Tatiana's Wanderings

After COFFEE TIME / SHOWER TIME / CLEANING FRIDGE TIME (yucky sticky prune juice!), I went out at 1:30 on a 401 to finally redeem that Pure Nail Bar gift card from Christmas 2019 for a pedicure before going to help with the kids. I thought I'd be on time, but NO... the 3 bus had to be late, a stroller had no idea what to do on the bus, and then there were traffic delays, causing me to be 10 minutes late! At least they didn't have to call me or anything, and it was just after East 13th! It was pretty relaxing, and I got to choose a nail polish color - Shooting Star silver glitter! They had a fancy nail dryer and a fancy pink toe separator!

After I was done at 3:45, I texted Jon and asked whether he was at the park, then went to Save-On to kill time. I should have gone to the park instead since it took him 20 minutes to get back to me saying they were home now. Fine, sure, I'll walk there - not a big deal, of course. Beckett wanted "Didibug!" which Jon asked about - it made sense, but what was it? Hiero drew me a Bat Signal and a lightning bolt, saying I could keep them in my pocket. I pointed out that it would probably fall out of my pocket, so I'll keep them in my wallet's zippered pouch instead! When I got home, I put the Bat Signal / lightning bolt / Cao Starvingbase Noodle HOO! guy in a Ziploc bag for extra protection.

Ayler was blocking Beckett's access to the piano because Beckett would try to play it, and wanted to know if the real Dean could stay later to play "quiet soccer" while Jon taught his sister Lily. I told Dean that he must be special to Beckett - every time someone comes over, Beckett thinks it's Dean! HAHAHA! "Dean! Dean! Dean!" When Harmony got home, she mentioned she was late because the pipeline protesters had been blocking UBC today - UGH! Then she saw silverfish in the bathroom, in her clothes! YUCK! I told her about the time that I had seen one CRAWLING ON MY COMPUTER DESK in summer 2017 - EW! Beckett wanted to say hi to Kayla, and of course was interested in her guitar and the rest of the students.

Jon gave me a tea rag to wipe Beckett's nose with. He's learned "NO!" and uses it frequently! I watched him knock over Jon's violin while he was teaching Willie, and Jon said "NO, BECKETT." A kid named Ethan came for a piano lesson, and his mom stayed in the room. Beckett was very interested in her phone! Ethan asked what I was doing there, so I said that was a good question - what did HE think? Jon answered when he didn't have a response. I read the rest of the DOG MAN book to Hiero, who then wanted to draw Dog Man while Dean and Ayler transitioned to quieter origami.

We had pozole with hominy / chips / Greek yogurt / choy for dinner, plus an almond croissant. Beckett wanted to climb up on the couch and needed my help to sit / stand on the white chair. He picked up the word "funny" and the corresponding grin expression. "FUNNY! OPEN! Block! Magnet! Frog!" Of course he got upset when Ayler stole his stuff... I told Hiero that he had just touched the nose-wiping cloth with Beckett's germs ALL OVER it, so Hiero went by himself to wash his hands quickly! Beckett also showed me where my own eyes / nose / mouth / ears were, with the correct words. He wanted to show me his orange half-shell, so he said "shell" - pretty good!

I left at 7:45, amazingly in enough time to catch the 7:55 3 bus that went to the station. However, I wouldn't get home in time for the second period, because there was an electric scooter that took a minute or so to adjust herself in the bus. She didn't deserve a guilt trip or anything, so I was outwardly patient. Then on the Canada Line at Aberdeen, there was an obstreperous guy who wouldn't get off the train until threatened with the cops by the female attendants! Everyone was craning their necks to look - some old man asked if I was going to save him. Fuck, no! I'll watch from safety! I FINALLY got home at 9:10 during the second intermission. The Canucks played the Coyotes tonight at 7:30, and lost 4-2 thanks to an empty-net goal from behind the Arizona net ALL the way to the other end of the ice.


Fancy nail dryer at Pure Nail Bar.




Fancy pink toe separators at Pure Nail Bar. Nail polish color from their array is Shooting Star Silver.




Pretty Shooting Star Silver toenails!




Better view of the Shooting Star Silver toenails!




I got this weird time glitch on Shiwa's Discord server last night. March 3 is "today" while March 4 is both "tomorrow" and 'today." Okay, Discord...




From Jon and Harmony for Christmas 2019: Pure Nail Bar pink envelope and pink gift card for a pedicure, which I finally used this afternoon!




Biggerstaff tombstone?!




This is from Red's Discord server. Coronavirus as a metal band T-shirt: CORONAVIRUS 2020 World Tour! China and Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, Middle East, South America. SCYTHES! HAHAHAHA!




From Julie: I'm giving up these little glasses of alcohol for Lent. I will be drinking big glasses of alcohol instead.

