Best/Worst

So today I conquered two of my greatest fears.

Backup..I need to provide a little background info here for you to understand the extent of my accomplishments. I would like to think that I am very rarely unnerved (although I did have a little bit of a meltdown when I had to experience "The Brain Bucket") however, I have two major drawbacks. Drum roll please....

1. I am gutless when it comes to heights. I hate them. I know my place in this world and it is very near to the ground.

2. Needles. Being. Poked. Into. My. Arm.


Which leads me back to why I started writing this in the first place...today I got in a fight with that strange part of my brain that tells me to tremble in the face of fear, and guess what?

I won.

I am starting work very soon at a much-beloved ski resort in the beautiful rocky mountains. And today I had to go to orientation which was slightly boring and repetitive until the ski patrol needed the rest of us to be their guinea pigs for the afternoon. So here's the story. They were have a trial run of emergency evacuation from the ski lift so they lined us up and sent us all up the hill like it was normal. So there we were..dangling much to far from the icy snow for my liking, freezing our noses off in the biting wind, watching the patrolmen as they go down the line, lowering the other employees in front of us to the ground. And then it was our turn and at this point I am shakin' in my boots. Literally. Let me explain what was actually happening. They threw a little rope over the lift line and at on end is a bar with a piece of wood hooked to the bottom which you are supposed to wiggle in between your legs so that you are sitting on it. And then wrap this measly little rope under your arms. So this is all fine and so far I am doing ok..just breathe..it's not that far down I had to remind myself..it's completely safe. Yeah right. Except for the fact that the only thing keeping you from plummeting toward the ground as soon as you jump is the guy sitting on the rope on the ground. Real safe guys.

And then I have to lift myself out of the chair. Possibly falling to my death.

At which point I turned into a total basket case. SO embarrassing. Everyone was already on the ground at this point. Literally my chair was the last one. And I froze. I couldn't do it. And poor Mason who was left up there with me. I'm sure he would have liked nothing more than to push me out of the chair and get out of there himself. But he was so calm and nice and got me to start breathing at least. Ugh. And my boss was at the bottom and half a dozen other important people that work at the resort.

And I had to be the girl who freaked out on the lift. But the point is..I did it. I finally worked up the courage to push myself off the lift. I composed myself and took a leap of faith and lived to tell about it. The worst part is..everyone else lived to tell about it too. And they will be telling about it for the rest of the season. So now instead of being the spunky, smiley, slightly-out-of-control liftee girl, I am going to be known as the girl who flipped out on the emergency e-vac drill. Spectacular.

But that isn't even the end of my day. The next part is much shorter and much less interesting but still a huge thing for me. I donated blood. I sat there while this half-cute(another story entirely) little flobotomist jabbed a huge needle into my "awesome vein". That's what she told me..that I have awesome veins. Not sure how to feel about that. I think it might be slightly amazing. But maybe I just let it go to my head. And I didn't even get nauseous or light-headed or faint-hearted. It was fantastic. And then they gave me juice.

It was one of the best/worst days of my life. I am a superhero.