I guess football confuses my mother...

The Internet doesn't seem to work for some reason, so the timestamp for any posts I make will be off until it does. Thank goodness for Linux's Tomboy Notes! ;)

This morning, Jon / Steph / Eric picked me up for church. Steph apologized to Eric (who was eating yogurt and Triscuits) for putting him in "the seat of death" - I just laughed crazily, which led him to ask whether I'd had one too many coffees. Not really... just the one. We joked about Chilliwack being "the Wack," and wondered whether there was really anything to do in that city - probably not much, haha. ("There's a DOWNTOWN?! WOW!") Steph said that I really wanted to know how Korey was when I asked Eric about the "dodgy" sushi there, but I already knew from talking to him on the phone till 2:45 AM! Discussed Barry Bonds and steroids / indictment / people thinking they're above the law because their specific offenses aren't mentioned in the rules of their sport. Jon said that he'd gotten my message yesterday, and said that he'd do a birthday celebration on his actual birthday next Sunday - SWEET! (must sleep EARLY on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday!)

Steph joked that a police officer wouldn't really believe we were going to church because three out of the four car passengers wore BC Lions paraphernalia - ORANGE! (no, we weren't going to the 10:30 street party which requires massive street closures) Took the Arthur Laing to church for a change - ah, memories of when Sam and Michelle took me to Awana! Talked about people younger than we were who drove already - Mary and a blunt William don't think their sister Sarah's a very good driver. It still gives Steph an "I'M SO OLD!" feeling when she sees Julie or Fidela drive, heh. (Fidela will be back for US Thanksgiving next week!) Amused my siblings by telling them about Justin's message asking how things were "down in Ditchmond," haha. Steph also says that Uncle Sam's mom is in very bad shape, and may not last the week - later, I heard that Pastor Edward thinks she'll last maybe two weeks more, and isn't allowed visitors... MORPHINE! :(

Uncle Hansel was backing out of a parking spot at the bank, which led us to joke that he might be the cause of our being really late if he crashed into us. At church, I quickly found a seat next to Jeremy, who was amused with Christon because of a letter switch on the Powerpoint which rendered us as the VECFC instead of the VCEFC. We were amused by the latest fundraising effort (yay for Juliana!) which involved a cookbook and a quick Powerpoint presentation / skit with Latino-Chinese music. Quite the fusion, as I commented to Phil and Grace sitting behind me! Asked Sarah if her mom (Auntie Vivian) were here - yes, she was. Said hi to Hannah, Priscilla, and Natalie before I went outside and waved to Jen and other friends. I should have teasingly told Joey to quit deciding Melia's reproductive future unless he had a say in her and Angus' plans - I saw those Facebook wall posts, haha. ("you should have this many kids at these ages!")

Said hi to Helen and her shy son Nicholas - I was going to call Helen a few days ago because their birthdays were the 13th and the 16th! (I didn't have their birthday cards since I thought I wouldn't see them) Maybe we can get together when she has time off before Christmas! Email reminders can do wonders too, heh. Gave birthday cards to Emily C., Emily L., Melia, and Sophia for John - I *know* Jon has David's, Tim's, Winnie's, and other people's despite denials! Briefly talked to Anita, Jeff, Maxine, Keenan, Isabel, Ivan, Julie, Calla, Mike T., Kevin Lee, and others about labor pains, pregnancy, first-aid courses, ping-pong, Friday night, papers, Bible Study, and yesterday's doings before hearing Steph and Vanessa burst out into the UMBRELLA song - oh my, memories of fireworks finale night! Went to toddler Sunday School, where at least one of the kids was not behaving very well - sigh. Frances had made Play-Doh out of flour and salt from a recipe that Auntie Tracy had given her some time ago, and had gone grocery shopping / cleaning yesterday.

Afterwards, I talked to Andrew L. about rap - he doesn't like it anymore, but says he prefers soft rock. However, he couldn't come up with any particular artists of that genre which he likes, which is fine! Always good talking to him about stuff - he says that rap video which Michelle linked me to yesterday was pretty bad, which I agreed with. Not because rap isn't my thing, but the overall video quality wasn't that great. Jessica had a headache, so I offered her some of my aspirin - she declined, while Andrew T. seemed impressed by my preparedness. Waved to Hien while Natalie told me that she wanted candy, but she was bouncing up and down like she'd already had a bit too much sugar! I contented myself with giving her and Hannah some Excel Fuse gum, after dashing her expectations that I'd always have candy in my backpack. (reminds me of Hien in 2001 or so - "you ALWAYS have gum!")

