Tatiana's Wanderings

Tried calling Chrystal at home, but instead just texted her for her birthday today. She said thanks, and added that she can't work at home - damn!


TROGDOR THE BURNINATOR! :D




From Julie: A black dragon with a sunburst in a cave!




From Julie M. and Wish: Black obsidian Chinese dragon pendant necklace!




From Julie M. and Wish: MONSTER HUNTER dragon models! Being me, I had to fix the egregious BAD SPELLING of "dinosaur" in MS Paint.

It's MARIO DAY today! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 401 to help with the kids. Surprisingly, I just managed to get the 3 despite the elevator buttons not responding to my commands. I got to the house at 4:10 despite an electric scooter not knowing how to maneuver smoothly on the bus (I had to move), but those things can be unwieldy! Thank GOODNESS it stayed on the bus AFTER 16th, so I wasn't delayed any more! Once I got in, Beckett wanted to play with me, but my washing hands coincided with his diaper change. After that, we played with blocks / magnets / balls ("boh-boh!") / Play-Doh. He ALMOST licked the Play-Doh lids, looking at me to see how I'd react. I said that was gross and not to do it. He said "come up / yeah / block / ma-net / open! close! / lid / pease / light / purple / Auntie" a lot. Later, he almost fell down, but I was there to catch him and put him on the couch, where we sat together and "talked" about the "funny" blanket and the happy / sad eggs.

When Ayler told me to guess what time he went to bed last night, I actually got the right time: 10 PM! Apparently, there was a choir concert last night at St. James (Jon's old orchestra hangout space), WITH a rehearsal before AND a mass choral recital afterwards, so nobody could leave early even if they wanted to! I realized that they had scheduled it for the day after Daylight Savings, which is NOT GOOD! Hiero spent his time making Superman signals and wanting Popsicle sticks and special paper. He also was less than polite when he laughed at people. Apparently, roasted broccoli is not his thing!

Beckett wanted me to look out the window at the alley because of the lights - good choice! Hiero wanted me to play a game, but I wasn't up for that. There was a felt book with multiple felt pieces, and Beckett identified an X for Tic-Tac-Toe correctly some of the time. He also knew what the moon was, so he's getting smarter! I told him what a flower was when he identified it as a boh-boh (hahaha), and he picked it up from me. When I took my phone out to take photos that were CLEARLY of the food and NOT THE KIDS, Beckett said "gung-gung"... hahaha, I thought he associated the phone with Uncle Joe last week!

Ayler said that their trip is after Tuesday next week, so I said that I know that they get to listen to TICKET TO RIDE on the ride over. "How do you know?" was easily answered since I saw Jon's Facebook status earlier about borrowing someone's copy. Hiero told us about MINECRAFT, but Harmony wondered where he learned about that. The school computers offer that as an option for ALL the kids, apparently, so Harmony says she'll talk to the teacher about that. I did not volunteer that there was Preschool MINECRAFT - she'd be horrified! I left at 7:30 and surprisingly got home at 8:35, despite the stroller at 16th! If you can't be ready when the bus stops, then don't be surprised if a passenger gets on before you maneuver your stuff off the bus! I know it's safer to wait till the bus stops, but come on now - be aware and at least make your way toward the door!


From Janet on LJ, aka Ghost_Light: Your birth month is your muppet. Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird, Abby, Slimey, Oscar the Grouch, Bert, Snuffleupagus, Rosita, the Count, Cookie Monster, and Grover!




Chili, beans, and cheese!




Red Jello and mango pudding made by Jon!

Cards Received, 2019!


Metallica, "Jump Into The Fire"


Special 2019 (1)

* Nepenthes: "Flamsterette_X, I hope this feminist BEFORE YOU ASK, THE ANSWER IS NO pin makes its way quickly to you. Thank you for rehoming her. :) Enjoy. My name's Latin for a type of pitcher plant."


