Tatiana's Wanderings

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Cards Received, 2018!


Special 2018 (2)

* Cuya: "Flamsterette! Thank you so much for your continued support! It's awesome hanging out with you online! Enjoy these things, please! ♥ - Cuya!" [a Ness from EARTHBOUND perler and two homemade green heart-shaped soaps!]

* Vanessa and Jason: "Hi! Here's Cassidy's birth announcement. One of these days, we'll meet up! ♥ [heart sticker]"


Birthday 2018 (3)

* Jeremy: "Hope you have a great year ahead, Les! Happy birthday - Jeremy." ("You're someone who's lovely, thoughtful, sweet, and kind... wishing you a day that makes you feel as special as you really are! Happy birthday!")

* Rachel F.: "Wishing you continued hope, love, happiness, and excitement for your many years to come! Happy birthday. :)"

* Steph, Lisa, Fraser, Henry, and Havarti: "There once was a very happy tree... who died for this card. The End. Happy Birthday, Tree Killer." (included the kids' handprints!)


Christmas 2018 (11)

* Kitty: "Hello, Leslie. The card is a little late, but I really want to wish you all the best for Christmas and I hope all your wishes for 2019 will come true! Love, Kitty and Ringo the dog."

* Angie H. (auralily): "Happy Holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!"

* photo card from Jon and Harmony

* Steph and Lisa: Merry Belated Christmas, Leslie!

* a photo card from Janet S. (ghost_light) and Mark S. (lonelydumptruck): "Dear Glowing_Dragon, Merry and happy to you throughout the season and the whole new year!"

* Julie M. (moonshar): "Leslie, It seems like each year is flying by. It's almost 2019! Here is to another year of murder shows, bad names, and funny memes! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

* Deanna H. (endlessblush): "Hello, Leslie. It's 38°C and I need to get my Christmas baking done. Summer and Christmas don't always mix. We are home this year, and it will be quiet. Everyone is well here... kids are all busy with part-time jobs now that school / university has finished for the year. I have one more week of work, then have time off until January 2. Yay! Merry Christmas. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Love, Deanna."

* Rebecca R. (reeby10): "Happy Holidays! I hope that 2019 is a wonderful year for you! Best wishes!" She included IRON MAN stickers / rainbow stickers / superhero stickers / Roald Dahl JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH bookmark / Roald Dahl THE BFG bookmark / golden owl bookmark / golden stylized leaf bookmark / STAR WARS "Join the resistance!" and "power!" stickers / IRON MAN stickers / rainbow stickers in a huge Canada Post plastic bag. Apparently, the card with a red robin and logs was "damaged in the mailstream."


Total: 17

It's World Book Day today!


From my ARE YOU SHITTING ME book: Boston Bramlage?! The rest of the family had more normal names: Ronald, Rebecca, Brandon, Beau, and Roxanne...




From Reddit and r/namenerds: A London lawyer is named Friday February Eleven Biddle?!

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 6:25 to meet Chrystal at London Drugs at 7; it didn't matter if she was late because I'd technically been late as well, getting to the station at 7:05. After telling her that Original Joe's and Chronic Tacos were both closed, I said we might as well walk along Broadway till we saw something that caught my eye. Yes, I definitely knew she was treating me! I knew there was a Cactus Club around there, and I was correct when we got to Broadway and Ash. We talked about sitting on the patio, her Baja fish tacos (I had one) and my tuna poke bowl, water, her nephew Ethan wanting to hit people thanks to preschool, her baby nephew Benjamin, yesterday's eyeball ultrasound and my parents' idea of an Oakridge "ride," our bad sense of direction, Thanksgiving, my parents' upcoming "Tom and Tom" trip to Minnesota, the Canucks, New Zealand, Australia, Mike T.'s birthday the other day (they all went to eat sushi), their going to SURREY instead of RICHMOND on Sunday (thus how they got lost and went on the wrong exit), the computer / router / computer case stuff on Sunday, my having lamb at Felico's, surprise birthday cards, and therapy.

After dinner, I wanted to also check out the nearby Book Warehouse to get the newest Bathroom Reader #31 if possible since the website said it was in stock, and I did! Uncle John's Actual and Factual Bathroom Reader #31 (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Annual), baby! I told Chrystal about what had happened last year with the "nearest" post office bullshit before we went our separate ways at the Canada Line station, where I just missed a Brighouse train. At Broadway Station, a businesswoman wanted me to hold the elevator doors for her - instead, she managed to squeeze herself in when the doors were closing. The train wasn't even coming into the station, and the other guy on the elevator seemed to have issues of his own, like wearing sandals outside on a cool evening. Some old guy wanted me to move on the Brighouse bench while I was actively reading - NO, because he could have just walked to the end of the short bench! When I finally got home at 9:30 on a 407, I finally checked my mail to find a funny "Happy Birthday, Tree Killer" birthday card from Steph and Lisa, which included Fraser's and Henry's handprints - NICE! Thank goodness that I had peace and quiet to do what I had to do when I got home!


