Tatiana's Wanderings

The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 1

The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 2


I left at 4:30 to meet Paulo and Darryl at the Cascade Room (2616 Main Street, near Main and Broadway-ish, more like Main and 10th) for Paulo's belated birthday hangout at 6. I wanted to be early just in case there were stroller / wheelchair delays or elevator shenanigans - surprisingly for once, there were none of those AND I just managed to get a 3 bus which had ten people total in it, but they couldn't find my reservation when I got there at 5:30! I was seated at a high table pretty quickly, though they said they'd move me to a booth once some people left who had been there at 4. Paulo texted me and Darryl said on Discord that he was getting an Uber. We waited to see if Steve would show up (Estefan is in Whistler at the moment), and I finally messaged him. He replied pretty quickly to say he was having a bad day, so no. I showed them both the phone notification, and they joked about guilting him into it since we HAD to find a place that took reservations JUST FOR HIM! Seriously, dude - we could have stayed with the Brassneck Brewery plan!

We were on our phones a lot, which actually is pretty good for me. Talked about Jimbo's opinion on our Superfriends server and how I know I can't change his mind on it (and wouldn't want to - why bother?), the secret chat, all the drama, Holly's opinion on Jimbo not telling us much about his work, the 12 Kings meetup being last year on March 12 already, Brian being sued by some people, and Holly nuking the original server unexpectedly. I showed them some funny toilet paper-related memes, while we tried various food and drink: gin and tonic, Amber something, mushroom poutine, sausage rolls with barbecue sauce (which I spilled on my DRAGON HOODIE - necessitating MORE LAUNDRY when I got home!), white wine, schnitzel, steak, desserts, and more! The Cascade Room was advertising Jameson ginger and lime Slurpees for St. Patrick's Day 2020. Good luck with that!

Darryl said that his buddies might join us, and wondered if we'd mind. I said no, but deferred to Paulo since it was his belated birthday celebration - HE didn't mind, either. Harmony texted me at 7:15 to say not to worry about coming over next Tuesday as they're limiting everything non-essential including public transit trips. They've even cancelled their Harrison Hot Springs vacation next week for Spring Break, which makes sense! If I were a different kind of person, I'd ask if they don't trust me! This is best for everyone's health and safety, though.

Eric M. also texted me: "FYI, VCEFC has been cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns" - that's what I thought would happen when I heard the daily BC health guidelines the other day. MORE FREE TIME FOR HIM! We left the Cascade Room at 8 and walked a block or so to the Colony Bar across the street from Save-On Foods. I'd have gone in earlier to see if they had hand sanitizer, but they probably don't. I told them that my brother lives around there, but that it was probably bedtime for the kids. They joked about invading their place anyway even if the nephews were there, but I knew it was a drunken joke and didn't take it seriously. Paulo offered Darryl a hit of his vape since he'd tried smoking, but he declined due to the pandemic - smart!

We were at the Colony Bar for about 70 minutes or so, with Darryl unexpectedly buying us a round because it was Paulo's birthday. I got a Parallel 49 Jerk Face 9000 beer - I had to order it because of the name! No, I wasn't surprised that Paulo barely touched his beer - they'd already had a lot at the Cascade Room. We discussed alcohol tolerance, Paulo totally forgetting about work once on HOLIDAY PAY, the coronavirus, and whether Darryl's buddies would actually show up. I gave up on them at 9, about five minutes before they DID come in. The guy put his hand out to shake hands - what?! I instinctively shook hands, and then went to wash my hands immediately afterwards since I had to pee anyway. My hand sanitizer was way down in the bottom of my Doge bag, then I had to look for my phone when I got back to the table, which was also in my Doge bag! Habit to look in my coat pocket... not sure what I'll do once it's summer!

