its been awhile

but there has been alot going on.

Firstly i've finished studying at college which is great in some ways but i will miss those thurs evenings. I haven't completed the course quite yet tho as i need to carry out 15 hours of counselling on someone somewhere. I'm hoping to volunteer for pontypool women's aid but we shall have to see if they have enough clients. Once the 15 hours are done and i've had supervision and written my 2500 word case study i will finally have my diploma hooray,

There has also been alot of change at work, my boss left and we have a new manager and assistant manager. We are still settling down as it were and getting to know each other. My new boss is not like my old boss so i will see how it goes. it does mean that with a full management team for the first time in a year my hours are back to what im contracted. This is gonna make things a bit tougher than they have been as i'm used to lots of overtime and nice payslips. We can manage but i am dying to learn to drive now and it would be the best way to find better jobs. Just means not buying anything frivolous.

Lastly dave has finished at A4E (training company the jobcentre send you to) and as a result is back to mopping round the house. I've been trying to get him to start a course but his enthusiasm for anything other than cake and ice cream is non existent. i know how he feels having been to a4e myself but i was lucky and got my job. I do hope he picks up soon.

We went to visit rach, dan and meg at the beginning of aug for a house and baby warming.It was good to see them as despite only living a mere hour away we don't get to see them as much as we'd like. The new house they are in is lovely even without being finished on the inside. It was good to see them and was nice to be out of the house and socialising. It did make me want my own place even more than i already do but that will come one day.

It been hard for me lately so much has changed and i just feel like i'm getting nowhere, 2 years after uni and i'm still at home. I'm not even sure what i'm heading for anymore, until i've done some actual counselling i won't know if its right for me or not. It may be something i should come back to when i'm a little older. Then again i have no fallback plan hmm. Daves full of eternal optimism but i'm only optimistic on my good days, part of me knows it'll be ok in the end and if nothing else i know my family are there for me. Oh well, i'll look into driving lessons and see how it goes, one small step at a time.

On a lighter note my shammy it 70 in WoW and is adventuring in Northrend. Just need to get my hunter to outland, power level my rogue to open lockboxes and play our low (lvl 30) warrior priest combo. oh and sort out the guild bank again, 4 tabs of stuff *sigh*

take care and have fun

xXx

Its about time

I blogged again.

Where to start, well my brother got married beginning of may and it was a lovely day, the rain held of and the sun did come out. Beulah looked lovely and my bro was very smart in his suit. My dad was also seen in a suit after years (and i mean years) of not going near one. we even got dave in a suit and he had a major haircut for the occasion. He did look very handsome.
Other than that i'm still working at peacocks and have realised i haven't had a bank holiday off yet which sucks. Also i will be going back to contracted hours soon as we have a new manager starting on july 1st, which is a bummer but also gives me more free time. Not sure what i will do with it but i'll think of something.

My free time is coming at the wrong time for dave as he is stuck at A4E all week and so we see less of each other now, while this is a good thing to get used to the change it has been taking its toll. yet another speedbump on the road of life but we are managing. Other factors are playing a role as daves pc and the internet often disagree causing much frustration when trying to play WoW, which at the mo i want to but he doesn't. i'm just hoping daves CRB check goes through and he can get a decent placement.

I'm due to finish college on june 25th which is good as although i do enjoy college it does drag after 2 years part time. i still have to complete 15 hours of counselling but i have yet to find anywhere that will take me on, im now looking in Hereford as i might have more luck there.

I'm off to Hatfield at the weekend to meet up with friends and i have next week off so i could make sure i was there for my mates birthday and to help her celebrate the end of her exams, yay drinking.

I think that will do for now

xXx

nearly a year on

And i'm still in peacocks, i started my placement there around this time last year and i now have a 12 hour contract and im actually working about 20 hrs a week. I can't complain i need the money. It has made me think about my future alot, i'm still living at home and i haven't learnt to drive yet, i've spent most of the last year trying to get out of my overdraft while still having a life of sorts. Its not been easy as i've had to take on some of daves costs as he doesn't get any money from the jobcentre (or atleast not often). I'm just about there though but i'm still not quite where i want to be, driving lessons for example may have to wait for another month or two just to be on the safe side. Things at work are in a constant state of change and so my hours are guaranteed to stay as healthy as they are which leads me to wonder if i should pursue my counselling career by doing the level 5 qualification now or if i should wait as it is an expensive course and would be very demanding of my time. I do not want to ask my parents for help with costs as they have given me enough for my education and i'm just grateful that they do not charge me that much rent and still feed me.

I am due to start a placement in the near future hopefully and this will see if i'm really cut out for the profession and also if i can get regular voluntary work it will atleast keep the skills fresh should i have to have a break in studying.

I feel at the moment it would be best to get more money and get out from under my parents feet, im sure they are getting quite fed up of me and dave by now and i would love to have a place to call my own.