Birthday 2019 (3)

* Julie: "Happy birthday to you! Here's to many more years of memes, bad names, strange foods, and mass murderers! Have a great day!! :)"

* Jeremy: "Guess what? Chicken butt. I'm glad to celebrate another birthday with you, Leslie. Here's to many more, lots of laughs and good times. Jeremy."

* Randal: "Dear Leslie, The elephants on this card are not a reminder to vote Republican next year. Even if you could, I would not want you to. Rather, I want to say that Donald Trump is proof that not everyone gets better with age - but some do. I believe that you are one of those who gets better with age. Randal."


Christmas 2019 (0)

* s


Total: 4

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:30 on a 401 to help with the kids. It wasn't raining in Richmond, then was very little rain at Marine Drive, but it was like Noah's Ark Flood when I got off at Mount Pleasant! Turns out Beckett was sleeping when I was almost soaked as I got to Jon's place, but that was fine - I finished a book and started another one before he woke up. Jon plopped him on the mat and Beckett just stared at me for a while. Eventually, I gave him a toy and he played with it, doing "catch" for a while until Harmony came home with Hiero and Ayler from swimming. Beckett wanted to climb on me because he liked my San Francisco tie-dye shirt's colors, Ayler told me about his origami and connect-the-dots books (and said he'd test me on the taped crane next week), and Hiero had tantrums and wanted to encourage Beckett to eat random stringy stuff he found on the mat OR to crawl out the balcony window. NO! Hiero also wanted me to read about trains to him, which is fine.

We had stew soup, nectarines, green beans, pasta, and minestrone for dinner. The kids were worried about Hurricane Dorian and wondered whether Los Angeles had hurricanes, then Hiero asked what a sleeping bag was. Harmony said that Mom had sent them five or six emails about "swatch the watch" - I have no idea what that means, but maybe it has something to do with the watch repair place at the Public Market, so I eventually gave her both watches in my wallet just to be safe. We called Dad because Ayler wanted to ask what time he'd be there tomorrow to take him to Brooke's building. Then we also talked about exactly WHY Mom would think I know Spanish... not like I've retained it!

Later, Beckett chewed on my pants and was going to go for my socks, but I stopped that. He made himself laugh by pressing a lot of buttons on a light-up toy which had stars on it, and another one which had noisy letter and animal buttons on it. After trying the baby pop-up toy and laughing, he looked at me and clapped for himself, so of course I smiled and clapped along - cute! Ayler wanted to see if he was taller than I am, and I asked whether he would help me with stuff once he was taller - he said yes, so that's good. Beckett babbled and wanted to grab a Classic Munsch book, so he had fun flipping pages. He also liked when I put him in my lap to "read" a 100 Words book, but was upset when I took him away from the window. Then he invaded the bathroom again when Ayler was taking a shower - I said that I didn't see anything, and closed the door with Beckett in my other arm. Ayler told me that he wasn't strong enough to hold him, but I did appreciate that he kept the baby from crawling out the window.

Some people are such dipshits to the bus driver! Tonight, some people told the driver to shut the fuck up and that he needed more training because he didn't magically stop at 43rd and Main. Then there was the idiot with a huge bag full of pop cans who played the bus equivalent of Ding Dong Ditch. He made like he was going to get off at a few stops (thereby wasting everyone's time), actually got off at one and THEN somehow beat the bus to the next stop, then was going to get off at the stop two stops from Marine Drive... then argued with the bus driver who wondered if he was going to get off the bus, saying "Did I get off the bus or just touch the door?" I swear, this guy made me miss the Brighouse train by two minutes, and it didn't help that the next train stopped for another two minutes for no reason in the middle of the track near Aberdeen, so that made me miss the 9:26 407. I finally got home at 10. SIGH.


From Youtube: Jeanine Mullen, Waltfredo Davis-Mullen, Jaseri Mullen, and Jaion Mullen?! BAD SPELLING OF JANINE!

