Leaving Work

I left work the other day and started my new agency job. My last couple days at work were pretty chill.

We all brought in a lot of munchies and Sharon who used to be a professional chef made a lovely cheesecake.

It was a Sunday and all the work was done so I decided to prank my co-workers by printing out a zillion pictures of unicorns to post in their pigeon holes.

I rode the ross return (a mobility aid) like a scooter for a victory lap.

And we all had a nice meal out and went for drinks afterwards.

And I got some lovely chocolates and a gift voucher from my co-workers so that was a nice surprise.  It’s sad to leave my co-workers and my nice hospital but hopefully in three months I will able to do agency shifts there, in the mean time I’ve been travelling every weekend to work in Ipswich which so far I’ve found very nice and friendly although they work quite differently. I’ve also been doing a few shifts in nursing homes which has been very relaxing in comparison to ward shifts. Just under two weeks until Kimberly comes back to the UK for a short stay and I’ll have some time off.

Mum & Charles’ Visit

My Mum and brother Charles came to visit me for my graduation last week and we had such a good visit. I knew it was going to be a good day already when they came because I found a good Pokemon in Tescos.

They arrived with about a million bags (all but one belonging to my mother) which Charles carried in (bitching all the way). And the next day we were up and about to have a day out in Yarmouth. We started off with a nice walk in and a coffee. We’re a Starbucks family, I think you get your favourite brand of coffee shop but none of us are that keen on Costa and Yarmouth doesn’t have a Pret (Kim’s favourite).

We browsed along the shops and the sea front. Mum broke her reading glasses but luckily we found some cheapy ones to tide her over in a tat shop.  Covent Garden Soups had a promotion on so we all got some soup and sat in a very large deckchair for photo postcards to be printed out so that was nice.  My Mum loves free things so she went back for seconds!

Then we went for a trip on a boat.

It was so hot that day I got a bit burnt without realising and so did my brother but luckily it browned out before graduation. I don’t know who these random people are. Do you ever think about how many hundreds of photos you must be in the background of?

Anyway we were headed to Scroby Sands, a sandbank where seals live just off the coast of Yarmouth. They were all there sunbathing on the beach and swimming about.

After that we went for some tasty fish and chips.

And played the arcades, I won the air hockey tournament and the basket ball hoops. Then we played the 2p machines and won lots of fabulous prizes (I may be exaggerating).

After some serious arcading we got ice creams for the walk home.

And we we got home we played that Heads Up app game together and Charles insisted he could complete the impossible puzzle. This is how the puzzle looked after their visit… Charles still insists that he could finish it, I still insist that it’s impossible.

Graduation

The night before the night before graduation I had a night shift so I slept in the morning whilst my Mum and brother Charles went back to play more arcades (my family just love 2p machines) so the night before graduation we decided to go out (as I’d finally woken up!) and I took them to Lowestoft to walk down the beach past all the beach huts. It was really beautiful and everyone we passed was playing Pokemon which I thought was amusing and my Mum thought was weird.

The weather has been so hot lately, at least for England so it’s really feeling like summer now but I’m glad when the sun goes down and it cools off because I hate the heat.

I was lucky enough to get some lovely gifts for graduation and my wife Kimberly sent me these beautiful flowers.

And she also got me this lovely vintage nurse’s belt buckle.

I really like old vintage and antique jewelry because I like that they have a story behind them and they’re well made and classic. Which is why I was really pleased when I got my Mum’s gift to me for graduation which was a bangle that my nanny Irene used to wear often so that was a really meaningful gift and I wore it to my graduation ceremony. It hasn’t been worn for a long time because it’s too big for my Mum so it needs a little clean so I’ll have to find somewhere to take it in for a polish.

Graduation day was the hottest day of the year so far, we were all sweltering and then add a cap and robe on top of our smart clothes… far too hot. Luckily the ceremony was on a live feed on the internet so Kim would watch part of it (as she’s not allowed back in the country just yet!). My friends and I actually finished our degree last summer in 2015 but the nursing course ends about a month after the university does all the graduation ceremonies and they’re too cheap to pay for another one so we all had to wait an entire year which was a bit annoying. But never mind.

After the ceremony my Mum and Charles had to make the long drive back to Wiltshire and my friends and I went for a meal out to celebrate.

Sarah wasn’t so sure on the churros but I thought they were quite nice.

And now that’s it, no more having to deal with the university anymore which will be nice.

Pretzels & Goings On

So I haven’t been up to that much, occasionally seeing friends for more afternoon tea (can there ever be too much?).

Discovering the Park & Ride… oh the joy.

I know… I’m so interesting. In other news I gave in my notice at my job to quit the NHS and start working agency. Because I’m waiting on a visa to go through so that I can actually live on the same continent as my wife (wouldn’t that be a luxury?) I need something more flexible in terms of time off so that I can go visit her more often hopefully so I’m looking forward to starting that. In other news though I’ll technically self employed as I can claim back quite a lot of tax which means I have to start my own company (by me I mean my accountants) which is quite funny. Sooo… hopefully all that will be kicking off soon.

In other news the other day I made pretzels, I got one of those kits they sell at Auntie Anne’s in the mall.

It was pretty easy, I wore my cupcake baking apron my mum got me of course. You just put yeast in warm water.

Then you put that water into the dough mix.

Gloop it about a bit.

Then let your dough rise.

Then it is time to Pretzel. The shaping is the awkward part because the dough is very elastic-y.

A little twisty bit.

 

You know maybe I did too many twists… but it’s all good.

Then you make a bicarbonate of soda mixture up in hot water.

And bathe the little pretzels in it and set them out for a dry.

Then it’s time for baking. I made some salty… I put extra salt on because most of it fell off so I just brushed off the excess after baking.

I made some plain then after baking added a glaze of melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

And that was that. What else have I been up to… some friends and I went out for Joy’s birthday to Zizzis and had some awesome tiramisu.

And Sarah and I went to the movies to see The Secret Life Of Pets which I very much enjoyed. I have a lot of catch ups planned soon, next week I see my Great Aunt, Uncle and Mum’s Cousin. The week after my Mum and Brother come to stay for my graduation ceremony (despite leaving university last year!), and then a couple weeks after that Kim is visiting for a couple of weeks from Connecticut.