HAPPY EASTER MONDAY 2020!
I went shopping at 11:10 on a 401 today, getting home at 12:10 on a 407. Got 100 regular garbage bags for $20 (40 for $8.99), on-sale Jergen's Ultra Care Restoring Argan lotion in 100 mL / on-sale Jergens Original Cherry Almond lotion in 600 mL since I'm running out, store brand lemon dish detergent, on-sale Lindt mini Gold Bunny with mini Easter eggs, on-sale Russell Stover milk chocolate Iddy Biddy Bunnies (50!), on-sale Russell Stover coconut cream / marshmallow and caramel / strawberry cream / caramel / marshmallow Easter eggs, on-sale Russell Stover marshmallow and peanut butter Easter bunnies x2, on-sale Reese Easter eggs stuffed with Reese's Pieces, an on-sale Waterbridge Spring Masterpiece box of Swiss and Belgian chocolates, on-sale Febreze Fabric Refresher, a $5 box of Girl Guides chocolate and vanilla cookies, Gillette bar mop towels x8, a yellow LifeCandy shower pouf, and Heinz white vinegar 1L x3.
It was the first time that I had to board on the back of the bus with my Asian old lady shopping cart because the front area is blocked off with a rope - easy BEFORE the shopping cart, but not so much afterwards! At least I was able to get on and off the bus home - a poor lady in an electric scooter had to find another way to get home! I still think the bus driver was bitchy because I have mobility issues, and I should have noted down her bus number so I could report her later! UGH!
Hungry-Man turkey microwaveable meal, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn on the cob, and an apple cranberry dessert for my Easter Monday 2020 dinner!

( Lotion, Easter chocolate, and more! )
From Julie: Winnie the Pooh is checking on his summer body progress in a mirror. Haha, yep, still fat as shit.

Breakfast: Nissin black garlic oil noodles!

I went shopping at 11:10 on a 401 today, getting home at 12:10 on a 407. Got 100 regular garbage bags for $20 (40 for $8.99), on-sale Jergen's Ultra Care Restoring Argan lotion in 100 mL / on-sale Jergens Original Cherry Almond lotion in 600 mL since I'm running out, store brand lemon dish detergent, on-sale Lindt mini Gold Bunny with mini Easter eggs, on-sale Russell Stover milk chocolate Iddy Biddy Bunnies (50!), on-sale Russell Stover coconut cream / marshmallow and caramel / strawberry cream / caramel / marshmallow Easter eggs, on-sale Russell Stover marshmallow and peanut butter Easter bunnies x2, on-sale Reese Easter eggs stuffed with Reese's Pieces, an on-sale Waterbridge Spring Masterpiece box of Swiss and Belgian chocolates, on-sale Febreze Fabric Refresher, a $5 box of Girl Guides chocolate and vanilla cookies, Gillette bar mop towels x8, a yellow LifeCandy shower pouf, and Heinz white vinegar 1L x3.
It was the first time that I had to board on the back of the bus with my Asian old lady shopping cart because the front area is blocked off with a rope - easy BEFORE the shopping cart, but not so much afterwards! At least I was able to get on and off the bus home - a poor lady in an electric scooter had to find another way to get home! I still think the bus driver was bitchy because I have mobility issues, and I should have noted down her bus number so I could report her later! UGH!
Hungry-Man turkey microwaveable meal, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn on the cob, and an apple cranberry dessert for my Easter Monday 2020 dinner!

( Lotion, Easter chocolate, and more! )
From Julie: Winnie the Pooh is checking on his summer body progress in a mirror. Haha, yep, still fat as shit.

Breakfast: Nissin black garlic oil noodles!

48 Z-Grip Pens (December 18, 2019) from Staples while I was out anyway / a backup K120 USB keyboard, a backup Certified Data Deluxe Optical mouse, 2000 Flushes with Chlorine, Paul Newman's Alfredo sauce for next year, London Naturals unscented dish soap, Vim bathroom cleaner from London Drugs / half-price JOY dumplings x4 (Pork and Tri-Treasure, Lamb and Onion, Pork and Vegetable, Pork and Chives), Earth's Own almond milk, another Hungry-Man Queso XL bowl, and $9 Saniderm hand sanitizer x4 (the limit) from Price Smart equals another productive shopping trip! I should have gone to the pharmacy next door YESTERDAY since it looks like they're closed for ALL the Easter long weekend! Some dude wondered if the entire building was closed - looked like it to him when he peered in. Oh well... I left at 1 on a 401, and returned at 2:50 on a 407.
This bus seat right behind the bus driver is Out of Service because of the coronavirus pandemic! I was standing on the bus (technically not allowed now) and it was moving, so this is as good a photo as I was going to get.

MY DARK VANESSA is a book title, haha!

Certified Data M40 Deluxe Optical mouse as a backup!

Logitech K120 computer keyboard as a backup!

This bus seat right behind the bus driver is Out of Service because of the coronavirus pandemic! I was standing on the bus (technically not allowed now) and it was moving, so this is as good a photo as I was going to get.

MY DARK VANESSA is a book title, haha!

Certified Data M40 Deluxe Optical mouse as a backup!

Logitech K120 computer keyboard as a backup!

Ayler called at 6:05 to play me a seven-minute MINUET IN G and say he was making apple pie. He also asked what was "that noise" - it's called YOUTHFUL ANTHEM from MOTHER 3!
From Matt: Homestar Runner Wiki has these funny coronavirus-themed logos! Here's a sick Homestar with a thermometer!

I got this buffering black blank Youtube screen a couple of weeks ago!

From Julie: Cece Moore?!

From Matt: Homestar Runner Wiki has these funny coronavirus-themed logos! Here's a sick Homestar with a thermometer!

I got this buffering black blank Youtube screen a couple of weeks ago!

From Julie: Cece Moore?!

The computer screwed up TWICE this morning when the keyboard AND mouse froze, and my phone and lotion crashed to the floor since everything was all mixed up in the wiring! Texted Eric M. and messaged Andrew M. about it - Andrew said he could come over later today if I liked, so I took that opportunity after checking my existing cash reserves and getting the parking pass ready. Then I showered just in case. He says it might be something called "thermal throttling," and Eric got me to download HWMonitor to check temperatures. Then I showered just in case.
Later on, I got de-modded from Shiwa's server because of Vicky and Fairy. Jan thinks I have issues, but they're not really prominent. I'm not the one picking fights with people! FINE THEN, I WILL JUST NOT CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING THEN! I SHOULD BE PARAMOUNT!
Turns out Andrew M. had a family emergency and was up north in Merritt as of 8:45 PM when I wondered what time he'd come by. I don't mind if he comes by tomorrow in the late morning, of course. MUCH BETTER THAN JIMMY FAKING AN EMERGENCY WITH HIS GRANDMA AND BLOCKING ME FOR TWO WEEKS!
Tangled phone cord!

Pedicure, a month later! Still awesome!

From Julie M. and her local news: Zadok Scott?! Is your kid a fantasy character?!

( Bad names! )
Later on, I got de-modded from Shiwa's server because of Vicky and Fairy. Jan thinks I have issues, but they're not really prominent. I'm not the one picking fights with people! FINE THEN, I WILL JUST NOT CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING THEN! I SHOULD BE PARAMOUNT!
Turns out Andrew M. had a family emergency and was up north in Merritt as of 8:45 PM when I wondered what time he'd come by. I don't mind if he comes by tomorrow in the late morning, of course. MUCH BETTER THAN JIMMY FAKING AN EMERGENCY WITH HIS GRANDMA AND BLOCKING ME FOR TWO WEEKS!
Tangled phone cord!

Pedicure, a month later! Still awesome!

From Julie M. and her local news: Zadok Scott?! Is your kid a fantasy character?!

( Bad names! )
I showered and then had to do MORE laundry on the third floor because my grey sweatshirt somehow got damp from laying it on the carpet!
Edit at 12:10 AM - Paulo came over at 11:55, and has already found TWO dead mice on glue traps in the corner! No wonder I smelled something decomposing last week! I also got him to replace my old shower curtain from 2010 or so, since it had mold. We talked about the Canadian coronavirus cases, and there are a lot in Quebec and Ontario! There are definitely ten cases at Richmond Hospital, from what he's been told! Everything has indeed been shut down - not even the families can visit because they'll go outside and pick up germs, which won't be very good for those patients! He recommended I replace my Splashee Softee taupe bath mat since the tread seems to be gone, and I might slip. Probably a good idea for the future! I should have gotten him to check the other corner, but things seem okay right now. I definitely had rubber gloves, Kleenex, plastic bags, and a garbage bag at the ready! When he left just now, I thanked him.
Splash foliage shower curtain!

A full view of a Splash EVA foliage shower curtain!

( FOOD! MUGS! )
Edit at 12:10 AM - Paulo came over at 11:55, and has already found TWO dead mice on glue traps in the corner! No wonder I smelled something decomposing last week! I also got him to replace my old shower curtain from 2010 or so, since it had mold. We talked about the Canadian coronavirus cases, and there are a lot in Quebec and Ontario! There are definitely ten cases at Richmond Hospital, from what he's been told! Everything has indeed been shut down - not even the families can visit because they'll go outside and pick up germs, which won't be very good for those patients! He recommended I replace my Splashee Softee taupe bath mat since the tread seems to be gone, and I might slip. Probably a good idea for the future! I should have gotten him to check the other corner, but things seem okay right now. I definitely had rubber gloves, Kleenex, plastic bags, and a garbage bag at the ready! When he left just now, I thanked him.
Splash foliage shower curtain!

A full view of a Splash EVA foliage shower curtain!

( FOOD! MUGS! )
The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 1
The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 2
I left at 4:30 to meet Paulo and Darryl at the Cascade Room (2616 Main Street, near Main and Broadway-ish, more like Main and 10th) for Paulo's belated birthday hangout at 6. I wanted to be early just in case there were stroller / wheelchair delays or elevator shenanigans - surprisingly for once, there were none of those AND I just managed to get a 3 bus which had ten people total in it, but they couldn't find my reservation when I got there at 5:30! I was seated at a high table pretty quickly, though they said they'd move me to a booth once some people left who had been there at 4. Paulo texted me and Darryl said on Discord that he was getting an Uber. We waited to see if Steve would show up (Estefan is in Whistler at the moment), and I finally messaged him. He replied pretty quickly to say he was having a bad day, so no. I showed them both the phone notification, and they joked about guilting him into it since we HAD to find a place that took reservations JUST FOR HIM! Seriously, dude - we could have stayed with the Brassneck Brewery plan!
We were on our phones a lot, which actually is pretty good for me. Talked about Jimbo's opinion on our Superfriends server and how I know I can't change his mind on it (and wouldn't want to - why bother?), the secret chat, all the drama, Holly's opinion on Jimbo not telling us much about his work, the 12 Kings meetup being last year on March 12 already, Brian being sued by some people, and Holly nuking the original server unexpectedly. I showed them some funny toilet paper-related memes, while we tried various food and drink: gin and tonic, Amber something, mushroom poutine, sausage rolls with barbecue sauce (which I spilled on my DRAGON HOODIE - necessitating MORE LAUNDRY when I got home!), white wine, schnitzel, steak, desserts, and more! The Cascade Room was advertising Jameson ginger and lime Slurpees for St. Patrick's Day 2020. Good luck with that!
Darryl said that his buddies might join us, and wondered if we'd mind. I said no, but deferred to Paulo since it was his belated birthday celebration - HE didn't mind, either. Harmony texted me at 7:15 to say not to worry about coming over next Tuesday as they're limiting everything non-essential including public transit trips. They've even cancelled their Harrison Hot Springs vacation next week for Spring Break, which makes sense! If I were a different kind of person, I'd ask if they don't trust me! This is best for everyone's health and safety, though.
Eric M. also texted me: "FYI, VCEFC has been cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns" - that's what I thought would happen when I heard the daily BC health guidelines the other day. MORE FREE TIME FOR HIM! We left the Cascade Room at 8 and walked a block or so to the Colony Bar across the street from Save-On Foods. I'd have gone in earlier to see if they had hand sanitizer, but they probably don't. I told them that my brother lives around there, but that it was probably bedtime for the kids. They joked about invading their place anyway even if the nephews were there, but I knew it was a drunken joke and didn't take it seriously. Paulo offered Darryl a hit of his vape since he'd tried smoking, but he declined due to the pandemic - smart!
We were at the Colony Bar for about 70 minutes or so, with Darryl unexpectedly buying us a round because it was Paulo's birthday. I got a Parallel 49 Jerk Face 9000 beer - I had to order it because of the name! No, I wasn't surprised that Paulo barely touched his beer - they'd already had a lot at the Cascade Room. We discussed alcohol tolerance, Paulo totally forgetting about work once on HOLIDAY PAY, the coronavirus, and whether Darryl's buddies would actually show up. I gave up on them at 9, about five minutes before they DID come in. The guy put his hand out to shake hands - what?! I instinctively shook hands, and then went to wash my hands immediately afterwards since I had to pee anyway. My hand sanitizer was way down in the bottom of my Doge bag, then I had to look for my phone when I got back to the table, which was also in my Doge bag! Habit to look in my coat pocket... not sure what I'll do once it's summer!
Paulo declared that he would call an Uber since he said it was too cold to wait around for the bus for too long. I decided to just wait for the bus since it was more wallet-friendly. The East Indian 3 driver waited THREE TIMES for no reason, holding everybody up on his bus! What schedule is there to make up at 9:30 PM?! You have your breaks now, so that's not a good reason! Of course that made me late for the Brighouse train - it was pretty chilly outside, so I took the opportunity to send Mike a picture of my current footwear at Marine Drive station after fighting with the wifi.
Mike said something about "where's the glim-glam?" so I texted that 1 degree was too cold for bare feet and toeless sandals! (I waited till I was up on the platform since I heard the YVR train announcement from the statue) The train was sparsely populated, too - I got my own little row of accessible seats since an Asian lady moved far away from me instead once I said I needed her seat. I got home at 10:35, thanks to that stupid 3 bus driver - I could have been home half an hour before! Doing laundry seems to have worked for my dragon hoodie, but I can't seem to say the thing for my four towels since I used them to wipe up a flood of water from when I was showering a few days ago. Guess I'll go tomorrow to London Drugs and buy up on-sale zinc citrate, four towels, and maybe a pair of Secret socks!
Knorr Cheesy Spinach Dip for lunch!

( Zinc, bar food, and a special Pi Day 2020 Reddit award! )
The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 2
I left at 4:30 to meet Paulo and Darryl at the Cascade Room (2616 Main Street, near Main and Broadway-ish, more like Main and 10th) for Paulo's belated birthday hangout at 6. I wanted to be early just in case there were stroller / wheelchair delays or elevator shenanigans - surprisingly for once, there were none of those AND I just managed to get a 3 bus which had ten people total in it, but they couldn't find my reservation when I got there at 5:30! I was seated at a high table pretty quickly, though they said they'd move me to a booth once some people left who had been there at 4. Paulo texted me and Darryl said on Discord that he was getting an Uber. We waited to see if Steve would show up (Estefan is in Whistler at the moment), and I finally messaged him. He replied pretty quickly to say he was having a bad day, so no. I showed them both the phone notification, and they joked about guilting him into it since we HAD to find a place that took reservations JUST FOR HIM! Seriously, dude - we could have stayed with the Brassneck Brewery plan!
We were on our phones a lot, which actually is pretty good for me. Talked about Jimbo's opinion on our Superfriends server and how I know I can't change his mind on it (and wouldn't want to - why bother?), the secret chat, all the drama, Holly's opinion on Jimbo not telling us much about his work, the 12 Kings meetup being last year on March 12 already, Brian being sued by some people, and Holly nuking the original server unexpectedly. I showed them some funny toilet paper-related memes, while we tried various food and drink: gin and tonic, Amber something, mushroom poutine, sausage rolls with barbecue sauce (which I spilled on my DRAGON HOODIE - necessitating MORE LAUNDRY when I got home!), white wine, schnitzel, steak, desserts, and more! The Cascade Room was advertising Jameson ginger and lime Slurpees for St. Patrick's Day 2020. Good luck with that!
Darryl said that his buddies might join us, and wondered if we'd mind. I said no, but deferred to Paulo since it was his belated birthday celebration - HE didn't mind, either. Harmony texted me at 7:15 to say not to worry about coming over next Tuesday as they're limiting everything non-essential including public transit trips. They've even cancelled their Harrison Hot Springs vacation next week for Spring Break, which makes sense! If I were a different kind of person, I'd ask if they don't trust me! This is best for everyone's health and safety, though.
Eric M. also texted me: "FYI, VCEFC has been cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns" - that's what I thought would happen when I heard the daily BC health guidelines the other day. MORE FREE TIME FOR HIM! We left the Cascade Room at 8 and walked a block or so to the Colony Bar across the street from Save-On Foods. I'd have gone in earlier to see if they had hand sanitizer, but they probably don't. I told them that my brother lives around there, but that it was probably bedtime for the kids. They joked about invading their place anyway even if the nephews were there, but I knew it was a drunken joke and didn't take it seriously. Paulo offered Darryl a hit of his vape since he'd tried smoking, but he declined due to the pandemic - smart!
We were at the Colony Bar for about 70 minutes or so, with Darryl unexpectedly buying us a round because it was Paulo's birthday. I got a Parallel 49 Jerk Face 9000 beer - I had to order it because of the name! No, I wasn't surprised that Paulo barely touched his beer - they'd already had a lot at the Cascade Room. We discussed alcohol tolerance, Paulo totally forgetting about work once on HOLIDAY PAY, the coronavirus, and whether Darryl's buddies would actually show up. I gave up on them at 9, about five minutes before they DID come in. The guy put his hand out to shake hands - what?! I instinctively shook hands, and then went to wash my hands immediately afterwards since I had to pee anyway. My hand sanitizer was way down in the bottom of my Doge bag, then I had to look for my phone when I got back to the table, which was also in my Doge bag! Habit to look in my coat pocket... not sure what I'll do once it's summer!
Paulo declared that he would call an Uber since he said it was too cold to wait around for the bus for too long. I decided to just wait for the bus since it was more wallet-friendly. The East Indian 3 driver waited THREE TIMES for no reason, holding everybody up on his bus! What schedule is there to make up at 9:30 PM?! You have your breaks now, so that's not a good reason! Of course that made me late for the Brighouse train - it was pretty chilly outside, so I took the opportunity to send Mike a picture of my current footwear at Marine Drive station after fighting with the wifi.
Mike said something about "where's the glim-glam?" so I texted that 1 degree was too cold for bare feet and toeless sandals! (I waited till I was up on the platform since I heard the YVR train announcement from the statue) The train was sparsely populated, too - I got my own little row of accessible seats since an Asian lady moved far away from me instead once I said I needed her seat. I got home at 10:35, thanks to that stupid 3 bus driver - I could have been home half an hour before! Doing laundry seems to have worked for my dragon hoodie, but I can't seem to say the thing for my four towels since I used them to wipe up a flood of water from when I was showering a few days ago. Guess I'll go tomorrow to London Drugs and buy up on-sale zinc citrate, four towels, and maybe a pair of Secret socks!
Knorr Cheesy Spinach Dip for lunch!

