I'm going to have salad and some form of pasta twice in one day!

Just as I was about to go out, a message from Korey popped up on my screen. Sorry, I had no time to answer even a "hi" since the bank closes at a certain time! He was probably going to ask how telling my mom had gone, and reiterate how much he admires my brains - despite how I feel sometimes, I'm not an airhead! Decided just to stay out because I didn't want to go home and go out again - definitely a sneaker day because of all the walking I'd be doing at the mall AND the Night Market! At least I don't have Eric around to make weird bra-related remarks about support this time, haha. Went to the bank, then to White Spot to have a lunch consisting of Tuscan pasta soup and Mediterranean chicken salad. Read a bit at Coles, then bumped into Emily / Mike / Chrystal at the food court where I went to get something to drink.

Mike wanted to know what I was doing there, so I told him that I lived ten minutes away. He was surprised, haha. We discussed how they'd just seen their England relatives off at the airport, my new boyfriend, and various sweet things. They went go-karting with some cousins a while later, but it was cool to bump into them! Now I'm at the townhouse, where it appears I'll be having more salad for dinner. Mom also made spaghetti with wine sauce; the wine's from Auntie Eva, so that should be interesting. According to her, Lesley's going to the Night Market too - more potential for confusion since only Jon would call me Sarne. (I wouldn't let Nate or Jeremy do that, I think... oh well :P)

Now the Blogger site is in Chinese characters. Weird. I wonder how that happened... at least I'm familiar enough with the site that I know what to do! Reminds me of the time when I used to post from the church office and various sites would be in Chinese, har har.

I'm telling the blogosphere some important news!

My mom's first reaction to learning that I have a boyfriend: "Is he a Christian? Oh GOOD, that's the most important thing! You can get married soon so I can have grandchildren by next year! I have to get my wedding planning stuff out!" HAHAHAHAHA! Just because we're both Christians doesn't mean we're compatible in THAT WAY! (2008 edit: And we weren't, despite his ardent protestations - HA!)


Grandma might not like the fact that K's obviously not Chinese, but she does come from a different cultural background! Called Jon after that to figure out Night Market plans, and also tell him about me and K dating. He said it was crazy, and said that I should get to know him better then. Believe me, that's what I'm viewing this as! Guess we'll see what happens with this in future! Nathan wants to get going around 8, but Jon's home at 4:30 for a snack and such - maybe I'll show up at the townhouse then to avoid maternal agitation! At least breaking the news wasn't quite as difficult as I thought it might be.

It's been two or three Saturdays since I've checked blogs, because of the Phil / Grace wedding and feeling rather apathetic. Vivian details some confusion she had with her courses (plus stuff about cooking aversion and psychological conditioning), and Randal equates faith with fitness. Also has a prayer journal up, which I won't look at simply because it's his personal stuff - even though it's posted on a public blog. Go figure! Now I better get to the bank before it closes, then do other stuff before 4:30 or 5, haha.

What warrior character are you from my book? Ivypaw A ferocious cat who wants to become leader of IvyClan. Always wants to be leader.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

"I'm in yelling mode, just so you know!"

I called Eric at 7:15, who answered the phone in Spanish. According to his instructions, I went out in five minutes to wait for him, and he was STILL late-ish! Oh well, it was an interesting car ride. He thought I was responsible for whatever happened in the end zone during the football game, and had to tell me that BC had in fact scored a touchdown while I was busy talking over the radio. (1-0 after the first quarter is a hockey score... so good thing they made it 8-0!) He also wondered if I had any secret plans regarding passion - I don't think popcorn counts, haha. When we got out of the car, there was an ad for Dairyland dragonfruit yogurt - I told Eric that it would be great to have since I'm a dragon. (hehe)

Got to the basement and stood around to sing stuff - we sat near Ada (her sons Ian and Sean liked Playland and camping!), Jen, Karen, and Ivan. He put "Spartacus" on his name tag, which caused Mike to do 300 impressions later: "SPARTA!!!!" (Mike's apparently seen the movie quite a few times) It was an interesting talk on friendship, touching on purity and passion just a bit. Vania's question about just having lots of close friends and not dating was somewhat amusing! Henry wondered why the Houstons had an orange wedge in their water when it was usually a lemon slice - maybe it was a change! He's still thinking about doing Awana in September because it's too far for his nieces. Fair enough! Met a new guy called Kevin, who found our church via the website of his former Chinatown church and Youtube. Had a very interesting conversation with him about our new church building, his impressions of service / Friday programs so far, the Youtube video (Jon didn't know about it because he was possibly in Toronto at the time), and how Steph was our sister. Christon told him that she managed the Daniel Fellowship email list, and should be back after Timothy camp to put him on there, heh.

