Tatiana's Wanderings

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!

At least the Smooth Move herbal tea worked!


From Debbie and Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons: I lost track of my husband while shopping, but I'm pretty sure he's been in this FART aisle of the store!




From Melissa and Buzzfeed Canada: A Poopemon Pokemon T-shirt!




Baby: I pooped my pants, but that's none of my business!

After COFFEE TIME / SHOWER TIME / LAUNDRY TIME, Eric picked me up at 6:10 so we could go to Lion's Den plus Bells and Whistles for Randal's birthday thing. Thank goodness for texting! I wore my Spirit of Nature "Canada D'Eh!" moose T-shirt in honor of Canada Day long weekend, of course. Kevin, Eric Ho, Eric M., Jeremy, Randal, and I discussed chimerism in humans, jerk chicken, curry goat, ginger beer, Jamaican patties, working security at the NHL Draft in Vancouver recently, Kaapo Kakko, Jim Benning and the number 6 (NOT 666), my NOT wanting Eric to put his styrofoam (teriyaki chicken) leftovers box in my tote bag without a plastic bag because it would spill all over, Christon and Alice coming really late to Bells and Whistles, my "famous" handwritten birthday card for Randal, Grace hot sauce, the Scoville scale, and the world's youngest mother.

It took 15 minutes for us to get the bill and pay because Kevin wanted our bills to have an additional amount for Randal's stuff. I didn't mind paying part of Randal's bill, but can't we do that among ourselves without wasting time? I don't mind the owner talking to someone in a wheelchair, but that was before she took our request for the bill. We did meet the owner and heard her story, just like that time we were there years ago. I knew the immediate area looked vaguely familiar!

Later, we ordered various beers (Kevin had a Pilsner while I had a Vancouver Special West Coast IPA) and Jon showed up to order garlic fries at Bells and Whistles. I was on my phone (Jon asked how I liked it after I gave him some used printer paper for Hiero's origami creations), but paid attention to CANADIAN BACON while texting Pothead Mike about stuff on Google Hangouts. Eric and I left after Kevin and Jeremy did - discussed chicken and waffles, anime, DARK SOULS, SHINING FORCE, the Nintendo Switch, and cleaning up after Christon's wedding at Kirin. Hopefully, it won't be like the time Mike wanted to help out at Tony and Trish's wedding after an already long day! Got home at 10:30 and discussed the questionable smell outside - at least it didn't smell like shit like on Thursday evening!


Canada D'Eh! moose T-shirt for Canada Day!




Jerk chicken from the Lion's Den!




Grace ginger beer!




Grace hot pepper sauce!




Vancouver Special West Coast IPA from Bells and Whistles!




From Julie: Buff Bernie coloring book?! BUFF BERNIE: A COLORING BOOK FOR BERNIACS!

Eric Ho finally emailed me back about a hangout, saying that he's been busy with stuff (no surprise there), but he was attending "Jon's birthday thingie," so we can discuss our NEXT hangout then! After a too-quick scan of my email inbox, I messaged Jon about it on Facebook. He said he'd sent an Evite, and I said that I didn't think I'd received it. Then I looked again and saw it, so I put in a YES for my RSVP (Mexican food on the 18th at Jeremy's!) and let Jon know that he didn't need to send another one. Phew! At least I had plenty of unfettered time to plan my Wordpress drafts and everything else! Eric M. also emailed me, and said to update my drivers and stuff if I can, since it might be some time before he can come over and figure out the green pixelated screen issues on Youtube and Twitch. Okay, then.

Then I went out at 1:35 (just missing the 407) on a 401 to London Drugs. I got store brand multivitamins (which I can't open!), 400 Mead index cards, on-sale 6x126 Scotties / Scotties Facial Tissue boxes x2, dark chocolate Almond Roca for white Eric, on-sale Waterbridge Belgian chocolate seashells x2 for Chinese Eric and Jon's crew, an on-sale Terry's Chocolate Orange for Eric Ho, and on-sale limited-edition barkTHINS x2! (Gingerbread / Candy Cane) I got home at 2:40 on a 407 in the light rain, no thanks to bus delays and re-routing due to construction! At least I enabled Gmail desktop notifications, which work for me! I'm tired of missing some emails...


Candy Cane barkThins!




Gingerbread barkThins!

I showered and did laundry today. I'll definitely buy replacement shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and shower poufs!


From Julie and her friend: Dragon's Milk stout from the New Holland Brewery!




From Julie: Colorful Dragon #3!




From Vanessa and So Good Vibes: A stainless steel dragon bracelet - YES!

