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Wednesday 26 December 2012

Boxing Day

Well Christmas is over for another year and I got spoilt - just look at all my lovely gifts from my friends and family!


Pussycat enjoyed his gifts too, he sat happily in this little bandanna bib and then spent a good 30 minutes having an epic battle against a catnip fish that my sister sent him (we had to confiscate the fish and put it in the airing cupboard because it was wet where he'd been drooling over it!). He also ate a good deal of dreamies treats. 


The boyfriend and I spent the morning at our house opening our stockings and gifts under the tree, then we made our way over to the boyfriend's mum where we got waited on and had tasty dinner and games in the evening. 

Today we went to shop the sales and hardly got anything, we were only in the city for about an hour and hardly anyone else was, it was dead! And it wasn't surprising, the shops didn't seem to have anything actually on sale!


Monday 24 December 2012

T'was The Night Before Christmas

Last day on the advent calendar


And the boyfriend and I decided the day before Christmas would be a good time to go grocery shopping... it wasn't too busy. And I got a marshmallow snowman. 


And we got some giraffe bread (did you see that sweet story?)

Friday 14 December 2012

Easy Apple Pudding

I had extra apples the other day so I was googling recipes to use them up until I found that my mum had put a lovely apple pudding recipe in a recipe tin she gave me although - I don't remember her ever making me this!


I cracked 3 eggs. 


I added my sifted sugar and flour


Gave it a good whisk with a fork 


I got my apples


Gave them a chop and lined the bottom of my tin (although I have a smaller tin than I needed so I used less sugar and flour). I only needed about 2 and a half so I ate the other half left over to destroy the evidence and taste test - very important. 


Then I covered my chopped apples with the batter 


Cooked it for 30 mins, checked and then left it in for another 10 mins


Then my apple pud was done


Tasty tasty!

Wednesday 12 December 2012

FashionInc App

I downloaded a new app the other day that I thought I'd share. Probably one for the girls rather then the menfolk.

It's called FashionInc, this is your little shop here.


And you basically run the shop and design the clothes in it etc.


This is the marketing floor where you can advertise your clothes to increase sales (e.g. by flyer)


This is the designing floor where you get to pick out items of clothes that are plain white, you then choose the colour and pattern you want them.


Then you have the tailors floor where they make your clothes for you. After that it's down to the bottom floor where the shop is.


It's quite fun to play on the bus but it's a battery drainer and has a few bugs to kink out. 

Monday 10 December 2012

Clinical Skills

I spent today doing lots of skills practice at school. We learnt how to take blood glucose readings (although I already do this at work but it was fun to test my own for a change). At least one part of me is normal!


Then we got to practice intramuscular (into the muscle) and subcutaneous (into the fat) injections using water to inject and a lovely slab of fake rubber skin as you can see below. So that was all good fun. I have done injections on placement before but it's something I think is quite fun to practice. It's much nicer to stab fake rubber skin with a needle than actual people. 

Friday 7 December 2012

Christmas Assistant

This Christmas I've had a dedicated assistant... 

He inspects the tree


And guards for intruders


He tests out gift boxes


And patrols the borders for snow


He's also a pro at wrapping

Thursday 6 December 2012

The Tree Is Up

The tree is up, we got a nice  bushy tree this year. 


As always we had the argument of real vs fake, the boyfriend is in favour of a fake tree but I just think they're so ugly and tacky so I won out and we got a little potted tree. Hurrah!


(Not so) expertly decorated. 

Saturday 1 December 2012

Past The Point Of Polite

On my first day of university where the bus I needed was catastrophically late, I met a girl at the bus stop and we got chatting. Since then every time we happen to be going into class the same time on the same bus we stop and have a chat. 

She's a med student and a neighbour who lives on my road. It's quite handy to know her because whenever the subject of doctors are brought up at nursing school where I attend I get to start sentences that begin "my friend who's a med student says...". Also it's nice to have someone to abuse First Buses with when they're late (which is always). 

However, we've now known each other a few months and it had gotten past the point where either of us could politely ask each other our names. Also I couldn't remember if I had already told her my name and just forgotten hers (which would be far worse!). 

