A Psalm of Elaine…

I love the Psalms of David. I made up a psalm of my own…..

It’s been a rough old couple of weeks. Some highs. Quite a few lows.

To be honest, I’ve seen an awful lot of bitching and backbiting going on and a fair bit of bullying. I’ve been on the receiving end of some of the bullying. Thankfully (for me not them) nowhere near as much as some other people. No idea about the bitching (I wouldn’t be there to hear it) but I expect I’ve been on the receiving end of some of that too.

It’s soul-destroying  being bullied. The whole not being able to stand for yourself thing. And having to mask your emotions and natural responses. And then the self-conscious thing afterwards. Feeling like every clumsy move is being chalked up on your record.

And it’s hard watching other people get bullied and not being able to do anything about it. Being encouraged to join in the bitching about how badly other people are performing. I haven’t though.

Anyway, that’s been some of my week. Those experiences and this post on ASBO (well the comments about how David asks for the ruin of his enemies) inspired me to write a psalm of my own. A bit tongue-in-cheek. Mostly therapeutic. Strangely, it really did put things in perspective (not sure I would be saying that if I didn’t only have 6 shifts to go on my placement). And me and God shared a laugh!

My beautiful beautiful family

Leah, Emma, Jeanette and her lovely husband Ian More pictures of Leah here.

Happy Birthday to Baz!

It seems like I’m constantly working at the moment. Placement is only 40 hours a week. But outside of that, there’s loads to read and research. For instance, this week I’ve been reading the NICE guidelines for the dementias, the NMC guidelines for drug administration and for covert administration in food or drink. I’ve also read and summarised a few NHS policies – standard infection control precautions, record management, confidentiality/information sharing and finally health and safety. All very interesting but extremely time-consuming. And I’ve researched types of dementia and the evidence-base for MEWS (Modified early warning score). Again all very interesting.

Two weeks placement to go. It was going pretty much okay until I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and headache. I still went in but only made it til about 11 when I started to feel hot and nauseus. The good thing about being in a hospital is that you can take your own temperature. It was 37.6 tympanic and I was getting hotter. Anyway I got sent home. Because I’d done half a day it doesn’t count as a sick day. And I’m off today anyway. I’m really hoping I can go in tomorrow. But I do feel really rough. Achy, hot, sore throat and coughs and sneezes. My reckoning is that I’ll make it in on Sunday but I’m still aiming for tomorrow.

The trouble is with days off sick, you can’t do anything with them. You feel too ill So many loose ends to tie up for passing placement – just pulling bits of evidence together remains untouched. Today was my day set aside to do it.

Anyway, last weekend we went to see STOMP for Baz’s birthday, an early surprise present. Emma made frothy coffees with chocolate on top in the shape of the letter B. We had lasagne and garlic bread. Jeanette and Ian popped round in time for chocolate eclairs and lindor chocolates – the red ones that feel cold in the middle. They’re my favourites – you’d think I’d know what they’re called! We had a laugh.

Emma gave Baz five envelopes throughout the course of the afternoon. Each envelope had a letter on the front and a clue inside. The letters on the envelopes spelled out STOMP. The last envelope had tickets in. Very clever

It was fab. Just managed one little photo of the last act. On the way home and over coffee, we were all dragging spoons across the table, kicking table legs, sliding along the laminate floor and the like! I would seriously recommend it if ever you get the chance

Cupcakes

Leah stayed last night. Emma bought a Mr. Men cake kit. This morning at 8 me and Leah hit the kitchen. It took us about an hour and a half from start to finish. We were having a laugh so I thought let’s not rush it. Leah did most of it. I measured 3 tbsp of water. I don’t think I measured very well. I think there was a little bit too much water in the mix. I also did a bit of the whisking while Leah kept checking the time on the laptop clock so we whisked for about 6 minutes. The box didn’t say what speed to whisk at and I might’ve whisked it on too high a speed. I’m not sure whether over-whisking or too much water was responsible for the crumpet-like texture and appearance! The icing came with the kit but we decided white was boring so I got my food colouring from the craft room and we jazzed things up a bit. We added hundreds and thousands aswell. We both like the end result. But to be honest, the fun was in the making. Leah’s got a really good sense of humour and doing pretty much anything with her is fun :)

Been busy….

Haven’t blogged a lot lately. Been very busy. Getting to grips with my placement. It’s been three weeks now – today’s the start of week four, at the end of which I’ll be exactly half way through. Some days, I love it. Some, I hate it. I got punched in the face last week. Friday. That was, strangely, not a ‘hate it’ day. I didn’t enjoy being hit. It hurt. But I felt I handled it well. And I felt supported. The following day, Saturday, was a ‘hate it’ day. Getting hit knocked my confidence and I felt intimidated. I hate feeling intimidated. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to resolve it before the end of shift. I was off yesterday. I’m looking forward to going in this morning and getting back in there.

Other than work, a very exciting thing happened last Thursday on my day off. A trio of Pooles turned up on the doorstep about 11 O’clock in the morning. A day earlier than expected but that’s a long story! That brightened my day off. I got to catch up on all their holiday in Australia news. They had a great time. I’m so so glad to have them back

I spent my day off - yesterday - doing the kitchen of Leah’s doll’s house. It’s not finished. I painted the furniture bright pink. Then white. Then I sanded through the white to show some pink. Left the cooker. It isn’t finished yet. Shelves to do. Window frame. Curtains or blind. Highchair pad. Pots and pans and stuff to go back in. I’m liking it so far A before and after shot below!

Anyway time to go and face the music. I’m on an early……:-)