Tatiana's Wanderings

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!

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:05 on a 407 bus to help with the kids at 4. I checked to see if Shoppers had any cheaper lip balm - I was unwilling to pay $9.99 for a little tube of Burt's Bees once I finally found it at the back of the store (even London Drugs has it for cheaper!), so I went straight to Mount Pleasant instead. Turns out Jon wanted to meet at Bellagio Gelato - worked for me, even if I had to wait for a bit. Hell, I could just hop on their wi-fi from just outside the doors. They showed up at about 4:45, and Ayler asked how long I'd been waiting, and about my route. I joked and said five hours, then revised it to 15 minutes. Beckett didn't seem to like his sunhat, but the kids got white bubblegum gelato (with no bubble gum pieces!) while I got some raspberry sorbetto. Of course I did the polite thing and thanked the ug! We tried offering some to Beckett, but he turned his head away like his brothers had when they were one year old. Maybe when he's four years old, he'll like it!

Ayler, Hiero, and I talked about the puzzle with the most pieces: 551,232 pieces?! I totally blew their minds with that factoid! They were impressed by the photo which I was able to find online, too. We walked or ran back home - with lectures about stranger danger and people possibly grabbing them - and I was able to hang out with the kids and Harmony. Catching Beckett whenever he crawled to the back window because he threw his red ball around, preventing him from fitting under the couch, his chewing toys and seeming interested in the Christmas baby books at times, almost tripping over crap in the way (hopefully not hurting Beckett), flossing, and ODE TO JOY piano music.

More origami, SIMON SAYS, some calorific pasta for Beckett (who just threw everything on the floor anyway), what had lots of calories, school and therapy, calling Dad for his birthday, reading books about bikes and trains, the double-layer puzzle, salad, Chinese noodles with peanut sauce, allergies, blueberries, calories, corn on the cob, and hugging Beckett to me when his brothers were being too rambunctious with pinches and he wanted support and security since we were all in a tiny circle... that was heartwarming and he wasn't scared of me! Ayler wanted me to come next week - sure, but do I have to smell their poo air?! They laughed at that, of course. I was able to leave at about 8 (Harmony thinks I did a good job with all the kids?!), grabbed the 3 Marine Drive Station bus, and was able to find some more lip balm x4 while I was out... gotta have backups! At least I was able to find the beauty section at T&T - $1.79 for one tube is way better than $9.99 to $11.99, no matter if Burt's Bees is more "quality" than Chapstick! I also grabbed a pack of Paldo Bul Jjamppong noodles on my way out. Got home at 9:30 on a 407, which is good.


Yes, there is a literal Cool Chinese Restaurant near my place. They took over the old space when the old Mad Greek owners retired!




Cherry Chapstick!




Mint Chapstick!

Today is Mother's Day 2019. I was slightly awoken by the sun in the window, then by quick footsteps outside the bedroom door. Later, it turned out to be Declan and Elysse running into their parents' room to wish Deb a Happy Mother's Day at 5 AM! SO EARLY, kids! We had a rushed breakfast of cranberry and raisins Post cereal with milk and Nutella croissants before church. Elysse wondered if I was "too fat" to fit into the backseat of the van because I sat up front with Dylan instead. WHAT THE HELL?! First, I'm an alien, and now I'm fat?! Her parents made her apologize to me and said that was not very nice and hurt my feelings. Declan said that I wasn't fat - thank you! We actually had great parking luck across the street from the church at 9:45 - nobody had taken up all the good spots before the liquor store!

Church service was fine - I like how Pastor Dan acknowledged the strained relationships that some people may have with their mothers on this day. I caught up with Emily, Auntie Catherine, Stella, Joe T., Benedict, Rosenda, Helen C., David Marr, Lawrence, Jason, Vicky, baby Lucas, Martin T., and some other people. I only had to interact with Mom for a minute; thank goodness I could use eye surgery as an excuse for not doing anything for Mother's Day OR her birthday on the 14th! We eventually got going and eventually went to Kyoto Takenoko at Seafair Centre for lunch, hoping that fussy Elysse would eat SOMETHING. I had the spicy miso ramen and one gyoza.

While we were at Shoppers afterwards looking at Minions toothbrushes and other things, I decided that I might as well buy three yellow, black, and salmon BATH RETREAT shower puffs since Price Smart hadn't had any when I was last there. I guess I'll have to live with the string not fitting over the shower head properly. We had lamb chops, white wine, bok choy, mussels, and rice for dinner while Dylan's parents were over. Later, it was CHUTES AND LADDERS time with Popsicles and Coke! Deb and Dylan had finally completed a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle a while ago and wanted to hang it up in the living room. NICE!


BLOGTHINGS IS BACK OCCASIONALLY?!

What Should You Get Your Mom For Mother's Day?

You Should Get Mom Breakfast in Bed!



Your mom works hard from dusk til dawn, and you can't remember the last time she got a break from her responsibilities.
There's probably no chance your mom will take a rest even on Mother's Day, so get her early with a surprise breakfast in bed.

Your mom will love getting a treat first thing, especially one she didn't ask for or expect. You'll make sure she doesn't have to lift a finger.
Give mom the fuel she needs for a productive Mother's Day with a delicious breakfast in bed. Just make sure to clean up afterwards, too!

(Ha ha ha, NO!)


Happy Mother's Day to all the other great moms out there from Casey Anthony!




BATH RETREAT shower puffs or shower poiufs from Shoppers!




From Julie M. and Wish: A black Ness T-shirt... yay!




From Bored Panda: A.J. Careless is a lawyer?!