Michelle, Joey, Sam, Benedict, and others all expressed distaste when Jon put broccoli into the chocolate fondue fountain. Then Mike joked about flinging feces in the basement since monkeys do that - yeah, but are you really a monkey, dude? Benedict told me about how an Awana kid named Jordan frustrated Lawrence while doing crafts last week during the summer Awana - he wanted various colors of yarn, but then told Lawrence that he didn't like them after they were cut! ("I don't like brown!" "[thinking] Gee, you could have told me that BEFORE!") He also expressed trepidation about teaching the kids how to cook next week - I can imagine that Eric and Matthew will get into everything and just be disruptive! Apparently, there are a lot more leaders than kids - good thing I'm not there, haha. I didn't do it last year, either - didn't appear to be a shortage then, either! He agreed with me that it was nice to have friends visit.. yeah, especially if they're only here a short time! (haha, this is a burden already?! Kidding!)

Talked to Jen, Danielle, Frances, Sheena, Chuck, Karen, Daniel, Cindy, Randal, Sam, Joey, and Michelle about driver's licenses / professional writing diploma at Douglas College / our weeks / popcorn / yelling / chips / fruit / other such mundane stuff. Dylan wanted to know how I liked the talk, and that led us to discuss being transparent with people. It's a problem for us since we don't necessarily want to tell everyone all the little details of our lives, but sometimes we might have to in order for more spiritual friendships to develop. Guess we'll have to really think about it, for sure. Jon mentioned something about going to the Night Market tomorrow to celebrate Nathan's birthday - I know Jeremy's going, and I'm probably in even if I don't think I have any cash. (but I could go to the bank before 3 tomorrow and cash a cheque)

Citrus said that he'd played hockey, and they didn't have a full team: guess you have to suck it up then! He also pulled both calf muscles at once since they contracted at the same time - he definitely needed to go home and massage them! Poor guy! Jeremy did a lot of physical warehouse work in the heat because of sick / vacationing workers, and he didn't get enough sleep since his apartment cools down at midnight! (that doesn't sound good if he has to work in Richmond at 7 AM) After a failed bid to find Joey's Nalgene water bottle (along with a discussion of James S. and Facebook and a second kid for him and Sanne), we were finally off. My back was killing me (but feeling better now), probably because I was carrying two knapsacks at once - Eric joked that he put stones in his. Thanks, dude... Chuck said that I looked ready to go camping! Not surprised, my friend. Eric was impatient to find out the BC Lions score... turns out we won 42-12 over the Roughriders in Regina. (the Hamilton Ti-Cats are bad if they have 33 more losses than we do over a four-year period!)

We discussed Dallas going to church, gas prices, Wesley's talk about Haiti on Sunday, Eric going to a swim club person's party that isn't clubbing, smelling skunk TWICE (they're in Richmond?!), the Grouse Grind on Sunday (NOT Tuesday as per Jon's slip since it's not open for services), Fidela, doing the Grind in flip-flops (Jackie would...), Megan, and Harmony's sleep issues. Jon tried singing her some nursery rhymes or lullabies, but Eric and I pointed out that it probably wouldn't help if he was laughing at the end of every line. He wishes he could do something about it, but he can't. I said that warm milk helped, but she's tried that - and the only milk she had was sour. No warm sour expired milk for US, thanks... even if it went sour before the expiration date! Now, THAT really sucks! He was tormenting me by putting his bare foot almost in my face while Eric was trying to drive - THAT won't help her sleep, either! I was most concerned about these chocolate and strawberry stains on my clothes, which were NOT caused by dropping fruit when I looked at a certain person! I was still in "crowded basement mode," which meant that I yelled almost every other sentence at the guys, heh. You gotta do that in order to be heard over 50 people, haha!


I'm tired now, but I still have to finish the laundry and do something else before I sleep. Should definitely call Jon tomorrow afternoon, and have made a note to this effect. Wouldn't do to forget, after all. :D

No scramble till Level 26 / Candy's butterfly stickers

Hey, I went to Level 26 of Bookworm without having to scramble any tiles in the playing field! Then I promptly died because of a flaming red tile in an impossible position, but that's another story. The point is that this is a NEW RECORD!

