YAY! MR. CREEP WASN'T HERE TONIGHT! / Hammers and feathers

Eric and I got to the usual place at about the same time; when I got into the car, he said he was proud of me for getting off at the back of the bus. Ha, I just wanted to keep it unpredictable! We discussed a bunch of stuff on the way to church... like his secret birthday plans, inviting the right people and doing the right thing, whether Teunis and Jordan were going to go to that BBQ at his place, watermelon, Jon's aversion to produce from Superstore, and Kin's Farm Market locations. I knew what he was getting at when he mentioned the farm market, but decided to ignore that. Of course, he said what he was thinking a bit later (by singing the DARKWING DUCK theme song) - that earns you a death threat! You gotta take 'em where you can get 'em, you know! Hahahaha, I know he's not looking for them, but it works!

When we got to the church, Jessica practically implored me to rescue her at VBS - Sean, Nicholas, Jordan, Aaron, and the other rowdy boys are apparently too much of a match for everyone! Told her that I should be there next week! Stanley played some cool-sounding stuff for me on the piano, with the background of Margaret on guitar as she shared an iPod with some other girl. I talked to Grace and Yvonne for a bit - Yvonne's fiancé Dave wasn't here since he got a call at 6:30 to go to the loading dock NOW! Yvonne and I had both been thinking the same thing when we saw FB pics of Grace and Phil's Whistler trip: "is her belly even bigger than it was on Sunday?!" Also discussed teaching, Cindy's classroom layout at the Christian school, Hannah helping her, working together for a month (Grace is REALLY pregnant - scares her!), Sonya wanting some volunteer hours, emails, and more.

Geoffrey came by and noticed the VBS decorations - yeah, they do look pretty cool. Went into the kitchen to ask Dylan / Deb / Kevin / Christon what I should do with the jars of pickled vegetables. I figured that Randal would be okay with my asking him to help me open the VERY sealed jars (had no choice - everyone else was busy), and he actually found a jar opener in one of the drawers! (luckily, the cupboards were labelled!) It was still challenging for him, but I did make sure to thank him later... he was polite back, and said "You're welcome." Now that's how things should be - I wouldn't have asked Raymond, for example! (he wasn't here tonight for some reason, haha!)

While Eric was practicing stuff on his guitar, he told me that "my favorite person" wouldn't be here / was out of town according to Christon. He clarified who he meant - OH GOOD, NO MR. CREEP OR ANXIETY! Then he was surprised that I might not come to the off-site Bible Study which was really on-site for our group... I'll be TIRED after a whole week of VBS, man! (and the people who did it for two weeks are going to be even more exhausted!) Talked to Vicky, and it was amusing when her boyfriend Jason met Jen's rock producer boyfriend Jason, haha! To my surprise, I saw Fabian - he said Christon had invited him out, and he had nothing better to do. Now THIS is the kind of invitation I can approve of! While I was talking to Jeremy about our weeks, Teresa tapped me on the shoulder and almost bored me with a prayer request that she find some lost certificates of hers. That's what happens when you take things out which you don't need!

Said hi to Karen, Lincoln, Vivian, Martin, Jose, and a bunch of other people. Of course everyone was watching people grill the burgers and vegetables after a while! Once we got started, I had a salmon burger / lots of corn / pop / mushrooms / bacon / salad / cheese. When Vania sat down by me (joined by Deb / Geoffrey / Karen / Lincoln / Citrus "on duty"), I asked her how she knew Daniel Yeung - turns out she met him at a friend's birthday party! I told her that he'd been my classmate in elementary and junior high - yes, he still remembered me! Talked about VBS, Houston, Vania's friends named Esther (who's too hot for the nerds) and Linus, status updates, the funny "Elaine VBS cougar" status threads, Geoffrey's middle name being Linus (his dad was a big PEANUTS fan), Teunis (Deb asked after him!), the computer store NCIX, unmarked cop cars, driving without insurance costing you $500, the Philippines being hot and humid even in October, the taste of the maple bacon combined with salmon burger, and lots more! Told Dylan that I kept forgetting to bug him about Uncle Peter and everyone else, haha.

We sat through singing and announcements on a bunch of stuff - I'm not volunteering at SERVANTS this time round on Wednesday, largely because I'll be a bit tired after VBS and will definitely need downtime. Also, Mr. Creep will be there helping to cook - no thanks, I'd rather avoid that anxiety as well. When I told Eric that I wouldn't do it, he said "I wonder why" - we both were mindful of Geoffrey's presence in the backseat on the way home! Talked to people later about Jon preaching on Sunday, getting my news through Facebook, DEEP-FRIED BUTTER (why?!), deep-fried cheesecake, Dylan's memories of Australia (glass and blood?), the PNE starting tomorrow (100 years!), Tumbler Ridge (ISOLATION!), "Chinese" food, engineering, the legal wedding date being different than the ceremony date for Deb and Dylan (Stateside relatives), Grace and Phil discussing baby names (but "Micah Joseph" DOES sound like "M.J." even if she didn't think of it!), a LOT of basmati rice, and more. Teresa started asking Vicky and Jason her usual round of personal questions - "NO PERSONAL QUESTIONS!" everyone else yelled at her!

Grace asked me how my lunch with Phil's mom and grandma had gone - not too bad, I told her and Yvonne. When Eric T.'s dad came in with his high-powered vacuum and cleaning equipment, we all felt the definite NUDGE to get out of the huge room! It certainly isn't JUST a flick of the lights, such as Stanley used to do at the old building! Saw Chris Lam, and asked him how VBS was: he gave me a thumbs-up and said that it was good! "But it'll be even better next week when you guys are here!" I'll remind Henry, that's for sure! On the way into the parkade, I asked Eric if he hadn't forgotten his guitar - he thanked me for reminding him, and went back to get it after putting vegetables and a watermelon in the trunk. Discussed Geoffrey's engineering application which apparently lasts as long as you can drag it out, sharing last time's salad with his housemates, the air being lighter ("Geoffrey might wonder why you said that!" "If he knows what's good for him, he won't!"), my being crazy and needing to be dropped off on the way to Citrus' place, September being a good birthday month (me / Vicky / Eric / Citrus!), my thinking Eric had an evil birthday plan, a BootyBase, and more.


Trivia fact for Saturday, Aug. 21: What happened when Apollo 15 astronaut simultaneously dropped a hammer and a falcon's feather in the moon's airless atmosphere in 1971? Both hit the moon's surface at the same time - and remain there to this day.