Luna and I enjoyed the Canada Day Fireworks with front row seats out our window.

Happy Canada Day!

Taking things for granted, and gaining perspective…

One of the highlights of 2008 for us was going to be 4 full weeks in Cuba. With 3 weddings booked and all of our ducks in a row, we set out on May 2nd to Calgary and followed through to Varadero, Cuba on Saturday May 3rd.

While watching out the window of the tour bus from the airport to our resort, the first thing that struck me was how little culture shock I felt. I don’t really know what I expected, but never having travelled outside of North America, I expected something.

As we watched the houses go by we noticed the palm trees and bright colours that are rare here, but other than that I actually felt a little like I was driving through the small towns at home. Not Vancouver home, of course, but Northern Alberta home. Kids outside playing, animals running around, men drinking beer on the porch or kicking around a soccer ball. Lazy summer days. From the hustle of the city, it was refreshing.

Our resort was grand, and at 5 stars one of the nicest in Varadero. Miles of white sandy beaches, endless mojitos, the staff were wonderful, the food surprisingly good after all the negative reviews we’d heard before coming. We had a full week ahead with 2 full day engagement shoots in Havana, 2 weddings, and 2 trash the dress sessions. The day after we arrived, Sunday, was our only day without work and we were going to enjoy it.

We slept in and enjoyed a relaxing morning watching the lizards on our balcony before grabbing our swim wear and heading for the beach. I was sure to hit up the bar for a mojito along the way – that is, after all, one of the primary reasons for going. I was excited that Reilly was coming swimming as he avoids the water here at all costs, but he was as excited as I was.

Compared to the Pacific, wow, what a treat to walk into crystal clear bathwater temp water. We probably swam and played around for an hour before grabbing our things and heading back towards our room so we could meet up with our clients over a drink at 2pm.

2 minutes from the beach, on a downhill slope of deep sand – the kind you have trouble walking in to begin with, and more so apparently if you’re me – I tripped. Instead of falling forwards, I leaned backwards to fall but my sandal remained caught in the sand so didn’t follow. I landed with my right knee bent sideways and my knee cap out of place.

Reilly was walking ahead of me so turned around horrified at the scream I’d let out, in time to see me straighten my leg and push my kneecap 2 inches back into place. I knew that I’d done something very wrong as my leg should never have gone in the position it did when it fell, but at that moment I wasn’t in much pain and could put weight on it, so I did.

I held onto Reilly and walked carefully, making it about 10 more feet before I stepped in such a way that required the ligament in my knee I would later find out I’d snapped. I fell again, and haven’t yet taken another step since.

Even after I fell the second time Reilly didn’t seem convinced of my diagnosis that I was going home. Pain is one thing – I will work through pain and smile about it – but knowing that if I tried to stand up that my knee would give out again was definitely something new. My leg didn’t work.

I sent him for the crazy ‘50’s wheelchair I’d seen in the lobby and waited in the sand, knowing our 4 week trip was over for me on day 2.

We got back to our room and I sat on the bed and sent him on a hunt for ice. The language barrier became apparent after multiple attempts to get ice from the bar (one glass only, hardly useful), the front desk, and finally room service. It wasn’t until I called room service asking where our ice was that they asked if the ice machine in our building was broken. Sure enough, on the second floor we had all the ice we could ever need.

Our clients tracked us down in our room after we didn’t show for our meetup. They walked in to a wheelchair and me with ice on my knee and ankle, but otherwise in a cheerful mood. I explained that if it were just my sprained ankle – I was convinced my ankle was merely sprained after my second fall – I would gladly grin and bear it, but my knee was seriously damaged and I wouldn’t be shooting that week. The groom got the same look Reilly had been giving me, and suggested I could sit out the engagement session on Monday and rest and maybe shoot the wedding the next day. He clearly didn’t get it.

Being a Sunday, no doctor was available in the resort and I wasn’t interested in heading in to the clinic at night, knowing there was nothing they could do. At that point I knew that I needed a cast or something to keep my leg stable, and that I needed to get home. The doctor was a formality for travel insurance.

