Tatiana's Wanderings

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 11:40 on a 414 to help with the kids, but first went to Dublin Crossing Pub. Noticed the Canada Line was slightly slower on the tracks, but that's fine since it snowed yesterday and had pretty much melted today. I had to go in early to help by staying with a sick Hiero at home while Jon and Beckett did school pickup. I had an ahi tuna bowl at Dublin Crossing and bought a mocha Starbucks / on-sale pomegranate Canada Dry ginger ale at Shoppers, which had a sign saying that the store was sold out of Asian face masks and hand sanitizer! Luckily, I built in extra time to wait for the 3 bus - thank goodness it wasn't late, but it did have an alarm delay and other things going on with the passengers... I FINALLY got to the house at 2:10! After some Jello and other food, Jon and Beckett left the house to go pick Ayler up from school. Hiero and I read some CHARLIE BROWN storybook, and I let him have a little bit of my ginger ale.

When everyone else got home, I switched from reading on the couch (and exposure to germs) to playing on the mat with Beckett. He had learned HELP, POO, AYA (for Ayler), MAGNET, OPEN, MONKEY, DRAGON, HELLO (to make the coin purses inside-out), and JOW for JELLO... and also picked up OKAY from me tonight. At 4, Ayler asked when I was leaving - gee, thanks! Jon let him know what people would think when he asked him that, and clarified to me that he was just curious about time. (of course!) Turns out Jon had a few music students; Beckett was interested in the silver things on Kayla's guitar (so tried re-tuning it) AND her green guitar pick on the black piano bench, thought everyone calling to come over was Jon's student Dean, and was generally curious. Later, we had bean soup and French onion soup with bread for dinner. Ayler asked about apostrophes, a gratitude list (the "big Jello" item was pretty funny!), what "philosophy" meant, and wondered who would win his eating competition.

Hiero seemed pretty out of it for sure, lying down on the couch when he wasn't fighting with Ayler. He wanted ANOTHER day off school tomorrow despite his snow day yesterday from his mom. I just talked to Beckett about the toy balls, tested whether he knew what things were, and didn't mind if he wanted to play with the "boh-boh" on my shirt OR socks. He showed me a stack of dry noodles and said "Noo-noo!" (his word for "noodles") For my own amusement, I asked him if he would eat them all. He said "okay" - not that he ever would or could right now! He still likes to look out the window to see some lights across the street, which is cute. Jon left and came back later to teach yet another student, and I finally left at 8, having probably just missed a 3 bus, and got home at 9:35 on a 407. Lots of people wearing Asian face masks today!


From Julie: A female lion-human hybrid!




Even the Mona Lisa is protecting herself from the coronavirus by using an Asian face mask!




Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl at Dublin Crossing pub: Sushi grade marinated ahi tuna, dynamite slaw, avocado, edamame, mango salsa, pickled onion, cilantro, and sesame seeds served on a bed of coconut jasmine rice and topped with crispy wontons!




Canada Dry pomegranate ginger ale!




French onion soup!




Bean soup with Play-Doh!

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 407 to help with the kids, bringing along the rest of the Almond Butter Nature Valley granola cups. I had just enough time to stop in at Tim Horton's briefly to buy a Boston Creme doughnut and take a photo for posting purposes, thanks to the lineup inside! Then I quickly left to catch the 3, which is when I finally texted Harmony. When I got to the building, some guy answered when I buzzed to be let in. Luckily, some lady with a stroller was entering the building, so I quickly explained to her what my deal was. Then I took the stairs since the elevator is pretty small, and knocked on the suite's door while explaining to Harmony what was going on. Beckett was awake and standing with the piano bench for support, and was outside the bathroom door when I finished in there. Yes, he was excited to see Auntie! :D

Ayler was playing the piano (telling me about his piano books and music) and putting up with Beckett banging away at the keys he could reach, while Hiero wanted me to read various MR. MEN books to him and see all his paper planes and swords. Beckett wanted to play catch, but then also throw some things around. At least it wasn't as bad as a couple of months ago! He wanted to turn on the printer and play with it, whereupon Ayler showed me where the power button was - SO HELPFUL! Beckett had found his purple and yellow baby pop-up toy, and wanted me to pop the yellow shell right-side up on it: At least he laughed at that after a while, and tried popping it with his finger! Silly Beckett - you're not strong enough for that to work! He turned it upside-down and had fun sticking his finger into the hole. Then he was upset when I was trying to collect the pop-up toy and a couple other toys: he stretched his arms out towards me! So I put the shell on the table temporarily while I picked him up. YAY!

We had squash, purple noodles, soup, kale, salad, and other things for dinner while discussing Kids Night / my NOT being psychic about their Halloween costumes / math quizzes during dinner / the impending bus strike / Rice Krispies not being real food for a meal / hot chocolate sort of being like dessert / what packaging was / less waste. Beckett pointed at the ceiling lights - oh, he'll love Christmastime if he likes babbling at those! Harmony said that Jon was coming home at about 6 so she could go to a school meeting. My nephews were singing "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear" at dinner. Oh boy. Then they were asking me what a ding-dong was because an adult asked them if another kid was one for spilling his milk. Yikes.

