Tatiana's Wanderings

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, Eric texted me to say that he was heading out from home, so could pick me up around 4. PHEW! At 4:25, he picked me up for the belated family Christmas 2019 dinner with the Fritos Hoops (in my new bag just to show it off) and the American Tourister suitcase and yellow-green Roots knapsack. We didn't talk much on the way there, but that was just fine. At the house, we parked around the corner, and Jeremy was there as well to my surprise. I said hi to everyone and Ayler wanted to test my piano skills. He also wanted to test everyone's math skills at dinner, oh boy! Hiero wanted to show me the PETER PAN library book, telling me who the characters were. I was interested to see if he liked it, anyway. He also cannonballed into his mom - not a good idea!

Beckett just wandered around, thinking that Eric's watch was a ball (not really) and amusing us with his "yeah" answers to questions like "do you want a beer?" He's picked up "please" and some other things while I was gone. Mom insisted on FaceTiming Steph at 8 PM there, and after she didn't want to talk to Ayler (telling him that it was "too noisy"), she did want to see Beckett, who called her "Attie" too. He definitely wanted all the blueberries from the dessert, calling them "boh-boh" (like the pom-pom on the end of my Santa hat), and smiled when Jon got out the Dewdrops bottle for the kids! Later, he wanted me to put some cool sunglasses on him, then plopped down into my lap with what was a very dilapidated 4-page "100 Words" baby book. Turns out Harmony recycled most of the already-broken book when I was gone.

Told Randal about Henry's "Dear Santa, my brother did it" shirt, which he seemed amused by. Ayler wanted to see how much taller I was since he's 4 foot 2, and also used Eric as a piano bench because I'd used the actual bench to sit on at the dinner table. That was pretty funny! Hiero called everyone in the room "Captain America," and Mom almost wore my coat when she left, thinking she'd left hers on the couch - NO! Mom also said she gave Deb a gift for taking me to the airport (why?!) and Dad wondered if I'd said thank you "enough." *rolleyes* She also claims Pastor Dan is leaving VCEFC, but when I checked with Jon later, he was as surprised as I was, and Eric said "that's what your mom says..." He had slept in and missed church this morning, but caught some of the last World Juniors hockey game. I got home at 8:45, which wasn't bad at all. Jon thanked me in advance for coming this week. Interesting, indeed. Harmony said that they'd given me a pink Pure Nail Spa gift card, and to call ahead first. She also said that it looked like I'd had a fun trip - for sure!


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Two wrapped plastic straws, a broken candy cane inside a Ziploc bag, Carnaby marshmallow Christmas trees x2, Ottogi Jin Ramen Ppushu Ppushu noodle snacks (BBQ x2 and Bulgogi) which expire in three weeks, Maruchan Instant Lunch beef ramen noodles x3, a Reese's Pieces carrot, a pink Smarties bird, my $10 back, and two hats where the brims are too large.


Knorr Three-Cheese Sidekicks!




Hats!




Carnaby marshmallow Christmas trees, a Reese's Pieces carrot, and a pink Smarties bird. QUIRKY COINCIDENCE since it's National Bird Day today, January 5!




Belated family and friends Christmas 2019 dinner: Duck with hair, soupy rice, chili, Chinese mushrooms, and sweet potatoes!




Dessert for our belated Christmas 2019 dinner: Candied citrus peel and homemade panna cotta with blueberries!




Seattle Chocolate truffles in the Woodland Cheer box for Christmas 2019 from white Eric!




Maruchan Instant Lunch beef ramen noodles!




Ottogi Ppushu Ppushu BBQ noodle snacks!




Ottogi Ppushu Ppushu bulgogi noodle snacks!

It's Friday the 13th today!

Mom and Dad wanted to come by today to pick up the "remnants" of the broken Heys suitcase - good thing I found the broken handle INSIDE said luggage before they came by this morning at 10:50 AM, since I thought I'd lost it when it wasn't anywhere on the floor nearby! Dad thought I needed to wash my hair since I wore the old Alaska sweatshirt with dandruff on it - uh, I was chilling at home and didn't need to shower till LATER! Apparently, Mom had to use the bathroom even after going at Dr. Ruby's (and apparently didn't wash her hands at my place - GROSS!) - REALLY?! She also gave me a couple of medium candy canes for the boys in a produce bag (plus chocolate almonds for me in another produce bag), but I was happy to keep them for myself since Harmony didn't want the boys to have too much sugar. Yeah, good luck with that one...