Thankfully, our skeptical groom called a while later to let us know one of their wedding guests was a physician in the Maritimes and had offered to look at my leg. Canadian, English speaking medical advice? Perfect!

So, our groom and the doctor came to our room. My leg was poked and prodded, he declared I may have fractured my ankle, and then he held my thigh and moved my lower leg to the right. It didn’t stop.

That was the moment when both Reilly and our groom got that wide eyed look realising that legs just shouldn’t do that, and maybe I wasn’t just a wimp after all. The doctor looked at me, explained the multiple ligaments I may have torn, and told me to get an air cast and to get home to see a surgeon. I knew that already, but it was a relief to hear it in terms I could understand.

Later that night our clients came by and told Reilly to come with me to the hospital the next day rather than with them to Havana for their engagement shoot. It was never a question to me that he would go shoot as that’s what needed to be done, but I don’t know if they saw the tears of relief when they left. I couldn’t have been more thankful to know I wasn’t heading to the hospital by myself.

Monday morning we got a referral from the resort physician and headed into town. The ambulance would have been cheaper than a taxi so we said we’d do that – besides, how fun would that be?! – but as it turned out it – yes, just one – was busy, so a taxi it was.

Tourists go to a different clinic than the locals, but regardless we had a great experience. There was no wait, I immediately saw a (totally hot) doctor, and was taken in for xrays on the crazy old machine. They took one look at my films and called a specialist, and apologised profusely as the wait would be about half an hour.

All told, I ended up with 3 (totally hot) Cuban doctors. I wish Reilly had taken a photo. He was actually the one who pointed out that they should have their own soap or something.

Even more exciting than the hot Cuban doctors, however, were the nurses. Oh, the nurses! These ladies were dressed to the nines in heels, fishnet stockings, mini skirts, and nurses hats. I kid not! I wish we had a photo.

When the specialist came he ordered another x-ray of my knee. Knowing I might also have an ankle fracture but unsure how much cash we’d need on hand to pay for this all, I asked how much the xrays were. $25 each! For that price, I told them to go ahead and xray my ankle too. It was worth knowing where it was at, even though I knew I was out of commission for a while with my knee.

My official Cuban diagnosis was that my ankle was completely fine, and then Hot Cuban Doctor looked at my last knee xray. He looked at me, and with wide eyes said “Rupture Ligamento! NO WALK!! Go home. Need suture!” It matched pretty much what I was told by the Canadian doctor at the resort, so that was good enough for me.

They sent someone out to buy more gauze, and I got myself a nice plaster slab cast from the bottom of my foot to my thigh with gauze around the front so I could still fly. I tried to buy crutches knowing it would make my trip through the airports by myself a little easier not knowing what the wheelchair situation would be, but after a few calls it was determined no crutches were available in Cuba at that time. We paid our whopping $215 bill and were on our way.

Back at the resort, we found the vacation rep who spent a lot of time on his cell in very fast Spanish trying to find me a flight home. Eventually, he determined there was room on a flight to Toronto the following night at 9pm. I was handed a hand scrawled piece of paper with my flight details – I was to go to the airport, find a man named Adolfo, and hand him $383 cash. He would get me my ticket.

Tuesday came and Reilly was shooting a wedding. I put my carryon on my lap, and I wheeled myself in the rickety hotel wheelchair to the Taxi stand and had the front desk call me a taxi.

A few minutes later, a car pulled up. I think it was a ’92 Corolla. Spray paint matte black and not holding up very well. The driver hopped out – maybe 25 years old, with his shirt unbuttoned a few too many and with gold chains around his neck. Bad techno was blaring from the blown speakers.

I tried to communicate that the wheelchair I was in needed to stay, but that he would have to get me a new one at the airport. He seemed to figure that out. I got in the back seat cross ways – the only way I could fit anywhere with a full leg cast – and was able to fully take in the situation once we started to move.

