Tatiana's Wanderings

From Julie: B-Horror Movie Title Generator! Night of the Sorority from Outer Space! Yes, it was blurry and cut off when she got it. If you have a first or last name that starts with V-Z, you're out of luck!

Teenage, Biker, Atomic, Killer, Martian, Evil, Psycho, Attack of the, Lost, Curse of the, Radioactive, Night of the, 50-Foot, Invasion of the, Bloody, Revenge of the, The Last, Demon, Return of the, Deadly

Mutant(s), Occult, Amazon(s), Blood-Sucking / Blood Suckers, Clown(s), Nympho(s), Ghost(s), She-Devil(s), Sorority, Vampire(s), Virgin(s), Sex-Crazed (Fiends)

Slumber Party, Camp, Planet, From Hell, Cheerleaders, High School, Beach Party, Zombies, Cat People, Island, Massacre, Misfits, From Mars, From Outer Space, House, Werewolves, Aliens, School Girls, That Wouldn't Die, Prom Night, Robots




From Julie: There are just some sounds that everyone loves. Shoes on gravel. Crackling of a fire. The snapping of necks of those who think they can disrespect you. Cats purring.




From Hell: If Jesus masturbated, would he do it like this up and down normally? Or like this with the holes created by the nails on the cross?

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!

IT'S WORLD TOILET DAY TODAY! After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3 on a 401 to help with the kids. I had a bit of time to finish Jon's birthday card with a Sprite and Coke, nacho / pizza Goldfish since Beckett can eat those, one limited-edition Kinder Bueno chocolate bar, the Caramilk bar and a half, and NEW $2 Weinrich's Porta chocolate bars x4! (Peppermint / Raspberry / Blueberry / Strawberry) Got to the house at the usual time, no thanks to a couple of delays like a bike and crowds! Harmony was trying to get Beckett to sleep in his carrier, but Ayler and Hiero seemed enthusiastic to show me their "new" magic trick set. They even told me how things worked! Magic wands, haha!

I read a book and a half to Ayler as he sat in my lap - Mr. Watson and his pig Mercy. OH MY! He seemed to like some of the funny drawings, anyway. Later, Beckett did wake up, so we played for a bit before eating dinner. He did like the green balloons from Kids Physio, batting them around the room. I didn't care if he played the piano, but had to watch that he didn't close the piano or rip Ayler's music books! Ayler said that Jon was tired of buying new books, so he had to keep those ones in good condition. Sounds reasonable to me! I managed to open the Blue Diamond wasabi and soy sauce almonds while I was at the house (thinking I'd get Ayler to help me instead), so since he asked what they were, I fed him one. He seemed okay with it.

We had soup, jap chae (Korean glass noodles), chicken legs, dumplings, and yogurt for dinner. When Harmony gave him Goldfish, Beckett wanted the "newer" ones inside the Ziploc bag, although the ones on the table were the same thing! ("NA NA NA NAAAAAAA!") We also wouldn't let him overdose on Dewdrops, which made him upset. I think he's entering the stage where he just wants to be with Harmony a lot because every time she left to do something or take care of the older boys, he also was upset and crying. Of course I hugged and safely kissed him anyway, though! He wanted to look out the window and spout gibberish at me about whatever he saw out across the street, and pointed at the lights.

I told Harmony that yes, I was excited for my Ontario trip. Then I asked whether Jon's birthday restaurant on Sunday was in Burnaby again like last year. Apparently, Do Chay Vegetarian Vietnamese Restaurant is on Kingsway and Knight, and we'll be going there on Monday since it's Jon's actual birthday. Yes, I did see the part of the email exchange where Mom said that we could just save Jon some food if he couldn't make it, and Jon's response that he would actually like to be there at his own birthday dinner! HAHAHA!

Beckett can say "yeah" and "goh-goh" (comes out as "gah-gah" these days), and did say YEH-YEH for the first time the other day. So then I pointed to myself and asked him if I had a name! Reasonable question, even if he may not understand it! When I was leaving at 8, he pointed to me, so Harmony told him what was going on. I guess I'll see her either on Sunday at Jeremy's or Monday at the restaurant in the afternoon. She has to go there after work, so she definitely hopes the buses are still running for both of us! (Mom only mentioned HER in the email...) The Canucks played the Stars today at 5:30, and lost 6-1?! Luckily, I got home at 9 on a 407.


Random stuff from Mom and Dad inside a produce bag: Two extremely old and very used orthopedic shoe inserts (wouldn't be surprised if they were from my childhood...), a 175g bag of Nosh & Co soft chewy mints, a Colgate Extra Clean toothbrush, a regular 100mL tube of Cavity Protection Crest toothpaste, 400g of Campside strawberry Twisties marshmallows, and a Knorr Fettuccine Alfredo Sidekicks package that expires in July 2020.


From AskReddit: Mike Litterst?!

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I left at 1:05 on a 407 for a sober BBQ, bringing along my Ziploc bag of utensils and a couple bags of regular chips. I also stopped by Shoppers at Richmond Centre to buy 100 No Name garbage bags for almost $20 because the Western Family ones under my sink were getting nasty! I shouldn't store anything under there now! YES, I wiped that area!

