Tatiana's Wanderings

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 407 to help with the kids, bringing along the rest of the Almond Butter Nature Valley granola cups. I had just enough time to stop in at Tim Horton's briefly to buy a Boston Creme doughnut and take a photo for posting purposes, thanks to the lineup inside! Then I quickly left to catch the 3, which is when I finally texted Harmony. When I got to the building, some guy answered when I buzzed to be let in. Luckily, some lady with a stroller was entering the building, so I quickly explained to her what my deal was. Then I took the stairs since the elevator is pretty small, and knocked on the suite's door while explaining to Harmony what was going on. Beckett was awake and standing with the piano bench for support, and was outside the bathroom door when I finished in there. Yes, he was excited to see Auntie! :D

Ayler was playing the piano (telling me about his piano books and music) and putting up with Beckett banging away at the keys he could reach, while Hiero wanted me to read various MR. MEN books to him and see all his paper planes and swords. Beckett wanted to play catch, but then also throw some things around. At least it wasn't as bad as a couple of months ago! He wanted to turn on the printer and play with it, whereupon Ayler showed me where the power button was - SO HELPFUL! Beckett had found his purple and yellow baby pop-up toy, and wanted me to pop the yellow shell right-side up on it: At least he laughed at that after a while, and tried popping it with his finger! Silly Beckett - you're not strong enough for that to work! He turned it upside-down and had fun sticking his finger into the hole. Then he was upset when I was trying to collect the pop-up toy and a couple other toys: he stretched his arms out towards me! So I put the shell on the table temporarily while I picked him up. YAY!

We had squash, purple noodles, soup, kale, salad, and other things for dinner while discussing Kids Night / my NOT being psychic about their Halloween costumes / math quizzes during dinner / the impending bus strike / Rice Krispies not being real food for a meal / hot chocolate sort of being like dessert / what packaging was / less waste. Beckett pointed at the ceiling lights - oh, he'll love Christmastime if he likes babbling at those! Harmony said that Jon was coming home at about 6 so she could go to a school meeting. My nephews were singing "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear" at dinner. Oh boy. Then they were asking me what a ding-dong was because an adult asked them if another kid was one for spilling his milk. Yikes.

Later, Beckett ACTUALLY WALKED TEN LITTLE STEPS ALL BY HIMSELF! His motivation was the big bag of toys! I actually saw this, and was surprised as was Harmony. He usually just toddles one or two steps and then falls into her arms. Hiero said, "Text Daddy!" Oh, she did! Later, I told him not to force him to walk - he'll do it at his own speed, and new things can be confusing. WOW, HE CAN ALSO STAND WITHOUT SUPPORT!

Then Beckett was crying and upset and hit his head on the wooden floor when Harmony had to leave (what a delay tactic...), so of course he got comforting (hopefully) cuddles and hugs from me and Harmony! I read to him and tried making him laugh with the orange alphabet and animal sounds board, which at least was a distraction. He liked the shapes and blocks that the older boys used to play with, and showed me how he could put a couple of blocks together and then throw them around. Of course I used his bib to wipe his nose - I'm sure it's had worse on it, so whatever! It's handy! After I left at 7:15 (hearing Beckett babbling to himself in his crib), I wasted time at Save-On because all the exotic pasta was too heavy and somehow didn't photograph well in the brightly-lit store. UGH!

Then the 3 had a few delays, what with the "timing point" for two minutes at 41st and Main, then the bus alarm going off TWICE! (four stops before Marine Drive Station, THEN right before the station at 70th!) Once I finally got to Brighouse, I killed time at Shoppers Drug Mart since the mall was at least warm: NEW President's Choice frozen small sweet green peas / frozen peaches and cream corn, plus NEW on-sale Uncle Ben's Canada wholegrain brown rice! Got home at 9:05 on a 407, and it was definitely time to switch to warm wintry wear like a toque and Grandma's purple lined Alia coat and stash a scarf and mittens in my bag, especially if more walking is on the agenda with this upcoming transit strike...