The inside of the car was worse off than the outside. There was a red and black striped fun fur cover on the back seat, with no seat belts to be had. The dash had pieces missing, and he had a tint job such that his field of view was about one foot high as a strip across his windshield, with the top and bottom a dark limo tint.

We started to drive and as he was busy writing down the details of the fare he slowly swerved into the other lane, occasionally looking up to correct his course. I went back through the situation in my mind – he had made it through the resort gate, so he must have been legit. I could see a radio and a trip log, so he was probably actually a cabbie. I was a very overweight foreign girl with a full cast, and probably not all that enticing.

I realized that at that moment, I was completely dependant on the help of strangers who didn’t speak the same language as me to get me home. I couldn’t walk, and had no wheelchair. If there were a problem I couldn’t get away on my own. I was being taken to an airport with a scrawled name on a piece of paper and a large pile of cash, hoping this would get me on a plane. I had no choice but to trust that it would all work out.

I enjoyed the scenery the rest of the way to the airport.

Once we arrived, my cabbie quickly rushed to find me a wheelchair and I tipped him very well for getting me there safely. To my relief and surprise, I was passed off to an airport employee who knew exactly where to find Adolfo and wheeled me straight to him. I handed over my wad of cash and was given my ticket.

The Cubans at the airport were awesome. I didn’t end up pushing myself anywhere, at all times I had a guy who would park me somewhere and then fetch me when it was time to go through getting my boarding pass, pay my departure fee, go through security, and get to my gate. I had gone prepared with many pesos and tipped everyone who helped me very well, but they were all genuinely surprised and appreciative when I did.

My flight to Toronto was short – 3 ½ hours – but uncomfortable. The plane was small so I sat in the first row on the left with my leg in the aisle praying I was sufficiently dehydrated so that I wouldn’t need to use the loo as it would have involved leaving the door wide open for my cast. Luckily, that was a success.

When we landed one of the stewardesses felt so bad that I had another flight ahead of me that she raided the snack cupboard and sent me on my way with a couple cans of pop and handfuls of pretzel mix and chocolate mints. That flight was a Sunwing flight, and I would choose them just because of that stewardess.

Pearson’s Airport in Toronto is huge and involves trains, but I was met at the plane with a wheelchair and a team of people on radios who wheeled me and passed me off to get me to where I needed to be. We landed around 1 am Toronto time and my flight to Vancouver would leave around 6.

I was parked outside the Westjet counter waiting for it to open, and was excited to finally get online. I’d only been away from the internet for a few days but it was easy to kill a few hours catching up and keeping my mind off of things.

Westjet was awesome for my 5 ½ hour flight to Van, rearranging passengers so I could have the entire second row to myself. I sat with my leg up across the seats, and finally got a bit of sleep.

My Mom flew in from Edmonton landing at the same gate just an hour before I did on Wednesday morning, and it was a relief to finally see a familiar face when I got off the plane. Darren met us at the airport with a rented wheelchair and borrowed crutches thanks to the collaboration of some great friends…. Love and thanks to all of you - Darren, Kimli, Shan, Josh, Tanya for making sure it was all arranged.

We went straight to emerg at VGH.

My Cuban xrays were a huge hit. Slightly out of focus, very old school, and so unlike the digital ones everyone we came across had been so accustomed to seeing. They cut off my cast to see the damage and I was surprised to see my ankle had turned a very dark shade of black almost the whole way around.

Xrays were done, immediately refuting my Cuban ankle diagnosis. Not only had I fractured it, but I’d managed to shear off a large chunk of the bottom of my tibia. I was admitted and booked for surgery.

Reilly finally made it home on Sunday, which is when my Mom left so that worked out well. I couldn’t have handled sitting in the hopital for days by myself.

I ended up having surgery to repair my ankle with 3 screws and a washer on Saturday morning, and got out of the hospital on the Monday. My knee was diagnosed as a grade 3 medial collateral ligament tear (completely snapped), but as most MCL tears will scar over on their own was just put in an immobilizer and told to stay off my leg for 6 weeks.

