Here are the thoughts of Joanna nee Lake as she spends time in Ecuador, and beyond... Disciple, Fairtrade Freak, Psychologist in the making. Now part of the Blundell Jones clan.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Life moves on...

oo it's been a while... that's getting to be abit of a theme with me and the internet these days...
anyways... my life... in some ways it's changed a lot (??) and it some ways it still looks exactly the same!!! I'm still being a 'housewife' but there is movement on the horizon!!
... I have a job!!!
St Anne's
well, sort of, I went for an interview with St Anne's Community Services to be a support worker in supported living for adults with mental health problems, and whilst they said I performed exceptionally at interview (which is a 'miracle'!!!), I didn't get the post I interviewed for -- God it seems has slightly different plans to what I thought... but anyway... they've offered me a casual work post - it's provisionally 2 fold but could be 3 fold with me filling in shifts in Supported Living, Community Support and Hostel Support (I have to have a wee extra interview for that last bit). So it's had me excited but also 'depressed', agency work, the 'not knowing' is never fun, but I know it will be a slow start but I reckon once they get to know me I should get regular work which would be great for our bank account but more importantly in terms of experience and development for me!

I've also been REALLY blessed by contact I've fallen into with a clinical psychologist, I sent out some work experience letters back in, gosh when was it?, early June??, and at the beginning of July this lady rings me up saying my CV/letter ended up on her desk -- the totally amazing thing is though that I didn't actually send a letter to her unit!!! Anyways to cut a long story short, I'm going to see her tomorrow to discuss my volunteering in her unit one day a week with the NHS volunteers program --- how cool is that??!!! I'm very excited, it will be fantastic experience!!!
on the 'couch'
I'd also been um-ing and ah-ing about doing a counselling course, and having mulled it over ALOT, and changed my mind ALOT, I think I've decided to just do a short course this September, something to develop me, keep those brain cells firing as I wait for St Anne's to pick up... I'm quite excited by it -- also the Clin Psyc, Ali, sowed the seed of doing a Health Psychology Masters, so might start thinking about that one for next September....
so it's all very exciting, all very changeable, but it's also very much still on the horizon as there is one big barrier in the way....
a CRB!!! I'm praying they will come in a super fast 3 weeks, like Emmie's did last month, but judging on how things were last year, I'm not so optimistic!!! My one for church took 6 months (!!!) and it took another 4 months for me to get my copy of it as it was one of the bits of post kept in that dodgy postie's cellar (it was on the news, and it turns out he's the ex husband of my old roommate's work colleague)!!! grr!!! and the other one I did last year took 3 months!!! so i shall do my very best to be patient!!!

Norge
the last thing to say is I'm very excited coz we're going to Norway on monday!!! Norge Fjorde! woo woo... it wasn't the original plan but we're camping in Oslo for a few days (coz we left booking a hotel really late and it was all booked thanks to a Stones concert), then spending the rest of our time with our friend Miriam in Stavanger, going to a tomato festival (not like the spanish one though where you throw them at each other, shame) eating lots of creamy cakes and marvelling at the delights of Norway!! woo woo!