Aside from the more serious parts of life, all is good. i hit level 74 in WoW last night and am earning a fair whack of gold from questing. Still saving for my epic flying skill and i'm just over halfway there. I'm trying to up my alchemy as well but can only get herbs when questing and i have to have dave with me so we don't get to far apart level wise.

I'm also slowly working my way through csi dvds, have so far watched series 2,3 and im on disc 3 of series 1. I'm also managing to rent all 3 of the dvds i am allowed to a month, the last one was TMNT which was quite predictable but was enjoyable.

Anywho i need to tidy up a bit before work and have some lunch.

I passed

That's right i passed the exam for the AQA Advanced Certificate in Counselling yays. One more thing to go on my cv. Now just have to find a placement for the diploma and im all set.

Well trying to find a placement has been a challenge, i've still not managed it adn i'm running out of places that are local enough. The downside is that as it is looking like i won't complete 15 hours of counselling by th end of june i won't be entered for that part of the course this time round and i will have to wait til october to be entered and january to find out if i've passed it all. While this does suck its not all bad as i'm unlikely to start the next course just yet, at the moment getting money comes first as i'm sure mum and dad would like dave and i to move out. dave and i are feeling the need for our own space but until thee situation improves we must continue to impose on my parents.

On the plus side i'm doind a fair whack of overtime til the end of april atleast and who knows after that. Also if dave doesn't find a job soon he will be sent to A4E adn they will either get him a placement in a school or send him on a training course. This will give him something to do and maybe he will figure out what he wants to do.

Also the diploma is going well so far, its even better as we don't have an exam at the end of it we just have to write a case study of our own counselling practice and a case study based on a written account of a series of counselling sessions which we have been given. We still have the usual skills assessment but hopefully i will feel better about that this time, even more so if i get a placement.

Well i'm off to play wow, my shaman is getting near the point where she can go to outland and it will kill some time before i have to go to work.

xXx

And yet more college

well i managed to pass my skills assessment for the advanced cert in counselling, how im not sure but its all good. So i've now finished that one and on thurs i am due to start the Advanced Diploma in counselling. I have yet to secure a placement although there is some more places i can try. I'm looking forward to this course and its a step towards being qualified. Technically after this course i can practice as a counsellor, however for me to be able to practice when the regulations for counsellors are introduced in 2010 i will need a higher level of qualification. Unfortunately i'm not in a position to do that course just yet, i can't afford it and i don't want to risk being too fussy at work as they have been quite accommodating so far and i don't want to push it. I also need the money especially with dave not having a job and not recieving anything from the govenrment.
Least i can come back to it fairly easily as many on my course are older than me (some by atleast 10 years and some more than that) and they are looking to use it to have a change of career.

Aside from college work is ticking over nicely, with an average amount of overtime up until easter atleast and im doing the college development plan slowly in order to get a pay rise (only about 20p and hour) but it all helps.

I'm still playing far too much WoW but thats as usual, recently dave and i have hit the grind from level 73 to 80, boy its taking forever to level. As relief from that i am leveling my solo chars (mainly my shaman (lvl 51 altho give me an hour and it'll be 52) and hunter (lvl 45).

I've been buying csi boxsets of ebay and have now got the first 3 series of las vegas so yays, i was chuffed with series one as i got it all for £8.99 with free postage, so thats my bargain of the month. Should keep me and dave happy til i can afford some more which will prob be about april given things at the mo but you never know.

thats enough waffle for now, time to go play WoW for about an hour or so before bed, early start 2m, i do love morning shifts even if i have to get up at 7 for them, i can't believe i used to do it daily for weeks on end. oh well

xXx

snow

Well we've had about 4in of snow and i had to ring work to say i couldn't get in. I doubt the buses are running as tehy stopped yesterday when we only had an inch of snow so what are the chances. I'm not the only one who can't get to work either, mum and dad are off and the assistant manager where i work wasn't in either.

So dave and i will be taking a walk in a little bit as dave has never been here when its snowed properly before and the tramroad is a pretty sight when its been snowing, saying that the whole valley is pretty, even the pylon.

Aside from snow not much of note has occurred, i'm still plodding along with my job. I'm at the end of my advanced certificate in counselling, ive passed 2 out of three of the skills assessment, last one on thursday, i've sat the exam and am hoping for the best. After that i get 2 weeks of before starting the diploma course for which i need a placement, still not found one but will be asking a few places this week.

Daves still jobless although he keeps trying, the jobcentre did finally give him some money but he can't spend it as its paying off some of his overdraft. We're managing ok though as im geting a decent amount of overtime, i'm just worried about what will happen when the hours go back to normal. But one step at a time.

On teh plus side i managed to get a new graphics card for christmas, which then needed a new power supply (thanks to mum,,dad and rich) and i got some ram so now my pc runs nice and smooth and my graphics in WoW are shiny and im getting a decent frame rate.

Thats all for now, i'm off to finish my cup of tea and get frozen cold outside before a bit of WoW playage. Its so weird not going to work.

xXx