ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT cuts into my downtime! / City Parks / Aardvarks

Went to bed at 4 AM, which I guess is still better than 5:30 AM, but I couldn't get to sleep till 6 AM; that explains why I got up at 2 PM! Still a good thing I'm not at the conference right now, haha! Fielded a "schedule" email from Jon, so responded with my own rather un-busy schedule, heh. Seems that Halloween weekend is busy - I guess that the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT marathon IS on. Sigh... there goes my downtime!

You Crave Rest

You are optimistic about both your present and your future. Things are going well for you. You see love as companionship. You're the type of person who would fall for his or her best friend. You expect other people to respect you. You are respectful of them in return. Your inner child is energetic. You still have a lot of enthusiasm every day.

The City Park Test

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Trivia fact for Saturday, Oct. 23: What do aardvarks eat? Ants and termites. The name "aardvark" means "earth pig" in the Afrikaans language.

Extra downtime ROCKS! / "Showers of Blessing" isn't relevant to Eric! / Yay for Victor!

Eric gave me an extra hour of downtime (he'd played WOW while I edited entries and started word games), which I definitely appreciated! That still meant that I had to go to the eminently-skippable program, but you can't have everything! Of course, I still asked him whether he were insane when he called, haha - it's my THING! When I got out of the building, I was cackling - he wanted to know how much medication I'd taken, and described me as "loopy." He was surprised when I gave him the box of Delecto chocolates more than two months early, haha! We talked about Riverview (what a detour for psychological help!), his being a literal backwards male, possible relationship deal-breakers, donating various game items, whether Teunis had bought STARCRAFT II yet (he seemed surprised that I didn't know - well, he doesn't live with me anymore!), dentist appointments, saving money, government benefits, feelings, DARKWING, Dave and distraction, Eric's being the Joker, marriage, increases, staying single, my being quiet during Fellowship, and more. and more. When we got to church, we met Cordia / Julie / Auntie Tonia / Margaret at the elevators.

We went into the fellowship hall, where we saw Stanley eating a LOT of noodles which he didn't have to pay for: he still complained that it wasn't to his liking, though! Maxine was feeding her kids Joshua and Keenan some sushi, and said that Stanley probably shouldn't say anything. Meh, at least he liked that it was free! I said hi to the kids, then talked to Vania and Jen about 10th / worship / Jason / Eggs Benedict / not waking up in time for breakfast. We noticed that the Powerpoint overhead was upside down: Joshua thought that it was funny, and told me so. Yup, I agree! Tim came in a while later, and wondered why his wife had bought so much sushi and udon - when he offered me five wings, I took them gladly! (Christon was also having some sushi of his own) Later, he said that he was thinking of going to South Africa for a cousin's wedding, but that they might be a distraction! If the new baby's a girl, Maxine can give the kids' clothes to baby Micah. However, they won't find that out till ten weeks from now! I also heard that Karen I. might get induced on the weekend or Tuesday - wow!

By the time I'd finished the wings, the program had already started. I grabbed my stuff and sat by Eric, Alan, and Tracy. Couldn't help but notice the affection that Tracy had for her husband, but tried NOT to focus on that. If things had turned out differently, maybe I'd have some too! Haha! The program as stated ("Sharing Christ With Your Parents") wasn't terribly relevant to me, but as Christon said later, it was interesting to learn more about the panelists' background! Uncle Hansel, Uncle Peter, and Wai-Mui did get $50 Bon Appetit gift cards from Safeway; when Eric's pen ran out of ink, I could see that he had trouble getting another blue pen, so I let him borrow mine. At one point, Alan was playing Solitaire or another card game on his phone! Apparently, buying fish is a good way to show care for your in-laws! (and respect with the ancestor worship can be achieved by just standing there) Not letting ministry interfere with your parental time is probably good advice for those who need it... luckily, I don't! Funny (if irrelevant) piece of advice from tonight: "If your non-Christian parents are sick in hospital, tell us! We'll come visit them! But if they don't like pastors, tell us anyway! We'll still visit them, but we won't tell them that we are pastors!"

I learned that Randal cannot miss Saturday dinner with his parents because his brother Roland (that reminds me of the time I actually DID call Randal "Roland," but thankfully not to his face!) isn't really talking to the family, and his sister-in-law is a nominal Catholic who badmouths her in-laws. He wants to step up his commitment to the parents, and show them that he and his brother are different. True, but you can't be SUPERMAN and drop EVERYTHING for them! Apparently, there's a Cantonese show called SHOWERS OF BLESSING which is on every Saturday night - his parents have looked forward to the show, especially the one on gambling! (apparently, his uncle has a severe gambling problem) Unfortunately, the stuff about the Cantonese Christian shows and the Chinese literature wasn't terribly relevant to Eric! Dianne and I suggested that he and his parents should learn to read Chinese, haha!

I was happy enough when the program ended: while we talked to Uncle Peter about life with a new baby in the house (Winnie and birth! Crying in a big house! Emergency C-sections! Two grandmothers! One great-grandmother! Endless recipes! Vinegar / egg / ginger!), Connie checked the hockey score on her phone. Yes, we beat Minnesota 5-1, and got revenge for the recent shellacking! I told Jon about Steph's email; yes, he and Harmony are pretty busy with chores and such since their friend is coming to town on Monday! When Christon seemed like he was going to tell Jon (who almost hijacked the discussion with the "generational gap conflict" comment) something personal ("I need a drink because of this!"), I respectfully stepped away to ostensibly look at the structural drawings on the chalkboard, AND to get Eric away from the wrong person in Raymond! After a bit, I went back to see what they were talking about: I missed who exactly didn't feel like doing an important duty, but that's fine. All I know is that worship leading cannot be fake, man!

