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!

I called Ayler at 4:15 or so since I noticed he called me earlier. He picked up within ten seconds because he "didn't want to have it ring even though we were playing with trains." He also told me that he and Hiero have "birthday parties" for their stuffed animals every morning - which I knew about - and send the bad ones to "hell" while singing "the Ha-Ha song," which makes fun of the fact that they're now alone. They went out on scooters today, might have burritos for dinner later, and told me a lot about their toy train tracks setup. XL / A / B / C / D, behind the couch, under the couch, and over the mat too! Sounds pretty interesting. I told Ayler to just listen to his parents and the news for coronavirus updates.

Ayler wanted to know what I did today, what I might have for dinner, and whether I'd remember what I ate when we set up the next phone call for Tuesday afternoon sometime. Probably I will - Saturday is Dumpling Night now and for the foreseeable future! We talked about his puzzles, soap, Hiero not wanting to talk to me today, Beckett saying "hello" (any other word apparently means he doesn't want to talk on the phone) and "Auntie," Ayler's "connections" making sure we talked on the phone for at least 35 minutes, and how he doesn't call me every day because he's not sure if I will pick up or not. We did set up the next talk time for Tuesday afternoon sometime. I even briefly talked to Harmony, who had to go because Beckett was crying since Hiero took away his blanket again.


A red fire-breathing dragon 5D Diamond Painting!




From Julie M. and Etsy: Kiefer the lifesize green forest dragon!




Easily Distracted By Dragons!

I went out at 10:20 AM to get some Silk almond milk (the real reason I went to the store), NEW Tostitos Homestyle Salsa tortilla chips / NEW Que Pasa Twist of Lime chips / Heluva Good! French Onion dip to prepare for Chips and Dip Days tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday, 400 more Mead index cards, on-sale Hazelnut / Peanut Butter M and Ms, and a $2 Fry's Peppermint Cream bar. My Tostitos Homestyle Salsa tortilla chips did not exist in the self-checkout (they had to override it with a FOOD code)... and a lady just yelled at the 401 bus driver for "not stopping" when we are all supposed to board at the back doors now... I got home at 11:05 on a 407, at least.


Que Pasa Twist of Lime tortilla chips!




( Que Pasa and Tostitos! BAD NAMES AND BAD SPELLING! )

MORE COFFEE TIME! IT IS LEAP YEAR 2020 TODAY! The Canucks played the Leafs today at 4, and lost 4-2... DAMN EMPTY-NET GOALS AND MY BIRTHDAY BUDDY AUSTON MATTHEWS! Eric Ho confirmed yesterday via text that he was coming over, and also called me at 12:10 to iron out some details, so YAY! I got him to pick up a 24-pack of Nestlé Pure Life bottled water from Price Smart on the way since I was running out. He got here at 2:15, so that was good. We talked about the parking pass / my spare keys, the skyrocketing coronavirus news, Nathan being overseas right now, the 2001 version of THE MUMMY RETURNS with Brendan Fraser, Jeremy, washing hands, my Ontario trip, the bacon quiche / Reser's mashed potatoes / meat lasagna / macaroni and cheese / Peanut Butter Pie Oreos / Mackie's Crispy Bacon chips / Mackie's haggis and cracked black pepper chips, the Lindt / Nutter Butter I gave him in a Ziploc bag, and David Ayres the Zamboni driver. He also called "coronavirus" SARS, and called the Alcan aluminum foil "cling wrap - you know what I mean." Not really or not at first, but he's still a good friend of mine!

Also discussed Jann Arden / a halftime show, 2011 and the Boston Pizza name change, HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, my slipper socks / high heels bag / Boston Pizza gift card from Ruth and Joan, Carey Price / Patrick Roy (possible) trades / the trade deadline activity on Monday, ICBC driver premiums and car insurance, whether I caught any of Sedin Week, and the 9-3 Boston Bruins blowout the other night. Conversed about his smelling my hot sauce, the playoffs, Jim Hughson, his not preferring to drive during sunset / twilight hours, a cow in a plane for a THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR movie scene with Jet Li, and Don Cherry's podcast / being fired, the Juno Awards, the Simpsons controversy, Apu, and Krusty the Clown before he left at 6:40 after a disappointing Leap Day / Leap Year LOSS! DAMN EMPTY-NETTERS! Sure, I'll collect my empty bottles for him to redeem somewhere if he offered! Of course he did the dishes WITHOUT COMPLAINING!


Happy Leap Year Day 2020! Leap Year Day FROG! February 29! Feb. 29!




( February 29! Leap Year! Food and water! )

After COFFEE TIME, I left at 12:35 on a 407 for my dentist appointment with Sean on FRASER instead of Oakridge - sigh. I had to leave myself plenty of time for getting lost (seeing Krista at Gilbert and Westminster - "Ontario is a magical place because I've never been there"?!), and had to take a 99 at Broadway / Cambie, and then an 8 Fraser bus around the corner at Fraser till I got to 19th, right across from Glad Tidings church. I would have been there earlier than half an hour early if SOME PEOPLE hadn't hesitated for 45 microseconds at the Brighouse station elevator - BE EFFICIENT AND NOT SLOW WHEN OTHERS ARE PLAINLY WAITING FOR YOU AT THE DOOR! The new location has more space and okay enough wifi, plus actual hooks for your coats and things! I had to have an X-ray, but it's not my fault that my mouth is SMALL! Learned that Sean is getting married in July, too! I have to wait till July to try The Pie Hole across the street because I got fluoride as part of my treatment today. Also got a receipt where the insurance paid 100%, but for some reason, I'm keeping it for now.

Went to the Broadway London Drugs to buy an on-sale Creature Chumper with 1500 Zorbees for Hiero's birthday, on-sale Stemnex 4D Transforming Robots for Ayler's birthday, on-sale Nescafé Taster's Choice instant coffee in a 250g canister, and on-sale Andes candy cane Peppermint Crunch before going to Pho Extreme Xe Lua to have a large #17 and figure out the wi-fi from the nearby A&W. Some guy ahead of me was in a fucking hurry at the exit of London Drugs, saying "excuse me" - nope, we are both directly headed to the doors, so you will have to wait. I should have dawdled even more because he was an impatient ass! It's not like I dropped anything, after all. I also had to deal with THE most recalcitrant self-checkout machine! It wouldn't give me the correct start-up screen (thinking I had items to re-scan), wouldn't give me enough time to find a barcode, wouldn't let me scan something without a barcode (the coffee), and wouldn't let me pay without calling an attendant! UGH! SO TIME-CONSUMING!

Finally got home at 5:20, and saw Hester and Ni, so told them about the mouse / steel wool problem, which luckily I had a photo of on my phone! I did notice an odd metallic clanking sound coming from my bag, which turned out to be two of Beckett's red / white molecule balls from yesterday's throwing activities. No wonder I noticed him standing at my bag looking into it, but he does have plenty of balls, so he should be fine till next week. He did seem interested in the safety fluorescent slap bracelet, too. I'm also going to wash the socks that Harmony loaned me.


Large #17 at Pho Extreme Xe Lua! Steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and fatty flank!




Creature Chumper with 1500 Zorbees!




Stemnex 4D Transforming Robots!




Nescafé Taster's Choice instant coffee!




From Julie: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader BRIEFS and FUNNIEST EVER!




From Julie: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader blurb for BRIEFS and FUNNIEST EVER!




From Julie: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader STRANGE HISTORY! I actually have this one! STRANGE SCIENCE, too!