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 2:40 on a 401 to help with the kids, but decided to stop by the post office first to mail stuff to Steph and Joan for $4.38 only! It was sort of quick, no thanks to someone wanting to check out her post office box while mailing stuff! I got to the house at about 4, and settled in to play with Beckett, who walked to the door to say hi, and also walked to the washroom to see what I was doing. He's picked up "please" and has a new Summertime word board book, which he plopped into my lap to "read." (he's working on "ladybug" and calls every animal a "doggy" - cute!) When I took his turtle and frog blanket away from him to adjust it a little, he said "mine" and snatched it back. Okay, then! I found his cool blue sunglasses, and he wanted me to put them on him a few times, so I did. He also moved an emotion egg ("dan-dan") around on the freezer door handle, which he found amusing - better than throwing balls into the dishwasher! (and he smiled BIG for the Vitamin D tablets - and loved chocolates!)

Ayler told me about the TAB key and how the SHIFT key meant that you had to stretch your pinky ALL the way - yup, you're right! He also called Beckett "my baby," haha! Hiero "shot" me with a Duplo "gun" which he could turn into a "sword," and they both encouraged Beckett to go to the printer and print something out! Later, I found Beckett's family baby book - he pointed at the page with Myles on it, and called everyone "Cou-fu," hahaha! He pointed at Steph and said "auntie" - he was also pointing at me from the table and saying AUNTIE, too! Hiero asked what I'd do if he called me "Auntie Blah Blah," so I said that I'd ignore him because that was disrespectful. They were making paper "birthday cakes." He also wanted me to read "Weird but True," but I was busy with Beckett, who'd gone to the far windowsill to roll some balls he'd left there. Harmony asked if he was okay - sure, he didn't kill himself on the curtain! We talked about pastors at church when I brought up Pastor Dan leaving.

When Beckett went under the piano bench to sit under the piano, he practiced the word "happy" - that's a good word to know, for sure! We had duck with hair, avocado, beans, hibiscus juice, bok choy, and soup for dinner. They'd had hot chocolate earlier, and Beckett made a couple of big messes with that AND the juice! Uh-oh is right! Random blobs of food even got on my socks (from the Cheerios that Beckett was giving me from his mouth), so Harmony gave me Jon's socks to wear home. I taught him the word "zoom" in reference to a small toy truck that was lying around. He likes spinning the wooden "intersection" from the train tracks, and is less amused by the baby pop-up toy now. When I spread the blankie on my lap, he lay down on it and sucked his fingers. Guess he likes the blankie!

I left earlier than I might, and Beckett knows BYE-BYE and said it a lot to me! Finally got home at 8:35, no thanks to idiots holding open the door at Bridgeport so some guy could get his HUGE bag of stuff in (making someone else move), OR a bike at the Brighouse elevator, OR what turned out to be the 407 driver blocking my direct path to the bus door because he HAD to talk to his colleague about his "twin." I was so annoyed that I said "EXCUSE ME!" Some people need to catch the bus, you know! Contrary to what I usually do, I didn't even thank him on my way out of the bus! The Canucks played Tampa Bay today at 4, and LOST 9-2?!


From Julie: CREATIVE CURSING?! A mix and match profanity generator!




Beckett's molecule balls, shells, emotion eggs, soccer ball, and baby pop-up toy!




16 Carnaby peppermint candy canes!




Duck with hair, bok choy, beef, and other things in a soup!




Baked beans and avocado!



This entry was originally posted at https://glowing-dragon.dreamwidth.org/6313160.html. It doesn't matter to me if you comment here or there.

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:05 on a 401 to help with the kids. I stopped by Kam Do Bakery briefly to get a sandwich-like bun, and finally came away with a ham and cheese bun for $2. Despite the train just coming into Brighouse station right when I got to the crosswalk, I just missed it because the traffic light refused to change for half a minute - UGH! I did have time to wait in the lineup at Tim Horton's for a $1.25 Double Chocolate doughnut for National Doughnut Day today, and had enough time to take a photo of that and the bun before I ate the doughnut prior to leaving the store and taking the 3. Once I got to Harmony's, I buzzed into the building, but got no answer, even from that cranky guy of last week. After TEXTING HER without a reply, I sighed and tried buzzing AGAIN - THIS TIME, I FINALLY got a response!

Slightly irritated, I took the elevator up to find that Penny was the likely reason for my delay, and I waited while she finished talking to Harmony before leaving the apartment. Beckett was definitely awake, and seemed interested in the small buttons on Grandma's purple wintry warm Alia coat, so I told him what they were. He also liked the black fuzz! Beckett still likes looking out the window, but he pointed at something outside (maybe the street lights) and spouted random gibberish at me, to which I responded as if it were understandable. He's picked up the word "yeah" and said that a number of times. I didn't care if he wanted to poke his fingers in the holes at the bottom of the baby pop-up toy and "new" light-up toy from Holly! When he wanted to walk, I supported him by holding his hands up high, like I had with Ayler and Hiero. He threw blocks at me when he wasn't attempting to fit them in the holes in the lid ("Na na na NA NAAAAAAA!" when he wanted me to take off the circular lid so he could see where they landed), tried clawing my eyes out (no glasses protection this time!), and pulled off my light winter hat - I made him look at me while I told him NO THROWING!