Cactus Club's NEW Tuna Poke Bowl: Sesame ginger Ocean Wise™ ahi tuna, jasmine rice, mango, cucumber, avocado, edamame, radish, and crispy tempura! Hawaiian taste, indeed!




Cactus Club Baja fish tacos: Beer battered Ocean Wise™ cod, shredded cabbage, chipotle aioli, fire-roasted tomato salsa, pickled radish / onions / jalapenos, and sea salted fries!




Happy Birthday candle icon from shy_of_reality (Becca) and seasonal_icons!




Happy Birthday 1: Colorful dots, flowers, and stars!




Happy Birthday 2: Confetti, a party hat, and more dots!




Happy Birthday 3: Balloons, a party hat, mints, noisemakers, a present box, streamers, banners, stars, cherries, and some frosting with sprinkles!

After COFFEE TIME, Eric M. picked me up at 5 so we could go to Golden Spring Restaurant (near the old VCEFC church site) for Beckett's baby banquet. Unfortunately, I forgot his birthday Lindt Excellence dark chocolate bars (Madagascar / Pink Peppercorn) and birthday card on the way out the door, despite leaving a note for myself. I guess I'll have to give it to him at the Felico's dinner like he wanted. UGH! At least he can give me a ride to that one! We talked about his first hockey practice today, his first game on Wednesday, there being a good reason why Steph / Lisa / Fraser / Henry weren't here this weekend, Highway 99, Steveston, and more.

We had seafood soup, sweet and sour pork, chicken, fish, yee mein, red bean soup, jellyfish, Chinese cold cuts, seafood soup, tea, and more for dinner - I got to take leftovers home, too! Dad thought he had to remind me to say hi to Mom, Uncle Richard, Auntie Gloria, Pastor Fulton, Auntie Teresa, Auntie May, Uncle Anthony, Uncle Andre and his wife Anna, Uncle Joe, Auntie Wing Yee, Auntie Vivian (who said that she missed me and wondered where I'd been "hiding"), Uncle Eric, Auntie Brenda, and their other friends. No, I just wanted to get settled first! I did say hi to Holly, Peter, Evander, and Everett when they got there, of course.

When Auntie Catherine got there, we caught up a little later - she remembered my birthday in September as "a special time," and wanted us to get together. She said that Frances is getting baptized next week - ha ha ha, good luck with that! (from what Ellen tells me...) I'm probably not going to go for THAT service, but did personally tell Jon that I would be willing to go to Beckett's baby baptism service if VCEFC ever got around to organizing one. Auntie Catherine also would be willing to meet me in RICHMOND (!) on Saturday the 15th, and maybe invite a friend my age. Okay, then! As long as it's not about religion AGAIN...

I taught Ayler about Talk Like A Pirate Day since he was wearing a pirate T-shirt. He asked what people did for that, and how he could celebrate; he eventually figured that he could wear his shirt and say "Arr, matey!" like I suggested. Good ideas! He did ask about my skin scars, but I told him that it was my choice to make boundaries about my body, just like him. Later, he refused to ask my reasonable question about how Grade 1 was so far; then he didn't want me to see the time on Eric's watch, so he covered it up. Okay, then. I did say hi to Hiero, but Harmony was wearing Beckett all evening, probably to prevent people from taking photos.

Nathan, Jeremy, Randal, Caleb, Rebecca, Jon, Harmony, Eric, and I talked about Batman / Quentin Tarantino / Twitch streams / my new glasses and upcoming eye surgery / my Felico's celebration (Jeremy and Nathan say they'll confirm later) / Danielle travelling these days / FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL / learning to ride bikes from Ron and Veronica / CRAZY RICH ASIANS / JOY LUCK CLUB / Kendrick Lamar / some guy named Danny Miller / addiction issues / rappers / the weird Asian shows on the TV, which Harmony did NOT feel the need to ask the staff to turn off / counting the courses. We saw Alan and Tracy with their kid Noah, so waved at them on their way out of the restaurant. I wished Myles a happy early birthday while saying hi to him, Brittney, and Naomi. Then Eric had to wait a few more minutes while I said bye to everyone that I knew... oh well.

