Tatiana's Wanderings

I went to London Drugs at 3:25 on a 407, intending to return that Rescue Petz golden retriever and get a more suitable birthday gift for Beckett. Bought an on-sale Gary the Giraffe Squishmallows toy, on-sale NEW Wild Blueberry Jamieson Vitamins, NEW on-sale Wolfgang Puck chicken noodle / tomato soups x2, NEW on-sale Cheez-It CRUNCH Crackers x2 (Sharp Cheddar / Hot and Spicy), and a much-needed on-sale Rubbermaid dish drainer. Got home at 4:25 on a 407, which is fine - I definitely wiped down a bunch of stuff, including the stuffed toy.


( What's Your True Name? SKELETONS! Lots of purchases! )


From Matt: Homestar Runner Wiki has these funny coronavirus-themed logos! From the Strong Bad email SICK DAY: Scan Complete! 423,827 viruses found! A New Record!




From Julie and MAURY: Cece is Michelle's cousin?!

Jon sent me a Facebook message at 8:50 AM to wonder if I could come over at 2:15 today instead because Harmony had to pick up Hiero from school and actually wanted to be on time, and Ayler wasn't feeling well. I assumed I had to hold down the fort there, especially when he called a few minutes later after I'd already sent my reply to ask if they were puking or loopy, so I agreed. Then Barry left me a voicemail, but I delete those, so I called him back to find out that he wanted to move grocery shopping to Thursday instead of tomorrow. What did they do - leave the messages and then run away within two seconds?! Sheesh!

Later, I had some New England Clam Chowder today for National New England Clam Chowder Day, right when Harmony sent me a text wondering if I could come slightly earlier. That's on the buses, not on me! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 1 on an 401 to help with the kids, just missing the early C94 and the early 407. The 3 was seven minutes LATE at Marine Drive Station! GEEZ! I finally got to Jon's at 2:15 - so much for shortly BEFORE that time! At least there were no random two-minute stops along the route, wheelchair / stroller delays, or elevator shenanigans today!

When I got there, Harmony and Beckett left within five minutes, but Beckett did show me his Gorilla Munch cereal, which were indeed balls! He also showed me a huge yellow Blockbuster chip bowl and the blue tub, which he had fun with later. It was good to have some time alone with Ayler, who thinks that I won't get what he has because his dad said so. Haha, I wish germs and viruses worked that way! We talked about Fraser, Henry, racetracks, the school secretary, no nurses at the school, Harmony just driving to the school today (walking 30 blocks in the rain with a toddler in a carrier?!), my phone photos and calculating how many seconds were in a year by using the Calculator app, hand sanitizer, texting, oranges, what it meant when you vomited, water, and reading some children's Bible stories like the Good Samaritan / the Feeding of the 5000 with fish and loaves / Daniel in the lion's den. He wanted to teach Beckett about word patterns and especially the word "gun" since Beckett will repeat anything. Uncle Joe has taught him "hit your butt!" in Cantonese since it's funny.

Everyone else came home at 3:40 (thus ending our freedom to talk), and Beckett had fun with his toys and plopping into my lap to "read" the summertime book and the Christmas piano book cover because he saw "balls" (ornaments) on there. No wonder the piano had wings - there was Santa in his sleigh, too! I gave Hiero his birthday card, which he seemed to like - he also was enamored with the Creature toy I'd given him on Sunday. Hiero opened all the rest of his birthday presents - turned out that Mom had forgotten to write in the birthday card she gave him, but had also given them a pack of Ontrue seaweed in the regular flavor! He also got at least four Lego sets, a PAW PATROL puzzle set, a science toy, and Rain or Shine ice cream gift cards! His friend Leanne gave him three gifts - WOW! Beckett stood on top of a puzzle box (and wanted some grey robot toys - saying "MINE!" when they were Hiero's), and I accidentally squished the Lego STAR WARS box.

We had peas and macaroni in soup with some grapes, cherry tomatoes, and sticky rice while discussing last week's snow and other things. Ayler said the soup was salty, but it really wasn't - it was really bland and just what you might want if you were sick with tummy upset. Beckett threw cheese and some other things on the floor, but liked his cereal as usual - and smiled BIG for the Vitamin D tablets! I had some leftover cheesecake while the kids had some orange Jello which was rather liquidy in consistency! Hiero did some "home reading" with me - but I had to sound out words and make sure he knew what was going on. Beckett and I played with balls, the stacking blocks ("doggy!"), and the toy train which can zoom on the wooden floor. When I showed him my doggy slipper socks from Grandma Joan, he sniffed them and played around with the "ears" - silly kid!

Just as I was about to leave at 7:25 (with Beckett saying "BYE BYE!" in a serious manner a few times), Ayler vomited on the bathroom floor and surrounding floor area! Yes, I could stay even later because that had happened and Harmony had to do clean-up. She barricaded the area with a garbage can and laundry basket, while I made sure Beckett stayed on the mat. That meant he could read even more, relax with the blanket, look out the window at the lights, and call the new 3-D Glowing Planets "boh-boh"! When Hiero took things like the action figures away from Beckett, he cried - so of course I gave him some hugs and told him that his brother was terrible! Lately, Beckett has learned the word "help" and is using it in the proper context instead of just pointing at things and vocalizing - good job! He usually needs it to get balls out from under the couch, or to get balls out from small boxes and blocks!

