Tatiana's Wanderings

I got roped into going to a Chinese New Year dinner tonight by Jon's text... so I had to shower, have COFFEE TIME, and give up a few hours of alone time! Left at 4:30 on a 407, and then got to Kwong Chow at 5:35 or so. We talked about the new coronavirus, my reading about Lego Ninjago to Hiero, Ayler asking me weird questions (and soaking up his 90 seconds of screen time with the All-Star Game), Beckett imitating his brother doing an angry face and waving his finger around (so funny!), Beckett saying "yeah" to some stuff (but probably not knowing what it means), Beckett saying MINE! about the plastic bowl from the restaurant, Beckett noticing my bling on my red shirt ("Boh-boh! Auntie!"), and my getting some leftovers AND $10 in lucky money.

I JUST MISSED THE 3 BUS GOING ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE RESTAURANT AT 7:30! Then I had to wait 25 minutes for the next one, then was waiting for at least 45 minutes for info about a 407 not coming at Brighouse. Turns out there was plenty of police activity across the street at Moore's clothing store, which was cordoned off with crime scene tape - the street was blocked off, too. Nobody else knew what was going on since my text alerts only said "detour on X streets" (and NOT WHY) and someone else's app was wildly inaccurate as to where the next bus was. Someone else smelled gas, so figured it was a gas leak - a bus driver FINALLY confirmed it. A poor girl had been waiting for an hour by the time we got confirmed info! I texted Paulo, Eric M., and Harma about it, finally got home at 9:40 on the THIRD 401 I saw, and had to change the CFL light bulb in my living room because it fizzled out!


From Cuya and Twitter: Happy Chinese New Year 2020 with rats, mandarin oranges, and flowers!




From Julie: Happy Chinese New Year 2020 with a rat, lanterns, and flower!




( Food! Happy Chinese New Year 2020 with rats and lanterns! )

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 2:50 on a 401 to help with the kids. I would have taken the earlier 401, but someone took FIVE MINUTES to maneuver a wheelchair into that bus! I don't expect people to be extremely fast when it comes to that, but I always appreciate the actual wheelchair users who are fast and efficient movers when they see others are waiting! (she was... not, and held up everyone else) There went any extra time I had to buy lotion and dish soap at Shoppers! At Marine Drive, I actually managed to get a 3 within a few minutes, which was amazing! No incessant talker today, thank goodness. Finally got to the apartment at about 4:10 in the rain, and Beckett was sitting on the mat and waiting for me - so cute! I gave the kids some Mars bars and Coffin Crisp plus a Christmas card later on. Hiero confused a CARD for a CAR, asking me where the Christmas CAR was, hahaha! Harmony set him straight, though. (my phone had randomly saved photos of Beckett eating out of a pot earlier, hahaha)

Ayler and Hiero did origami / cut-out snowflake crafts at the table after one too many "no scissors on the ground" directives that got ignored, so Beckett and I spent our time rolling balls to each other / being distracted by "boh-boh" (the bling on my white sweater AND the pom-pom on my Santa hat, which he batted around at times) / "reading" books while sitting on my lap (he picked up "yummy" from me!) / his giving me his blocks and balls and emotion eggs / his saying "yeah" to my simple questions of whether HE would get the balls instead of me (but he didn't) / his knowing where my fuzzy purple winter coat was with all the big buttons. Harmony said that balls were his very favorite thing in the whole wide world, which I can believe! (LOTS OF ALLITERATION!) She'd taken him across the street since there was a Christmas tree with lots of ornaments, and he'd loved seeing all the "boh-boh!" He also wanted to look out the window, but was stymied by the Venetian blind being down, and thus blocking his view. His other window was blocked off by chairs and couches, but he managed to throw balls in that restricted area, which I of course got out for him.

We had pork and mushroom jong (sticky rice) with garlic, cherry tomatoes, gai lan, and water for dinner. Beckett actually ate more than usual, but Harmony thought that was down to the sticky rice, some of which did fall in his bib, but luckily did not smear or smudge on my Heat Holders socks! Ayler told me that he had a Christmas concert next week, and a winter party because his class had received a lot of points to go towards one. NICE! I asked if he was going to have ornaments, but he says no because it's not Christmas. That made sense, I told him. After they learned about butterflies and cocoons and the chrysalis, Ayler wanted to hug me! I said that he could hug me, paused, and added "only if you want to." He did! That was amazing!