At home, I had some (After Eight) hot chocolate, which I also need to restock in general. Random stuff from Mom and Dad inside an Indigo, Chapters, and Coles plastic bag: a can of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni, Colgate Cavity Protection toothpaste, and a random pair of thin white socks. I left the socks and plastic bag at the bus stop since I didn't need them. The garbage bags were STILL outside at 10 PM!


From Julie M. and Wish: Spooky grinning skull medieval toilet paper holder for Halloween 2019!




One of my neighbors evidently decided to give up on their garbage bags just outside the front door this afternoon, halfway to the dumpster...




Boston Creme doughnut time at Tim Horton's!




( Shoppers potential purchases! )

9/15/19 is also a palindrome date! I looked up Uncle John's Truth, Trivia, and the Pursuit of Factiness Bathroom Reader (Bathroom Readers Institute) online, and after getting an error message on the Indigo website search, I managed to find it on the site! Then I looked up the Richmond Chapters number, and also managed to put it on hold for me since I was going out to the mall later anyhow - YAY! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 4:10 on a 407 to meet the family for dinner at the Richmond Centre White Spot. In addition to the Bathroom Reader, I also picked up Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Beyond The Bizarre 16th Annual (Ripley's Believe it Or Not) up since it was just $15. Yeah, it made my bag moderately heavier, but I could handle it. Since I was at Shoppers anyway to prove to Highspirits that a LOT of Nature Valley bars here (his favorite!) were CRUNCHY and you needed a bowl to eat them, I bought the three chewy kinds I could find. Bonus: They were ON SALE! Fruit and Nut, Dark Chocolate, and Mixed Berry!

Thank goodness the mall and White Spot had wi-fi since everyone was LATE! Harmony wondered what I was doing with my phone after she got back from buying clothes at The Children's Place, so I assured her that I wasn't saying anything about the kids on Discord, and she thanked me for that. Jon says that Jeremy spends a lot of time on Twitch, and figured I wasn't really a gamer - true, but it passes the time for sure! The boys greeted me with what I took to be HAPPY BIRTHDAY - better than Mom's greeting of "Do you know how to cancel a person who is dead?" Um, what?! Beckett just stared at me until he warmed up in the high chair - looking out the window, clapping, laughing, and slapping the table were all entertainment to him!

Discussed menu options, making my own decisions, Pirate Paks, various milkshakes, Monday / Tuesday plans (sure I'll go help out on my own birthday!), Kwong Chow with Uncle Stanley, Brooke, parking upstairs, texting,


Mom and Dad's birthday gifts: Tostitos Rounds chips, No Name beef cup noodles, a birthday card with a cat coaster which is now between the fridge and my kitchen counter, Colgate 360 toothbrushes, Colgate Winterfresh Cavity Protection toothpaste, Colgate Cool Mint MaxFresh toothpaste, Burt's Bees ginger-lime lip balm, a tiny 30 mL Purell hand sanitizer, Simple Skincare cleansing wipes, and a new White Cross Scrubs pale blue scrub jacket.


Chargrilled Salmon and Seafood trio for my 2019 family birthday dinner: Wild Pacific Sockeye salmon topped with shrimp, scallops, and clams in a creamy rose sauce with arugula and Campari tomatoes. Served over jasmine rice with broccolini.




Captain Morgan spiced pumpkin milkshake for my 2019 family birthday dinner!




( So many past chip and chocolate flavors! )

Today is Hot and Spicy Food Day! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:30 on a 401 to help with the kids. Just before I was going to leave, the handyman came by and agreed with my assessment that the toilet float needed to be replaced, thank goodness! That left me with little time to catch the bus, but I JUST managed to. Then I was STILL left with time to kill at Marine Drive, so I went to T and T to buy NEW Sautao hot and sour soup vermicelli noodles and what turned out to be Choco-Caramel Mentos. I also texted Term (as is now the tradition) to say, "Hey, guess where I am right now!" Then I saw an Engrish sign: LAYS POTATO SHIPS IN KIMCHI FLAVOR?!

