Branching out

Wow. How things are turning around and in a good way. I am quite stunned at the way this week has panned out.

First of all, I received all my goodies to embellish my items for "Made for you, by Shamu". I am now the proud owner of business cards, sticky labels and post it notes! Just waiting for my labels to arrive and I'll be off. I am in a very productive mode at the moment - Ravelry have been running an Olympic knit-a-long and I've signed up to create 11 projects before the end of the Olympic closing ceremony. My husband is now a crochet widow although he's not complaining too much as I am including items that I've left aside for ages and am determined to finish them. I'll load some photos and prices up on my website later so come and have a look! If things go well I may open an Etsy shop as I've been browsing a lot and am really excited by all the beautiful crafted items there.

Meanwhile, my husband has had three job offers in the last two weeks. This is the man who has been in the same job for over 8 years (this is quite unusual in his line of work, a fact that was celebrated at a lunch in his honour earlier this year!) so it's been quite an upheaval. He accepted one of the offers earlier this week, having considered the terms and pay rise (less holiday, more pay) and finally told his immediate boss yesterday. To our surprise, his current company have matched the offer so he gets all the perks of his current job and the pay rise we need so badly. Plus he doesn't have to write a letter of resignation!

Talking of jobs, I have my meeting with my consultant next week and am quite excited about the prospect of going back to work. I've just got my head around the thought of leaving the children while I swan off to work and childcare is almost sorted. Then a letter arrives on my doorstep asking whether I would be willing to meet some first year medical students and talk about James' condtion and the impact it has had on our lives. This will be their first exposure to "real life" patients and it is an important part of the curriculum so I was happy to agree. While I was on the phone I mentioned my professional interest and that I hold several medical education certificates, and asked whether I could work with the department in any other role. So as long as I can get my consultant to organise an honorary contract, it looks as though I've just got myself another job as a student tutor for the patient contact course! I am really excited about that and really pleased I took the bull by the horns and asked. Sometimes it pays to ask.