On June 19th I saw my surgeon who confirmed what I already knew – my knee hadn’t healed, and still had the same instability. My ankle xrays look great but there’s still no walking for me.

On July 17th I’ll be going in again and barring a knee ligament miracle (not holding my breath) will be booked for surgery for an MCL reconstruction/artificial ligament. At that time I’ll also hopefully find out if – as I also suspect – I’ve also torn my ACL and will be looking forward to a second knee surgery once my MCL has healed.

So, that’s where I’m at! It’s definitely not what I’d planned on for the summer, and I *really* just want to start physio, but in the grand scheme of life it’s all temporary.

We’ve got some awesome people hired to work with us this year, but I really wish I could be out shooting. It’s strange to be editing weddings that I wasn’t involved in.

Overall, I’ve been in a really good mood. There’s no point to be miserable, because then I would just be miserable. It’s not worth it. It’s a challenge – believe me – but not worth getting down about. I have my moments, but I’m doing my best.

First and foremost, the whole thing really puts things into perspective. The little things seem that much more little, and you spend more time looking at the bigger picture. Things can change in a heartbeat. Life is too short. As far as I’m concerned, I’m alive and otherwise healthy, so life is pretty damn good. Apparently I needed a few months unable to walk to make me realize what’s important and what isn’t and to give my perspective a kick in the pants.

It also makes you realize pretty quickly that your worst case scenario probably isn’t that bad. If you had asked me before we left what would happen if I broke my leg and ended up unable to walk for a few months, I would have told you it was one of the worst things that could happen. I am a self employed photographer, I’d be unable to make a living, it would be impossible to get around, I’d be miserable.

But you know what? We’ve hired great photographers to shoot. I still do all the back end stuff, I’m as busy as ever. Getting around has new challenges, but I can still do most things. We went camping this weekend through some crazy 4×4 roads and had a blast. Squatting to pee in the bush with one working leg – THAT is a challenge, but even that wasn’t insurmountable.

All in all, we’re all pretty adaptable. Life is a little inconvenient, but on the whole pretty damn good. I’m just thankful that all I have to deal with is a broken leg.

This too shall pass.

Photo from Josh!

I talked about it a few posts back, but to me it’s so many times bigger than even 1000 posts.

I started reading Lesley’s blog a while ago, and recently we met up for dinner to meet and chat. I got to hear about all the cool things she’s working on and her business ideas and her passions. There are so many things that she’s going to do in life, and so much I doubt she has even dreamt of yet.

Just now I opened my rss reader to check out whose blogs have been updated, and was so so humbled to read this on hers:

I keep on hearing Miranda’s voice in my head “You just have to do it”. It keeps me striving to make my dreams happen. I don’t want to let her down, myself down, or anyone else who has echoed those same words into my ear. So I’m making them happen, once again, a little at a time.

Hearing people say that something I’ve said has helped them or encouraged them or inspired them is… I can’t even describe how much it means to me. It makes me feel small in a wonderful way…. like a tiny little part of things so incredible and so much bigger than myself.

So many people have said these things to me recently, so many times I’ve felt this way. I am in awe each time that someone tells me something that I’ve said has stuck with them, like Lesley has, and I’m left speechless when I’m told that people’s lives have been set on a completely new and wonderful path because of me. Because of me.

I don’t believe them. Or, I didn’t. I used to shake it off, it was all them - and really, it’s always always always all them. But the more times it happens and the more people who give me even little tiny bits of credit, the more I realize that the smallest encouragement can go so very, very far.

On the other side, it makes me question how we treat eachother. How we communicate with one another, with our friends, with our family. I don’t consider encouraging people to do or find what they love and what they’re passionate about to be anything out of the ordinary. It seems to me that everyone, everywhere, should be putting their energy into encouraging and supporting and inspiring their friends and family and the strangers whose lives they cross.

