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I had another doctors appointment on Friday. All my tests came back negative again, and due to how I felt the night before the appointment with definitely no dairy- dairy issues were ruled out as well. The doc seems pretty content to say I have ‘stress-induced IBS’. Bummer.

I might try yoga. Mom seemed to like it. I’m just shy about learning it in a group. I’ll look for beginners classes or something. And probiotics.

To celebrate being able to eat dairy Scott and I stopped for ice cream on the way back from our very unsuccessful shopping trip in the city (couldn’t find anything we were looking for). This ice cream shop always intrigued me, because it’s open very late every day and is always busy, even though it’s winter and it’s in a weird industrial-type location not close to any houses at all, and strangely has Chinese writing on the sign, as well as Italian.

Anyway we went in and saw that they have 218 flavours of ice cream, including very weird ones like balsamic vinegar, garlic, curry, durian, fennel, corn etc. etc. You’re allowed to try them so I tried the ‘pear gorgonzola’ ice cream which was not surprisingly quite strange. It really did taste like cheese. Cold cheese.

They also had many many many normal flavours. Scott settled on mint Oreo, and I got hazelnut fudge.

This isn’t my picture but this is half of the inside of the store.

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SO COLD THIS WEEK.

Not only has Vancouver been having colder than usual weather (-3°C?????!!!), it was -15°C in Calgary on Wednesday. I forgot how going out into super cold air makes you cough. Ha.

I am super spoiled and was lucky enough to have my friend from Dal not only pick me up from the airport, but give me a mini tour of Calgary, stop for hot chocolate, AND pick me up from the school and drive me back to the airport!!!!! So nice! It was awesome to catch up with her, after like three years!

However the interview was not as nice. I was expecting one-on-one traditional style interviews but 30 seconds before I had to go in I found out it was MMI style. I was SO not prepared. There were 4 of us and we had to go to 5 different tables. At each table you got 2 minutes to read over a scenario and some questions, and then 4 minutes to answer. The problem was I thought some of the scenarios were so simple that there is no possible way at all I could talk about it for 4 minutes (ex. You are an imaging technologist at a small clinic with one other technician and a secretary. You notice the secretary has been repeatedly making the same mistake. What do you do? Ummmm…. nicely go over the mistake with the secretary?? WHAT ELSE COULD I SAY?? If I notice a mistake I’m not going to creep around it.)

This made me very nervous and a little rambly and just… unsure. Which is probably the exact opposite of what I should have been. It is REALLY weird talking to someone who is totally unresponsive. I only figured out they were probably told to me like that several hours later.

Anyway after the last table that was it. ‘Interview’ over.

Blargh. It’s really frustrating that I don’t feel like I rocked it. I knew about this style of interview (they use it at Michener) but I just didn’t know this one would be like that and instead of practicing public speaking I focused more on my history, my customer service experience, the course requirements, and challenging situations I have had to deal with.

Who knows, maybe I did ok. The other girls didn’t use up the whole 4 minutes each time either.

My flight back ended up being delayed 2.5 hours. The worst part was that no other flight seemed to have been affected. Even the next WestJet flight ended up leaving 15 minutes before mine. :( So instead of getting home at a reasonable 7:30 I got home at 10:00 and talked with Scott a bit and went straight to bed. I was so tired and had super bleary eyes at work the next day.

Work is challenging again. I’m not doing the old forms I am so used to that I could do in my sleep, and now have to learn 50 million new rules and things. Maybe soon I won’t have to type any more.

Oh and I’m still off dairy. I had some when I was in Calgary and I did feel a little sick that day so I went off it again. It’s just really hard to tell if I feel better without dairy or the same. The differences are so slight and inconsistent I still haven’t been able to reach any conclusions. I made quiche this morning with a store-bought crust (it uses cheapo oils instead of butter), and soy milk. It was good.

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What an excellent weekend.

FRIDAY Rosemarie came over and we played two games of Agricola and made moo shu pork (and tofu), including homemade flour wraps, and dairy free peppermint brownies. We stuffed ourselves and Scott drank homeless man beer, haha.

