Tatiana's Wanderings

I went out at 12:30 on a 401 to London Drugs so I could get some NEW on-sale purple Dentyne Midnight Mint gum / a MARTEX bath towel / on-sale oversized Angel Oak towels x2 / on-sale Grand Patrician 400 thread count standard pillowcases x2 / Pine-Sol cleaning formula x2 in Spring Blossom and Lavender Clean scents. The toilet paper section was all sold out! I got home at 2, thanks to a patient 407 driver who waited for me to get my Asian old lady shopping cart safely on the bus (damn corners!) and off as well.

Deb texted me a link to Pastor Dan's online sermon on Youtube today, which was actually comforting. Then Eric guessed what I was doing correctly - WOW! Frances texted me to see whether I was comfortable with going out with her in this coronavirus pandemic stage since she's a healthcare worker - I'm fine with that, but we'll see what the governmental guidelines are! Steph and Lisa are probably cancelling their Vancouver trip, too.

Then I went out with my shopping cart again at 6:30 on a 407 to Shoppers Drug Mart after checking the London Drugs website to find soup sold out: I found President's Choice macaroni and cheese for $5 off (SALE!), so I got two, plus a can of Six Fortune straw mushrooms / a can of President's Choice Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup / 14 cans of Campbell's Ready-To-Serve soup at $2 each. Herbed Chicken with Rice, Hearty Vegetable Beef, and Classic Chicken Noodle Soup! Got home at 7:40 on another 407, which is fine by me since I had to launder my four new replacement towels and two replacement pillowcases. Everything came out dry, as I thought it would! MORE LAUNDRY!


Bad grammar, Campbells.ca! You should hire someone who knows the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE!




Zero toilet paper at London Drugs!




( Stocking up galore! )


Julie M. was on vacation and saw this map at a Pennsylvania visitor centre: French Woods, Lordville, STALKER, LOOKOUT, and GALILEE?!




From Julie: Peeps and Crocs are teaming up to create Easter Crocs for Easter 2020?!

I discovered that Andre had unfriended / blocked me on Facebook - WHAT THE HECK?! Eric picked me up at 8:50 AM so I could use church as a vehicle to get to the Osborne Gym at UBC for Hiero's 6th birthday party. It helps that his hockey is all the way out at UBC, too... and it turned out that his hockey building is practically right next to the Robert Osborne building! He said that the LUFIA music sounded like something crazy was going on at my place - HAHAHA! I packed the Creature Chumpers toy (but forgot the birthday card), a bottled water, my Doge bag, and the other Starbucks Cold Brew before putting my boots on just in case of slush. Made my bag heavier, but it was okay. Eric and I listened to the radio for a bit until some guy came on who just monologues at you all the time - not his thing, and not mine either!

When we got to church, there was still plenty of parking across the street. As I thought, the car door went CLONK into a slush accumulation. Luckily, Eric could pull forward a bit so I could go into the nearby parking lot and then cross the street after getting on the clear sidewalk. I waited around outside the sanctuary, saying hey to Joe. When we were allowed to go inside, I said hi to Geoffrey and Sheena, and was respectful of the service. Hiero was there with Jon (who was preaching today), so I asked him if he wanted his birthday gift now or later... of course he chose now, before the Children's Sunday School.

I realized I'd forgotten the birthday card, but I can always give it to him later. He seemed out of it for some reason, but I wouldn't find out why till much later. Then he was trying to get Jon's attention, but he was busy talking to Pastor Dan. When I got back from the handicapped restroom (seeing empty water jugs inside and hoping a grandma didn't have to use it), Hiero had gotten Jon's attention, who told him to say thank you. I said that he already had (when I prompted him), so of course he didn't have to say it again! I did see Uncle Eric and Auntie Brenda at different times, and an uncle said hi to me as well.

Jon had an engaging sermon on Mark and seeds, at least. Even Julie S. agreed with me later on! I said hi to Sam, Auntie Cathy, Auntie Catherine (hug), Auntie Esther (hug), Cordia's mom, Helen C., Joe T., Ivan, Lesley, Dylan / Deb / Declan / Elysse (who thinks it's crazy that Hiero will be her age by next week AND who was eating sugar cubes), Cordia / Amasiah / Julie S. / Denise (who sent a photo of me to Steph) / Julie M., Auntie Susan x2 (Karen Grace's mom and Vivian's mom), Darren L., Martin T., Acer, and others. I could hear Acer swearing in the fellowship hall while talking about DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, but whatever.