Asked Mary to give her mom the Awana dues which Amos and I had decided to keep in a Ziploc bag yesterday... not that I don't trust her younger brother William who was also right there. Of course, I then saw their mom a few seconds later coming downstairs! (ARGH, haha) Auntie Vivian thanked me for keeping things going yesterday, and I told her that there had been no major problems. Finally returned a toy car to Wilson which had been in my room for at least three months or so, and which I'd found last week. I'd forgotten to give it back to him after one toddler Sunday School class by virtue of it being in my pants pocket! His mom Jenny told me that he had too many cars - I knew giving it back was the right thing to do, though! Rachel tried tagging me, to which I told her that I could tag her back ALL THE TIME, haha. Told Stanley about my weird dream of his shooting people in the head - I don't think he was too impressed, aiya! (said hi to Michelle too)

Then I was distracted by Hilary, Gwyneth, her sister Evelyn, and others hanging onto Samantha - I told them multiple times to let go. I kept them well back from the older girl, of course. ("We're not going to ATTACK her! *they run to closed washroom door* SORRY!") Samantha later thanked me for serving as her human shield, although she thinks I should have removed my backpack. Not a problem! Gwyneth said that she'd sent me a money tree on Facebook (which I later found to be untrue), and her mom Teresa said that the kid had been sending things to people using her Facebook account. Sounds like good times! Gwyneth to me: "You can go home, sit at your computer, and see the money tree on your Facebook before you say stuff to me on the phone!" Haha, I'm just glad she talked to me first about things! (the likely reaction I'd get if I initiated conversation: "I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!")

Made my way upstairs to find all my friends gone (I expected this), and contented myself with saying bye to Mike K. / Sam and his brother (in a pink BUBBLE GUM shirt) / Citrus / Gabriel / Margaret. Dad was jokingly hassling Citrus about something or other, and I told him that it was all good UNLESS it was like that gross sex-related remark made LAST week to me and my sister! I made him, Sam, and Mike cringe in agony at the memory of my sister telling the entire table about it! (when my sister told me to be cheerful around my parents this morning, I should have said that it would be fine unless such remarks were made - Eric's family, so he can know about it!) My family and I went to Mui's for lunch, and saw a guy in the parking lot wearing SHORTS. That instantly made me feel really cold - it may be way sunnier than yesterday's intense rain, but that doesn't mean it's shorts weather! It was a pretty good lunch (more oysters and wonton mein, which Grandma DIDN'T criticize like she did last week!), and my mom even gave me a frozen dumpling for later when she ordered them from someone's house! Got a good email at home, too - YAY FOR UNDERSTANDING!


Here is some amusement courtesy of the older female members of my family...

1. Grandma, attempting to pay for a $30 lunch with a $20 and a $5: "That's enough money!" Turns out she thought the $5 was a $20, so I guess I accidentally made her "lose face" by gently telling her that the 5 on the bill was a 5 and not a 20. The reaction I got was "I KNOW!" (they're even colored differently - blue vs. green - but she's old, so I'll excuse her!)

2. Dad, attempting to explain some football to Mom: "The quarters are only 15 minutes long - they used to be 12 or 10 minutes long, but not anymore!"
Mom: "Are you sure they aren't an HOUR long?!"
Dad: "No... they're a QUARTER of an HOUR, which is 15 minutes!"
Mom: "Oh, so the entire game is only ONE HOUR!" (thinking that my sibs will be home sooner rather than later, or not if they go out to eat in the event of a win - that didn't happen!)
Dad: "Not exactly... there are stoppages in play, reviews, and other things..."

3. Mom, hoping for halftime to arrive RIGHT NOW: "Is it halftime yet? Or is it still the first quarter?"
Dad: "No, it's the second quarter. After that, it's halftime." (not bothering with the fact that there were 10.5 minutes left in the second quarter, since that might confuse her even more)
Mom: "Oh... I hope we're winning!"
Dad, upon hearing a score update: "No, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are winning - we're trailing 10-7!"
Mom: "Are you sure?"
Dad: "Yes, they just said so!"

4. Mom, hearing the radio announcers say that a coach was scolding a quarterback: "Is the quarterback on defense?"
Dad: "No, the quarterback is offense." (this would have been fine except for what happened next...)
Mom: "So why is the coach scolding him?! The score's still 10-10..."
Dad: "Eh... his performance wasn't good."
Mom, in a very confused tone: "Oh... so is the second quarterback in the game?"
Dad: "No... he's the third quarterback, and Dickenson is the first, so he might be in the game."
Mom, still confused: "But he had injuries!"
Dad: "Don't worry - he's there!"


Edit: Ah, never mind. The modem seems to have become improperly plugged. Thank goodness I remember Eric's advice from the last time it happened! (turn off computer, unplug the black plug from the modem, press button on top, and it'll work again hopefully!)