And yet, people keep telling me that in some way, I’ve had an impact.

If the people I’ve met randomly and the people whose lives I’ve already crossed are inspired or encouraged by things I say, it makes me realize that there are so so many people out there who are on the verge of great things, and are just waiting for someone to tell them that they can.

It simply comes down to this - life is too short. It’s TOO SHORT. You can’t bank on tomorrow, so you have to live your life today. Find what makes you happy. Do what makes you happy. Stop letting the fear of failure stop you. Stop saying that you can’t.

And please please please - regardless of where you’re at yourself, take the time to encourage someone else. My experience over and over and over again is that we all need to hear it, and the simplest of conversations can have such an impact on the happiness and joy of someone else.

xoxoxo

What level do you play in Guitar Hero/Rock Band?
Medium on guitar hero - I beat it in medium then all my awesome friends said they couldn’t beat it on hard, so I didn’t want to get into it and not be able to finish it, so I stopped after medium. On Rock Band I beat my solo singing career on hard.

Are you in a relationship?
indeed!

Are you wearing jeans right now?
No!

Where is your Dad?
In Westlock

How do you feel about Living Dead Girl?
The song is fantastic….

Do you think too much or too little?
Too much about most things

Do you smile a lot?
I try to, but I know that often when I think I look happy I am photographed looking very angry, so I need to work on it!

What is the price of gas where you live?
Something crazy, like around $1.20 I think

What was the last compliment you received, and when?
Oooh… uh…. oh, nevermind, probably shouldn’t share that

Have you ever ridden in a plane?
Many times!

Do you prefer call or text?
Typed is best - I hate phones, and make Reilly answer them

Do you have any siblings?
One brother, and his lovely wife!

How many people do you trust 100%?
A few

Where did you get the shirt you’re wearing?
Outlet shopping in Seattle

What’s the last movie you saw in the theatre?
We keep downloading new movies so I can’t remember…. 27 dresses maybe with a group of wedding industry gals?

Can you live without the computer?
Why? Why would I try? Cuba is going to be hell enough, without real internet access for a month

When was the last time you got flowers?
Last week! From Reilly - orange gerbera daisies. I get flowers frequently, which I love.

Do you wish at 11:11?
huh? no

Do you have any piercings?
my eyebrow, and technically my ears although I don’t know if I could get anything through them it’s been a couple years since I wore earrings

What’s your middle name?
Dawn

How big is your bed?
Double because our queen wouldn’t fit at our old place, but we are *so* in need of a real bed again, will get one soon!

Ever get so drunk you couldn’t remember the entire night?
No

Can you play any instruments?
I am so not musically inclined! Rock band says I can sing, though, so I’ll take what I can get

Favourite flower?
Gerbera daisies, like the ones on my desk

Have you ever loved someone?
Of course

Do you have a tattoo?
No, but I really want one. Or several. I feel like I should have tattoos, I would like tattoos, but I have no idea of what and I don’t want something I’ll grow tired of.

Are you hiding something from someone?
Chocolate. It’s in my scooter. Does it still count if I asked him to fetch it when he comes home, though?

3 Things you can’t live without?
internet, Reilly, friends.

What was your first thought when you looked in the mirror this morning?
No clients = no pants

Do you like to have long hair or short hair?
Short hair, although it’s much more work than long hair

Have you memorized your social security insurance number?
yes, and Reilly’s

Have you ever had your heart broken?
Yes

How many texts did you receive today?
None I don’t think as I was on MSN all day, but I got a voice mail - who leaves voice mail? Who uses the phone features of the phone? I was so confused

Do you trust people easily?
Yes

Do you think you’ll be married in 10 years?
You mean if he makes it home after trying to skateboard for the first time in years tonight? Yes, of course

Do you plan on moving out within the next year?
We’d like to get a bigger place in our building, but who knows when that might happen

Where were you at 9pm last Friday night?
Friday Kimli and I went shopping, and others were hiking. We came back, hung out for a while at her place, then Reilly came… I’m pretty sure I was home around then?

