Goldfish and Freezie Pops are good snacking, kiddies!

Michelle, Ryan, and Ethan picked me up at the appointed time - we were delayed by traffic, but still barely managed to get to the church by 4:15. Ryan and Ethan fought over a water bottle, asked me whether there'd be crafts, remembered last year's guessing game in which the parents had to guess their kids' voices, and were excited about the snacks at the end of the awards ceremony. At church, Sabrina and I told Henry not to be so mean to Danny because it had been his first time donating blood earlier in the afternoon. According to Henry, Danny got pampered by the nurses since he felt light-headed, and had "the train of embarrassment" hit him really hard. Benedict mentioned that the bandages were brutal with the cotton swabs, and advised Danny to just rip off his instead of prolonging the agony! I don't believe he thought much of that, haha.

Talked to Phil and Joey for a bit before discussing money and receipts with Auntie Vivian. Upstairs, I saw Rosenda with her sons Ian and Gabriel - when I told Ian to leave the sanctuary doors alone, he recognized me and waved! SO CUTE! He seemed comfortable in Joey's lap afterwards, heh. Just as I was having a whispered conversation with Andrew T. about where his third-year service award pin could be (including lots of shrugging), Melia backtracked since she didn't see him behind Joey! The slideshow was pretty cute, too - Samantha T. and Ryan make great faces, haha! (Ian's cousin Olivia will be in Awana next year, also!)

At snacktime, I talked to Ian M. (Rosenda's son) and Samantha F. Rosenda doesn't have much Chinese, but her mother-in-law translated! (community centres, Hastings, walking, exposure to kids, etc.) Ian loved my shiny pins, haha. Heard Eric and Matthew saying how the red Freezie Pops were like blood, so of course Ian L. was all over THAT! Talked to him about blood, chicken, kazoo concerts, silliness, and more. Now it's time for a summer break - but of course I'll see most of the kids in the next couple months!

Laundry can be very funny!

Bingo of the day so far:

UPBEARER (60 points) - against Pat K.


Writer's Block: The Eternal Nocturnal Struggle

Vampires or werewolves?
Vampires! I WANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD.... MUHAHAHAHA!
View other answers.


Hey, Rob's friend Taylor added me to Facebook - interesting! Both are musicians, which is SWEET!

On Thursday, the only notable thing that I did was to get my glasses fixed since they were bent a bit. I also got myself lost, whoops. At least the Safeway shopping cart I commandeered from the bottle return place was good for shopping at Save-On too! Yesterday was a different story - with Eric sick, Jon said he'd drive me to Vancouver and we could get a ride home with Ivan or Sam. Sounded fine to me! We talked about computer use, Harmony, Father's Day plans (none so far - THAT'S why there's no Sunday Dinner this week!), the dinner with Erin's family, glasses, and more. As we went up to the church, Cindy came running up saying that she was late as well. I just went to Pho way earlier than last week, haha. Saw Cordia's mom there, and she said that she'd take her home after the Missions meeting since she'd had her wisdom teeth out. Yeah, I don't think Cordia could last either! Right when I was finished with my own meal, Jen and Karen walked in. I didn't mind if they joined me at all. We discussed arguing, making up, work / journeys, fat camp, loving each other when we're pathetic, Pastor Glen's dismissal in 2004, hurt, the church being just like the world in factions and ending friendships, Florence, Mimosa, anger, Anita being upset, soccer, wanting to smoke (not with twenty people outside the church!), Eunice's parents, Tracey, Mike / Amanda, Larry, Sandra, Sarah, Vernon, Joe, not discussing church at all, pain, and respect for petitioners. Man, that was a hard time in 2004! Karen thinks I showed genuine love in continuing to talk to people no matter what side they were on - this is true, but it was difficult too.

