Tatiana's Wanderings

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 407 to help with the kids, bringing along the rest of the Almond Butter Nature Valley granola cups. I had just enough time to stop in at Tim Horton's briefly to buy a Boston Creme doughnut and take a photo for posting purposes, thanks to the lineup inside! Then I quickly left to catch the 3, which is when I finally texted Harmony. When I got to the building, some guy answered when I buzzed to be let in. Luckily, some lady with a stroller was entering the building, so I quickly explained to her what my deal was. Then I took the stairs since the elevator is pretty small, and knocked on the suite's door while explaining to Harmony what was going on. Beckett was awake and standing with the piano bench for support, and was outside the bathroom door when I finished in there. Yes, he was excited to see Auntie! :D

Ayler was playing the piano (telling me about his piano books and music) and putting up with Beckett banging away at the keys he could reach, while Hiero wanted me to read various MR. MEN books to him and see all his paper planes and swords. Beckett wanted to play catch, but then also throw some things around. At least it wasn't as bad as a couple of months ago! He wanted to turn on the printer and play with it, whereupon Ayler showed me where the power button was - SO HELPFUL! Beckett had found his purple and yellow baby pop-up toy, and wanted me to pop the yellow shell right-side up on it: At least he laughed at that after a while, and tried popping it with his finger! Silly Beckett - you're not strong enough for that to work! He turned it upside-down and had fun sticking his finger into the hole. Then he was upset when I was trying to collect the pop-up toy and a couple other toys: he stretched his arms out towards me! So I put the shell on the table temporarily while I picked him up. YAY!

We had squash, purple noodles, soup, kale, salad, and other things for dinner while discussing Kids Night / my NOT being psychic about their Halloween costumes / math quizzes during dinner / the impending bus strike / Rice Krispies not being real food for a meal / hot chocolate sort of being like dessert / what packaging was / less waste. Beckett pointed at the ceiling lights - oh, he'll love Christmastime if he likes babbling at those! Harmony said that Jon was coming home at about 6 so she could go to a school meeting. My nephews were singing "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear" at dinner. Oh boy. Then they were asking me what a ding-dong was because an adult asked them if another kid was one for spilling his milk. Yikes.

Later, Beckett ACTUALLY WALKED TEN LITTLE STEPS ALL BY HIMSELF! His motivation was the big bag of toys! I actually saw this, and was surprised as was Harmony. He usually just toddles one or two steps and then falls into her arms. Hiero said, "Text Daddy!" Oh, she did! Later, I told him not to force him to walk - he'll do it at his own speed, and new things can be confusing. WOW, HE CAN ALSO STAND WITHOUT SUPPORT!

Then Beckett was crying and upset and hit his head on the wooden floor when Harmony had to leave (what a delay tactic...), so of course he got comforting (hopefully) cuddles and hugs from me and Harmony! I read to him and tried making him laugh with the orange alphabet and animal sounds board, which at least was a distraction. He liked the shapes and blocks that the older boys used to play with, and showed me how he could put a couple of blocks together and then throw them around. Of course I used his bib to wipe his nose - I'm sure it's had worse on it, so whatever! It's handy! After I left at 7:15 (hearing Beckett babbling to himself in his crib), I wasted time at Save-On because all the exotic pasta was too heavy and somehow didn't photograph well in the brightly-lit store. UGH!

Then the 3 had a few delays, what with the "timing point" for two minutes at 41st and Main, then the bus alarm going off TWICE! (four stops before Marine Drive Station, THEN right before the station at 70th!) Once I finally got to Brighouse, I killed time at Shoppers Drug Mart since the mall was at least warm: NEW President's Choice frozen small sweet green peas / frozen peaches and cream corn, plus NEW on-sale Uncle Ben's Canada wholegrain brown rice! Got home at 9:05 on a 407, and it was definitely time to switch to warm wintry wear like a toque and Grandma's purple lined Alia coat and stash a scarf and mittens in my bag, especially if more walking is on the agenda with this upcoming transit strike...

At home, I had some (After Eight) hot chocolate, which I also need to restock in general. Random stuff from Mom and Dad inside an Indigo, Chapters, and Coles plastic bag: a can of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni, Colgate Cavity Protection toothpaste, and a random pair of thin white socks. I left the socks and plastic bag at the bus stop since I didn't need them. The garbage bags were STILL outside at 10 PM!


From Julie M. and Wish: Spooky grinning skull medieval toilet paper holder for Halloween 2019!




One of my neighbors evidently decided to give up on their garbage bags just outside the front door this afternoon, halfway to the dumpster...




Boston Creme doughnut time at Tim Horton's!




( Shoppers potential purchases! )

From You Have Got To Be Kidding! and Pete: Little boys bring you just to the brink of insanity before gently easing you off the ledge with a sweet kiss and laughter from a perfectly timed fart.




From Geocities and CuyaDK's Discord server: Jeff Goldblum is watching you poop.




From Julie M. and Tumblr: Can we all take a minute and appreciate that hundreds of years ago, a person poured hours of hard work into painting cherubs making human fart bubbles?

After (MORE) COFFEE TIME, I left at 11:40 AM on a 407 to make it to Jon and Harmony's at 12:15 or so. Apparently, nobody was home, but I heard Ayler's voice a couple of minutes later from the car. Jon made a comment about my San Francisco shirt - yeah, it's pretty noticeable, but I don't care. I entertained the kids while Jon went to Anna's Cake House to get various bakery items for lunch before his violin student Justin came over. They wanted me to read a Chinese vocabulary book and a RUN SALMON RUN book. I helped the kids eat lunch, and made Hiero eat some pork bun to get some protein. No, you're not eating a "meal" that is 98% cantaloupe and cherries! Ayler kept asking me what time Harmony would be home if she was in Kerrisdale or UBC since she got off work early; no idea! Harmony did get home later, when Jon was teaching and telling the boys to listen to me. At least I told them that fact about the 35.4-mile tunnel in Sweden, to which Ayler's only question was "how many hours does it take to get there?" Probably a long time! Harmony mentioned that Ayler had physio, so I could keep Hiero occupied with the toys there. Sure, why not? I sat on a chair there and it BROKE! The owner (Laura) came out to see whether I'd fallen, and the receptionist and other people there seemed concerned too. Apparently, it was a hardware fault which should never have been there. Maybe, maybe not!

We talked about roller coasters and "BUS!" (lots of 8 Fraser buses!) on the short walk to Robson Park from the physio clinic. While there, Ayler wanted to take some other little girls' grapes AND toy buckets! We got a bunch of Vietnamese sandwiches for dinner so we could have something besides blackberries. If Hiero had his way, he'd eat 90% blackberries for dinner - NO! Ayler asked how many hours it would be until I left, then wanted me to stay seven more hours at 7 PM. No, because you'd go to bed soon, and I want to definitely be home way before 1:30-2 AM when the trains and buses stop regular service! When Jon was teaching a piano student named Curtis, I helped to keep Hiero occupied with the "tunnels and arches." I actually got home at 8:05 on a 407, which is relatively efficient at least!


From Krista: A dragon breathing lightning!