( Zinc, bar food, and a special Pi Day 2020 Reddit award! )
It's Friday the 13th today! I showered and did laundry this morning, then made reservations at the Cascade Room for tomorrow.
Julie M. was on vacation and saw this map at a Pennsylvania visitor centre: Hop Bottom?! HAHAHA!

The whole world can hear you trying to open this plastic cake box late at night. I can hear this picture!

Julie M. was on vacation and saw this map at a Pennsylvania visitor centre: Hop Bottom?! HAHAHA!

The whole world can hear you trying to open this plastic cake box late at night. I can hear this picture!

Paulo has finally decided on a venue for his belated birthday celebration with the REAL Superfriends on Saturday: Brassneck Brewery at 2148 Main Street, a few blocks down from the nail place. At least it's reasonably transit-accessible! He said last night when I texted him, "it's a while - oh shit, hang on, hahaha," but I don't really do spontaneity a lot, and I know Steve probably doesn't!
This afternoon, I got my first "is this apartment Sport Chek?" phone call in a while. The lady's first clue should have been when I answered, "The fuck?" to her question about shoes that I couldn't understand. Hahaha! Phone is now safely OFF! My phone number is one digit off from the store's number...
The NBA has also just suspended its season due to a player testing positive for the coronavirus, as per TSN...
White Spot's blackened cod with spicy tomato prawn risotto, which I had in 2014!

Knorr Creamy Bacon Carbonara Sidekicks for dinner!

This afternoon, I got my first "is this apartment Sport Chek?" phone call in a while. The lady's first clue should have been when I answered, "The fuck?" to her question about shoes that I couldn't understand. Hahaha! Phone is now safely OFF! My phone number is one digit off from the store's number...
The NBA has also just suspended its season due to a player testing positive for the coronavirus, as per TSN...
White Spot's blackened cod with spicy tomato prawn risotto, which I had in 2014!

Knorr Creamy Bacon Carbonara Sidekicks for dinner!

After COFFEE TIME / SHOWER TIME / CLEANING FRIDGE TIME (yucky sticky prune juice!), I went out at 1:30 on a 401 to finally redeem that Pure Nail Bar gift card from Christmas 2019 for a pedicure before going to help with the kids. I thought I'd be on time, but NO... the 3 bus had to be late, a stroller had no idea what to do on the bus, and then there were traffic delays, causing me to be 10 minutes late! At least they didn't have to call me or anything, and it was just after East 13th! It was pretty relaxing, and I got to choose a nail polish color - Shooting Star silver glitter! They had a fancy nail dryer and a fancy pink toe separator!
After I was done at 3:45, I texted Jon and asked whether he was at the park, then went to Save-On to kill time. I should have gone to the park instead since it took him 20 minutes to get back to me saying they were home now. Fine, sure, I'll walk there - not a big deal, of course. Beckett wanted "Didibug!" which Jon asked about - it made sense, but what was it? Hiero drew me a Bat Signal and a lightning bolt, saying I could keep them in my pocket. I pointed out that it would probably fall out of my pocket, so I'll keep them in my wallet's zippered pouch instead! When I got home, I put the Bat Signal / lightning bolt / Cao Starvingbase Noodle HOO! guy in a Ziploc bag for extra protection.
Ayler was blocking Beckett's access to the piano because Beckett would try to play it, and wanted to know if the real Dean could stay later to play "quiet soccer" while Jon taught his sister Lily. I told Dean that he must be special to Beckett - every time someone comes over, Beckett thinks it's Dean! HAHAHA! "Dean! Dean! Dean!" When Harmony got home, she mentioned she was late because the pipeline protesters had been blocking UBC today - UGH! Then she saw silverfish in the bathroom, in her clothes! YUCK! I told her about the time that I had seen one CRAWLING ON MY COMPUTER DESK in summer 2017 - EW! Beckett wanted to say hi to Kayla, and of course was interested in her guitar and the rest of the students.
Jon gave me a tea rag to wipe Beckett's nose with. He's learned "NO!" and uses it frequently! I watched him knock over Jon's violin while he was teaching Willie, and Jon said "NO, BECKETT." A kid named Ethan came for a piano lesson, and his mom stayed in the room. Beckett was very interested in her phone! Ethan asked what I was doing there, so I said that was a good question - what did HE think? Jon answered when he didn't have a response. I read the rest of the DOG MAN book to Hiero, who then wanted to draw Dog Man while Dean and Ayler transitioned to quieter origami.
We had pozole with hominy / chips / Greek yogurt / choy for dinner, plus an almond croissant. Beckett wanted to climb up on the couch and needed my help to sit / stand on the white chair. He picked up the word "funny" and the corresponding grin expression. "FUNNY! OPEN! Block! Magnet! Frog!" Of course he got upset when Ayler stole his stuff... I told Hiero that he had just touched the nose-wiping cloth with Beckett's germs ALL OVER it, so Hiero went by himself to wash his hands quickly! Beckett also showed me where my own eyes / nose / mouth / ears were, with the correct words. He wanted to show me his orange half-shell, so he said "shell" - pretty good!
I left at 7:45, amazingly in enough time to catch the 7:55 3 bus that went to the station. However, I wouldn't get home in time for the second period, because there was an electric scooter that took a minute or so to adjust herself in the bus. She didn't deserve a guilt trip or anything, so I was outwardly patient. Then on the Canada Line at Aberdeen, there was an obstreperous guy who wouldn't get off the train until threatened with the cops by the female attendants! Everyone was craning their necks to look - some old man asked if I was going to save him. Fuck, no! I'll watch from safety! I FINALLY got home at 9:10 during the second intermission. The Canucks played the Coyotes tonight at 7:30, and lost 4-2 thanks to an empty-net goal from behind the Arizona net ALL the way to the other end of the ice.
Fancy nail dryer at Pure Nail Bar.

Fancy pink toe separators at Pure Nail Bar. Nail polish color from their array is Shooting Star Silver.

Pretty Shooting Star Silver toenails!

Better view of the Shooting Star Silver toenails!

I got this weird time glitch on Shiwa's Discord server last night. March 3 is "today" while March 4 is both "tomorrow" and 'today." Okay, Discord...

From Jon and Harmony for Christmas 2019: Pure Nail Bar pink envelope and pink gift card for a pedicure, which I finally used this afternoon!

Biggerstaff tombstone?!

This is from Red's Discord server. Coronavirus as a metal band T-shirt: CORONAVIRUS 2020 World Tour! China and Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, Middle East, South America. SCYTHES! HAHAHAHA!

From Julie: I'm giving up these little glasses of alcohol for Lent. I will be drinking big glasses of alcohol instead.

After I was done at 3:45, I texted Jon and asked whether he was at the park, then went to Save-On to kill time. I should have gone to the park instead since it took him 20 minutes to get back to me saying they were home now. Fine, sure, I'll walk there - not a big deal, of course. Beckett wanted "Didibug!" which Jon asked about - it made sense, but what was it? Hiero drew me a Bat Signal and a lightning bolt, saying I could keep them in my pocket. I pointed out that it would probably fall out of my pocket, so I'll keep them in my wallet's zippered pouch instead! When I got home, I put the Bat Signal / lightning bolt / Cao Starvingbase Noodle HOO! guy in a Ziploc bag for extra protection.
Ayler was blocking Beckett's access to the piano because Beckett would try to play it, and wanted to know if the real Dean could stay later to play "quiet soccer" while Jon taught his sister Lily. I told Dean that he must be special to Beckett - every time someone comes over, Beckett thinks it's Dean! HAHAHA! "Dean! Dean! Dean!" When Harmony got home, she mentioned she was late because the pipeline protesters had been blocking UBC today - UGH! Then she saw silverfish in the bathroom, in her clothes! YUCK! I told her about the time that I had seen one CRAWLING ON MY COMPUTER DESK in summer 2017 - EW! Beckett wanted to say hi to Kayla, and of course was interested in her guitar and the rest of the students.
Jon gave me a tea rag to wipe Beckett's nose with. He's learned "NO!" and uses it frequently! I watched him knock over Jon's violin while he was teaching Willie, and Jon said "NO, BECKETT." A kid named Ethan came for a piano lesson, and his mom stayed in the room. Beckett was very interested in her phone! Ethan asked what I was doing there, so I said that was a good question - what did HE think? Jon answered when he didn't have a response. I read the rest of the DOG MAN book to Hiero, who then wanted to draw Dog Man while Dean and Ayler transitioned to quieter origami.
We had pozole with hominy / chips / Greek yogurt / choy for dinner, plus an almond croissant. Beckett wanted to climb up on the couch and needed my help to sit / stand on the white chair. He picked up the word "funny" and the corresponding grin expression. "FUNNY! OPEN! Block! Magnet! Frog!" Of course he got upset when Ayler stole his stuff... I told Hiero that he had just touched the nose-wiping cloth with Beckett's germs ALL OVER it, so Hiero went by himself to wash his hands quickly! Beckett also showed me where my own eyes / nose / mouth / ears were, with the correct words. He wanted to show me his orange half-shell, so he said "shell" - pretty good!
I left at 7:45, amazingly in enough time to catch the 7:55 3 bus that went to the station. However, I wouldn't get home in time for the second period, because there was an electric scooter that took a minute or so to adjust herself in the bus. She didn't deserve a guilt trip or anything, so I was outwardly patient. Then on the Canada Line at Aberdeen, there was an obstreperous guy who wouldn't get off the train until threatened with the cops by the female attendants! Everyone was craning their necks to look - some old man asked if I was going to save him. Fuck, no! I'll watch from safety! I FINALLY got home at 9:10 during the second intermission. The Canucks played the Coyotes tonight at 7:30, and lost 4-2 thanks to an empty-net goal from behind the Arizona net ALL the way to the other end of the ice.
Fancy nail dryer at Pure Nail Bar.

Fancy pink toe separators at Pure Nail Bar. Nail polish color from their array is Shooting Star Silver.

Pretty Shooting Star Silver toenails!

Better view of the Shooting Star Silver toenails!

I got this weird time glitch on Shiwa's Discord server last night. March 3 is "today" while March 4 is both "tomorrow" and 'today." Okay, Discord...

From Jon and Harmony for Christmas 2019: Pure Nail Bar pink envelope and pink gift card for a pedicure, which I finally used this afternoon!

Biggerstaff tombstone?!

This is from Red's Discord server. Coronavirus as a metal band T-shirt: CORONAVIRUS 2020 World Tour! China and Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, Middle East, South America. SCYTHES! HAHAHAHA!

From Julie: I'm giving up these little glasses of alcohol for Lent. I will be drinking big glasses of alcohol instead.

My computer gave me a heart attack this morning when both the keyboard and mouse weren't responsive. I had to restart the thing! THEN it happened again this evening, of course right when I had stuff going in Notepad! I figure that Eric has to come over here and update the computer drivers, so texted him about it. It is difficult to diagnose a problem over text messages, for sure!
Edit at 10:30 PM - Now I have to do laundry because there was a flood of water all over my bathroom floor after I took a shower! Did I piss off Poisedon, too?! I probably need to get a new shower curtain anyway...
From Julie: Every time I hear a mean joke about being Canadian, I go to the hospital and get my feelings checked for free.

From Julie M. and her local news: Tacy Gash was a burn victim?! That's an unfortunate last name...

Auston Matthews plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs?! BAD SPELLING OF AUSTIN! He is my birthday buddy like Alexander Ovechkin, though!

Edit at 10:30 PM - Now I have to do laundry because there was a flood of water all over my bathroom floor after I took a shower! Did I piss off Poisedon, too?! I probably need to get a new shower curtain anyway...
From Julie: Every time I hear a mean joke about being Canadian, I go to the hospital and get my feelings checked for free.

From Julie M. and her local news: Tacy Gash was a burn victim?! That's an unfortunate last name...

Auston Matthews plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs?! BAD SPELLING OF AUSTIN! He is my birthday buddy like Alexander Ovechkin, though!

Time for one of my occasional image dump posts!
From Youtube: Gloria and David Marmolejo?! Reminds me of marmots and marmalade!

( Allaina, Kaylee, Naikia, Lorie, the bear minimum, Facebook Jail inmate, Chinese gemstone dragon ring, Nazli Pafvizi, Haeda Mihaltses, Shari Hyman, Erana Stenett, Diahann Billings-Burford, Cherokee and Cheyenne as sisters, Marry Moreira, Evo, Nico, Kathi, Shayne Gallagher, Jaidon Elizabeth, Owyn / Jaxon / Briella Haevyn, and more dragon hoards! )
From Youtube: Gloria and David Marmolejo?! Reminds me of marmots and marmalade!

( Allaina, Kaylee, Naikia, Lorie, the bear minimum, Facebook Jail inmate, Chinese gemstone dragon ring, Nazli Pafvizi, Haeda Mihaltses, Shari Hyman, Erana Stenett, Diahann Billings-Burford, Cherokee and Cheyenne as sisters, Marry Moreira, Evo, Nico, Kathi, Shayne Gallagher, Jaidon Elizabeth, Owyn / Jaxon / Briella Haevyn, and more dragon hoards! )
I had to spend MORE time out and MORE MONEY today at Richmond Centre because of ANOTHER temporary water shutoff. *rolleyes* Good thing I had plenty of cash! I bought a White Spot breakfast quesadilla with chorizo sausage, a White Spot blueberry milkshake that slightly tasted like cough syrup (what are they doing with those machines overnight?!), NEW on-sale OGX Beauty tea tree / mint shampoo and conditioner, on-sale Dove pomegranate shampoo and conditioner from $8.99 to $2.99, NEW Life iron pill supplements, NEW Jamieson Vitamins garlic softgels, and NEW Irish Spring charcoal body wash. Shoppers and London Drugs both worked! Got home at 5:40 on a 407 (was NOT going to call Hester because of the one-word and hangup I received LAST YEAR), and the water was back on, so I could take a shower for tomorrow!
Speeda E. Bump tombstone?!

( Alcohol and milkshakes at 9 AM, Christmas at Shiny Tea, quirkiness )
Speeda E. Bump tombstone?!

( Alcohol and milkshakes at 9 AM, Christmas at Shiny Tea, quirkiness )
After I had COFFEE TIME, Barry picked me up at 12:05 and we went banking and to Price Smart. I got on-sale Samyang fire dumplings x3, Wei Chuan spinach and pork dumplings, on-sale Chef Boyardee Beefaroni / mini pasta shells and meatballs in tomato sauce / spaghetti and meatballs, sashimi and sushi Party Tray C as a treat for saving money consistently (which sounds counterproductive), Indomie - Mi Goreng hot and spicy noodles, Samyang Fire Noodles (Cheese / Hot and Spicy Cheese), on-sale Silk almond milk, on-sale Western Family frozen vegetables, on-sale Olympic Dairy mango yogurt, NEW Edo noodles x2 (Hakata / Sesame Oil), original RO*TEL tomatoes, plus Stouffer's Sauté Sensations Chicken Alfredo. After that, I paid my Shaw and hydro bills online at home.
From Julie: This picture of a ham and cheese sandwich just got stuck to the roof of my mouth.

Sushi and sashimi Party Tray C, 23 pieces! No, I didn't eat it all. I saved half for later!

