WTF wouldn't really be an acceptable abbreviation for Missions Fest... 25 years strong!

Went out to mail some important stuff (yes, finally) - it cost less than I thought it would, but it's only really a local mailing. Then again, it isn't five OUTLANDER books to New Mexico (Christine - occipitaldruid) OR two Harry Potter books to Russia (Katya - katzk) - those cost a LOT! I recall the parcel to Russia cost $96 including cost of the books and bookmarks - most of that was shipping alone, OMG! But I was glad to do it at the time, of course. :)

Got to Canada Place in plenty of time to meet people, and in fact bumped into Martin as soon as I'd found my way to the packed food court. He took me to where Raymond was, and we discussed getting two tables - afterwards, we talked about the church AGM on Sunday (no voting for HIM!) / our weeks / creepiness on Facebook from people you didn't know (very well) / serving in Benjamin / Pacific Grace. Bumped into Steph (carried my drink), Vanessa (those ski pics were fun!), Danielle, Melia, Mike (Mei Lin had made colorful bags), Margaret (high-five!), Andrew (Tim Horton's iced cap or coffee?), Daniel, Michelle (deflated soccer balls for Ugandan kids?), Dylan, Calla (lectured her about not eating since breakfast), Golden, Hilary, Chung, Lanie, Phil, Grace, and Joey. Thanks to my friends, I was able to get two pieces of Flying Wedge pizza (bacon cheeseburger and cheesy rom) and iced tea... then get to the exhibition hall without getting lost! We discussed cookies and "wedding ring" shots - the Ricky's contingent were in real danger of running seriously late since their order took FOREVER to arrive. (and they called it an EXPRESS Ricky's - hmph!)

Once we went into the hall, we knew people were saving seats for us. Waved to Janette and Jason over someone's head, and nodded at Jon / Ivan / Sam / Christon / Jeremy ("two pounds of candy" isn't necessarily "two hundred candies?!") / Sarah / Emily L. (let's note all the key changes in the worship songs, and drum along to them!) Bruce was an amazing speaker - the Motilone tribe can learn from us, but the reverse is also true and very humbling! I've heard him speak before, but there's always something new to learn. Tonal languages, indeed... bananas and grubworms, oh my. After the talk and announcements, I talked to Phil / Grace / Steph / Tony for a bit before we headed to the booths. Grace was amused by the "ugfart" nickname I gave Jon when asking if he'd spent time with Grandma today since I couldn't - yes, it IS important to spend time with your elders! (maybe there'll be a Sunday Dinner at their place sometime next month!) Saw Andrea in the hall, and she mentioned a restaurant that her sibs and she'd been to, along with my brother - no, Jon didn't tell me anything about that, but that doesn't surprise me! Steph said that she was busing to Viv's because she (Viv) has a teaching job interview tomorrow - on a Saturday, of all days. Might as well prep, for sure! She told Jon to look after me and make sure I didn't get lost - good idea!

We had the recurring experience of bumping into Mark (Manhon), Ivan, Sam, his brother Jeremy, Andrew, Michelle C., Rich, Isabel, Emily, Joey, Mike, and others from our church. Also saw Ray (chicken in a pot?!), Jonathan Chan (he says Tony doesn't scare him), Lesley, and Connie (Eunice takes penalties in hockey?!) - Jon and Jeremy bumped into a LOT of Campus Crusade people too! Reminds me: we were amused when a speaker said that one reason for the Campus Crusade name change (to POWER TO CHANGE) was because "crusade" didn't go over very well with the Muslims! Jon called White Guy #1 to see where he was, and we eventually found him after Tony essentially learned that the Masons are evil. Eric and Jeremy were wondering what abbreviations would be cool at a missions conference, inspired by the OMF sign. "OMG? WTF? Okay, maybe not WTF since this is a church conference and all..."

Looked at some more booths before some of us headed over to Steamworks - it's our tradition now, I guess! Discussed credit cards, how red / drunk I really was ("Tomato Girl"?!), nachos, the bill, pizza, how my vocab and speech are the first things to go ("mice breeded? mice brode? MORE WATER being not understandable?"), "chugging" my espresso stout (Jon: "I'm making you get the lightest lager possible next time!"), saying hi to Lucas, basketball, karate, water, jokes, and more. Got home at about 12:30 after a rousing car discussion on knives, stepping stones, morbid fantasies, mad cackling, going into the wrong washroom (that hasn't happened since a swimming jaunt, OR the Old Spaghetti Factory experience YEARS ago with Dawn and Steph - even worse, there was someone IN there!), and more. Now it's time for bed - I hope this espresso stout doesn't keep me up much longer! Water, it is!