Tatiana's Wanderings

It's Earth Day 2020 today! I am hopefully going to shower and do laundry at some point, but it's kinda rainy, so I'm lacking motivation to do my monthly grocery shopping even though it has to be done.


From EARTHBOUND: Ness is saying, "Happy Earth Day!"

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! )

Note to self: It's much easier to find lotion in any amount at London Drugs than Shoppers Drug Mart, for sure!


Decided to go to the Bay at 11:45 (just managing to get the 401) to exchange that purple Wenger suitcase for a darker one; luckily, the older lady wasn't working there to give me more nonsense about how I should only maneuver it forward and not backward! Successfully exchanged the rain-soaked purple suitcase for a a similar charcoal one instead, then decided to get some on-sale $22 Jockey underwear x3 since I'd have to do laundry later anyway before going to the Shoppers to fruitlessly look for lotion, AGAIN! I did get on-sale $2 Palmolive dish soap x2 in Green Apple and Oxy scents, though.

Walked to London Drugs and successfully found lots of 100mL lotion tubes, so I selected a Jergens Ultra Care Restoring Argan Oil before finally getting home at 1:50 on a 407 to do some laundry. Some mother in line sighed resignedly when I politely asked if I could go ahead of her since I only had one item - she showed me her basket and said she only had four items (all toddler stuff), but she GUESSED I could go ahead if I REALLY needed to... YES, I DO! ONE ITEM TAKES PRECEDENCE, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE BUSES TO CATCH! The Canucks played Carolina tonight at 7, and won 1-0 on Petey's goal. PHEW!


Successfully exchanged the purple Wenger suitcase for a charcoal one!




( Underwear and more! )


Matin Durrani and Tushna Commissariat?!




Patrick Sieloff?!




Teuvo Teravainen?! QUIRKY COINCIDENCE SINCE WE PLAY THE HURRICANES TONIGHT!

After I had COFFEE TIME, Barry picked me up at 11:50 and we went banking and to Price Smart. I bought a NEW on-sale Caramilk chocolate bar and a half, NEW Triscuit dill / sea salt / olive oil crackers, NEW Triscuit Canada balsamic and basil crackers, NEW basil and garlic Triscuits crackers, Ottogi Jin Ramen in both spicy and mild flavors, NEW Western Family chicken and wild / brown rice soup, NEW Western Family chicken and rotini soup, NEW Western Family soy sauce x2 (regular and 50% less sodium), NEW DASANI water (after the soy sauce attacked me), a NEW HERSHEY'S Gold chocolate bar (peanuts and pretzels), Western Family 8-vegetable lasagna with multigrain pasta (carrots / green and red Bell peppers / spinach / zucchini / cauliflower / broccoli / black olives), on-sale Olympic Dairy organic plain yogurt.

Also bought bananas, on-sale Excel Gum in peppermint flavor x3, NEW Shirakiku Goku-Uma tonkotsu noodles, NEW on-sale STAGG Chili Canada Steak House chili, NEW Tim Hortons canned soup x3 (Cream of Broccoli / Chicken Noodle / Chicken Rice), on-sale MilkisPH Snoopy six-pack drinks x7 (milk and yogurt in a bottle / canned melon / canned apple / canned banana / canned mango / canned peach / canned original), Western Family prune nectar, on-sale NEW O'Tasty vegetable / pork / black mushroom dumplings or potstickers, Joy Chinese Dim Sum dumplings x4, and Silk Canada almond milk! After that, I paid my Shaw bill online at home.

Later, I tried to get Hester to give me some laundry tokens (March 26, 2019). She said that they were going out right now, but I could have some if I came by immediately. So I did, but she was STILL not impressed because I should have taken the "nearest" stairs so she wouldn't have to wait three minutes, which is apparently an inconvenience. Well, maybe she should work on the building's elevator which has been out of service for five weeks, and replacing the dryer which has been out of commission for three months! Then when I left her door, she said that I should take the "nearest" stairs - no, because I'd still have to walk down a long hallway regardless! I told her NO! I'm going to do what works best for me, and it's just TOO BAD if my disability and walking speed causes her to wait a few more minutes to leave the building since they haven't invented teleportation for real yet! The Canucks played the Senators again tonight at 7 in Preseason Game #7 (the penultimate!), and lost 6-2.