Eric dropped me off at 8:40, which is still pretty good. Time to relax now! Oh wait, Mom wants Jon to choose the location of my birthday dinner AGAIN - yeah, I'm not putting up with that this year. Let ME pick the damn restaurant, although at least the Oakridge area on a Monday afternoon is better than Commercial Drive with Sunday bus schedules! Not saying I'll never go to Commercial Drive, but NOT at the behest of another person ON MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY! No, I'm not feeling guilty about that. She tried calling me twice, but I was NOT in the mood for yet more social interaction. That's the true introvert nature!


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: $20 cash (making up for yesterday's pizza plus a little more), an old one-litre Proctor-Silex water boiler (half the size of my current one), a pair of white socks, a pair of pink-and-white candy toe socks, and 200 sheets of Hilroy lined paper.


Chinese jellyfish with chili!

I went out at 1 on a C94 to go to the Brighouse Library mini book sale, which I'd heard about yesterday on Facebook Events, eventually buying Age of Iron (Angus Watson), The City Stained Red (Sam Sykes, who also happens to be Diana Gabaldon's son!), The Dinosaur Lords (Victor Milan), The Awakened Mage (Karen Miller), and The Boleyn Inheritance (Philippa Gregory) - not bad for $2.75! Then I went to KFC at Richmond Centre for two chicken wings because of CHICKEN WING DAY, which proved to be more expensive overall at $5.55 than six pieces for $9. The last stop was Shoppers Drug Mart, where I took advantage of the sale on Ben and Jerry's ice cream: Chocolate Fudge Brownie / NEW Peanut Butter Half-Baked! I got home at 2:10 on a 401 since I didn't want to risk the ice cream melting in the heat, as I'd just missed the 407.


Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Half-Baked ice cream!




From Krista: A golden dragon fighting with ice breath!




From Dragons: An awesome and pretty dragon mug!




From Not Always Right: Rebecca Groat?! Reminds me of the food item...




From Not Always Learning: Revie Ishai?!




From Not Always Right: Rob Tonka?! Reminds me of toy Tonka trucks! He even has a Tonka hat!

BOYS: Abijah Edwin, Algernon Angell James, Anchor Thomas (Carrier), Aquilla Cornelius, Arthur Nehemiah, Augustus Adalbert Evelyn, Carnavon Lewis, Charles Hercules Mylz, Clarence Alured, Demas Joseph, Edinborough, Enos Ezra, Epiphany Cole Grose, Fitzroy Chichester, Foxcrowle Percival, Fray Mohawk, Galenus George, Granville Montague, Homer Christopher, Hophni Phinehas, Lockett Frederick, Lothian Treble, Lyttleton Vernon, Miles Matthias, Moreton Heber Augustus, Newton Jarvis, Not Wanted James, Octavius Scarlett (Vale), Orr Cox, Publius John, Redemption, Senior Ramsey, St. Clare Nathaniel Henry, Tatton Lane Fox, Telemachus, Tempest Simeon, Thurto Joseph, Torlogh Eoghain, Wickliff Whitfield Wesley John, Young Harry, Zenas (Spaceman).

GIRLS: Adria Eliza Dulcibella, Agnes Dido, Albina Zingra Tryphosia, Amelia Alida Blanche, Amy Hannah Louisa Margaretta Beatrice Amelia, Arsene Lucie Magdeleine, Arthurina, Avarina Anne, Balaclava Elizabeth, Benjhannah Emma Thaletta, Bethelina Emma, Cassandra Gerlinda, Celicia Hannah, Charlotte Brontë, Clara Parthenia, Comfort Clara, Deliverance Dorcas, Dionysia Louisa, Dulcibella Sophia Paulina, Drusilla Hephzibah, Edwardine Pauline Clara, Elizabeth Hymenaea Caroline, Ella Nehustha, Ethelinda Violetta Elizabeth, Eudora Avice, Fulleretta Elizabeth Neslen, Juno Priscilla, Katherine Mia Hilda Adelaide, Leoline Teresita Heloiser Marietta, Lovely Alice, Marling Susan, Mary Alissima, Mary Christmas (Bond), Monica Alphonsa, Neva Amelia, Nurcellia Elizabeth, Ocean Emily, Philadelphia Lois, Phoras Rosina, Princess Alice, Shepherdess Mary, Velebeth Ann, Vity Ellen, Welly Clarissa Ivanna, Whelmot Elizabeth Pippen, Zamora, Zebe Rebecca, Zitella.