Paulo declared that he would call an Uber since he said it was too cold to wait around for the bus for too long. I decided to just wait for the bus since it was more wallet-friendly. The East Indian 3 driver waited THREE TIMES for no reason, holding everybody up on his bus! What schedule is there to make up at 9:30 PM?! You have your breaks now, so that's not a good reason! Of course that made me late for the Brighouse train - it was pretty chilly outside, so I took the opportunity to send Mike a picture of my current footwear at Marine Drive station after fighting with the wifi.

Mike said something about "where's the glim-glam?" so I texted that 1 degree was too cold for bare feet and toeless sandals! (I waited till I was up on the platform since I heard the YVR train announcement from the statue) The train was sparsely populated, too - I got my own little row of accessible seats since an Asian lady moved far away from me instead once I said I needed her seat. I got home at 10:35, thanks to that stupid 3 bus driver - I could have been home half an hour before! Doing laundry seems to have worked for my dragon hoodie, but I can't seem to say the thing for my four towels since I used them to wipe up a flood of water from when I was showering a few days ago. Guess I'll go tomorrow to London Drugs and buy up on-sale zinc citrate, four towels, and maybe a pair of Secret socks!


Knorr Cheesy Spinach Dip for lunch!




( Zinc, bar food, and a special Pi Day 2020 Reddit award! )

Today is No Bra Day! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 407 to go to the family Thanksgiving Dinner. Killed time at Shoppers Drug Mart by buying on-sale M and Ms in Hazelnut Spread flavor, on-sale Life store brand honey lemon cough drops (the pharmacy students didn't understand the word "lozenge"...), and NEW on-sale Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter! I must have LOST MY COMPASS CARD on the 3 Downtown bus (which I just managed to get at 4 PM) because I couldn't find it when I left Jon's! It definitely wasn't in my pockets or on the floor that I could see. I need to stop stuffing things in my pockets! UGH!

Anyway, I read six whole books to Hiero (BERENSTEIN BEARS / three STAR WARS / one BATMAN / one Monkey book) and remembered to enjoy the moments of him on my lap and listening. Ayler wanted to read the bus timetable, tell me about decimals (in Grade 2?!) and division in Grade 3, and said "Are you kidding me?!" in Cantonese a lot. When Harmony got back with Beckett, he wanted to play with me, so I made him laugh at the baby pop-up toy. He also went up to Mom, who didn't seem to know he was there, so Jon and I had to say that Beckett was saying hi to her! Of course he also wanted to play with the HP printer display, which had changed into Chinese for Hiero-related reasons. Dad eventually managed to fix it, so was blocking Beckett from playing with the display. He wanted to grab my hat, but I said no. Mom said something about SIM cards and Steph's number and phone. Sure, whatever. She also referred to me as "Fat Aunt" with him - UGH!

Due to the dinner configuration, I sat next to Beckett while eating cheese / apple slices / turkey / gravy / kimchi / cranberry sauce / pizza bread / Brussels sprouts / salad. He grabbed my sweater a few times (I JUST washed it!) and threw food around as usual. Later, he wanted to crawl to my chair when he'd finished eating and Harmony had cleaned him up, but was blocked by Ayler's special chair. I did play with him more after I myself had finished eating and washing my hands: he still throws the little Play=Doh container at people, as well as all the balloons that were on the floor.

Then Beckett cried when a balloon popped! He also cried when he was really done with dinner, as in real tears and everything! Later, Harmony had to put him down for sleeping, so we waved goodnight to him. Harmony was surprised when Beckett imitated what I was doing; that was the FIRST TIME EVER that he waved to ANYONE, so I must have the magic touch! (like I did with Hiero in 2014 when he wouldn't let Harmony sleep) Since Jon agreed to drive me to King Edward Station later, Mom and Dad left because there were only 12 inches of room between the carseats in their vehicle. Hiero asked me about that later, using the correct family names, so I gave him an answer. I later discovered that I had somehow lost my bus pass! Jon gave me $6.50, which was it (that's fine) and enough to cover Tuesday's fare as well. Got home at 9:10 on a 401 (I'd missed a 407 by a few minutes) and then thought that maybe the bus pass could be between the couch cushions. If not, then I will call the Lost and Found Office / Ministry on Tuesday morning.