When I got back to church, I saw all the Daniel people outside ready for a walk. I asked Henry (who was holding the door open) whether he was giving me a ride tomorrow. (I was going to type "riding me," but that just sounds WRONG! :P) Apparently, I'd reminded him about his and Benedict's blood donation this afternoon - I told him that I guessed I should go since it was the last day, and said I'd get a ride. Used the phone to call Michelle L. at home, and she said she could pick me up at 3:30 - whew! (next time, I should close the photocopy room door to cut down on noise, haha) Said hi to Benedict with keys, Danny with a table, Sabrina, and Chris. Stanley showed me an old Membership Covenant from early April: "Free - Help Yourself" was written on the back, which I showed Andrea. I'll have fun with that, haha. Went upstairs to Bible Study, where Chuck did his ear thing again - he is such a crazy goofball! Cindy said that Megan was coming, so we wondered if it would be awkward since we were in Phil's office - Jeremy was confused, so Dylan said it was a long story that we'd tell him later! Hahaha! Dylan himself thought it wouldn't be awkward because Megan's going out with someone else (Andy) now - still, however. Erin and Fidela also showed up; Fids wanted to join the other group, but they were long gone!\

Discussed Debbie (Dylan's girlfriend) knowing Ben (Erin's boyfriend) from Ottawa - Ben's coming next week, so it'll be good to see him! Erin says that both her brothers are coming to Tuesday's dinner: it'll be good to catch up with them! Talked about food, apples, Pho, being a picky eater, popcorn as dinner, worrying about what others think, humility, pride, how you say things, KEEP SMILING, the transition from Daniel to David (mentoring!), Teresa not being able to make it because of Safeway, out-of-date calendars, photocopying, teaching, giving your material to others who could use the help, etc. Afterwards, I talked to Raymond about Scrabble / Benjamin Fellowship / Bible Quiz / cooking / field trips. Dylan, Raymond, and Erin all asked me about the K-Man, heh. (Chuck referred to him as "the C-Man" last week, haha) Said hi to Stanley, who wanted us all to contribute to his $3000 New Guitar Fund - NO WAY! Auntie Rebecca greeted us all, and Stanley had a riddle for her: "What does a grape say when you squeeze it? Nothing, but it might let out a little whine! [wine]"

Told Jeremy about the drunken debauchery book that Harmony had given me; of course I lent it to him! (I remember when Mom asked that we define "debauchery" for her... yikes!) Fidela and Megan made Dragon Ball plans, and asked how I was getting home. Jessica dropped by and discussed stuff with Stanley; after a while, Jon finally came by and collected me since Ivan was giving us a ride home before he went to a party. Talked about their prayer walk being an interesting experience, Skytrain stations, Laura Secord, #9 large, shrimp rolls, Isabel and Julie absconding to go to a movie rather early on, Emily / Sarah / Julie and MISSIONS ON WHEELS (Jeremy should SO do that!), and more. Good times!

Have just seen a rather funny video of Korey's friend Alison's son Jeremy. This 2.5-year old is doing the laundry, and flings clothes in the front-loading machines with a good arm and industrious PASSION! Not that I'm a baseball coach or anything, but you have to see it to laugh! Unfortunately, it's on Facebook - oh well!


Edit: I just got Salmoned again!

[12:10:15] PlugInSalmon: Don't have a cow, man.
[12:10:31] AlenaBrolxFlami: Nice Simpsons reference.
[12:11:09] PlugInSalmon: That's not an answer. :P
[12:11:55] AlenaBrolxFlami: What were you asking me?
[12:12:00] PlugInSalmon: Who you are.
[12:13:04] AlenaBrolxFlami: I didn't get that.
[12:13:14] PlugInSalmon: "And you would be...?"
[12:13:20] AlenaBrolxFlami: [12:10:15] PlugInSalmon: Don't have a cow, man.
[12:13:21] PlugInSalmon: You're also dodging the question. :P
[12:13:58] AlenaBrolxFlami: We've been randomly linked.
[12:14:08] PlugInSalmon: Buh?
[12:14:27] AlenaBrolxFlami: Are you on LJ?
[12:14:32] PlugInSalmon: I am.
[12:14:53] AlenaBrolxFlami: Did you recently update?
[12:14:57] PlugInSalmon: I did.
[12:15:18] AlenaBrolxFlami: We've been linked by a bot.
[12:15:25] PlugInSalmon: Ah.
[12:15:39] PlugInSalmon: Sorry, I get a little twitchy when people IM me out of the blue.
[12:15:48] AlenaBrolxFlami: You see my screen name as something ending in "salmon"
[12:15:55] PlugInSalmon: SquirmySalmon, yes.
[12:15:58] AlenaBrolxFlami: That's all right.
[12:16:09] AlenaBrolxFlami: I see yours as PlugInSalmon.
[12:16:18] AlenaBrolxFlami: Check out the.missing.hat on LJ.
[12:17:28] PlugInSalmon: Huh. Interesting.
[12:18:05] AlenaBrolxFlami: Have you had this experience before?
[12:18:13] PlugInSalmon: Can't say I have, no.
[12:20:06] AlenaBrolxFlami: I've had it happen a few times.
[12:21:32] PlugInSalmon: It's kind of jarring. Is there a way to opt out? I've got nothing against you, it's just I didn't sign up for anything like this, and normally wouldn't. :/
[12:24:27] AlenaBrolxFlami: No worries.
[12:24:34] AlenaBrolxFlami: I don't think there is. It's just... random.

