Songs In Blue

27Aug10 TGIF

My 24 hour Holter Monitor experience was pretty good. I had sensors stuck to my chest and a little walkman-looking monitor around my waist – not going to lie, I never looked hotter. The most annoying part was sleeping with it on. I had to sleep on my back and spent most of the night worrying the sensors would come off if I moved to much. I should have the results in a few weeks.
The nurse who got me all set up with it was so nice! We ended up chatting about travel (she plans a big trip each year) and my tattoo (I think she’s going to get the same quote)! She said a lot of her friends always tell her there’s more to life than planning the next trip but to her, that is life. I could’ve hugged her right then but I wasn’t wearing a shirt and that would’ve been a little inappropriate.

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The job I was so excited for, has been a bit of a disappointment. It’s still what I want to be doing (I think) but it’s just been such a slow start that sometimes, I’m so bored I could cry. Hopefully it picks up soon because the ramifications of being alone with my thoughts for hours are endless. We had a BBQ last night (free food! and booze!) and it was my first chance to get to know people outside of the office. Everyone was really nice and fun so at least there’s that to balance out the lack of work.

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My younger brother got engaged a couple nights ago! While I am happy for him, there’s a teeny tiny part of me that feels that as the eldest, I should be the first one to get engaged. Sibling rivalry never really goes away, eh? In all seriousness, they are really good together and I’ve never seen my brother so happy!

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Last night I went to Bard on the Beach for the first time. We saw Much Ado About Nothing and it was so good! I had no idea what the play was about going into it but it was hilarious! If you get the chance, you should definitely go.

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This weekend, I plan on getting back into my gym routine. I haven’t been going since I started getting all my heart stuff sorted and I feel like a beached whale because of it. I also want to change things up a bit by adding classes like spin and strengthening. Of course, I’ll pay special attention to my heart rate and if it starts going funky again, I’ll stop.

What are your plans for the weekend?

1 Comment Posted by Dayna in TGIF, lists, random

18Aug10 Achy Breaky Heart*

I’ve been getting random sharp pains in my heart and general chest soreness for a few years now. I don’t usually go to the doctor unless I feel like I’m on my death bed so I kinda just brushed it off. It only happened every few months and it was over in minutes so I figured it was just something I ate or too much physical activity (ha!).

In the last year it’s gotten a lot worse. I get pains almost every week and they go on for a while. I’ve also noticed my heart rate gets weirdly high really quickly when I work out. Like, 180-190 beats within minutes of getting on a cardio machine (and I start off slow) and it won’t come back down for ages! It doesn’t seem to change no matter what fitness level I’m at, either.
Plus, with all the stress I’ve been dealing with lately, I’ve had the odd panic attack too.

I went to the walk-in clinic a couple weeks ago and met with a really nice doctor who actually listened to my concerns and didn’t focus on my stress/panic attack issues (which I was afraid might happen). He was pretty concerned about the pains and high heart rate so he ordered a few blood tests and a ECG. He thought it could be hyper thyroid something or anemia which both attribute to a racing heart. If the initial tests didn’t show anything then I would have to get more in depth tests done.

They all came back normal.

Some people might think that’s a good thing, but I was all ‘this means it’s really serious and I’m GOING TO DIE.’

I’ve since calmed down…sort of.

I now have a family doctor who reckons I’m not at risk for a heart attack (always nice to hear) and wants me to read a How to Deal with Stress Workbook while I wait for further tests.

She also wants me to take a break from the gym but I’m not quite sure how getting fat is going to help lower my stress level.

So next up, I get to wear a Holter Monitor for 24 hours starting Friday (FUN!), then I have a Echo Cardiogram at the hospital in a couple weeks. There will be more tests to follow if those two come back normal.

When something as important as your heart isn’t working properly, it really messes with your head. Even though (I hope) I know better, I can’t help but think that there’s something seriously wrong with me. It’s all because I don’t trust my heart anymore.
The only comfort I have is in doing something to find out what’s wrong.

*Other possible post titles:
Quit Playing Games With My Heart
Pop! Goes my Heart
Don’t Phunk With my Heart
My Heart Will Go On

7 Comments Posted by Dayna in Fear, life, sick

16Aug10 New tattoo

I’ve wanted a NZ related tattoo ever since Danielle and I first went to visit almost 4(!) years ago. The country has been (and will continue to be) a huge part of my life and the only place I’ve ever truly felt at home and settled. That is a rare feeling for me and one I really appreciate.
I had a lot of different ideas for it but decided to go with something obvious and well, the Kiwi is pretty darn obvious! and so cute!