When it looked like Dianne and Wesley were going to join them for drinks, Jon wanted to know if Eric could fix his laptop one of these days. They'd figure it out later, so Eric and I went to the elevator. He made a call while we were waiting, and I guess the "different" woman Teresa assumed we were free to talk to her! We held up our hands in the universal signal for LATER! While I wasn't talking on the phone or overly curious as to what Eric was discussing - I didn't care - I *did* know that he wouldn't be free to talk to her anyway! When he was done, Teresa asked whether we could give her a ride home - he guessed he could... more time having to appear normal for me, haha. There were a whole bunch of people in / getting on the elevator, including Victor and Ernest. Victor said hi to me by name, so I returned the greeting in kind, asking if he'd be going to tomorrow's conference. He said he would be, and asked if I were going. When I said no, he asked why - I might visit my grandma! (depending on bus schedules and such, but he doesn't need to know THAT!) As we passed everyone near the door when we all got in the car, Victor waved at me, so of course I waved back with a smile. Teresa thought he was waving at HER (um, no - he doesn't know you!), so waved and said BYE=BYE! Hahaha... oh well, we DO try to make allowances for her differences! Thankfully, it didn't take long to drop Teresa off, and we fielded inquiries about our weeks, driving schools (Trinity or Young Drivers in Richmond, NOT New Westminster!), and commuting from Richmond in the meantime.

After dropping Teresa off, we got gas even though he had almost half a tank left - I figured I was reading the wrong gauge again when I'd asked about it before! Eric decided to sing to me about my supposed alcohol consumption, and said that he'd accidentally drank wine earlier even if he said he didn't want any because he'd be driving. "You can ask my mother or my father!" Hahaha, that's fine! Then he thought that I could send someone an email: no, I think the time for that is well past! I would have LOVED it, but I was too caught up in appearances! We discussed STELLA'S turning into a beer bistro (Jon lives in the area!), Fat Burger, a gas smell, a Kirin near City Square, silliness, a brand-new Tim Horton's across the street from the Cuppa Joe coffee shop (Jeremy's not going to be too happy about THAT!), wool / hair / black sheep, the program not being relevant to ME personally (my uncle's family is NOT Christian, but we don't talk to them due to drama and cultural differences!), and other things. Interesting discussion, at any rate! Now I'm going to catch up on stuff, and I hopefully won't have to stay up till 5:30 AM to do so, unlike LAST week! (while I did have to restart the computer when I got home, at least I got home around 11 instead of 12:30 AM!)

Qis, Ava, F, no Grandma time, skip-worthy programs, prayer meetings, and people

High-scoring words of the day:

QIS (200 points) - against Suzette W. [4W, 4L on Q] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
AVA (114 points) - against Millie F. [two 2W, 5L on V, hook off GALLIED to make AG]
EFS (130 points) - against Diane P. [5W used twice, 3L on F, hook off FAIL for a plural]


Cordia / Sarah / Auntie Rebecca have been emailing me about the church issues, a forum, and the Awana Leadership Conference - I don't care about the last since I'm not attending! I was GOING to visit Grandma (and thus not go to the eminently-skippable program since it was Randal's idea), but I just missed the bus! I'd called Eric just before I left to advise him of this (ride courtesy), so had to call him right back when I returned home. Got Veronica on the phone this time, so we politely asked how the other was doing. Told Eric that I'd missed the bus, so plans were back on as normal. Two minutes later, he called me about that prayer meeting - I told him that I didn't know if I wanted to go or not, so we'll leave it up to whether he can get out of the house on time. (unfortunately, he did... MORE TIME WITH PEOPLE?!) Then I was going to take a shower since I was home anyway, but Uncle Andrew's office called me to confirm my Tuesday appointment with Sean. Oh yes, and I don't think I'll have money AGAIN! *sigh*

Kinds of fun / ONE PIECE sleepover

You Are Simply Fun

You're out to have a blast, and you enjoy almost any activity. You are naturally upbeat. You don't need to have a wild time to live it up, but you don't object to a little adventure, either. You don't get bored easily. You can always figure out a way to entertain you and your friends. You are creative and resourceful. You think a lot of things can be fun - it's all about attitude.

What Kind of Fun Are You?

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

One Piece sleepover? ... (girls) by TaoRen_Rules
Name
Element	WaterWindIceFireEarthDepends on the situationALL!!!Sadly, NoneLightning
You spun the bottle and got	Sanji
who you hit on the head with a pillow	Zolo
who got mad	Luffy
at who	Kaya
because he/she	videotaped _____ when they were drunk and dancing like a monkey
you fell for	Luffy
he likes you	78%
you like him	33%
who got drunk	Usopp
besides the One Piece cast, who else was there?	The main cast of Naruto

Fat Goyim / Energy Drinks / Gift Cards / Plaster Casts

Bingo of the night:

AERATIONS (86 points) - against Sheila B.


High-scoring words of the night:

GOYIM (260 points) - against Darlene J. [5W, 4W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
FATSO (256 points) - against Sabina A. [two 5W, hook off HOME to make HO]
UVEAS (233 points) - against Julie D. [two 5W, hook off WIN to make WINE]


Jon says it's funny, but he also has an energy drink - he never consumes those things; however, he got it while waiting for a bus at UBC. He figures the same as I did: now that Nathan's gone, his pool of friends to whom he'd give such a thing is effectively reduced. While he COULD give it to me, he says he'll wait to see what their effect is on me first! Hopefully, it doesn't make me sick like the time I drank a Red Bull right before Ian's one-month baby banquet in 2005! Eric also says he bought the gift cards after he dropped me off - I trust him on this one, so why do I want to see them in person?! Ugh! I may also go back to word search books to pass the time while I wait for the computer to load!