What happened at 10:00 am today?
Dealing with emails that had piled up from the long weekend

Is your family just a bundle of fun?
It’s true!

Do you laugh at all the wrong times?
Sometimes, yes. Once, in particular, was particularly out of turn, but I won’t get into the whole story

When did you last cry your eyes out?
I’m female, and therefore not perfectly emotionally stable at all times. Probably within the last few months, but I don’t really remember.

Have you ever seen your best friend naked?
I have seen many friends in various stages of undress. I even have photos for some of them!

Are you obsessed with someone?
No… as long as I know where Reilly’s at, who he’s with, when he last updated his fbook status, and when to expect him…. uh, on second thought….

What is the best thing about your job?
I am my own boss and get to set my own schedule. If that means working all night to make up for biking stanley park or being crafty in the day, then so be it

Do you like more than one person right now?
Like? I like many people!

Name something that you would love to eat right now.
The fancy chocolate from MEC that is in my scooter

Did you get any compliments today?
Didn’t we go through this?

Who was the last person to call you?
My Mom! When I was a kid I ripped up their fav cook book, and I’ve spent the last few years scouring the book section of every second hand and vintage store I was in for a replacement copy. I finally found one - in pristine condition - and sent it to my parents. They got it today!

If you could pick the temperature of the outdoors for the rest of your life, what would it be?
23C sounds about right

Do you steal people’s boyfriends or girlfriends?
I put them in my pocket. Would you like to see?

Are you happy?
Yes

Who was the last person you texted?
Kimli

Who was the last person you IMed?
Ed

Are you moody?
Not anything like I used to be, but yes, sometimes

Last person you hung out with?
Reilly today, although I live with him. Probably Josh, we went on a grand 4×4 adventure on Sunday to the middle of no where. Oh yes, and yesterday we went scooting with Josh, and for breakfast.

Have you ever tried to get back with an ex?
Reilly was an ex, and now we’re married. Woo!

Have you ever toilet papered someone’s house?
I would like to say that I have, but really, I haven’t

Have you ever gone camping?
I really love camping, and am excited that this year we should have time to do more of it than previous years

Have you ever gone to a nude beach?
Haha… beach? No.

Have you ever had a stalker?
A few creepy people, but no, nothing official

Who was the last person to make you mad?
The jerk who drove his car into my scooter yesterday. That was SO COOL. He was on his cell phone, apparently. We were parked in the middle of a spot at a meter, so at best he should have been at closest 4 feet away at the next spot.

Are you thirsty?
now that you mention it, yes

Are you listening to music? What are you listening to?
I was, but it seems to have stopped

What do you do before bed?
computer mostly, sometimes watch some TV or play rock band

Have you ever lied to your parents?
Everyone has lied to their parents

Have you ever worn your best friend’s clothes?
Yes, of course

Have you ever thrown up from working out?
No

Who do you miss?
Family and friends in Alberta

Where are your siblings right now?
Roy is home in Saskatoon

Last person you kissed other than family?
Reilly! My cats?

Name five things you did today:
Crafty! Photos to come; caught up on email; drank port; chatted with friends; enjoyed a relaxing day

Future kid’s name?
Team no babies! I’m going to get on the t-shirt bandwagon on that one

What are you doing tomorrow?
Working! And crafty, must be crafty. Not sure about tomorrow night when R’s at band practice though, need a plan.

Are you on a laptop or a desktop?
Laptop + extra monitor

What is your mood?
Entertained

Is anyone jealous of you?
I’ve been told so, on account of the self employed factor. I think life is just too short, and you have to do whatever will make you happy. Life is filled with more opportunities than most people ever dream about.

Where were you 2 hours ago?
Sitting here, at my computer chatting on MSN and working on this

What were you doing last night?
Being the aforementioned crafty! Photos to come

What does your hair look like right now?
Washed but not done today, so very plain

Has anyone ever used you?
Yes

What have you eaten today?
Not a good food day, just leftover pizza from last night

Is your hair naturally curly, or straight?
straight

Who were you last in a car with?
Josh on Sunday for epic 4×4 adventures!