I heard the phrase for the first time a couple days ago and decided to find out where it came from. Turns out it’s from a poem that J.R.R Tolkien wrote in Lord of the Rings – which is kind of ironic given that the movies were filmed in New Zealand!
More than that, I thought it just fit me SO perfectly. Traveling is a passion and the fact that all my worldly possessions (minus keepsakes at my mom’s house) fit into 2 pieces of luggage is thrilling to me! I hope to settle in one place eventually, but I’ll continue to travel as much as I can, for as long as I can.

3 Comments Posted by Dayna in life, new zealand, tattoo, travel

11Aug10 Marissa Gets Married

Within days of Marissa asking me to be her Maid of Honour, I had planned out her Stagette in its entirety. She probably thought I was doing her the favour when really, she was giving me the greatest gift ever! Once I came up with the idea and started sorting out details, there may or may not have been some excited arm flapping a la Miss Emily. I was totally in my element.

A couple weekends ago, my plans were finally put into action!

I found an awesome Girls Night Out package at the River Rock Resort and Casino that included:
A night in a 2 bedroom Executive Suite for all 6 (and a half, I’ll get to that later) of us(we needed a key card just to get to our floor – fancy!)
2 bottles of Champagne
$100 gift card that we used to get a couple rounds of cocktails
Free buffet breakfast for everyone
Gift bags with t-shirts, cards, beads and a whole bunch of other things
and some money to gamble with.

To top it all off, it was a STEAL – I highly recommend it!

So we spent the first part of the day hanging out in the room, taking photos of the planes flying low over the building (it’s right next to the airport).

We removed all class from our room and the fancy champagne by drinking it out of labeled glasses with very inappropriate straws, and eating a lot of yummy food.

Then we all started getting ready to take Marissa out on the town! She loves being the centre of attention, and that night was no different. She looked absolutely incredible!

(Apparently, that tutu made an appearance at the Stag Do as well)

We headed down to the casino for some (more) drinks and gambling. None of us had much gambling experience but it was a bit of fun to pass the time while we waited for our strech SUV limo!
That limo ride was probably the best part of the night! We could’ve driven around for hours, singing along to the music and seat dancing instead of going to a club – it was so much fun!

When we did finally get to the club, things kind of took a turn for the worse.
Too much drink + car sickness = One very sick girl in the bathroom.
I ended up taking her back to the hotel in a taxi and left the rest of the group to get the limo back a few hours later. It’s a really good thing I agreed on a price and paid the taxi driver as soon as we got into the cab because he was terrible! First, he stopped on some random street to take a leak! Then, he turned left when the hotel was CLEARLY on the right and made up some lame excuse when I called him up on it. After that, he asked me for MORE money when he dropped us off! He was totally trying to rip us off and I wasn’t having any of it. I just said, “You stopped to take a piss. I’m not giving you any more money.” And he left without another word.

While I was putting Sick Girl into bed, the rest of the group were having some issues with another girl. She decided she didn’t want to leave the club so they had to drag her, kicking and screaming, into the limo. Then when they all got back to the hotel, she realized she had lost her phone and went back to look for it, on her own, without telling us, while she was really drunk. She was gone for hours and there was nothing we could do! I ended up getting a call at 3am to come get her from hotel security. Fun times.

The next morning, we had an incredible buffet breakfast and headed home. I was so tried from running the party, worrying about one girl and looking after another that I had a 3 hour nap when I got home. It was grand.

Overall, it was a really successful night and Marissa had a good time!

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This past Saturday was the wedding. Marissa spent her wedding eve with me and I woke up to her staring at me at 6:30am. She said she was “too excited to sleep” and I replied, “Then just rest your eyes…and mouth.”
After failing to get her to do that for an hour, I went to have a shower and when I came back she was FAST ASLEEP! So I threw my towel at her.

Once we got our coffees and bagels from Tim Hortons, we headed to the salon to get her hair done.

It took over an hour and unheard of amounts of hair glue to get the finished product…

Now you’d think that planning an outside wedding in August would reduce the risk of rain, but you’d be wrong! Luckily they had already planned to have a couple tents!

Marissa looked so pretty in her wedding dress and the ceremony was perfect – besides the Commissioner calling her ‘Melissa’ at the beginning and using the wrong vows. But I don’t think anyone noticed the last one until Marissa mentioned it later.

I’m still having a hard time believing that we’re now at an age where we can get married and act like grown ups. I just hope we never get too old to jump into the ocean fully clothed, just for the fun of it. (photos taken circa 2006)

Congratulations Marissa! I wish you the absolute best!

8 Comments Posted by Dayna in friends, life, marissa

29Jul10 It took 4 months but…

I finally got a job!

Actually, I’ve been working as a Temp for the last couple months but this is a full time and permanent position!

