WHOLY F%^&!!!

That was my reaction when plummeting down towards the ground on the wooden roller coaster yesterday at Playland. For fathers day, I gave Dad a day at Playland. Both of us really enjoy roller coasters and rides so this is something that we've enjoyed doing in the past. It wasn't until yesterday that Dad and I both had time to go. We got there bright and early (well 11am, that's before most people get there) and we almost ran to the wooden roller coaster.
It's really funny because Dad and I are like little kids when we're in adventure parks. When we were in Disneyland, we were the ones arm in arm skipping around the park like two little kids.
After spending no more then 10 minutes in the line up, we were sitting in the back cart and we were ready to start our day. I had actually forgotten how much this ride scared the living daylights out of me until we went over the first hump. Yep I'm the one that's screaming at the top of my lungs. Partially because I'm scared and partially because there aren't many time you get to yell until your throat is sore.
The rest of the day was great! Dad and I did the wooden coaster twice in a row then moved on to the corkscrew, the pirate ship, the music one that spins you around, the silver space shuttle one, I watched dad go on the hellevator (somehow I don't have the guts to go on the one) and then we did the log ride. We'd never gone on the crazy beach party, so we decided to give that one a try. We did and that was the ride that did us in. I was SO queasy after that I had trouble walking straight. After sitting for a while, we decided to give the tamer silver space shuttle ride a try. I guess once you get sick, there's no going back. The crazy beach party weakened Dad and I's stomach to the point where we couldn't even do the woosy rides. We ended up packing it in early but heck we had such a great time! Stupid beach party! I know I won't ever do that one again! We maybe I will, but at the end of the day, not in the middle of it.
Anyways I am really glad that Dad and I can do things like this together. It's so much fun to just hang out with Dad and do things that we both like to do. It's too bad we only really do it once a year.

And the dust settles

The past 8 months feel like I've been stuck in a washing machine. Between the stressors that have been going on in my life lately it hardly feels like I've been able to take a breath of air. Going part time seemed to help a little but I was quite frustrated because I was still a stress ball even though I had less on my plate.
A major (to me anyways) event that happened and had me think twice about where I was and an attitude change that I had to make was an argument that I'd had with Eric one night two or so weeks ago. I was tired and moody and for some reason I still wanted him to come over (knowing deep down inside that I'd be rotten company but not admitting it to myself at the time). So he came over and I kept to myself and he watched TV. Being tired and grouchy I decided to go to bed, I kissed him good night and off I went. He followed soon after but he was packed and ready to go. He figured if I was going to act like I was, he might as well go home. Me just wanting his company, asked him to stay. He did and tried to make light of the situation but I was still a grouch and... anyways this went on for a while and finally he stayed over. I could tell though that he wasn't happy and he was probably hurt because I was being such an idiot. The following morning I could tell he was still upset, and I don't blame him. I was feeling horrible. Finally when we went to Bowen Island, we were able to talk about it and things settled. I still do feel horrible and never ever want to see Eric hurt or sad again. So I think this was what it took to really make me realize that I had to stop being the way I was if I wanted to keep Eric around. Not only that but I didn't and still don't really like the person I'd become.
At school we've learnt a lot about attitude and how by just changing your perspective on things, the way you feel and act towards certain situations, it can eventually change you on the inside. I can go on about the little cells and their receptors to certain hormones and what not, but I won't. If you're interested in that kinda stuff, What the Bleep do we Know is an interesting film that introduces those concepts. The Secret is an other good one, just ignore all the materialistic bullshit that they throw in there. So I've been changing my outlook on many things, school is one of them. Instead of having an attitude that I hate this shit and it's useless, I've adopted an attitude of "this is difficult for now, but I'll get through it and I will become a RMT. I may not do it full time but I can do it part time. It can also open many doors for me and present me with interesting opportunities in life." Cheesy I know but you have to be firm, not waver because I've come to find that life is like a dog. It'll smell uncertainty and fear and will pick at it until you crumble.
Along with the whole attitude change, work has helped a lot. I believe that it wasn't until I started working that I started to feel balanced again. A few weeks ago I got a job working for Urban Fare. The new store, located in Coal Harbour, doesn't open for an other two weeks yet, so I've been working store set up. For the past two weeks I've been doing many odd jobs, like building shelving units, stocking products and putting price tag holders on the shelves that we built. Odd jobs that no one find particularly fun but heck it's doing something different with different people that I think has calmed me down. It's fun though because I feel human again. I no longer feel like a humming bird that's taken 5 cups of coffee (though that may not have shown on the outside, that sure as hell was how I felt on the inside).
So now that I'm feeling more balanced, I'm able to actually look forward to doing homework and achieving good marks in school (instead of just being content with the bare minimum). I also feel like I'm more of a pleasant person to be around. Anyways we'll see how this progresses but I feel quite happy as to where I am in life right now.

Damp Cats

Lately I've been checking I can has cheezeburger daily for my dose of smiles and giggles before I start homework. While I was on hold with Telus, I was browsing the web and found Dampcats.com. It's not as funny as I can has cheezeburger but it's rather entertaining. Now I'm left to wonder... why are wet cats so cute. Possibly because they look so miserable. I don't know but I think this web site will be added to my browse before doing homework repertoire. Well now I've got to call Apple because my MacBook has a bobo :( I am kicking myself in the ass for not having bought the applecare plan because I know this will cost me an arm and a leg to get fixed. And right about now, I don't have an arm and a leg to give.

