Tatiana's Wanderings

After COFFEE TIME, I left at 12:35 on a 407 for my dentist appointment with Sean on FRASER instead of Oakridge - sigh. I had to leave myself plenty of time for getting lost (seeing Krista at Gilbert and Westminster - "Ontario is a magical place because I've never been there"?!), and had to take a 99 at Broadway / Cambie, and then an 8 Fraser bus around the corner at Fraser till I got to 19th, right across from Glad Tidings church. I would have been there earlier than half an hour early if SOME PEOPLE hadn't hesitated for 45 microseconds at the Brighouse station elevator - BE EFFICIENT AND NOT SLOW WHEN OTHERS ARE PLAINLY WAITING FOR YOU AT THE DOOR! The new location has more space and okay enough wifi, plus actual hooks for your coats and things! I had to have an X-ray, but it's not my fault that my mouth is SMALL! Learned that Sean is getting married in July, too! I have to wait till July to try The Pie Hole across the street because I got fluoride as part of my treatment today. Also got a receipt where the insurance paid 100%, but for some reason, I'm keeping it for now.

Went to the Broadway London Drugs to buy an on-sale Creature Chumper with 1500 Zorbees for Hiero's birthday, on-sale Stemnex 4D Transforming Robots for Ayler's birthday, on-sale Nescafé Taster's Choice instant coffee in a 250g canister, and on-sale Andes candy cane Peppermint Crunch before going to Pho Extreme Xe Lua to have a large #17 and figure out the wi-fi from the nearby A&W. Some guy ahead of me was in a fucking hurry at the exit of London Drugs, saying "excuse me" - nope, we are both directly headed to the doors, so you will have to wait. I should have dawdled even more because he was an impatient ass! It's not like I dropped anything, after all. I also had to deal with THE most recalcitrant self-checkout machine! It wouldn't give me the correct start-up screen (thinking I had items to re-scan), wouldn't give me enough time to find a barcode, wouldn't let me scan something without a barcode (the coffee), and wouldn't let me pay without calling an attendant! UGH! SO TIME-CONSUMING!

Finally got home at 5:20, and saw Hester and Ni, so told them about the mouse / steel wool problem, which luckily I had a photo of on my phone! I did notice an odd metallic clanking sound coming from my bag, which turned out to be two of Beckett's red / white molecule balls from yesterday's throwing activities. No wonder I noticed him standing at my bag looking into it, but he does have plenty of balls, so he should be fine till next week. He did seem interested in the safety fluorescent slap bracelet, too. I'm also going to wash the socks that Harmony loaned me.


Large #17 at Pho Extreme Xe Lua! Steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and fatty flank!




Creature Chumper with 1500 Zorbees!




Stemnex 4D Transforming Robots!




Nescafé Taster's Choice instant coffee!




From Julie: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader BRIEFS and FUNNIEST EVER!




From Julie: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader blurb for BRIEFS and FUNNIEST EVER!




From Julie: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader STRANGE HISTORY! I actually have this one! STRANGE SCIENCE, too!

I finally called Chimo's Housing Connect this morning at 9:15. Nancy is on sick leave, but I got an appointment with their housing manager Sue next Tuesday at 11:30 AM. After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME AND SHOWER TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 401 to help with the kids again. Jon messaged me at 1:45 to wonder if I'd received Harma's text message, but I had not. Yeah, I know she's sick. She wanted me to come earlier, so I just called her instead. Sure, I could come by at 4-ish depending on "delays" and transit time... and it ended up being 4:30 because I just missed another 401 when I was on my way out!

Since Ayler and Hiero wanted to do puzzles in their cramped room, I let them while I hung out and read a book on the couch with Beckett's screams as accompaniment. Eventually, he fell asleep and the boys came out to do Summer Reading. Hiero wanted to sit on my lap while Ayler and I alternated pages. "Can you read upside down, Hiero?" "I can't even read right-side up." Good point! They did tell me about busing to VBS Later, Beckett did come out and wanted to toss everything around as per usual. They gave away the hard blue ball and hard red ball (his favorites!) plus some other stuff because he'd made a dent in the floor, hurt Ayler by indiscriminately tossing things, and had the potential to break a window... YIKES!