Well, sort of. Let’s back track a bit…

I signed up with a Temp Agency soon after I got back to Canada. They called me almost every day to ask if they could put my resume forward for a particular job or to offer me a temp assignment. Most of the jobs weren’t exactly what I was after but they were good enough. Ideally, I wanted to be doing something similar to my job in Wellington (superannuation administrator, for those of you who don’t know) and since that company wasn’t hiring in Vancouver, I researched their competitors.

About a month ago, the Temp Agency offered me a 2 week receptionist assignment at one of those companies. I didn’t care that it wasn’t the role I wanted, at least I could talk to someone in the office and maybe get my foot in the door. They never called the agency back – I was so gutted!

Then, a couple weeks ago, the guy at the Temp Agency who had put me forward for that role called me with some good news! He said he had emailed the company to ask why they never got back to him and they said the role was no longer needed. BUT they had a different, PERMANENT position they wanted to interview for and asked for ME!
It was for a basic administrative role that wasn’t ideal but would at least get me IN so I was fine with it. The Interviewer said I would be a great fit and could definitely do the job but wasn’t sure how long I could put up with a role I didn’t really want. I hadn’t said a thing, she saw through me completely! Anyway, I tried my best to not tell her to JUST GIVE ME A JOB ALREADY and left feeling it could go either way.

An hour later, the agency called to tell me they LOVED me but (like they said in the interview) thought I would be better suited for a different role. They had given my resume to the Manager of their Pensions Team and she insisted on seeing me right away!
I went back in the next day and it didn’t take me long to realize she had already decided to hire me and just wanted to see if I would fit with the team. She told me about the role and it’s EXACTLY what I was looking for.

The only problem is, since they found me through a temp agency they can’t hire me as permanent right away. I’ll be considered a temp (paid by the agency) for the first few months but after that they’ll officially hire me.

I started on Monday and each day gets better and better!
It really is exactly what I was looking for and I’m so glad I didn’t settle for anything else. The team I work in is great, the dress code is casual (Jeans, FTW!), there’s a gym in my building (no walking in the rain during fall, winter, spring, and half of summer) and the pay is more than I was expecting or even hoping for (yay for paying off debt)!

Thing’s are starting to come together…

3 Comments Posted by Dayna in city life, job hunting, life, work

12Jul10 Amy’s Visit – Grind and Parliament

Since we’re crazy and Amy had heard it was a Must-Do in Vancouver, the next day we set off for the Grouse Grind – 2.9 kms literally straight up the side of a mountain!

Before we even made it to the 1/4 mark, we passed a man being given CPR. I made sure not to look at him (I don’t need that image in my mind, thankyouverymuch) but Amy said he really didn’t look well. Paramedics showed up shortly after we left so hopefully the guy made it.

What a great way to start a hike I was already dreading, eh?

So I’m already questioning if this is really a good idea when we pass a sign that says, “The rest of the trail is EXTREMELY steep and DANGEROUS. Proceed at own risk!”

They weren’t kidding.

This is the only picture of the trail because I was too busy CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN to be bothered taking any more!

Grouse Grind

It took us just over 2 hours to reach the top and frankly, I have no idea how people can do it in under a half hour or FOURTEEN times in one day.

The view from the top though? Worth it.

We ended up finding beaver tails and watching a Lumberjack show on the top of Grouse. Just trying to give Amy the most Canadian experience possible…

Of course, we took the easy way back down.

A couple days later, I used my connections (Dad) to get us over to Victoria. I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than 20 minutes in downtown Victoria since I’ve only ever gone with Dad while he was working. Amy and I remedied that by spending a few hours walking along the waterfront and ended up in front of the Parliament building.

One more surprise was waiting for Amy while we were on the ferry…ORCAS!

Some people have all the luck.

Having Amy around for the week was just what I needed. I’ve started to feel like I’m in a bit of a rut, not working or wanting to leave the house for fear of spending money I don’t have. Since Amy’s on a travelers’ budget, we ended up being able to do a whole bunch of fun things without spending too much! It was good to be busy and have someone to show around. Also, it got me wanting to make the most of living here. I grew up in this area and yet I haven’t seen or done most of what it has to offer!
If I can’t travel overseas, I might as well explore my backyard!

So, if you’re from here or have ever visited, what’s your favourite thing to do or see in Vancouver?

11 Comments Posted by Dayna in Canada, travel

8Jul10 Amy’s Visit – Canada Day

As I mentioned, my friend Amy came up from Wellington to visit me for a week! I think Vancouver agrees with her because everything we planned went off without a hitch.

The first couple days she spent with another friend then I picked her up on Thursday, which also happened to be Canada Day! Amy really wanted to see Mounties so we headed downtown for the parade and fireworks. I also introduced her to Poutine because it isn’t Canada Day without some gravy-cheesy-fry goodness!

By the time we got down to where the parade was being held, it was pretty busy and the only way we could watch was by climbing a nearby tree…