( 99.9% Antibacterial Hand Wash?! )
From Julie: This picture of a ham and cheese sandwich just got stuck to the roof of my mouth.

Sushi and sashimi Party Tray C, 23 pieces! No, I didn't eat it all. I saved half for later!

( 99.9% Antibacterial Hand Wash?! )
Frances rescheduled on me very early this morning at 7:30 AM for tonight because her car got hit, which is actually fine. I need time for redrum to make its way OUT! I did go out way later at 3:30 to get some on-sale Webber Naturals 5 mg melatonin gummies at London Drugs. $5 off a bottle! Ended up buying NEW Kracks Chips x4 tubes (sour cream and onion / barbecue / original / wasabi), on-sale Webber Naturals 5 mg melatonin gummies, on-sale Dove lavender and rosemary Nourishing Secrets shampoo and conditioner, on-sale Webber Naturals Wild Alaskan and fish oil capsules, Lindt chocolate hazelnut spread in a small 200g jar, and El Sabroso Salsitas chips! Got home at 4:25 on a 407, which meant I used Shaw Open for 20 minutes at the bus stop.
Webber Naturals 5 mg melatonin gummies!

Kracks chips - Canadian! Original, Wasabi, Barbecue, plus Sour Cream and Onion!

( More chips, dragons, and shampoo! )
Webber Naturals 5 mg melatonin gummies!

Kracks chips - Canadian! Original, Wasabi, Barbecue, plus Sour Cream and Onion!

( More chips, dragons, and shampoo! )
I discovered redrum today - UGH! Had to shower!
Julie M. was on vacation and saw this map at a Pennsylvania visitor centre: Starlight?! Makes me think of the Starlight casino around here!

From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Nichalse Laizure?! Apparently, that is how you spell Nicholas... WTF? HORRIBLE SPELLING! It ALMOST reminds me of nachos, Pére Lachaise cemetery, and Azure Road!

From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Titiera Tucker?! BOOBIES AND TIARAS!

Julie M. was on vacation and saw this map at a Pennsylvania visitor centre: Starlight?! Makes me think of the Starlight casino around here!

From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Nichalse Laizure?! Apparently, that is how you spell Nicholas... WTF? HORRIBLE SPELLING! It ALMOST reminds me of nachos, Pére Lachaise cemetery, and Azure Road!

From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Titiera Tucker?! BOOBIES AND TIARAS!

Before COFFEE TIME / BRUSSELS SPROUTS TIME / HOT CHOCOLATE TIME, I called Chrystal at work at 10:10 AM to remind her about tonight. I left at 6:50 on a 414 (which actually had the wheelchair ramp slope in use instead of the steps) to get to London Drugs on time at 7:30 or so. Unfortunately, someone caused a delay for me at Brighouse. Why would you try to start small talk with someone in an elevator who obviously isn't paying any attention to you for a 20-second ride?! No, I'm not going to respond to a guy cyclist's "hi, how are you, hope you're okay, ma'am" in an ENCLOSED SPACE, especially because YOU AND YOUR BIKE FUCKING MADE ME MISS THE FUCKING TRAIN AND WAIT AN ADDITIONAL 11 MINUTES! The elevator wasn't on the first floor either when I needed it to be! I saw the train pulling into the station when I had JUST gotten to the stairs outside!
Don't get me started on the three tall white dudes who evidently had something like "Well then! What the?" to say to me when I was running for the train at Broadway on the way home! THEY WERE OBSTACLES IN MY PATH so of course I had to BARREL into them, and I didn't even have time to turn and yell FUCK OFF! Or the guy IN the train who was blocking my path right when everyone got off and I wanted in. People, have some spatial awareness and consideration! Too bad they didn't think I had coronavirus! At least Mike found my text message rants entertaining!
I FINALLY got to London Drugs at 7:45, where Chrystal was waiting for me and wandering near the back of the store. We quickly decided on our default option of Pho Extreme Xe Lua, since Cactus Club would DEFINITELY be busy on a Friday night even if we'd bothered to reserve beforehand! (they made us wait for 45 minutes at my birthday dinner even WITH one!) We ordered a small #1 (special noodle soup for Chrystal), six signature butter chicken wings for $9.50 to share (although she only ate one - we split the bill anyway), and a large #30 Bo Bun Hue noodle soup for me. We talked about my trip (I showed her some photos), her nephews Benjamin and Ethan, Ayler / Hiero / Beckett / Fraser / Henry, my relief that Mom wasn't coming on that trip, the flight delays, toys, that gas leak on Chinese New Year, her sushi Chinese New Year dinner with family, Hiero's UBC birthday party and presents, Beckett learning new words, Hiero being sick, and work not being fun today. I got home at 9:35 on a 407, which I guess wasn't terrible for leaving the restaurant at 8:50...
From James: Might be the best selfie of the year, and it's only January! Cats and dogs!

I got a blue dragon as my home icon on Google Maps on my phone! I set my "home," tapped on the menu icon, skipped the commute, and tapped on the three dots which appeared so I could change the home pin!

Dinner with Chrystal: Bo Bun Hue soup!

Dinner with Chrystal: Signature butter chicken wings!

Don't get me started on the three tall white dudes who evidently had something like "Well then! What the?" to say to me when I was running for the train at Broadway on the way home! THEY WERE OBSTACLES IN MY PATH so of course I had to BARREL into them, and I didn't even have time to turn and yell FUCK OFF! Or the guy IN the train who was blocking my path right when everyone got off and I wanted in. People, have some spatial awareness and consideration! Too bad they didn't think I had coronavirus! At least Mike found my text message rants entertaining!
I FINALLY got to London Drugs at 7:45, where Chrystal was waiting for me and wandering near the back of the store. We quickly decided on our default option of Pho Extreme Xe Lua, since Cactus Club would DEFINITELY be busy on a Friday night even if we'd bothered to reserve beforehand! (they made us wait for 45 minutes at my birthday dinner even WITH one!) We ordered a small #1 (special noodle soup for Chrystal), six signature butter chicken wings for $9.50 to share (although she only ate one - we split the bill anyway), and a large #30 Bo Bun Hue noodle soup for me. We talked about my trip (I showed her some photos), her nephews Benjamin and Ethan, Ayler / Hiero / Beckett / Fraser / Henry, my relief that Mom wasn't coming on that trip, the flight delays, toys, that gas leak on Chinese New Year, her sushi Chinese New Year dinner with family, Hiero's UBC birthday party and presents, Beckett learning new words, Hiero being sick, and work not being fun today. I got home at 9:35 on a 407, which I guess wasn't terrible for leaving the restaurant at 8:50...
From James: Might be the best selfie of the year, and it's only January! Cats and dogs!

I got a blue dragon as my home icon on Google Maps on my phone! I set my "home," tapped on the menu icon, skipped the commute, and tapped on the three dots which appeared so I could change the home pin!

Dinner with Chrystal: Bo Bun Hue soup!

Dinner with Chrystal: Signature butter chicken wings!

Jon said he'd be home this afternoon since Harmony would be going to a school meeting, but I could still come by if I wanted. The last time I was around when she went to a meeting, Beckett was quite upset! I went anyway, of course. After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:15 on a 407 to help with the kids. Since I'd just missed a 3 at Marine Drive, I went into Tim Horton's to see if they had those new Dream Doughnuts: no Strawberry Confetti, but yes to Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Truffle. They didn't look that great relative to the ads, but nothing ever does!
I had to wait for six rings before Harmony answered the buzzer, but that was fine. A few minutes later, I told Beckett that I would be right with him after I washed my hands... Wet Wipes only do so much against sticky doughnut crumbs! Harmony said "yes, please - thank you!" Hey, I've heard about the coronavirus too, and so has Ayler, apparently. He says he heard on the news today that the BC patient is in Burnaby ("so not here in Vancouver, but close"), while Hiero wondered what we'd do if Beckett died from it. You can get very sick and possibly die, we told them, but Harmony kept it simple and said that she'd keep them safe and we should all wash our hands.
Ayler and Hiero thought it was funny to encourage Beckett to go to the printer, and also to take Beckett's balls away from him, but he got way more upset over this than Harmony leaving for her meeting. ("MINE!" followed by lots of crying) I was there to give him hugs and a small kiss, telling them that it wasn't funny. Jon did come home a little earlier than 6, and took over dinner duties. Beckett called the Pho noodles "noo-noo," and called the treads on Grandma Joan's slipper socks "boh-boh" - very funny! Ayler asked about school, of course, and wanted me to listen to his piano. Beckett said "help" to me a lot (and wanted me to help put on the yellow "sunglasses" that were missing a lens - Hiero said they were pirate sunglasses), said "bye bye" to me a lot (maybe when I was walking to my bag and then to my coat so he could see the fur and buttons - but I didn't leave), and walked over to show Jon various things like his blocks.
Later, Beckett went to the window to see the "boh-boh" outside and point at all the lights. He also used the blue ruler to "hide" and wanted me to do the same with his toy balls - I just pretended to most of the time. Then he said "HIT YOUR BUTT!" in Cantonese - Uncle Joe taught him that one because it's funny to hear a little toddler say so! Hiero made a "lightsaber" out of a plastic sticker sheet, and a "gun" out of the magnetic rods and balls, and wanted me to say "gun" - I don't know about that one. He also 'teleported" into me, which was NOT fun!
Ayler took out his red-and-yellow stuffed dragon toy... he remembered that I'd given it to him! Beckett seemed to like it as per Hiero - he even said a very close approximation of "dragon" and grinned when he showed it to me! I should tell him that Auntie is a dragon, haha! He also said "monkey" for his stacking blocks, "dog" for his dog book, and "apple" for the Creation story with Adam and Eve in the children's Bible stories book. He's LEARNING VOCABULARY plus CONTEXT! I left at 7:40 (not at 7:30, thereby missing my window of time to get the 7:42 Marine Drive Station bus with the heavy bag of stuff from Mom and Dad) after waiting a few minutes for Jon to finish something while it was the bedtime routine, but not before Hiero called me a "blah blah person" - RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL! I got home at 9:10 on a 407, having to finish a text message to Paulo first.
Random stuff from Mom and Dad: A thin brown Mondi sweater with yellow diamonds, a thin brown Mondi sweater VEST with yellow diamonds, a random white undershirt with an actual bra built in it in a clean produce bag, Ragu Tomato and Basil light pasta sauce which expires in October 2021, more Ontrue green tea roasted seaweed x3, and more toiletries inside a Ziploc bag...
Two plastic shower caps, Kandesn Spa shampoo by Sunrider, a white scrunchie only suitable for a toddler, a Paul Mitchell refreshing citrus facial bar, three Q-Tips inside some plastic, a useless LONDON DRUGS blue circle thing, 40 mL of Agraria San Francisco lemon verbena conditioner, blue Chateau de Chine shampoo, 24 mL of Crabtree and Evelyn lavender verbena shampoo, 24 mL of Crabtree and Evelyn lavender verbena conditioner, Princess Cruises Lotus Spa aloe vera moisturizing lip balm x2, a black toothbrush with a toothbrush cover, 22 mL of Ognnx Lacoupe argan oil complex shampoo x3, and 22 mL of Lacoupe argan oil complex conditioner x2.
A silver Gem hand ground nail clipper, another unbranded silver nail clipper with a nail file, Smart Shield serious sun protection aloe vera lip balm, four more Q-Tips and four makeup wipes inside some plastic (do people use Q-Tips to apply makeup?), a white hairbrush / comb in one, a blue microwavable eye mask with instructions inside plastic, a white Dr. Fresh Turbo Power battery-powered toothbrush with a free Duracell battery, and a small Princess Cruises Lotus Spa linen mist bottle.
50 mL of L'Occitane verbena shower gel, a LaRoche Posay Nutritic lip balm (47 mL), 22 mL of Be Better macadamia nut shampoo, three more Q-Tips and three cotton balls inside some plastic, sampler Oral-B floss from the dentist, a tiny yellow tube of Vichy SPF 45 sheer lotion with Bare Skin Feel, 2 grams of Super Dry Superior Dessicant with a warning on it (??), Chinese Glyso-Derm lip balm with Vitamin E, 50 mL of Crabtree and Evelyn iris bath and shower gel, a 5 mL Avène Canada soothing moisture mask in a tiny tube, 22 mL of Nourish Green Tea hydrating conditioner, and a white travel toothbrush inside a green plastic cover.
Hunt's Snack Pack: Banana Cream Pie pudding cups!

NEW from Tim Horton's: Dream Doughnuts! Chocolate Truffle, Strawberry Confetti, and Dulce de Leche!

Tim Horton's Dream Doughnuts: They didn't have Strawberry Confetti, so I ordered Chocolate Truffle and Dulce De Leche instead.

RIP, Don't Argue pizzeria...

Beef stew with carrots and Pho noodles!

Red and yellow dragon stuffed toy! I gave it to Ayler originally because he is also a BABY DRAGON, but now Beckett likes it too. He knows the word "dragon," and grinned when he told me what it was!

Tomato and Basil light Ragu pasta sauce!

I had to wait for six rings before Harmony answered the buzzer, but that was fine. A few minutes later, I told Beckett that I would be right with him after I washed my hands... Wet Wipes only do so much against sticky doughnut crumbs! Harmony said "yes, please - thank you!" Hey, I've heard about the coronavirus too, and so has Ayler, apparently. He says he heard on the news today that the BC patient is in Burnaby ("so not here in Vancouver, but close"), while Hiero wondered what we'd do if Beckett died from it. You can get very sick and possibly die, we told them, but Harmony kept it simple and said that she'd keep them safe and we should all wash our hands.
Ayler and Hiero thought it was funny to encourage Beckett to go to the printer, and also to take Beckett's balls away from him, but he got way more upset over this than Harmony leaving for her meeting. ("MINE!" followed by lots of crying) I was there to give him hugs and a small kiss, telling them that it wasn't funny. Jon did come home a little earlier than 6, and took over dinner duties. Beckett called the Pho noodles "noo-noo," and called the treads on Grandma Joan's slipper socks "boh-boh" - very funny! Ayler asked about school, of course, and wanted me to listen to his piano. Beckett said "help" to me a lot (and wanted me to help put on the yellow "sunglasses" that were missing a lens - Hiero said they were pirate sunglasses), said "bye bye" to me a lot (maybe when I was walking to my bag and then to my coat so he could see the fur and buttons - but I didn't leave), and walked over to show Jon various things like his blocks.
Later, Beckett went to the window to see the "boh-boh" outside and point at all the lights. He also used the blue ruler to "hide" and wanted me to do the same with his toy balls - I just pretended to most of the time. Then he said "HIT YOUR BUTT!" in Cantonese - Uncle Joe taught him that one because it's funny to hear a little toddler say so! Hiero made a "lightsaber" out of a plastic sticker sheet, and a "gun" out of the magnetic rods and balls, and wanted me to say "gun" - I don't know about that one. He also 'teleported" into me, which was NOT fun!
Ayler took out his red-and-yellow stuffed dragon toy... he remembered that I'd given it to him! Beckett seemed to like it as per Hiero - he even said a very close approximation of "dragon" and grinned when he showed it to me! I should tell him that Auntie is a dragon, haha! He also said "monkey" for his stacking blocks, "dog" for his dog book, and "apple" for the Creation story with Adam and Eve in the children's Bible stories book. He's LEARNING VOCABULARY plus CONTEXT! I left at 7:40 (not at 7:30, thereby missing my window of time to get the 7:42 Marine Drive Station bus with the heavy bag of stuff from Mom and Dad) after waiting a few minutes for Jon to finish something while it was the bedtime routine, but not before Hiero called me a "blah blah person" - RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL! I got home at 9:10 on a 407, having to finish a text message to Paulo first.
Random stuff from Mom and Dad: A thin brown Mondi sweater with yellow diamonds, a thin brown Mondi sweater VEST with yellow diamonds, a random white undershirt with an actual bra built in it in a clean produce bag, Ragu Tomato and Basil light pasta sauce which expires in October 2021, more Ontrue green tea roasted seaweed x3, and more toiletries inside a Ziploc bag...
Two plastic shower caps, Kandesn Spa shampoo by Sunrider, a white scrunchie only suitable for a toddler, a Paul Mitchell refreshing citrus facial bar, three Q-Tips inside some plastic, a useless LONDON DRUGS blue circle thing, 40 mL of Agraria San Francisco lemon verbena conditioner, blue Chateau de Chine shampoo, 24 mL of Crabtree and Evelyn lavender verbena shampoo, 24 mL of Crabtree and Evelyn lavender verbena conditioner, Princess Cruises Lotus Spa aloe vera moisturizing lip balm x2, a black toothbrush with a toothbrush cover, 22 mL of Ognnx Lacoupe argan oil complex shampoo x3, and 22 mL of Lacoupe argan oil complex conditioner x2.
A silver Gem hand ground nail clipper, another unbranded silver nail clipper with a nail file, Smart Shield serious sun protection aloe vera lip balm, four more Q-Tips and four makeup wipes inside some plastic (do people use Q-Tips to apply makeup?), a white hairbrush / comb in one, a blue microwavable eye mask with instructions inside plastic, a white Dr. Fresh Turbo Power battery-powered toothbrush with a free Duracell battery, and a small Princess Cruises Lotus Spa linen mist bottle.
50 mL of L'Occitane verbena shower gel, a LaRoche Posay Nutritic lip balm (47 mL), 22 mL of Be Better macadamia nut shampoo, three more Q-Tips and three cotton balls inside some plastic, sampler Oral-B floss from the dentist, a tiny yellow tube of Vichy SPF 45 sheer lotion with Bare Skin Feel, 2 grams of Super Dry Superior Dessicant with a warning on it (??), Chinese Glyso-Derm lip balm with Vitamin E, 50 mL of Crabtree and Evelyn iris bath and shower gel, a 5 mL Avène Canada soothing moisture mask in a tiny tube, 22 mL of Nourish Green Tea hydrating conditioner, and a white travel toothbrush inside a green plastic cover.
Hunt's Snack Pack: Banana Cream Pie pudding cups!