From Julie M. and Introvert Spring: If I am silent, it's because there's thunder inside me. Or I'm just chilling - it depends. May the odds be ever in your favor.




( Soup, perogies, and Milkis galore! )

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 4:10 on a 407 for Dad's belated 70th birthday dinner at Kwong Chow. I got a text from Jon saying that dinner was at 5:30 and they were at Granville Island (I'd already said I would be at Save-On), so I bought more (on-sale or NEW) Stagg Chili (Dynamite Hot / Southwest Chicken style) and Western Family things since Mom and Dad would be giving me a ride home anyway. Whole mushrooms, mushroom pieces and stems, hot chili con carne, original chili con carne, liquid honey, lemon juice, grated Italian Parmesan cheese, and beef / vegetable / chicken instant noodles! I still managed to get to the restaurant on time: Mom was already there and wanted me to call Jon to see if they'd left home yet. Luckily, I already knew their true whereabouts, and also knew that texting was easier than having to find a place to take a call. I always delete her voicemails, anyway. Too inconvenient...

They got to the restaurant soon enough (but not soon enough for Mom), and we ordered a while after that. Discussed the restaurant's plastic bowls NOT being for the congee (Mom...), my "stealing" an extra plate from the dish pile for Jon (which caused one of the kids to say that stealing is wrong - hahaha), music school being over, plans for tomorrow / this week, Ayler eating the fish head again, Beckett slapping the table and being blocked from the TV screen, Auntie Kwai and dementia (and Dad not wanting to take on another person), Dollarama, Summer Reading Club ("I read to you - but you read the words I don't know!"), Hiero trying some jellyfish, Holly's move impacting her taxes because she's an American citizen ($12,000?!), the growing tomato plants on the balcony, and waterslide adventures today with mint chocolate chip ice cream. We walked to Jon's place, where I learned that Beckett now knows how to climb up onto the couch. Guess I should be extra-vigilant tomorrow!

On the way home, Mom wanted me to intercede with Martin and Rich about Vacation Bible School and getting someone else to administer Ayler's medicine instead of Harmony having to travel a lot to VCEFC or wherever they'll be. Nope, I am not doing that. I'm sure Wai-Mui and the other leaders have more important things to take care of... at least I got home at 7:30 instead of maybe an hour later! Spicy tofu triangles, spicy jellyfish, green beans with beef, red bean soup, tea, kombucha tea, chicken, beef yee mein, veggie congee, fish congee - what a dinner! The usual stuff, but still good! Maybe not after I tried eating 600 grams of tortellini earlier, though...


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: A yellow sweet Korean melon, a random pair of yellow socks with "fun" designs, two Chinese posters of oxen / birds / dragons with stickers and five bookmarks, "washed Mom grapes" in a paper bag (purple grapes), a pack of four 32-page Hilroy exercise books from Staples, six Hilroy 80-page one-subject red and purple notebooks also from Staples, Korean Kwangchun Healthful roasted seaweed x10, and six cans of strawberry Milkis carbonated drinks. (Snoopy and umbrellas!)

900g of No Name elbow macaroni, 900g of No Name fettuccini, a bag of random Japanese roasted green tea, random Chinese green tea powder x4, Twinings Earl Grey tea x7, a random Chinese green tea bag, Yama Moto Yama green tea bags x8, Bigelow Orange and Spice herbal tea bags x3, a Mighty Leaf Marrakesh mint green tea bag, Bigelow Darjeeling black tea x3, and a Twinings 100% pure oolong tea bag.


System Restore Disk: Do Not Erase! What's wrong with this photo?!




( Chili, dragon and oxen posters, notebooks, generic pasta, Milkis carbonated drinks, Grow-A-Husband! )