"Get up and out of here! Joey will be mad if we're late!"

In the name of downtime, I've signed off on MSN. Gotta have a respite from people SOMEHOW around here! ;) (the only problem with being invisible is that I can't send messages - oh well, maybe it's worth it while I'm composing blog entries!)

This morning, Jon wondered how I knew about the barbecue at Michelle's parents' place yesterday... I was THERE when they were discussing it on Friday night! When I got to church, I again took my rightful place beside Jeremy in service, haha. Not that I'm entitled to that place, but we've set up a pattern these few months and more! Asked him whether he'd gone to the beer event yesterday: apparently, it had been pretty good. The Powerpoint had serious issues, so Christon had to improvise by pulling hymns out of the hymnbook - he accidentally sung a verse twice in a certain song because Brian was distracting him by choosing a fourth song, heh. I noticed that and gave Jeremy a dubious look, quickly duplicated by Jon a couple rows ahead of us with Danielle.

Went downstairs and saw a kid wandering around the basement, so wondered where his mom was. It turned out to be little Ian, and his mom Rosenda was close behind: so good to see them! Saw Helen K. and Nicholas right after that - he was cranky, but did wave bye at his mom's prompting! Stashed my stuff in the toddler room and went out to the back parking lot to talk to people. Talked to Jeremy and Chrystal about his Alarm Clocks Kill Dreams button, and about the Work Less party. Not that they're in it for the votes, but they do bring up issues that other political parties don't - too much consumption and waste! Chuck wondered about the brew pub in Yaletown, which Jeremy said was probably the Yaletown Brewery. They were talking about house ales and lager when I asked Karen about bags - I know it's cheaper with no leather! She says we're having chocolate fondue again on Friday when Mrs. Houston comes to speak on purity - that'll be so neat! We discussed the upcoming HOT weather - it's like I'll have to take a shower right after I get in from being out! (which I don't plan on, but you never know!)

I was going to leave (sidestepping Jeremy's wide load of his bike helmet) when I got drawn into a discussion with Joey / Melia / Michelle on clothing. Melia says Michelle should tell her brother-in-law to adjust his pants and shirt so that there isn't a crack: she tried that with a hole she didn't want to see, and got yelled at by her husband for it! Why get in trouble over that?! Melia then said that her dad once pulled Angus' pants up for him like dads do with their little kids - Michelle's sister does that with her kids, too. They joked that Michelle's parents had too much clothing trouble with her other siblings, and never bothered with hers! Haha, good times. Joey then told us some story involving his friend whose youngest sister ate her ice cream and said that the friend was hallucinating. The second-youngest sister was framed because the ice cream bucket was under her bed! Youngest sister got a spanking, and we were discussing child abuse and the feather duster when I noticed Randal walk by... I'm guessing he was trying to talk to me, but saw I was already talking to others. Oh well, maybe on Friday! Someone brought up Sunday School, so that was my cue to leave since I was already kinda late. I yelled at Jon to wait for me afterwards, even though I was sure I'd finish earlier than he would - and I did!

Went to the toddler room, where I entered into a long conversation with little Rachel about cheese / butterflies / her new pink MY MELODY bag / her mom / her sparkly blue nail polish / purple / spiders / her cousins putting a Sparky sticker on the fluorescent light since they were probably bored / an angel book / broken toys. Gotta make sure the kid learns English and can communicate what she wants, haha. She was the only kid, so she got a bunch of attention. Got seaweed triangle crackers and cheese crackers to eat before lunch, and one of Sarah's minty M&Ms. Saw an unknown music video on Stanley's cell phone, talked to Andrew about Akon / Snoop Dogg / getting his L, N, and full license / music being good, but lyrics being terrible / switching schools for girls and education (EARLY wake-up time!) / homework / VBS orientation session he didn't really want to attend / Hien being a nerd because of her GPA and honor roll status, and bantered with William a bit. By the time I excused myself to go to the washroom and then go outside, Winnie had called Stanley gay - nice! *note sarcasm*

Went outside and talked to Vivian for a while: yes, I was confused about where my sister was, haha. Oh well, I joined the guys when I saw them come out of Sunday School. Nathan had gotten his cross chain stuck in his sunglasses somehow, but he managed to get it out with help from Jeremy and Eric. We wondered where we were going for lunch, but nobody had any ideas other than Pho. Since we didn't want to hang around outside the shady Pho place, we went outside the church while the guys talked about STARCRAFT and the good Canadian dollar. Ivan and Chris are apparently the best at it, and SO modest. (not) I talked to David about his shirt with gibberish on it - it was just random letters that made no sense at all. After a while, we decided to go check out Brian's car - that green insect on it provided a nice contrast to the dark blue color of the paint! Christon / Dave / Jeremy / Brian / Nathan / Eric / I decided to go to the Pho across the street, but that was full - while walking back, we saw Jon across the street and yelled at him to get a table for eight at the nice Pho. Haha, good times.

The guys discussed hockey and deals: even I have heard of the Rick DiPietro deal, which is insane. Fifteen years for a goalie?! Of COURSE no insurance company will take that risk - your knees won't last that long! Some entrepreneur has an interesting idea involving sumo wrestlers in goal: they won't be able to skate, and won't block ALL the net since people could still shoot up high or something. Then they discussed Sean, Hon's wedding, emoting, Vernon, Hon micro-managing his wedding with a billion rehearsals (six?), Dave, Pho 88 becoming "upscale," Toronto, Harmony / Air Canada WestJet flights in regards to turbulence, and more stuff. When the discussion turned to Mariners / Blue Jays baseball, Jon told Jeremy that trying to make sure Mom understood the sport could be interesting. I chimed in with the "Ew! Catchers are dirty old men!" story from last year or so, which Jeremy found quite funny. Eric told me what to order since I was somewhat undecided - another #36 for me, but with chicken instead of beef. The waitress thought I wanted a #24, which is this spicy hot soup with the usual stuff included - not today, man!

I tried passing a cup of tea to Jeremy, but spilled some of it on the way over - at least the stuff wasn't TOO hot, as I told Eric. (he just won't fill it as full next time) Christon had to leave early for a tennis game with Chalaine and Anita - good day for it! Jon was thinking of the Grouse Grind, but elected to go home with Eric and me to finish some essay that's due tomorrow. The discussion on the way home involved PAPRIKA, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, movie reviews, it being the wrong week for a "butt introduction," Jon's feet saying hi, random air bubble noises, the "scapegoat" song (I was preoccupied with something else, so can't remember the words that Eric was making up on the spot last Friday!), French, gag reflexes, guitar lessons, etc. When I got home, I took a nap - downtime rules! Nathan wanted time to himself when Jon asked him to go out later... believe me, I understand completely! Six hours of people is quite enough, and I'll take opportunities to chill in my own company, thanks.