Trivia fact for Friday, Oct. 22: What famous royal was buried with a plaster cast of a hand? Queen Victoria, in 1901. The cast was made from the hand of her beloved husband, Albert, who had died 40 years earlier.

Honda Vermicelli, figure skating, NO WINTER, knapsacks, grease concerns, Bistro Crustinis

Eric picked me up as advertised, and we discussed our weeks; of course he thought I was drunk all week. *rolleyes* I said that I'd hung out with people and seen my sister. His week had been all right: he plans to do some WARCRAFT / STARCRAFT tomorrow, which does not surprise me! I said I might visit my grandma, heh. Apparently, I freaked him out by "randomly" exclaiming "Oh crap!" in the middle of the car ride - I just remembered the chocolate I was going to give him! Oh well, he'll find out about it later. Then he thought a car said "Honda Vermicelli" when it was really "Honda Vera Cruz." I mentioned a sign saying something about figure skating lessons: not for me! Probably a good thing that I'm not with someone right now because otherwise the relationship would take a steep dive during wintertime! (I wouldn't go out anywhere, I wouldn't want to look like I needed extra help ALL THE TIME, etc.) Yes, I told him that after we discussed the level of detail wanted when telling me about his plans. Not sure what he thought of that, haha!

When we got to the church, Wai-Mui said that in light of the break-in last week, Eric should re-park the car in the parkade when she opened the gate for him! I took the opportunity to fill my new water bottle at the cooler, then went upstairs as I said hi to Kevin and Pastor John on the way. Eric told me to watch his stuff for a bit, so I did. I carried his knapsack while I said hi to Uncle Peter - the baby IS cute, and I've seen pictures! Wai-Mui said that her younger daughter Priscilla made up a song about baby Micah - "he's so cute!" Eric came across me doing this, and said that I didn't have to CARRY it... well, now THAT makes it sound as if I have germs! I don't think he'd want me to just leave it in the hallway while I went to say hi to people!

Pastor John, Jen, Eric, Kevin, and I discussed tomorrow's program / Christon and Powerpoint / Martin / Dylan / Johnny / Raymond / Randal (of COURSE he told Jen about the outcome of the family meeting!) / Winter Conference / upcoming and past programs / service projects / food for our AGM / budget items / Chinese food having too much grease (it cooks faster with oil!) / Japanese food being expensive / Uncle Fatih's Pizza (the chunks of potato are GOOD!) / salad / Subway sandwiches. I sympathize with the grease concerns, but we also have a budget to meet, and people to feed in a filling manner! Our next meeting is on Remembrance Day, which is fine with us! Kevin noticed my new shoes while we were going downstairs - yes, they DO look white as Jen mentioned! After wasting time talking at the front desk, we FINALLY were able to get going after sharing the elevator! When Eric looked as if he were going to go the wrong way, I tugged on his sleeve and reminded him of the car's location. That made him think that I was in my "people-aversion mode," and he said that he wanted to talk to Kevin and Jen while knowing where the car was. Sure, sure...

He said that CANADA'S WORST DRIVERS was happening on Monday; he'll have to tell me how it went! Says he hasn't defeated the Lich King yet because his guild isn't very good (at such things) - yikes! Discussed Raymond, Randal, people under Randal's influence, Dave NOT being a perfidious blackguard (HE didn't write me a letter detailing what I did wrong!), being careful around new and old people alike (it's caution and NOT paranoia!), MYTHBUSTERS, loyalty, driving indecision and honking, steamy windows, hot and heavy breathing, "knowing someone in the Biblical sense" (I can't tell him off-hand WHY the expression was created - Google gives me nothing!), emailing him to see if he got the gift cards yet (of COURSE we don't pass a Safeway on the drive home - HE KNOWS THIS!), tomorrow's program, group stuff, and more. I should definitely get Bistro Crustinis again when I go shopping!

Praying, sweet deals, mocha cappuccino energy drinks, hug tricks, and brains

High-scoring word of the afternoon:

PRAYS (116 points) - against Briana M. [two 3W, hook off AIR to make AIRY]


Steph and Lisa stopped by briefly to give me a thin hooded shirt and okay shoes from Mom (which Lisa termed "a sweet deal"), flaming hot Cheetos from Steph (Lisa can't take the spice!), and six mocha cappuccino Red Rain energy drinks because they didn't like them. Lisa says to pawn them off on others if I end up not liking them myself, haha. Too bad Nathan's in the UK, and these will probably expire by the time he gets back home! Steph asked if Teunis was still here, so I told her that he'd moved to Surrey in late September; Lisa says she saw him and Robin at Wreck Beach when she was patrolling the park! Luckily, everyone had their clothes on, which avoided awkward times for all concerned! ("Teunis is the big guy with the hair, and Robin's the small guy who fell while trying to demonstrate that kick!")

Steph tricked me into hugging her (Lisa says she does that all the time), I said that Lisa would know all her idiosyncrasies now and make Steph look bad (NOT THE OTHER THING!), and Steph said that she'd be taking Grandma to church on Sunday. Yes, I got Jon's email about lunch with Grandma! I said that I'd probably visit her tomorrow or Saturday, and that Mom was safely in Rome! They left after a few minutes because it WAS cold outside... we talked about my slapping Steph's butt, the ultimate price, and Lisa being PROPER and not talking about bombing. Well... opposites do attract, haha! Steph sent me, Jon, and Harmony an email later on: "Lards! I feel it prudent to mention that I gave away energy drinks. I apologize in advance for the craziness that will be unleashed upon humanity!" So then I had reply to that: "Eric won't thank you on Sunday morning, haha!"