Let's go fake clubbing, baby!

Here is a picture of us girls pretending we're at a club. The real setting is Emily and Chrystal's front room:

Squeaking mice are NOT GOOD!

Hey, Jono M. added me to Facebook - cool! I played TEA off TEA in a game with Shawnda, haha. Yay for quirkiness! :D

Had a weird dream that involved Erin (welfy) friending me again after unfriending me a few days ago. She'd seen a couple of my entries and replied to a message I'd sent her, plus a comment: "I added you. Now what do you think about the showers?" My friends and I went to take a shower in the South Arm Park swimming facility, and encountered Korey carrying a load of groceries there. He convinced me to keep him company while he slept - it was nice snuggling up to him, and I noted how red his lips were. The dream ended with everyone bugging Korey about his groceries, haha.


Triggers for this dream? I know Erin unfriended me in real life a few days ago. I'd send her a message, but I dunno - once is an accident, twice tends to be for real! As for the other part, I don't know where THAT came from! ;)

WHAT THE HELL. The mice are back again, this time squeaking well into the DAY even! I can hear them right now, in fact. Aren't they supposed to be nocturnal creatures?! Called Hester, who wasn't in her office - maybe I'll have to scour Craigslist or something for alternative accommodations! Barry is looking, too - big black mousetraps, nests, one-bedroom suites, Ironwood, Steveston, my apartment being relatively inexpensive (I know), etc. I knew David was very surprised and told me that I should move posthaste! For sure... maybe I should first see what help Hester is, if any!

Also, Firefox and IE keep crashing. The computer also restarted itself at least eight times yesterday! Man... here's a formal apology stolen from Janina / mrshannibal:

Piano, Alex and Carina, and MASH!

I had a weird dream - what else is new? A bunch of people wanted my friends and me to enter a piano competition. The only catch was that our babies must play the piano! Stella tried getting Olivia to play, but all the sixteenth notes and such were too hard, even if it was all on G in the treble clef! Then we got transported to a wedding - to my surprise, my old friend Alex was marrying a very tan Carina! They had seven stepchildren; three of them were named Hannah, William, and Nicholas. There were lots of dinosaurs, eggs, hatchlings, and lizards - two of the dinosaurs were caught making out. Their punishment was death by being hacked into hundreds of little pieces; they provided a nice little dessert to the wedding fare. (the red one looked like red potatoes!) Lots of people had to be shuttled through revolving turnstiles, including my sister. The dream ended when everyone had congratulated the bridal pair, and continued a celebration!


Hahaha, I remember this game from childhood!

		I will marry Korey.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in San Francisco in our fabulous Shack.
		We will have 5 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a red Mercedes Benz.
		I will spend my days as a musician, and live happily ever after.

... haha, oh my. o_O

Angry for Bad Grammar!

Bingos of the day so far:

STEARATE (77 points) - against Jono M.
VERBENAS (84 points) - against Michael M.



more graph humor and song chart memes

Breaking Onion news?!

