Karmie, Ivan, Auntie Ying, mushroom soup, and constipation!

Leslie's just got their Christmas Cocktail Name from Name Generators. It's Scroogedriver.

Called Karmie earlier tonight to see whether she could give me a ride to the cookie exchange - I told her that I was at my parents' house, which she said was actually easier. True, since it's not too far away from here to Karmie's! She said that she would let me know in the next day or two whether Stella also needed a ride since she has to come up from White Rock, but she'd still pick me up earlier at 7 or even before. That would be perfectly fine! Then I asked her about Lesley's lunch - not so much of a time crunch, but she will keep that in mind too. She thanked me for calling, at least!

Then Ivan called quite unexpectedly to apologize for this morning! Apparently, he was outside my place for half an hour (oh no!), and had taken my number with him to call. I thought I'd told him last night, but he says he must not have heard. He thought maybe Steph had picked me up, and I thought that he would surely call my parents' number if he WAS at my place - guess we both had mistaken thoughts! So he got to church and asked my brother where I was! "Dude, where's your sister?" "Oh, she's at my parents' house!" I told him that it was fine - he had to get back to studying from his two-inch binder (last final on Tuesday!), so I wished him good luck with that! We also briefly discussed the snow and the enclosed parkade making things a bit less slippery for all.

Speaking of apology phone calls, I had to do one of my own directed at Auntie Ying. She'd wondered what had happened, so I told her. She said things were fine - it was only Annie (who seemed taller to Auntie Ying - hasn't been here for a few weeks!), Conor, and Amos. Rachel's grandma wasn't around, but I'd seen her yesterday - maybe it was the snow! She says that the kids already know the words to AWAY IN A MANGER, but I looked them up for her anyway, and gave her the second verse - no need to bother with the rest, haha. Then she said that Annie's mom had joined her for a small-group lunch in Mandarin (or something) where Uncle Stephen (Isabel's dad, not our speaker) said stuff about chemo. She said that she'd be in Richmond tomorrow, so she might be able to give me the material then, but I said that wasn't possible because of the snow forecast to hit.

Then she figured that I'd see Phil, Grace, or Melia on the weekend... when I said I'd see Grace on Wednesday for the cookie exchange, she said she'd give it to her. Very convenient, as she and Phil live just in the downstairs part of the house! Talked about children's Bibles, and meeting each other for lunch - yes, I had a bus pass, so it didn't matter where I went. Told me to think of a place to go that I liked, and she'd treat me... one date that works for both of us is the 18th - this Friday, after noon. That is definitely something I can work with, haha. It was a good chat, for sure! (she STILL thinks I can communicate with the kids more effectively than she, because of our respective grasps of the English language) I also made some mushroom soup with lots of mushrooms. Corey didn't like that idea much, but he's not going to eat it... my sister and I will! Steph says she'll do the trips to her place tomorrow, which is fine since the snow is okay FOR NOW.


Poo nugget for Monday, December 14: Dr. Stool Says - Constipation - More than just hard stool, constipation is defined by any one of the following: infrequent bowel movements (less than three a week), difficulty during defecation (straining during more than 25 percent of bowel movements or a subjective sensation of hard stools), and sensation of incomplete bowel evacuation.