No more heat, and I'm really freaking glad...

...though I'm sad there's no more Kristen and Jordan. I really enjoyed chillin, illin, and keeping it gangsta real with them. It was great, so thanks to them for making things wicked awesome.

Now it's Vancouver with Steph. So far it's been great. On Friday, I think we might go shop a bit in Seattle. That will be fun. I'm stoked for the weather, since it's not 42 degrees outside like it was in a certain city yesterday. It IS raining, but at this point, I'll take anything as long as it's not causing me to be a vapour version of myself, as I was yesterday and the two days previous to that.

More updates later. For now, I'm in van city, and tomorrow I'm going synagogue!!! (for some kind of graduation thingy for Steph's brother, no I'm not a real live jew now, much to my dismay, I'm just going for kicks!)

The heat, my god, THE HEAT

It's really really hot. I mean REALLY hot. I can't even stand it. I couldn't even blow dry my hair all the way this morning, because I almost passed out from the HEAT. It's really really hot.

Oh, it's super great to see Kristen and Jordan. They're doing very well, and enjoying my company (I think.) Tonight we're going to have a NICE sushi dinner compliments of mum. (Thanks!!!)

I think part of today's activities will be the purchase of a fan.

The heat. It's killing me.

Travelling the world!!!!

Well, maybe just a bit of Canada.

I'm going to Ottawa tomorrow! And then, if it all works out, I'll be going to Vancouver on Wednesday! Then back to Calgary on Saturday!

Wooooooo Weeeeeee! Can't WAIT to see Kristen! Yay!

I think that's enough exclamation marks for one post.

SO Close

Well, I'm not too far away from being a real live flight attendant! I passed my final exam, so I'm *basically* in the clear. I still have a bit of first aid, going up in a crazy plane and then my "follow-up flight" left before I'm totally fully a flight attendant. But hopefully I don't mess anything up too badly and then I'm good to go!! Can you even stand it?

I'm hoping to plan a little trip next week, potentially to Vancouver and then to Ottawa, so I'll finally take advantage of my flight privileges! How fun!

That's really all I have to say... I got in trouble from a certain someone for not updating my blog enough, so I'm trying!!! OK?

I got my glasses today. Sexy pictures to follow.

Weekend = Not as boring as originally anticipated

As the title indicated, my weekend wasn't really as boring as I thought it would be. I bought a new tv (and by I, I mean my mum but I carried it) for the kitchen since our precious yellow one died. Then I chilled with Linda and watched movies and drank Starbuck's. Then I saw one of my best friends from high school who I haven't seen in almost 5 years, which was AWESOME... Though the evening ended with slightly more excitement than I had anticipated (not in a dirty way... I'll tell the story some other time). And then I chilled with some work people, and today I have to bake some muffins and study.

Upon re-reading that, it really wasn't chock-full of entertainment, but a lot less boring than the dullsville I had imagines.

Tomorrow I start my very last week of training. I already have my schedule for June, and it takes me to a lot of fun places (and a lot of not fun places too) but unfortunately no overnights in Ottawa. I think I'll plan a trip out there before I start... I have 4 or 5 days off after training and before my first shift, so I think I'll try fanangle something for then. I AM however going to Vegas and Orlando, though no overnights. Still, that's pretty cool.

So tomorrow I have my final, and I'm not really too sure why but we have to wear our uniforms, so Kirsten, I'll show up at your place all decked out. (I actually died a little bit thinking about eating dinner with my pants pulled almost to my breasts. I think I'll bring a change of clothes and change in the car before I get there.)

And I realized that I actually have 4 days left... I somehow got confused, so I'm still done on Saturday, but I have another day in there somewhere. It's all good... I'm still done soon!

Wish me luck!

Dullsville

My life is kind of boring. Well today it is. Now that most of my friends are not in Calgary anymore and the ones who are work almost every single day, I feel like I'm sitting around doing nothing. I do have a pretty action packed life when I'm working/training, but these five days off are KILLING ME! I thought I'd be so happy to just chill, but chilling alone isn't really that fun. *Sigh*

Yesterday I picked out new glasses. They are expensive. The combination of an extremely strong prescription and extremely picky me makes for very expensive glasses. I'm stoked for them though. I think I'll get them on Tuesday. That's something to look forward to.

I only have three days left of training. Tuesday is my final exam, Thursday is when we learn how to use the dephibrilator (can't spell that), and Saturday we go up in a plane and do rolly rapid descents and wobbles and fishtailing etc. FUN. Then I'm done. I'm a real live Flight Attendant. Crazy.

So that's what's going on with me right now... kinda bored, kinda relaxing, kinda wishing I had more of a life... Stay tuned for an "after" shot of me in my uniform pants... they really aren't as bad, though still quite horrific. I don't feel SO nasty in them, and they don't double as parachutes, though I still am not wild about them.

Anyone who's doing something great this weekend, call me!

How do we know summer is (kinda sorta) here?

Because I have a sunburn.

Summer is NEVER summer without me having at least 3 terribly horrific sunburns.

I inevitably forget to put my SPF45 on some part of my body (though yesterday I only put it on my arms, don't ask me why, and even still I have a burn on them, so really what was the point?)

