Tatiana's Wanderings

COFFEE TIME! I finally got through to Pure Nail Bar so I could use the pedicure gift card from Jon and Harmony from Christmas. Next Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 works as long as I'm in the area anyway. Gotta build in that buffer time in case something happens! The Canucks played the Senators today at 4:30, and lost 5-2 thanks to officiating AND a hat trick from Bobby Ryan, of all the people...


From Julie M. and her local news: Markwayne Mullin?! Sounds suspiciously like Mark Twain...




From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Nancie Camello?! BAD SPELLING OF NANCY!




From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Cloey Pitcher?! VERY BAD SPELLING OF CHLOE!




From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Kerrin Place?! BAD SPELLING OF KAREN!




From Julie M. and JUDGE JUDY: Thaddeus Hughes?!

Jon sent me a Facebook message at 8:50 AM to wonder if I could come over at 2:15 today instead because Harmony had to pick up Hiero from school and actually wanted to be on time, and Ayler wasn't feeling well. I assumed I had to hold down the fort there, especially when he called a few minutes later after I'd already sent my reply to ask if they were puking or loopy, so I agreed. Then Barry left me a voicemail, but I delete those, so I called him back to find out that he wanted to move grocery shopping to Thursday instead of tomorrow. What did they do - leave the messages and then run away within two seconds?! Sheesh!

Later, I had some New England Clam Chowder today for National New England Clam Chowder Day, right when Harmony sent me a text wondering if I could come slightly earlier. That's on the buses, not on me! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 1 on an 401 to help with the kids, just missing the early C94 and the early 407. The 3 was seven minutes LATE at Marine Drive Station! GEEZ! I finally got to Jon's at 2:15 - so much for shortly BEFORE that time! At least there were no random two-minute stops along the route, wheelchair / stroller delays, or elevator shenanigans today!

When I got there, Harmony and Beckett left within five minutes, but Beckett did show me his Gorilla Munch cereal, which were indeed balls! He also showed me a huge yellow Blockbuster chip bowl and the blue tub, which he had fun with later. It was good to have some time alone with Ayler, who thinks that I won't get what he has because his dad said so. Haha, I wish germs and viruses worked that way! We talked about Fraser, Henry, racetracks, the school secretary, no nurses at the school, Harmony just driving to the school today (walking 30 blocks in the rain with a toddler in a carrier?!), my phone photos and calculating how many seconds were in a year by using the Calculator app, hand sanitizer, texting, oranges, what it meant when you vomited, water, and reading some children's Bible stories like the Good Samaritan / the Feeding of the 5000 with fish and loaves / Daniel in the lion's den. He wanted to teach Beckett about word patterns and especially the word "gun" since Beckett will repeat anything. Uncle Joe has taught him "hit your butt!" in Cantonese since it's funny.

Everyone else came home at 3:40 (thus ending our freedom to talk), and Beckett had fun with his toys and plopping into my lap to "read" the summertime book and the Christmas piano book cover because he saw "balls" (ornaments) on there. No wonder the piano had wings - there was Santa in his sleigh, too! I gave Hiero his birthday card, which he seemed to like - he also was enamored with the Creature toy I'd given him on Sunday. Hiero opened all the rest of his birthday presents - turned out that Mom had forgotten to write in the birthday card she gave him, but had also given them a pack of Ontrue seaweed in the regular flavor! He also got at least four Lego sets, a PAW PATROL puzzle set, a science toy, and Rain or Shine ice cream gift cards! His friend Leanne gave him three gifts - WOW! Beckett stood on top of a puzzle box (and wanted some grey robot toys - saying "MINE!" when they were Hiero's), and I accidentally squished the Lego STAR WARS box.

We had peas and macaroni in soup with some grapes, cherry tomatoes, and sticky rice while discussing last week's snow and other things. Ayler said the soup was salty, but it really wasn't - it was really bland and just what you might want if you were sick with tummy upset. Beckett threw cheese and some other things on the floor, but liked his cereal as usual - and smiled BIG for the Vitamin D tablets! I had some leftover cheesecake while the kids had some orange Jello which was rather liquidy in consistency! Hiero did some "home reading" with me - but I had to sound out words and make sure he knew what was going on. Beckett and I played with balls, the stacking blocks ("doggy!"), and the toy train which can zoom on the wooden floor. When I showed him my doggy slipper socks from Grandma Joan, he sniffed them and played around with the "ears" - silly kid!