It just so happened I got off the bus yesterday and she was waiting for one the other side of the road and we had a chat whilst she waited for her bus to come and a catch up as we had both been on placement since we last saw each other. She showed me her ID badge photo for me to laugh at and I saw it! Her name! Finally! I asked "is it weird I only just found out what your name was?". And it turned out she had the exact same dilemma, it had gotten past the point of polite asking, she said she had even come up with a plan for her housemate to ask me my name haha. Perhaps I should have just asked in the first place. 

It's Amy by the way. 

Friday 30 November 2012

El Taco Loco


Thursday I had a very rare day - a day off with no classes and no shifts to work. So I decided to go and have a little shop and I needed to get a poster printed for assignment and I went to the Chapelfield Mall here in Norwich. I decided to grab some lunch so I took a stroll up to the food court and discovered El Taco Loco!!


And it was empty?? How! Mexican food people, you'd choose boring McDonalds or KFC over some Mexican food? The problem is a lack of Taco Bells in England. 


I had a tasty tasty burrito with a strawberry water and piri piri chips and oh my god, so so good. 


If you haven't been to El Taco Loco - go!!! 

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Skullduggery

Question - how do you finish your poster assignment for school when you don't have Microsoft PowerPoint and you have booked yourself into a couple shifts at work?

Answer - use the library computers at work before your shift!

Question - how did that work out?

Answer - not so good, the damn computer crashed just before it was time for me to start my shift and I had to stay an hour after work!!!

On the bizarre side of life I left the library and noticed in amongst the computers and medical books there was a skull?!

Sir Thomas Browne's skull to be exact, apparently a notable doctor from Norwich. It was removed from his grave when his coffin was accidentally damaged by workmen, the skull was removed, sold to a surgeon (err?) who in turn left the skull to the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital on his death (as you do) and there it has stayed. 

Sunday 25 November 2012

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like I Have To Start Christmas Shopping

I don't know how you all do your Christmas shopping, but in my family we forgo any sort of surprise by just telling each other what we want. Only this creates further problems because none of my family actually seem to know what they want. 

I start to send them irate texts or emails demanding to know. The closer it gets to the 25th of December the more irate my messages become. I also have to withhold telling them what I would like because otherwise what happens is that I suggest a gift to them and then they just don't tell me what they want. 

This year, I have threatened my brother and sister (the main perpetrators) with socks. 

Be warned...


Monday 19 November 2012

Jamie's Italian - Norwich

The boyfriend and I took a trip for my birthday into Norwich to go to Jamie's Italian, one of Jamie Oliver's restaurants that's recently opened. 


The restaurant is in the old Waterstone's shop in the Royal Arcade for those of you from Norwich and it was really very large upstairs and down. The menu had a lot to choose from, the only drawback was that a lot of it was in Italian.... which neither I or my boyfriend speak so a few things we had to guess on what they were which was a bit of a shame because we didn't want to keep asking the waitress what 'porcino' etc was (mushrooms - bleurgh). 


The place was rather dimly lit so I apologise for the dark photos! I got san pellegrino lemonade - it always reminds me of my old boss Nick who used to buy it for lunch and play with the foil on top. 


The boyfriend got the bread basket to start


And I got an antipasti, and we both shared some and some. 


Then the boyfriend had tuna pasta


And I had a small portion of sausage pasta in red wine sauce, I had a small portion (you can choose to have some pasta dishes as starter sized) especially so I could fit in dessert. And when I got to dessert they were out of the three best desserts (out of about 6 and ice cream!)... so we just didn't bother. That was really disappointing, especially as it wasn't ridiculously busy. 

So all in all, ok but not anywhere near as good as Delia's, the dessert situation really let them down. Work harder Jamie!

Sunday 18 November 2012

Birthday Cake

It was my birthday yesterday, I asked for a cherry bakewell castle complete with drawbridge and moat and look how well the boyfriend delivered!


Very impressed ! 

The rest of my day was spent on placement in hospital so I was glad to get home and open my cards and gifts as you can imagine. 

Thursday 15 November 2012

What I Won't Miss

So lately I've been on my first nursing placement but I'm coming to the end of it now and my last day working (for no pay I might add!) is my birthday... so that's going to be joyous. 