After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME and SHOWER TIME, I went out at 3 on an 401 to help with the kids. Harmony gave me some Children's Hospital Christmas cards with white envelopes, so YAY FOR THAT! I also got a card and stickers from Julie in today's mail, plus a surprising card and stickers from Janina, who deactivated her Facebook profile AGAIN a while ago. That was nice of her, though! Rishu wanted to call me anyway since I "couldn't" make it in to the boonies of Richmond, but was so late about it that I should have just taken a shower at 1 instead of 11:45! Hurry up and wait - UGH!

Got to kill a bit of time at Marine Drive Station, but just spent it online near the statue where I could get a wifi signal from Dublin Crossing pub, and got to Harmony's at about 4:30. She'd warned me about being quiet since Beckett was actually napping, and I said I'd be there soonish. The bus HAD to stop for two minutes at 41st, and then ran into rainy-day traffic crap at 20th or so... I'd rather be safe than in an accident, though! When I got in, the boys were reading a Mercy the Pig book, which I had to finish because Harmony had to tend to Beckett and the lasagna at the same time.

I read a few pages of CHINOOK CHRISTMAS - way too advanced for Ayler! - before I decided just to play with Beckett, who had just come out and was loopy. He gave me a bunch of toy balls and emotion eggs, wouldn't respond "yeah" to my questions for a bit, and just stared at me for a while. Later, he did warm up (I got a hug!) and "read" the 100 Words book, saying something that vaguely sounded like "what's that?" and pointing at a picture. Of course he knew where the balls were, but also called a kid's head a "boh-boh," which Hiero found hilarious! "HAHAHA, he called it a BALL!"

We had the aforementioned lasagna with kale and ricotta, cherry tomatoes, and grapes for dinner. Beckett was only slightly interested in this dinner, but at least did not upend his tray on the table this time. He cried and was upset, only smiling when he saw the Vitamin D bottle. No, of course we wouldn't let him overdose on them. "NA NA NA!" he said about the Rice Krispies - he also seemed to like the Advent Calendar chocolate halves that he was allowed. Beckett said ATTIE to me, so YAY! He liked giving me emotion eggs, rolling some balls, playing with the shells, trying to fit the stacking blocks together ("Na na na!" he'd say when he wanted me to take it out), and finding the balloons on the stacking blocks AND the "Christmas tree ornaments" in the boys' room. Then he was also more receptive to saying "yeah" to my questions and even grabbing some rolled balls himself. At least the baby pop-up toy still made him laugh, so YAY!

When Harmony was out of the room (having told me about location settings on my phone photos for everyone's privacy reasons - which I figured out later at the bus stop), I asked Ayler what he really thought of screen time at school. He smiled and said he liked it because "it's the opposite of what my mom wants." HAHAHA, nice! Hiero said that he knows what the "other" meaning of PEE-PEE is, and was busy giving "presents" to his mom of random toys in egg cartons and boxes. Beckett repeated some words like "wow" and "after" when he heard us say them, with "MOMMY! BECKETT SAID WOW!" as a reaction from Hiero.

Myles dropped by at 8 (when the kids were still up), only to have Ayler accuse him: "Cou-fu is stealing our lasagna!" HAHAHAHA! No, Jon just made a couple of mega-batches! Myles also managed to fix the printer, which Beckett had somehow managed to knock offline. We talked briefly and side-hugged; while Harmony was preoccupied, Ayler said he had a question for me, but I had to come over and look at the computer keyboard. Sure, why not? He just wanted to know about the very top row of Function keys - at least he knows to ask me, because his parents probably won't answer! Beckett said "Cou-fu" and "Attie" for Myles' video, which was cute. Later on at 8:30, Harmony finally let me go - I was surprised when I was home at 9:30! I did say bye to Beckett, giving him a high-five and showing him that big gold "boh-boh" at Richmond Centre. They don't need me on Tuesday because of the kids' Christmas concert, so that's just more time to do some stuff before my trip!


