82. Be part of a murder mystery game

A couple of my friends get together every year and play out a murder mystery game. Whenever the day is set, I always end up having to miss it for various reasons. But not this year, this year I finally got to take part in the murder mystery...and it was so much fun! I didn't really know what was involved in playing one of the games but it seemed really straight forward and once we got started everyone got in to their character's persona and the game took life. I would definately play again...and it helps to play with the right people too.

41. Be vegetarian for one month

I did it. It took a lot of determination, but I was able to go for an entire month without eating meat, which for me is a very big deal because I love meat. For almost the entire month of October, and the end of September not a single piece of meat entered my body, I am quite proud of myself for accomplishing this on my list, as I have tried to be vegetarian before and failed miserably within one week. My parents refused to help me, so I was forced to make all my food myself and I actually really enjoyed it. There is something relaxing about cooking in a way, and I was able to make some dishes that were delicious. Even things like lasagna, that are traditionally made with meat, I made with peppers and other vegetables instead. Although I had to skip out on the turkey dinner this year for Thanksgiving I didn't really mind, after the first week I didn't even find myself thinking about chicken or beef, and it got easier day by day. Until the last week, that was when I started couting down the days I had left until I could eat meat again, which was a very poor decision on my part.
But I managed to succeed and I am very proud. I might even take a break from meat again it was refreshing to have more vegetables, in a way I felt like I had more energy and I felt as if I was eating healthier.

7. Chop off my hair and donate it to cancer patients

I have always wanted to donate my hair for wigs for cancer patients; I just kept putting it off, telling myself that it wasn’t long enough and wondering what it would look like after it was gone. On September 11, 2010 I finally did it. After telling my hairdresser, Dana, that I wanted to donate my hair, she proceeded in tying it in a ponytail at the bottom of my neck and in one move she cut my hair right above the elastic band. After tying the layers together and making sure it wouldn’t fall apart we measured how much was cut off…13 inches…that is a lot. Once my hair was gone, Dana took control and started styling what was left of it in to something manageable. About an hour later I was walking out of the studio with much shorter hair and my ponytail in a plastic bag ready for donation. The charity I chose to donate to is Locks of Love Canada, they specialize in wigs for children with cancer and they seemed like the perfect choice. After packaging up my hair and mailing it across the country I feel really good about what I did. Knowing that my donation will help a child somewhere makes me feel like I have done my part. I still have yet to get used to my short hair, but I am sure that it will grow back quickly. Until then, I am loving the fact that I can pretty much get up and go without having to worry about my hair.


http://www.locksoflove.org/index.html

6. Get my belly button pierced

Conquering my fear of needles twice in one day may not have been the smartest idea, but I did it, and I must say that I am very proud of myself.
Trisha agreed to go with me for moral support because there was no way I could do this on my own. About an hour after donating blood I was sitting in the waiting area of West Coast Piercing and Ink Den in Guilford patiently waiting my turn to be stabbed with a needle. After signing all the necessary papers and reading the after care procedures it was my turn. I was lead in to the back room where I was sterilized and prepped, my belly button was cleaned with an alcohol solution and I got to pick out the jewel that I wanted to be pierced with. I lay down on the table and felt the cold clamp position and grip tightly where I was going to be pierced, after marking the exact spot with a pen I was told to take a deep breath in and hold it, then slowly release it. While exhaling I felt the slight pinch of the needle, which was left in my stomach while the guiding pin and the jewel were prepared. The needle was removed and was replaced with the guiding pin, followed by the jewel itself. I was told to stay down for a few seconds and then slowly sit up. Feeling okay I stood up and took a look. I was a bit shocked to see my new piercing sparkling at me in the mirror, but I was smiling anyways. While waiting to pay I started feeling light-headed again and had to go and lie back down  in order to prevent myself from fainting. I was given a lollipop and was told to take some deep breaths, which helped me feel better after a couple of minutes. The piercing site is still quite sore, and I have to clean it two to three times a day to make sure it doesn't get infected.
It was a long day, but completely worth it.

