FIRST PLACE IN THE WEST!

I was still in a blah mood, but talked to James on YM anyway, and also talked to Talia on AIM. Discussed life, journal entries, work, society, expectations, FINALLY adding each other to LJ, baseball, hockey, wedding cakes, the Capitals, and more. The Canucks and Flames played each other, and the game went to overtime. I saw a funny post on the Canucks wall: "Golden-tongued Mark Lee on the CBC call tonight has found 3 new Canucks in the lineup not previously known to the adoring Vancouver fans: Maxine Lapierre, Zack Carlson, and Henrik Burrows. Welcome to Vancouver, boys!" HAHAHAHA! For some reason, I kept mixing up Zack Kassian and Dan Karlsson when I heard their names on Team 1040. Maybe I'm going deaf already. EBBETT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3-2 OVERTIME WINNER! FIRST PLACE IN THE WEST, BABY!!!!!!! SIX WINS IN A ROW! :D [Eric later bugged me on MSN about tomorrow - I have NO idea, man!]

Google Maps, DRAGON WARRIOR, March 2012 BBT Tally

Harmony emailed me last night to thank me for my generous gifts of the toys, sippy cup, and baby wipes; she also thanked me for coming out to the baby shower, since she and Jane had had fun! I'm sure she can use the things I gave her, hopefully! Eric tried calling me when I was in the shower, but resorted to MSN: there's been a delay, and he figures it might be best if we cancel. If he calls me later, we're still on. Sounds good to me, and I'll definitely be thinking of him! Matt shared a funny DRAGON WARRIOR / Google Maps video with me - he isn't sure it's NOT an April Fool's joke, but it made me laugh!
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rznYifPHxDg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


<b>MONTHLY BUBBLE TEA TALLY, MARCH 2012 (2)</b>

lychee @ Big Orange (Thursday, Mar. 22)
banana @ Big Orange (Friday, Mar. 30)

Dementia, Easter bunnies, stress in keeping up, and a 5-2 win!

Found myself still craving some Mexican food, so I went out to get some at Richmond Centre... turns out I forgot about the construction in the food court! DEMENTIA! Also got myself a 200g Easter bunny with rice crisps inside at Shoppers - I thought I'd done that yesterday, but it turned out I didn't. Since I was there, I got three packages (two dark chocolate, and one white chocolate) of unexpectedly on-sale Lindt chocolate eggs (today was the last day!) and some Smarties eggs. (I decided to give some to Chrystal later)

Overhearing a conversation between a clerk and a security officer, I heard about a major shoplifter in Richmond: apparently, his thing is to pick up receipts off the floor, see if he can get similar items from the shelves, and get away with stealing. He had six undercover cops trailing him from Lansdowne to Richmond Centre once, and does this at ALL the stores! Bought myself a banana bubble tea at Big Orange, too. I was home in plenty of time for my beloved weekly tradition and the hockey game, so that was a BONUS!

EARTH HOUR is tomorrow, and that always reminds me of my ex and Chilliwack's Cottonwood Mall in 2008. WHY IS MY ALMOND MILK ALL FROZEN AND SUCH?! I WAS GOING TO DRINK IT, TOO! NOW I HAVE TO GO OUT AND BUY SOME MORE! Went out to London Drugs, and was back just in time for the hockey game - got two almond milks and one Koala raspberry-guava drink. Since Scarlett added me to ANOTHER active hockey group without my permission, I had way too much to keep up with while the game was on - UGH, SO STRESSFUL! Some random person by the name of Charles Labree tried adding me to Facebook - I DON'T THINK SO! At least the game ended with Vancouver winning 5-2 against the Stars!

Like I said in my FB status: "I decided I can't keep up with two active hockey groups, two relatively active communities, an active weekly Friday post elsewhere, and my own FB feed during a game. WAY TOO MUCH STRESS. I've dropped the new hockey group. (not this one) The next person to add me to a group without my permission gets unfriended." I can just imagine trying to keep up with this shit when Eric comes over tomorrow... I don't want to know how stressed I'd have been if I had Trillian ON tonight!

Canada dropping the penny / Chinese Eric!