The Canucks played Pittsburgh at 7 last night, and I later found out that they won 4-2. I left at 8:25 in order to get the bus on time to make the trek to the Shark Club, which Sabrina said was right across the street from Stadium-Chinatown Skytrain station. Her idea of "right across the street" must be different than mine because I had to walk a couple of blocks from the station. I couldn't even get into the Shark Club when I finally got there since they were at capacity because of a UFC fight. I saw plenty of people from a BC Lions game and the Canucks game, but not the people I was looking for. I went back in again a while later, and heard my name being called. It was Brad, whom I at least know if not like a lot, so that was a relief anyway. He hadn't seen Kathy or Aaron, but soon got a message saying they'd just got to Stadium. I was fine with following everyone inside when they got there, and of course Eve and John were there already! I could have gone in there beforehand, but didn't want to go against the bouncer's wishes.

Plenty of hugging, some photos, "I love you," and yelling to be heard over everything else! I got a Long Island Iced Tea on Eve's account (ASIAN RED-FACE GENE!), but it later turned out that Brad paid for the entire table anyway. Kathy and Aaron left for some reason, maybe having to do with this (homeless?) guy named Sebastian that was with them. John SPILLED Brad's red wine all over me by accident, so Eve took me to the washroom area and blotched it with cold water. She said to soak it in lukewarm water to get the tannin out when I got home, but I didn't trust that, so did it with cold water instead. Talked about Burnaby, having a phone, addresses, Tammy Milosh the bitch, "you and Brad should date!" (no!), his usage of "cunt," my not leaving CRIMINALS, and a plastic bag for my soaked item. I finally left after midnight, got confused as to where I was going (left and right and up and down were not right in my head), actually went on the Georgia Viaduct, and finally got weird directions from a Hagelin fan, and real directions from the bouncer at the door. Luckily, I got what was probably the last train to Waterfront from Stadium, the last Brighouse train from Waterfront, and the last 401 bus from Brighouse after a cold wait. Thank goodness for winter clothing!

I got home just before the time change at 1:55 AM, soaked my sweater / jersey / pants in the tub, then went to bed soon afterwards. Today, I definitely did my laundry (one load on the second floor - one load on the third floor), and the jersey was fine after washing! Not sure whether it was the water treatment, the white vinegar, or the stain-lifting technology of my laundry detergent - I'm glad, anyway! I can live with 10-ish blotches around the logo, I guess. Talked to CANUCK NATION about this stuff, of course. The lid of the Touch Top garbage can in the bathroom broke off, and I was going to get a new one anyway since it won't fit... so off I go again!


These cheddar jalapeno Cheetos aren't Doritos! YOU HAD ONE JOB!

I discovered surprise redrum before going to bed last night - UGH! After COFFEE TIME at 10, I went out at 11 to the Broadway Canada Line Station to meet Auntie Catherine at 11:30-ish. It was definitely time to switch over to Grandma's warm purple Alia winter coat! Auntie Catherine saw me at the station and we hugged hello. I had tea and hand-dragged lamb noodles with four pan-fried dumplings. We talked about my nephews, Youtube, the Bible / her belief in Jesus Christ / original sin / human intelligence vs. God intelligence (like God is automatically more intelligent?) / the Bible / some Christian preacher named David Jeremiah / whether I believed in Jesus Christ (I didn't sign up for that during lunch!), my own personal beliefs, Chung Yan, Chung Ming, Mattias and Marcus being 9 and 7 now (what?!), VCEFC, Pastor Dan still being there, the aging population at church, a speaker on Martin Luther King and the Reformation tonight at the church, Winter Conference as something I could do to remind me of what I grew up with (what?!), Kids Night on Halloween (what would I do there?!), and the Book Warehouse. Despite all that religious stuff, I did thank her for the lunch and said no when she asked whether I wanted anything else.

When I left the Book Warehouse after laughing at a book called YOUR SHITTY FAMILY, I bumped into Auntie Cathy! We talked about her Sunday School kids getting older, her and Uncle Hansel downsizing to live in a condo around 12th and Heather, Frances Chan staying in town now to take care of her mom, Darren Chew's wedding, her trip to Hong Kong next week to spend time with her mom, her getting back in December, my nephews, and her being glad that I was staying warm before she went on with her day because it was getting cold. I finally got home at 1:20 on a 407, and checked my mail: I got another Royal Bank debit card, which replaces the temporary debit card (which I've cut up already) and the card where the chip could not be read! Yay! Then I decided to send Ellen a Facebook message about her mom. I was totally fine with her emailing Frances to ask whether she could give me her email address or contact info, which Frances did allow. I understand and respect that, definitely! Also, I ate my egg salad sandwich for National Sandwich Day today.


For National Sandwich Day from the r/hockey Discord server: Sandwich alignment chart!