SATURDAY MEP and Paul picked us up in their fancy town car and we took the ferry across to Langdale and then went for lunch at a restaurant with an amazing ocean view in what I thought was Sechelt but according to Google Maps there are TWO Sechelts in BC and neither of them are even close to the restaurant, yet the restaurant address says Sechelt. WHAT?
Anyway it was on the Sunshine coast and it really was sunny. Not a cloud in the sky the whole day.
We checked out a few beaches and piers and skipped rocks and froze our ears off.
Then we checked out Gibsons’ houseboats and sea otters and soaked in more amazing water + mountain views.

We ferried back and then detoured through We$$$T Van and admired the mansions and the sunset views, then did a super fast hike at dusk down to a lighthouse.
After that we came back in to the city and had dinner at…. SUSHI BANG! The waitress actually teased Scott for ordering something different. Yes, she knows us.

We got dropped off and Scott and I watched a movie.
What a big day!!!

SUNDAY I stayed in bed all morning. Finished up the last of my university paperwork, and painted another Settlers painting (only three more to go!). Now I am editing pictures (panorama time!) and soon I will make some notes for my interview on Wednesday.

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My mind is a bit jumbly so I think I’ll just do point form today.

++++++++++++ I got a raise at work!!!

++++++++++++++++++ I got a uni interview at SAIT in Calgary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— they only gave me a week notice! It’s next Wednesday!
+ I still managed to get cheapish flights
+ my boss didn’t seem to mind giving me the day off

That email had perfect timing. I had come from work all anxious and stressed and feeling like a failure because sometimes I feel like I screw everything up in life and then I saw the ‘Congratulations!’ in my inbox. I’ve been really worried lately that I wasn’t even getting considered anywhere and now I feel a bit more optimistic about that, which is good.

++ playing Settlers with new friends was fun. I hope they invite us over again (HINT HINT haha) and I’ll bring baked goods and we can try the expansion pack.
+ we also bought our 4th Groupon this week for a games store so we can buy our own set for cheap.

++ we finally gave Agricola a try and it’s fun. After playing it three times neither of us have any idea how to actually win (even though I won twice and and tied once). It’s not as complex as we thought though and both of us like it.

—- As I mentioned before I am off dairy this week to see if I am lactose intolerant. This makes me very sad. I thought breakfast was going to be difficult but actually I quite enjoyed my english muffin with hummus, and my egg wraps with salsa and avocado. I just learned this week that you can cook ‘scrambled’ eggs in the microwave in 60 seconds. Yes they are kind of spongy, but if I’m mixing them with something else it’s ok.

Dessert is difficult though! Rosemarie is coming over tomorrow and I am in charge of dessert. Brownies (cocoa, egg, oil, water etc.) seems like it could work, but I may have to make them from scratch. And other than that I’ve got no ideas except jello. Doesn’t help that I don’t like coconut or cooked fruit.

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Same old story, the longer I don’t blog the more of an effort it seems like it will be and the more I put it off, proliferating the cycle.

Been busy. Did more overtime last weekend, went to a Chinese New Year parade, a mega shop at Metrotown, hockey game, doctors appointments, visitors, free concerts, and soon Granville Island and playing Settlers with new friends.

Work has been profitable lately. Lots of overtime and I’m getting faster every month so my bonus goes up every time. I guess I will just stay there. I’ve been there for 5 months now and I’ve heard whispers about a 6 month raise.

The Chinese New Year parade was pretty cool. But it was raining and cold and people kept poking us in the eyeballs with umbrellas, so we didn’t stay for the whole thing. Still came home with a pocketful of red envelopes though.

Last Monday we went to a Canucks vs. Sens game with a couple of our friends. We all met up right after work and drank a bit and went to the game. It was a lot of fun, even though the Sens lost. I must have drank a bit too much actually though because I felt really horrible the next day and barely made it to work. Scott’s a real trooper though, he’s been starting work at 6:00 AM this week and still made it.

I really like my new doctor. Yet another reason why I hope I miraculously get into BCIT so I can stay in Vancouver and stay with this lovely doctor. Anyway the news from the last appointment was not so great, he’s narrowed it down to two (crappy) possibilities. I have to go off dairy for a week to see if that helps, starting the day after Valentines I guess. Anyone who knows me know this will be torture for me.

Jarrod and Taylor are staying with us right now. It’s been a mellow visit, which is good. We went to a free outdoor concert last night which was good until our feet turned into muddy icicles. We’re off to Granville Island market in a bit. Yeah I’ve been there twice already, but I like markets!!!