"You can stay out as long as you like, but you have to eat dinner at home!"

Mom made grim predictions about my life choices this morning while giving back my washed jacket and colorful sweater - er, thanks. Then she thought I needed to know certain things right away... no, I did say I needed to know by Saturday! (nothing immediate about that...) When I got to church, I accidentally sat in Phil's spot, so that made for a squishy pew when he came back! Tapped Jer on the shoulder and asked about his phone number - no, he hadn't changed it, but he'd probably been sleeping when I called him at 10 or so! (but at 7:30?!) I explained that I know he's Lenting the Internet in general, so wanted to tell him about the Friday plans; he actually checked his email for that reason at work! At least he appreciated my thoughtfulness! Then he showed me a number on his phone; yes, that was mine! (although I thought he put it in a while ago, but that's okay!) Discussed Friday's Green Lettuce dinner with Raymond, Dylan, Calla, Johnny, Kevin (who said they'd missed me on Friday - the transit options were too annoying, and I didn't know the cross street :P), and Teresa: mild food is all right, but no Chinese-Indian fusion?! During the handshaking portion of the service, a certain someone came up to me (so he knew darn well whom he was talking to :P) and said hello / shook my hand. I wonder what THAT was all about... maybe it was a friendly gesture, and maybe it was about appearances. Hmm, I'll probably not read TOO much into that! o_O

I also went to the very back to say hi to David, Rosenda, Ian, and Gabriel - Ian seemed to like my blue beret, as did Keenan later on. Suppose it looks cool to toddlers, which is a plus! It's not a Santa hat with stars on it, but as long as they like it (and people have complimented me on it), that is very fine. *grin* We all laughed when Pastor Edward said something about praying for a cat, and then all groaned when Andrea said something about Daylight Savings Time - this is the one where we all walk around like zombies because we LOSE an hour's sleep, as I described it to Phil. Went to the back parking lot and said hi to Tony and his dad - then stood around and discussed beer / coffee / wine with Raymond, Martin, Dylan, and Johnny. Said hi to Mei Lin and Cindy after that, then went to Sunday School a bit later. When Auntie Bessy came in, I was writing reminders down in my book - since that is what I was doing the last time she came in, she's going to think I don't like interacting with the kids anymore! That's not true! Grabbed a seat with the kids for the Koinonia luncheon while saying hi to Adam, and gave my jelly stick to Bob - Amanda's sister Hannah S. exclaimed "I get to eat!" when she shared Timbits with the toddlers during Sunday School, heh. (the lesson for them consisted of Harriet Tubman - I remember learning about her in grade school, yay!)

Hannah W., Julie, and Natalie remembered the last luncheon we had, where David combined salt / sugar / pepper / Sprite / sauce on his plate - he did eat it, too! Natalie complained about her brother following her around EVERYWHERE - home, church, school, etc. Sounds frustrating! Julie told people not to read certain journal entries she had in a green duotang, so Sam told her that he didn't have X-ray vision! She got concerned that Benedict was reading it from behind her, and shielded it from Nathan since it was embarrassing - some of it WAS fictionalized, apparently. Mike, Joey, Sam, and Ivan talked about hockey... then Emily got into the discussion about kumquats and shark's fin soup. Lanie had eaten an orange kumquat without the peel, and Stanley thought she shouldn't do that. Maybe it does affect the taste a bit, but I just ate it with the peel on - I guess it tasted okay! Jon came downstairs to joke that he was too cool for us downstairs people (and tell Sam that both of us were legal - anniversary special beer will be consumed tonight!), then Emily shared her strawberry cake with her brother. (Ivan took his brother's, and Hannah took Julie's - too busy playing PSP!) Ivan combined some stuff into a cup, and Hannah wanted him to chug it. He didn't, but did try some. My dad thought it was crazy, but I guess it isn't too bad as far as weird food combinations go! Isabel told us about her jam-packed New York trip for Reading Week with a bunch of her classmates - wow, she actually got a normal amount of sleep! (I said that Nathan didn't know she was gone at first, which she found really funny!)

After that, we had the family meeting to ask Phil questions about the youth pastor application - I told my brother to stop napping, haha. Stella was busy calming her fussy baby son Noah, and Abigail was sleeping in her mom Helen's arms - Anne made a bit of noise, but Sophia was pretty good at distracting her! Later, Sophia asked how I knew that babies normally woke up every three or so hours to be fed in the first few months of life - I don't have personal experience with that kind of thing, but I do know about it! Jon joked that he would get Joey to ask questions for him, but Phil just as jokingly threatened that he'd fly out to wherever Jon ended up and exact his revenge! Challenges, strengths, weaknesses, Grace, vision, and personal journeys were all covered - I should encourage both of them, for sure. Somehow, I don't say as much as I used to - not sure whether that's shyness (around someone whom I've known for a LONG time?!) or what, but it'll be cool. Talked to Dylan, Calla, Nathan ("I am a LION and have come from the PAST!"), Jon, Daniel, and others about bread / coin flips / questions / rest / coffee shops and study solidarity / Christon / Terra Breads and Cobs Bakery products (Michelle just bought bread - Isabel's stuff went to Pastor John and Karmie) / weekend plans / dinner. Lasagna, soup, and salad sound nice and simple! (then we went to Cuppa Joe's on Broadway / Main - caramel mocchiato, wild salmon roll, "you can stay out as long as you like, but you have to eat dinner at home!" [Christon's mom], personality test questions, pee / losing keys, Nathan never really being normal, chemicals such as cyanide / arsenic in water supply, sewage / drinking water in Toronto's supply, etc. - GOOD TIMES!)