You can't customize your Pho order!

Mom actually drove to church since Jon was too tired - she doesn't like driving since that 2003 car accident. I remembered that she was stressed out, so didn't say anything to her beyond the necessary greetings. Got to church to find the morning service still in session, so briefly greeted Grace / Steph / Citrus instead. When we were finally able to start, Raymond sat by me, and we talked to people about what we did last night. (I saw Flora's kids Eunice and Isaac - so cute!) Steph had gone to the Oilers game, so that's why her voice was strained. (all the yelling of "OILERS SUCK!" haha) I gave a jar of candy to Priscilla, Hannah, and Natalie - they loved it, and thanked me. Martin came in, and actually licked an offering envelope before remembering that we weren't supposed to do so. I told him that it was a reflex, and Christon said that the church should buy envelopes without a seal - good idea, except they'd probably want to use up all the ones WITH seals first! (we're Asian, and want to save money!)

Christon tapped me on the shoulder and said he liked the blue beret from Auntie Catherine - it IS cute! Hugged Uncle Peter in greeting, too. Chung had funny moments during the announcements: he calculated how old the church was by counting from Daniel's birth year, and then said that the next Resonate (which Daniel promoted) was a few weeks from a couple weeks ago! Haha. Daniel said that Michelle wasn't there since she was up till 4 AM studying - yikes! Steph didn't know if she'd drive me to Nathan's from Melia's bridal shower since she had to drive Karmie into Richmond. I understood, but had asked Pastor John beforehand where his family was since I didn't see them in their usual pew two rows from the front: they were all sick! That sucks! =/

After service, I went up to Eric (seated in a pew) and tapped him on the head as a greeting: that earned me a "HEY!" Hahaha, that's one of the only times I can do that to him since he usually takes advantage of our height difference and does it to me for fun! (What can I say? I love being dorky with the right people!) Gave Steph her birthday card after she complained that I didn't call her yesterday - she was OUT all day! Went out to the front of the church since we were EARLY - before 11? Talked about ingredients for curry (Jeremy says we'll be spitting out WHOLE cloves and cardamom), and Steph's birthday get-together next week. Raymond's driving Cindy, Martin wanted gift ideas, and Jon invited Eric on her behalf so he can WALK there! Discussed my crazy dream (Eunice better not tell her sister Pauline about her "having kids," or she'll be scared!), the great sunny weather, carrying a Bible and returning it to the car (I sympathize with Martin), Nathan's bronchitis and SLB night, the bridal shower, Facebook messages and events, little kids, checking email / Facebook, Hannah kissing Benjamin, and skating. (Raymond will have to ask Steph about that!)

Chung asked Jon something about ushers staying at the back until the Doxology, and I identified Sabrina (by Christon, in a white jacket) for Grace. I peeked in at a sleeping baby Allison, Martin discussed dim sum cancellations and grocery shopping, I waved to Sheena and Eddie, and Jeremy said that he'd rested a lot yesterday since he felt he might be getting sick - at least that worked! Stanley came up to us carrying a huge energy drink from 7-11; of course, nobody thought he needed that at only sixteen! I jokingly asked whether he'd been up all night this week practicing guitar - "kinda," he said. Eric joked that the energy drink was battery acid... it could be, haha.

Shortly afterward, Jon moved Eric's guitar so it wouldn't accidentally bash little ones in the head when they walked past us and into it. I asked Eric whether he wanted the kids from my Sunday School toddler class (Terence and Brandon) to be injured - no. Talked about Lent for a while: Jeremy said that Ray was FEASTING on meat on Sundays, so he had to tell him to eat something that was NOT meat, haha. Jon H. had failed at a fruit and vegetable diet one Lent, which nobody faulted him for: those things are low on calories so you can eat a lot of 'em, but that diet gets boring after a while! Raymond said that he'd Lented meat once, and he had brought up "quitting cold turkey" to a friend - that was definitely the wrong thing to say since of course he wanted meat immediately afterward! I told them that my sister's friend YoYo had been doing a 30-Hour Famine at Easter 2006: it wasn't too bad, except that one of her friends wanted to meet at the Richmond Centre FOOD COURT! So much temptation to EAT and break the famine, oh my!

Saw Vania at Sunday School, since she and Auntie Bessy were helping out. Felt a bit guilty that I wasn't there earlier, but it was soon ameliorated. After that, I interacted with the kids in the basement while asking Cindy and Chrystal to figure out my stapler. Apparently, the suction wasn't there anymore - guess it's time to buy a new one after years of service! Got Grandma upstairs, where my sister told her to just go over to the piano herself and give Vania a red envelope! (Vania was with Cordia) We're not going to wait for Vania to come over here, and we aren't going with her either! While that was going on, Uncle Johnny said hi to us and put a friendly arm around me - Mike's dad is cool and willing to talk. Then my sister and I decided on Pho for lunch - good call, even if Grandma invited the old female pastor! Grandma said she bought tickets for the family for the church 33rd anniversary Koinonia lunch in a couple of weeks; good, but Steph won't be there because of a St. John Ambulance course she has to take. Oh well, she can just give the red ticket away to someone who needs one since the event is sold out (as usual) - Grandma won't know any better till the day of the lunch, har har.

At Pho, the two old ladies each wanted a small #9 - no problem, except you CANNOT have it with ONLY rare beef! (is there even a dish on the menu with only rare beef?!) It causes trouble when they scold the waitress in Chinese (which she thankfully can't understand!), and makes her think there's something wrong. There is, but it's not HER - she's just doing her job, and you can't customize your order, especially if you can't speak their language and communicate clearly! Jon came in wanting a Vietnamese coffee (Steph had one since this morning's coffee wasn't potent enough), and wondered what was going on since he saw the old ladies in a grumpy mood. Let's hope we're not like that in later years! Discussed Evites, Danielle driving me to Nathan's instead, mishearing something Grandma said as "pizza" (not at the Pho place - but at Trocadero's!), regulating a sleep schedule, Christal and Wilson at the next table (GOLDFISH!), and more.

Steph and I drove Grandma's friend Eunice (who's apparently ALWAYS been cranky, according to our parents!) home to a long-term care facility (NOT a German-Canadian one which was nearby!), and thought that the bus loop there was a good idea. We didn't want her to take the bus because we had time to kill, and it was the right thing to do - old ladies and uphill blocks are a bad combo, too! Then we went to Save-On (while having an interesting discussion) to grab chips / salsa / grapes for the bridal shower - so efficient, even if I nearly lost my shoe in the car! It was a new experience for us, since we've never been to the underground parking lot near the Staples on Lougheed! Now we're at Melia's - so cool to see people! (that girl Caroline looks familiar for some reason)