Like yesterday, Harmony thanked me for playing so nicely with the baby. We had penne, rutabaga, ratatouille, and honeydew for dinner. Ayler and Hiero did origami tricks with the Summer Reading logs, and Ayler told me about staccato and STORMS OF SATURN, while wanting to know what I felt about his practice runs of OUR DETECTIVE AGENCY. They kept getting better, which was what he wanted! Beckett wanted to play the piano too, so I supported him while he tried playing the high keys, but of course he isn't tall enough yet, so I sat on the piano bench with him in my lap instead.

Later, I made him laugh by playing with the Little Tikes popping toy (yellow and purple) - I pressed on the purple part and it pooped out within a few seconds. He "helped" me by putting his finger on it, haha. As long as it amused him for a bit! He looked up at me and wanted me to repeat that over and over, which is fine. Once Ayler and Hiero finally got to bed at 8:05, I could leave the house - I got home at 9:30 thanks to having to wait a while for the 407. I wish they'd gone to bed ten minutes earlier! Since I figured it wouldn't take forever and I might not miss a train, I held the elevator for a lady with crutches at Marine Drive. Her toes had splayed out - yikes! LUCKILY, I didn't miss the Brighouse train!


Bit fucking extreme: Shoplifters will be prostituted! No exceptions!

Yay - I got all the MOTHER 3 items because of cheat codes! :D


Item Modifier Codes


Lighter's Lumber to Strong Gloves!




Magic Gloves to Canine Weapon!




( Thank goodness for Starmen.net and codes! )

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME (and confirming that Steph got Lisa's and Henry's birthday cards which I'd mailed them), Mom and Dad picked me up for lunch at 11:30 at Dinesty Dumpling House to have hot and sour soup, white surfboard noodles with choy, and siu long bao. They gave me a lot of unsolicited advice about my life (apparently I don't need a ride to the eye consultation since it's not actual surgery AND just need not to look at screens in order to get rid of my cataract - yeah right!), are still under the impression that Steph is going to Beckett's baby banquet, eye doctors, surgery, technology, and said I could get green grapes on sale at Price Smart. I declined the temptation to go there, especially with my mom, so I got a ride home with Dad at 12:40.


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: A white floor lamp (which Dad at least helped me plug in), a forest green and white bedside lamp with pink roses / flowers, an old toaster, candy canes, a half-bag full of candy conversation hearts, a package of Nutella and Go! pretzels, a Mr. Munchy milk chocolate Easter bunny with rice crisps, a box of 12 Quaker Quick Oats instant oatmeal packets which expire in January 2019, a box of 12 Quaker Regular instant oatmeal packets which ALREADY expired in November 2017, eight double rolls of Purex Ultra 3-Ply toilet paper, a black Stormtech fall / winter jacket which will replace my white zip-up Stormtech fall jacket (it's MORE THAN FINE to throw things out which don't work for me...), a purple Tabi International coat, a handmade (?) purple yarn vest, a light brown Paraphrase petite flowery wool vest, a random white comb (I almost typed BOMB), and $10 cash.


Also: FUCK EMERGENCY POOPS, MUCH-NEEDED QUICK SHOWERS, AND RUINED PANTS AND UNDERWEAR!


From Julie: Ashley, Franchell, and Esteban for a black guy?!




From Julie: Shaheed?!

What I got for Christmas 2017!

* lots of online wishes! (Holly L., Mikki M., Jim S., Ryan B., Billie E., Sean K., Sean S., Mandy D.-R., Nas, Jan M., Kitty B., Barb D., Vanessa H., Ellen W., Mike B., Shelley H.)

* homemade chocolate peanut Eat More bars from Vanessa H.

* a surprise Christmas card from Karla W.