What are you looking forward to?
Cuba! May 2nd!!

What do you think about being cheated on?
Relationships are about communication. Not communicating about anything is going to go downhill fast.

Any of your friends getting married?
Yes! Jen & Neil this weekend, in fact. It will be great to shoot their wedding, I love that we know them as well. Can’t wait!

Is tomorrow going to be a good day?
Yes! Absolutely!

The Vancouver Met Gastown turned out to be the worst experience of an otherwise FANTASTIC weekend. More to come on the weekend, but in short here’s the scoop. If you’re skimming this and looking for a place to head with friends, The Met Gastown is NOT IT.

• We decided to partake in The Met Karaoke
• Despite being a totally crappy venue with flooded women’s bathrooms, overpriced beer, and one too many East Van street people, we decided to stay as we’d heard it was well enjoyed by the karaoke crowd
• This was a bad decision
• Early in the night, Darren - my super smart software engineer friend of over 10 years - was accused by some creepy old dude (who’d spent his night staring at the chests of the ladies in our group) of stealing his wallet. He marched over to our table with the bouncer, and Darren was quick to try to diffuse the situation by emptying his pockets and suggesting the bouncer frisk him to alleviate any misunderstanding. Creepy old dude declared that Darren must have already pawned off the wallet, but that he knew it was him. He disappeared, but this would not be the last of him.
• Sure enough, just when we were settling in to enjoy some karaoke, the cops showed up. For Darren. He was drug outside to explain himself.
• The cops - being intelligent beings unlike the bouncers or creepy regulars of this establishment - quickly realized that Darren really had no reason or motivation whatsoever to steal anything from anyone, and let him go.
• By this time the ladies washroom - by the way - was flooded, disgusting, and down to one barely operational stall. Ladies - be warned.
• By this time the good beer was also gone, and we found our table having to buy the crappy beer at the overpriced value, instead.
• Despite being there for karaoke, we quickly discovered that the loud table of scantily clad regulars next to ours had dibs on anything karaoke. Meaning, our requests were “lost”, and they got to go up repeatedly. Despite this, we cheered and sang along, trying to have a good time.
• Good times, it would seem, were not to be had. One of the slutty girls wearing a bra 5 sizes too small decided to take issue with one of the quietest - but totally hot and therefore an apparent threat - girls at our table. She declared that she had insulted her, and immediately brought over the bartender (her friend) to kick us out.
• Oh yes! It was stated that the hot but quiet girl at our table was *causing a scene* and that - despite there being almost 20 of us and having spent literally hundreds of dollars there, tipping very well I might add - our entire table was kicked out.
• One of the nice bouncers - who had been right by our table the entire night - was asked WTF and he had literally no idea why we were being asked to leave, but it was out of his hands. Slutty bartender girl and her slutty under clothed regular friends, it seemed, had the run of the place.

SO - at the end of the day here’s the scoop:

• The Met Vancouver has disgusting bathrooms. If you are a girl, I would really avoid it.
• The Met Karaoke is not first come first served, the regulars have the run of the show - most likely due to giving the bartender head in the flooded bathroom
• Indeed, don’t be fooled by the Met’s Gastown location - you are in East Van, with all the people who go with that statement
• Despite spending hundreds, tipping like mad, and being the best patrons you can be, you may just find yourself kicked out because you were apparently classing up the joint just a little too much.

There are many more things I could say, but these people say it best!

- Kimli agrees The Met Vancouver Sucks in unspeakable ways

- Darren is no longer allowed to choose venues, especially when it comes to Vancouver Karaoke

- Shan is still reeling after her The Met Pub experience

- Amanda, despite this all being a last-night-in-Vancouver night out, will not be forgetting her Met Pub Karaoke experience soon

- Josh, like everyone else, thinks this experience of Vancouver Karaoke is best forgotten

- And finally, Reilly has also decided that the Met Pub Vancouver is one place best left to the east vancouver street people and their underdressed friends

Today is my birthday!

