Salmon sperm for dinner... and yes, Mom, I do know what a nipple looks like!

Mom's dinner was pretty good, but the big salmon sperm gave us a LOT of pause! Eventually, Jon and I tried some... it was interesting! (Jon horrified Mom by saying that he'd read about a Beijing restaurant which sold nothing BUT penises. Then Steph said that some lady whom she didn't know told her to eat testicles for vitality - oh, Chinese superstitious belief!) Mushrooms, sea cucumbers, veggies, salmon steaks, corn, soup, coffee, cake, and more normal fare was had, along with alcoholic drinks such as sweet ice wine and Jeremy's favorite - CHIMAY! We tried getting Grandma to drink some, but ran up against her "rule" of not having any alcohol after you've started eating.

We discussed Yee Poh (her adopted younger sister) coming to visit - she's only 15 years older than Mom! Mom then decided that I didn't know what a nipple looked like... she was checking her email, and Auntie Anna had emailed her a picture of a new type of cancer. She thought that I needed an explanation of what the picture showed; as Steph said, I own two of them myself, so I'd certainly know what they look like! Crazy, and she wasn't even that drunk when she said it!

Discussed Teunis being an online friend of mine - for some reason, Mom thought he was in his forties! Her expression changed from one of polite interest to a horrified one when Steph informed her that we'd met online. Of course, she had trouble with his name, which didn't come as a surprise to us. Talked about farting, bombing, smelling farts, Jon's commonly saying "I just farted / did you smell that?" at home, watching the Canucks season opener at Nathan's, football, soccer, Grandma shutting up when we put wrestling on that time, Steph eating five pounds of wings at Kelsey's once, and more. Called Eric to see whether he was still up for giving us a ride tomorrow; 9:15 works! (I said I had to prep for toddler Sunday School, and my stuff was at home)

At the end of the evening, my mom said that these two bags contained my birthday gifts. As advertised, it was a lot of stuff! I got fresh mint Tic Tacs x3, J.J. Keropok Perisa Pizza-flavored chips, spearmint Certs x3, Arcor Crystal Fruit Drops [cherry / apple / orange / lemon], Jamaican Habanero hot sauce, Southwest Habanero hot sauce, Chevronnes' Sunflower seasoned seaweed, kimchi spicy seasoned seaweed, To My Daughter, With Love: A Mother's Memory Book x2 {what the...} [Donna Green], Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt [Joe Matt], Pringles Blazing Buffalo Wings chips, March 2009 Canadian Readers Digest, August 2009 UK Readers Digest, granola bars x3, jar of peanut butter [promptly given to Teunis as "travelling food"], blue-purple-silver photo album with some photos in it already, City of Bones [Michael Connelly], a pink Rachael Hale 240-page journal with a cat and a cupcake on it, an "over the hill" birthday bear, and a 10-pack of Disney Christmas cards.

Jon, Harmony, Steph, and I discussed the Canada Line / missing Nathan already / food / an Asian woman wiping her kid son's butt in public / Billie / the possible food in Nathan's free UK buffet (curry? spotted dick?) / India on the way to my place. Teunis came home a little later - he didn't want the granola bars since he's allergic to oats. But he did take the jar of peanut butter - I won't use enough of it before it expires in February; so sad! He actually saw two mice in a trap - I asked him to take them out! Discussed church wear, apples, spices, suits, actors, character acting, Moby Dick in White Rock, fish and chips, and more.