Called Jeremy this afternoon to apologize for accidentally putting his Bible in Jon's Urban Fare bag yesterday. He said not to worry about it - good thing he has other ones! Don't know why I did that, since I've seen him with it lots of times! It's kinda like Joseph and the silver goblet, haha. Then I sent David a message - he did enjoy the dinner, even if Teresa did make him uncomfortable with a weird vibe! Went to Yaohan for the Committee meeting - it was crazy, haha. Then got home and called Karen after a while - she and I had fun saying that K should be Halle Berry to us from now on, haha. Her cousin married a white guy, and so did her sister. Checked my email - STEPH IS LEAVING ON THE 29th! YAY! She sent us a fake clubbing picture, which I wish I could show you. However, this computer has been problematic as far as saving that kind of thing has been concerned...


[00:12:57] MotivatedSalmon: BREAKING NEWS!
[00:14:02] AlenaBrolxFlami: breaking news, eh?
[00:14:03] *** Error while sending IM: This user is currently not logged on

Energy and visualizations present a challenge!

Bingo of the day so far:

HERRINGS (63 points) - against Michelle C.


Hey, Emily L. added me to Facebook! Sweet!

My sibs picked me up for church yesterday, and we spent the car ride discussing pie / the concert in the afternoon / Grandma. At church, Raymond discussed Scrabble with me - seems our remaining tiles in the last game were pretty bad! (C, N, S, Q, Z, V?!) Martin tapped me on the shoulder, and I was treated to the sight of Chuck doing what he bugged me about on Friday - HE IS VERY BAD, OH MY! Said hi to Christon, Auntie Esther, an infected Nathan, Jeremy (ingredients!), and others. Natalie and Hannah said they were bored, heh. Jeff gave some public advice to Steph, who said she wanted to become a cop after 9-11... we thought it was funny when she said that there wasn't enough crime here, haha. You'd never know it!

Went to the back parking lot and talked to Jason about basketball: an outdoor tourney at BCIT when it's rainy / windy / cold outside?! Yikes! Citrus, Danielle, Anita, Jeff, and I talked about Regina and training for a long while - Citrus will go soon, too! Jon laughed when Anita asked him whether he'd visit her. Learned that Jon doesn't have a ring for HH yet, but maybe someday - Chris was asking him questions earlier. Dylan wanted to recite the Psalms to me, but I told him to get Mike to do that. I know it was in his head and he wanted it out really fast, otherwise he'd forget! Went to Sunday School, then met people outside. Said hi to Auntie Vivian while giving her Rachel's Awana registration dues, confirmed the Yaohan food court with Eric, and went to Pho with my sister and Grandma.

After that, I bused to Kingsgate Mall - the library was closed, so I just went straight to Jeremy's while almost forgetting to cross the park to get there. (Jon had reassured me that he'd be there) Spent time reading Umberto Eco's FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM, listening to the CBC (quiet songs!), and borrowing Jeremy's computer. Ray's in Toronto visiting Peggy and his family - he's only here for Regent, for sure! David got there when Jon, Raymond, Tony, and others were already helping. That's a small kitchen! (Dave, Phil, and Grace showed up later) Teresa got there later, and encountered a challenge! Discussed coffee grounds, tea, caffeine, David's disease (vibrations / food / collagen / pictures / roulette machines at the River Rock), pie, concave memories, Malaysian food, Laurelwood Green Elephant IPA, prayer / the Bible, reiki, energy, and more. Nathan would have found David very interesting, that's for sure! Jon and I bused home after 11:30, but the buses were largely on our side! One time, I was with Grandma on a three-door boarding bus... I decided not to explain that to her since it would take too long. Haha, oh dear. Yay for three-door boarding!


GRANDMA GAFFES OF THE DAY

1. I got into the car and said hi to her. The response I was given? "I see you finally wore your seatbelt!" My sibs and I were all confused, of course!

2. My sister tried to convince Grandma to be happy at the Pho restaurant. Her response? "I'm not that kind of person!" Um... at least ACT like it, maybe?

3. I told my grandma that she could sit in the front of the car since I was going out. She wanted to know where I was going, so I said I was going to the library (what she doesn't know won't hurt her!) and then out to dinner with Bearded Man. Then realizing she might get the wrong impression, I quickly added that Jon and others would be there too. As I told my sister, I didn't want her to think that I was dating Jeremy! (I could have said that White Kid - Eric - would be there, but decided not to) My sister and Jeremy well remember the time that Grandma thought Jer was going out with Karmie - THE PASTOR'S HAPPILY-MARRIED WIFE WITH THREE KIDS?! HELLO!