From Julie: When you find some weave on the road, so you make a Snowquesha! HAHAHAHAHA!




From Julie M. and her local news: Noema Alavez Perez is the mother of the missing Dulce Maria Alavez?! Her name is pronounced No-Emma, she's 19, and has a five-year-old and a three-year-old and was going to have another kid soon as of September 2019?! SHE WAS 14 AS A FIRST-TIME MOM?!




Children's Hospital Christmas cards: Let It Snow snowman and a Holiday Greetings reindeer!




( More Christmas cards and stickers! )

I left at 4:45 to take the bus to Richmond Centre, in hopes of getting an mega on-sale suitcase from the Bay. Went to Shoppers Drug Mart first in order to get a NEW Starbucks Cold Brew bottle for the morning of the 19th, plus on-sale Christmas cards with WHITE envelopes as the red ones are far too hard to see what I'm writing! I know red is a Christmas color, but STILL! After going upstairs at the Bay and finding the luggage section, I chose a purplish suitcase (maybe I can return it later for the black one?) which was $86 instead of $300! Got home at 6:30 on a 407, which is fine. JUST missed the 401 at 6, too!


$21,000 whiskey at the liquor store?!




$21,000 confirmed! Karuizawa 1969, Nikka Yoichi, and Ichiro's Malt Chichibu!




( Lights and noodles! )

DIRTY JOKES!

How is pubic hair like parsley? You push it to the side before you start eating.

( Dirty jokes from Red's Twitch stream! )


After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME, I went out at 6:55 on a 401 to meet Chrystal at the Broadway London Drugs. Good thing I left early since the next Waterfront train was out of service at what HAD BEEN a surprisingly empty Brighouse Station! There was some guy clapping like a seal on the bus and at the station - thank goodness he wasn't in my train car! I got to London Drugs at 7:30, and was happy that there was no lineup at the post office so I could mail Corey and Julie's cards. However, I got a postal worker who was grumpy as fuck: I have NEVER been told that I shouldn't write anything in the corner of the envelope, otherwise the stamp would obscure the destination address! Fuck you, random guy!

Chrystal and I went to Pho Extreme Xe Lua: #17 and #1 it was! SPECIAL! We talked about her nephews Ethan (4) and Ethan (1 and a bit), Ayler, Hiero, Beckett discovering new words and the door, Beckett being "smart" by banging his head on the hardwood floor to delay Harmony's leaving for a school meeting, Beckett being really smart by putting all his molecule balls on the far windowsill so he can play with those and look at the reflected lights across the street at the same time (I left him to do that for a minute - he's fine and preoccupied), my broken suitcase, my replacement suitcase, my upcoming trip, and her just doing family things at home this holiday season. Angus and Melia and Phil and Grace have their own families now, and it would be pretty huge to have a family gathering! I got home at 9:05 on a 407, which is pretty good for leaving at 8:30. (Chrystal bused home again!)


Pho Xe Lua # 17 with Chrystal as a pre-Xmas 2019 dinner: Steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and fatty flank!




Right after Halloween, I was ChristmasFlamHam in Shiwa's Discord server!




From Tommy Chong: What's Your Stoner Elf Name? Mine is Smokey Jingletokes! Mike would be Buddy Evergreens! My ex-friend Jimmy would be Danky Sparklepipe!




Borked Heys suitcase which came with a busted zipper and an almost-impossible push handle...




