Tatiana's Wanderings

I set up a WhatsApp video call with Steph for this afternoon, and she called at 4:50 when they were eating dinner. Henry and Fraser were having broccoli and toast and some veggies, and wanted to show me how scary they were by pretending to be dinosaurs. I said I was a dragon and asked Henry if I could eat him because little boys would taste delicious! He said no, and wanted Steph to hold onto him when he was eating - or at least hold on to Lisa's hand. Steph introduced me to their NEW dog in a cage, exactly two months old (March 6) today - a black furry Newfie named Walter. Havarti isn't too impressed and is crochety about it, but she'll get used to things eventually. We ended the call at about 2:15, which is fine... talked about a LOT of coronavirus cases in Ontario, baking, Fraser doing puzzles and drawings, online reading programs with Miss Amber, and going out to shop about once a week or so. Since Steph and Lisa can both go out once a week, that's what they do!

After yesterday's ma-fan, I decided it was best to clean the toilet and then take a shower now that I'm feeling way more like myself. Way later on, I decided to spontaneously call Jon's crew at about 6:10. They sounded like they were eating dinner themselves! Ayler conducted most of the phone call, asking what time Lisa went to bed, and saying that they'd called Steph at 8 last time. Their cousins were in bed, though. After asking if I was watching a video game and how much of them I watched, he again told me not to watch too many videos. It's what everyone is doing now! You'd have some REALLY bored people otherwise! Hiero wouldn't talk to me except to say "LICK MY BUM!" Wow...

I asked how Jon would teach his piano students - online, Jon said, since Ayler missed the question. I mentioned meeting Ayler's piano student friend Ethan and of course the infamous Dean about two months ago. (only because Beckett ALWAYS thinks it's him whenever people came over) Hiero was getting Beckett to say "urine" and then "lick my bum"... of course, they all scream-sang "LICK MY BUN!" at me. Ayler asked if I could hear them - yes, I could hear them very well. I told them not to teach Beckett how to swear - they'd DEFINITELY get LOOKS if a kid who's not even two years old just busted out swear words in public! Jon said they don't, which is a good thing! Ayler said their neighborhood had O CANADA, smoke, and lots of music. Mine just has (unmarked) police cars, ambulances, a fire truck sometimes, and car alarms now. Yes, people come out as well. We set up the next talk time for Saturday afternoon POST-teaching online.


I got this virtual gift in my journal for LJ's 21st anniversary! 1999 to 2020!




From Dragon Art Gallery: A red dragon with a skull and an ornate window!




From Dragons: A purple dragon with claws!




From Dragons: A mirror decorated with brown dragons!




From Dragons: A brown dragon and a huge coffee mug!




From Julie: A brown dragon breathing frost or ice! Or it is a water fountain!

Ayler called me at 3 to talk about Beckett going around with a blanket on his head (the same one that Hiero pulled off - and then Hiero was upset for five minutes), playing a six-page version of PACHELBEL'S CANON which took seven minutes to complete, knowing a couple of six-syllable words ("onomatopoeia" and "responsibility"), his doing online school tomorrow, Beckett's boh-boh and eggs, talking to his list of people (Uncle Joe / Auntie Wing Yee / Eric / Randal / Jeremy), his liking to talk (I can tell!), and their lunch of tuna melts. He said he goes outside and likes to play tag if he can, but plays CONNECT FOUR inside, and also reads books and keeps Beckett safe when he can. I told him that his pieces were nice (except for Hiero / Beckett crying - which he said "sorry" for later), and thanked him for playing... also when he played the Willowbrook Waltz.

He gave me his grandparents' phone numbers, said that he had reached me first before I called them, and described a magic trick he could do in person. I heard Beckett say "Auntie," so I told HIM that as soon as I can, I will go over there so we can hang out. Ayler asked how old the oldest man was, since the oldest woman ever was 122 years old. I looked it up: 116 years old ever, and a man was JUST awarded a Guinness World Record for being 112 years old. Ayler asked whether Jeanne Calment had been in good health - well, she did smoke a lot (being in France) and ate tons of chocolate, but other than that, I guess so. Ayler told me that he liked being creative and writing stories - awesome! I should tell him about my "goat royalty" stories as a kid around his age, haha.