It’s also my very first birthday since joining facebook, and man, that makes for a happy birthday. So much love!

My treat today was a 2 hour massage by a very small and polite thai man. Good times. Well worth it. I heart massages.

Tonight we are heading for dinner with a whole pile of awesome people, then neon bowling. Weu! I so cannot bowl, but it will be fun. Neon bowling and liquor from a 70’s -esque bowling alley rocks my world.

In other news, this week - in addition to being my birthday - is the anniversary of last year’s birthday present: leaving my corporate job for good. The one year mark of true self employment feels amazing. Business is great, I’m slowly figuring out the life/balance part, and I’m much much happier than I have been in years. On the financial side, we will end this year with zero debt and this crazy thing called savings. Good times!

OK, off to eat and bowl. Love you all!

Most interesting commercial shoot this weekend. Way too much fun.

Tomorrow, we shop. Yay for cross border shopping!

My fav MSN today:

A says (8:38 AM):
you are like santa AND the easter bunny AND frosty
A says (8:38 AM):
you are that magical

xoxoxo!

Northern Voice was this past weekend and Reilly and I both spoke at Photocamp. It’s *so hard* to try to figure out what to possibly cover in 15 minutes, but we settled on lighting and split it up into two tidy packages and put together our stuff.

My presentation on natural lighting was fairly universal - anyone with a camera from point and shoot to full dSLR and gear could probably get something out of it. Conveniently, if you weren’t there, the whole thing complete with slides and video and all has been put up on the web and can be watched online.

Reilly’s presentation is also online and focuses on more advanced flash use and is probably more interesting to the serious amateur or for pros who haven’t spent a lot of time focussing on lighting, but totally worth checking out. That’s here.

What I didn’t anticipate - at all - and what I’m still surprised at - has been the absolute flood of people coming up to us, emailing us, facebooking us and seeking us out to thank us for what we shared. More than one person has told us that one or both of our talks were the absolute highlight of the conference for them, and that is pretty darn humbling. I seriously have no idea how we’ll top it next year. I’m just so excited that so many people found value in what we talked about and can walk away and put something we said into immediate use.

On the this-is-my-personal-blog-and-I’ll-talk-about-myself-if-I-wanna side, I LOVE teaching. I love being the subject matter expert in something. I love being the go-to person for people to ask relevant questions to. It’s probably been the one thing I’ve missed most about the corporate job (strictly the Edmonton side, when I managed the people in tech support) the most.

I’ve picked up some of it in other ways - I love mentoring other photographers and small business owners - but I want to do more. It’s not a God complex - well, it probably is - but I just get so much joy out of helping others succeed in whatever they’re doing. This weekend, it was as simple as helping people learn how to take better photos. At the Corporate Job ™ I loved being a decision maker and mentoring others in their career paths - when someone credits you for helping them get the job of their dreams or into management, that’s pretty darn awesome. Lately, a few of the people I’ve encouraged to go into business for themselves (because they are crazy amazing with fab talent and just need self confidence!) have taken the leap, and have told me they would never have done it if I hadn’t inspired them or encouraged them. Wow. What do I even say to that?

That - right there - is the single thing that gives me the most joy out of anything in the world. I am SO PASSIONATE about living your dreams and finding your passion and just getting out there and trying things. Life is too short for anything else.

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing more formal business consulting and mentoring, although I’m not sure what that would look like. I love small business and I know I have so much I can share and help others with. And, on the side of self, I get so much joy out of watching others succeed - I’ll take that drug any day. I’m just still trying to figure out where it all fits. On the life plan, I know exactly what I want to be doing in 5 years (which is related to what I just said… but I’m not ready to share it all yet) - I just haven’t figured out yet how to get from here to there and what’s in between.