Eric called soon after to ask if I remembered about our meeting tonight - yes, I did! He said that he'd leave his house at 6:15, to which I asked if he were insane OR wanted to eat beforehand. His response was that he'd eat dinner at home (I should too), and he'd be at my place at 6:25 or so. I said that my brain obviously wasn't working, so he said that it was debatable whether it ever worked! Well, it certainly wasn't last night when it came to the oatmeal, but I didn't tell him that! I'll ask him about tomorrow later on, then. My decision for next year will be a YES, haha. Yay for rides!

Sprouse triplets, Jasmine, Melissa, and scrapbooks (dream) / Mansions!

I had a weird dream which consisted of my going around a huge house with my friends, where we met the Sprouse triplets Cody / Zachary / Nicholas. Dylan wanted to know if they were interested in collaborating on a huge colorful scrapbook with us, and they said yes! I had to go sleep for a bit, and then encountered my mother (who wasn't supposed to be there) lying down on the couch next to me. That was annoying! She said that I'd received a few phone calls - Jasmine had called once, some girl named Melissa had called twice, and Auntie Susan had called once. I escaped from my mother while I figured this out: apparently, I'd offered the house as a temporary living quarters for Melissa, and Jasmine was trying to confirm this. Immediately, I called her back and said that they BOTH could join the crazy scene at the house: they accepted, and were on their way within ten minutes. Auntie Susan merely wanted to know if Vivian, Karen, and Lincoln would be coming home anytime soon.

I called her back, telling her in no uncertain terms to get my mother OUT of there! She duly did that, and figured that her three charges wouldn't be home soon. Randal showed me a brown page in the scrapbook with autographs all over it, while Dylan showed me several more colorful pages with cake drawings and various stickers: red, yellow, blue, and orange! Oh my! That was where the dream ended; I wouldn't be surprised if my subconscious is just NOW processing the awkward scrapbooking time at Randal's! Thanks to ONTD, I do know that there are famous TWINS from Richmond with the last name of Sprouse, but I'm not really sure why my subconscious added a triplet! Their first names are really Dylan and Cole, anyway.

I've been getting a bunch of emails about the church issue from Tim, Auntie Vivian, Cordia, and Pastor John lately! Friday at 6:30 PM is an option, but I do kinda need to eat too... I bet Eric will take that one, however. Saturday morning would be out because of the Awana conference; since I'm not going to that, I do need my sleep as well. One of these days, I need to go visit Grandma - Jon says he visited her for lunch just today, and she seemed in much better spirits. Maybe that'll be my excuse for Friday, haha! Steph called to say that she has to go to the townhouse and re-program a VCR, so could drop by with American spicy Cheetos later since she's in Richmond anyway. Sounds fine to me if she comes by before 7, which she'll probably do way before then! She's made plans for Saturday night since she didn't really hear from us - that's good, since it gives me more time to decompress!


LJ gave me another virtual gift via :

This attached message reads: "Thank you for sharing your favorite book with me. Now, I'll be well-hooved for my next rainy afternoon indoors. Love always, Frank."

You Dream of a Luxurious Life

It's likely that you need a little more pampering and indulgence in your life. You need to be taken care of. You'd love a day of luxury - where time and price didn't matter. You'd like to soak in some comfort. You work hard, and you want to reward yourself with some treats. Life is too short to be too stingy. You have good taste. You can't help it if you like nice things!

The Mansion Test

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Sports today through kinghoods, hatpins, and teeth! / STUPID OATMEAL! / Coke

High-scoring words of the night:

SPORTS (160 points) - against Angela V. [4W, two 2W]
TODAY (108 points) - against Jane K. [two 3W]
HATPINS (124 points) - against Jan H. [5W, hook off GREAT to make HA / AT]
GALLIED (165 points) - against Millie F. [5W, 3W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
KINGHOOD (230 points; 5W, 2W), TOXIN (280 points; 5W, 4W) - against Nettie T.
TOOTH (275 points) - against Cameron J. [two 5W]
ISOLATE (307 points) - against Sheila P. [2W, two 4W, hook off VAC for a plural]


I was going to visit Grandma today; as usual, time and bus schedules worked against me as the 430 is only available till about 8:30 PM. Maybe tomorrow... or Friday if I really DO wish to skip that program, haha! Vancouver lost 2-1 in a shootout tonight against Chicago, too.

I went out in the fog earlier tonight to get some V8 Tropical Blend juice, oat / raisin / apple Vital cookies, and some Quaker quick oats (a better buy than the pre-packaged flavored stuff, even if THAT was on sale at $2.99) from London Drugs. I had to break out my warm toque! Noticed that the clerk who served me was named CARVER... okay, then! I wasn't originally going to get the oats, but since they're also microwaveable (the steel-cut oats apparently weren't) and a better buy at $5.99 for 2.25kg, I decided to.

At home, I just put the double-bagged stuff near the middle of the dining table, like Teunis did with his flour and like what I did with Dallas' rice and such when he stored his stuff with me over the summer. Should be okay from a mice standpoint, I hope... on second thought, considering the amount of time I just had to spend CLEANING oatmeal from the microwave and counter surfaces when the bowl broke its seal while it was cooking, I don't think I'll get the stuff ever again! Yay for wasted money? :P


Trivia fact for Thursday, Oct. 21: For what product - still being sold today - were the first promotional coupons offered more than 100 years ago? Coca-Cola, in 1894. Asa Candler, the enterprising druggist who purchased the Coke formula, distributed handwritten tickets through employees and magazines, offering a free glass of what was then a soda-fountain drink.