Successfully packed replacement carry-on American Tourister suitcase with enough room for ALL my stuff, a working zipper, and a much simpler non-push handle! Way easier to maneuver on transit, too! My parents should have just lent me this one in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to store the first one in a weird way so I wouldn't have had to push the handle down every time I wanted to access it. *rolleyes*

After COFFEE TIME and a phone call from Rishu which didn't involve me going out to the boonies of Richmond and a risk of being LATE, I went out at 3:05 on a 401 to help with the kids, and I had Beckett's stuffed Santa dog this time. I got to Marine Drive early and saw some Vermont Curry at the supermarket - what?! The 3 was a bit delayed - waiting in the freezing weather was still better than not having transit at all, I had to remember. I finally got to the house at 4:40 (no thanks to some "lady" wanting to get on with her milk crates and huge walker), and Hiero was "dancing" with Beckett, who didn't seem to like it much. When I'd washed my hands, Beckett was on the floor and Hiero showed me how he was going to make an envelope with scissors and paper. Ayler was just playing piano and making something else on the mat. When I gave him the stuffed Santa dog, he threw it on the floor and then associated its eyes with his own and mine. Yes, we ALL have eyes - you're getting so smart!

Beckett showed me the magnets and his collection of balls on the far windowsill (which actually went with the colorful magnetic rods) which he had put there. I guess it combines his two favorite things right now: balls / projectiles and looking out the window at any (reflected) lights he can see! Jon and Harmony should take him to see the indoor Christmas light displays at the Hyatt and other places again this year, for sure. Beckett went to the window and spouted gibberish at me about the lights across the street multiple times: I told him "good job" every time he "found" the lights again! He also liked trying to fit the balls into a wooden toy with circular holes, likes the emotion egg, threw blocks around, and has enough strength to make the baby pop-up toy work by himself about half the time. "Pop! Ball-ball!" he told me. Yes, even more evidence of being smart! He laughed at the toy, and was enjoying himself rocking out with Holly's light-up musical toy, so he gave me a big cheesy smile - so cute! I introduced him to saying "hahahaha" when he finds something funny, too!

We had more Waterzooi de Poulet with buttered bread and grapes and "hash browns" for dinner. Beckett started throwing food pretty early, but also had apparently been awake for six hours in a row, and had been awake for nine hours in a row yesterday - that's so long for him! We talked about CAPS LOCK and Shift keys on a keyboard (Ayler's learning typing at school), how old teenagers are, Beckett yawning, ZELDA, Chrystal and Vivian travelling together, the tall kids at school, the kindergarten class being sick, and my seeing Steph next month. Ayler would like me to say hi to her for him - sure, why not? Then he asked if he was taller than me yet - nope! Harmony wondered what was going on, being preoccupied with Hiero not eating. I told her Ayler just wants to be taller than me. We said that Steph would probably think they were tall because I basically see them all the time, unlike her.

Then he wanted to ask Uncle Joe if they could have crab next time he saw them since Auntie Wing Yee sent them a photo of some. "Is it really Friday? Maybe it's Tuesday. It's Friday, but it feels like a Tuesday!" Yes, because I had basically switched days this week with Uncle Joe and Auntie Wing Yee. I later had to suppress a laugh because he told me, "See you next Tuesday." (CUNT) I read one story to Hiero, who sat on my lap - he told me that "oh my God" was a swear word, so I said that it kind of was, but it IS mild. Then he asked me what "mild" meant - I wasn't sure how to explain that. I bet that was a fun bedtime discussion when I left at 7:30.

I waited for quite a while for the next 3 Marine Drive bus (which finally showed up at 8:10), but a guy passing by told me that I'd dropped my Compass Card "on the floor." GEEZ, I ALMOST LOST IT AGAIN! I thanked him politely without mentioning that the "floor" was ACTUALLY the GROUND (he looked white so he should know the difference...), and made sure to zip up my winter coat pocket. I was lucky and was one minute ahead of the Brighouse train, and managed to get out of the Brighouse station a few minutes before the 401 and 407 showed up, no thanks to other people wanting the elevator and then SLOW-ASS people on the way out of the station. (including someone looking at their phone / consulting something IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PATH... MOVE YOUR ASS TO THE SIDE!) I get in my apartment at 9:05, none too soon!


Knorr Chicken Fried Rice Sidekicks for lunch!




That's a suitcase handle, not a weapon or an axe!




I borked my suitcase... no handle! QUATCHI!




Maybe this "zipper" is from my mom?




From Julie: California is banning all words with the prefix "man" in them. So this is now called a bitch biscuit...