Soon enough, it was just a little group of me, Eric, Cordia, Amasiah, their friend Jeremy, and Acer since everyone else was staying for the Larry and Bella Mori missionary lunch before Missions Fest later in the month. Once we were shushed by Auntie Ada (Benedict's mom) since the Cantonese service was going on, we moved to the stairs, where I noticed a few minutes later that we were blocking the way, so we stood around a little outside the sanctuary in the "hall" until the bench cleared up. We still had to watch our volume, though!

Jeremy insisted he wasn't a weeb just because he went to Japan with some guys - including Acer's cousin - and had to translate for the group, Cordia said she's accepted who she is, and said that Amasiah was morbid like me - SWEET! We talked about the Japan trip, Japanese people KNOWING when you're "foreign" to them even if you're Asian and fluent in the language, Sharon's health woes in the Osoyoos (being literally stuck at home), 80 cents for a medium bottle of milk tea in Japan, the Mori kids Timothy and Tiffany, Molly, people following others on Instagram, pressuring Amasiah to buy some Pokemon figurine on Amazon since she didn't in Hong Kong, my trip, the snow and slush, anime / manga, otaku people, Discord, and lunch plans. Eric and I went upstairs to see if we could get some extra $2 sandwiches (Benedict had five pink tickets from his mom!), but he decided not to bother or distract anyone in the rooms, which I noticed are now labelled. They even upgraded the water cooler from a huge jug to a black self-cleaning one!

A few minutes later at 1:25, Eric asked if I was cool with going to Broadway / Cambie instead. Sure, why not? We could get fast food burgers, so we went to A and W where he kindly paid for my Mama Burger and we shared his fries before going to Pacific Spirit Park and a parking garage on UBC campus. He pressed the crosswalk button for me in the rainy weather, and showed me which building to go into. I went into the Robert Osborne building, connected to the Wi-Fi, and looked for a specific gym on the Evite to no avail, so I had to text Harmony about it. "No, gym" is not really a great answer to "should I meet you on the second floor?" when there are at least three gyms and lots of lockers in the entire place... as I told Steph, I wonder how many "where is this place specifically?" calls and texts they got before the birthday party.

Jon and Harmony were actually early with the kids, probably because they had to sign a waiver and were nominally hosting 15 kids and their parents. I showed Beckett the balls that he had dropped in my bag, but he seemed too out of it even for just waking up. He did look at them with widened eyes, but said nothing. After I met Hiero's friends Emmett and Huxley (what a name!), I heard that Hiero had puked on the gymnastics equipment when Harmony was explaining what had happened in Chinese to her parents! IRRESPONSIBLE AND GROSS! WHY WOULD YOU SUBJECT KIDS TO THAT?! Even Ayler was complaining of feeling sick at the end of everything later! While I was there, Chinese Eric replied to my text about the All-Star Game, saying he'd get back to me later. Why don't you figure it out first, man? I'm not like my ex Mike who wants an almost-instant response! Uncle Joe and Auntie Wing ended up driving me home after the refreshments since Costco closes early on Sundays, so I got home at 6:25. AWESOME!


Random stuff from Mom and Dad, who definitely wanted the tiny tote bag back if Mom dug through my bag for it: Cao Is Starvingbase Chongqing instant noodles, Paldo Jjajangmen Chajang instant noodles, Country Life pure soap, a random floral soap circle, Princess Cruises Lotus Spa shower gel x2, a shoe brush, a Bath Aquatics h2O+ bath bar, and Ontrue roasted seaweed x2 in green tea flavor! It's MINE after I put it in my bag - come on now, WAIT FOR ME TO GET BACK FROM THE WASHROOM AND THEN ASK PERMISSION! Even Beckett has more respect than that! When he dropped his balls in my bag, he just stood by the bag and didn't go through it... I'm sure he doesn't have the words to ask about the balls, but that doesn't matter!