He asked me whether I had allergies because of the cherry blossoms and spring; I told him that I did not, but I was apparently very lucky. Harmony had told him that I was born prematurely - I am a dragon like he is, which is why I gave him the red-and-yellow stuffed dragon that Beckett has in his crib now. Hiero is a Snake, and Beckett is a Dog. I told him that learning was a good thing, while he wondered if my clock did minutes and seconds - apparently, he tells Jeremy what time it is and counts it up!

He asked me whether I knew that his dad's "special sleep window" was 11:30 PM to 3 AM, since that's when Jon can sleep best. Haha, no! I do not currently have trouble sleeping, so that's good. He ended the call at 4:05 or so, during which I could hear Jon in the background, so he was home then. We can talk next on Wednesday after his online school and everything else - no, I'm not likely to be available before then at 8:45 AM! He told me, "I'm glad you're alive because then I can talk to you, and you can take care of us. If you die, my dad will be the oldest, right?" HAHAHAHA!


Nacho tombstone?!

Jon sent me a Facebook message at 8:50 AM to wonder if I could come over at 2:15 today instead because Harmony had to pick up Hiero from school and actually wanted to be on time, and Ayler wasn't feeling well. I assumed I had to hold down the fort there, especially when he called a few minutes later after I'd already sent my reply to ask if they were puking or loopy, so I agreed. Then Barry left me a voicemail, but I delete those, so I called him back to find out that he wanted to move grocery shopping to Thursday instead of tomorrow. What did they do - leave the messages and then run away within two seconds?! Sheesh!

Later, I had some New England Clam Chowder today for National New England Clam Chowder Day, right when Harmony sent me a text wondering if I could come slightly earlier. That's on the buses, not on me! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 1 on an 401 to help with the kids, just missing the early C94 and the early 407. The 3 was seven minutes LATE at Marine Drive Station! GEEZ! I finally got to Jon's at 2:15 - so much for shortly BEFORE that time! At least there were no random two-minute stops along the route, wheelchair / stroller delays, or elevator shenanigans today!

When I got there, Harmony and Beckett left within five minutes, but Beckett did show me his Gorilla Munch cereal, which were indeed balls! He also showed me a huge yellow Blockbuster chip bowl and the blue tub, which he had fun with later. It was good to have some time alone with Ayler, who thinks that I won't get what he has because his dad said so. Haha, I wish germs and viruses worked that way! We talked about Fraser, Henry, racetracks, the school secretary, no nurses at the school, Harmony just driving to the school today (walking 30 blocks in the rain with a toddler in a carrier?!), my phone photos and calculating how many seconds were in a year by using the Calculator app, hand sanitizer, texting, oranges, what it meant when you vomited, water, and reading some children's Bible stories like the Good Samaritan / the Feeding of the 5000 with fish and loaves / Daniel in the lion's den. He wanted to teach Beckett about word patterns and especially the word "gun" since Beckett will repeat anything. Uncle Joe has taught him "hit your butt!" in Cantonese since it's funny.

Everyone else came home at 3:40 (thus ending our freedom to talk), and Beckett had fun with his toys and plopping into my lap to "read" the summertime book and the Christmas piano book cover because he saw "balls" (ornaments) on there. No wonder the piano had wings - there was Santa in his sleigh, too! I gave Hiero his birthday card, which he seemed to like - he also was enamored with the Creature toy I'd given him on Sunday. Hiero opened all the rest of his birthday presents - turned out that Mom had forgotten to write in the birthday card she gave him, but had also given them a pack of Ontrue seaweed in the regular flavor! He also got at least four Lego sets, a PAW PATROL puzzle set, a science toy, and Rain or Shine ice cream gift cards! His friend Leanne gave him three gifts - WOW! Beckett stood on top of a puzzle box (and wanted some grey robot toys - saying "MINE!" when they were Hiero's), and I accidentally squished the Lego STAR WARS box.

We had peas and macaroni in soup with some grapes, cherry tomatoes, and sticky rice while discussing last week's snow and other things. Ayler said the soup was salty, but it really wasn't - it was really bland and just what you might want if you were sick with tummy upset. Beckett threw cheese and some other things on the floor, but liked his cereal as usual - and smiled BIG for the Vitamin D tablets! I had some leftover cheesecake while the kids had some orange Jello which was rather liquidy in consistency! Hiero did some "home reading" with me - but I had to sound out words and make sure he knew what was going on. Beckett and I played with balls, the stacking blocks ("doggy!"), and the toy train which can zoom on the wooden floor. When I showed him my doggy slipper socks from Grandma Joan, he sniffed them and played around with the "ears" - silly kid!