Later, Beckett ACTUALLY WALKED TEN LITTLE STEPS ALL BY HIMSELF! His motivation was the big bag of toys! I actually saw this, and was surprised as was Harmony. He usually just toddles one or two steps and then falls into her arms. Hiero said, "Text Daddy!" Oh, she did! Later, I told him not to force him to walk - he'll do it at his own speed, and new things can be confusing. WOW, HE CAN ALSO STAND WITHOUT SUPPORT!

Then Beckett was crying and upset and hit his head on the wooden floor when Harmony had to leave (what a delay tactic...), so of course he got comforting (hopefully) cuddles and hugs from me and Harmony! I read to him and tried making him laugh with the orange alphabet and animal sounds board, which at least was a distraction. He liked the shapes and blocks that the older boys used to play with, and showed me how he could put a couple of blocks together and then throw them around. Of course I used his bib to wipe his nose - I'm sure it's had worse on it, so whatever! It's handy! After I left at 7:15 (hearing Beckett babbling to himself in his crib), I wasted time at Save-On because all the exotic pasta was too heavy and somehow didn't photograph well in the brightly-lit store. UGH!

Then the 3 had a few delays, what with the "timing point" for two minutes at 41st and Main, then the bus alarm going off TWICE! (four stops before Marine Drive Station, THEN right before the station at 70th!) Once I finally got to Brighouse, I killed time at Shoppers Drug Mart since the mall was at least warm: NEW President's Choice frozen small sweet green peas / frozen peaches and cream corn, plus NEW on-sale Uncle Ben's Canada wholegrain brown rice! Got home at 9:05 on a 407, and it was definitely time to switch to warm wintry wear like a toque and Grandma's purple lined Alia coat and stash a scarf and mittens in my bag, especially if more walking is on the agenda with this upcoming transit strike...

At home, I had some (After Eight) hot chocolate, which I also need to restock in general. Random stuff from Mom and Dad inside an Indigo, Chapters, and Coles plastic bag: a can of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni, Colgate Cavity Protection toothpaste, and a random pair of thin white socks. I left the socks and plastic bag at the bus stop since I didn't need them. The garbage bags were STILL outside at 10 PM!


From Julie M. and Wish: Spooky grinning skull medieval toilet paper holder for Halloween 2019!




One of my neighbors evidently decided to give up on their garbage bags just outside the front door this afternoon, halfway to the dumpster...




Boston Creme doughnut time at Tim Horton's!




( Shoppers potential purchases! )

COFFEE TIME! The Canucks played the Rangers today at 10 AM again because of MORE "lovely" East Coast scheduling, and won 3-2 in a crazy game even though they lost the shutout bid thanks to Trouba!


Moon, Pennsylvania?!




Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, pronounced as Albin?!




( The Earth doesn't revolve around YOU! / Dulce Maria Alavez / Wacey Hamilton / GO CANUCKS GO totem pole / HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! IT'S THE CANUCKS REBUILD! )

Before Paulo dropped by to share the Gizella mango cheesecake, I took a shower and threw some stuff away in the old Nester's Market reusable bag. He showed up at 4; of course I didn't mind if he rested on the couch while talking about Darryl, Nate, Steve's new car, Jeff inviting him out for wings special at 12 Kings tonight (and Jeremy shit-talking him for that), V4F not being an exclusive club, reasonable "no disruptions" rules for meetups, his coming back to servers eventually (he can take all the time he needs), HURTS not being a great first word to use in public for the baby (what will people think?!), what people said about him, and seeing people in Oregon like his cousin. It was good to see him again - he left at 5, which is pretty reasonable. HE TOOK THE MANGO CHEESECAKE WITH HIM?! I immediately took the Dr. Oetker strawberry cheesecake out to thaw in the meantime - BACKUP CHEESECAKE!

I went out at 6:50 on a 401 to Price Smart so I could return the extra pasta and laundry detergent. The customer service girl Hannah was pretty slow because she lost her override privileges. Then I got NEW Dr. Oetker Canada Salted Caramel / Chocolate cheesecakes (NOT at Safeway?! NICE!), NEW on-sale Miss Vickie's Signatures chips (Citrus and Black Peppercorn / Apple Cider Vinaigrette and Shallots), NIVEA Pearly Shines lip balm, (on-sale) Western Family potato and cheddar cheese perogies / melatonin / bean and bacon soup / key lime Greek yogurt / blueberry-pomegranate yogurt / large flocklined rubber gloves / no salt added pieces and stems mushrooms / sliced mushrooms, and UNOPENABLE Winter Creek oysters before returning home at 7:40 on a 407. Slightly later, I had the now-thawed strawberry cheesecake - IT WAS GOOD!


Last time I bought raw oysters: Mac's raw oysters x2 for $15 (March 6, 2018)


Nivea Pearly Shine lip balm!




( Chips, oysters, and yogurt )


Syncere Friends was in the news?! QUIRKY COINCIDENCE since it's International Friendship Day today on July 30!




Stryker Trahan?!




Mark Appel?!