NEW from Tim Horton's: Dream Doughnuts! Chocolate Truffle, Strawberry Confetti, and Dulce de Leche!

Tim Horton's Dream Doughnuts: They didn't have Strawberry Confetti, so I ordered Chocolate Truffle and Dulce De Leche instead.

RIP, Don't Argue pizzeria...

Beef stew with carrots and Pho noodles!

Red and yellow dragon stuffed toy! I gave it to Ayler originally because he is also a BABY DRAGON, but now Beckett likes it too. He knows the word "dragon," and grinned when he told me what it was!

Tomato and Basil light Ragu pasta sauce!

The Canucks played the Blues tonight at 7, and won 3-1 thanks to Thatcher Demko and Bo Horvat's insurance empty-netter with five seconds remaining! Nine wins in a row, the first time since 2009! The first team all season to beat the Blues at home in regulation after they were leading in the first period!
My pasta specialty: Cream of mushroom soup, pink salmon, straw mushrooms, Gomitoni, Foglie D'Autunno, Trofie, and Trecce Dell'Orto! I made this for Mike once with far less exotic pasta (penne and macaroni?) ON MY BIRTHDAY OF ALL DAYS, and he took a few bites and declared it to be unedible. It was really not up to his lofty food standards, when I'd vetted each ingredient beforehand because he's "picky about food with parents." *rolleyes*

From Julie and her local flyers: Missy Molly Mold Spore?! YUCKY BASEMENT? GREAT! Mold Remediation Specialists!

From Volklin in Shiva's Discord server: A basketball player (Lebron James) is carried off the court with a leg cramp. A Dallas hockey player (Rich Peverley) dies on the bench, is revived, and asks to be put back in the game.

My pasta specialty: Cream of mushroom soup, pink salmon, straw mushrooms, Gomitoni, Foglie D'Autunno, Trofie, and Trecce Dell'Orto! I made this for Mike once with far less exotic pasta (penne and macaroni?) ON MY BIRTHDAY OF ALL DAYS, and he took a few bites and declared it to be unedible. It was really not up to his lofty food standards, when I'd vetted each ingredient beforehand because he's "picky about food with parents." *rolleyes*

From Julie and her local flyers: Missy Molly Mold Spore?! YUCKY BASEMENT? GREAT! Mold Remediation Specialists!

From Volklin in Shiva's Discord server: A basketball player (Lebron James) is carried off the court with a leg cramp. A Dallas hockey player (Rich Peverley) dies on the bench, is revived, and asks to be put back in the game.

I finally left that V4F Discord server run by cliquey millennials with double standards for the original members vs. people who joined later, because the "mod" SJ and a person with "just his opinions on your food photos and presentation" (KPOP) HAVE PISSED OFF THE WRONG PERSON! I am the FIRE DRAGON! "Vancouver for friends," my ass! Violet / Faith put me in touch with the server owner - after a brief conversation with Divine Sword, he isn't going to do anything about it because I was snarky as well. Uh yeah, of course I was.
Mom also sent me a WhatsApp message asking whether I said thank you to Eric for his Sunday ride. First of all, he was going to UBC anyway for hockey! Secondly, what's the more reasonable assumption: I did, or I didn't?! I don't need to be treated like a child! Fuck this shit. That's why I ignore her. She also asked whether I said thank you to Harmony's parents - I ignored that, too.
After I had COFFEE TIME, Barry picked me up at 12:35 and we went banking and to Price Smart. I got NEW on-sale Wei Chuan dumplings (Pork / Green Onion, Pork / Leek / Shrimp, Beef / Green Onion), NEW Edo spicy noodles, bananas, Joyya unfiltered chocolate milk, on-sale Western Family spiced apple cider, on-sale Western Family juices (pineapple / regular apple / pure apple / mango / grape / mixed berry / orange), and NEW Japanese matcha green tea Kit-Kats. I also got Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreos for National Pie Day and National Peanut Butter Day today, Sour Cream and Onion Goldfish crackers, NEW Nando's Peri-Peri sauce, Mentos Fresh Mint / Cherry Mint / Spearmint gum x3, on-sale Earth's Own almond milk, on-sale Lysol 110-pack wipes x2, on-sale Cottonelle toilet paper x2 (almost half-price), Stouffer's Sauté Sensations meals x4, on-sale sushi roll D ($2 off because it expires tomorrow), on-sale shredded Soo Keta wild Pacific salmon, and Shirakiku prepared hot shredded squid. Later, I paid my Shaw bill online at home. I had to use my NG lungpower 12 times today on millennial phone zombies, oblivious Asians, and people with no spatial awareness who blocked my way in aisles or otherwise - they weren't even looking around / for things! I just said "EXCUSE ME!" since I had no patience for anything else! Saw Chris Noble at the store, who seems more out of it than he did 20 years ago, but at least I said HEY to Ray.
Spicy Samyang fire dumplings!

( Wei Chuan dumplings, Nando sauces, Edo noodles, matcha Kit-Kats, and Western Family juices! )
Mom also sent me a WhatsApp message asking whether I said thank you to Eric for his Sunday ride. First of all, he was going to UBC anyway for hockey! Secondly, what's the more reasonable assumption: I did, or I didn't?! I don't need to be treated like a child! Fuck this shit. That's why I ignore her. She also asked whether I said thank you to Harmony's parents - I ignored that, too.
After I had COFFEE TIME, Barry picked me up at 12:35 and we went banking and to Price Smart. I got NEW on-sale Wei Chuan dumplings (Pork / Green Onion, Pork / Leek / Shrimp, Beef / Green Onion), NEW Edo spicy noodles, bananas, Joyya unfiltered chocolate milk, on-sale Western Family spiced apple cider, on-sale Western Family juices (pineapple / regular apple / pure apple / mango / grape / mixed berry / orange), and NEW Japanese matcha green tea Kit-Kats. I also got Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Oreos for National Pie Day and National Peanut Butter Day today, Sour Cream and Onion Goldfish crackers, NEW Nando's Peri-Peri sauce, Mentos Fresh Mint / Cherry Mint / Spearmint gum x3, on-sale Earth's Own almond milk, on-sale Lysol 110-pack wipes x2, on-sale Cottonelle toilet paper x2 (almost half-price), Stouffer's Sauté Sensations meals x4, on-sale sushi roll D ($2 off because it expires tomorrow), on-sale shredded Soo Keta wild Pacific salmon, and Shirakiku prepared hot shredded squid. Later, I paid my Shaw bill online at home. I had to use my NG lungpower 12 times today on millennial phone zombies, oblivious Asians, and people with no spatial awareness who blocked my way in aisles or otherwise - they weren't even looking around / for things! I just said "EXCUSE ME!" since I had no patience for anything else! Saw Chris Noble at the store, who seems more out of it than he did 20 years ago, but at least I said HEY to Ray.
Spicy Samyang fire dumplings!

( Wei Chuan dumplings, Nando sauces, Edo noodles, matcha Kit-Kats, and Western Family juices! )
I discovered that Andre had unfriended / blocked me on Facebook - WHAT THE HECK?! Eric picked me up at 8:50 AM so I could use church as a vehicle to get to the Osborne Gym at UBC for Hiero's 6th birthday party. It helps that his hockey is all the way out at UBC, too... and it turned out that his hockey building is practically right next to the Robert Osborne building! He said that the LUFIA music sounded like something crazy was going on at my place - HAHAHA! I packed the Creature Chumpers toy (but forgot the birthday card), a bottled water, my Doge bag, and the other Starbucks Cold Brew before putting my boots on just in case of slush. Made my bag heavier, but it was okay. Eric and I listened to the radio for a bit until some guy came on who just monologues at you all the time - not his thing, and not mine either!
When we got to church, there was still plenty of parking across the street. As I thought, the car door went CLONK into a slush accumulation. Luckily, Eric could pull forward a bit so I could go into the nearby parking lot and then cross the street after getting on the clear sidewalk. I waited around outside the sanctuary, saying hey to Joe. When we were allowed to go inside, I said hi to Geoffrey and Sheena, and was respectful of the service. Hiero was there with Jon (who was preaching today), so I asked him if he wanted his birthday gift now or later... of course he chose now, before the Children's Sunday School.
I realized I'd forgotten the birthday card, but I can always give it to him later. He seemed out of it for some reason, but I wouldn't find out why till much later. Then he was trying to get Jon's attention, but he was busy talking to Pastor Dan. When I got back from the handicapped restroom (seeing empty water jugs inside and hoping a grandma didn't have to use it), Hiero had gotten Jon's attention, who told him to say thank you. I said that he already had (when I prompted him), so of course he didn't have to say it again! I did see Uncle Eric and Auntie Brenda at different times, and an uncle said hi to me as well.
Jon had an engaging sermon on Mark and seeds, at least. Even Julie S. agreed with me later on! I said hi to Sam, Auntie Cathy, Auntie Catherine (hug), Auntie Esther (hug), Cordia's mom, Helen C., Joe T., Ivan, Lesley, Dylan / Deb / Declan / Elysse (who thinks it's crazy that Hiero will be her age by next week AND who was eating sugar cubes), Cordia / Amasiah / Julie S. / Denise (who sent a photo of me to Steph) / Julie M., Auntie Susan x2 (Karen Grace's mom and Vivian's mom), Darren L., Martin T., Acer, and others. I could hear Acer swearing in the fellowship hall while talking about DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, but whatever.
Soon enough, it was just a little group of me, Eric, Cordia, Amasiah, their friend Jeremy, and Acer since everyone else was staying for the Larry and Bella Mori missionary lunch before Missions Fest later in the month. Once we were shushed by Auntie Ada (Benedict's mom) since the Cantonese service was going on, we moved to the stairs, where I noticed a few minutes later that we were blocking the way, so we stood around a little outside the sanctuary in the "hall" until the bench cleared up. We still had to watch our volume, though!
Jeremy insisted he wasn't a weeb just because he went to Japan with some guys - including Acer's cousin - and had to translate for the group, Cordia said she's accepted who she is, and said that Amasiah was morbid like me - SWEET! We talked about the Japan trip, Japanese people KNOWING when you're "foreign" to them even if you're Asian and fluent in the language, Sharon's health woes in the Osoyoos (being literally stuck at home), 80 cents for a medium bottle of milk tea in Japan, the Mori kids Timothy and Tiffany, Molly, people following others on Instagram, pressuring Amasiah to buy some Pokemon figurine on Amazon since she didn't in Hong Kong, my trip, the snow and slush, anime / manga, otaku people, Discord, and lunch plans. Eric and I went upstairs to see if we could get some extra $2 sandwiches (Benedict had five pink tickets from his mom!), but he decided not to bother or distract anyone in the rooms, which I noticed are now labelled. They even upgraded the water cooler from a huge jug to a black self-cleaning one!
A few minutes later at 1:25, Eric asked if I was cool with going to Broadway / Cambie instead. Sure, why not? We could get fast food burgers, so we went to A and W where he kindly paid for my Mama Burger and we shared his fries before going to Pacific Spirit Park and a parking garage on UBC campus. He pressed the crosswalk button for me in the rainy weather, and showed me which building to go into. I went into the Robert Osborne building, connected to the Wi-Fi, and looked for a specific gym on the Evite to no avail, so I had to text Harmony about it. "No, gym" is not really a great answer to "should I meet you on the second floor?" when there are at least three gyms and lots of lockers in the entire place... as I told Steph, I wonder how many "where is this place specifically?" calls and texts they got before the birthday party.
Jon and Harmony were actually early with the kids, probably because they had to sign a waiver and were nominally hosting 15 kids and their parents. I showed Beckett the balls that he had dropped in my bag, but he seemed too out of it even for just waking up. He did look at them with widened eyes, but said nothing. After I met Hiero's friends Emmett and Huxley (what a name!), I heard that Hiero had puked on the gymnastics equipment when Harmony was explaining what had happened in Chinese to her parents! IRRESPONSIBLE AND GROSS! WHY WOULD YOU SUBJECT KIDS TO THAT?! Even Ayler was complaining of feeling sick at the end of everything later! While I was there, Chinese Eric replied to my text about the All-Star Game, saying he'd get back to me later. Why don't you figure it out first, man? I'm not like my ex Mike who wants an almost-instant response! Uncle Joe and Auntie Wing ended up driving me home after the refreshments since Costco closes early on Sundays, so I got home at 6:25. AWESOME!
Random stuff from Mom and Dad, who definitely wanted the tiny tote bag back if Mom dug through my bag for it: Cao Is Starvingbase Chongqing instant noodles, Paldo Jjajangmen Chajang instant noodles, Country Life pure soap, a random floral soap circle, Princess Cruises Lotus Spa shower gel x2, a shoe brush, a Bath Aquatics h2O+ bath bar, and Ontrue roasted seaweed x2 in green tea flavor! It's MINE after I put it in my bag - come on now, WAIT FOR ME TO GET BACK FROM THE WASHROOM AND THEN ASK PERMISSION! Even Beckett has more respect than that! When he dropped his balls in my bag, he just stood by the bag and didn't go through it... I'm sure he doesn't have the words to ask about the balls, but that doesn't matter!
The Tiger Tiger Sukiyaki noodles did come with a lot of packets in the bowl with the handy lid, all crammed inside!

( Gummies, water jugs, hot water advisories, and party food! )
When we got to church, there was still plenty of parking across the street. As I thought, the car door went CLONK into a slush accumulation. Luckily, Eric could pull forward a bit so I could go into the nearby parking lot and then cross the street after getting on the clear sidewalk. I waited around outside the sanctuary, saying hey to Joe. When we were allowed to go inside, I said hi to Geoffrey and Sheena, and was respectful of the service. Hiero was there with Jon (who was preaching today), so I asked him if he wanted his birthday gift now or later... of course he chose now, before the Children's Sunday School.
I realized I'd forgotten the birthday card, but I can always give it to him later. He seemed out of it for some reason, but I wouldn't find out why till much later. Then he was trying to get Jon's attention, but he was busy talking to Pastor Dan. When I got back from the handicapped restroom (seeing empty water jugs inside and hoping a grandma didn't have to use it), Hiero had gotten Jon's attention, who told him to say thank you. I said that he already had (when I prompted him), so of course he didn't have to say it again! I did see Uncle Eric and Auntie Brenda at different times, and an uncle said hi to me as well.
Jon had an engaging sermon on Mark and seeds, at least. Even Julie S. agreed with me later on! I said hi to Sam, Auntie Cathy, Auntie Catherine (hug), Auntie Esther (hug), Cordia's mom, Helen C., Joe T., Ivan, Lesley, Dylan / Deb / Declan / Elysse (who thinks it's crazy that Hiero will be her age by next week AND who was eating sugar cubes), Cordia / Amasiah / Julie S. / Denise (who sent a photo of me to Steph) / Julie M., Auntie Susan x2 (Karen Grace's mom and Vivian's mom), Darren L., Martin T., Acer, and others. I could hear Acer swearing in the fellowship hall while talking about DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, but whatever.
Soon enough, it was just a little group of me, Eric, Cordia, Amasiah, their friend Jeremy, and Acer since everyone else was staying for the Larry and Bella Mori missionary lunch before Missions Fest later in the month. Once we were shushed by Auntie Ada (Benedict's mom) since the Cantonese service was going on, we moved to the stairs, where I noticed a few minutes later that we were blocking the way, so we stood around a little outside the sanctuary in the "hall" until the bench cleared up. We still had to watch our volume, though!
Jeremy insisted he wasn't a weeb just because he went to Japan with some guys - including Acer's cousin - and had to translate for the group, Cordia said she's accepted who she is, and said that Amasiah was morbid like me - SWEET! We talked about the Japan trip, Japanese people KNOWING when you're "foreign" to them even if you're Asian and fluent in the language, Sharon's health woes in the Osoyoos (being literally stuck at home), 80 cents for a medium bottle of milk tea in Japan, the Mori kids Timothy and Tiffany, Molly, people following others on Instagram, pressuring Amasiah to buy some Pokemon figurine on Amazon since she didn't in Hong Kong, my trip, the snow and slush, anime / manga, otaku people, Discord, and lunch plans. Eric and I went upstairs to see if we could get some extra $2 sandwiches (Benedict had five pink tickets from his mom!), but he decided not to bother or distract anyone in the rooms, which I noticed are now labelled. They even upgraded the water cooler from a huge jug to a black self-cleaning one!
A few minutes later at 1:25, Eric asked if I was cool with going to Broadway / Cambie instead. Sure, why not? We could get fast food burgers, so we went to A and W where he kindly paid for my Mama Burger and we shared his fries before going to Pacific Spirit Park and a parking garage on UBC campus. He pressed the crosswalk button for me in the rainy weather, and showed me which building to go into. I went into the Robert Osborne building, connected to the Wi-Fi, and looked for a specific gym on the Evite to no avail, so I had to text Harmony about it. "No, gym" is not really a great answer to "should I meet you on the second floor?" when there are at least three gyms and lots of lockers in the entire place... as I told Steph, I wonder how many "where is this place specifically?" calls and texts they got before the birthday party.
Jon and Harmony were actually early with the kids, probably because they had to sign a waiver and were nominally hosting 15 kids and their parents. I showed Beckett the balls that he had dropped in my bag, but he seemed too out of it even for just waking up. He did look at them with widened eyes, but said nothing. After I met Hiero's friends Emmett and Huxley (what a name!), I heard that Hiero had puked on the gymnastics equipment when Harmony was explaining what had happened in Chinese to her parents! IRRESPONSIBLE AND GROSS! WHY WOULD YOU SUBJECT KIDS TO THAT?! Even Ayler was complaining of feeling sick at the end of everything later! While I was there, Chinese Eric replied to my text about the All-Star Game, saying he'd get back to me later. Why don't you figure it out first, man? I'm not like my ex Mike who wants an almost-instant response! Uncle Joe and Auntie Wing ended up driving me home after the refreshments since Costco closes early on Sundays, so I got home at 6:25. AWESOME!
Random stuff from Mom and Dad, who definitely wanted the tiny tote bag back if Mom dug through my bag for it: Cao Is Starvingbase Chongqing instant noodles, Paldo Jjajangmen Chajang instant noodles, Country Life pure soap, a random floral soap circle, Princess Cruises Lotus Spa shower gel x2, a shoe brush, a Bath Aquatics h2O+ bath bar, and Ontrue roasted seaweed x2 in green tea flavor! It's MINE after I put it in my bag - come on now, WAIT FOR ME TO GET BACK FROM THE WASHROOM AND THEN ASK PERMISSION! Even Beckett has more respect than that! When he dropped his balls in my bag, he just stood by the bag and didn't go through it... I'm sure he doesn't have the words to ask about the balls, but that doesn't matter!
The Tiger Tiger Sukiyaki noodles did come with a lot of packets in the bowl with the handy lid, all crammed inside!