Canada is finally dropping the penny - yay! Mom says we're having turkey, gnocchi (with tomato basil sauce), and cheesecake or mango pudding at Easter dinner. Once I saw Chinese Eric online, I shot him a message; he says it should be okay for the 9th! Then he said that he needed to take his grandma for hospital checkups on Saturday, and isn't sure what time it'll be done; if he calls me when he finishes, it should be all good. I have no idea what I feel like for dinner then, haha. Of course I updated him on recent developments while calling Steph and discussing Mom / family drama / my turning into Mom / parental support in their own way / Lisa's family! Eric and I also discussed Nate, how Jon and Harmony are preparing themselves for the kid (books!), the baby staying only a couple days in the hospital, spoiling the kid with a big family, Taco Del Mar (Ironwood and Bridgeport are on the edges of the city!), Taco Luis in Lansdowne Mall, mall closing hours on Saturdays, Subway being healthy enough, and more. Of course he had to go to bed when he got sleepy - I just stayed up reading CRACKED articles, which is less intensive than what I've been doing for the past few days. Might go to bed myself pretty soon...

Limited Edition Tic-Tacs and Oreos! / Easter candy

Mom emailed us about Easter Dinner - I guess that's coming up, sigh. Good thing nobody wants it on the Saturday, because that's the last regular season game! Plans all around, baby! When I opened a box of Birthday Cake Oreos after finishing my latest mini-project, they smelled almost too sweet. I've since tried one, and they're pretty good! Went out to London Drugs afterwards to get toilet cleaning supplies (am trying 2000 Flushes for BLUE WATER), various on-sale Easter chocolate for Chrystal and the kids (eggs / Russell Stover mini bunnies), two mini marshmallow eggs, eight Easter cards (to use up the stickers - doubling them up - which Julie S. gave me), a parental anniversary card, a birthday card for Enoch (taking advantage of an in-store coupon), 140 Hello Kitty stickers, Real Fruit mango and yogurt gummies, and some limited edition Arctic Rush Tic-Tacs. I also got an on-sale Easter stuffed animal ($2.99 - save $7) for the upcoming baby. Yes, I'm spoiling the kid already, and it isn't even born yet!

Got home to a phone call AND email from my sister, who says that Mom is QUITE anxious to book flights. Called Mom (after dialing myself first - FAIL!) to give her my passport info; she says I can invite Chinese Eric to the dinner. Cool, because I was going to ask him on Saturday! Also turns out that I was right in guessing that Troy and Brandi are sorta kinda together-ish, so YES! On the hockey group, she asked how I knew: my intuition kicked in!


Here's a picture of Birthday Cake Oreos:

BIRTHDAY CAKE OREOS / NO CURLING!

Eric had to buzz me on MSN last night; he tried convincing me to be a curling spectator, but I don't think that's going to happen. I do have my beloved weekly tradition - as a quirkyalone (which I also told him about), I need that part of my routine. I guess I knew I was different from childhood. When you go off on your own to read during a friend's seventh birthday party (wonder if Kevin George still remembers that), and make up elaborate families (the Frothings!) in your head till your twenties or so.... yeah. My mom would ALWAYS say that "you can't live a dream world because life isn't like that," but I would just think "What if I WANT it to be like that?!" Yes, I know that life isn't about those things practically, but seriously... WHY NOT?! Is it HARMING you, lady?! Sheesh!

Besides, there's a hockey game on at 7! Yes, I will especially need peace and quiet during that time tomorrow! I finished the quadruplets and quintuplets lists yesterday, too. Should be able to finish both sextuplets entries today, which will be nice for my self-imposed deadline of tomorrow before 2. That way, I can truly enjoy the aforementioned weekly tradition AND Saturday! Replied to Mandy's email as well - yes, it IS awesome that I know a part of myself. :D

Price Smart customer service called me about those Birthday Cake Oreos - I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON WHY I DIDN'T GO OUT TILL NOW! I'm sure the workers there laughed on the inside when I asked them why they weren't on the shelves, but the Customer Service desk had two boxes for me. I also bought five on-sale Hungry Man microwaveable meals, and one more bag of kimchi dumplings. (they had potstickers, but I'll get those next time) I failed at using my debit card at the self-checkout, so I used the cash option instead! Steph and Lisa had bought a box at Target in the States last week, it turns out - "you should have told us earlier!" indeed. Paid my phone bill when I got home, also. Spent less than $25 at the store, which is GOOD - CONTROL!

Consecutive 1-0 shutouts! / Sweeps! / Talia / Quirkyalone quiz result

Found out that Chapters doesn't have that Quirkyalone book; boo! Probably a good thing for my wallet, haha. Talked to Talia on AIM for a bit before the hockey game started, and I turned off Trillian to get peace and quiet... the second time facing the Avs in less than a week! Discussed the quiz, my discovery, TQC, SHIPPO, mods, and more. The game was a 1-0 SHUTOUT FOR CORY SCHNEIDER, SWEEPING THE CANUCKS-AVS SERIES! :D Yes, this means consecutive 1-0 shutouts for him and Roberto Luongo!