Compassion

That last entry I'd written a few weeks ago during one of my breaks... actually I kinda wrote it in class while partially paying attention to another teacher. The Internet connection at school is finicky, therefore I had it saved as a word document and it wasn't until today that I remembered to post it.
I've been meaning to get this project started sooner but so far I've only ended up with snippets of thoughts and feelings from charged topics from the past classes on bits of paper. Run on sentence much... yup but I'm a run on sentence procrastinating type of gal :)
One of the things that we've been focusing on during our PD classes are the teachings of the Dalai Lama. Now I don't know much about Buddhism, therefore I will not claim that I do. We're not going into so much detail about Buddhism, but rather about compassion and the Dalai Lama. One of the excerpt that's plastered all over our handouts is the following:

"Compassion means not being able to stand the enslavement of others to suffering without doing something about it."

This is a quote that is quite charged for me and it goes back to one of the questions that we were asked: "Are you a compassionate therapist?" This is a question that I've thought a lot about and finally tonight I've written about it, however I didn't write about it in my blog because it's WAY too personal and I would feel naked if I exposed myself that way on here.
The conclusion that I came to however was that, at this point in time in my life, I am not a 100% compassionate therapist. When the dust settles, I will reassess myself and my compassion and I will see if there are changes that can be made. So instead of going by the above quote, I will go by the following (also a quote from our handouts which are excerpt from How to Practice: The way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama Translated and Edited by Jeffrey Hopkins, Ph.D):

"The main principle of Buddhist mortality is to help others and, if that is not possible, at least do no harm."

There were an other few things that I wanted to write about in this entry but I've forgotten... so I'll write when I remember them later on.

Professional Development Project

For professional development 400, we've got to do a project. I am still not too clear about what this project is supposed to look like but I think this is how they want it. It seems like they want to give us enough freedom with this that we can turn it into what we want, as long as we incorporate the PD400 components. I've chosen to use my blog as part of my project because I've already mentioned several events where the things we learn t in PD were useful.

Also I believe that the general public isn't too clear as to what massage therapists do and what their qualifications are. By blogging about my experiences it might give a bit of an insight into what we, as massage therapists (or massage therapists in training rater) experience and go through on our journey to becoming a health care professional.

The components for PD400 include:

• The compassionate therapist, in practice and business.
• Reviewing the therapist-guest relationship (including communications) through the lens of compassion.
• Collaborative team-work.
• Power and empowerment.
• Self-care; compassion inward.

I will continue to blog about personal things as this is blog is like my life, a mixture of professionalism but still with a component of personal life. It's impossible to keep them both separate, certainly when it comes to professional development because some of the things that they teach us come in handy in our personal lives as well.

It hasn't been until recently that I've started to incorporate the two in my life. But then again, it hasn't been until recently where PD has been challenging me to open my mind and venture into thoughts and feelings that I never ventured in before (or maybe I wasn't ready to).

Our Canucks have a new Jersey!

With all of the politics that have been going on with our Vancouver Canucks, rumor had it that the jersey had to be changed because Orca Bay no longer owns the Vancouver Canucks (so they'd be getting rid of the orca on the jersey). On August 29th, Darla suggested that we go see the unveiling of the new jersey. Our school is about a block or two away from General Motors place (where the Nucks play) so we went to see what was going on. She thought the unveiling would be outside, where everyone could see. However, once we got there, we saw a fairly big line up so we stood in it (figuring it would be free to get in... after all it's noon on a Wednesday and it's not like its a game or something like that). Of course, once we got to the entrance, we saw that people were handing over tickets. I asked the lady that was scanning them where we could get some and she said we could get some at international plaza. I wasn't too sure where this was and was figuring out a solution when the guy who was standing behind us gave us his extra ticket! I'd said that it was very nice of him and we were two and one ticket wouldn't let us both in, but.... and then the lady who was scanning the tickets said she'd let both Darla and I in.
So in we went :) We thanked the guy and went to find our seats (not assigned seating so we wouldn't be stealing someones spot). I thought it was so exciting! The high mucky mucks gave a few speeches and we watched a quick movie about the history of our Vancouver Canucks and their jerseys. There aren't too many teams that change their jerseys 5 times. Hopefully this jersey is here to stay.
After the speeches and the movie, the crowd greeted captain Markus Naslund and the new jerseys with great cheers! Shortly after, Trevor Linden, Mattias Ohlund, Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa skated in after him, all sporting the new jersey. My initial feeling was that it was the same but with different colours. But after looking at it, I realized that it was actually quite nice. I was confused about why we still had the orca... after all, isn't that why we had to change jerseys? I really liked the way they incorporated the old and they new. The old rink and stick logo on the shoulders and the old colours of green, white and blue added quite a bit of class to the new orca. When I saw Vancouver written across the front, I was proud :) When we win the Stanley Cup this year, people will see where our team is from and they'll know which is the best city in the west! Ok so I am getting a bit carried away here... but I am proud of our new jerseys, no matter what other people say. Cuz really it's the team, and what's under the jersey that counts... Right?

Best Drink Ever!!!

So Eric and I stopped by Stella's Tap ad Tapas on Commercial drive for dinner last night. This is a restaurant that serves more Belgian beer then you can shake a stick at. Of course you'd think I'd get a Belgian beer... but nope I got some kinda girly coctail instead! While Eric was enjoying his Gulden Draak, I was enjoying my El Nino (a little too much, I had two they were so good!). We also had a plate of duck something or other which was quite nice, jumbo (really really jumbo) thai shrimp and belgian fries. I quite enjoyed dinner, though the company and the drinks were much better.
Anyways I've looked up on the internet how to make this El Nino drink that I had and it turns out that it's called El Diablo, El Nino is a completely different drink (with peach n stuff). So yeah I am going to try and duplicate this recipe when I get some Cassis (aka blackcurrant).
Well things have been nutty lately! I've got to catch up on the blogging but not right now (going to go help mum with dinner making as I only seen her in passing for the past few days because I've been out so much).