( Gummies, water jugs, hot water advisories, and party food! )
COFFEE TIME! I showered and did laundry today, like the red dragon hoodie with white flecks from Steph's laundry detergent OR leaving it in the washing machine for days, AND Jon's socks which Harmony loaned me - the hoodie now looks awesome again, thanks to white vinegar! I called Chrystal at work at 3:15, and 7:30 on the 24th sounds like a great time to catch her up on my trip! The Canucks played the Panthers today at 4, and lost 5-2. Eric can give me a ride to church and UBC on the 19th for Hiero's party, thank goodness! His hockey is at UBC, so I'm glad I remembered that little detail. Rishu also wants to reschedule tomorrow's appointment since she's sick - fine by me, since I don't particularly feel like busing in the potential snow!
I got my first Reddit silver on September 13, 2019 for tagging LittleYeti11's assoholic boyfriend, CrazyPotatotoes! Woo!

My Daffy Duck vest: YES! I AM TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL!

I got my first Reddit silver on September 13, 2019 for tagging LittleYeti11's assoholic boyfriend, CrazyPotatotoes! Woo!

My Daffy Duck vest: YES! I AM TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL!

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, Eric texted me to say that he was heading out from home, so could pick me up around 4. PHEW! At 4:25, he picked me up for the belated family Christmas 2019 dinner with the Fritos Hoops (in my new bag just to show it off) and the American Tourister suitcase and yellow-green Roots knapsack. We didn't talk much on the way there, but that was just fine. At the house, we parked around the corner, and Jeremy was there as well to my surprise. I said hi to everyone and Ayler wanted to test my piano skills. He also wanted to test everyone's math skills at dinner, oh boy! Hiero wanted to show me the PETER PAN library book, telling me who the characters were. I was interested to see if he liked it, anyway. He also cannonballed into his mom - not a good idea!
Beckett just wandered around, thinking that Eric's watch was a ball (not really) and amusing us with his "yeah" answers to questions like "do you want a beer?" He's picked up "please" and some other things while I was gone. Mom insisted on FaceTiming Steph at 8 PM there, and after she didn't want to talk to Ayler (telling him that it was "too noisy"), she did want to see Beckett, who called her "Attie" too. He definitely wanted all the blueberries from the dessert, calling them "boh-boh" (like the pom-pom on the end of my Santa hat), and smiled when Jon got out the Dewdrops bottle for the kids! Later, he wanted me to put some cool sunglasses on him, then plopped down into my lap with what was a very dilapidated 4-page "100 Words" baby book. Turns out Harmony recycled most of the already-broken book when I was gone.
Told Randal about Henry's "Dear Santa, my brother did it" shirt, which he seemed amused by. Ayler wanted to see how much taller I was since he's 4 foot 2, and also used Eric as a piano bench because I'd used the actual bench to sit on at the dinner table. That was pretty funny! Hiero called everyone in the room "Captain America," and Mom almost wore my coat when she left, thinking she'd left hers on the couch - NO! Mom also said she gave Deb a gift for taking me to the airport (why?!) and Dad wondered if I'd said thank you "enough." *rolleyes* She also claims Pastor Dan is leaving VCEFC, but when I checked with Jon later, he was as surprised as I was, and Eric said "that's what your mom says..." He had slept in and missed church this morning, but caught some of the last World Juniors hockey game. I got home at 8:45, which wasn't bad at all. Jon thanked me in advance for coming this week. Interesting, indeed. Harmony said that they'd given me a pink Pure Nail Spa gift card, and to call ahead first. She also said that it looked like I'd had a fun trip - for sure!
Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Two wrapped plastic straws, a broken candy cane inside a Ziploc bag, Carnaby marshmallow Christmas trees x2, Ottogi Jin Ramen Ppushu Ppushu noodle snacks (BBQ x2 and Bulgogi) which expire in three weeks, Maruchan Instant Lunch beef ramen noodles x3, a Reese's Pieces carrot, a pink Smarties bird, my $10 back, and two hats where the brims are too large.
Knorr Three-Cheese Sidekicks!

Hats!

Carnaby marshmallow Christmas trees, a Reese's Pieces carrot, and a pink Smarties bird. QUIRKY COINCIDENCE since it's National Bird Day today, January 5!

Belated family and friends Christmas 2019 dinner: Duck with hair, soupy rice, chili, Chinese mushrooms, and sweet potatoes!

Dessert for our belated Christmas 2019 dinner: Candied citrus peel and homemade panna cotta with blueberries!

Seattle Chocolate truffles in the Woodland Cheer box for Christmas 2019 from white Eric!

Maruchan Instant Lunch beef ramen noodles!

Ottogi Ppushu Ppushu BBQ noodle snacks!

Ottogi Ppushu Ppushu bulgogi noodle snacks!

Beckett just wandered around, thinking that Eric's watch was a ball (not really) and amusing us with his "yeah" answers to questions like "do you want a beer?" He's picked up "please" and some other things while I was gone. Mom insisted on FaceTiming Steph at 8 PM there, and after she didn't want to talk to Ayler (telling him that it was "too noisy"), she did want to see Beckett, who called her "Attie" too. He definitely wanted all the blueberries from the dessert, calling them "boh-boh" (like the pom-pom on the end of my Santa hat), and smiled when Jon got out the Dewdrops bottle for the kids! Later, he wanted me to put some cool sunglasses on him, then plopped down into my lap with what was a very dilapidated 4-page "100 Words" baby book. Turns out Harmony recycled most of the already-broken book when I was gone.
Told Randal about Henry's "Dear Santa, my brother did it" shirt, which he seemed amused by. Ayler wanted to see how much taller I was since he's 4 foot 2, and also used Eric as a piano bench because I'd used the actual bench to sit on at the dinner table. That was pretty funny! Hiero called everyone in the room "Captain America," and Mom almost wore my coat when she left, thinking she'd left hers on the couch - NO! Mom also said she gave Deb a gift for taking me to the airport (why?!) and Dad wondered if I'd said thank you "enough." *rolleyes* She also claims Pastor Dan is leaving VCEFC, but when I checked with Jon later, he was as surprised as I was, and Eric said "that's what your mom says..." He had slept in and missed church this morning, but caught some of the last World Juniors hockey game. I got home at 8:45, which wasn't bad at all. Jon thanked me in advance for coming this week. Interesting, indeed. Harmony said that they'd given me a pink Pure Nail Spa gift card, and to call ahead first. She also said that it looked like I'd had a fun trip - for sure!
Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Two wrapped plastic straws, a broken candy cane inside a Ziploc bag, Carnaby marshmallow Christmas trees x2, Ottogi Jin Ramen Ppushu Ppushu noodle snacks (BBQ x2 and Bulgogi) which expire in three weeks, Maruchan Instant Lunch beef ramen noodles x3, a Reese's Pieces carrot, a pink Smarties bird, my $10 back, and two hats where the brims are too large.
Knorr Three-Cheese Sidekicks!

Hats!

Carnaby marshmallow Christmas trees, a Reese's Pieces carrot, and a pink Smarties bird. QUIRKY COINCIDENCE since it's National Bird Day today, January 5!

Belated family and friends Christmas 2019 dinner: Duck with hair, soupy rice, chili, Chinese mushrooms, and sweet potatoes!

Dessert for our belated Christmas 2019 dinner: Candied citrus peel and homemade panna cotta with blueberries!

Seattle Chocolate truffles in the Woodland Cheer box for Christmas 2019 from white Eric!

Maruchan Instant Lunch beef ramen noodles!

Ottogi Ppushu Ppushu BBQ noodle snacks!

Ottogi Ppushu Ppushu bulgogi noodle snacks!

The Canucks played the Rangers tonight at 7, and won 2-1 for SEVEN WINS IN A ROW for the first time since 2013! Eric M. says he's going to that dinner tomorrow, and I've heard Randal is invited too. Okay, then.
From Not Always Right: A white cat saying, "I am strangely aroused right now."

From Julie: Bob cat. A bob hairstyle and a bobcat.

From Julie: The vet said the anti-scratch cone for the dog would be $50. Tractor Supply had it for $19.95.

From Not Always Right: A white cat saying, "I am strangely aroused right now."

From Julie: Bob cat. A bob hairstyle and a bobcat.

From Julie: The vet said the anti-scratch cone for the dog would be $50. Tractor Supply had it for $19.95.

What I got for Christmas 2019!
Jan. 3rd, 2020 06:05 pm* Lea D. (plop_O) from Reddit: a Christmas card
* Eric M.: Seattle Chocolates truffles in a Woodland Cheer gift box
* Jon and Harmony: Pure Nail Spa gift card and a photo card
* Christy C. (snoopdawg): a Christmas card
* Julie M. (moonshar): a Christmas card
* surprise Toasties Totes slipper socks x2 from Grandma Joan
* surprise $25 Boston Pizza gift card from Ruth
* a trip to Ontario from Steph and Lisa... two weeks!
* A Christmas card and stickers from Janina: Valentine's hearts, cupcakes, birds, flowers, robots, STAR WARS, an anchor, a steering wheel, boats, ships, fruit, ice cream, watermelon, peaches, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, green apples, and ninjas in training! SO SMART! Super job! School matters! You measure up! Looking good! School rules! WOW! So bright - discover! Great work! (pinkfloyd63)
* a Christmas card and stickers from Julie: A question mark, a football, a skull, a Rubik's Cube, dice, UK sneakers, and a shoe on a skateboard! (moonshar)
* Mom and Dad: President's Choice jalapeno cheddar popcorn, a yellow-green Roots knapsack or backpack to "replace" my reusable bags from London Drugs, two Paderno steak knives, small Cuisinart Canada scissors, a 100 Yen coin, grey Touch Gloves mittens, a Gildan black T-shirt with a golden dragon, an Asian notebook, an embossed pink rose journal, two random spiral notepads, and a zippered Doge bag which I switched out with the grey-white bag since Steph probably wouldn't care.
* Eric M.: Seattle Chocolates truffles in a Woodland Cheer gift box
* Jon and Harmony: Pure Nail Spa gift card and a photo card
* Christy C. (snoopdawg): a Christmas card
* Julie M. (moonshar): a Christmas card
* surprise Toasties Totes slipper socks x2 from Grandma Joan
* surprise $25 Boston Pizza gift card from Ruth
* a trip to Ontario from Steph and Lisa... two weeks!
* A Christmas card and stickers from Janina: Valentine's hearts, cupcakes, birds, flowers, robots, STAR WARS, an anchor, a steering wheel, boats, ships, fruit, ice cream, watermelon, peaches, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, green apples, and ninjas in training! SO SMART! Super job! School matters! You measure up! Looking good! School rules! WOW! So bright - discover! Great work! (pinkfloyd63)
* a Christmas card and stickers from Julie: A question mark, a football, a skull, a Rubik's Cube, dice, UK sneakers, and a shoe on a skateboard! (moonshar)
* Mom and Dad: President's Choice jalapeno cheddar popcorn, a yellow-green Roots knapsack or backpack to "replace" my reusable bags from London Drugs, two Paderno steak knives, small Cuisinart Canada scissors, a 100 Yen coin, grey Touch Gloves mittens, a Gildan black T-shirt with a golden dragon, an Asian notebook, an embossed pink rose journal, two random spiral notepads, and a zippered Doge bag which I switched out with the grey-white bag since Steph probably wouldn't care.
After COFFEE TIME, Barry picked me up at 9:40 AM for my 10:15 AM eye clinic appointment. As usual, I waited a while to be seen, and got out at 11:25. They had a black chick doing the eye exams, who admitted she was new AND didn't read my file, AND "had" to dilate my pupils, AND didn't bother sanitizing the surfaces while I was in there! Her excuse was that she did it after each patient. Fuck that shit! YUCK! Why would you not do that in patient view, like Elizabeth does?!
Of course I brought it up to Dr. Wise as soon as I could see her, forgetting to ask about any reading glasses prescriptions. Damn people making me sound like a Karen! My next appointment is in a year since she says my eyes still look very healthy and normal. I got Barry to drop me off at Richmond Centre later since I had to get thank-you cards for Steph (a dog which totally looks like Havarti!) / Ruth / Joan, a froggy Valentine's Day card for Fraser and Henry, on-sale Fritos Hoops for Sunday's dinner, and what I THOUGHT were scratch-and-sniff pizza stickers at Shoppers. They turned out to be kiddy Valentine's Day cards! Fuck that dilation shit, indeed! Got home at 1:05 on a 407 to do some greeting card prep, and found out that the I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER margarine has an expiry date of January 18. I COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT EARLIER! At least I have some time for that, but STILL!
Fritos Hoops!

Gildan bamboo dress socks - long and thick!

From DaveTheUsher's Discord server: English is weird. Horror, horrible, horrific. Terror, terrible, terrific!

Of course I brought it up to Dr. Wise as soon as I could see her, forgetting to ask about any reading glasses prescriptions. Damn people making me sound like a Karen! My next appointment is in a year since she says my eyes still look very healthy and normal. I got Barry to drop me off at Richmond Centre later since I had to get thank-you cards for Steph (a dog which totally looks like Havarti!) / Ruth / Joan, a froggy Valentine's Day card for Fraser and Henry, on-sale Fritos Hoops for Sunday's dinner, and what I THOUGHT were scratch-and-sniff pizza stickers at Shoppers. They turned out to be kiddy Valentine's Day cards! Fuck that dilation shit, indeed! Got home at 1:05 on a 407 to do some greeting card prep, and found out that the I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER margarine has an expiry date of January 18. I COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT EARLIER! At least I have some time for that, but STILL!
Fritos Hoops!

Gildan bamboo dress socks - long and thick!

From DaveTheUsher's Discord server: English is weird. Horror, horrible, horrific. Terror, terrible, terrific!