These pictures don't really do it justice, but here's a little something to make you giggle. (And point and laugh)

Bye Steph! *Sniff Sniff*

So today ends the legacy that is Heather and Steph. She goes back to Vancouver, then to Montreal then to Camp then to London (with a day in Calgary in there somewhere, oh yeah and some time somewhere else), where she will stay, for a long long long time. I can't even get into it, because I'll get really really sad and no one likes it when I cry, because I rarely cute cry, it's normally ugly crying like what happened at the wedding and I hence ruined the video because all you can hear is "sniff sniff, wipe my nose which makes my bangles bangle and then all you can hear is bangling", so I won't get into it.


But I WILL say, Steph, I'll miss you a lot, and thanks for having me stay at your place for the past while so we could chill, even though as SOMEONE likes to remind me every five minutes that I didn't pay rent, but oh, I paid my rent in love, caringness, letting you laugh at me in my uniform, and doing the dishes after I eat!


I'll come visit soon (I hope!) and you're the greatest. I'm going to miss you a lot a lot!


And thanks to you, I have a new photo face. (It's my tribute to you really, AND I don't have chins in as many pics anymore!)

Facebook and Beers

So apparently all the cool kids are on facebook. I'm still not exactly sure what it is, but I'm on it. I think it's a way of seeing how many friends you have... So far I'm up to 4. Wooo weee four friends. Can someone explain what it is? And if you know, add me so I don't look so pathetic next to Steph's 548930584309568 friends.

Tonight I went for beers. With Steph and some Flight Attendant friends. (The lack of writing skills is because of the beers. How nice to drink beers and not have to worry about getting up at 6:00 to go to class/training/school tomorrow since I have the DAY OFF!)

I'm very much looking forward to sleeping in, though I still have to go to the airport to get some security pass... apparently it's important to get a security pass... who knew??

Good news of today? I am no longer makiing a pitiful 7$ an hour for training, but over triple!!! Our salary got re-negociated so we get our salary for training, so as of May first I'm no longer a pverty stricken trainee!!! (side note, I realize that isn't ACTUALLY poverty stricken, but it feels like it.)

That is all, I'm going to bed, sleep off the beers.

But I'm still on a high for not crying through the drill... I rocked that drill like nobody's business.

Did it!

So I did a drill, on a plane, with the lights off, with the sound track playing screaming and stuff... and I totally rocked it out! WOOOOOOOOO!

On a side note, my palms hurt from opening so many doors all day. Those damn plane doors are HEAVY!

Fire!!!

Yesterday I finally got my chance with the fire. A shed with gasoline (or some kind of fuel) seeping into what used to be an airline chair was where I had my debut as a firefighting machine!

I cried out "I have a fire in the overhead bin! Inform the captain and get me backup!", tore off that witness wire, whipped out that pin, aimed at the base and swept that extinguisher side to side with gusto! I then slowly backed away, never once turning my back on the now smouldering seat frame.

It was a rush (though slightly less exciting than I had hoped). Hopefully I won't forget what to do when/if the time ever comes! I think someone may have gotten a picture, so if I ever get my hands on it, you KNOW I'll be showing you!

So if you ever have any fires, just call me up and I'll be right over, because I am now trained with LIVE firefighting!

Freaking Out

So today I kind of lost it...

We're doing "emergency drills". Planned and unplanned land and water evacuations. Not really uplifting material to start with, but I can deal with that.

What I can't deal with are the actual drills. (Drill = Us doing what we would actually be doing if we were evacuating an aircraft. We have a set "script" of what we say scream to get people out asap).

We watch videos of people doing drills, and all the while my eyes are welling up with tears, and I'm pretty much loosing it. Then when people in our class did live drills tears were streaming down my face. I'm seriously freaking out.

I'm scared that I won't be able to do it.

What scares me more is that I'm a super outgoing person who is never scared to take control of a situation. So why am I petrified that I will not be able to do this? I am absolutely terrified that I will cry or panic or freeze and be responsible for these people with mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and children not getting out of the aircraft alive.

After class I talked to my instructor and in about four seconds I was sobbing. She said that she was surprised that I made it to day 6, because for her she lost it on day four, when we watched the video with interviews with survivors of aircraft fires where almost everyone died. She said she cried and cried in front of the whole class, and almost quit. I was honestly feeling like that today, because if I can't do these drills effectively, I can't be a flight attendant. And I really don't know if I can do them.

I felt reassured by what she told me, and how she told me I should ask those around me to remind me of situations where I HAVE taken control and gotten out of sticky situations. She said that I shouldn't hide my feelings from anyone, especially myself... And that it's commendable that I'm seeing it and coming to her for help. She also told me that she had no doubt in her mind that I would be able to get through it, and that I'd be ok. She said that if I cry the whole way through my first drill, it's okay, and I just need to try again. She also said it shows that I'm a good person, and that I'm concerned for these people, and not looking at it like a drill. What I don't get is when I'm watching a video on a fake plane with no actual passengers on it I'm freaking out about me not doing it. It's all hypothetical. So why am I freaking out??????

If I somehow make it through the "unplanned" landings, which means we have no warning of the emergency landing until it happens, so we really don't ever have to see any of the passengers until we're telling them to cross their arms and jump and slide, my next hurdle is the "planned" landings, where we have about 30 minutes warning, so we stand in the cabins and stare at the passengers while the captain announces that we're having an emergency landing, and I'm the one who is supposed to guide them through and reassure them we'll all be okay. I'm the one who assigns duties, and talks to the people sitting next to people who need more help, like mothers with infants and unaccompanied minors. How can I stand there and keep it together? What can I do to dissociate myself? I really don't know.

I'm scared. I'm overwhelmed. And I cry anytime anyone shouts. And I have to shout. A lot.