STOP TWISTING YOUR NEW ASSISTANT PASTOR!

9 to 10 AM - Get annoyed because it's April 1. Have a breakfast consisting of a giant cookie and some milk, plus the coffee that I'd had at home beforehand. I hear Dad refer to someone by a family nickname - man, I know it's gotten bad then! Tell Jon that Steph "drew" a certain logo for Eric over MSN, and recount Dad's LAME "nose = nosy" joke: it was so tautologous! Give candy to Natalie, who looks disappointed when I tell her that she has to share it with her brother Nathan, but she thanks me anyhow. The second song in today's worship set is one of those "lighter" songs where you could just sway back and forth with a lighter (or cell phone) at dark concerts. (too bad I can't tell my seatmate that, but my usual companion would have understood!) A little later, I notice a "your / you're" grammar error in To The Ends of The Earth... so I follow my usual policy in these cases, and refuse to sing the rest of the song. Another good song - RUINED! (and Daniel's a TEACHER, too!) One day, they'll do this with a REALLY catchy tune / my favorite songs, and I'll find myself violating my own rules... yes, I do know it won't affect anything and certainly won't help them fix it, but still I like taking my personal individual "stance." :(

10 to 11:15 AM - YAY, MORBID SERMON PASSAGE ABOUT CANNIBALISM OF ONE'S CHILDREN! (it was featured in the Morbid Facts newsletter recently, too!) I did not know that pigeon dung was valued in famine days at $1600, nor did I know that a donkey's head was similarly valued at $32,000! Talked to Randal about San Francisco, Jelly Belly, and eating ALL the sample almonds at the Blue Diamond factory - SO HILARIOUS! It's cool that he wants to spend more time with his parents and see the city - since he's never really been on a bus tour (except as a small kid), I warned him that he'd have to get up early every day. Oh well, might as well take your opportunities where you can get 'em... and I'm sure he probably deals better with such stuff than I do!

Jon says that Pastor Edward will make oxtail soup for Maundy Thursday, and Eric wonders if that's austere enough: we have NO idea! Ask Steph about the birthday cards: she gave them to Jon, who says he left them at home - STUPID! I finally see Wayland, who's here from St. Louis on Spring Break for one week: YAY, NO RESEARCH! Jeremy makes a pun about "Sunrise Service" being "Son-Rise Service" - that certainly works, haha! Then I say hi to Darren, Ivan, Chris, and others before going in to help with the toddlers... but make a pit stop to say hi to Roberta Luongo AKA baby Hannah - ONE YEAR OLD AND HAVING FUN! Cindy and Dianne think she's very cute, too - MY CARD WILL BE LATE! ACK! Actually, Phil's card is urgent too since his birthday is tomorrow... but the ugfart didn't do as we wanted him to!


11:15 AM to 12:30 PM - Rachel and Wilson are engrossed in "picnic time," which is actually "let's see how many toys we can fit under this small table!" time. Rediscover that the kiddy Play-Doh smells - EW! Sean seems entranced by bells, baby mobiles, and wandering around with my rainbow stickers - although he DOES sit down for a while, and lets me hold him for a bit while he's playing with toys. He doesn't take my hand to tell me something, but he pulls me by the finger - whatever suits you! Ben's back, and has all these cars to himself: good thing he covered his mouth when he was sneezing near me, since I do NOT need kiddy germs now or ever! I see Gwyneth and Evelyn, who tell me that nobody gave them candy or sugar today - yet the older one is still jumping up and down! (ADD?) I guess their uncle was telling me the truth yesterday, haha.


12:30 to 1:30 PM - Say hi to Amos, Jason, and Adam: I still can't believe the Wong brothers have NEVER had Dad's chocolate chip cookies! (or any other sort from that company) I think I really WILL have to buy some tomorrow, and remember to take out a lot of cash while I'm at it! Christon gives away the "recipe" to Dylan and a bunch of us for "Aunt Jemima's Southern Love": EWWWWWWWW! (tofu, lots of cornmeal, and lots of leftover oil from frying!) Then he tells us that he asked Andrea and Anita why their "fried" stuff tasted so bad even when there were two girls in their group: it's ALL the newcomer's fault! Josh apparently decided to whip up something with soya sauce, teriyaki sauce, maple syrup, cornmeal, and goodness knows what else! Isabel to J-Mak: "No WONDER my stomach felt so bad afterwards!" Dylan to the general group: "Was Wayland here today then?" Yes, my absent-minded friend!