Candy sent me some butterfly flower sticker packs in the mail - I bet they were hard to fit inside that envelope, since they're folded every which way. I think little Rachel said she liked butterflies last Sunday, so maybe I'll give her one. Then again, they're not all the same, so I might keep it for my "sticker sampler," haha. Rachel won't know what she's missing out on... but then that does seem bad. Guess I'll figure it out later!

Dreams of bright orange blobs and chicken wings

Had a weird dream about people spotting bright orange blobs on the ceiling above a stove, which they then cooked and ate. Then I was eating chicken wings at a big party, and dissecting them with a servant at table. Weird stuff from my subconscious...

Growing up, courtesy of Quiz Galaxy

What will you be when you grow up?
	You will be ... The leader of a biker gang
'What will you be when you grow up?' at QuizGalaxy.com

VIA and LAV white diamonds / Dream of Martin running

I got two white diamonds in a Bookworm game again. I made the word VAU out of three yellow / gold tiles, which resulted in a white diamond on an A. Then I used that white diamond on the word VIA. Later, I used two blue sapphires while constructing the word TAU - the blue tiles were on the A and U. That resulted in another white diamond on an A, so I used that in the word LAV.

I had a weird dream that consisted of Martin, a few other friends, and me running away from my dad yelling at us. My mom actually tried to provide comfort, but my friends took me away from that to a bus stop where my brother was reading the Bad Baby Names Forum on his laptop. Soon, we were all whisked away by bus to a place where nobody could hurt us. Interesting dream...

Yay for help and deals!

Went to the mall today, and got a reasonably-priced item at Bentley's, which is near Coles! Yay for materials that are like Jeremy's black knapsack, haha. It's also amazing how much better I feel after writing things out! I also saw David Shaler again at the mall, who says he's engaged to Christine Bennett, a girl whom we went to school with at Palmer. Congratulations, indeed!

Yellow TUB and white CUR / Dreams of rushing to find things

I had another white diamond last night in Bookworm, on the U of the word CUR. I'd previously made the word TUB with all yellow / gold tiles. Now I think I need to work on a letter to someone - I don't think he's gonna like it when I tell him that I absolutely HATE Netspeak! But it has to be said sometime... certain other people don't use it, and I like them better for that, haha. Then I need to go out and get certain things - it'll be so hot outside! Bleh. Perfect day to just read in my patio chair when I get home, too...

I had a dream last night that involved Frances trying to find her husband Mel in an opulent house. We eventually found him, and then went to a sloping floor where there was a huge library with LOTS of interesting books. I misplaced a colorful jacket and an equally colorful stone, so I was trying to find them in the cupboards and record collections. My mom was hounding me to just get out of there because it was obvious that I lost things since I was stupid. She found a $50 bill in an envelope and said that it was from my dad, who was in heaven. I insisted on staying behind to look for the items, but then my mom dragged me out of there. We were both upset, for sure! No idea WHAT that's supposed to mean!

"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.

Butterscotch sundaes and curious oddities

I had an unexpected time out with my parents last night. We went to Chapters, where I used my mom's $25 gift card to get Ripley's Believe It or Not: Curioddities. While I was reading a book full of embarrassing stories, my mom said that the aforementioned Ripley's book was the last one on the shelf. I'm always up for more weird stuff, and so of course I had to have it! Later, we went to Dairy Queen for some butterscotch sundaes and such - it was so drafty in there that my mom noticed me shivering. Dad also said that my beloved POISON! shirt was getting short in the sleeves - damn, and I always liked Jeremy's reaction to it to cheer me up from sudden redrum: "Leslie, I hate to tell you this, but you have SNAKES ON YOUR SHIRT!" I think my reaction would have been better had I not just been told by Eric that there was blood on my clothes. As it is, I just gave him a small wan smile - otherwise, I would have laughed like crazy. Oh well, guess that's one shirt they won't be seeing anymore! Mom also gave me some more blue towels and was going to get me other things, but left them at home. No, she should not give underwear to Auntie Eva, haha. That would be really bad!

On another note, I'm glad that certain people I know are there for me. I'm lucky to have such great friends, even though trust is something we're developing! For various reasons, I may even be huggy at church today. Too bad Eric T. isn't around since he gave me a surprise hug in April 2005 right after Stephen and I got together (that was cool), and it's too bad little Jennifer L. and I don't talk much since she gave me a surprise hug sometime later! No, these are not the only two people I've hugged at church. Guess we'll see what happens! :P (might hug Dave at lunch, haha)