Christon and snack food in a dream / Starbucks drink warming me up

I had a dream which involved Christon getting a whole bunch of snack food (chips, dip, fried chicken, salad, etc.) from Auntie Catherine's house, and trying to get us to share it / take it home. Of course Randal and Jen had to be feeding each other food in this dream, but Tracy was going after them with an Exacto knife! (we could see the sharp blade retract into the knife!) I don't even want to know why I had it!

You Are an Earl Grey Tea Latte

You are an old-fashioned person with down-to-earth tastes. You always are looking for quality. You appreciate subtlety, and you always realize that less is more. You aren't bowled over by novelty. You are brilliant and sharp. There is a perfect balance that you're striving to achieve in your life. You enjoy home comforts and simple pleasures. You are a creature of habit and you relish your routine.

What Starbucks Drink Would Warm You Up?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Fans of Haley / Whining delaying roommates / True love / Vanessa, Susan, and David

Interesting rack of the night: HALEYFAN, against Amy M. [read this as "Haley fan"]


High-scoring words of the night:

WHINE (325 points; two 5W), XYSTOI (446 points; three 2W, 4L on X) - against Sheila B.
ROOMIE (180 points) - against Carole K. [2W, 5W]
DELAYS (275 points) - against Pat R. [two 5W]
ROPEWAY (498 points) - against Dixie G. [two 5W, hook off DEE to make DEEP]
TRUELOVE (280 points) - against Val C. [5W, 4W]
PAWS (130 points) - against Marcy A. [5W, 4L on W]
NAUSEATE (760 points) - against Jennifer F. [5W, 4W, two 2W]


Vanessa says she passed her nursing exam, and that Alice Cooper is funny - yay for those things! However, we lost 6-2 to the Wild; boo! Also finally got up the nerve to leave a wall post somewhere, but I'm operating under lowered expectations here! Alex has also reinstated his FB account, while Susan D.-C. (Sarah G.'s mom) has added me after a medium exchange of messages.

Trivia fact for Wednesday, Oct. 20: What historic document sold for an incredible $21,321,000 at auction in 2007? The Magna Carta - actually, a copy of the Magna Carta made in 1297. It was purchased by billionaire David Rubenstein, who has made it available for display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

White Spot, NCIX, Wayne x2, London Drugs, Pyrex, Caribbean store, Bon Ton

When I got out, Vanessa was waiting for me; I had to wait for my posts to actually submit! Talked about Mr. Creep working in Victoria hospitals ("oh... thanks..."), Newfoundland food, salted cod not being too appetizing, blackberry wine, Krista being up north, Kyle leaving the condo in a mess when HE went up north a week ago, sushi, bus tickets vs. a monthly pass, full-time for six weeks / part-time after that, her dad being a foreman for a water pipe crew (the joke is that he's the only one who does any work), fridges and cake, breakfast at White Spot, Teunis / Robin / Rhiannon / mold / Surrey, NCIX being really popular on Boxing Day, Volkswagen Jettas, her sailor boyfriend Wayne, Krista's ex Wayne, and how I met my ex in the first place. Also discussed Eric M. not being Erik, the Fantasy Factory, transit to her job (she's not wasting money by parking the car at her aunt's!), Thanksgiving turkey, TV shows, Halloween parties, my sister, my parents being in Italy, mushrooms / bacon / hash browns / cheese / toast, mice, Andrea, and the annoying construction / traffic / stupid drivers. We went to the Ironwood London Drugs, where she got two travel mugs and toothpaste; I got a smaller Pyrex bowl (perfect for oatmeal and such!) and an on-sale water bottle since it was only $4 before tax.

After battling traffic and construction, we managed to make it to New Westminster's Caribbean store (remarking on an ex's house and a tattoo shop on the way) - she got three packets of spicy Caribbean rice and Purity biscuits, while I got two packets of the spicy rice plus two business cards... one's for Dave if I ever see him again! She ran out to the car since we were risking it by "saving money" on parking, even if we WERE only in there for a couple of minutes! From there, we went to the Bon Ton bakery in Kits, which her dad grew up with. A seven-inch Diplomat cake IS expensive, but she says it's worth the money! (she also got assorted pastries, while I didn't get anything since I'm kinda watching my spending) Discussed Justin Bieber and the Richmond Planet Lazer incident, how New Westminster used to be the capital of BC, ambulances plunging into water, taking out lychee / vanilla slush bubble tea from Tapioca Express, walking to work on this nice day, murder cases in which the accused sent a letter of condolence to the victim's family, and more. Good times!

Trillian on overnight, joking TMI, London Drugs, White Spot, and emotional intelligence

Vanessa thought I was up early at 6:20 AM - nope, I just leave the Trillian on overnight! However, I was awake at 7:30 BEFORE my alarm! Didn't get out of bed till 8:10, after the alarm had been going for a few minutes... yay for the radio option instead of an annoying buzz! We discussed visitor parking at my place instead of her walking to the hospital, needing to get her clothes on (I joked that it was TMI - she said she was in her pajamas), Kits, White Spot for breakfast instead of lunch because of the running around (still glad I had maple / brown sugar oatmeal), going to London Drugs first to get a coffee mug, most other places on her list being open at 10 AM, and more. Should be good times! She called a few minutes later to say that maybe it's a good thing she didn't show up as a beer girl for a Halloween party, haha.

