Gudrun at Steveston was good, and so was time at Harmony's parents' house...

Had to get a rant out of my system before I blogged about tonight's dinner at Gudrun. It was pretty good, and I tried La Fin Du Monde, plus a couple new beers - meat and cheese on a platter was a slightly different experience, although I've had similar stuff at the Whip at least once. I'm not saying this to discount the Gudrun experience (although my mom and sister were criticizing it pretty hardcore prior to dinner), but it's what it was.

Gave Jon the GARFIELD FAT CAT THREE-PACK (Steph gave me $10 for it right in front of him), and we discussed various characters in that comic: Mom was NOT impressed with Liz the vet, hahaha. We confirmed that there would be no Christmas gifts between the three of us at least - like Jon was telling Harmony a couple years ago, that's how we are! We discussed CSI and Jack Bauer / Horatio Crane / Morris / Chloe / 24 / deaths / Kim, my being red (Sunday will be interesting!), diarrhea (Jon, Harmony, and Mom all had food poisoning from a Long's Noodle House meal yesterday), RCMP hoodies, expense cheques, Grandma, church stuff, and more. Jon said that it was his birthday tomorrow, so the owner brought out a free little dessert cake - how cute and thoughtful!

I did ask Mom what "ma-cheung" meant - she had NO idea what I was saying, so Steph wanted me to add context. Then she got it: I kinda thought it could have something to do with intestines, but I don't know why. It's not like my Chinese is THAT good, haha. Apparently, it means that your intestines ruptured - AIYA, POOR LINDA! Jon told me that he'd be inviting Mr. Creep to Jeremy's dinner on Sunday - I hope the vegetables will give him pause! According to Harmony, he was scraping the vegetables off his plate at Honolulu Café when a bunch of them went there recently after Fellowship. I told Jon that it would be AWKWARD! Steph has actually never been inside Jeremy's apartment - only outside the building to pick us up / drop us off. She figures she has to go for the ugfart's birthday, heh.

After dinner, we all went to the townhouse for dessert... I checked my Facebook, and it turned out that Billie got my card! Of course, Mom wanted to give me / Jon / Harmony a bunch of stuff - it was some sort of cookware plus other random things. After my siblings lifted me and Harmony up in the air, they decided to have a weigh-in RIGHT after we ate: I protested that as not being fair, but at least it was true of everyone. We figured that the Ngs would win over the Hos in a weight contest, even with Brittney and Varley the dog thrown in! (dunno if Peter would tip the balance) On that scale, Dad was the heaviest at 187... then Mom was 173, Jon and Steph were tied at 164 for some reason, I was 152 (and I'm not that active OR watch what I eat!), and Harmony was 107. (Jon / Harmony / I tested the Ho scale later on because the Ng computerized scale might be inaccurate, and it was only a pound off!)

Later, I left with Jon and Harmony - I didn't mind coming into her parents' place for a bit! Their house just "feels" different for some reason, haha. Lots of cars around, but an academic conference of some sort was being held there. I was a bit surprised when Uncle Joe HUGGED me hello, but that was fine. Said hi to Peter and a sleeping Holly on the couch, and also to Myles when he came downstairs. Auntie Wing didn't see me at first since Jon was blocking me in the hallway, haha. We told everyone to try some yam cheesecake (not the lemon cake), and they liked it - yup, Mom IS a good cook! We tried out the Ho scale, and told everyone else to do so as well. Uncle Joe was surprisingly lighter than we thought he might be, haha. Holly had been making scarves till 3 AM, so no wonder she was tired. Talked about steak, eating a lot, and NOT playing computer games, haha. (Myles and his studying habits...)

Peter and Holly wondered if they could give me a ride home, but Jon said that he'd be faster - besides, my stuff was already in the car! We checked out Harmony's "awesome" parking job - only inches away from her parents' bumper! Jon casually invited me to the Alibi Room tomorrow - Aaron lives in Richmond, they said. We'll see! I was glad to get home, for sure - good thing I had that fifteen minutes or so to counteract the vibe at the townhouse! Noticed that Auntie Ying had called me about an hour earlier, so I called her back: she just wanted to update me on Linda's condition. Said that the twins (at two and three-quarters) were so mature and cute when they saw their mom being taken to the hospital by their landlord: "It's okay, Mommy - don't worry about us!" I reminded her to include a get-well card for her, and to sign it from me... not sure I'll visit, but I may. We'll see. Linda's husband is in CHINA, but a family has taken the twins in for now. Apparently, she knew that something wasn't right when she started experiencing a lot of pain - I would go to the hospital too, in that situation!

Auntie Ying said something about prayer (for sure!), said that the "Hope your Christmas is perfect" Christmas cards were fine since we could explain to the kids and their families that Jesus makes everything perfect (um...), figures she shouldn't prepare snacks for the kids right now because of flu season (makes sense), thinks she should prepare refreshments for the Sunday School crowd in the fellowship hall, and said that we should prepare for Sunday School on Thursday - guess I'll call her then! Auntie Bessy, Uncle Peter, and Pastor Edward had been by to see Linda today, and apparently she was quite impressed with it, haha.


Poo nugget for Wednesday, November 25: Doo You Know? - Poo in Public Sandboxes - There is no way to keep cats and critters out of public sandboxes, and they WILL consider it a public litter box. Therefore, these sandboxes are breeding grounds for bacteria, and children are at risk if they stick their fingers in their mouth after playing in sand soiled with animal feces. This can cause infection with parasites such as pinworm and roundworm, which can lead to fever and stomach pains.