I shan't be missing seeing the moon on the way to work, the moon is an indisputable sign that I should be in bed. 


Nor shall I miss walking past the creepy misted over forest in between the accommodation and the hospital which I am convinced is full of murderers! That or wild animals... in the forest... probably more likely?


But the thing I shall miss least of all is the boring, expensive, long bus journey of rubbishness. Until January that is when I return to all of these joys. Happy November readers!


Saturday 10 November 2012

Cath Kidston - Finally

Yay! Finally!!



Even the window display was exciting


But you'll be proud to hear I didn't buy anything, even though I wanted to buy everything. I found myself looking lovingly at buttons? I knew then that I'd been in the shop too long and had to escape.


Until pay day lovely Cath Kidston shop of Norwich, I shall return!

Tuesday 6 November 2012

First Year, First Placement, First Day

So.... it went pretty good actually. I had a shift that's called a long day and that's 7am - 8pm (a lonnnggg dayyyy). I'm on a ward placement in a hospital for two weeks which means it's busy busy, everyone coming and going. I woke up about 5.30am, it took me about 5 minutes of fumbling in the dark to realise the annoying sound I kept hearing was my alarm (playing a piano riff apparently). I didn't have a great nights sleep - under the pillow case my pillow has some sort of plastic covering (which may mysteriously disappear when it meets my nail scissors tonight!) and it was really noisy?!? Someone said oh yes it's like the pillows patients have... err no it's not, they have nice fluffy pillows. My noisy pillow and I will most definitely come to blows before I snooze tonight. 3am is not the time for crinkling loudly!

So anyway, the general layout of a ward for those of you who haven't worked on one or been patients/visitors is that there are bays (usually 4 or 5) of beds each with 6 patients and also side rooms with just one patient in or sometimes two if it's a long side room. The ward is usually then divided into teams so you know who you're responsible for. My team had two bays and 4 side rooms which is a nice number to keep busy with but not swamped. 

We had hand over where we discuss all the patients and any changes/needs for the day and then I was in the thick of it. I was really glad I'd done HCA work before so I knew all the basic things like obs and personal care, what was used for what. I got to use a drug chart and give out medication (heavily supervised - don't worry!) and I gave an injection which was exciting. I shadowed some of the physios too which was interesting as I hadn't seen that side of patient care before. 

I met my mentor briefly but she was working the night shift and I think the ward had tried to be kind and not give me a night shift my first two weeks so I'm only with her one day and my associate mentor two days next week. So instead, I spent the day with the charge nurse and a staff nurse in our team, both of whom were really nice and easy to like and let me try new things out.

Now I'm back in the accommodation and have dined on my lovely evening meal of a tuna sandwich and a sprite (the cafe was closed!). Bring on tomorrow eh? 

Monday 5 November 2012

Placement Woes

So as I may or may not have complained to you I have a placement bloody ages away from my home (despite my home being next to two different hospitals!) and consequentially I have to stay in hospital accommodation... not happy. Although luckily the actual placement itself should hopefully be interesting and fun.

So as I'm staying away tonight I had to pack my bags last night and let me tell you - they feel heavy. Particularly the laptop. Pussy cat did a little sniffing inspection before I left but both bags passed.


Some kindly soul gave me a little miniatures pack of toiletries last Christmas which were handy to take away with me - also I felt good about using them up. I think I must be difficult to buy for because every Christmas I get tons and tons of toiletries that sit unused in a box I have for the toiletries (that's how many I get) until they are used or (more likely) I throw them away because I haven't used them. This is especially true of make up. I was rummaging through the toiletries box last night and found eye shadow and nail varnish that someone had bought me when I was 12... I am now 23, they really must be thrown away. Incidentally if anyone wants seriously old make up/nail varnish do feel free to root through my bins!


So I looked like a bag lady, luckily as we headed towards the end of the day I got offered a lift to the accommodation I'm staying at so I got to forgo the crappy long bus ride! Hurrah! So now I'm settling into my little room, it's a flat of four rooms and there are other girls that are already nurses who live here permanently, all very nice. 


It's a bit basic. It reminds me of when I lived at a hostel. But its next to my placement, free wifi and I know two other people staying here on their placements which is good.


Hopefully tomorrow all goes fine :)