You Always Attend to Your Emotions

You find expressing your emotions to be quite natural. You just say and show how you feel. When it's time to make a decision, you always follow your heart. You believe your heart knows what's best. You are somewhat emotionally responsive. You react emotionally, but you are not overly sensitive. You are an extremely empathetic person. You find it easy to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

The Five-Factor Emotional Intelligence Test

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Rough sendups, Vanessa / pastries / Caribbean stuff / dress shoes / BEER

High-scoring words of the night:

ROUGHLY (128 points) - against Ardy C. [2W, 4W]
SENDUP (200 points) - against Bluesy S. [4W, 5W]


Vanessa called at 8:35 to say that she needs to get these fantastic pastries from a European bakery, go to the New West Caribbean store, and do various other things (like lunch and bubble tea) tomorrow before she has to go in to her old job at 2-ish tomorrow. She got a bunch of household things today like a frying pan and other kitchen items for the Victoria place with her boyfriend... she's also rationing her supper, and forgot dress shoes! Let's just say she wasn't expecting to start her new job so soon (Wednesday) at UBC, and doesn't know what to do about going home at 11 PM! The news is saying that you probably shouldn't walk around UBC by yourself - a good precaution! Harmony gets off work at 5:30, so there's still a BIT of light, but not for long! She said that the Translink schedule / site SUCKS, and thinks I'm better at it than she is. "Do you go out late at night?" "Only if I'm with people who can drop me off at a Canada Line station, or if I know how I'm going to get home REALLY well!" Once I told her that according to the website, she'd have to wait from 20 to 45 minutes for a bus from the Brighouse station, she wasn't much enthused! Maybe her parents can pick her up since the drive isn't too far from the house! Tomorrow should be good times - if I don't feel like falling asleep, I may visit Grandma! Jon's newest FB picture features the four of us sitting on each other, haha.

Trivia fact for Tuesday, Oct. 19: When it comes to per capita alcohol consumption, what country's residents outdrink all others? Luxembourg's, according to the World Health Organization. It found that residents of the tiny European country each consume roughly 284 bottles of beer and 88 bottles of wine annually. The U.S. was 40th on the WHO list.

Phil and Grace have a baby Micah now! / Grandma and medicine / Ruling Planet

Phil and Grace finally had their baby Micah Jacob at 5 AM! We knew it was going to be pretty soon if she'd been having cramps yesterday morning before church, and more cramps during the long meeting! Of course, I had to call Steph to tell her that: she was at work, but still took eight minutes out to talk to me. She asked about the meeting, so I told her about the proposal / distraction / comments / selfish "no translation!" wishes. Then she wondered if I'd seen Grandma yesterday - yes, and she'd seemed to be in a good mood. That was excellent, as she'd been pretty angry recently! According to Auntie Eva, Grandma had packed ALL her bags to LEAVE the hospice yesterday morning!

Apparently, Big G has been overdosing herself on her medication for some time: she's only supposed to be taking one a day in the morning, not one in the morning AND one at night! Of course, the respite centre monitors the seniors' medications, but the nurse didn't know what to do since she doesn't speak Chinese! So they called Steph to tell her "your grandma's angry!" She came to see what the problem was, and Grandma said "They're not giving me my drugs!" (which would be funny in other circumstances!) I asked her for the address of the family respite centre, which she gave me (near Vivian / Victoria / Kerr) along with the phone number / intercom buzzer info. You have to be buzzed in and out so that the seniors just can't go out on their own - I don't want to know what a crowd of rampaging old people would look like, haha! Apparently, a social worker had given our parents the name of the place, heh. I'll definitely call before I get there, and then maybe call Steph to see if we can have dinner with Lisa sometime, haha.

Vanessa H. also buzzed me on MSN, asking if I wanted to run errands with her tomorrow - sure! I had told Steph that I might visit Grandma tomorrow, but I guess it'll be Wednesday now. She says she'll call me in a bit - I noticed her MSN name was "finally employed!" so I assume her UBC job interview today went well. She wants to go to Kits, New West, and Richmond (but she COULD do that on Thursday)... however, we can only be out for so long tomorrow, as she got a call from her old job who wants her in at 2:30. I guess 9 AM it is, so I set my alarm again. If we do go to that Caribbean store, I'm SO getting Dave that business card thing I saw last time! (in hopes I'll see him again sometime, haha) And yes, we MUST do bubble tea! I also saw Justin, Bianca, their parents, Olivia, Gladys, their mom, and others at Pho yesterday.

You Are Ruled by Mercury

You love to talk, and you're darn good at it. You are a very outgoing person. You are a good communicator, and you can get your message across to almost anyone. You are very energetic, and you get restless easily, especially when you're by yourself. You are extremely curious and even a bit brainy. You love to investigate everything.

What Planet Rules You?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Venting about decorum and forked pairings / Sexy Penis Pasta / Film comedies

Interesting rack of the night: FICUSJOB, against Lori H. (read this as "Ficus job")

High-scoring words of the night:

FORKED (144 points) - against Ardy C. [two 3W]
PAIRINGS (144 points) - against Kathleen M. [4W, 3W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
VENTING (117 points) - against Honey L. [two 3W]
BIJOUS (454 points) - against Lori H. [two 5W, hook off SAIL for a plural]
DECORUM (350 points; two 5W), WITNEY (135 points; two 3W) - against Val C.


Jon and Harmony were telling Eric, Jeremy, and me about some Sexy Penis Pasta that they got from Italy for Steph. They were going to get some for Nathan (who would also appreciate it), but they couldn't send it to the UK! Mom wouldn't really be flustered by those, although Dad would know exactly what those represented! Jeremy mentioned seeing chocolate vaginas to promote THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES, which are apparently in town again since Jon's seen ads for them.

Trivia fact for Monday, Oct. 18: In how many film comedies did funnymen Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor appear together? Four - Silver Streak (1976); Stir Crazy (1980); See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989); and Another You (1991).

