Sign Language

So the other day at work I had a deaf lady come through my till, she told me early into the transaction, but I found it difficult to decide on a method of communication beyond smiling and waving (when she left), and I've been thinking about the situation ever since. There should be more effective methods set in place for including people with disabilities of any kind so I've decided that this summer I'm going to try and learn some basic sign language, so in a situation like the other day, I can still effectively communicate as I would with a person who had full hearing.
It made me think though, would it not be beneficial to have some kind of program in which everybody, when they're are young to learn some sign language, it seems like such a simple thing that so many people are ignorant to including myself, but could make a dramatic difference in terms of inclusion.
So I've spent the last few hours going over some basic phrases, and now from memory I can recall the alphabet, 1-9, hello, goodbye, sign language, please, thank you, sorry, how are you?, happy, sad, good, tired, hungry, I & know :)
However, I decided that an effective way of learning would be use of an iPad app, and it surprised me how difficult it was to find a free app which gave more than a few useful words but not enough to be able to sustain any kind of conversation, for information that should be universally available

This is certainly going to be a challenge so wish me luck!

XOX

'Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginnings End'

So I've had a hectic few days! not only did I have my induction I started my new job and served customers and it went well I think, I had fairly positive feedback and managed to work through with support from the team around me. I think I'll be okay I'm just hoping that it will become more permanent. 

I also finished my fresher's years this Friday and I think we did it well, pub after my (rather easy) pharmacology exam and a few drinks later on.
Then last night brought a kind of last get together of the academic year on the beach, and if you know me, you know how much I love taking photos of Brighton seafront, so I decided to be a kind of opportunistic photographer. (see below)
I'm so optimistic about second year, firstly we're moving to the new house and it's so exciting because that's (hopefully) where we're going to spend the next 2 years of our lives, so I really want to make it like a proper home for us, I think Laura and Sarah probably share my predicament. I'm putting my car back on the road so that'll bring so much more freedom, because I have felt a little stuck in my uni bubble and it's nice to know I won't have to invest 3.5 hours of my time if I want to spend a little bit of time back home, and it's just going to be so exciting to see what opportunities arise next year personally, academically and professionally.

I saw a little boy on the bus today, he was so sweet. He went on with his 'pops' just to ride the bendy bus up to Falmer and back, he was absolutely amazed. He reminded me of Ben. Ben always tells me about the bendy bus, always asks me about it and absolutely loves it in general. Thinking of him and Aaron made me feel pretty sad that I can't spend as much time with them as I used to, and I'm missing out by it. They're changing all the time, every time I see Aaron he's bigger, and Ben since starting school is cramming his head full of knowledge which he'll tell me about. But at least it won't be long until I see them.

I'll be home for a few days next week, and I feel that calls for time to relax!

XOX

It's 4am, and I'm awake...

There's always a slightly surreal feeling from seeing the sun begin to rise before you even have had the chance to sleep yet..

I guess that's what you come to expect when you suffer from insomnia in times of stress, and 2 days before my final exam, I'm feeling it. This is along with my already pretty messed up sleeping pattern, with my typical time of sleep being between 3am and 12pm. I hate not being able to sleep this late, I picked up my guitar this evening and played it for the first time for a long time. My fingers are sore from pressing down on the strings so hard, but it made me happy as well as being a major form of procrastination from revision. I'm so unfazed by this exam that it's bordering on ridiculous. Tbh I'm really looking forward to the end of my first year so I can have a break before actually moving on to more focused things in my second year.
I have a lot coming up this summer, the major events being moving house and starting a new job. Both of which are really exciting prospects but also slightly unnerving, because both whilst providing opportunities also provides stress. Maybe then I'll be a bit more equipped for them than I currently feel.

Of course there is also attempting to fit in a long-distance relationship with all of this, Adam means the world to me and if we're going to work it is so important to make time for each other which is increasingly difficult with me working weekends and him having a 9.5hour a day, 5 days a week job. This is going to be so much easier when the car is back on the road, but I'm so worried about that because I feel like I am so out of practice, however I've never been much good at adjusting to someone else's car, so this might be very different when I go back to driving my own, at least I hope so because I'm being thrown right in at the deep end in being driving 160miles at least down the M4 from Swansea to Reading, which could turn into 250 if I need to come straight back to Brighton.

I'm sure everything will work out but it just seems so unsure right now, I'll put my trust in God and see where we end up in 4 months time

But for now, attempted sleep is necessary

XOX

Employed!

Guess who got the job!!!!!! I am now officially an Asda colleague (subject to induction)
So as I'm going to be spending half the week in Brighton over summer, new plan:

1. Become absolutely ace at this job
2. Try and get some voluntary work somewhere which works around my employment
3. Improve at Biochemistry as it's been my weak area this year
4. Self teach some more guitar
5. Use the medical case file game on my iPad and learn some new stuff :)
6. Convince my Reading friends that it is SO much better by the seaside and temporarily relocate everyone to Brighton
7. Put the car back on the road to save on train and bus costs

Things are starting to come together now

XOX