2019 Yearly Recap!
Dec. 31st, 2019 11:22 pm2019 Yearly Recap!
This is the 2019 recap. Fitting for the last day of the year, no?
JANUARY
* Hung out with Vanessa and baby Cassidy pre-surgery at Lansdowne: Fresh Elements bubble tea, good dumplings at the food court, GOLDEN DRAGON SUSHI, and more! She helped me open the ridiculous eyedrops bottles, too! [Jan. 7]
* Had eye cataract surgery at Mount St. Joseph's - yikes! Luckily, I had love and support from my friends, and my parents DID drive me home! [Jan. 10]
* Had a one-day followup appointment at the eye clinic. Thank goodness that Barry was able to drive me! Things looked healthy! [Jan. 11]
* Crashed at Deb and Dylan's for about a week. Declan and Elysse liked me from the start, and it was pretty interesting and funny. ("I have my dad's old phone, Elysse." "Did he die?!" Haha!) Lots of meals and Swiss Chalet plus lamb and ribs and packed lunches! I appreciated their support, for sure! [Jan. 11-16]
* Had my one-week followup appointment at the eye clinic. My eye still looked healthy and there is no need to rush on any new glasses! I got hit up for cash at Vancouver City Centre, but I said NO. He should have fucked off instead! [Jan. 17]
* Had Hiero's birthday party: glow-in-the-dark bowling at Grandview Lanes! Dylan and Deb kindly gave me a ride back, and Mom did NOT have to insert herself into our post-church plans by thanking them for "looking after" me! [Jan. 20]
FEBRUARY
* Got a chance to three-way call with Kate and Pothead Mike right after the hockey game, which the Canucks won 4-3 in a shootout against the Flames! It was pretty good to hear their voices as we chatted about a bunch of things including Ed Kemper and the RCMP tank in Surrey. [Feb. 9]
( Highlights and lowlights! )
This is the 2019 recap. Fitting for the last day of the year, no?
JANUARY
* Hung out with Vanessa and baby Cassidy pre-surgery at Lansdowne: Fresh Elements bubble tea, good dumplings at the food court, GOLDEN DRAGON SUSHI, and more! She helped me open the ridiculous eyedrops bottles, too! [Jan. 7]
* Had eye cataract surgery at Mount St. Joseph's - yikes! Luckily, I had love and support from my friends, and my parents DID drive me home! [Jan. 10]
* Had a one-day followup appointment at the eye clinic. Thank goodness that Barry was able to drive me! Things looked healthy! [Jan. 11]
* Crashed at Deb and Dylan's for about a week. Declan and Elysse liked me from the start, and it was pretty interesting and funny. ("I have my dad's old phone, Elysse." "Did he die?!" Haha!) Lots of meals and Swiss Chalet plus lamb and ribs and packed lunches! I appreciated their support, for sure! [Jan. 11-16]
* Had my one-week followup appointment at the eye clinic. My eye still looked healthy and there is no need to rush on any new glasses! I got hit up for cash at Vancouver City Centre, but I said NO. He should have fucked off instead! [Jan. 17]
* Had Hiero's birthday party: glow-in-the-dark bowling at Grandview Lanes! Dylan and Deb kindly gave me a ride back, and Mom did NOT have to insert herself into our post-church plans by thanking them for "looking after" me! [Jan. 20]
FEBRUARY
* Got a chance to three-way call with Kate and Pothead Mike right after the hockey game, which the Canucks won 4-3 in a shootout against the Flames! It was pretty good to hear their voices as we chatted about a bunch of things including Ed Kemper and the RCMP tank in Surrey. [Feb. 9]
( Highlights and lowlights! )
I had to go banking by myself today with my Asian old lady shopping cart at 11:20 on a 401 (JUST managed to get it), then went to Staples for 60 Z-Grip Pens (July 10, 2019), and wasted time at Price Smart. Stopped at London Drugs for a new Santa hat / on-sale Smokehouse Blue Diamond almonds for the plane tomorrow / on-sale Connoisseur Waterbridge chocolate brandy beans / on-sale portable Wet Ones wipes in citrus scent x4, and Shoppers for tomorrow's breakfast (a salmon poke bowl) plus on-sale Arm and Hammer Cold Water laundry detergent. Royal Bank has these brand new "envelope-free" deposits, and an alkie guy had to sit RIGHT NEXT TO ME on the bus stop bench while horking and drinking his brand new beer from the liquor store - YUCK!
When I got home, I showered and did laundry before texting Deb a reminder about taking me to the airport tomorrow morning, then setting an alarm for tomorrow just in case. Then I had to figure out how to pay my BC Hydro bill when it hasn't come in the mail yet - UGH! I had to phone a 1-800 number and got it sorted out within 20 minutes, so I could finally pay my Shaw and hydro bills online. Steph reminded me about some other stuff too, which is handy to know. I definitely took out some garbage before I forgot - ew, garbage for two weeks!
Chinese Eric is alive! He apparently had problems with his phone and could only access his voicemail, and also wants to hang out one last time before 2020. This is better than my thinking he's mad at me for the pink Ruby Kit-Kat bar, but I leave tomorrow morning, so that won't be possible! I also suspect he could be making stuff up since it's been more than two months, but whatever!
From Julie M. and Introvert Spring: People say "go big or go home" like going home is a bad thing. Hell yeah, I wanna go home, AND I'm going to take a nap when I get there.

( FUCKING GOOD! )
When I got home, I showered and did laundry before texting Deb a reminder about taking me to the airport tomorrow morning, then setting an alarm for tomorrow just in case. Then I had to figure out how to pay my BC Hydro bill when it hasn't come in the mail yet - UGH! I had to phone a 1-800 number and got it sorted out within 20 minutes, so I could finally pay my Shaw and hydro bills online. Steph reminded me about some other stuff too, which is handy to know. I definitely took out some garbage before I forgot - ew, garbage for two weeks!
Chinese Eric is alive! He apparently had problems with his phone and could only access his voicemail, and also wants to hang out one last time before 2020. This is better than my thinking he's mad at me for the pink Ruby Kit-Kat bar, but I leave tomorrow morning, so that won't be possible! I also suspect he could be making stuff up since it's been more than two months, but whatever!
From Julie M. and Introvert Spring: People say "go big or go home" like going home is a bad thing. Hell yeah, I wanna go home, AND I'm going to take a nap when I get there.

( FUCKING GOOD! )
It's Friday the 13th today!
Mom and Dad wanted to come by today to pick up the "remnants" of the broken Heys suitcase - good thing I found the broken handle INSIDE said luggage before they came by this morning at 10:50 AM, since I thought I'd lost it when it wasn't anywhere on the floor nearby! Dad thought I needed to wash my hair since I wore the old Alaska sweatshirt with dandruff on it - uh, I was chilling at home and didn't need to shower till LATER! Apparently, Mom had to use the bathroom even after going at Dr. Ruby's (and apparently didn't wash her hands at my place - GROSS!) - REALLY?! She also gave me a couple of medium candy canes for the boys in a produce bag (plus chocolate almonds for me in another produce bag), but I was happy to keep them for myself since Harmony didn't want the boys to have too much sugar. Yeah, good luck with that one...
After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME and SHOWER TIME, I went out at 3 on an 401 to help with the kids. Harmony gave me some Children's Hospital Christmas cards with white envelopes, so YAY FOR THAT! I also got a card and stickers from Julie in today's mail, plus a surprising card and stickers from Janina, who deactivated her Facebook profile AGAIN a while ago. That was nice of her, though! Rishu wanted to call me anyway since I "couldn't" make it in to the boonies of Richmond, but was so late about it that I should have just taken a shower at 1 instead of 11:45! Hurry up and wait - UGH!
Got to kill a bit of time at Marine Drive Station, but just spent it online near the statue where I could get a wifi signal from Dublin Crossing pub, and got to Harmony's at about 4:30. She'd warned me about being quiet since Beckett was actually napping, and I said I'd be there soonish. The bus HAD to stop for two minutes at 41st, and then ran into rainy-day traffic crap at 20th or so... I'd rather be safe than in an accident, though! When I got in, the boys were reading a Mercy the Pig book, which I had to finish because Harmony had to tend to Beckett and the lasagna at the same time.
I read a few pages of CHINOOK CHRISTMAS - way too advanced for Ayler! - before I decided just to play with Beckett, who had just come out and was loopy. He gave me a bunch of toy balls and emotion eggs, wouldn't respond "yeah" to my questions for a bit, and just stared at me for a while. Later, he did warm up (I got a hug!) and "read" the 100 Words book, saying something that vaguely sounded like "what's that?" and pointing at a picture. Of course he knew where the balls were, but also called a kid's head a "boh-boh," which Hiero found hilarious! "HAHAHA, he called it a BALL!"
We had the aforementioned lasagna with kale and ricotta, cherry tomatoes, and grapes for dinner. Beckett was only slightly interested in this dinner, but at least did not upend his tray on the table this time. He cried and was upset, only smiling when he saw the Vitamin D bottle. No, of course we wouldn't let him overdose on them. "NA NA NA!" he said about the Rice Krispies - he also seemed to like the Advent Calendar chocolate halves that he was allowed. Beckett said ATTIE to me, so YAY! He liked giving me emotion eggs, rolling some balls, playing with the shells, trying to fit the stacking blocks together ("Na na na!" he'd say when he wanted me to take it out), and finding the balloons on the stacking blocks AND the "Christmas tree ornaments" in the boys' room. Then he was also more receptive to saying "yeah" to my questions and even grabbing some rolled balls himself. At least the baby pop-up toy still made him laugh, so YAY!
When Harmony was out of the room (having told me about location settings on my phone photos for everyone's privacy reasons - which I figured out later at the bus stop), I asked Ayler what he really thought of screen time at school. He smiled and said he liked it because "it's the opposite of what my mom wants." HAHAHA, nice! Hiero said that he knows what the "other" meaning of PEE-PEE is, and was busy giving "presents" to his mom of random toys in egg cartons and boxes. Beckett repeated some words like "wow" and "after" when he heard us say them, with "MOMMY! BECKETT SAID WOW!" as a reaction from Hiero.
Myles dropped by at 8 (when the kids were still up), only to have Ayler accuse him: "Cou-fu is stealing our lasagna!" HAHAHAHA! No, Jon just made a couple of mega-batches! Myles also managed to fix the printer, which Beckett had somehow managed to knock offline. We talked briefly and side-hugged; while Harmony was preoccupied, Ayler said he had a question for me, but I had to come over and look at the computer keyboard. Sure, why not? He just wanted to know about the very top row of Function keys - at least he knows to ask me, because his parents probably won't answer! Beckett said "Cou-fu" and "Attie" for Myles' video, which was cute. Later on at 8:30, Harmony finally let me go - I was surprised when I was home at 9:30! I did say bye to Beckett, giving him a high-five and showing him that big gold "boh-boh" at Richmond Centre. They don't need me on Tuesday because of the kids' Christmas concert, so that's just more time to do some stuff before my trip!
From Julie: When you find some weave on the road, so you make a Snowquesha! HAHAHAHAHA!

From Julie M. and her local news: Noema Alavez Perez is the mother of the missing Dulce Maria Alavez?! Her name is pronounced No-Emma, she's 19, and has a five-year-old and a three-year-old and was going to have another kid soon as of September 2019?! SHE WAS 14 AS A FIRST-TIME MOM?!

Children's Hospital Christmas cards: Let It Snow snowman and a Holiday Greetings reindeer!

( More Christmas cards and stickers! )
Mom and Dad wanted to come by today to pick up the "remnants" of the broken Heys suitcase - good thing I found the broken handle INSIDE said luggage before they came by this morning at 10:50 AM, since I thought I'd lost it when it wasn't anywhere on the floor nearby! Dad thought I needed to wash my hair since I wore the old Alaska sweatshirt with dandruff on it - uh, I was chilling at home and didn't need to shower till LATER! Apparently, Mom had to use the bathroom even after going at Dr. Ruby's (and apparently didn't wash her hands at my place - GROSS!) - REALLY?! She also gave me a couple of medium candy canes for the boys in a produce bag (plus chocolate almonds for me in another produce bag), but I was happy to keep them for myself since Harmony didn't want the boys to have too much sugar. Yeah, good luck with that one...
After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME and SHOWER TIME, I went out at 3 on an 401 to help with the kids. Harmony gave me some Children's Hospital Christmas cards with white envelopes, so YAY FOR THAT! I also got a card and stickers from Julie in today's mail, plus a surprising card and stickers from Janina, who deactivated her Facebook profile AGAIN a while ago. That was nice of her, though! Rishu wanted to call me anyway since I "couldn't" make it in to the boonies of Richmond, but was so late about it that I should have just taken a shower at 1 instead of 11:45! Hurry up and wait - UGH!
Got to kill a bit of time at Marine Drive Station, but just spent it online near the statue where I could get a wifi signal from Dublin Crossing pub, and got to Harmony's at about 4:30. She'd warned me about being quiet since Beckett was actually napping, and I said I'd be there soonish. The bus HAD to stop for two minutes at 41st, and then ran into rainy-day traffic crap at 20th or so... I'd rather be safe than in an accident, though! When I got in, the boys were reading a Mercy the Pig book, which I had to finish because Harmony had to tend to Beckett and the lasagna at the same time.
I read a few pages of CHINOOK CHRISTMAS - way too advanced for Ayler! - before I decided just to play with Beckett, who had just come out and was loopy. He gave me a bunch of toy balls and emotion eggs, wouldn't respond "yeah" to my questions for a bit, and just stared at me for a while. Later, he did warm up (I got a hug!) and "read" the 100 Words book, saying something that vaguely sounded like "what's that?" and pointing at a picture. Of course he knew where the balls were, but also called a kid's head a "boh-boh," which Hiero found hilarious! "HAHAHA, he called it a BALL!"
We had the aforementioned lasagna with kale and ricotta, cherry tomatoes, and grapes for dinner. Beckett was only slightly interested in this dinner, but at least did not upend his tray on the table this time. He cried and was upset, only smiling when he saw the Vitamin D bottle. No, of course we wouldn't let him overdose on them. "NA NA NA!" he said about the Rice Krispies - he also seemed to like the Advent Calendar chocolate halves that he was allowed. Beckett said ATTIE to me, so YAY! He liked giving me emotion eggs, rolling some balls, playing with the shells, trying to fit the stacking blocks together ("Na na na!" he'd say when he wanted me to take it out), and finding the balloons on the stacking blocks AND the "Christmas tree ornaments" in the boys' room. Then he was also more receptive to saying "yeah" to my questions and even grabbing some rolled balls himself. At least the baby pop-up toy still made him laugh, so YAY!
When Harmony was out of the room (having told me about location settings on my phone photos for everyone's privacy reasons - which I figured out later at the bus stop), I asked Ayler what he really thought of screen time at school. He smiled and said he liked it because "it's the opposite of what my mom wants." HAHAHA, nice! Hiero said that he knows what the "other" meaning of PEE-PEE is, and was busy giving "presents" to his mom of random toys in egg cartons and boxes. Beckett repeated some words like "wow" and "after" when he heard us say them, with "MOMMY! BECKETT SAID WOW!" as a reaction from Hiero.
Myles dropped by at 8 (when the kids were still up), only to have Ayler accuse him: "Cou-fu is stealing our lasagna!" HAHAHAHA! No, Jon just made a couple of mega-batches! Myles also managed to fix the printer, which Beckett had somehow managed to knock offline. We talked briefly and side-hugged; while Harmony was preoccupied, Ayler said he had a question for me, but I had to come over and look at the computer keyboard. Sure, why not? He just wanted to know about the very top row of Function keys - at least he knows to ask me, because his parents probably won't answer! Beckett said "Cou-fu" and "Attie" for Myles' video, which was cute. Later on at 8:30, Harmony finally let me go - I was surprised when I was home at 9:30! I did say bye to Beckett, giving him a high-five and showing him that big gold "boh-boh" at Richmond Centre. They don't need me on Tuesday because of the kids' Christmas concert, so that's just more time to do some stuff before my trip!
From Julie: When you find some weave on the road, so you make a Snowquesha! HAHAHAHAHA!

From Julie M. and her local news: Noema Alavez Perez is the mother of the missing Dulce Maria Alavez?! Her name is pronounced No-Emma, she's 19, and has a five-year-old and a three-year-old and was going to have another kid soon as of September 2019?! SHE WAS 14 AS A FIRST-TIME MOM?!

Children's Hospital Christmas cards: Let It Snow snowman and a Holiday Greetings reindeer!

( More Christmas cards and stickers! )
Note to self: It's much easier to find lotion in any amount at London Drugs than Shoppers Drug Mart, for sure!
Decided to go to the Bay at 11:45 (just managing to get the 401) to exchange that purple Wenger suitcase for a darker one; luckily, the older lady wasn't working there to give me more nonsense about how I should only maneuver it forward and not backward! Successfully exchanged the rain-soaked purple suitcase for a a similar charcoal one instead, then decided to get some on-sale $22 Jockey underwear x3 since I'd have to do laundry later anyway before going to the Shoppers to fruitlessly look for lotion, AGAIN! I did get on-sale $2 Palmolive dish soap x2 in Green Apple and Oxy scents, though.
Walked to London Drugs and successfully found lots of 100mL lotion tubes, so I selected a Jergens Ultra Care Restoring Argan Oil before finally getting home at 1:50 on a 407 to do some laundry. Some mother in line sighed resignedly when I politely asked if I could go ahead of her since I only had one item - she showed me her basket and said she only had four items (all toddler stuff), but she GUESSED I could go ahead if I REALLY needed to... YES, I DO! ONE ITEM TAKES PRECEDENCE, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE BUSES TO CATCH! The Canucks played Carolina tonight at 7, and won 1-0 on Petey's goal. PHEW!
Successfully exchanged the purple Wenger suitcase for a charcoal one!

( Underwear and more! )
Matin Durrani and Tushna Commissariat?!

Patrick Sieloff?!

Teuvo Teravainen?! QUIRKY COINCIDENCE SINCE WE PLAY THE HURRICANES TONIGHT!

