Tatiana's Wanderings

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! )

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! )

Beckett crawled over to me to say hi - CUTE! After COFFEE TIME, I left at 3:15 on a 401 to help with the kids. I got to Marine Drive Station very early, thanks to no stupid delays! Went to T&T to look for hot and sour soup mix (why don't they have any?!), but did get NEW Clear Lime Coca-Cola and NEW Coffee Plus Coca-Cola. Then I went to Shoppers for a box of Peaches and Cream oatmeal for National Oatmeal Day later. Got to Harmony's at 4:45 or so after receiving a call and a text saying they were home now even if I'd tried buzzing in earlier - I was literally walking to her place! When I got in, I heard an awake Beckett, so I mentioned that in a normal volume. Beckett then crawled to me to say hi since he recognized my voice, which is cute!

I played with him for 15 minutes before dinner; he climbed on me (so I took the opportunity for a hug), laughed at the baby pop-up toy, and then was bothering Ayler and Hiero when it was reading time for PLANETS and SUPERMAN. Beckett doesn't know any better - he's a baby, and he's curious about what we're doing! Someone had a tantrum, and Hiero hit me with his fist. What?! Ayler and Hiero also insisted that origami was a bathroom activity - okay, then!

When Beckett was upset later because I took a toy away from an "unsafe" area (not the mat), I took the opportunity for another hug. We had slightly spicy meatball chili, cornbread with butter and honey, beans, and some other stuff for dinner. I said maybe I'd bring crackers next time so Beckett could eat something, and Hiero actually remembered that he'd double-fisted Swiss Cheese crackers recently! Ha, that had been pretty funny! I did get Beckett to "read" word books later, and he was having such a good time with that and his favorite colored ball that he was upset when Harmony took him away from me to sleep.

I left at 7:10 or so since Beckett had had a three-hour nap earlier and Harmony just put him down early for the night shift. Amazingly, there were no delays on the return trip to Marine Drive Station, but I still wanted to get home before 10 PM if possible. I used the 20-minute time between 407 buses to use the wifi at Richmond Centre and text Chinese Eric about tomorrow... then I got home at 8:35! Pretty early! I also tried emailing Jeremy from my phone to wish him a happy birthday on the day, but no go; I did that when I got home instead! Then I found out that all my Facebook accounts can't tag people in photos - WHAT THE FUCK?! Tried clearing my cookies and browsing data, but that didn't work! I was way overdue for that if it had 80,000 items, anyhow. NO MORE JIMMY! Now I gotta sleep because my body is screaming EYESTRAIN at me in a way I haven't had since a week and a half after my eye surgery!


My skeleton and candy corn Ugly Halloween Sweater: GET FREAKY!




( More Halloween and amusements! )

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!

Are You a Brownie or a Cookie?

You Are A Cookie!



You are an independent and versatile person. You can roll with life's changes quite well.
You are resilient and optimistic. You see the glass of milk as half full, even if you've been burned before.

You are big on boundaries - what's yours is yours, and you aren't about to share what you have your heart set on.
That being said, you do live a life of abundance and have extra on hand for others. Who ever bakes just one cookie?


Are You Middle Class?

You Are Not Middle Class!



When it comes to social status, you are an outlier. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all.
You may be upper class or even out of sight rich - in which case, congratulations to you!

You may be working class or even poor, and that’s fine as well. Maybe you’re still working your way up in the world.
Or another possibility is that you’re just not willing to play the status game. No matter what, people wouldn’t call you average!


What's Your Muslim Name?

Your Muslim Name Is: Saesha Zeba!



Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith.


Are You a Hipster or a Yuppie?

You Are A Hipster!



You like the best things in life, but they aren't always the finest things in life. You value quality and craftsmanship.
You are an artsy person, and you're always dabbling in something. You're too creative to be a straight up consumer.

You are the type who is cool without trying. You just seem to sense a trend is in the air before it becomes mainstream.
You probably wouldn't call yourself a hipster, but you know deep down that you're a little hip. It's just effortless for you.


What's Your Love Language?

Your Love Language is Quality Time!



For you, the best things about love are indeed free. You just simply like being with your partner.
You'd think that time together would be the easiest thing in the world, but true quality time is a rare gift... one you totally appreciate.

