European Union - in or out?

I have just been reading this article by the BBC, and was horrified by some of the facts and figures contained within it.

I have never been a fan of the European Union. I remember, when I was in school, feeling disappointed that I would never get to go to France and pay with francs. Since then there has been more and more which has disappointed me about the EU.

The EU is expensive to the UK, costing an estimated £8.5 billion in 2015. The cost fluctuates yearly, with 2009 costing £4.3 billion and estimates for 2016-2020 ranging from £7.9 billion to £11.1 billion. And that is the cost to the UK after receiving a rebate and money from the Agricultural Guarantee Fund. When other publicly funded services are experiencing a reduction in the money they receive, how is it fair that UK's contribution to the EU doubled between 2009 and 2015?

The UK cannot set its own VAT bracket for products means that the EU is dictating to Britain how internal issues should be managed. Britain is unable to change the category in to which items fall. In the recently publicised 'Tampon Tax' it was highlighted that the "VAT rate charged on the items is the lowest allowed under EU law" and "The UK does not have the ability to extend unilaterally zero rating to new products," despite the fact that a whole host of other items, including exotic meat, flapjacks and aircraft maintenance are all VAT-free. Why should the EU have a say on VAT categories and prevent the UK government from charging VAT as needed by the UK population.

The running of the UK should be left to the UK, not to someone sitting in Brussels. It is for this reason, regardless of David Cameron's negotiations, that I shall be placing my vote to leave the EU when we have the referendum.

A quick catch-up

So, once again, I have been probably the world's worst blogger. I haven't posted anything since last May! That is terrible! I have just read through my last post. Wow - I had not had a good day at work. I remember that day vividly but I did not realise that it was that long ago. It seems as though it was just before Christmas.

I've had a busy eight months since the last time I was here. We'll get the boring stuff out of the way first - work has been manic since Christmas. The NHS isn't having a good time of it at the moment. In the last few weeks we have had a sudden influx of A&E patients, and, although I work in scheduled care, we have still felt the impact of this. Some admissions and operations have been cancelled and sometimes that has meant that we have had to see patients again in our clinic thus increasing our workload. Fortunately, we weren't too badly hit by the junior doctor's strike, and hopefully, the strike announced today won't have too much of an impact on us. Having said that, I completely understand why they are striking. I just hope, with the talk last year of the NHS not paying staff on Agenda for Change contracts (and that is almost everyone who isn't on the medical or dental pay scale) an unsociable hours rate, that the doctors will be just as supportive of us as my nurse and midwife friends have been of them.

Life outside of work has been pretty hectic, too. We have a new addition to the family - a brand new little cousin. He is absolutely adorable and we all love him to bits. My phone contains mostly photos of this gorgeous little man.

I seemed to spend a lot of time away last year. I had a couple of weeks away on holiday over the summer, which was a great break. And I've had a number of weekends away too, which made a lovely change.

Unfortunately, with the hectic year I had in 2015, there was no time to even look at starting IVF. This year, I am hoping to make a big dent in my credit cards and, possibly towards the end of the year, I will be in a suitable position to start IVF.

I have spent some time researching IVF. I would love to be able to work as a fertility nurse. Firstly, I find the whole speciality fascinating and at the cutting edge of healthcare. Secondly, I would at least have some inside knowledge on the whole process. It seems quite difficult to get a treatment plan. I know it depends on the response to the treatment, but I spent considerable time trying to find out the basics, like how long I would need to spend in Denmark. I have come up with my own version of what I think I will need to do, but I don't know if it is right. I think it would involve three trips to Denmark, two only lasting a day or two and the third lasting up to five days. I thought I might take the opportunity to travel whilst I am there, but I obviously can't make any plans at the moment.

I'm in two minds to tell my family about my decision about IVF. Particularly over the past couple of weeks, I have been quite ready to tell them. I have even considered asking my sister to come with me when I go to Denmark. So far, though, I've not yet built up the courage to do it.

I have taken up some new hobbies over the past couple of months. My mum has decided that she wanted to start knitting for her new nephew, so I was roped in to this and I'm actually quite enjoying myself. I've also been looking at plans for making a patchwork quilt. I would love to have a handmade special quilt for my future baby. I've even considered taking up sewing cloth pads and cloth nappies. Pads look fairly straight forward, but the only patterns I have as yet found for nappies seem so complicated. I've loved looking at all the different materials, though. There's such a selection, and they're beautiful.

Hopefully, it won't be so long until the next time...