How disappointing... to leave a week earlier!

Bingos of the night so far:

EMULATED (74 points) - against Ceri J.
GLUEPOT (88 points) - against Korey
TRICKERY (78 points) - against Dave H.
SERRANOOS (66 points) - against Jono M.


Learned that David S. is going to the Sunday Dinner - sweet! Henry picked me up late for Awana, but it gave me a few more minutes to relax after running to the store to grab some stuff. Said work was busy, and then we just settled in to listen to his random music. When we got to the church, Stanley saw me from his parents' car - he growled at me, in a passable bear imitation! The kids were singing I'M IN THE LORD'S ARMY by the time we got there, which is an indication of how late we were! Golden, Jessica, and I tried convincing Jordan that he shouldn't look at stuff in the Awana store if he didn't have any Awana dollars. That didn't go well, particularly when we told him that he could NOT have things for free since stores normally didn't operate that way! Tried corralling little Sean, said hi to his brother Ian who had a great dinosaur shirt on, and told their mom Ada that I didn't need a ride home. Sabrina sat with me at the secretary table since she was really tired from an 8 AM work shift and she was lazy: Henry termed that an EPIC FAIL later on, haha. Joey said hi, we listened to the kids do their songs for the awards ceremony next week, and I kept myself generally busy. Melia didn't know it was just ME doing all the scoring work - oh well.

Chrystal drove Lanie and Hilary home: talked about Richmond Centre, rain, weather variations, graduation, teaching piano, no summer Awana, etc. I made myself at home when we got to Chrystal and Emily's: Danielle, Fidela (who was late), Vanessa (who had to rescue her parents), Melia (who stayed for a bit only), Becky, Steph, Grace, Michelle (who came later with Daniel), and Calla joined us for a fun night. Had salads, prawns (which Cindy's allergic to), perogies, stuff with cheese (which Calla's allergic to), Fidela's homemade cake, roasted chicken, and more. The two sisters-in-law were telling each other some TMI (which started with Grace being mad at Phil), so Steph just screamed and left their conversation! We decided that Danielle was obsessed with Winnie's baby (Connor is a blob of cuteness!), and that Megan was very cool.

Steph had a disappointing announcement: she leaves on the 22nd instead of the 29th, and can't do anything about the wedding! Melia knew, but not anyone else until she told us. She had to take the call at lunch, and then was visibly emotional walking back into a meeting: of course the aunties and uncles were concerned! No wonder there was a brief silence later when Fidela said that her cousin Megan would see her at Melia's wedding in a particular dress she got in Arizona for cheap! Discussed Cindy and Dianne's brother Tony getting married in Richmond on Sunday (Minoru Chapel - yay!), pierced ears, Acer, Clement, brothers who just walk in your room, the thing where you aren't spreading disease and wiping the floor with your panties, and how you shouldn't have to observe a dress code for YOUR OWN ROOM! We heard the story of Steph's friend Rachel's lactose intolerance, and how my dad reacted to that one day back when the girls were in high school...

*girls are in kitchen with my dad, and Steph pours herself a big glass of milk*
Dad: Hey, Steph. You should pour Rachel some milk too!
Rachel, who's JUST found out she's lactose-intolerant: Remember about my intolerance, Steph!
Steph, knowing she shouldn't: Are you SURE you don't want some?
Rachel: You know I can't!
Dad: Rachel! Have some! You're just being too picky!
*Steph perforce pours her friend a glass of milk*
Rachel: .... thanks.... *drinks it, and suffers the inevitable consequences ten minutes later*


We all crowded into Emily's room later to try on necklaces and earrings, and then marveled at Chrystal's large room, (Grace was stealing paper quietly in the corner, haha) Daniel took pictures of us, including a FAUX clubbing one - then he used everyone's cameras to take pictures of himself! Discussed a 24 Countdown Game, Jack Bauer, the stereotypical Chinese couple not QUITE holding hands, Becky's trip to Indiana, Calla's frustration as a field planner when trips keep getting postponed, Vicky, parties, Powerpoint, Googling "RCMP outfit," sticks, leftover food, and more. Quite a good night, for sure! :D