Today is Hot and Spicy Food Day! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:30 on a 401 to help with the kids. Just before I was going to leave, the handyman came by and agreed with my assessment that the toilet float needed to be replaced, thank goodness! That left me with little time to catch the bus, but I JUST managed to. Then I was STILL left with time to kill at Marine Drive, so I went to T and T to buy NEW Sautao hot and sour soup vermicelli noodles and what turned out to be Choco-Caramel Mentos. I also texted Term (as is now the tradition) to say, "Hey, guess where I am right now!" Then I saw an Engrish sign: LAYS POTATO SHIPS IN KIMCHI FLAVOR?!

Jon texted me when I got to his building at 4:45; no wonder they weren't answering the buzzer because they were at the park across the street! I found them in due time; he decided to see if Beckett liked the baby swings. He was still expressionless after a few minutes of swinging, not sure what to make of it even if he'd had that experience once before a while ago. Later, Jon tickled him and took video of him laughing for Harma. Ayler and Hiero threw sand on the slide and over the railing for the kiddy structure. I swung the baby gently as Jon went over to discipline. Hiero called me by my first name, which Jon scolded him for. Later, Harma met us at the park with a new puzzle from work! Jon told me that they'd had a playdate with Deb, Dylan, Declan, and Elysse recently, and that LA Chicken was good with kimchi. Fried chicken with kimchi - WEIRD FOOD COMBINATION!

At home, Beckett wanted to play "catch" with those hard plastic stacking blocks... ouch! The soft toys they borrowed or bought are much better for that purpose! Ayler showed me his "creative part" for "THE PLANETS" (not Gustav Holst, but his own creation) and some variations he'd made up for a piano piece. Awesome! Hiero just hid Koosh balls in the "Duplo" blocks and made me guess where he'd put them. That kind of went okay, but I still had to watch Beckett, who was doing a lot less throwing than last week! I had lots of kimchi and some ratatouille for dinner, plus another slice of nectarine thanks to Ayler's aversion to mushy things. He didn't care if I ate it! (I asked him first just to be sure)

We discussed Caleb's greenhouse, Parksville, Hi-Chews candy, Uncle Percy's death (why else would Mom be inviting me to his celebration of life this weekend?), what "avid' meant in the context of being an avid reader, what Beckett liked to eat, summer reading (Ayler read a book all by himself with no alternating pages!), origami with the Summer Reading Log, practicing reading and writing, whether they needed me once school starts up again (could be chaotic), and colorful train tracks which apparently aren't appropriate for Beckett yet. He still seemed to like them, though I know that's not really the point. I left before 8 and got home at 9 on a 407, which isn't bad at all. I thought I was going to miss the 8:56 407 like I did last week, but thankfully did not run into any delays, although other people on the elevator could have counted as one. Luckily, they seemed to be efficient, which I value.


From Julie M. and Introvert Spring: I may be quiet, but I have so much on my mind.




Lays potato SHIPS in kimchi flavor! Nice Engrish!




NEW Sautao hot and sour soup vermicelli noodles!




NEW Choco-Caramel Mentos!

Eric Ho FINALLY emailed me back (my original email being NOVEMBER 23!) at 2:40 to say that given his work schedule and the holidays, a hockey hangout is most likely going to be on either the 20th (Blues game at 7) or the 27th (the Oilers at 6), both Thursdays. Well, let's HOPE so! Then I remembered to call the H and M store at Richmond Centre to see if they finally had my preferred style of sweatpants in - THEY DID! I got the employee to put it on hold for me at the cash register, so I'll pick it up tomorrow sometime!


Biff, outside the MOTHER 3 Chapter 4 Clayman Factory at night after Lucas and Boney work a part-time job: "Zzzz... Zzzz... *mumble* *mumble* "




Biff, outside the MOTHER 3 Chapter 4 Clayman Factory at night after Lucas and Boney work a part-time job: "Ahh! Oh, crap! I fell asleep!"




Biff, outside the MOTHER 3 Chapter 4 Clayman Factory at night after Lucas and Boney work a part-time job: "I guess that's what they call SLEEP-STANDING. Thanks for waking me up."