Decided to go to the Bay at 11:45 (just managing to get the 401) to exchange that purple Wenger suitcase for a darker one; luckily, the older lady wasn't working there to give me more nonsense about how I should only maneuver it forward and not backward! Successfully exchanged the rain-soaked purple suitcase for a a similar charcoal one instead, then decided to get some on-sale $22 Jockey underwear x3 since I'd have to do laundry later anyway before going to the Shoppers to fruitlessly look for lotion, AGAIN! I did get on-sale $2 Palmolive dish soap x2 in Green Apple and Oxy scents, though.
Walked to London Drugs and successfully found lots of 100mL lotion tubes, so I selected a Jergens Ultra Care Restoring Argan Oil before finally getting home at 1:50 on a 407 to do some laundry. Some mother in line sighed resignedly when I politely asked if I could go ahead of her since I only had one item - she showed me her basket and said she only had four items (all toddler stuff), but she GUESSED I could go ahead if I REALLY needed to... YES, I DO! ONE ITEM TAKES PRECEDENCE, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE BUSES TO CATCH! The Canucks played Carolina tonight at 7, and won 1-0 on Petey's goal. PHEW!
Successfully exchanged the purple Wenger suitcase for a charcoal one!

( Underwear and more! )
Matin Durrani and Tushna Commissariat?!

Patrick Sieloff?!

Teuvo Teravainen?! QUIRKY COINCIDENCE SINCE WE PLAY THE HURRICANES TONIGHT!

DIRTY JOKES!
How is pubic hair like parsley? You push it to the side before you start eating.
( Dirty jokes from Red's Twitch stream! )
After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 6:55 on a 401 to meet Chrystal at the Broadway London Drugs. Good thing I left early since the next Waterfront train was out of service at what HAD BEEN a surprisingly empty Brighouse Station! There was some guy clapping like a seal on the bus and at the station - thank goodness he wasn't in my train car! I got to London Drugs at 7:30, and was happy that there was no lineup at the post office so I could mail Corey and Julie's cards. However, I got a postal worker who was grumpy as fuck: I have NEVER been told that I shouldn't write anything in the corner of the envelope, otherwise the stamp would obscure the destination address! Fuck you, random guy!
Chrystal and I went to Pho Extreme Xe Lua: #17 and #1 it was! SPECIAL! We talked about her nephews Ethan (4) and Ethan (1 and a bit), Ayler, Hiero, Beckett discovering new words and the door, Beckett being "smart" by banging his head on the hardwood floor to delay Harmony's leaving for a school meeting, Beckett being really smart by putting all his molecule balls on the far windowsill so he can play with those and look at the reflected lights across the street at the same time (I left him to do that for a minute - he's fine and preoccupied), my broken suitcase, my replacement suitcase, my upcoming trip, and her just doing family things at home this holiday season. Angus and Melia and Phil and Grace have their own families now, and it would be pretty huge to have a family gathering! I got home at 9:05 on a 407, which is pretty good for leaving at 8:30. (Chrystal bused home again!)
Pho Xe Lua # 17 with Chrystal as a pre-Xmas 2019 dinner: Steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and fatty flank!

Right after Halloween, I was ChristmasFlamHam in Shiwa's Discord server!

From Tommy Chong: What's Your Stoner Elf Name? Mine is Smokey Jingletokes! Mike would be Buddy Evergreens! My ex-friend Jimmy would be Danky Sparklepipe!

Borked Heys suitcase which came with a busted zipper and an almost-impossible push handle...

Successfully packed replacement carry-on American Tourister suitcase with enough room for ALL my stuff, a working zipper, and a much simpler non-push handle! Way easier to maneuver on transit, too! My parents should have just lent me this one in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to store the first one in a weird way so I wouldn't have had to push the handle down every time I wanted to access it. *rolleyes*

How is pubic hair like parsley? You push it to the side before you start eating.
( Dirty jokes from Red's Twitch stream! )
After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 6:55 on a 401 to meet Chrystal at the Broadway London Drugs. Good thing I left early since the next Waterfront train was out of service at what HAD BEEN a surprisingly empty Brighouse Station! There was some guy clapping like a seal on the bus and at the station - thank goodness he wasn't in my train car! I got to London Drugs at 7:30, and was happy that there was no lineup at the post office so I could mail Corey and Julie's cards. However, I got a postal worker who was grumpy as fuck: I have NEVER been told that I shouldn't write anything in the corner of the envelope, otherwise the stamp would obscure the destination address! Fuck you, random guy!
Chrystal and I went to Pho Extreme Xe Lua: #17 and #1 it was! SPECIAL! We talked about her nephews Ethan (4) and Ethan (1 and a bit), Ayler, Hiero, Beckett discovering new words and the door, Beckett being "smart" by banging his head on the hardwood floor to delay Harmony's leaving for a school meeting, Beckett being really smart by putting all his molecule balls on the far windowsill so he can play with those and look at the reflected lights across the street at the same time (I left him to do that for a minute - he's fine and preoccupied), my broken suitcase, my replacement suitcase, my upcoming trip, and her just doing family things at home this holiday season. Angus and Melia and Phil and Grace have their own families now, and it would be pretty huge to have a family gathering! I got home at 9:05 on a 407, which is pretty good for leaving at 8:30. (Chrystal bused home again!)
Pho Xe Lua # 17 with Chrystal as a pre-Xmas 2019 dinner: Steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and fatty flank!

Right after Halloween, I was ChristmasFlamHam in Shiwa's Discord server!

From Tommy Chong: What's Your Stoner Elf Name? Mine is Smokey Jingletokes! Mike would be Buddy Evergreens! My ex-friend Jimmy would be Danky Sparklepipe!

Borked Heys suitcase which came with a busted zipper and an almost-impossible push handle...

Successfully packed replacement carry-on American Tourister suitcase with enough room for ALL my stuff, a working zipper, and a much simpler non-push handle! Way easier to maneuver on transit, too! My parents should have just lent me this one in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to store the first one in a weird way so I wouldn't have had to push the handle down every time I wanted to access it. *rolleyes*

SHORTBREAD, MULTIVITAMINS, CHRISTMAS DISH SOAP, AND COUGH DROPS! I went shopping at 1:05 on a 401. Purchased on-sale Waterbridge shortbread rings, on-sale Walker's Shortbread x2 (Petticoat Tails / Rounds), on-sale Halls Vitamin C drops x2 (assorted citrus / lemon / orange / pink grapefruit), and NEW on-sale Method hand soap in Hollyberry / Frosted Fir Christmas scents. A random grandma helped me with my reusable bag by plopping it on top of her Asian Sautao Non-Fried noodles old lady shopping cart and taking it to my door! The Canucks played the Oilers tonight at 7 in a home-at-home series, and lost 3-2...
From the V4F Discord server: Nicolas Cage caged in a Nicolas Cage cage!

( Shortbread, soap, and Canucks things! )
From the V4F Discord server: Nicolas Cage caged in a Nicolas Cage cage!

( Shortbread, soap, and Canucks things! )
2019 Year In Review! / Pictures with Satan in Comox and Courtenay!
THIS ENTRY IS ALLOWED TO HAVE NON-ALIGNED TAGS.
[Meme fun: Take the first line from the first post of every month of the year. Repost it here as your year in review. (I'm discounting greetings and things like that :P) Yeah, it's been an interesting year!]
Go to your Calendar and find the first entry for each month of the year. Post the first line of it in your journal as a paragraph, and that's your "Year In Review."
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND 2019, EVERYONE! Heard from Jana in CANUCK NATION that racist Stuart has three kinds of cancer (liver / colon / something else) and is currently in Langley hospice - karma works in good ways! I went shopping, having to walk to London Drugs because the endless construction and sewer upgrades have made the nearby bus stops non-operational. I went out at 12:30 for shopping purposes at London Drugs, so I walked there. Barry called to see if I was fine with changing our food shopping appointment on the 22nd to 11:30 instead of 11. I went out at 3:10 on a 407 (which luckily picked me up at the sidewalk) for shopping purposes.
I went out at 2 on a 401 to get Rubbermaid Take-Along containers and on-sale pads x2 at London Drugs, getting home at 2:20 on a 407. After my intake session with Rishu at Touchstone at 3 (leaving at 2:20 on a 401), I went shopping at the Dollar Tree / London Drugs / Big Crazy after killing time at the Richmond Public Market beforehand. Today's date is a palindrome: 9/1/19! Beckett crawled over to me to say hi - CUTE! AMERICAN GREETINGS STICKERS, HOT CHOCOLATE, CANDY, SCISSORS, and TEA! SHORTBREAD, MULTIVITAMINS, CHRISTMAS DISH SOAP, AND COUGH DROPS!
From Reddit and This is True: Downtown Courtenay and the Comox Valley in BC offered pictures with SATAN for Christmas 2019?!

THIS ENTRY IS ALLOWED TO HAVE NON-ALIGNED TAGS.
[Meme fun: Take the first line from the first post of every month of the year. Repost it here as your year in review. (I'm discounting greetings and things like that :P) Yeah, it's been an interesting year!]
Go to your Calendar and find the first entry for each month of the year. Post the first line of it in your journal as a paragraph, and that's your "Year In Review."
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND 2019, EVERYONE! Heard from Jana in CANUCK NATION that racist Stuart has three kinds of cancer (liver / colon / something else) and is currently in Langley hospice - karma works in good ways! I went shopping, having to walk to London Drugs because the endless construction and sewer upgrades have made the nearby bus stops non-operational. I went out at 12:30 for shopping purposes at London Drugs, so I walked there. Barry called to see if I was fine with changing our food shopping appointment on the 22nd to 11:30 instead of 11. I went out at 3:10 on a 407 (which luckily picked me up at the sidewalk) for shopping purposes.
I went out at 2 on a 401 to get Rubbermaid Take-Along containers and on-sale pads x2 at London Drugs, getting home at 2:20 on a 407. After my intake session with Rishu at Touchstone at 3 (leaving at 2:20 on a 401), I went shopping at the Dollar Tree / London Drugs / Big Crazy after killing time at the Richmond Public Market beforehand. Today's date is a palindrome: 9/1/19! Beckett crawled over to me to say hi - CUTE! AMERICAN GREETINGS STICKERS, HOT CHOCOLATE, CANDY, SCISSORS, and TEA! SHORTBREAD, MULTIVITAMINS, CHRISTMAS DISH SOAP, AND COUGH DROPS!
From Reddit and This is True: Downtown Courtenay and the Comox Valley in BC offered pictures with SATAN for Christmas 2019?!

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 2:40 on a 401 to a sick Jeremy's for Jon's birthday dinner since Eric could give me a ride home after UBC hockey and helping in the kitchen. I bought on-sale Knorr Sidekicks in Chicken and Broccoli rice and pasta / Homestyle Cheddar / Chicken Fried Rice, some high-visibility fluorescent yellow-green stickers and slap bracelet straps from Dollar Land (FINALLY!), some 100 mL Vaseline lotion in the yellow tube for Ontario from Shoppers Drug Mart, and a small bag of NEW on-sale Takis Outlaw snacks from Buy-Low for the Gwei-Lo at Kingsgate Mall since I got there at 3:20. I managed to get to Jeremy's at 4:35 after cutting through Dude Chilling Park, and Ayler wasn't even there yet to lock me out like he did last year! Eric sent me a text while I was there to ask if I was here yet... crazy! I did give him his Windel Advent calendar and Delecto dark chocolate assortment, and gave Jeremy his Windel Advent calendar too.
The kids got there a while later; Harmony said she was glad I was there already because then I could help her watch Beckett and take him from Jesse later on when he needed a break. Yeah, I let him look at the big screen for a minute - that's not going to get him addicted! Jeremy said there were some unsafe things for babies behind the chairs - yes, I could see wires! Beckett toddled around and wanted to turn off the computer, which Ayler thought was a touchscreen again. I let Beckett touch my fuzzy purple Alia winter coat, go up on the couch (but NOT touch the Japanese painting), hold my hands as he walked around, spout gibberish about the glass table (he can see the carpet!) and point at the lights and new things, and give me all the beer coasters a few times over.
Yes, he could throw those around if he wanted to, but NOT the candles or anything else! NOT SUITABLE PROJECTILES! He was also eventually curious about Jeremy's beard, like Ayler and Hiero had been. Ayler was smart and knew that I would have Advent calendars for them. He has a bonus dragon book since HE is a DRAGON too! The Santa stuffed dog was in my bag later when I got home, but I can give it to Beckett before my trip. Hiero wanted to be Batman or Superman in front of everyone.
I was civil and polite to Raymond when he was in the way and admiring Jeremy's bookshelf while I wanted to get my UTHER book from my bag to show Trish later, and also when I handed him some dishes that needed to be washed. Caught up with Caleb (I saw his uncle William recently!), Becky, Alice, Jeremy, Randal, Jesse, Trish, Lanie, and Christon for sure. (Ayler's math prowess / the Japanese soldier who refused to surrender until his commanding officer said so / my upcoming trip / writing / Jacob's Well / SERVANTS / the Spain honeymoon / buying a new place and moving / a rice cooker / the microwave / Jeremy seeing Steph in the newspaper as a random RCMP officer and confirming with Jon)
I met Jon's friend Mallory, noticed that his friend Jay had a "scent" about him, and "met" his friends Chris and Mallory. Since we all had to leave an hour or so earlier because Jeremy was feeling under the weather (bad timing as he got sick from his co-workers yesterday!), Eric and I actually left at 9 or so! We talked about gluten-free ice cream sandwiches being good for his mom and brother, his staying home at Christmas, FIRE EMBLEM, and a raccoon being outside near the dumpster when we got to my place at 9:30. (it was a milk jug...)
Trappiste Rochefort beer!

Santa's Sac beer, haha!

( Food and safety and more! )
The kids got there a while later; Harmony said she was glad I was there already because then I could help her watch Beckett and take him from Jesse later on when he needed a break. Yeah, I let him look at the big screen for a minute - that's not going to get him addicted! Jeremy said there were some unsafe things for babies behind the chairs - yes, I could see wires! Beckett toddled around and wanted to turn off the computer, which Ayler thought was a touchscreen again. I let Beckett touch my fuzzy purple Alia winter coat, go up on the couch (but NOT touch the Japanese painting), hold my hands as he walked around, spout gibberish about the glass table (he can see the carpet!) and point at the lights and new things, and give me all the beer coasters a few times over.
Yes, he could throw those around if he wanted to, but NOT the candles or anything else! NOT SUITABLE PROJECTILES! He was also eventually curious about Jeremy's beard, like Ayler and Hiero had been. Ayler was smart and knew that I would have Advent calendars for them. He has a bonus dragon book since HE is a DRAGON too! The Santa stuffed dog was in my bag later when I got home, but I can give it to Beckett before my trip. Hiero wanted to be Batman or Superman in front of everyone.
I was civil and polite to Raymond when he was in the way and admiring Jeremy's bookshelf while I wanted to get my UTHER book from my bag to show Trish later, and also when I handed him some dishes that needed to be washed. Caught up with Caleb (I saw his uncle William recently!), Becky, Alice, Jeremy, Randal, Jesse, Trish, Lanie, and Christon for sure. (Ayler's math prowess / the Japanese soldier who refused to surrender until his commanding officer said so / my upcoming trip / writing / Jacob's Well / SERVANTS / the Spain honeymoon / buying a new place and moving / a rice cooker / the microwave / Jeremy seeing Steph in the newspaper as a random RCMP officer and confirming with Jon)
I met Jon's friend Mallory, noticed that his friend Jay had a "scent" about him, and "met" his friends Chris and Mallory. Since we all had to leave an hour or so earlier because Jeremy was feeling under the weather (bad timing as he got sick from his co-workers yesterday!), Eric and I actually left at 9 or so! We talked about gluten-free ice cream sandwiches being good for his mom and brother, his staying home at Christmas, FIRE EMBLEM, and a raccoon being outside near the dumpster when we got to my place at 9:30. (it was a milk jug...)
Trappiste Rochefort beer!

Santa's Sac beer, haha!

( Food and safety and more! )
I showered and did some MORE laundry today because my sweatshirts seemed to smell like mildew from last week (EW!), so I bunged some white vinegar in my washing load after looking remedies up online. Damn, I really hope that solves the problem!
From Youtube: Tanzania Morris?! Bonus: One of the other roommates was named SHASTA.

( More bad black names! )
From Youtube: Tanzania Morris?! Bonus: One of the other roommates was named SHASTA.

( More bad black names! )
I went out at 2:25 to go to London Drugs: on-sale Kinder Joy eggs x2, Blistex lip balm x4 which have SHRUNK (Melon Medley / Berry Explosion / Triple Tropics / bonus Peaches and Cream), on-sale Cottonelle 36 MEGA Rolls of toilet paper x2 ($8.99 is better than $10.99 for 24!), on-sale Nacho / Pizza Goldfish for the kids, and Oikos Classic Greek yogurt for National Greek Yogurt Day today. Got home at 3:35 - UGH, JUST MISSED THE 407!
From Scary Mysteries: Karmein Chan?! BAD SPELLING of Carmen! NOODLES!

From Scary Mysteries: Karmein Chan?! BAD SPELLING of Carmen! NOODLES!