Before the two assistant pastors share, we have a lunch consisting of Chinese takeout. People ask Steph who's going on the Mexico missions trip this year from our church: not many people! (Chris, Steph, Michelle, and Janette) Dylan says that it was a good thing he wasn't there on Friday, since he was really sick and not just faking it as Steph thought: he really did sound under the weather. I notice that SOMEONE gives more detail to another person than I got initially... well, then! Witnessing to your parents on a Chinese bus tour? Hey, it's no worse than when my aunt Janis tried getting to know me spiritually in Victoria overnight - but at least then, we had a bit of common ground. One evening a week with the parents isn't enough time for that kind of thing, but I can't say how I'd react given that same situation - must be hard. *empathy*

Get on the topic of parents / moms matchmaking for us - I grew up with it! ("Person V would be GOOD for her! Person W would be GOOD for my son! Darn, she's taken now - what about Person X? Person Y would be GREAT for my other daughter! Hey, maybe Person Z would be PERFECT for my son's good friend since they're both tall people!") Then there was the year that my mom sent me this card in the mail saying how it was a SPECIAL BIRTHDAY since she'd given birth to me at that age (28), and how I should find a boyfriend! Uh, sure... Then I ask Auntie Christina if she'd ever pressure her kids like that: she emphatically doesn't believe in it, which is a VERY good thing! Chris asks Steph if he can have the rest of her personal stash of ice cream in the freezer: we tell him that he really doesn't want a half-tub of double chocolate ice cream all at once, so he ends up sharing it with me / Karen Lew / Isabel / J-Mak / other people. Daniel sees this and wonders if this is the ice cream that's supposedly been in the church freezer FOREVER since the inception of the church: HAHA, no... it's from Valentine's Day! ("it's the ORIGINAL ICE CREAM, and it's now 32 years old... EWWW!!!")


1:30 to 2:45 PM - Listen to Jon and Phil tell us a bit about themselves and their ministry vision... it was pretty good! I like what they had to say, although Jon COULD have done without jumping across half the room in order to hit Nathan / Jeremy in front of some people who don't know him as well as we do! *sigh* (Auntie Bessy's sister, Isabel's parents, etc.) Sure, it's a public persona and all, but you don't do it in front of YOUR GRANDMOTHER! She was there for support (?) even though she couldn't understand anything that was said - my mom was too busy with her video camera to translate, and my dad wasn't sitting near her! It would be interesting to hear what she thought, but it'll probably be "Hmph! I didn't understand anything, so it was useless!" (sad face!)

Contrary to what certain people thought, Uncle Peter DID ask a good / constructive question about English ministry vs. Chinese ministry. (just because you dislike the man's opinions doesn't mean they're not valid to some people!) Also contrary to what certain people thought, Phil didn't say we had to move forward and forget about the events of early 2004 - he said that we had to TALK ABOUT the hurt (even more than three years on!), and maybe re-invite the people who left as a gesture of reconciliation even if they don't take it! I happen to agree with "Don't pretend it never happened!", but then I'm not getting into that stramash again with those certain people who think those thoughts!

Steph comes downstairs from the Mexico trip meeting, and asks Cindy how the sharing session went: pretty good! Various plans were made for later today / Sunrise Service... Jeremy tells me that he's surely going, and Eric might too. I have yet to personally make my decision, but I probably will end up going - I'd better hope I sleep well the night before! Everyone stands around and talks for a while: Eric recommends I get some leftover food, so I do. Jeremy says it took him only two days to finish all the leftovers from Chung's wedding, heh. We're surprised to see an original tiny blue Mini Cooper parked outside the church, and then Mom is dismayed because their car is being blocked - the other family car is blocking it, so it's not like we'll have to drag someone out of the Mandarin Service to move their car!


2:45 to 3:20 PM - Mom gives me a whole bunch of other stuff along with the spring jacket... haha, Uncle Sam's office has its own mug now! Gum, toothbrush, Starburst, floss, and mini toothpaste - yup, gotta keep the dentist business with the Starburst! ;) Listen to Mom stretch the truth, but don't say anything since that would most likely get me dumped off in the middle of Knight Street. Try telling my sister various things in a very low voice (including the truth about what Phil said, even though her feelings were different back then on an important matter), and Mom accuses me of mumbling. No, there's a difference between mumbling and saying stuff you don't want others to hear in the car! *sigh*

Sister seems really disappointed that she won't get to see a repeat performance of the CREAMER FLIPPING at ABC Country Restaurant - there's always next year, haha. At least I can now save my Easter baptism cards for next year too, since Pastor Edward told me that nobody from my congregation is getting baptized next week! Not to be cliquey or anything, but I probably won't know them if they're newcomers from the Mandarin / Cantonese congregations: inter-congregational support is good, though! Then again, I thought the same about Henry when Chris / Danny / Benedict told me that he was getting baptized with them - I remembered him from when he was a little kid, but not a year ago or so!

Steph says that Vivian, Karen, and their mom really hate getting up early - and then have to be hounded out of bed like my brother does! Hey, I don't like getting up early either (we have to be at the airport at 6:35 AM for an American flight... why did I agree to go on this trip again for the lifestyle sacrifice?!), but at least I usually get out of bed in reasonable time! I may lie around for ten minutes or so... however, I am kinda ready by the time my brother gets out of bed! Tell Mom NOT to refer to a certain person with her weird designation - WISHFUL THINKING! Tomorrow it is... yay for rides home and no jokes about various stupid topics! Speaking of such, we told my mom not to make certain jokes at the airport - this one time in Vancouver (dropping off Melissa / Steph?), she used a certain "B" word a few minutes after she told me not to use that word in an airport! Nice going, Mom...

Hey, I have a perfect comeback for my mom if she accuses me of not really wanting to spend time with the family - she WILL do it, knowing her! "If I didn't want to do that, would I have signed up for the cruise?" Of course, that'll only work for so long! Yipes... at least I can commiserate with someone about being shy and other matters!