CTW and getting published

2 weeks ago I was re-elected as the Vice-chair of Roehampton LINKS.  I decided to be a good sport and join the rest of my new committee (a few others were from last year's committee also) to CTW (Committee Training Weekend).  It's a weekend away and paid for by St John Ambulance where you go to multiple sessions to learn how to do your job, how to best function as a unit within your committee, leadership and management skills, and the best part is you meet the committees of other units around London.  It can get pretty boring if you've been on a CTW before, but it's a good introduction for people new to the organization.  There are 10 universities that have LINKS units within London.  What we've done in the past is form alliances with one or the other and help each other out with training or duties.  My group got put in the "noisy" lodge so none of us got much sleep whether we were downstairs partying til all hours or upstairs trying to sleep despite the vibrating floor from the music below.  I look forward to catching up on my sleep.

In other news I'm looking at getting a moped to get around London faster and cheaper.  The one I want comes out in the end of March.  I found a site where you can buy new straight from the manufacturer and it's way cheaper than a dealership.  And the best part is it's burnt orange and black.  : )  I can wear my batting gloves with it to match.  I'll post a pic when that happens.

I'm bummed I had to miss the first softball practice of the season yesterday because I was at CTW.  Next week I'll miss also because I have a 3-day first aid course.  I'll definitely make the next few, though.  I miss softball.

The family I work for goes on vacation the 28th of March for 3 weeks of Easter Break.  So I get 3 weeks to sleep in (thank goodness!!) and still get paid of course.  I'm looking forward to it.  I'm thinking of taking the driving lessons during that time.

I'm looking into trying to get my guide dog story published here.  I sent off to Bloomsbury as well as being in contact with RNIB and Guide Dogs themselves to see if they can help.  RNIB thought it was a good idea, but they don't have the budget at the moment.  I'm getting a poem published in Voices de la Luna also!  It's called "Thames."  About the Thames River that runs through London at different points.  A friend who works for the magazine, Carol Reposa, helped me edit it.  I'm pretty excited about that.  I've never considered publishing a poem since it's not what I usually write.  I think I can count the poems I've written voluntarily on one hand.

While I was on the Bloomsbury website I saw they had a job opening.  I applied.  It'd be a pretty cool place to work.  I would think I'd be able to get a lot of good tips through it.  They published Harry Potter in the UK by the way.

The kids are good fun.  They like to play rough, but don't know how to take it rough.  We played cricket and soccer in the backyard last week and had 3 injuries bad enough to make one boy or the other cry.  I kept trying to say, "Let's stay inside for the rest of today and take a break," but as soon as the tears stopped they wanted to go back out.

I went to the library to borrow the Roald Dahl book that Jack was reading because he kept waking up when I read his school's copy.  I finished it over the weekend (while karaoke was going on downstairs).  It was "The Witches."  The ending seemed sweet in a very morbid kind of way.  Usually his endings are happy.  I won't say what the ending was, though, because I hate spoiling books even if they are kids' books.

Tim took Yasmin to the park while I was gone, but she only met little bitty dogs.  She doesn't seem to acknowledge them as actual dogs because they're too little to play with.  But the weather's getting warmer and nicer so I'm sure we can go out more and find her some decent sized dogs to play with.