Inconvenient conversations, imminent baby, English words, Pho, and unwanted mingling

Right when I was going to leave this morning, Vanessa H. tried to start a conversation about her coming home today / cake / Wednesday. I wasn't really up for it, so I restarted the computer on her - HA! (and now that I *just* got home and reasonably settled at 7:05, she's trying to start one again about the condo: the solution to THIS one is to exit Trillian Astra entirely since I *do* need to catch up and blog! :P) When Eric picked me up a few minutes later, he immediately called me "Dee-Jo" while I remarked on his use of sunglasses in mid-October... yes, I realize that the sun was in his eyes! That reminds me, I do need to get new Fit-Overs from London Drugs (and maybe a case for those?), but perhaps later in the week. We discussed pitchforks, torches, drama, people talking at me from "inside the computer," the upcoming meeting, the usual subjects (DARKWING and Randal), our respective Saturdays (Awana / doing laundry / Committee meeting agenda / BC Lions game - more streakers?!), Grace having cramps this morning, and more. When we got to the church, we were late - we waited outside with Lily, Hannah, and Gavin. They're cute kids! I also waved to Julie C., who was seated on one of the chairs.

We sat a couple rows back from Randal and Jen (of course), while I just tried to focus. Mattias was a bit of a distraction, what with his pencils and everything. After service, I gave him his birthday card - he seemed to like the sticker I put on it, haha. I'm sure he doesn't really know what dinosaurs are, but it's cool. Yvonne thanked me again for the Thanksgiving baptism card I gave her last week, since she thought it was really sweet. Hey, I do it for people I actually kinda know! I saw Auntie Eva at the back of the sanctuary, so made sure that she'd brought Grandma to church. Talked to Adam about staying up late, confirmed that Hien had deleted her Facebook (spending too much time on it - no need for tag removal in that case), talked to Nathaniel about his 3D Eiffel Tower puzzle, gave Mattias a Carr's garlic and herb cracker while Quan gave him a couple of grapes, wished his grandma Auntie Catherine a happy birthday as she was talking to Auntie Doris (she thanked me), and talked to Harmony and Jon about emails / Steph having my Italy souvenir from them / going to the Apple Festival with Holly. Gave Grace a baby card for Micah, and her own (late) birthday card... she thanked me, of course. I wish I could give them more than just a card for the baby, but I'm sure they understand! Told Grace that I'd read her FB status about having cramps or contractions: I'd been like "Please don't have the baby at church even though it might liven things up!" (so of course we were joking about it after Sunday School... Jeremy: "Uh-oh! Grace's water is breaking!")

Told Eric not to leave for lunch without me (not that he would, but still) before I went to see Anita and her daughters - Jeff is in Ottawa till Friday, it seems. Allison was looking at pictures on Emily's iPhone, while Mike was making faces at baby Joanna in her stroller. I joked that Mike was scaring the baby, but he said that she had smiled before in the past when he did this; now, she just doesn't seem interested! A minute later, she started crying... time to take her home, haha! Went upstairs a little later to Toddler Sunday School; Ashley, Ada, David, Evelyn, Ramen, Shira, and Mattias were there. Talked to them about my Snoopy bling sweater which they liked, balloons, slides, people not moving, "car" and "egg" (the first English words I've ever heard Mattias say - WOOHOO!), drawing, colors, toy rings, trucks, crackers, and more. When it was over, I was able to use the elevator to get downstairs for once. (saw Sean and Luke beforehand, who talked to me about "No Whining Week" from THEIR Sunday School class)

Saw Ian, who said hi and wondered if I were going home with them: nope, since my friends and I were going for lunch! Next week it is, I guess! Sean was looking for something in the Lost and Found box, too. When I saw Grandma, I said hi to her. She clasped my hand and asked if I wanted to go for lunch; I told her that we had a meeting later, so no! I asked if people at hospice spoke Chinese, and she said that some did... oh, good! She wants me to come visit so we can have lunch, so that'll happen when I'm free - I can certainly get the address from Steph since I'll need it. I also need at least one day free of people, so the visit won't happen till at least Tuesday! After that, I was in a hurry to get going, but of COURSE we had to stick around and chat as Eric told me to calm down... at least I found out that Jeremy did get my email with the picture, haha! Saw a new guy who looked somehow familiar; I later found out that it was Christon's friend Enoch from that Sunday Dinner, so that's why he's not totally new. Still, though! Apparently, Harmony's brother Myles knows him really well. Wesley, Christon, Enoch, Jon, Harmony, Jeremy, Randal, Jen (who didn't feel like going on Friday night - Jon called her LAZY), Eric, and I went to the original Pho. (talked about little-known shortcuts) Saw a bunch of church people there, and split up into three tables. I elected to sit with Jon and Harmony as we joined Phil, Alan, Tracy, Edwin, and Jane. (let Eric have the arduous job of sitting with the new person AND Randal both!) Talked about the upcoming meeting, business ventures, babysitting, working, ethics, feeling bad for people, going out vs. working, SLB nights, Eddie, shrinking stomachs, being quasi-invited to faraway places like Steveston, whether Alice Wong should be in Parliament right now instead of Richmond, tipping, Nathan, DRAGON'S DEN, church dysfunction as a marketing idea, snoring, spicy stuff, Rob Stewart, and more. When we got back, we were going to park in our usual lane near the sidewalk; half the existing traffic thought we weren't going to do that, so we had to laugh at them when we got out of the car! We then decided that Randal and Jen were just in denial about any feelings for one another, haha! (he DOES go to her house from his place to pick her up ALL THE TIME!)