There will be a picture posted when the redness has gone down a bit.

8. Donate blood

Even though I am horribly afraid of needles, I wanted to donate blood. There are quite a few people I know who have needed blood in the past and they got it from blood donors, so I thought that I should do my part to help and donate as well.
On August 19th I went with my friend Trisha Caspersen to donate, unfortunately both of us could not get in at the same time so when Trisha goes to donate I will be going with her for moral support.
The donation process began with one of the nurses taking down some of my information, like my name, phone number and address. She then took a small needle and pricked my finger to get some blood, after squeezing the puncture site for a couple seconds she used an eyedropper to collect the blood and drop it in to a chemical solution. The solution is used to make sure that there is enough iron in your blood for you to be able to donate. If the blood drops to the bottom of the container within 15 seconds you are good to go. My blood dropped quite quickly, and I was given a questionnaire to fill out, that had to be done completely in private. After filling out the forms, I was lead into another room, where I was interviewed by a nurse about my previous sexual partners and my blood pressure, pulse and temperature were checked. Since everything was normal I was given the green light to go donate. I was given a big reclining chair to sit in and another nurse came to try and find a vein. After checking both arms, twice, she found a suitable spot on my right arm and began preparing to put the needle in. It didn't actually feel like much, there was a pinch and I felt a slight tingling going up my arm, but it passed quickly and before I knew I the nurse was already collecting my blood in to the vials that she had prepared. About five minutes later, one of the nurses noticed that my blood was pumping quite slowly, so I was given a warming blanket to warm me up, and it worked within seconds. Once I was all done, I was told to stay seated and put pressure on my arm where the needle had been. I was feeling alright, but I was light-headed all of a sudden, one of the nurses came rushing over saying that I had gone quite pale and she asked if I was feeling okay. After explaining I was light-headed, my chair was flipped up, so I was almost upside down, and there were three more nurses scattering around me pressing cold compresses to my wrists, forehead, neck and joints, I was given a juice box a couple minutes after and was told to drink it slowly. Trisha thought the whole thing was absolutely hilarious and was laughing in her chair beside me while I was drinking my juice. Ten minutes later I was ready to go, and I was told to sit in the waiting area and have one more juice box and some cookies before I left.
The experience wasn't completely traumatizing, and now that I have done it I feel that I have done my part in helping someone who needs it. I think I will donate blood again, just maybe not too soon.

26. Bellydance

I have always wanted to try bellydancing because I thought it looked really cool. A friend of mine, Trisha Caspersen, had a video that taught a couple of moves and what was said to be "a very easy beginner's routine". That was not the case. After five minutes I had already broken a sweat and was completely exhausted. I somehow managed to complete the 90 minute video and somewhat mastered the "easy" routine. When I woke up this morning I was sore from head to toe, I could barely even move because some of the moves from the video involved moving in ways I didn't even think were possible. I must admit though, although it was very difficult, bellydancing is a lot of fun. I borrowed the video from Trisha and have promised myself that I will work on the routine once a day until I believe that I have completely mastered it. It is a fantastic workout as well, because you are using muscles that you normally would not use and well as building stamina by working on cardio at the same time. I wanted to take bellydance classes, but I think that the video will do the job for now.

9. Turn my cellphone off for a week

I may have partially cheated with this task, but to me, it still counts as being completed. My family and I were invited to Toronto for my cousin's wedding. It being an east indian wedding we planned to go for 7 days in order to be there for most of the parties and traditions.

Having my cellphone off for a week wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I think that all the wedding preparation and planning and partying may have helped to take my mind off it. It was refreshing not checking my phone every couple of minutes, and constantly texting someone wondering what they were up to. But, it was also strange, a couple of times I caught myself almost going in to my bag, picking up my phone and turning it on...just to see if there were any messages. I managed to control myself and keep my phone off for the full 7 days, until I landed back in Vancouver.

I wouldn't mind turning my phone off again for a short period of time, because it did relieve some stress, but unfortunately I do not think that will happen until my vacation outside of the province, as I am completely addicted to my cellphone.