Jon texted me when I got to his building at 4:45; no wonder they weren't answering the buzzer because they were at the park across the street! I found them in due time; he decided to see if Beckett liked the baby swings. He was still expressionless after a few minutes of swinging, not sure what to make of it even if he'd had that experience once before a while ago. Later, Jon tickled him and took video of him laughing for Harma. Ayler and Hiero threw sand on the slide and over the railing for the kiddy structure. I swung the baby gently as Jon went over to discipline. Hiero called me by my first name, which Jon scolded him for. Later, Harma met us at the park with a new puzzle from work! Jon told me that they'd had a playdate with Deb, Dylan, Declan, and Elysse recently, and that LA Chicken was good with kimchi. Fried chicken with kimchi - WEIRD FOOD COMBINATION!

At home, Beckett wanted to play "catch" with those hard plastic stacking blocks... ouch! The soft toys they borrowed or bought are much better for that purpose! Ayler showed me his "creative part" for "THE PLANETS" (not Gustav Holst, but his own creation) and some variations he'd made up for a piano piece. Awesome! Hiero just hid Koosh balls in the "Duplo" blocks and made me guess where he'd put them. That kind of went okay, but I still had to watch Beckett, who was doing a lot less throwing than last week! I had lots of kimchi and some ratatouille for dinner, plus another slice of nectarine thanks to Ayler's aversion to mushy things. He didn't care if I ate it! (I asked him first just to be sure)

We discussed Caleb's greenhouse, Parksville, Hi-Chews candy, Uncle Percy's death (why else would Mom be inviting me to his celebration of life this weekend?), what "avid' meant in the context of being an avid reader, what Beckett liked to eat, summer reading (Ayler read a book all by himself with no alternating pages!), origami with the Summer Reading Log, practicing reading and writing, whether they needed me once school starts up again (could be chaotic), and colorful train tracks which apparently aren't appropriate for Beckett yet. He still seemed to like them, though I know that's not really the point. I left before 8 and got home at 9 on a 407, which isn't bad at all. I thought I was going to miss the 8:56 407 like I did last week, but thankfully did not run into any delays, although other people on the elevator could have counted as one. Luckily, they seemed to be efficient, which I value.


From Julie M. and Introvert Spring: I may be quiet, but I have so much on my mind.




Lays potato SHIPS in kimchi flavor! Nice Engrish!




NEW Sautao hot and sour soup vermicelli noodles!




NEW Choco-Caramel Mentos!

I took a shower, did some laundry, and had COFFEE TIME before Eric Ho texted me to cancel the BC Lions-Edmonton Eskimos hangout since he had to to stay at work till 7:30 or so. (he COULD say no, but maybe not!) "Are you coming? Yes or no." "Yeah, I have to stay a bit later, so text you later since I have to take a raincheck on the hangout." Fine, I'll just use my $10 off coupon by myself with no heavy things! I went to London Drugs first at 3:10 to get four DEFINITE big reusable bags (I only had four small ones?!), a dark green MARTEX bath towel, a shopping cart with a cooler bag ($54.99 to $24.99 SALE!), and two more London Naturals foam scour sponges.

Luckily, I was able to sort of tuck the cart under my arm and then waited for the bus home - got there at 4:05 on a 401. Later, I went to Price Smart with my $10 coupon at 5:35 on a 401. I got Halo Top birthday cake ice cream, NEW Sapporo Ichiban Tonkotsu ramen noodles, NEW Maynards Fuzzy Peach popsicles, NEW Maynards Swedish Berry popsicles, NEW Magnum white ice cream bars, NEW Magnum Double Cookies and Cream ice cream bars, NEW Magnum double cherry truffle ice cream bars, NEW Magnum Infinity Chocolate ice cream bars, NEW Magnum double raspberry ice cream bars, NEW Magnum strawberries and cream ice cream bars, BIG on-sale Lysol lemon wipes, Maggi curry noodles, and Olay cooling white strawberry and mint bar soap.


Cloverleaf baby clams!




( Baby clams, cereal, ice cream, and more! )