We don't want to know if parents hit romantic home runs a lot, Mike!

Jon and Steph picked me up this morning, so I said something about his birthday - I knew his golden birthday was last year, but I definitely wasn't thinking. Steph's co-worker has just come back from Beijing, and developed a nasty smokers cough within a week from all the pollution: according to Lonely Planet, spending one day there is like smoking seven packs of cigarettes! No wonder the cough is so gross! ("I'm not EW-ing at YOU... I'm EW-ing at Beijing!") Her tour guide said the pollution was just fog (I don't think so), and Tiananmen Square was just "a small misunderstanding" - poor brainwashed people! Apparently, the plan to go green before the 2008 Olympics will be reducing car traffic for the three months prior to the events: we don't think that'll do much! Speaking of misconceptions, my grandma took her shoes off inside the car (before they picked me up) and claimed the resulting smell was just from the dust - my sibs were very dubious about that! The last time they checked, dust doesn't SMELL! Also talked about plans, Facebook bookshelves / album racks, time-sucks, etc. - good times!

At church, Natalie and Nathan bugged me for candy since I used to give it to them a long time ago. You don't get it every week, kids! I didn't greet a certain person, which is fine. Said hi to Karmie, Hannah, and Noah (I almost called him Luke, but caught myself in time) - Noah didn't say anything, but I expect that! Discussed shopping / cooking for tonight's dinner with Jeremy, who was able to find the curry ingredients so that could be done yesterday. Talked to Grace, who went to a wedding in Summerland yesterday - such a rushed trip and driving for four hours there and back! (Danielle has a wedding in Canmore that she needs to fly to - she'll fly there one day and fly back the next!) Nate had a very sad applause reaction to Juliana's cookbook reminder announcement, heh. After service, Eric said that my mittens were probably on the wrong way because of the sparkles - thanks, I think I noticed that too! Talked to Tony for a while about work and the dinner tonight - he can make it if someone drives him to Metrotown before he's supposed to show up for work!

Said hi to Keenan, who had a very cute pointy hat on: he wanted to touch my Santa hat, so of course I let him. Danielle noticed the hat and said "It's BACK!" Definitely is! Everyone clustered around Anita and her big wide load - it's her excuse to push past people, haha. She's due in two days! Talked to Calla about stuff like Green Village being closed for at least a month now (some other restaurant has taken over the space), and told Dallas that I had his dishes from August even if he bought extras - good for leftovers if there are any! People sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jon, and attempted to give him a lot of birthday beats - Ivan and Stanley started it, and Steph and I ended it. Isabel noted Jon walking away during the middle of the song, and jokingly observed: "He doesn't even care!" Eventually, we all decided to go to Sunday School - Steph told me, Mike, Joey, Emily, Vanessa, Melia, and others about ANOTHER disgusting remark that Dad had made! She'd gone home early on Friday at about 9 PM, and was greeted with "What are you doing home so early? You're interrupting my romantic time with my wife!" Everyone made disgusted noises at that, except Mike: "Hey, it could be Level 3 time! They could hit home runs a lot!" Yeah, that was pretty cringe-worthy as well... Emily told Mike to stand in the corner by the garbage bin, haha. Steph said that she'd just stay home all the time when her crazy month / year-end overtime hours were finished, which is probably the way to go to avoid hearing such remarks! We all had to move for a car - surprisingly, Alice wasn't driving this one! o_O

At Sunday School, the two brothers were crying like mad because their mom had gone upstairs to take in the service. Rachel's grandma, Uncle Patrick, Frances. Auntie Bessy, and I all tried to comfort them to no avail. Amanda seemed to be okay even with all the extra noise, and she knew her dad would come pick her up later! Auntie Fonda popped in later to say hi - her husband's back for good from Hong Kong, I hear. Almost everyone had cleared out of the basement by the time I left, so I teased Rosanna about knowing she was hiding under her dad's coat: "I know your dad isn't that fat, and I also know he doesn't have four legs!" Went outside and said hi to Gwyneth and Evelyn, and told Teresa that I'd heard she'd got into Trinity - it's going to be lots of work, but she seems excited about January!

Talked to Dylan, who wanted to go for lunch soon since he was pretty hungry. He went to throw around a football with Cordia and Joyce, once running not very far into the street to catch it. Nathan chased Brandon and Terence around when they weren't giving me five or dragging around tree branches! Jon teased Julie S. about her dishwashing ability, which might come in handy tonight, so I told Auntie Cynthia that her daughter had trouble finding a sponge which was right in front of her! Apparently, she helps with the dishes sometimes when she's not swamped with work! (she does have to study, for sure!) Julie C. asked Sam whether she was short for her age, but she's tall! Sam said that he was really short in elementary school, and even the fourth-graders were just as tall or taller than he! Henry said hi to Julie, who attempted to pull his hood over his head - then he employed his secret weapon: he told me that she was TICKLISH! That'll do it, all right!

Jon said that Sam or Ivan could get rides from Eric for tonight if they wanted to go. Dallas, Dylan, Jon, Tony, Jeremy, and others were going to Waa Zu Bee - I elected to go with the family for lunch at Mui's instead. Steph likes Dallas' reflective yellow jacket: very good for not getting run over, as he bikes now! Jon told Vivian that Ray wanted to know if she'd be there tonight - maybe, pending gift availability! Told her about our family thing of not really getting gifts for birthday and Christmas, which I think left her surprised. Eric talked to Vivian for a bit, and I laughed when I saw the kids still chasing each other. After lunch, we went to Shoppers and saved a bunch of money on things we needed to stock up on - Advent calendars are tradition, rainchecks for Quality Street are good, and expensive organic stuff isn't necessary for childhood comforts / memories!