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce, plus a small silver pan thing.


Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, Moringa and Matcha Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter!




Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce!




What is with this weird VerifyError Spectrum Plugins error message when I try to post phone pictures on Facebook?!

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!

I discovered REDRUM this morning, but still took a shower to help me feel better. After COFFEE TIME, I discovered a TOILET PLUMBING PROBLEM: IT WOULDN'T FLUSH PROPERLY! I left a note with Hester to cover my ass AND called her about it, but then I had to leave since I had no time to play phone tag! I went out at 2:55 on a 407 to help with the kids. Even after being at Marine Drive to see a 3 Downtown pull up to the stop, I wasn't even at Jon's any earlier than I was last week! Thanks, strollers and walkers which got on AND off before I left the bus at 16th! /sarcasm Yes, of course they're obviously entitled to use the bus (as are wheelchairs) - I was just glad I left a few minutes earlier than I did last week.

Beckett was sleeping when I got there; Ayler and Hiero were playing that Emoji Memory card game that I bought, so I got an answer to the question I asked Jon about what they do when the baby is supposed to be sleeping. Otherwise, I'd have asked the kids myself. Hiero tried making up his own rules: "No touching cards that other people have touched!" (which is totally nonsense for a MEMORY CARD game) and how you can shoot people who are already dead. I said those weren't fair! (they won the game and I lost - whatever) Ayler was sick because of some heatstroke at the Langley berry farm yesterday. We had a dinner of various things: macaroni and cheese, ribs, pizza, cold noodles, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and more. Discussed power-washing balconies, Hiero spilling almond milk on the floor and my black Secret socks (I had fun telling them that I can make up my own rules too, like I can pause dinner to put on their dad's holey socks and wash my hands), some salad Mom gave them which expires today (I didn't want it to take home - so Harma tossed it), and how we shouldn't shoot people at the dinner table.

Beckett ate a bit of stuff, but was pretty much done fairly soon into his "meal." I had fun hanging out with him afterwards, though, even if he threw balls all over the place. He has new colorful soft ones, which are probably better for the downstairs neighbors complaining about everything. He seemed to like the new penguin, at least. I let him climb on me because it's cute, but watched to make sure he didn't fall off the couch or anything. The balcony is effectively closed off to him because of a rather interesting arrangement of chairs and other things. PHEW! I think he had fun chewing on his Christmas board books, too.

I left at 8 after doing some STAR WARS STORMTROOPERS summer reading with the kids, after Hiero had to go to a separate room because he was hugging a whimpering Beckett, and after I had grabbed Beckett before he got to the kids' jigsaw puzzle / after he invaded the washroom while Hiero was in the shower. I sent Mike a quick message ("thanks for the great fish head idea, Uncle Mike - says Nephew") using the Save-On wi-fi at the bus stop - thank goodness I didn't just miss the 3 Marine Drive bus! The bus driver didn't create a delay this time, but instead it was an old guy who was slow in even using his wheelchair to get on AND off the bus! Yup, he is totally entitled to use the buses (and it could be me one day), but be reasonably fast about it - come on now, other people have connections to make!

At the station, I quickly went to T&T to look for (and get) some quirky Lays chips for Rachel - Numb and Spicy Hot Pot, Wasabi, and Kimchi! I should get the Deep-Ridged ones next time: Spicy Chicken and Pork! Thank goodness I managed to get the Brighouse train home within two minutes of getting to the train area, and I FINALLY got home at 9! Thanks to the delays, I was able to text both Paulo and both Erics in detail. The toilet STILL wasn't fixed, so I had to consult V4F and then use buckets for filling up the tank. Sigh... I guess I'll have to call Hester tomorrow morning. No melatonin tonight...


From Youtube: Betty Gray and Reeda Roundy?! BAD SPELLING OF RITA! Come on, people!