You love to receive a little undivided attention. No devices allowed! You value time just talking and connecting with your sweetie.
Even making dinner together and watching a movie can be an amazing night for you. It's all about the company!

I called Chrystal at work at 1:10 yesterday to remind her about last night, being honest about how July 12 (next Thursday) was actually just a consultation and not an actual surgery. "SHE BAMBOOZLED ME! NO!" Hahaha! While power-walking through the building and down the stairs, I saw Mr. Creep on his way up the stairs! UGH! I just managed to get to the C94 bus stop from Brighouse library before the shuttle bus got there! Then I had to wait ten minutes for the next Canada Line train at Brighouse, but managed to see Chrystal at the Broadway London Drugs. We went to Chipotle and talked about baby Beckett (my newest nephew!), my upcoming cataract consultation on Burrard, Emily's new baby Benjamin (Chrystal's newest nephew!), my therapy, my messy steak burrito in a bowl, my walking in on someone in the public washroom because SHE forgot to lock the door, my computer upgrade, her parents sharing a smartphone, my parents being millennial phone zombies in senior citizens' bodies, smartphones, the rain then, and more.

After that, she went to No Frills to meet her dad while I went back to London Drugs to look for gum tubs. I couldn't find them on my own, so had to ask the employees for help. The Dentyne gum was on $2.99 sale this week, so I grabbed a Dentyne Ice Avalanche 60-piece tub, hoping that THIS one wouldn't be soft. (I tested it later at the Canada Line station, and it thankfully was FINE! I lost the Excel gum lottery TWICE IN A ROW!) I also got an on-sale bag of Brookside blackberry and honey chocolates as a thank-you for Eric today if his fix worked. If it didn't, the chocolate was still in my preferred form of bites instead of tablets! Haha! I got home at 9:55 in the pouring rain because I had JUST missed the 401 / 407 buses at Brighouse, forcing me to wait an additional half an hour. After writing some notes to myself, I went to bed at 11.

I got up at 6 AM, decided to get some more rest, and got up for good at 10:45. Then I noticed that Eric had called at 10:25, so I called him back. He'd been out and wanted to see if he could fix my monitor, but he guessed he could go out again. In the 15 minutes available to me, I brushed my teeth / washed my face / took my multivitamin / took my Kraft Dinner White Cheddar macaroni and cheese plus Brookside chocolates out for Macaroni Day and Chocolate Day today / took Eric's Brookside Chocolates out / tidied up my computer desk area. Eric arrived at 11 with an extra BENQ monitor that used to be his dad Ron's, and was able to plug in my current monitor while cleaning it with Windex!

He looked up Electronics Return-It centres, and found that the Blundell one should be open on Saturdays, so took out my two old hard drives and old monitor, and accepted my chocolate as a thank-you while never guessing the CREEP that I saw at the library yesterday. Eric did say that he thought it was the circuits or something from the monitor itself. After a while, I went to Brighouse library on the C94 at 3:20 in order to hopefully get the Facebook status tagging backlog done using their IP address. IT WORKED BEFORE CLOSING TIME AT 5! I was in time for the 4:45 C94 on the way back to Brighouse Station, and was finally home at 5 on a 407.


Edit at 7:30! I finally got Mom on the phone to see if they had a floor lamp while I remembered BEFORE lunch on Monday. She said "of course," and at least clarified what I meant. Yes, one that is on the living room floor, NOT one for the bedroom! (which I wouldn't even call a floor lamp, but anyway...) At least now I can be picked up at 11:30 in the courtyard instead of having to leave 45 minutes early because of bus schedules! She said stuff about a used vacuum cleaner which still works for $10 at the thrift shop, a toaster, my pre-surgery consultation (which I told her FOUR TIMES that I had rescheduled for July 26 - their moving date), Auntie Wing Yee and Uncle Joe moving in with Holly / Peter / Evander / Everett in Steveston, Jon and Harmony maybe needing help on Thursday because the lards will get their Burnaby keys then, and eye care.


Chipotle steak burrito!




60-piece Dentyne Ice Avalanche gum!




From Julie: Travers Mackel?! Reminds me of Kim Traverse from elementary school...

I FOUND A SMALL BONE IN MY PASTA EARLIER! WHAT THE FUCK?!


From the r/hockey Discord server: Radee Labeeb Prince?!




From Sara and r/surrealmemes: The Demicolon!