Shortened Break Almost Over

Gosh, my 3 weeks off paid vacation turned into 2 weeks when I realized I had gotten the uni Easter Break mixed up with the kids' school break.  I'm not quite sure what I did with my time off, either.  I know I slept a lot at first, then had trouble sleeping the rest of the time.  We had a pizza and movie night on Easter Sunday with friends over, but we got to talking so much that we didn't get around to watching a movie even though lots of intriguing ones were brought.  Once we realized that we didn't really have time for a movie we played Apples to Apples.  It was still fun.  Adrian won and stayed the night.  The next day we watched the 11th season of Mash that Adrian brought over.  I hate that I only have the first 5 seasons over here.  I love that show.

I've been to a few softball practices which are over now.  Now it's just games and tournaments.  I have one game a week from the first week of May, but they're all on weeknights.  It's nice that we'll still have the weekends open for St John or camping etc.

Our friend, Micaela, Tim, and I went to the Roald Dahl museum in Great Missendon on the 12th.  It was small, but cute and worth the trip.  We went to a Chinese Restaurant afterward before heading back on the train, and Tim left his bag with ipad in the restaurant!  We didn't realize until we got off the train in London.  Since we had to go back the next day for the ipad we decided to make a camping trip of it and break in our new tent.  Other than being too cold at night we had an awesome time.  The only campsite around the station (2.3 mile walk away) was a farm with a small field where caravan vehicles could hook up.  We had the only tent there.  The farmers were very friendly and didn't mind us touring the farm looking at the animals.  The pigs seemed very interested in us and the geese were a little too interested in Yasmin.

Tim and I are working at the London Marathon next Sunday.  It's one of the biggest duties of the year.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I just hope the weather warms up.  It's been annoying lately.  The sun shines for about 5-20 min, then it clouds up, gets cold, maybe rains for 30 min, then cycles through again. I really hope the crazy weather fixes itself before Yasmin's bday because we're planning to spend all afternoon in an open field.

Expectant Moped and Easter Break

Well I didn't get the nannying job.  I wasn't really happy with the circumstances.  The interview was last minute and the lady at the agency didn't ask me about my schedule before booking an interview for me, so I had to go in between two St John duties that I had already committed to.  I had the Bop Friday night until 3 am, the interview Saturday morning at 10 am, then the Crystal Palace football duty 1:30-5:30.  I was kind of sleep deprived and just wasn't thinking on my feet.  Of course I thought of loads of good answers to the questions after the interview.  I'm going to keep looking for full-time jobs, though.  I wasn't actually looking before.

Tim just found out today that he didn't get his job either.  It really sucks because it was pretty much everything he had already done voluntarily.

I went ahead and ordered my moped last week, though.  It's supposed to arrive in the end of April, so I have until then to do the one-day course, find a helmet and lock, secure insurance, and anything else I might need to do for it.  The moped will help me cut down a lot on travel time and costs.

This is the start of my 3 week holiday from work.  The family is in Malaysia (the mom is from there) so I get to sleep in for 3 weeks, which is awesome!  We got Yasmin's birthday presents this week.  A bacon-flavored nylabone and a huge compressed rawhide bone that should take her a while.  We got some doggy chocolate for Easter while we were at it.  I thought it'd be fun to do something like an Easter egg hunt for her with the chocolate.  We're having a movie night on Easter and Rachel Bales is coming over to meet some Brits. : )

Tim and I are going with a friend from LINKS to the Roald Dahl museum on the 12th.  It'll be a day trip.  I think it's mostly a kids' museum, but I bet it'll be fun anyway.  I also found out that I will be able to be assessed at the new standards for first aid before the London Marathon.

Our friend, Ashley, is coming down in the end of the month on Yazzi's birthday for the weekend!  I'm hoping to see how he takes to softball at the Sunday practice.  On the Saturday he's going to a medical type conference so we were thinking about checking out the St John museum with some people from LINKS.