Just as I was about to leave at 7:25 (with Beckett saying "BYE BYE!" in a serious manner a few times), Ayler vomited on the bathroom floor and surrounding floor area! Yes, I could stay even later because that had happened and Harmony had to do clean-up. She barricaded the area with a garbage can and laundry basket, while I made sure Beckett stayed on the mat. That meant he could read even more, relax with the blanket, look out the window at the lights, and call the new 3-D Glowing Planets "boh-boh"! When Hiero took things like the action figures away from Beckett, he cried - so of course I gave him some hugs and told him that his brother was terrible! Lately, Beckett has learned the word "help" and is using it in the proper context instead of just pointing at things and vocalizing - good job! He usually needs it to get balls out from under the couch, or to get balls out from small boxes and blocks!

Turns out Ayler requested that I stay to watch him eat his banana and drink some water while Harmony bathed everyone else. Sure, why not? We talked about applesauce, tuna NOT being part of the BRAT diet, the school having a janitor / custodian at least, my opinion that he should probably stay home, math, "my baby" being Beckett, Beckett's talking in his sleep (to say "please" and other simple words), and more things. I finally left at 8:10 (encountering an Evo driver who liked driving on the sidewalk...) and got home at 9:35 on a 407. PHEW! Extended Nephew Time on BOTH ends of the time spectrum!


Campbell's clam chowder and a Nature Valley granola bar for National New England Clam Chowder Day and National Granola Bar Day!




From Julie M. and Etsy: A dragon agate necklace!




VIGOROUS DRAGON AND LIVELY TIGER artwork at the hospital across the street - YAY FOR DRAGONS!




VIGOROUS DRAGON AND LIVELY TIGER, by Shirley Chiang, donated in 2015!




From Dragons: A red dragon with piles of books in a castle! INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

* Lea D. (plop_O) from Reddit: a Christmas card

* Eric M.: Seattle Chocolates truffles in a Woodland Cheer gift box

* Jon and Harmony: Pure Nail Spa gift card and a photo card

* Christy C. (snoopdawg): a Christmas card

* Julie M. (moonshar): a Christmas card

* surprise Toasties Totes slipper socks x2 from Grandma Joan

* surprise $25 Boston Pizza gift card from Ruth

* a trip to Ontario from Steph and Lisa... two weeks!

* A Christmas card and stickers from Janina: Valentine's hearts, cupcakes, birds, flowers, robots, STAR WARS, an anchor, a steering wheel, boats, ships, fruit, ice cream, watermelon, peaches, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, green apples, and ninjas in training! SO SMART! Super job! School matters! You measure up! Looking good! School rules! WOW! So bright - discover! Great work! (pinkfloyd63)

* a Christmas card and stickers from Julie: A question mark, a football, a skull, a Rubik's Cube, dice, UK sneakers, and a shoe on a skateboard! (moonshar)

* Mom and Dad: President's Choice jalapeno cheddar popcorn, a yellow-green Roots knapsack or backpack to "replace" my reusable bags from London Drugs, two Paderno steak knives, small Cuisinart Canada scissors, a 100 Yen coin, grey Touch Gloves mittens, a Gildan black T-shirt with a golden dragon, an Asian notebook, an embossed pink rose journal, two random spiral notepads, and a zippered Doge bag which I switched out with the grey-white bag since Steph probably wouldn't care.

