Tatiana's Wanderings

From James: Well, I'm sold. HOW TO SLEEP is the best fucking book ever! Being me, I had to edit a comma in with MS Paint.




From the comments on a Nav photo on Feb. 4, 2019: "Nice" should NOT be spelled as NYC! I know typing on mobile is a pain in the ass, but that's a simple word which comes up on your suggestions! NYC makes me think of New York City! Navjot, Vishal, and Gagan are stupid!




From the comments on a Nav photo on Feb. 4, 2019: Mandeep Singh?! I know Mandeep is a legitimate Indian name, but I just go to sex immaturity with that one!

I showered and then had to do MORE laundry on the third floor because my grey sweatshirt somehow got damp from laying it on the carpet!

Edit at 12:10 AM - Paulo came over at 11:55, and has already found TWO dead mice on glue traps in the corner! No wonder I smelled something decomposing last week! I also got him to replace my old shower curtain from 2010 or so, since it had mold. We talked about the Canadian coronavirus cases, and there are a lot in Quebec and Ontario! There are definitely ten cases at Richmond Hospital, from what he's been told! Everything has indeed been shut down - not even the families can visit because they'll go outside and pick up germs, which won't be very good for those patients! He recommended I replace my Splashee Softee taupe bath mat since the tread seems to be gone, and I might slip. Probably a good idea for the future! I should have gotten him to check the other corner, but things seem okay right now. I definitely had rubber gloves, Kleenex, plastic bags, and a garbage bag at the ready! When he left just now, I thanked him.


Splash foliage shower curtain!




A full view of a Splash EVA foliage shower curtain!




( FOOD! MUGS! )

It's International Bacon Day today!


After COFFEE TIME, Eric picked me up at 12:05 for the wedding. Chinese Eric had texted him "hey" and nothing else, so Eric asked me to see what was up with that. Apparently, he'd asked him whether he'd picked me up yet. The wedding was very religious and traditional on Religion Road at Fujian Evangelical Free Church. I was glad to see Jeremy and Nate at least! Yes, things were relatively quick, but COME ON!

Later, I learned that Jon insisted that we all have lunch at Four Winds Pub in Delta - REALLY? (me, him, both Erics, Nathan, Jeremy, and Wesley) Why didn't you let someone know BEFORE I LEFT THE FUCKING HOUSE?! THAT'S the problem with spontaneity! I did NOT eat anything (the burritos were huge though!), and was very fucking annoyed with everyone - so just read and did not say much of anything. At least I got to talk to Nathan alone for a few minutes about his present feelings on weddings after all that had happened. He had had to do Citrus's wedding afterwards, but said that now it was okay, and thanked me for asking.

After that, SOMEONE also wanted to go for good coffee at Rocanini's in Steveston - can't you think of what I want for once?! We talked about everyone staring at their phone - I was trying to bang out a relatively quick message to Mike with the reliable wi-fi while we were there. THEN we decamped to white Eric's, where Veronica had kindly set up a table and chairs for us in the backyard before going to Van Dusen Gardens with Ron. At least I had water and ginger ale throughout the afternoon.

When we finally got to the restaurant, the parkade proved to be pretty confusing! I was at a table with everyone I knew, but we were stuck at the very back behind two pillars! We saw Deb, Dylan, Martin J. (who apparently also has an autistic kid), Martin T., Randal, Kevin, Isabel, Sheena, Lincoln, Karen, Vivian, and Geoffrey. We discussed the seating, "MORE TONGUE!" (we're known for shenanigans), Quiznos, Singapore, durian mochi NOT being durian MOCHA, hair follicle transplants done by ROBOTS, Samaritan's Purse, that lady who died because a metal straw pierced her brain, and the waiter taking the food platter away after he showed it to us BEFORE scooping it on our plates individually at the back. Some people had too much red / white wine, apparently including Alice's mom, which is how the MORE TONGUE thing came about.