DOUBLE COFFEE TIME! Waiting for Auntie Bessy at Kam Do Bakery this morning proved to be a waste of 40 minutes all told. Good thing I just managed to get the 401 on the way there and the 407 on the way back, getting home at 9:40 AM when I'd left at 8:50 AM! Ugh! The Canucks played Winnipeg today at 5, and lost 4-1... ANOTHER EMPTY-NET GOAL?!
I then left at 7:40 to go to the IGA at Garden City Centre at Blundell, but first encountered a lady at the bus stop who somehow just could NOT wait ten minutes for a cigarette! She scrutinized the bus schedule and knew that the 401 would come in four minutes, so what did she do? Why, sat down on the bench and lit up a smoke, of course! Karma came for her in the form of a 401, so she had to butt it out on the bench before she got on the bus and then had a major coughing fit before she and a male companion got off at Minoru, presumably to smoke prior to whatever they REALLY wanted to do!
At least I saw that bus stop advertisement for Ocean's Tuna: Ginger Lemon Sesame, Peri-Peri, and Sundried Tomato Tapenade! Wasted my time at IGA too, since they didn't have the Fresh Gourmet The Better Chip in Jalapeno flavor: "It's a Walmart brand!" they said as I bought NEW Pillsbury Pizza Pops in Double Cheeseburger flavor. I eventually got home at 9:25 after having to kill half an hour at Richmond Centre and buying frozen President's Choice Brussels sprouts and frozen President's Choice broccoli florets.
Witless Bay, Newfoundland?!

From Janina: I relate to the phrase "chilling like a villain." It implies that I'm calm, but ready to murder at any time.

From Youtube: Taffany Shipp?! BAD SPELLING OF TIFFANY!

( Shirt and food! )
I then left at 7:40 to go to the IGA at Garden City Centre at Blundell, but first encountered a lady at the bus stop who somehow just could NOT wait ten minutes for a cigarette! She scrutinized the bus schedule and knew that the 401 would come in four minutes, so what did she do? Why, sat down on the bench and lit up a smoke, of course! Karma came for her in the form of a 401, so she had to butt it out on the bench before she got on the bus and then had a major coughing fit before she and a male companion got off at Minoru, presumably to smoke prior to whatever they REALLY wanted to do!
At least I saw that bus stop advertisement for Ocean's Tuna: Ginger Lemon Sesame, Peri-Peri, and Sundried Tomato Tapenade! Wasted my time at IGA too, since they didn't have the Fresh Gourmet The Better Chip in Jalapeno flavor: "It's a Walmart brand!" they said as I bought NEW Pillsbury Pizza Pops in Double Cheeseburger flavor. I eventually got home at 9:25 after having to kill half an hour at Richmond Centre and buying frozen President's Choice Brussels sprouts and frozen President's Choice broccoli florets.
Witless Bay, Newfoundland?!

From Janina: I relate to the phrase "chilling like a villain." It implies that I'm calm, but ready to murder at any time.

From Youtube: Taffany Shipp?! BAD SPELLING OF TIFFANY!

( Shirt and food! )
AMERICAN GREETINGS STICKERS, HOT CHOCOLATE, CANDY, SCISSORS, and TEA! I went out at 1:55 on a 401 to go shopping: star stickers, happy face and assorted food stickers, on-sale Coffin Crisp x30 in a box, on-sale Mars Bars x25, on-sale Ferrero Rocher Rondnoir (dark chocolate with a pearl centre), limited-edition dark Kinder Bueno x3, two pairs of slightly thick Secret socks, peppermint Smooth Move Traditional Medicinals tea, 200 Mead index cards, on-sale scary Kit Kat Chocolate bars x2, on-sale Scotch scissors x2, on-sale ScAero bars x2, Purell hand sanitizer x3 (two original and one aloe), and a Nestlé Carnation Simply Hot Chocolate tin. Got home at 2:35 since I just managed to get a 407! The Canucks played Anaheim tonight at 7... the game went into overtime, and they lost 2-1.
Bastardstown, Wexford, Ireland?!

Limited-edition Cinnamon Coke and Winter Spiced Cranberry Sprite for Christmas 2019?!

I dropped half a dark Kinder Bueno into my Turtles hot chocolate!

( HOT CHOCOLATE, STICKERS, AND TEA! )
Bastardstown, Wexford, Ireland?!

Limited-edition Cinnamon Coke and Winter Spiced Cranberry Sprite for Christmas 2019?!

I dropped half a dark Kinder Bueno into my Turtles hot chocolate!

( HOT CHOCOLATE, STICKERS, AND TEA! )
Today is Dictionary Day! After COFFEE TIME, I left at 1:10 in the rain to see Rishu at Touchstone and have hot chocolate while I talked about my mom and the transit drama. I'd finished up a few Hangouts messages to Mike before I left, having called the Translink Lost Property Office and getting no luck there. I guess red Compass Cards really are valuable since you don't have to top them up!
Then I called the BC Bus Pass Program since Barry can take a while to get back to me, and was put on hold for the next available representative. I HAD TO PEE SO BADLY, and DID! Also, I miraculously remembered my SIN. The guy said he'd put in a request for a replacement right away, and advised that it would be a $10 fee payable at my local bank once I got a letter in the mail. Well, I guess I'm not going too many places in the next two weeks! I did text white Eric, Paulo, and Kathy while I was out, too!
Once I finally got in my comfortable bubble of Richmond again, I saw a guy without any shoes or socks crossing the road to London Drugs. He was talking to himself, too. Come on now, control yourself in public! Then I got on the 401 (should have taken the 407) and came across that Down Syndrome lady on the bus. She thought her knitting bag deserved its own special seat on the rapidly-filling bus, so I said "EXCUSE ME" because she needed to move her fucking bag!
Then she took exception to what I said. "Next time, say excuse me, ma'am, can you please remove your bag?" I told her that she was not entitled to an extra seat and told her to fuck off. She also told a wheelchair user that she didn't care if the rain fell on him since she didn't care about him. What the fuck, "lady"?! I finally got home at 4, thank goodness!
From Julie M. and Wish: A silver dragon choker necklace!

From Julie: Joann's sells a Maker's Halloween Mystical Skeleton Dragon with Tail-Oil Slick!

Then I called the BC Bus Pass Program since Barry can take a while to get back to me, and was put on hold for the next available representative. I HAD TO PEE SO BADLY, and DID! Also, I miraculously remembered my SIN. The guy said he'd put in a request for a replacement right away, and advised that it would be a $10 fee payable at my local bank once I got a letter in the mail. Well, I guess I'm not going too many places in the next two weeks! I did text white Eric, Paulo, and Kathy while I was out, too!
Once I finally got in my comfortable bubble of Richmond again, I saw a guy without any shoes or socks crossing the road to London Drugs. He was talking to himself, too. Come on now, control yourself in public! Then I got on the 401 (should have taken the 407) and came across that Down Syndrome lady on the bus. She thought her knitting bag deserved its own special seat on the rapidly-filling bus, so I said "EXCUSE ME" because she needed to move her fucking bag!
Then she took exception to what I said. "Next time, say excuse me, ma'am, can you please remove your bag?" I told her that she was not entitled to an extra seat and told her to fuck off. She also told a wheelchair user that she didn't care if the rain fell on him since she didn't care about him. What the fuck, "lady"?! I finally got home at 4, thank goodness!
From Julie M. and Wish: A silver dragon choker necklace!

From Julie: Joann's sells a Maker's Halloween Mystical Skeleton Dragon with Tail-Oil Slick!

Today is No Bra Day! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 407 to go to the family Thanksgiving Dinner. Killed time at Shoppers Drug Mart by buying on-sale M and Ms in Hazelnut Spread flavor, on-sale Life store brand honey lemon cough drops (the pharmacy students didn't understand the word "lozenge"...), and NEW on-sale Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter! I must have LOST MY COMPASS CARD on the 3 Downtown bus (which I just managed to get at 4 PM) because I couldn't find it when I left Jon's! It definitely wasn't in my pockets or on the floor that I could see. I need to stop stuffing things in my pockets! UGH!
Anyway, I read six whole books to Hiero (BERENSTEIN BEARS / three STAR WARS / one BATMAN / one Monkey book) and remembered to enjoy the moments of him on my lap and listening. Ayler wanted to read the bus timetable, tell me about decimals (in Grade 2?!) and division in Grade 3, and said "Are you kidding me?!" in Cantonese a lot. When Harmony got back with Beckett, he wanted to play with me, so I made him laugh at the baby pop-up toy. He also went up to Mom, who didn't seem to know he was there, so Jon and I had to say that Beckett was saying hi to her! Of course he also wanted to play with the HP printer display, which had changed into Chinese for Hiero-related reasons. Dad eventually managed to fix it, so was blocking Beckett from playing with the display. He wanted to grab my hat, but I said no. Mom said something about SIM cards and Steph's number and phone. Sure, whatever. She also referred to me as "Fat Aunt" with him - UGH!
Due to the dinner configuration, I sat next to Beckett while eating cheese / apple slices / turkey / gravy / kimchi / cranberry sauce / pizza bread / Brussels sprouts / salad. He grabbed my sweater a few times (I JUST washed it!) and threw food around as usual. Later, he wanted to crawl to my chair when he'd finished eating and Harmony had cleaned him up, but was blocked by Ayler's special chair. I did play with him more after I myself had finished eating and washing my hands: he still throws the little Play=Doh container at people, as well as all the balloons that were on the floor.
Then Beckett cried when a balloon popped! He also cried when he was really done with dinner, as in real tears and everything! Later, Harmony had to put him down for sleeping, so we waved goodnight to him. Harmony was surprised when Beckett imitated what I was doing; that was the FIRST TIME EVER that he waved to ANYONE, so I must have the magic touch! (like I did with Hiero in 2014 when he wouldn't let Harmony sleep) Since Jon agreed to drive me to King Edward Station later, Mom and Dad left because there were only 12 inches of room between the carseats in their vehicle. Hiero asked me about that later, using the correct family names, so I gave him an answer. I later discovered that I had somehow lost my bus pass! Jon gave me $6.50, which was it (that's fine) and enough to cover Tuesday's fare as well. Got home at 9:10 on a 401 (I'd missed a 407 by a few minutes) and then thought that maybe the bus pass could be between the couch cushions. If not, then I will call the Lost and Found Office / Ministry on Tuesday morning.
Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce, plus a small silver pan thing.
Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, Moringa and Matcha Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter!

Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce!

What is with this weird VerifyError Spectrum Plugins error message when I try to post phone pictures on Facebook?!

Anyway, I read six whole books to Hiero (BERENSTEIN BEARS / three STAR WARS / one BATMAN / one Monkey book) and remembered to enjoy the moments of him on my lap and listening. Ayler wanted to read the bus timetable, tell me about decimals (in Grade 2?!) and division in Grade 3, and said "Are you kidding me?!" in Cantonese a lot. When Harmony got back with Beckett, he wanted to play with me, so I made him laugh at the baby pop-up toy. He also went up to Mom, who didn't seem to know he was there, so Jon and I had to say that Beckett was saying hi to her! Of course he also wanted to play with the HP printer display, which had changed into Chinese for Hiero-related reasons. Dad eventually managed to fix it, so was blocking Beckett from playing with the display. He wanted to grab my hat, but I said no. Mom said something about SIM cards and Steph's number and phone. Sure, whatever. She also referred to me as "Fat Aunt" with him - UGH!
Due to the dinner configuration, I sat next to Beckett while eating cheese / apple slices / turkey / gravy / kimchi / cranberry sauce / pizza bread / Brussels sprouts / salad. He grabbed my sweater a few times (I JUST washed it!) and threw food around as usual. Later, he wanted to crawl to my chair when he'd finished eating and Harmony had cleaned him up, but was blocked by Ayler's special chair. I did play with him more after I myself had finished eating and washing my hands: he still throws the little Play=Doh container at people, as well as all the balloons that were on the floor.
Then Beckett cried when a balloon popped! He also cried when he was really done with dinner, as in real tears and everything! Later, Harmony had to put him down for sleeping, so we waved goodnight to him. Harmony was surprised when Beckett imitated what I was doing; that was the FIRST TIME EVER that he waved to ANYONE, so I must have the magic touch! (like I did with Hiero in 2014 when he wouldn't let Harmony sleep) Since Jon agreed to drive me to King Edward Station later, Mom and Dad left because there were only 12 inches of room between the carseats in their vehicle. Hiero asked me about that later, using the correct family names, so I gave him an answer. I later discovered that I had somehow lost my bus pass! Jon gave me $6.50, which was it (that's fine) and enough to cover Tuesday's fare as well. Got home at 9:10 on a 401 (I'd missed a 407 by a few minutes) and then thought that maybe the bus pass could be between the couch cushions. If not, then I will call the Lost and Found Office / Ministry on Tuesday morning.
Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce, plus a small silver pan thing.
Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, Moringa and Matcha Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter!

Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce!

What is with this weird VerifyError Spectrum Plugins error message when I try to post phone pictures on Facebook?!

From Reddit and r/hockey: Brad Marchand gets a two-minute penalty for existing! Yes, definitely Photoshopped!

NHL icon, enlarged! In my fandom, slashing is a two-minute penalty.

New record for most thumbs-up on my Youtube comments: 359 on a Female Killers video on the Marie Robards case, uploaded on November 18, 2015! "Steve won't make it to church because he's closer to God than he imagined" - HAHAHAHA! She poisoned him with some stolen barium acetate. Now the video's been deleted?!


NHL icon, enlarged! In my fandom, slashing is a two-minute penalty.

New record for most thumbs-up on my Youtube comments: 359 on a Female Killers video on the Marie Robards case, uploaded on November 18, 2015! "Steve won't make it to church because he's closer to God than he imagined" - HAHAHAHA! She poisoned him with some stolen barium acetate. Now the video's been deleted?!

Since I didn't have to help out with the kids today, I stayed home to wallow in redrum unglory, haha. I felt bad because I had genuinely forgotten to give the cleaner a $20 cash tip yesterday (and remembered the time when Eric made us go back to the Pho place next door to church so I could give them a tip for dinner), so after some procrastination, called the EcoClean number given in my text reminder yesterday at 3:55. No, an e-transfer wouldn't work as far as I knew, and neither would a credit card payment on my own non-existent credit card if I didn't want it getting back to my family. The guy said he'd call her and see what she wanted to do.
Someone knocked on my door at 6:30, and it turned out to be the cleaner, who actually lives in Richmond! SHE thought I was paying for the service in cash, and wanted to call her boss, but I clarified. I said that I didn't want her to think that someone deliberately didn't tip her since I definitely wanted to show her some appreciation (especially since she was doing it all by herself), so she thanked me and gave me a big hug after I gave her $20 in cash fresh from my wallet. I should get more envelopes since I have no idea where my other ones are! At least my laundry token seed money of $20 is still intact!
COOKIES! Dare Cookie Butter cookies, NEW Dutch De Ruiter Speculaas biscuits, NEW Triscuit dill / sea salt / olive oil crackers, NEW Triscuit Canada balsamic and basil crackers, and NEW basil and garlic Triscuits crackers in a Ziploc bag!

From Julie: Amina is okay, but it reminds her of ammonia!

From Julie: Charece?!

From Julie: Bhakari?!

From Julie: Bhakari Jr. and Brooklyn?!

From Julie: Porsche and Vina?!

Someone knocked on my door at 6:30, and it turned out to be the cleaner, who actually lives in Richmond! SHE thought I was paying for the service in cash, and wanted to call her boss, but I clarified. I said that I didn't want her to think that someone deliberately didn't tip her since I definitely wanted to show her some appreciation (especially since she was doing it all by herself), so she thanked me and gave me a big hug after I gave her $20 in cash fresh from my wallet. I should get more envelopes since I have no idea where my other ones are! At least my laundry token seed money of $20 is still intact!
COOKIES! Dare Cookie Butter cookies, NEW Dutch De Ruiter Speculaas biscuits, NEW Triscuit dill / sea salt / olive oil crackers, NEW Triscuit Canada balsamic and basil crackers, and NEW basil and garlic Triscuits crackers in a Ziploc bag!

From Julie: Amina is okay, but it reminds her of ammonia!

From Julie: Charece?!

From Julie: Bhakari?!

From Julie: Bhakari Jr. and Brooklyn?!

From Julie: Porsche and Vina?!

I finally actually checked WhatsApp and got a surprise of some Han OK pictures from the other evening! Nice!
From the r/hockey Discord server: Vontaze Burfict?!

Elysse, Declan, Dylan, and me at Han OK with bulgogi hot pot for my belated birthday dinner!

Declan, Elysse, Dylan, and I are happy with bulgogi hot pot, Asahi beer, and iPad time for my belated birthday dinner!

Dylan and me at Han OK with bulgogi hot pot for my belated birthday dinner - YUM!

I'm at Han OK for my belated birthday dinner with bulgogi hot pot - thanks, Deb and Dylan!

From the r/hockey Discord server: Vontaze Burfict?!

Elysse, Declan, Dylan, and me at Han OK with bulgogi hot pot for my belated birthday dinner!

Declan, Elysse, Dylan, and I are happy with bulgogi hot pot, Asahi beer, and iPad time for my belated birthday dinner!

Dylan and me at Han OK with bulgogi hot pot for my belated birthday dinner - YUM!

I'm at Han OK for my belated birthday dinner with bulgogi hot pot - thanks, Deb and Dylan!


















