I want to learn to drive and ambulance I need to have a British license first.  Collin loaned me some books and I bought a CD that helps you practice for theory.  Some of the things they expect you to do for practical seem completely unpractical, though.  For example, you can't cross your hands on the wheel in the test or you fail.  Who takes a 90 degree turn without crossing their hands or taking one hand off the wheel to replace it on another part?  I have never seen anyone drive the way they expect you to in the test.

I've been looking into doing my paramedic science foundation degree through Open University so I can still work.  It all depends on funding now.  They have a lot of grants or bursaries/scholarships set up to help.  They work with St John Ambulance so that you can do the practical parts through SJA.  I'm kind of excited about that.

Tim is exploring about 4 options at the moment.  Two of which include a few years of study, but he would only have to pay for the first year.  The other two are jobs.  One is a job fair and the other a job he went for before, but the person who got it dropped out after a few weeks so Tim can apply again.  That one is for SJA, but it's paid.  I won't mention which two the other ones are that require study.  I don't want to increase any pressure on Tim's decision or jinx anything.

Other than that Yasmin and I spent some time sunbathing yesterday for the first time since the new year.  I had my softball to toss and Yasmin had some sticks to chew.  It was very relaxing.

A Coating of Throat Pain and Swollen Glands

I was off work all last week.  I spent most of my time dedicated to LINKS in spite of a sore throat and ear pain.  It always seems to work that way.  You get sick when you don't have to work.  Tim and I have been working on a new website for Roehampton LINKS that combines the info of about 3 different sites into one, and it's superior for regular member access to any of the other sites.  Of course Tim is doing the complicated coding based on my outline.  It probably would have been far easier to just hire someone.  It's taken a lot of time and Tim and I don't really speak the same language when he's talking techy stuff.  But it's progressing fast so hopefully the project will be done in a week or so.

Our friend, Ashley, came to visit over the weekend.  He used to go to Kings College.  He was the chair of Kings LINKS unit when Tim was chair.  He's going to med school in Cornwall now.  He kept telling us that if we visit in summer we can go surfing and sailing.  That sounds like a lot of fun.  Sadly I got kind of sick while he was here.  My voice started to go out Friday night.  I got some cold medicine Saturday, but whenever I took it I felt feverish.  That was a pain.  I feel better now, but my voice is still really off.  Now if only I can stop coughing long enough to get some sleep.  I bought UK "original" Monopoly Sunday and Ashley and I made Tim play with us only to lose to him horribly.  Must be beginner's luck.  The first time Tim played poker he won also.  Although I think that was because he didn't understand the concept of bluffing and folding.  Apparently, the "original" monopoly in the UK isn't the same as ours.  It's got places in London most of which I don't recognize.

I'm playing indoor softball this Saturday.  This time if someone slides I'm jumping out of the way whether I can get them out or not.  I'm not risking another serious injury this close to spring softball.  We're planning a small movie night Saturday night with Alex and probably Liam.

Weekend overload

Tim and I have been kept pretty busy lately.  There are still pieces of snowmen from last Sunday around.  This week has been the first day it's gotten above freezing during the day.

Tim and I went to the Bop last Friday and it was very eventful.  At one point we got three patients who all came in within a minute of each other.  That kept us busy until the fire alarm went off and everyone except LINKS had to evacuate.  So we had many half naked drunk people outside throwing snowballs at each other.  But no need to send anyone to hospital thank goodness.  The next morning we had to wake up early (after sleeping at Collin's) to get back home, drop off Yasmin, sleeping bag, etc, and go to a football duty.  Once we got there we found out it was cancelled and I should have checked my email in the short time we were home.  Yasmin was glad we were home early, though.

After a nap we went to watch The Muppets with Liam.  It was cute.  On Sunday Tim went to assess for SJA and I met up with Rachel Bales at Earl's Court for the Doctor Who Exhibition.  It was pretty awesome!  We went on a 25 minute mission to help Doctor who including entering the TARDIS where the floor shook, being captured by daleks making the small children cry, with Matt Smith guiding us the whole way with multiple jokes.

Afterward I had to drop some first aid training equipment off at SJA HQ where an induction was going on and Tim was assessing.  So I got to meet a lot of the new members and go to the pub to chat and stuff.

I'm off work this week, which is pretty sweet.  The boys have a week off school and the mom needed to take vacation time before it expired.  Fine by me, though.  Means I can sleep in, focus my time primarily on LINKS for a week, and get things done around the house.

There's a new Mexican restaurant in Bromley that we're planning to try out for Valentine's Day tonight.  It turns out Yasmin likes Red Bush tea also.  She's been getting loads of attention between LINKS meeting, sleeping at Collin's on Friday, and the induction course.  She even got in a game of "find the keys" with Tim today.  It's good practice for when Tim actually does lose his keys, but Yaz likes the challenge and attention.

Last time I talked to Emily we were talking about her awesome new kindle and she mentioned "The Hunger Games" trilogy to me.  I was almost done with my latest Barbara Kingsolver book (very inspiring) and decided to download a sample to my kindle.  I bought the whole trilogy for only 16 dollars and am currently on the 3rd book.  It's a very exciting series.

Snow Day

I snowed 5-6 inches Saturday night!  Yasmin just loved it!  She was running back and forth and rolling around in it.  Tim and I went for a walk to town and a local park.

Tim and I did our first duty together since May 2009.  We went to the Bop.  Everyone else was at the LINKS conference so it was just us and Collin.  We only got 2 patients and thankfully nothing too bad.  Both somehow managed to fall on their face (at separate times) and had scraped chins, nose, etc.  It ended at 2:30 so Tim and I crashed at Collin's in sleeping bags on his sofa bed.

Tim's friend, Liam, just moved to Bromley last week.  Liam went to New College with Tim.  We went to see The Grey on Tuesday with Liam and Alex.  Our local cinema does extra cheap movies on Tuesdays, but we had to go in the middle of the day.

I was pretty stoked that I finally got rain/snow boots.  Never had either before.  My tennis shoes soaked through to my feet.  Now all I need is a raincoat and I'll be all set for actually living in London.

The snow melted almost completely by Monday night.  I let the boys throw snowballs at each other on the way home from school and at home after.  I felt like they got a raw deal.  Their dad was gone for the weekend and their mom wouldn't let them play in the snow at all on Sunday when it was fresh.  I can't understand why unless she just didn't want to be bothered with putting them in new, dry clothes afterward.  I'm glad they got to play in it a little bit anyway.

Tim and I are hoping to do a football (soccer) duty on Saturday that is close to us.  The team is called Crystal Palace.  It's Jack and Jude's favorite team so I thought I'd check it out since it's so close.  They'll certainly want to hear how I find it anyway.