Is it a bird?! Is it a plane?!

Well, I'm currently footloose and fancy free, as work finished up nicely last week. My last shifts went quite well, bar having to make a missing persons report, but having two young good looking men in uniform call out to see you for a while at 2am is never really a bad thing is it?!! I was touched my the cards I received from my colleagues, and even more so by some of the well wishes from the tenants. It was lovely to receive them from the tenants I've been working with for years, but even more heart warming from a couple of new guys that I've not really had the opportunity to know so well.

So that's the end of that chapter in my life. I've made some fantastic friends there, and still have my leaving do to look forward to next week!

This weekend we're off to London for a family party - fab way to spend the last couple of days before I start the course!

Other than that not much has gone on here.

I wasted almost a whole day of my life changing broadband providers. Not an experience I wish to repeat. And as it stands at the moment, if the new service does not greatly improve I'll be trundling back to our old one!! As they say, the grass ain't always greener.


I went blackberry picking last week in the field by our house and made a delicious Crumble for tea. Lee refused to eat any of it as, in his own words, the fruit had come from "outside". Yes Lee, because fruit usually comes cello-packed from a factory.


So I ate it all over a couple of days. Shame that.


Anyway! About the post title! I'm getting ever ready for uni on Monday! We have a whole fortnight of freshers to look forward to, and I've been busy preparing my costumes for some of the fancy dress nights. I've got my first one done, for Superhero night (I typed Superhore first there!!). Being a larger girly, I couldn't find anything suitable to rent or buy (and they cost a bloody fortune anyway), so I've made my own! And while it's not brilliant, it's not bad either, and it's certainly original so I'm hoping it will be a good ice breaker for the evening :)

I decided to go as Super Nat, still a little undecided as to what my powers will be, maybe drinking shots at lightening speed?! Any suggestions welcome!!

I bought the skirt and leggings, but made the tshirt and cape myself - with stitching that would move my old Textiles lecturer to tears of joy I'm sure. It turned out really well I reckon!! All I need to pick up now is a pair of long black gloves that I've seen in a party shop and I'm away :)

Right, I'm off. Next time I post I'll officially be a trainee teacher!!

See you on the other side :)

xxxxxx

Snaps :)

A little HSMS catch up. I'm a big cheat as NONE of these pics are in my space today, however, when reading some of the prompts these old photos sprung to mind immediately :)

Cake: A soft, sweet food. Find 'cake' in your space today

I cooked these Choc n Cherry muffins for Lee for Valentines day, I did blog a pic at the time, but this is a different shot. They were ruddy gorgeous too and I ate most of them before Lee got home from work hehehe!!!

Curious: Eager to know or learn. Find 'curious' in your space today
I've blogged this pic in the past but it was before I joined HSMS, so I thought I'd add it again for the guys and gals to see. It's of my hamdsome little boyo, Griff. To be honest he's probably the least inquisitive cat ever to have existed - he runs a mile at the slightest movement and is very wary of everyone except myself. But he's a total love-bug with me :) He looks as if he was interested in what I was up to in this shot though doesn't he, the little lamb!
Thoughtful : Absorbed in or involving thought. Show us 'thoughtful' in your space today. Another old one that I think I'd blogged before the HSMS days. Love this shot of Lee sitting on a sunset-lit jetty in west Wales.
Hold: To grasp, carry or support with your hands. Find 'hold' in your space One I've not shown before - Ellies tiny hand in that of her mummy's. Kiss: AKA: Pucker up, swap spit, snog, tonsil tickling (tee hee).A show of affection by means of mouth to mouth contact. Go on, give us a kiss! This is just a funny one. I was actually trying to take a shot for last weeks Self Portrait Saturday, but I'd just finished a 12 hour night shift and looked pretty manky (hence the funky sunnies!). Thought I'd edit it a bit and give you a giggle :)My last shift tonight!! Yay! Wonder if I'll feel emotional about it all at all come the morning? It truly is the end of an era!!!
Catch you all tomorrow xxx

It's the Final Count Down..............

.......la la la laaaaaaa, la la la la la.....................

Further to my last post - today is the first shift of my last ever week at work!! Hurrah!! I will let you all know how it went on Friday!!

Just have to say how much I love Facebook! It's put me in touch with a few of the girls who will be on my course and we're hoping to have a likkle get together before hand if possible so we'll at least know a few people on our first day. Facebook is one of those social-networking things, it's amazing who you can find on there! I've only been on it a couple of months and I'm already in touch with old friends I haven't spoken to in years. Check it out!!!!

