Saturday, May 26, 2012

Places and things I want to do.

I guess you could say this is my bucket list. But I am not much of a fan of that term.  So this is the list of places and things I want to do, preferably while I am young and my knees are still with me.  

They are in no particular order...
  1. Fly to Victoria and rent a car and then take the ferry to Port Angeles. Have dinner where Bella and Edward had dinner. Drive to Forks and do a Twilight Tour.
  2. Take the train along the Oregon coast up thru the California coast.
  3. Get tattoos. I have 3 already planned.
  4. Go to England. Tour Buckingham Palace. Eat fish and chips. Drive to small towns. Take the Hogwarts Express.
  5. Go to Newfoundland and see Great Big Sea in concert at their motherland.
  6. Go on a Mediterranean cruise.
  7. Renew my vows with my lobster, Andrew (have my parents and siblings there)
  8. Visit Santa Barbara - I used to watch that soap opera,  I want to see the houses.
  9. Find an Alpaca Farm and pet the Alpaca's. 
  10. Snorkel in Australia along the Great Barrier Reef.
  11. Vacation in Hawaii.
  12. Get on that ridiculously priced Rocky train with the glass roofs that goes thru the mountains.
I think that is mostly it.  I mean there might be more, but this is pretty good right now.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hey Nonny Ding Dong...

Last week was fun. Really fun.

Tuesday May 15th, 2012 was the day my episode of Canada Sings aired.  WestJet vs. OPP.  

The excitement that lead up to that day was amazing. I had so many co-workers and friends stop by all day on the Monday, telling me they were excited for the episode. On the flip side, there were folks asking me "When does it air?". It was great to say 'Tomorrow!".  

Tuesday finally arrived (It took its time).   The big reveal of who won that night would give me so much relief! 

WestJet as usual, was phenomenal.  With the assistance of "Cabin Pressure" and the CARE team, we set up a cocktail area with tables filled with snacks. There was licorice, chips, pretzels, jube jubes, and jelly beans. We were popping popcorn and there was a cooler filled with pop.  There was wine for purchase as well for the sophisticated.  

Prior to the show beginning, everyone was seated in the big rooms with the large projector screens, one by one, members of Cabin Pressure were introduced. We walked a red carpet with paparazzi taking our pictures, we were received with a quick bio we had provided. I had intended to make the audience laugh. I was successful! Then we sat down with all the viewers we had invited, and co-workers who had joined.  

My excitement and nerves were running wild as I watched the Canada Sings logo and theme song on the screen.  It opened with our story, and as Jennie and Jesse told their tales of how their children have the lives they have today because of the Alberta Children's Hospital, I had to get a box of Kleenex.  I noticed I wasn't the only one bawling.  I handed out tissues to those around me.    When it was time to see our actual performance, I could barely breathe.  Dan started singing, and I started swooning. I watched in awe as our colours and voices swirled about the stage. It was so very weird when I heard my voice, was that really me? Yup. (I just changed the title of this blog from "Five minutes is better than none" to "Hey Nonny Ding Dong"). Seeing the judges reactions was awesome. Then, it was over!

Commercial break: the crowd gathered at WestJet is cheering so loud. I am overcome with emotions.

Next up, the OPP: Project Glee.  I am crying again. Now that I know these people, to see them cry, makes me cry.  Plus, I know what is coming now, and I get new tissues.  As I hear Celeste say that if they lose, they will all feel like they failed. This breaks my heart. I feel like a jerk. These are good people doing this for a good cause, and their loss makes them feel like they failed.

The show moves on and then its decision time. Listening to the judges was interesting.  Jann Arden seemed to want OPP to win. Laurie Ann wanted Cabin Pressure to win.  This left Vanilla Ice as the tie breaker. 

What they didn't show, was that Vanilla Ice read a letter to everyone stating something about how important our emergency service folks are.  I don't remember the details, but I remember it as touching.

So, Cabin Pressure won. Everyone knows this now, but at the moment, only few people present at this premiere knew that. When it was announced, I remember crying (did I even stop?) and hugging my team mates. It was like, winning all over again. Does that make sense? Everyone was cheering. Then the icing on the cake is revealed, WestJet donated $10, 000 to OPP's charity, Dave Mounsey Foundation.  Put all this together, wow. We won, and so did both charities. 

We had Jesse's daughter Avery join us on stage and we presented the cheque of $25,000 to the Alberta Children's Hospital. I was still crying as Avery handed the cheque over. It seemed so right to have her hand the cheque, as she was such a huge part of our courage to do our best.

By 8pm, I was finally having dinner and I felt completely exhausted. I could barely eat. I got home and was so drained. I felt so sick to my stomach. I think it as nerves.

I woke Wednesday morning and the feeling of drained and no sleep from my tummy issues. I showered hoping I would feel better, but got out of the shower and felt horrible. I called in sick to work and went back to bed. I thought I had food poisoning.   As time progressed, I realized that I wasn't sick sick, but emotionally sick and it manifested itself into physical symptoms. By mid day I was sure I was going to vomit any second.

I believe I was like the bride the day after the wedding. All that hard work, dress rehearsals, the big show, and now...NOTHING.  I felt a loss. I couldn't explain it. I kept telling myself how awesome it would be at work today, after everyone had seen the episode, all the accolades.  But that just overwhelmed me and made me even sicker.  At the time, I had no idea what was going on, I just thought I was sick from dinner the night before.  I was shrouded in sadness for the next two days, with physical symptoms.  When I went to work on Thursday, I got so many "Congrats! You guys were great";  I felt great.   But then as the day went on, I was like "Nobody cares anymore" For me, it was a life altering moment I will never forget.  For others, it was a TV show their friend was on, and now its over....NEXT!!  I get that too, as that is what it is...

I noticed even over the weekend, I was still sad.

Today, Wednesday May 23rd, I feel much better. I was able to watch another episode of Canada Sings last night and just enjoy it.  But the back of my mind today is "How are they? Are they OK?"  I will probably do that every week until it is over.

It is now over. I have made some great memories, learned a lot about myself and made new friends. I have bonds with my teammates and I am proud to call them my friends. 

Most importantly, I would do it all over again.

The end. 

Unless you want to watch the episode...?
p.s. you have to be Canadian.