Just as I was about to leave at 7:25 (with Beckett saying "BYE BYE!" in a serious manner a few times), Ayler vomited on the bathroom floor and surrounding floor area! Yes, I could stay even later because that had happened and Harmony had to do clean-up. She barricaded the area with a garbage can and laundry basket, while I made sure Beckett stayed on the mat. That meant he could read even more, relax with the blanket, look out the window at the lights, and call the new 3-D Glowing Planets "boh-boh"! When Hiero took things like the action figures away from Beckett, he cried - so of course I gave him some hugs and told him that his brother was terrible! Lately, Beckett has learned the word "help" and is using it in the proper context instead of just pointing at things and vocalizing - good job! He usually needs it to get balls out from under the couch, or to get balls out from small boxes and blocks!

Turns out Ayler requested that I stay to watch him eat his banana and drink some water while Harmony bathed everyone else. Sure, why not? We talked about applesauce, tuna NOT being part of the BRAT diet, the school having a janitor / custodian at least, my opinion that he should probably stay home, math, "my baby" being Beckett, Beckett's talking in his sleep (to say "please" and other simple words), and more things. I finally left at 8:10 (encountering an Evo driver who liked driving on the sidewalk...) and got home at 9:35 on a 407. PHEW! Extended Nephew Time on BOTH ends of the time spectrum!


Campbell's clam chowder and a Nature Valley granola bar for National New England Clam Chowder Day and National Granola Bar Day!




From Julie M. and Etsy: A dragon agate necklace!




VIGOROUS DRAGON AND LIVELY TIGER artwork at the hospital across the street - YAY FOR DRAGONS!




VIGOROUS DRAGON AND LIVELY TIGER, by Shirley Chiang, donated in 2015!




From Dragons: A red dragon with piles of books in a castle! INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

The Canucks played Los Angeles tonight at 7, and s.


From Female Killers / DEADLY WOMEN: LaFonda Fay Foster?!




Ronkeya Holmes, MaSarah Holmes, and Torea Spohr?! Ronkeya's mom is named Edith and her sister is named Angel, which are NORMAL!

I went to the eye clinic at 9:45 on a 401 (which I got just in time) for the six-week followup today at 10:45 after COFFEE TIME (20/30 vision is a good improvement even if I can't read fine print), then had lunch at Yaohan before seeing Rachel at the Caring Place for the last time. At Brighouse, I encountered a rude wheelchair old man idiot who assumed I was cutting him off at the fare gates - nope, I'm just faster than you, and other people also have places to go! He should also watch what he says and isn't the only person entitled to the fare gates. Any empathy I might have had for him having only one leg was just drained in that moment.

Dr. Wise recommended cheap reading glasses for now since my eyes still look healthy, and wants me to come back in six months on January 3. I went to Yaohan and killed the memory dragon of messaging people on the 6 Davie / 6 Downtown bus routes. Got beef internal noodles with wonton for lunch, and Lays lime chips / Lays cucumber chips in big bags for Rachel, Campbell's mushroom soup x2, a NEW on-sale Double-Ridged Lays chips package in Spicy Chicken and BBQ Pork (two each), MyKuali Penang Red Tom Yum Goong noodles, and NEW MyKuali spicy prawn noodles at Osaka Supermarket.

After the wrap-up session, I briefly went to Shoppers to buy on-sale Ben and Jerry's IF I HAD A MILLION FLAVORS and PEANUT BUTTER HALF-BAKED ice cream for Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day on July 1 coming up! No more frozen items until I eat some - the freezer can't fit anything else except air molecules! Got home at 4:25 on a 407, which is totally fine. Then I took a shower and discovered that Jon had made a reservation under his name at the Lion's Den for Randal's birthday on Sunday at 6. Nice!


Beef internal noodles with wonton at Wah Yuen Noodle House in Yaohan!




Lays Double-Ridged chips: Spicy Chicken!




Lays Double-Ridged chips: BBQ Pork!




MyKuali Penang Spicy Prawn noodles!




From Pete and THUNK: Happy Tau Day on June 28! 6.283185... Celebrate by eating TWO pies! Double Pi Day!




From Ryan: The person who would proofread Hitler's speeches was the first Grammar Nazi.




Mallex Smith?!




Wynter Turner is a basketball player for the Stanislaus State Warriors?! BAD SPELLING OF WINTER!