Good thing I had Luke's number because I thought it was at Sunset PARK (much closer!) instead of Sunset BEACH all the way downtown! ("Why go all the way down there?!" was what I texted Luke at the community centre... he laughed and later said that he liked me and my honesty) I texted Eric Ho and messaged Corey and Mike out of frustration as well, but eventually managed to make it there at about 4 by taking the 49 UBC to Langara Station, then to Yaletown-Roundhouse, then the 23 Beach shuttle bus across the street to Pacific / Jervis (right after Bute), where Luke eventually met me after I accidentally texted him from the bike path. Oops! I stepped off the path after that.

I met a few people like Luke (who's the real MVP), TJ, Anant, Cami, and Faith / Violet. YES, VIOLET AND I ARE THE SAME HEIGHT! We discussed bearded dragons, geckos, hiking, hummus, baby carrots, Beyond Meat sausages, Veggie Crisps chips, BBQ sauce, ketchup, future hangouts, canoeing, renting problems, work, cannabis, my Miss Vickie's "fancy" Signatures Hickory Salted chips AND Ziploc bag full of utensils (Faith thought I'd just meant a fork or something!), Josephine, Tony and Michelle NOT being mods anymore (thank CHRIST!), and other things. We left at 6, and I determined that Term wasn't going home, but to the airport instead to pick up his brother. Going uphill with all my bulky heavy crap was JUST about doable... Finally got home at 7:10 thanks to the 407 cooperating and being later at Brighouse than the posted schedule, and I definitely had to have some whiskey!

Edit: I found out that Paul texted me at 7:45 to thank me for something, so I was wondering what was up with that. Turns out he wanted to thank me for today's beach hangout, which I was not involved in organizing at ALL. Strange... no wonder he needs his own space!


At Sunset Beach with some new friends! Luke (beside me) is the real MVP!




No Name quick-tie garbage bags, 100 to a box! Hey, it was an EMERGENCY and I was lugging a bunch of crap to Sunset Beach anyway... NOT TO BE STORED UNDERNEATH THE SINK!




No Name drawstring garbage bags... 60 to a box!




From Reddit: What Vancouverites say, what they mean, and what others understand!




This grey T-shirt is from Julie M. and Wish: I was taught to think before I act, so if I smack the shit out of you, rest assured I've thought about it and I am confident in my decision.

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:05 on a 407 bus to help with the kids at 4. I checked to see if Shoppers had any cheaper lip balm - I was unwilling to pay $9.99 for a little tube of Burt's Bees once I finally found it at the back of the store (even London Drugs has it for cheaper!), so I went straight to Mount Pleasant instead. Turns out Jon wanted to meet at Bellagio Gelato - worked for me, even if I had to wait for a bit. Hell, I could just hop on their wi-fi from just outside the doors. They showed up at about 4:45, and Ayler asked how long I'd been waiting, and about my route. I joked and said five hours, then revised it to 15 minutes. Beckett didn't seem to like his sunhat, but the kids got white bubblegum gelato (with no bubble gum pieces!) while I got some raspberry sorbetto. Of course I did the polite thing and thanked the ug! We tried offering some to Beckett, but he turned his head away like his brothers had when they were one year old. Maybe when he's four years old, he'll like it!

Ayler, Hiero, and I talked about the puzzle with the most pieces: 551,232 pieces?! I totally blew their minds with that factoid! They were impressed by the photo which I was able to find online, too. We walked or ran back home - with lectures about stranger danger and people possibly grabbing them - and I was able to hang out with the kids and Harmony. Catching Beckett whenever he crawled to the back window because he threw his red ball around, preventing him from fitting under the couch, his chewing toys and seeming interested in the Christmas baby books at times, almost tripping over crap in the way (hopefully not hurting Beckett), flossing, and ODE TO JOY piano music.

More origami, SIMON SAYS, some calorific pasta for Beckett (who just threw everything on the floor anyway), what had lots of calories, school and therapy, calling Dad for his birthday, reading books about bikes and trains, the double-layer puzzle, salad, Chinese noodles with peanut sauce, allergies, blueberries, calories, corn on the cob, and hugging Beckett to me when his brothers were being too rambunctious with pinches and he wanted support and security since we were all in a tiny circle... that was heartwarming and he wasn't scared of me! Ayler wanted me to come next week - sure, but do I have to smell their poo air?! They laughed at that, of course. I was able to leave at about 8 (Harmony thinks I did a good job with all the kids?!), grabbed the 3 Marine Drive Station bus, and was able to find some more lip balm x4 while I was out... gotta have backups! At least I was able to find the beauty section at T&T - $1.79 for one tube is way better than $9.99 to $11.99, no matter if Burt's Bees is more "quality" than Chapstick! I also grabbed a pack of Paldo Bul Jjamppong noodles on my way out. Got home at 9:30 on a 407, which is good.


Yes, there is a literal Cool Chinese Restaurant near my place. They took over the old space when the old Mad Greek owners retired!




Cherry Chapstick!




Mint Chapstick!