The Tiger Tiger Sukiyaki noodles did come with a lot of packets in the bowl with the handy lid, all crammed inside!




( Gummies, water jugs, hot water advisories, and party food! )

THIS ENTRY IS ALLOWED TO HAVE NON-ALIGNED TAGS.


What I gave for Christmas 2019!

* lots of Christmas cards and Christmas stuff for my real-life friends! [Windel Advent calendar for Jeremy, Wendel Advent calendar and Delecto assorted dark chocolate box for white Eric, stuffed Santa dog / hot cocoa Hershey's Kisses / Advent calendars for Jon's crew, cards for Corey (with bonus birthday card) / Julie M. / Jan M.]

* lots of online Christmas wishes! [s, s, s]

* s

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 2:40 on a 401 to a sick Jeremy's for Jon's birthday dinner since Eric could give me a ride home after UBC hockey and helping in the kitchen. I bought on-sale Knorr Sidekicks in Chicken and Broccoli rice and pasta / Homestyle Cheddar / Chicken Fried Rice, some high-visibility fluorescent yellow-green stickers and slap bracelet straps from Dollar Land (FINALLY!), some 100 mL Vaseline lotion in the yellow tube for Ontario from Shoppers Drug Mart, and a small bag of NEW on-sale Takis Outlaw snacks from Buy-Low for the Gwei-Lo at Kingsgate Mall since I got there at 3:20. I managed to get to Jeremy's at 4:35 after cutting through Dude Chilling Park, and Ayler wasn't even there yet to lock me out like he did last year! Eric sent me a text while I was there to ask if I was here yet... crazy! I did give him his Windel Advent calendar and Delecto dark chocolate assortment, and gave Jeremy his Windel Advent calendar too.

The kids got there a while later; Harmony said she was glad I was there already because then I could help her watch Beckett and take him from Jesse later on when he needed a break. Yeah, I let him look at the big screen for a minute - that's not going to get him addicted! Jeremy said there were some unsafe things for babies behind the chairs - yes, I could see wires! Beckett toddled around and wanted to turn off the computer, which Ayler thought was a touchscreen again. I let Beckett touch my fuzzy purple Alia winter coat, go up on the couch (but NOT touch the Japanese painting), hold my hands as he walked around, spout gibberish about the glass table (he can see the carpet!) and point at the lights and new things, and give me all the beer coasters a few times over.

Yes, he could throw those around if he wanted to, but NOT the candles or anything else! NOT SUITABLE PROJECTILES! He was also eventually curious about Jeremy's beard, like Ayler and Hiero had been. Ayler was smart and knew that I would have Advent calendars for them. He has a bonus dragon book since HE is a DRAGON too! The Santa stuffed dog was in my bag later when I got home, but I can give it to Beckett before my trip. Hiero wanted to be Batman or Superman in front of everyone.

I was civil and polite to Raymond when he was in the way and admiring Jeremy's bookshelf while I wanted to get my UTHER book from my bag to show Trish later, and also when I handed him some dishes that needed to be washed. Caught up with Caleb (I saw his uncle William recently!), Becky, Alice, Jeremy, Randal, Jesse, Trish, Lanie, and Christon for sure. (Ayler's math prowess / the Japanese soldier who refused to surrender until his commanding officer said so / my upcoming trip / writing / Jacob's Well / SERVANTS / the Spain honeymoon / buying a new place and moving / a rice cooker / the microwave / Jeremy seeing Steph in the newspaper as a random RCMP officer and confirming with Jon)

I met Jon's friend Mallory, noticed that his friend Jay had a "scent" about him, and "met" his friends Chris and Mallory. Since we all had to leave an hour or so earlier because Jeremy was feeling under the weather (bad timing as he got sick from his co-workers yesterday!), Eric and I actually left at 9 or so! We talked about gluten-free ice cream sandwiches being good for his mom and brother, his staying home at Christmas, FIRE EMBLEM, and a raccoon being outside near the dumpster when we got to my place at 9:30. (it was a milk jug...)


Trappiste Rochefort beer!




Santa's Sac beer, haha!




( Food and safety and more! )