Tatiana's Wanderings

Reminded Eric about tomorrow's plans... 8:45 AM tomorrow because of PowerPoint?! AIYA! I went out at 12:50 on a 401 with my wheeled shopping cart to London Drugs and bought Heinz pure white vinegar x4 from the beverages aisle, Joyya 2% milk (1L, needs the jar opener), NEW Tiger Tiger Japanese-style Sukiyaki noodle soup for tomorrow's breakfast, Starbucks Cold Brew x2, London Naturals orange cleaner, and on-sale peppermint Twinings Tea before getting home at 1:40 on a 407. The Canucks played San Jose tonight at 7, and won 4-1... I also showered after the game since I might not have time tomorrow. Harmony says Jon is preaching - oh boy!


From Youtube: Alajawan Shakur Brown?! BAD SPELLING OF OLAJUWON!




Tiger Tiger Japanese-style Sukiyaki noodles in a big bowl: Fried rice noodles with mushrooms and bold flavor!




Joyya chocolate milk - needs the jar opener!




Joyya homo milk - needs the jar opener!




Joyya 2% milk - needs the jar opener!




Joyya skim milk - needs the jar opener!




Twinings peppermint tea!

The 401 did not show up at the bus stop when I left at 3:30, so I was stuck waiting 20 minutes for the 407 and two 401 buses which all came at the same time. I still managed to get to the house at 5, despite a text message from Harmony way earlier asking if I could be there at 3:45, which I didn't even get till I left the house. Technically late before I even thought of making my way outside... hahaha! Good thing the 3 Downtown pulled up when I'd made my way to the bus stop, and there were NO further delays on my way over! I had to stop into Kwong Chow to pee, which I wouldn't have had to do if the 401 had showed up when it was supposed to!

When I'd made my way quietly into the living room, Hiero greeted me with "Look at my balls, Auntie!" HAHAHA! Thank goodness he meant his yellow origami balls which he'd made and displayed on the table! He showed me some more cardboard buses and Mark III Skytrains plus a cow "headband" which he'd picked up at the PNE this year. Ayler was hiding Beckett's toy balls among some books, then was concentrating on his connect-the-dots book for a while. We had bean soup, frozen grapes, pork chops, and blueberries for dinner while discussing Christon's wedding. Apparently, someone stole Jon's extra four boxes of leftovers! WHAT?! Some auntie had stolen a Bible from Jon and Harmony's wedding centrepieces - WHAT?! She gave it back once she realized it was real, but STILL!

Later, Beckett played the piano with his feet as I held him in my lap for better mobility... that was funny and cute! Yes, he climbed on me and laughed when I put the soccer ball on my head, less so with the baby pop-up toy. Ayler didn't get to sleep till 10:30 last night, but it had been the first day of school today, so anxiety and questions were normal. Hiero took quite a while to eat dinner, while Beckett seemed happy to flip pages of various books on the mat. Later, Beckett climbed on Ayler's back, and Ayler said that he knew Beckett would pull his hair. Close enough - he instead was gumming his hair and chewing on it! I guess he really is teething from last week into this week.

Since someone had a tantrum, I left at 8 on the dot. Next week should be fine. I actually got on a 3 Marine Drive that was NOT annoying and did NOT stop anywhere random for a while! There was a girl who wanted to let the bus driver know that she'd be getting off with her stroller, but if I could barely hear her above the traffic and bus noise while seated across from her, I'm surprised that the bus driver could! I'm glad that I have NG lungpower and strength! Since the bus didn't stop anywhere, I was able to get a Brighouse train pulling into the Marine Drive station. I still had to wait a while at Brighouse Station, but I got home at 9:30 on a 407 - PHEW! Harmony had mentioned that Mom had emailed us about my birthday dinner. I'll think about that tomorrow, since I'm much more interested in chilling and relaxing at home for the rest of my night, haha!


Hiero thought I should be a cow with this Mobile Dairy Classroom thing that he picked up from the PNE!




From Jim Can't Swim: Anjie Galsworthy?! BAD SPELLING OF ANGIE!

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.

I finally called Chimo's Housing Connect this morning at 9:15. Nancy is on sick leave, but I got an appointment with their housing manager Sue next Tuesday at 11:30 AM. After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME AND SHOWER TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 401 to help with the kids again. Jon messaged me at 1:45 to wonder if I'd received Harma's text message, but I had not. Yeah, I know she's sick. She wanted me to come earlier, so I just called her instead. Sure, I could come by at 4-ish depending on "delays" and transit time... and it ended up being 4:30 because I just missed another 401 when I was on my way out!

Since Ayler and Hiero wanted to do puzzles in their cramped room, I let them while I hung out and read a book on the couch with Beckett's screams as accompaniment. Eventually, he fell asleep and the boys came out to do Summer Reading. Hiero wanted to sit on my lap while Ayler and I alternated pages. "Can you read upside down, Hiero?" "I can't even read right-side up." Good point! They did tell me about busing to VBS Later, Beckett did come out and wanted to toss everything around as per usual. They gave away the hard blue ball and hard red ball (his favorites!) plus some other stuff because he'd made a dent in the floor, hurt Ayler by indiscriminately tossing things, and had the potential to break a window... YIKES!