* wishes from Frances C. via email

* a Tarot Two of Swords Christmas card, Swedish Christmas card, Swedish Bilar candy, Swedish Polly chocolate / butter toffee / vanilla candies, and Swedish fruity-floral Twinings tea x3 from Katherine K. (cactus_rs)

* a Snoopy and Woodstock Christmas card with ice cream / Christmas cat / Christmas dog / taco / emoji / hamburger / butterfly / cactus stickers from Mandy B. (dazzamre)

* a Christmas Hello card / Christmas note / various Australian postcards x 24 [Love The Mornington Peninsula x8 / Australian War Memorial / PAINTERS / National Archives of Australia / Tarkine / DIARY OF A WIMPY KID / Bangarra Dance Theatre / Melbourne Zoo / Best of British / bugs of Melbourne Museum / Hokusai / Mental Health Australia / Princess Highway / Linden Postcard Show / Show Us Your Tattoos / REMOTE ALIGNMENTS at the Mars Gallery / THE FATHER at the Melbourne Theatre Company] from Deanna H. (endlessblush)

* a Christmas photo card from Steph, Lisa, Fraser, Henry, and Havarti

* a Peanuts Christmas card, CHRISTMAS HOUSE erasers, Snugadoo Too Super Soft purple striped socks and a red toque, two CHRISTMAS HOUSE jingly necklaces, Hot Tamales Fierce cinnamon jellybeans (better not let the kids have any...), bite-size Tootsie Rolls in a bank, 12 CHRISTMAS HOUSE pencils, Christmas stickers, and a Christmas memo book with pen from Julie M. (moonshar)

* a Christmas card from Sheryll T. (sheryll)

* wishes from Chrystal C. via phone call


* Random stuff from Mom, Dad, and others: A winter-ish dark grey jacket which used to be Grandma's, a Christmas card, $10 in cash, a brown Tahari leather jacket (not as cool as it sounds), a blue polyester Stormtech winter-ish jacket, a dark blue San Francisco winter-ish jacket, a red Roo handbag, a blue Sport Sport handbag, a brown Chinese handbag, a light brown wool toque, blue Thinsulate gloves, a zebra stripe AMAZING GRACE cap, a thin red scarf, a thin leafy dress (?), a brown polyester winter hat, and thin black gloves.

Also: Laura Secord praline Christmas Collection chocolates from Eric, a MYSTERIES home fragrance gift set / a FOOTPRINTS journal / Christmas card from Amy, Santa's Gumball Workshop Dubble Bubble cartons x2, Santa Lifesavers cherry / watermelon / green apple / strawberry / orange Gummies, Florida's Au'Some Christmas candy cane Nuggets, and a Waterbridge chocolate letter N.

Plus: A thin Man Fang Yuen Wa long-sleeved shirt, Nosh and Co. Yummy Mixed Fruit Berries, Lifesavers Holiday Mix (candy cane / cherry / apple), a lined blue and white snowflake toque, a colorful small beaded hand purse, a small black BB Design handbag, a thin leafy Orla Kiely long-sleeved shirt, and a colorful Vietnam tote-ish bag.


* a photo card from Jon, Harmony, Ayler, and Hiero - complete with a DUCKFACE in the Santa photo!

* a Christmas card from Deb and Dylan

* a Christmas card with a dog on it from Jaymee L. (kirei_xo_ai), who also included a packet of Swiss Miss hot chocolate

* a Grinch Christmas card from Sam C. (acidquill), who included a small dragon charm / BATMAN stickers / dinosaur stickers x3 (perfect for Ayler and Hiero!) / STAR WARS stickers / FINDING NEMO stickers (perfect for Fraser!) / cute food stickers (ice cream cone / taco / sushi / hamburger / doughnut / pizza slice / French fries / cupcake with cherry on top / a Coke cup playing a guitar / a pretzel / a chocolate bar) / smiley face stickers / IRON MAN stickers / TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE stickers / American dollar bill and American coin stickers / robot stickers / Martian stickers / GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 2 stickers / THE AVENGERS stickers

* a Christmas card and colorful smiley face stickers / polar bear sticker / luge sticker / snowflake sticker / snowboarding cat sticker from Bella (med_cat)

* a Christmas card and penguin / Santa hat stickers from Christy C. (snoopdawg)

* a dog photo card and a postcard of downtown Rotterdam from Kitty B. (bornwitch)