It looks like we have lots to look forward to in summer too.  Ashley invited us to Cornwall where he lives to go sailing, the olympics are bound to be eventful, Coldplay is coming to a stadium in London and I plan on signing up for the St John duty to go for free, and then Laura, Cassidy, and my parents are planning to visit.  In between Tim and I plan on finding some decent camp sites to try out our new tent.  Exciting stuff!!

Yasmin is doing well.  A cop came 'round yesterday to get an "impact statement" from Tim and me about the impact made on Tim and Yasmin short-term and long-term regarding the assault on the train.  They caught the guy and he has yet to plead guilty or not.  It sounds like he may plead not guilty based on the fact that he was drunk, but I don't see that going well for him.  Until this is over though, he's not allowed to go on the same route on the train that he did when he met Tim.  Yaz has gotten to go to the park plenty with the sun we've had lately.  We found a rubber stick in a shop today and got it for her.  It's even shaped like a stick with random knobs and the minute texture.  She loved it in the park.  Our park is too well-groomed.  It's hard for us to find decent sticks bigger than twigs for Yaz to fetch and chew on.

Job Interviews and Warm Weather

I had the flu last weekend and was feeling pretty rotten at work the week before.  My fever wouldn't go away completely for about 4 days.  It was sooo annoying that I had to miss the last day and the assessment of my first aid course from the week before.  Now I have to find someone to assess me on my own.  That's somehow worse than being assessed at the same time as the group I trained with.  I also had to miss softball on Sunday for the third weekend in a row.  I blame LINKS for making me sick.  I lost sleep at CTW and then the first aid course the weekend after I think it knocked my immune system out of whack.  Thankfully the boys were pretty understanding when I told them they couldn't go to the park because the cold air killed my throat.  I'll take them today.

The weather's been beautiful lately... once the sun's up anyway.  It's still in the 40s when I wake up at stupid o'clock am.  After I get off work (at 9 am) Tim and I have been making coffee and drinking it just outside on the sunny mornings while Yasmin chews her stick.  She loves sunbathing... we must be related.  Yesterday the dad I work for stayed home with a headache, so he took the boys after I brought them home from school and I got an unexpected afternoon off which was pretty nice.  We decided to take Yaz to the park to find some friends to play with.  She's such a social creature.

I have an interview tomorrow evening for a position within the LINKS HQ volunteering sector.  It's called ASO (Assistant Staff Officer) Finance Assistant.  The current ASO finance is looking for an assistant, and I figure it wouldn't hurt to have some experience and training dealing with large budgets for a large organization.  It could come in handy at some point in my life.  It's a 2 year position.

Tim has an interview for a paid job with SJA on Friday.  It's a job he interviewed for before called Pathway Coordinator.  The person they hired didn't last two weeks.  I'm not sure what happened, but that's good for Tim.

I saw a new job advertized through my nanny agency for a new job that pays over twice what I make now.  Full-time looking after a baby girl for an American mom and British dad.  I'm trying to see if I can at least get an interview because that would be awesome!  Then I could fly Guinness over sooner, not worry about budgeting between getting the moped and my British license, and even fly to Texas for Christmas for sure!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Tim and me to get the jobs.  Heck, if we both got the jobs, or even one of us we could get a bigger flat with a garden for Guinness.

I would make sure my current family found someone new before leaving, though.  I would definitely miss the boys, but I'd be silly not to look into a job that pays twice as much when I have to worry about budgeting.

Yasmin's birthday is coming up next month.  It's April 27th.  It lands on a Friday.  We thought it'd be fun to plan a "Birthday Picnic" for her inviting whoever wants to join us for the afternoon in Richmond Park near Roehampton University.  A good few people have already confirmed.  It's just a good excuse to get outside in the beautiful weather, and most people in LINKS would love to get out since lectures will be over and exams coming up.  So that's something else to look forward to.

On the 22nd of April I'm going to the London marathon for a duty.  It's one of the most exciting duties of the year.  You're pretty much guaranteed to treat about 20 people in one day.  The costumes some people wear to run 26.2 miles for charity is just ridiculous!  You see some running in things like big chicken suits and then wondering why they collapse from heat exhaustion and dehydration.  Anyway, exciting stuff!

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.

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.