Turns out Ayler requested that I stay to watch him eat his banana and drink some water while Harmony bathed everyone else. Sure, why not? We talked about applesauce, tuna NOT being part of the BRAT diet, the school having a janitor / custodian at least, my opinion that he should probably stay home, math, "my baby" being Beckett, Beckett's talking in his sleep (to say "please" and other simple words), and more things. I finally left at 8:10 (encountering an Evo driver who liked driving on the sidewalk...) and got home at 9:35 on a 407. PHEW! Extended Nephew Time on BOTH ends of the time spectrum!


Campbell's clam chowder and a Nature Valley granola bar for National New England Clam Chowder Day and National Granola Bar Day!




From Julie M. and Etsy: A dragon agate necklace!




VIGOROUS DRAGON AND LIVELY TIGER artwork at the hospital across the street - YAY FOR DRAGONS!




VIGOROUS DRAGON AND LIVELY TIGER, by Shirley Chiang, donated in 2015!




From Dragons: A red dragon with piles of books in a castle! INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND 2020, EVERYONE! NEW YEAR, NEW DECADE!





FINALLY HOME AFTER A FLIGHT! I left the house with Steph after thumping my suitcase up the stairs from the guestroom, hugged the kids, and Steph noticed Havarti was sad because she knows what a suitcase means. We drove 45 minutes to the airport; why WOULD she take a $20 or $30 toll road to save one minute?! I hugged her goodbye, then got selected for a pat-down because I accidentally left my phone in my pocket. UGH! At least a kind employee got me a zoomer to go all the way to my YYZ gate after the elevator! The flight itself was uneventful - I was seated in front with the babies and children, but played with my new friend, the year-old baby boy next to me.

White Eric picked me up as advertised after I landed at 2 today. Wow, time change! Haha. I had to walk the length and breadth of YVR because the outside exit for domestic arrivals was all the way at the front. Sweating for sure! I was home by 3, and everything seemed okay, but THE MICE MANAGED TO CHEW THROUGH THE STEEL WOOL IN THE BATHROOM?! YUCK!


At 12 AM the night before New Year's Eve, it will be Ramones time. It will be 2020, 24 hours to go. I wanna be sedated!




From The Onett Times: Happy Blue Year!




From Not Always Right: Dilbert says, "I have now officially lost all faith in human intelligence."




Quandae Shanoah Stewart?!




( ONTARIO TRIP! )

Mom picked me up at 5 so we could go to Tsim Chai for dinner before the VOS (Vancouver Oratorio Society) choir concert that Dad was doing at Fraserview. BEEF TENDON NOODLES! She had discovered the pocket dial from my phone to Pothead Mike and complained that it had cost her one extra dollar, then wanted to use MY phone to call Steph. She ended up using her own phone, HA HA! I had to explain the concept of a pocket dial to her... and of course vent to Steph while Mom was in my bathroom, ha ha ha. Mom even complained that I didn't have Jon and Steph in my phone or WhatsApp contacts - I don't use WhatsApp at all, but I could for video calls at some point, I guess.

Later, Mom said that "my brother's wife's sister" (just say "Auntie Kwai") is going to be living with them for a couple of months since she lost her low-cost housing in the move from BC to Ontario, and she can't get used to life over there. She also told me redundant stuff about Maria Tam who just died from lung cancer, some missionary friend Winnie who will be staying with them (from July 12) for a week or so after they get back from Toronto on July 4, and how Harmony supposedly wants me to help with the kids when they're away from June 18 for the Oratorio Society concerts with some Hong Kong chorus. Well, I'll wait till Harmony actually says something to me about it first before I commit.

The conductor of the Oratorio Society is named Kemuel, and the associate conductor is named Neville?! One of the youth singers is named Jermyn Wong?! The overall concert was all right, I suppose. Lots of Psalms, lots of music - I saw Auntie Catherine around the washroom when I went. When I looked at the program, I saw Libby's name, so I had to tell Vania about it on Facebook. Mom suspiciously wondered why I was online, and asked if my mobile data was off - yes, of course. I did not help her get online during a lull or the intermission, ha ha ha. I got home at 10:15 or so, which is fine.


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: A white JESSICA winter jacket, Lipton chicken noodle soup which expires in March 2020, a thin orange fish-themed 2012 tote bag, a Zanyah Eco Spa Treatment "Your Reinvigoration" body cream pouch, a Zanyah Eco Spa "Your Tenderness" body cream pouch, a random Home Depot plastic bag, a random white bra, a thin black DKNY shirt, a thin dark blue-green summer scarf, a thin blue Baleno fall coat, and a random pair of greying white and blue thin socks.

A random pair of white and grey thin socks, a pink clothes hanger, a Chong Lee Market plastic bag, a Wing-on Incorporated paper bag, Nosh and Co. shortbread cookies which expire in December, a thin purple Ardene shawl with holes in it despite the price tag still being attached, a random pair of thin purple socks, a small pair of thin black panties, a thin frilly Van Heusen pale blue shirt with roses on it, one black fuzzy mitten, and one dark blue fuzzy mitten.


Nosh and Co. premium artisanal shortbread cookies!




Nosh and Co. Munch Madness cheddar and sour cream chips!




Nosh and Co. Munch Madness lightly salted chips!




From CRIME WATCH DAILY: Danish Minhas?! A Danish is a PASTRY!