Life's a beach

Vancouver isn't known for it's white, sandy beaches. Really, most of them are cliffs (all the fjords, yo!), or just rocks, with random sandy bits. West Van is no exception. It's cool though, since it has all these hidden little coves, and some actually have sand! So, today, K and I hit up one of the random little beaches.
Stupidly, I totally didn't bring my camera.
But, I will tell you, my blindingly white flesh was on display (I'm the palest person I've ever met), and I didn't even end up with sunstroke! (It happens at least once a summer-I've had bout one already.)
AND I went swimming. Which is a bit of a big deal, since I can hardly doggy paddle. Luckily, K's a smartypants and had brought a skim board for me to float around with. I love that girl. I was able to actually go out into water over my head without freaking out or getting tired.
I did, however, get stung by a bee. I was in the water playing around, and all of a sudden I felt something pinching my arm. I looked down and saw a bee attached to me! I dropped my arm into the water, and the bee ended up floating away, dead...
After the beach, we hit up the gym, so I'll definitely be getting to sleep tonight (hopefully, I will stay asleep!)

Dear Universe

...I wasn't hired as an admin assistant, so please tell the president and the executive director of the non-profit I work for to stop treating me like the office bitch.

...I don't particularly enjoy being stuffed up and exhausted when I have plans-please cancel my sickness, and while we're at it, I'd rather not have to wake up every hour to pee.

...My 18 year-old neighbours having a party when I'm sick is not funny and not cute. What is, though, is one of the other neighbours phoning the police to get the party broken up!

...It would be nice if my dad was actually within cell-phone range on Father's Day.

...Living in this awesome place, and not being able to find a stellar, career-type job, is a bit disheartening. I like my current job fine, but it's not what I want to be doing forever. Or even for 5 years. Having it on my resume, though, will look pretty fantastic. This time next year I'd appreciate it if the stars would align and provide me with a career-type job, one that pays more, as well.

...I don't appreciate the fact that the sunflower my friend gave me as a grad present isn't growing. I thought I'd planted it in a really good spot, but it's sorta getting shrivelly :(

...Having a cuddly kitty lying on my when I'm sick is nice, but not when I have to pee and he's being too cute to move.

...Having 3/4 of the most important men in my life at my grad was lovely, but damn, did it ever make me miss my older brother :( Can a trip to see him and my sister-in-law please be arranged?

...Having BBQs in the British Properties at my best friend's parents' house, is fantastic. Can it happen again, please, before they move?

...And finally, can some time please be arranged for me to knit all the baby blankets for pregnant people that I've decided need to be done??

Supporters Anonymous part 2

My friend and I went to a the other night. We saw Envy on the Coast, Anberlin, and Taking Back Sunday at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver.
It was a fantastic show (even though I didn't get home 'til nearly 2, and I had to get up at 7 the next morning for work-and I'm not 18 anymore!), but what was the most amazing was the fact that my friend, an alcoholic, was strong enough and safe enough with me and our other friend to not drink.

I am so incredibly proud of her. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for her to be in a bar and not drink. At one point during the evening, she said that she wanted a beer, but I think that having me and Shar around not drinking helped. Also, we weren't with our normal show-friends-who are all about the drinking and drugging.

I've read that you need to change your habits to help break your addictions. In the case of drinking, in 20somethings, it's pretty hard to find non-drinkers. I know that becuase I'm not a big drinker, and I've always been the lame friend who is driving, or leaves early, or whatever. In my friend's case, she was often the one inviting me out to drink or even just hang out. I honestly never really thought that she had a "drinking problem", I just thought she drank a lot. It was only after she ended up in the hospital a couple times for her depression, and entered a treatment program, that how much she was drinking became apparent. She's been working incredibly hard to break her addiction, and one of her most amazing accomplishments, is her new-found interest in going to the gym, doing yoga, and taking her doggy for really long, intense walks.

I like to think that we're good influences on each other, since I give her moral support in the sober department, and she forces me to join her on Wednesday nights for Bosu and yoga classes. We also spend way too much time together, playing gin rummy and drinking coffee.
All in all, we're good for each other, and I'm still proud of all the strength and hope she embodies. Her dedication to her health, both physical and mental, also helps my mental well-being, just by being such an inspiration and role-model.

I'll see you tomorrow night, friend!