He seemed slightly interested in the bling on my shiny red bling sweater, and burrowed himself in an embarrassing position on the mat. Hiero wanted me to "fight" him with his long paper lightsabers, but I had to keep an eye on Beckett. We had mesquite smoky bean soup with bacon and kale, grapes, and some cheese that the older kids helped to grate. Beckett scrunched up his face and grinned at us - SO CUTE! When he didn't want to eat anymore, he started to throw food at us - I even got a bonus Cheerio in my soup! (none of his Rice Krispies!) Harmony said that he's different with Jon, who does pretty much the same thing that she does to try getting him to eat. At least I finished before he ate any yogurt; yikes! Ayler and Hiero talked about taking ALL the grapes before I could have any, ding-dongs, what happened if the principal was away (they don't have a vice-principal at that school?!), the "Jingle bells - Batman smells - Robin laid an egg" song, my Coffin Crisp fun-size bars with skeletons and spiders, calcium / iron / vitamins / sugar, my going to Ontario by myself, FOUGHT being the past tense of "fight," math quizzes being verboten at dinner (even though 16 + 6 is simple), and new therapy.

Once Beckett had been put down to sleep, I read more pig and elephant stories (yay for my different voices!) / AMELIA BEDELIA / Invisible Boy stories to Ayler and Hiero. I reminded Hiero to do something, and Ayler pushed him towards the bathroom, which made Hiero upset and crying. Geez! Harmony let me go at 7:35 and said that she hoped the transit strike didn't affect me too much, I just managed to get a 3 to Marine Drive Station (which STILL stopped for two minutes at 41st!), some lady was standing RIGHT in my way in front of a seat on the Brighouse train I DID get, and I got home at 8:35 on a 407. I updated Mike via text, although I bet he didn't have much time to read. The Canucks played St. Louis tonight at 7, and lost 2-1 in overtime despite a big goal from our rookie Quinn Hughes...


From Julie: Me whenever I meet someone who can match my dark sense of humor and sarcasm... "You're full of hate and loathing and I love it."




Double Chocolate doughnut for National Doughnut Day today, plus a ham and cheese bun from Kam Do Bakery for a late National Sandwich Day on November 3. This slightly ruined my appetite for an early dinner at 5:30, but whatever.




Watermelon tea towel in the bathroom at my brother's place.




This unscented lotion is for EVERYONE, Mike!

The 401 did not show up at the bus stop when I left at 3:30, so I was stuck waiting 20 minutes for the 407 and two 401 buses which all came at the same time. I still managed to get to the house at 5, despite a text message from Harmony way earlier asking if I could be there at 3:45, which I didn't even get till I left the house. Technically late before I even thought of making my way outside... hahaha! Good thing the 3 Downtown pulled up when I'd made my way to the bus stop, and there were NO further delays on my way over! I had to stop into Kwong Chow to pee, which I wouldn't have had to do if the 401 had showed up when it was supposed to!

When I'd made my way quietly into the living room, Hiero greeted me with "Look at my balls, Auntie!" HAHAHA! Thank goodness he meant his yellow origami balls which he'd made and displayed on the table! He showed me some more cardboard buses and Mark III Skytrains plus a cow "headband" which he'd picked up at the PNE this year. Ayler was hiding Beckett's toy balls among some books, then was concentrating on his connect-the-dots book for a while. We had bean soup, frozen grapes, pork chops, and blueberries for dinner while discussing Christon's wedding. Apparently, someone stole Jon's extra four boxes of leftovers! WHAT?! Some auntie had stolen a Bible from Jon and Harmony's wedding centrepieces - WHAT?! She gave it back once she realized it was real, but STILL!

Later, Beckett played the piano with his feet as I held him in my lap for better mobility... that was funny and cute! Yes, he climbed on me and laughed when I put the soccer ball on my head, less so with the baby pop-up toy. Ayler didn't get to sleep till 10:30 last night, but it had been the first day of school today, so anxiety and questions were normal. Hiero took quite a while to eat dinner, while Beckett seemed happy to flip pages of various books on the mat. Later, Beckett climbed on Ayler's back, and Ayler said that he knew Beckett would pull his hair. Close enough - he instead was gumming his hair and chewing on it! I guess he really is teething from last week into this week.

Since someone had a tantrum, I left at 8 on the dot. Next week should be fine. I actually got on a 3 Marine Drive that was NOT annoying and did NOT stop anywhere random for a while! There was a girl who wanted to let the bus driver know that she'd be getting off with her stroller, but if I could barely hear her above the traffic and bus noise while seated across from her, I'm surprised that the bus driver could! I'm glad that I have NG lungpower and strength! Since the bus didn't stop anywhere, I was able to get a Brighouse train pulling into the Marine Drive station. I still had to wait a while at Brighouse Station, but I got home at 9:30 on a 407 - PHEW! Harmony had mentioned that Mom had emailed us about my birthday dinner. I'll think about that tomorrow, since I'm much more interested in chilling and relaxing at home for the rest of my night, haha!


Hiero thought I should be a cow with this Mobile Dairy Classroom thing that he picked up from the PNE!




From Jim Can't Swim: Anjie Galsworthy?! BAD SPELLING OF ANGIE!