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 2:50 on a 401 to help with the kids. I would have taken the earlier 401, but someone took FIVE MINUTES to maneuver a wheelchair into that bus! I don't expect people to be extremely fast when it comes to that, but I always appreciate the actual wheelchair users who are fast and efficient movers when they see others are waiting! (she was... not, and held up everyone else) There went any extra time I had to buy lotion and dish soap at Shoppers! At Marine Drive, I actually managed to get a 3 within a few minutes, which was amazing! No incessant talker today, thank goodness. Finally got to the apartment at about 4:10 in the rain, and Beckett was sitting on the mat and waiting for me - so cute! I gave the kids some Mars bars and Coffin Crisp plus a Christmas card later on. Hiero confused a CARD for a CAR, asking me where the Christmas CAR was, hahaha! Harmony set him straight, though. (my phone had randomly saved photos of Beckett eating out of a pot earlier, hahaha)

Ayler and Hiero did origami / cut-out snowflake crafts at the table after one too many "no scissors on the ground" directives that got ignored, so Beckett and I spent our time rolling balls to each other / being distracted by "boh-boh" (the bling on my white sweater AND the pom-pom on my Santa hat, which he batted around at times) / "reading" books while sitting on my lap (he picked up "yummy" from me!) / his giving me his blocks and balls and emotion eggs / his saying "yeah" to my simple questions of whether HE would get the balls instead of me (but he didn't) / his knowing where my fuzzy purple winter coat was with all the big buttons. Harmony said that balls were his very favorite thing in the whole wide world, which I can believe! (LOTS OF ALLITERATION!) She'd taken him across the street since there was a Christmas tree with lots of ornaments, and he'd loved seeing all the "boh-boh!" He also wanted to look out the window, but was stymied by the Venetian blind being down, and thus blocking his view. His other window was blocked off by chairs and couches, but he managed to throw balls in that restricted area, which I of course got out for him.

We had pork and mushroom jong (sticky rice) with garlic, cherry tomatoes, gai lan, and water for dinner. Beckett actually ate more than usual, but Harmony thought that was down to the sticky rice, some of which did fall in his bib, but luckily did not smear or smudge on my Heat Holders socks! Ayler told me that he had a Christmas concert next week, and a winter party because his class had received a lot of points to go towards one. NICE! I asked if he was going to have ornaments, but he says no because it's not Christmas. That made sense, I told him. After they learned about butterflies and cocoons and the chrysalis, Ayler wanted to hug me! I said that he could hug me, paused, and added "only if you want to." He did! That was amazing!

Ayler and Hiero didn't like it when Beckett climbed on them, but he's so light! While Harmony was out of the room for a bit, Ayler told me that he gets screen time at school (as does Hiero), and his mom doesn't like it. I had to laugh, since I could see this coming years ago! When I left the apartment at 7:50 (so late!), Harmony said that Beckett had called me "Attie," and he called me that again while pointing to me. HE KNOWS WHO I AM AND WHAT MY NAME IS - SO CUTE!Hiero told me seriously that his school friend knows Punjabi and she wanted to teach him some language skills - good for them! Harmony wanted to know if I could come on Friday the 13th, so I said yes. As it turned out, I hope fervently that I used up ALL my "bad luck" tonight - I kept on missing trains and buses galore! EVERY SINGLE ONE! I got home at 10, which is pretty fucking late!


From Reddit: For the first time since January 10th, 2006 (which was also a Tuesday), the Vancouver Canucks will finally host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 PM PST. The Canucks played Toronto tonight at 7, and lost 4-1. UGH!


Random stuff from the family: Novelty HOT FLASHES socks from Hatley, Ontrue roasted seaweed in Wasabi flavor, a pink "XXL" Xi Fu Fen pajama set (more like Small), a light brown Rice Balls (actual brand name) sweater with purple stars from Korea, and a 52mL tube of Colgate MaxFresh Knock Out toothpaste.


From Julie: When you're washing the dishes and the water hits a spoon! WATER IN YOUR FACE AND ON YOUR CLOTHES!




Snowflake art on the bedroom door!




Hiero insisted on having a green heart on the bathroom door! No double-sided arrow, however!




Ontrue seasoned and roasted seaweed in Wasabi flavor! Thanks, Mom and Dad!




Red bling shirt for Christmastime!




White bling sweater for Christmastime!




SANTA HAT TIME!




Thanks for the Hatley socks for my non-existent HOT FLASHES, Jon and Harmony...




A Rice Balls brown sweater made in Korea... thanks for the Engrish, Mom and Dad!