"Mushrooms taste like garbage!" "The apple juice turned to poison!"

This thing just restarted! As soon as my parents pulled into the parking space this morning, Mom gave me some jalapeno cheese slices that you can only get in the States, apparently. I ran in to put them in the fridge (and down half a thing of coffee) - the car ride to church only confirmed my mom's obsession with Chinese Eric. If only she knew what we discussed the time we hung out with Nathan, haha! (I also need to email him something, too...) I kept myself restricted to monosyllabic answers when she asked me stuff - don't give her anything to work with! Upon learning that I'd gone to a BBQ with friends last night, Dad wanted to know whether I'd chipped in. After I said I guessed I had (even though I hadn't), he said that I shouldn't take advantage of a free BBQ, and I should pay some money next time. I decided to ignore that because he didn't know the circumstances. Aside from that, the car ride was all right. (got disposable gloves and things) Learned that Grandma thinks her time is pretty soon, so she wants to see more of us, though.

Got to church, and had to sidestep little Clement when I refilled my water bottle before going into service. Chatted to Jonathan briefly, called my sister a weirdo, and sat with Harmony when I found her - Jon was miked when he prayed with the worship team before things began, which I found amusing. Danielle squeezed into our row a little later when she couldn't get into Vanessa's pew. When Tim came up for an announcement about the Walkathon, we all laughed when his son Keenan refused to say hi to everyone using the mic! Later, I introduced Harmony to Matt (for something to say) as my sister-in-law... I'm getting used to it, heh. We also said hi to Grandma, and discussed plans and JAPADOGS! Talked to baby Mattias for a bit, and admired baby Gavin who was quite good when Danielle was holding him. (probably because he could look at his mom Lily for most of the time) Gavin decided that he was interested in Jon and Harmony's shiny red coffee tumbler, but of course Harmony held onto it while he touched it. Babies are so cute!

Eventually, we all went out to the courtyard where a whole bunch of people were already. I looked for Mike T., who said that Vanessa had the ticket reserved - but she hadn't actually brought them, so next week it is! Got Steph to chip in for it, while Jon made a joking excuse. Said hi to Jeremy when he dropped by our table, and Jon mentioned the Sunday Dinner at Eric's next week. I asked if his parents were okay with it - they're actually out of town, so that works. After I got my Japadog, chips, and root beer, I sat down where my sister / Karen / Christon / Lincoln were. Turned out I just happened to be sitting next to Randal, but it was the only free chair at the table - it was fine. Steph entertained us all by doing various impersonations of Uncle Stephen as he taught "Science and Christianity" during last week's Sunday School class. I later got her to sign Dad's birthday card - she explained that she was quite proud of Dad turning 60 this week, haha. (the big "60!" had to be there!) We discussed various places in Steveston, and Steph thought there'd be only six of us - I was too sleepy to correct her to "seven." (me, Jon, Harmony, Steph, the parents, and Grandma)

It was a very amusing time, particularly when Nathan (at the table behind us) referred to Stanford as "his lover" after a pause for effect. Then he got random about Christon and yearning - Jon and Harmony had joined us by this time, so were very amused! (I got them to sign the card too) Found out from Calla that Andrea had gone, asked Chrystal where she'd been yesterday (resting for the wedding banquet), said hi to Auntie Kwai, and interacted with little Benjamin. Steph asked me about the names of various little kids (Noah [Benjamin's younger brother], Olivia, Anne, Micah [Olivia and Anne's cousin]) - there are SO MANY! Harmony herself asked me who Auntie Catherine was after that lady said hi to us, and about Lily's (Gavin's mom) name. I talked to Sophia about cruises and such (she prompted her older daughter Olivia to say hi, and prompted her younger daughter Anne to wave - Anne can WALK now!), and said hi to Stella and her younger son Noah. Yep, I am another Auntie Leslie / Lesley!