See ya later in the week - when I'll be a free woman (weeeeeell, for a week until I start my course anyway!!!) xxxx

Period of Adjustment

Crikey! I haven’t blogged in ages. Mainly cos it’s been a busy old time here, as you’d expect.

Got just THREE shifts left in work. It feels weird. After working there for over three and half years, all I have left to do is 35 hours. I thought I’d feel a bit sentimental about by now, but to be honest my three shifts this week have been shifts from hell. Talk about going out with a bang.
Obviously, in this line of work, you face incidents which could be classed as challenging constantly. But this week I had an “official” challenging incident as defined by my employers policies and procedures. In the whole time I’ve worked there I think I’ve only ever had two incidents serious enough to warrant official Challenging Incident procedures. This one involved a knife.

Not the quiet, hassle-free final shifts I envisaged! And last night I had to file a missing persons report which we haven’t had to do there for ages either.

If anything I am now more sure than ever that packing it all in and retraining is the best decision I have ever made. I hope my last three shifts this week will be more like their usual selves.

One lovely thing did happen last night though. Our projects are dispersed and sometimes staff who don’t usually work at my hostel have to come and cover the sleep-in shifts. A senior member of staff was sleeping-in last night and we were chatting about my future, when she turned and said to me that the first time she ever came to the hostel to do a sleep-in I’d made her feel more welcome and comfortable than she’d ever felt anywhere before. Apparently I took her down to the staff areas and showed her around, and fetched her a glass of water for the night.

I couldn’t remember any of this – and she said that I probably wouldn’t because those little actions are probably things I would have done for anyone and are simply in my nature, but that night they meant the world to her.

I was so moved by that! Small actions can sometimes make big differences – go share the love, people!!!

It’s a hell of a tough job that even at the best of times can really take it out of you, so it’s nice that I guess somewhere, somehow, over all that time in the hostel I made at least the smallest difference to someone, even if they were a colleague.

Either that, or she made it all up just to be nice to me hahaha!!

So anyway…………I’m all ready to start my new life. Three more shifts and a bit of mental-adjustment, and I’ll be a student. A trainee teacher. Weird!!!

Can I also say a big thanks to all the kind wishes people have sent me for starting the course, especially the offers of a shout out from teachery peeps should I need any advice or help. It really truly is appreciated and no doubt I'll be calling upon your expertise in the near future :)

I said I’d been shopping for lots of things I probably won’t be able to afford anymore…..namely clothes! Here are some pics of my loot!

I love these bags from good ole cheapy Peacocks, I lug my stuff to work in one now, and when I saw them reduced to just £1.50 each I thought I’d snap a couple up for uni. A couple turned into 4 as I had trouble choosing between all the fab designs! My fave is the blue heart one – it’s such a cute size and has little pleats in it. They are just the right size and as they’re cotton they can just be chucked in the wash and come out like new. Fabulous! I also made sure Lee treated me to a couple of smart leather bags too and a hoard of new shoes. I bought myself the bargains; he got to pay for the pricey stuff. I’m quite an opportunist like that!!!

Here’s my new student wardrobe lol! At the moment it's nicely organised into sections: knitwear, long sleeves, tshirts, vest tops..........wonder how long that will last?!How I will decide what to wear first I don’t know! My top picks are:Tweet!Twoot! (I wore this to the Swansea retreat and got pasta sauce down it. Praise the lord for Vanish Stain Remover in all it's pink-bottled glory!!)Bought loads of accessories too. Whilst picking up those cotton bags in Peacocks I spied they had their fashion jewellery reduced to stooooopid prices so bagged plenty, and then headed down to Outfit, where they always have loads of nice fashion jewellery from Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans reduced to under £4. I often pick up things for a pound there! Think this big blue heart on a long chain and little silver butterfly were my favourite finds this time though.Speaking of jewellery – lookey what I made! I got my ever-so-talented mum to show me how to make wrapped loop, nicked all her tools for a couple of evenings and away I went! This is a pendant but I haven’t attached it to anything yet. I’m thinking either a long chain or organza ribbon, although the pendant might be a bit heavy for that. I lurve green at the mo!Right. I’m off to see if I’ve won the lottery :) Catch you soon blogeroonies xxx