I asked Connie how her dad was doing at Holy Trinity; after saying that he showed great improvement, she thanked me for asking. At the meeting, Randal HAD to sit by me - as long as I kept a bubble of personal space, it was fine. Found myself thinking of certain people, but of course I realize the time for that is over! Lots of people (like Daniel - "Pastor Glen was FIRED - he didn't RESIGN!" / Edmond / Alysia) shared and had comments; the board unveiled a new five-year plan, which smacked of "distract them from the true purpose of the meeting!" for me. If I were sitting with Jeremy, he would have understood! At least he was in the next row up, so I could just share amusement that way when I tapped him on the shoulder! (we agree that kids know right from wrong, not just adults or adolescents!) Uncle Tony (Eric T.'s dad) told me to tell people not to drink water from the cooler inside the sanctuary - due to the language barrier and my hearing issues, I misunderstood and told Connie that there was no more water in the cooler! He later saw Christon drinking from a cup, and told him not to do that! People commented on shock, the reasons why Pastor John was resigning, missions (stupid Raymond!), points made by Randal (I did NOT clap with everyone else after he made a point), hurt, structure, and more. Eventually, Lesley had a proposal: "We love and respect Pastor John - we need you! With the new board coming in, will you work with them for six months to see if these hoped-for changes are actually going to happen?" Some people had hope at the end of the meeting (which lasted from from 2 to 6, with Uncle Sam and Karen providing rotating translation), while I'm sure others had disillusionment and cynicism!

I thought we could finally go, but Eric was walking between the pews with no purpose whatsoever (other than to get away from me, as he later said) ... then he told ME to MINGLE! No thanks, I hate people sometimes! Then he HAD to talk to Martin, Phil, Christon, Rob Stewart, Jeremy, and others. I eventually talked to Grace and Melia about the baby staying inside through the meeting (Grace still had cramps, but had a Contraction Timer app - Winnie was there, though!); dinner plans; Angus; Phil grimacing, but keeping his cool by not saying anything intemperate; Happy Date; soup; and more. Asked Melia how school was (meh), and wondered if she'd called me on Friday. She'd noticed that I was out with Chrystal, and wanted to know where we were because her cousin was asking! It IS good to get her out of the house, I'm sure... I was out when she called, and didn't exactly have time to call her back when I did get home! My priorities then were calling Eric to see what was up for that night, putting away my London Drugs purchases, and blogging everything that happened! She said that I should tell Eric that I wanted to leave; I tried that three times with no result! (other than "PATIENCE!" / "MINGLE!" / "NOT YET!") Phil said that he almost threw up this morning when Grace told him about the cramps or Braxton-Hicks since he was so nervous, while Grace knew that this meeting was very important as well; she didn't want the baby to come out, or to have her water break in public! Karen was telling her about bloody show, too.

When the guys finally finished talking to Rob Stewart at 6:30, we made our way to the front door. Eric almost looked like he wanted to talk to Joey, Mike, Jon Chan (about hockey pool stuff), and Amanda... I tugged at his shirt sleeve since Uncle Johnny was holding the door open for a bunch of people! Once we were outside, he told Jeremy (who thought that I wanted to catch the hockey game) that he didn't know why I was in such a hurry: I TOLD YOU! I don't want to stay up till 5:30 AM again trying to catch up from being out twice the amount of time that I wasn't home on Friday! On the way home, we discussed Superstore changing its colors from green to blue / the proposed "secret" ESC meeting possibly messing with AGM lunch volunteering or the "important" Friday program of sharing Christ with our parents ("it's not just important to Randal, even though he suggested it!" "Can't we just NOT have it because HE suggested it?!") / Randal / Raymond / thinking about things possibly becoming overanalysis / hating people.

We also talked about trust / Committee duties / "being a hermit" / Mr. Creep NOT being suggested as a possible Committee member (thank GOODNESS!) / "Dee-Jo" / how "drunk" I was (You were with me from 9:30 to 6:55! WHERE DID YOU SEE ME GETTING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THAT?!) / letting things slide in terms of blogging late at night (NEVER!) / his thinking HE was bad for staying up till 3:30 AM earlier in the week / the Lich King or Death in WORLD OF WARCRAFT / being hungry (LISTEN TO YOUR STOMACH! 25 MINUTES MAKES A DIFFERENCE!) / bread, wine, and cheese at home for dinner / his parents being at the hockey game versus the Carolina Hurricanes. Speaking of the game, the Canucks won 5-1! When I got home, I decided that I had to do my own laundry tonight. Thanks to the computer cooperating in terms of speed AND my exiting out of Trillian when Vanessa tried starting a conversation, I'm all caught up as of now... no staying up really late for me tonight! I've also decided that I don't like these apple / tangerine / watermelon Icebreaker Sour mints - I'll give them to one of the kids next weekend!

Shoes, sprees, drama, and pub food

High-scoring words of the morning:

SHOES (275 points) - against Betty W. [two 5W]
SPREES (225 points) - against Lori H. [two 5W]


BRING ON THE DRAMA!!!!!

You Are Cheerful Fun

You are a sympathetic and comforting person. You have a soothing influence. When it's time to let loose, you remain low key. You're not going to get worked up about anything. Your friends can count on you to make them feel better. You are understanding and reassuring. It hasn't been a good night unless you feel completely relaxed and rejuvenated.

The Pub Food Test

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Against mayo, favoring doves, and Dagwood's first meat sandwich on BLONDIE

High-scoring words of the night:

MAYO (176 points) - against Bette S. [two 4W]
AGAINST (144 points) - against Sophie P.-S. [two 4W]
FAVOR (192 points) - against Suzette W. [3W, 4W]
VERSET (124 points; two 3W, hook off NAIL for a plural), EXPO (280 points; 5W, 5L on X) - against Val C.
ACUTES (160 points) - against Val C. [4W, two 2W] {different game}
DOVE (144 points) - against Alice S. [two 4W]


Trivia fact for Sunday, Oct. 17: What meat was in the very first sandwich constructed by Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie comic strip? Tongue. The first Dagwood sandwich (featured in the comic strip in April 1936) included tongue, onion, mustard, sardines, beans, and horseradish.