Like yesterday, Harmony thanked me for playing so nicely with the baby. We had penne, rutabaga, ratatouille, and honeydew for dinner. Ayler and Hiero did origami tricks with the Summer Reading logs, and Ayler told me about staccato and STORMS OF SATURN, while wanting to know what I felt about his practice runs of OUR DETECTIVE AGENCY. They kept getting better, which was what he wanted! Beckett wanted to play the piano too, so I supported him while he tried playing the high keys, but of course he isn't tall enough yet, so I sat on the piano bench with him in my lap instead.

Later, I made him laugh by playing with the Little Tikes popping toy (yellow and purple) - I pressed on the purple part and it pooped out within a few seconds. He "helped" me by putting his finger on it, haha. As long as it amused him for a bit! He looked up at me and wanted me to repeat that over and over, which is fine. Once Ayler and Hiero finally got to bed at 8:05, I could leave the house - I got home at 9:30 thanks to having to wait a while for the 407. I wish they'd gone to bed ten minutes earlier! Since I figured it wouldn't take forever and I might not miss a train, I held the elevator for a lady with crutches at Marine Drive. Her toes had splayed out - yikes! LUCKILY, I didn't miss the Brighouse train!


Bit fucking extreme: Shoplifters will be prostituted! No exceptions!

I discovered REDRUM this morning, but still took a shower to help me feel better. After COFFEE TIME, I discovered a TOILET PLUMBING PROBLEM: IT WOULDN'T FLUSH PROPERLY! I left a note with Hester to cover my ass AND called her about it, but then I had to leave since I had no time to play phone tag! I went out at 2:55 on a 407 to help with the kids. Even after being at Marine Drive to see a 3 Downtown pull up to the stop, I wasn't even at Jon's any earlier than I was last week! Thanks, strollers and walkers which got on AND off before I left the bus at 16th! /sarcasm Yes, of course they're obviously entitled to use the bus (as are wheelchairs) - I was just glad I left a few minutes earlier than I did last week.

Beckett was sleeping when I got there; Ayler and Hiero were playing that Emoji Memory card game that I bought, so I got an answer to the question I asked Jon about what they do when the baby is supposed to be sleeping. Otherwise, I'd have asked the kids myself. Hiero tried making up his own rules: "No touching cards that other people have touched!" (which is totally nonsense for a MEMORY CARD game) and how you can shoot people who are already dead. I said those weren't fair! (they won the game and I lost - whatever) Ayler was sick because of some heatstroke at the Langley berry farm yesterday. We had a dinner of various things: macaroni and cheese, ribs, pizza, cold noodles, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and more. Discussed power-washing balconies, Hiero spilling almond milk on the floor and my black Secret socks (I had fun telling them that I can make up my own rules too, like I can pause dinner to put on their dad's holey socks and wash my hands), some salad Mom gave them which expires today (I didn't want it to take home - so Harma tossed it), and how we shouldn't shoot people at the dinner table.

Beckett ate a bit of stuff, but was pretty much done fairly soon into his "meal." I had fun hanging out with him afterwards, though, even if he threw balls all over the place. He has new colorful soft ones, which are probably better for the downstairs neighbors complaining about everything. He seemed to like the new penguin, at least. I let him climb on me because it's cute, but watched to make sure he didn't fall off the couch or anything. The balcony is effectively closed off to him because of a rather interesting arrangement of chairs and other things. PHEW! I think he had fun chewing on his Christmas board books, too.

I left at 8 after doing some STAR WARS STORMTROOPERS summer reading with the kids, after Hiero had to go to a separate room because he was hugging a whimpering Beckett, and after I had grabbed Beckett before he got to the kids' jigsaw puzzle / after he invaded the washroom while Hiero was in the shower. I sent Mike a quick message ("thanks for the great fish head idea, Uncle Mike - says Nephew") using the Save-On wi-fi at the bus stop - thank goodness I didn't just miss the 3 Marine Drive bus! The bus driver didn't create a delay this time, but instead it was an old guy who was slow in even using his wheelchair to get on AND off the bus! Yup, he is totally entitled to use the buses (and it could be me one day), but be reasonably fast about it - come on now, other people have connections to make!

At the station, I quickly went to T&T to look for (and get) some quirky Lays chips for Rachel - Numb and Spicy Hot Pot, Wasabi, and Kimchi! I should get the Deep-Ridged ones next time: Spicy Chicken and Pork! Thank goodness I managed to get the Brighouse train home within two minutes of getting to the train area, and I FINALLY got home at 9! Thanks to the delays, I was able to text both Paulo and both Erics in detail. The toilet STILL wasn't fixed, so I had to consult V4F and then use buckets for filling up the tank. Sigh... I guess I'll have to call Hester tomorrow morning. No melatonin tonight...


From Youtube: Betty Gray and Reeda Roundy?! BAD SPELLING OF RITA! Come on, people!