Ayler and Hiero didn't like it when Beckett climbed on them, but he's so light! While Harmony was out of the room for a bit, Ayler told me that he gets screen time at school (as does Hiero), and his mom doesn't like it. I had to laugh, since I could see this coming years ago! When I left the apartment at 7:50 (so late!), Harmony said that Beckett had called me "Attie," and he called me that again while pointing to me. HE KNOWS WHO I AM AND WHAT MY NAME IS - SO CUTE!Hiero told me seriously that his school friend knows Punjabi and she wanted to teach him some language skills - good for them! Harmony wanted to know if I could come on Friday the 13th, so I said yes. As it turned out, I hope fervently that I used up ALL my "bad luck" tonight - I kept on missing trains and buses galore! EVERY SINGLE ONE! I got home at 10, which is pretty fucking late!


From Reddit: For the first time since January 10th, 2006 (which was also a Tuesday), the Vancouver Canucks will finally host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 PM PST. The Canucks played Toronto tonight at 7, and lost 4-1. UGH!


Random stuff from the family: Novelty HOT FLASHES socks from Hatley, Ontrue roasted seaweed in Wasabi flavor, a pink "XXL" Xi Fu Fen pajama set (more like Small), a light brown Rice Balls (actual brand name) sweater with purple stars from Korea, and a 52mL tube of Colgate MaxFresh Knock Out toothpaste.


From Julie: When you're washing the dishes and the water hits a spoon! WATER IN YOUR FACE AND ON YOUR CLOTHES!




Snowflake art on the bedroom door!




Hiero insisted on having a green heart on the bathroom door! No double-sided arrow, however!




Ontrue seasoned and roasted seaweed in Wasabi flavor! Thanks, Mom and Dad!




Red bling shirt for Christmastime!




White bling sweater for Christmastime!




SANTA HAT TIME!




Thanks for the Hatley socks for my non-existent HOT FLASHES, Jon and Harmony...




A Rice Balls brown sweater made in Korea... thanks for the Engrish, Mom and Dad!

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:05 on a 401 to help with the kids. I stopped by Kam Do Bakery briefly to get a sandwich-like bun, and finally came away with a ham and cheese bun for $2. Despite the train just coming into Brighouse station right when I got to the crosswalk, I just missed it because the traffic light refused to change for half a minute - UGH! I did have time to wait in the lineup at Tim Horton's for a $1.25 Double Chocolate doughnut for National Doughnut Day today, and had enough time to take a photo of that and the bun before I ate the doughnut prior to leaving the store and taking the 3. Once I got to Harmony's, I buzzed into the building, but got no answer, even from that cranky guy of last week. After TEXTING HER without a reply, I sighed and tried buzzing AGAIN - THIS TIME, I FINALLY got a response!

Slightly irritated, I took the elevator up to find that Penny was the likely reason for my delay, and I waited while she finished talking to Harmony before leaving the apartment. Beckett was definitely awake, and seemed interested in the small buttons on Grandma's purple wintry warm Alia coat, so I told him what they were. He also liked the black fuzz! Beckett still likes looking out the window, but he pointed at something outside (maybe the street lights) and spouted random gibberish at me, to which I responded as if it were understandable. He's picked up the word "yeah" and said that a number of times. I didn't care if he wanted to poke his fingers in the holes at the bottom of the baby pop-up toy and "new" light-up toy from Holly! When he wanted to walk, I supported him by holding his hands up high, like I had with Ayler and Hiero. He threw blocks at me when he wasn't attempting to fit them in the holes in the lid ("Na na na NA NAAAAAAA!" when he wanted me to take off the circular lid so he could see where they landed), tried clawing my eyes out (no glasses protection this time!), and pulled off my light winter hat - I made him look at me while I told him NO THROWING!

He seemed slightly interested in the bling on my shiny red bling sweater, and burrowed himself in an embarrassing position on the mat. Hiero wanted me to "fight" him with his long paper lightsabers, but I had to keep an eye on Beckett. We had mesquite smoky bean soup with bacon and kale, grapes, and some cheese that the older kids helped to grate. Beckett scrunched up his face and grinned at us - SO CUTE! When he didn't want to eat anymore, he started to throw food at us - I even got a bonus Cheerio in my soup! (none of his Rice Krispies!) Harmony said that he's different with Jon, who does pretty much the same thing that she does to try getting him to eat. At least I finished before he ate any yogurt; yikes! Ayler and Hiero talked about taking ALL the grapes before I could have any, ding-dongs, what happened if the principal was away (they don't have a vice-principal at that school?!), the "Jingle bells - Batman smells - Robin laid an egg" song, my Coffin Crisp fun-size bars with skeletons and spiders, calcium / iron / vitamins / sugar, my going to Ontario by myself, FOUGHT being the past tense of "fight," math quizzes being verboten at dinner (even though 16 + 6 is simple), and new therapy.

