1. I have been studying again since early October and am pleased to report that the first assignments for both courses have been received back and passed :). Course A is awaiting marks for assignment 2, and Course B has assignment 2 due later this month, but so far so good, the balance between study, work and play seems to be going okay, and while I may stress a little around May time doing the end of module assessments, I think this year is going to be okay.
2. On Saturday I got to go and have a lovely meal at my dear Godparents house, which we had been trying to arrange and do for many months! A lovely spread was put on and everyone was full at the end, finishing with an amazing lemon cheesecake. So as well as being the voice of reason and sanity in my sometime chaotic life, my godmother is also an amazing cooks-nearly-everything-from-scratch chef :) - we will have to plan and not leave it so long next time, and I need some cooking lessons!
3. The life of being self-employed and locuming has generally been going pretty well, I have been getting enough work, luckily I am flexible and apart from when I had left an assignment to the last day last week (oops) I can drop things and work at pretty short notice, which I'm sure my locum booker is appreciative of! I am starting to register with a few agencies and get some work assigned from other companies, not just Day Lewis, and I have been enjoying re-visiting branches where I have worked before and catching up with staff in Day Lewis land (you know who you are :) ).
4. Sunday morning was actually dry which has been a rarity lately, so I was able to walk to church, which was good, as I wanted the fresh air and the exercise!
5. Sometime in mid-November I managed to enjoy a lovely toffee which was on the table at a training day I had booked myself on. Shortly after enjoying said toffee, I had an "oh s**t" moment, when I realised something wasn't quite right with my bottom teeth. Further investigation and exploration established that the naughty toffee had been the nail in the coffin for my poor retaining wire which has been behind my teeth since the braces came off when I was 16. So firstly I am very thankful to a friend who comes to my monthly meals and her daughter for supplying me with some dental wax to protect the sharp metal from shredding the inside of my mouth, and secondly I am very happy that the wire got re-bonded this week (I just won't say how much I had to pay the thieving dentist - orthodontics at the general it is next time, I don't care Mr Orthodontist if "my dentist could have done that" when they charge me ridiculous amounts to do it!).
6. I am thankful for Black Friday. I am thankful that there were T.V. reports showing the chaos at many stores, and how people were behaving. I am thankful that 25 people "liked" my status on Facebook when I referred to what I am about to explain.
Now I know not everyone is Christian. I know Christmas means different things to different people. I know some people like a bit of shopping, and a bargain, and some will always have more money than others to go out and hit the shops, and that's fine. What I do not like is when it gets so bad that people push and shove other people, fight over goods, and the police have to be called to keep the peace. When commercialism brings out the worst in human behaviour.
I am thankful that my faith has taught me, and I try to constantly remind myself, that the riches of this world and merely transient. That you can't take them with you. That when you have one thing, there's always the next thing, the next thing and the next thing. You can't fill emptiness with "things". And I am thankful in a way for how bad Black Friday got here this year, in that if just a few people see the news and think "how stupid is this", and it makes them re-evaluate and take pause, then that is good.
7. Part of locuming at this time of year, especially when I am visiting branches where I have previously worked and know the staff, is that there are several Christmas meals being planned. I am, I'm afraid, now booked into a grand total of four altogether! And I can't wait :). I think I've managed not to order the same thing to eat twice, and the organisers have it all written down so I know what I've asked for (the old memory's not that reliable in my old(er) age ;) ).
8. I had a lovely day out in Winchester today with my Mum. We met up with some relatives on her side of the family, wandered around Christmas market by the Cathedral (where there was a nativity scene and "what are you waiting for" stall handing out packs with Alpha course leaflets and Luke's Gospel - go Churches Together in Winchester!) and we had a nice lunch and a bit of shopping - fab gentle day out!
9. The Christmas shopping is now nearly done, which has been long in ordering, planning, looking and thinking so it feels good to now be ready to wrap it all and distribute everything to the intended recipients!
10. Being that it is now December, the Christmas tree is going up soon, hopefully this weekend, and I have two lovely school friends who have offered, in what is becoming an annual tradition, to help! Hopefully photo of nice decorated pretty tree with wrapped presents underneath to come in the next edition!
Thank you for reading, please comment, and feel free to be thankful for whatever is good in your life - it is a brilliant task to do!