After everything was done, I STILL had to wait around for the cleanup crew (who'd been given thank-you cards beforehand so they couldn't just "forget" about it), and then the loiterers! UGH! We did amuse ourselves at the photo booth, but STILL! Talked to Deb a bit about the summer, to Eric about PowerPoint (that's a VERY VALID excuse to leave...), and to Jon about Tom Lee Music / Hiero not getting any bullet train toys / my being there on Tuesday / speech therapy. Just as Eric and I were about to FINALLY drive away at 10:30, Chinese Eric delayed us by asking where Nathan was. HOW SHOULD WE KNOW?! I said GOODNIGHT rather firmly, and FINALLY got home at 10:40. Yes, I live THAT close to Kirin!


THE WEDDING BANQUET MENU:

* Kirin special platter with roasted suckling pig, sauteed prawns, and scallops with pureed truffle

* deep-fried crab claw wrapped with minced prawn

* bird nest soup with fish maw and Chinese ham

* live lobster in consomme with light ginger and green onion

* sliced wild catch California Mexico brand abalone braised with fish maw, Chinese mushroom, and peatips

* crispy skin free range chicken

* steamed live fish

* special fried rice with dried shrimp wrapped in lotus leaf

* E-Fu noodles stewed with two kinds of mushrooms in abalone sauce

* two kinds of Dim Sum dessert

* Kirin special sweetened soup


What do you mean, Four Winds Pub has no tacos?!




( Most of the food... )


Five years from now (our wedding day), I'll be stabbing you with this same knife. Enjoy the cake, honey!

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 2:10 to get to Boston Pizza for their $5 individual pizza deal TODAY. While I was there, I got a text from Jon wanting to know if I could come at 4:30 instead. Sure, I'll just kill more time than usual since it was two hours out at that point. At least I thought I was saving time by knowing what I wanted to order... I also dumped all my loose change on the restaurant, save for $1.25 for future laundry purposes. I got to Marine Drive Station at 3:35, so I killed time by going to T and T until 4 - Swanson's ready to serve mushroom soup x5 cans, Numb and Spicy Hot Pot / Kimchi / Wasabi / Deep-Ridged Lays chips for Rachel sometime, and a new store card for me! Got to the closest intersection to Jon's at 4:25 thanks to spotting the 3 bus behind the 10, so it was cool.

Ayler and Hiero were out, and Beckett was napping. Chatted to Jon a bit before his girl piano student arrived. At that time, I encouraged Beckett to eat halved cherries and grapes, and only one fell to the floor - that's pretty good! Beckett definitely wanted to say hi to the student, but I managed to confine him to the mat by tossing his toy balls, especially the softer ones. When the boys got home, they told me about being late to VBS on the bus this morning before Hiero tried to hug Beckett against his will. Beckett just wanted to find Harmony all the time, which is normal and healthy. Harmony said she got Ayler's bug (but he seems all better, showing me his piano music and origami tricks PLUS wanting to do a cartwheel on the mat) and has a fever which can't make up its mind - oh no!

I didn't mind reading a monkey book to Hiero and looking at Ayler's Summer Reading log - wow, it seems like he wrote everything himself! Hiero wants to go to Japan to see the bullet trains - who knows, maybe my parents saw them in Japan on their trip! We had rutabaga, zucchini, nectarines, peaches, and penne for dinner. Beckett had yogurt and Cheerios, but again didn't seem to eat too much. I think he had fun playing his version of catch with me, and also flipping the pages of his books! (eggs and balls and reading books, oh my!) Managed to get home at 9 on a 407, thanks to just managing to catch a 3 Marine Drive when I got to that bus stop near Save-On! If Harmony needs me tomorrow, I can do that as well no problem.


Individual Meateor pizza for $5 today as opposed to $14.29! Beefy Bolognese sauce, smoked ham, pepperoni, seasoned ground beef, spicy Italian sausage and pizza mozzarella!




Swanson's Cream of Mushroom soup, ready to serve!




From Corbin: Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, and Elias Petterson with a rainbow filter!

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!