Once Beckett had been put down to sleep, I read more pig and elephant stories (yay for my different voices!) / AMELIA BEDELIA / Invisible Boy stories to Ayler and Hiero. I reminded Hiero to do something, and Ayler pushed him towards the bathroom, which made Hiero upset and crying. Geez! Harmony let me go at 7:35 and said that she hoped the transit strike didn't affect me too much, I just managed to get a 3 to Marine Drive Station (which STILL stopped for two minutes at 41st!), some lady was standing RIGHT in my way in front of a seat on the Brighouse train I DID get, and I got home at 8:35 on a 407. I updated Mike via text, although I bet he didn't have much time to read. The Canucks played St. Louis tonight at 7, and lost 2-1 in overtime despite a big goal from our rookie Quinn Hughes...


From Julie: Me whenever I meet someone who can match my dark sense of humor and sarcasm... "You're full of hate and loathing and I love it."




Double Chocolate doughnut for National Doughnut Day today, plus a ham and cheese bun from Kam Do Bakery for a late National Sandwich Day on November 3. This slightly ruined my appetite for an early dinner at 5:30, but whatever.




Watermelon tea towel in the bathroom at my brother's place.




This unscented lotion is for EVERYONE, Mike!

I left for baby Henry's 100 Day-ish celebration at Western Lake Restaurant at 4 today. I thought that was early, but considering that I had to wait a bit for the 33 bus to 29th Avenue across the street from King Edward Station, that was okay. Thank goodness that Victoria is a major street! When I got to the restaurant, most people were there already, but whatever. I got to sit at a table with Fraser, Lisa, Harmony, Ayler, Hiero, and Steph's trainer plus her family. Of course I said hi to Melia (I didn't know she worked in the Minoru area!), Angus, Dawn, Eni, Michelle, Daniel, Denise, Margaret, Eunice (who hugged me hello), Chelsea (who hugged me goodbye), her husband Nick, Auntie Christine, Uncle Reuben, Uncle Y.C., Auntie Catherine, Auntie May, Auntie Eva, Auntie Gloria, and Uncle Richard! I managed to put my oversized Santa hat on Henry before eating, haha.

We had a ten-course Chinese meal... SO FULL on fish, veggies (pea tips / carrots / broccoli), shrimp, lettuce wraps, duck meat soup (or whatever replaced shark fin soup), crispy duck, chicken, crab, rice, and tapioca dessert! Fraser was distracted by my bling-bling sweater, for which Lisa blessed me. He named all the colors correctly! Hiero said "no" to the question of whether I was a girl, so I guess I'm a boy by default. Could be worse! Harmony offered to drop me off at a Canada Line station later, so I accepted. She also told me to watch Ayler while she took Hiero to the washroom, but he was all preoccupied with counting the squares on a pillar anyway, so I didn't really need to. Of course I said bye to Steph, Lisa, Fraser, and Henry before leaving! Ayler said that SOMETHING was hurting after being buckled into his carseat... good to know, haha. Thanks to Harmony dropping me off half a block from Oakridge Mall with my leftovers, I got home at 8:05 on a 407 which I only had to wait a few minutes for at Brighouse. The Canucks played St. Louis at 7 tonight. I got home when it was the second period, and the game went to overtime, where Vancouver lost 4-3.

THIS ENTRY IS ALLOWED TO HAVE NON-ALIGNED TAGS.


Zachary Paul added me on Facebook - DENIED!


I got most of these from The Blog of Funny Names!

Cordrea Tankersley?! He also has a brother named Cordarius...




( Vidaunte Taco Charlton, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Cooper Kupp, Praise Martin-Oguike, Budda Baker, Channing Stribling, Tau Lotulelai, Leo Koloamatangi, Phazahn Odom, Obi Melinfonwu, Amba Etta-Tawo, JuJu Schuster-Smith, Takkarist McKinley, Pita Taumoepenu )