MEDIOCRE HONEY-ROASTED PEANUTS: Thanksgiving lunch with pumpkin ale, old parental photos, and pictures of Great-Aunt's visit

Jon and Harmony picked me up, and they started talking about how they might need to buy matches from London Drugs or something to cover up a certain smell from bombing. They figured that the store would have matches since it also sold cigarettes, even if it would be twenty times more expensive than somewhere else. I listened to this for a bit, then contributed that I'd once heard of a Blur song entitled DON'T BOMB IF YOU'RE THE BOMB, which Jon found hilarious. We arrived at the townhouse in due time, to find everyone else already eating because Grandma got impatient and couldn't wait. Mom didn't make shepherd's pie with ground turkey because they had a LOT of leftovers from last night's seafood extravaganza, which were evident on the table. We discussed Hong Kong / diabetes / last night's volunteer dinner / Myles / the law of diminishing returns (pineapple once a week would be fine, but you'll get sick of it if you eat it every day for a few days or so!) / more stuff, and I noticed that Great-Aunt's hands shook a lot.

Grandma wanted Jon to stay for a seafood dinner at another restaurant, but of course he has obligations at his in-laws' house! It was an interesting lunch - there was sweet potato cheesecake, as advertised. Steph liked it so much that she had another piece even though she probably shouldn't have! Great-Aunt didn't mind trying some of the pumpkin ale that Jon brought along (Mom explained that Halloween was coming up), but she didn't want to try his raspberry ale since the pumpkin had been enough. At least she seemed amused and happy to try some, unlike her sister! After a while, Harmony and I looked through Mom's old photo albums dating from 1955 to 1972 or so. Uncle Michael hasn't changed at all since he was a kid, and Auntie Ju hasn't really changed since she was young, either! We found pictures of Grandma and Yee Poh when they were teens or so, and Uncle Michael's wedding pics. (plus Hong Kong fellowship pics, and souvenirs from Mom's trip to the States!)

Harmony was going to transit to her film, but Mom and Dad took her to a Canada Line stop since they had to go out anyway. Steph thought that maybe Dad wanted to be a supportive husband in front of Harmony, because usually he won't go to Michael's crafts store with our mother to look for candle holders and stuff like that! Jon, Steph, and I discussed Google Street View, almond butter (put almonds in the food processor and GO!) / Chantal / hot pot restaurant reviews on Dine Here ("spacious but dirty" was one memorable blurb!), casual invites, teaching, and other things. Once Jon was gone to teach at his in-laws' one minute away, Steph and I had a sisterly discussion (I brought up a good point!) - also talked about Gmail, hockey, and more. We're going to Red Star restaurant for dinner - interesting! And of course Mom is rushing me to get off the computer and do some stuff when the reservation isn't for another half hour... *rolleyes*

Now that I'm here at the townhouse, I can actually upload the "Yee Poh visit" pictures on this computer to Facebook. Not sure why I can't get into Photobucket here - it's annoying! Maybe it's a password thing, so I'll check it out tonight at home. These are all from last Sunday, October 4:

Grandma, Great-Aunt, and Cousin Eric at #9 Restaurant for lunch, 10/4/09. I don't think Grandma looks impressed that Steph is taking her picture, hahaha.

Great-Aunt, Grandma, and Mom at Neptune Seafood Restaurant for dinner, 10/4/09. I like the golden teapot! In case you're wondering why the lid of the other teapot is tilted, that's a REFILL signal. It works most of the time. ;)