Done

Playing tourist

One of the perks of working in the tourism industry (almost) in Vancouver, is something called the Privilege Passport, offered through Tourism Vancouver, to businesses in the industry.
With it, holders of the passport are able to visit the other businesses in the industry who are part of the program, usually for super cheap or free. In most cases, you're allowed to bring a guest.
You need to visit enough places to receive 15 stamps in your book, and then you redeem the book for a pass to all the participating businesses (you get a certain number of stamps based on distance-we give 2 becuase we're out of the city).

My friend K and I hit up enough place to qualify me for the pass!

Kissing a mudskipper at the Vancouver Aquarium.

Us on the Stanley Park Horse-drawn Tours.

(I'm secretly terrified of horses cuz they're HUGE.)

Dr. Sun-yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens.

Vancouver Harbour Centre lookout.

Maplewood Farm.

Capilano Suspension Bridge.

I plan on playing a tourist alllllll summer long!

I'm so boring lately

I feel like I'm a lot more boring when I'm not depressed. Then I'm not looking for the outlet.
I don't need to spew forth the pain and anxiety and scariness and crap that just vomits itself out when I'm feeling really down.

Oh, this is not a bad thing!
It just doesn't make for interesting blog posts, when I post about unicorns pooping daisies (to quote Angella, I believe). Instead, it's random posts about how cute I think AK is...

I am so beyond relieved to be done school. I honestly never thought I'd ever be done university.
I entered the business program at Cap as a mature student, then transfered to Arts there.
In the winter of 2005, I was going to school full-time (three classes, to still qualify for my Dad's benefits), while working 3 jobs--all in all, about 60-70 hours a week, between classes and work.
I was living alone, in the basement bachelor suite in the house of an amazing woman who I've always wished I'd kept in contact with. I didn't have a TV, I used dial-up internet, I was randomly sleeping with a coworker for shits and giggles, and I pretty much had no social life.

Is it really any surprise I ended up having a sleep-over in the psych ward of my local hospital?

That was when I, at the behest of my doctor, moved back in with the parents. It was very strongly suggested that I move back in with someone who could "take care of me". As my gramma was, at this point, in need of a live-in caregiver, I was not able to move back in with her (it was actually due to her needing more care than I could provide which caused me to move out of her house in the first place. I just wasn't home enough, between work and school, to help her as much as she needed, so I'd moved out the year before to make room), and I do not -in any way, shape, or form- get along with my mother when we spend any amount of time together, my dad was the default "care-taker". He's always been my protector, and the person I run to when anything happened-I'm very much a Daddy's girl. But it'd been a few years since I lived with "parents". My gramma was more like a really awesome roommate who just happened to go to bed at 9.
Anyways, after the night in the hospital on suicide watch, I was put on stress leave by my doctor. I applied, and was accepted, to finish my BA in History at TRU, but decided to inquire about the Tourism program there instead. I asked about entering in January, since I thought I wouldn't make it in for September, which I did afterall. I did the first year of a diploma, and learned that I had enough credits from Cap to basically skip the second year of the degree program, if I decided to do that-which I did. By doing 28 months STRAIGHT of school, I was able to finish my degree in only 8 months longer than it would have to finish the diploma.

Holy crap, that felt like a lot to explain about why I'm not depressed right now!
And I'm still not done...

Sam and I started dating around about the end of June, 2005. We'd started hanging out earlier in the spring (after having known him for awhile as my customer at Starbucks), but I didn't tell him I'd moved until 3 weeks afterwards. We met up for beer one night when I was back in Vancouver visiting, and a couple weeks later, he came to Kamloops and we went camping, basically as our first date--three days of no showering, a lot of fishing, and a lot of laughing and kissing. We never really talked about the future of "us", we just started refering to each other as our girlfriend/boyfriend, and it just seemed to work.
Am I ever glad that he's my Sammy!

I love that I'm able to bug him, in person, every day now.
I know it sounds terrible, but it's not, really. Mwah!

Other than being exhausted lately, I have nothing to complain about!
(I'm being tested for sleep apnea, and to make sure my thyroid is working properly, as well as to make sure my bladder works properly, because I sleep like crap, I'm constantly exhausted, and I pee like a racehorse for no apparent reason).

Computer cat

AK likes to sleep on me while I'm on the computer.

I tend to slouch down, giving him room to cuddle up on my chest.

What you aren't able to see, though, are his muddy paws that he wiped all over my arms, chest, and tank top.

An action shot, of him getting comfortable.