Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Surprising Fidela and Jackie / More hanging out... I think I'll survive...

Ooh, Chris (dingo727) and Jamie (jaebird) got their birthday cards: Very good... I'm glad they seemed to like 'em. :) (she says it was super-sweet and she liked the stickers... he thanked me in a comment and hugged me!)

After my last entry (which I have now edited), I went to Chapters to spend some time there. (I thought of going to the dollar store, but decided not to) In addition to reading a book about the Andrea Yates case (she's the one who drowned her five kids in the bathtub in 2001), I saw my brother there. He said he was going to meet Phyllis soon so that they could practice something before he went to the dinner. The dinner surprise went well, with Megan and Cindy pretending that they'd just gotten to the restaurant: Fidela and Jackie were suitably surprised! Vanessa brought her boyfriend Pat, so they and Steph talked about a lot of inside jokes and how parents thought that you knew someone very well just because you happened to go to Gr. 2 with them. *rolleyes*

Pat, Cindy, and Fidela agreed that Aug. 18 was a great birthday... hahaha! A bunch of them had had ice cream and played basketball with a bunch of people (including Ivan, who had looked totally bored at Dairy Queen) yesterday... sounds good except for the multiple mosquito bites! (Steph had a fair number, and they all swelled!) Steph remembered the time that I'd told a five-year-old Cordia: "If you want tuna fish, I'll GIVE YOU TUNA FISH!" (ah, memories of the Firs and Joshua Fellowship camp!) Yes, I remember when they used to be into Britney Spears and dance around all the time too! Ugh, haha. Steph drank two glasses of freckled lemonade and two glasses of water in 15 minutes tops, leading Pat to ask if she were really thirsty / dehydrated. Not that SHE knew of... o_O

I talked to almost everyone at the dinner, even if it was just for a bit: we haven't seen Bryant in a while, but won't bring Adela up! Said hi to his cousin Justin, who I hope isn't mad at me for cancelling on him last week... talked to his brother Clement and his cousins (siblings) Megan and Wayland too. Steph and Vanessa were trying to describe to Pat how everyone was related, and also tried to convince him that he was totally used to their craziness: he's getting there, but at least he's not totally bemused like he was last July or so when he met Steph! Becky says she's back till September only, so it was good to see her... Steph thought her brother's name was Tim, but it's SAM! (that would provide a rhyming name if it were!) The people on our side of the table figured that our life expectancy would be reduced two years by all the bottomless fries and ice cream cake!

We all hugged Fidela (whose grandma almost gave the surprise away) and Jackie while admiring their presents: Nathan is wacky with his toilet-themed stuff (Robert Munsch's I Have To Go / Curious George), and Cindy's so thoughtful! (devotional stuff) Fidela's reading the Mark Haddon book about that autistic boy: that was so good! Jon came by late, as advertised, and provided great chestchops for Wayland, heh. I was going to take the bus home with my siblings, but Nathan said he wasn't doing anything tomorrow and offered to take us home. (Pat had offered earlier, but he lives in the boonies!) Jon told us how the Grouse Grind had been yesterday: they'd recorded video of it (BLAIR WITCH effects, anyone?) and had done it in 72, 71, and 70 minutes respectively. He's still kinda sore, but is generally fine.

While we were all loitering inside the restaurant, I talked to Nathan about my rationale for getting Ben a Bathroom Reader: I want him to have something to remind him of Vancouver even if he's coming back. I certainly don't know if I'll ever see him again, even if I just got to know him recently! Fidela loves the Bathroom Reader that I got her, and Justin seems to like the one that I got him... it's all good. Jackie's sister Jenny worked a LOT in order for Jackie to make it to her own surprise, which is good... Cindy really appreciated it! Steph picked up Fidela and carried her into and out of the restaurant again, then Fids had to pee with Jackie: her words, not mine! o_O I told Jon that I'd heard he was going to Jen's potluck thing: Steph hasn't told Mom about it yet, and may not go to Ben's thing either. We'll see... I emailed Jen back just now to say that I would be there.

On the way home, we discussed Steph's half-hearted apology for burping in Nathan's car. She was kinda sorry because it wasn't polite, but then she wasn't since it was "only Nathan," haha. Dallas called Jon to say that he'd lost his wallet after karaoke the other night: no, I had not seen it! You never know about the people in karaoke parking lots, though... at least he's cancelled all his cards and such! After that, we discussed Jon's new ringtone: in Steph's words, he sabotaged her by having the voice recorder ready to record her scream when he touched her face from behind! We told Nathan about Craigslist rentals, and he agreed that it was a good tool. (I myself haven't been there yet since I don't personally see a need for it, but maybe I will in the future!) Got home to an MSN message from Eric H. wanting me to ask my brother whether Saturday or Monday was better for him and his birthday hangout. After confirming with my brother that Monday worked (Saturday's out coz of Ben's thing), I emailed him back with the details. It'll be good to hang out, but I also hope I get downtime the rest of next week! :P

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