I knew I was losing track of time, but had to hear Randal's story of how he once literally broke / shattered a toilet bowl with a rock (and NOT an organic one!) when he was a kid, and Harmony's interesting cooking story where the firefighters were called in because of massive amounts of smoke! Stanford (a professional cook) told her that she couldn't just improvise a stovetop grill using a cookie sheet and a pot lid, even if the resulting meal turned out to be the best ever! He was open-mouthed at her story, and Jon said that he would have told her to pan-fry the chicken instead! (The firefighters to Harmony and her roommate: "Next time, you should just order takeout!" Hahahaha!)

Finally went upstairs to help with the toddlers far later than I should have - I explained to Auntie Fonda that I didn't know what time it was. Cori was back, and I refused to call her by her real name: CORONA makes me think of BEER, man! Asher's mom wants him to speak English during the Sunday School hour, so Auntie Fonda thinks I can help him with that. I also discussed medicine, Facebook, Canadian privacy laws and the news, pain, side-effects, cookies, and the Japanese hot dogs with her. Promptly went back to the courtyard (saying hi to Pat en route) after Sunday School, and talked a lot to Ian and Sean. Ian was saying that the seaweed on the hot dogs was interesting, and Sean was blurting out things like "NO NAME! NO MUSHROOMS!" (he's autistic) He was reading the drink box for apple juice and orange juice, heh. I saw Steph, who I thought had gone to her squash game - she was leaving right then, however.

Prompted by the "no mushrooms!" blurt, I asked Ian if he liked mushrooms - he said no, and neither did his brother. Apparently, mushrooms taste gross. Trying to figure out just what Ian didn't like about mushrooms, I asked whether they tasted slimy. "No... mushrooms taste like GARBAGE!" Then I asked him what he put on his pizza: he likes Hawaiian, he said. I told him about the pizzas at the Yaletown Brewery; he wasn't impressed with the BBQ pork, duck, or spinach pizzas, haha. Then I became aware that Sean was apparently saying something alarming about the apple juice: "The apple juice turned into POISON!" Turns out that he was reading the French side of the drink box, where the French word for "drink" (boisson) was prominently displayed. Since I refuse to talk to kids like they're mentally deficient, I told him that it was another language and meant "drink." Cindy came by to say hi, and I asked her how Megan and Andy's wedding was: BEAUTIFUL AT ECBC AND SOME HOTEL!

The kids were getting cheese and orange tongues / teeth from the nacho chips, heh. Told Pastor John's son Noah (yes, another one) that he had something in his hair - I got it out. Asked Pastor John himself about the meeting on Monday, which was indeed long. Waved to the kids' grandma, and fielded a question from Ada about whether I'd eaten a hot dog - definitely! Her shirt was interesting: "HIS PAIN - YOUR GAIN!" (Jesus dying on the cross) Told Dylan why my sister and I couldn't attend his wedding, but we did thank him for the invitation! Helped Grandma with a glass of water, and told her friend Eunice that Grandma didn't like hot dogs in general. Also got little Nathan to explain his wheeled shoes to Grandma after she wondered how he could coast so fast! Talked to his older sister Natalie for a bit - she's going to Burnett for Grade 8, and told me that Palmer and McNair were still there in Richmond. I knew that, haha!

Went to Tsui Woo with Alan and Polly for a relatively light dim sum lunch - I laughed when Alan took the lunch bill (over my mom's protests) and went up to the cashier to pay for it. Dad said I should have reached over Polly and grabbed for it - hahaha, Steph can do that next time with her training! On the way home, Grandma showed me her tongue bubble caused by yeet hai - "hot air" caused by eating spicy foods when it's hot outside, in this case... it's a CHINESE thing! Thanks, but I didn't need to see what looked like a purple growth! She wondered why a McDonalds billboard ad featured chopsticks, so I got Mom to tell her that it was for a teriyaki chicken burger! Good times today, with more to come. I have yet to figure out how I'll get to White Man's house next week, but there's PLENTY of time for that! Got home and promptly plugged the London Drugs fan IN, and also figured out who the chick was who added me to Facebook overnight. I had enough time this morning to glance at the email notification, but couldn't actually check it out till now. Yup, I did indeed meet her last night at Krista's!