My quiz result from QuirkyAlone: How quirkyalone are you? Your score was 120. Very quirkyalone: Relatives may give you quizzical looks, and so may friends, but you know in your heart of hearts that you are following your inner voice. Though you may not be romancing a single person, you are romancing the world. Celebrate your freedom on National Quirkyalone Day, February 14th!

Sonic the Hedgehog wakes Taiwanese zombies up!

Woke up at 8:25 AM because of the extremely sunny weather. Blocked a random YM person who messaged me at 2:40 AM, since I didn't know a Jake or Jasper. Complained to Corey on MSN about waking up early, who said that it was UP TIME and that the early bird gets the worm. ("but the late worm stays alive!") Talked about Daylight Savings Time, which they don't do in Taiwan; LUCKY! He says he got a high school girl to talk in class today; Sonic the Hedgehog got them to change from zombie status, of all things! Discussed my new discovery, a Compaq Presario, prank calls, and more. Had to change to the new version of Blogger, too. A while later, Cecilia M. added me on Facebook; it's all good!

200 FB notifications / Jason Chimera

I was wondering why I haven't been getting notifications for stuff posted in the Puckheads group (or FB stuff in general) for the last few days. Lo and behold, I have now found 200 FB notifications in my spam folder, which meant Gmail thought it was spam! Damn, that group is active! I marked them as NOT SPAM, moved them to my inbox, and deleted them from there instead. Later, I felt as if the whole world were somehow different; this is a good thing! I also heard of a Washington Capitals player named Jason Chimera. I LOVE THAT LAST NAME! :D

Quirkyalone, sprained ankle, intense 1-0 shutout, 24 hours of "fasting"

Talked to Talia on AIM for a bit about her sprained ankle, TV shows, the Rock still wrestling, before the hockey game started. The refs called a "shower of snow" on the Kings this time as "unsportsmanlike conduct" - it IS in the rules, but nobody ever does that! I finally felt hungry enough to eat something (chocolate chip cookies), 24 hours after dinner yesterday! Throughout the day / my "fast," I kept myself hydrated! THE LAST MINUTES OF THE GAME WERE REALLY FUCKING INTENSE, BUT THE 1-0 SHUTOUT STOOD! YAY FOR MALHOTRA!

Thanks to that library book which I picked up on a whim the last time I was there, I've discovered something about my personality! This is one word to describe myself: "quirkyalone." James seems to think it fits, and I guess he knows me well enough to make such a statement. I'll show it to others who know me well, and see what they think.

Sextuplets Info, as of March 2012

Thank goodness for the Internet Wayback Machine! All info taken from Facts About Multiples.


Total Sets
I have recorded 181 sets of sextuplets in the world as of May 2011.

First Sets Born
1500s - Italy
1600s - Italy
1831 - Unidentified (USA, December 30 1831) They were reportedly 6 girls, none survived, and the mother was 19.

First Surviving Set
1974 - David Peter (4 bs 4 ozs), Emma Louise (3 lbs), Nicolette Anne (2 lbs 7 ozs), Grant (4 lbs 1 ozs), Elizabeth Rebecca (3 lbs 5 ozs), and Jason Solomon (4 lbs 6 ozs) Rosenkowitz born in South Africa, January 11 1974.

All Surviving Sets
36 sets

1974 - Rosenkowitz (South Africa, January 11) David, Grant, Jason, Emma, Nicolette, Elizabeth.
1980 - Giannini (Italy, January 11) Francesco, Fabrizio, Giorgio, Roberto, Letizia, Linda.
1983 - Vanhove/Gadeyne (Belgium, August 17) Bruno, Jelle, Tom, Anne, Lode, Veerle.
1983 - Walton (England, UK, November 18) Hannah, Lucy, Ruth, Sarah, Kate, Jennifer.
1986 - Coleman (England, November 12) Gary, James, Stuart, Hannah, Nichola, Jayne.
1989 - Adam (France, January 14) Melanie, Doriane, Coralie, Gaelle, Cedric, Kevin.
1993 - Vince (England, May 19) Rebecca, Gregory, Katie, Stephanie, Jessica, Valerie.
1993 - Asencio/Lungano (Argentina, May 22) Francisco, Julio, Mercedes, Mary Ines, Lucia, and Mary Laura.
1993 - Dilley (Indiana, May 25) Brenna, Ian, Julian, Quinn, Claire, Adrian.
1993 - Lopez (Argentina, July 7) María Luz, Solana, Camila, Julieta, Alejo, Lautaro.
1994 - Caram (Argentina, March 2) Maria Ines, Lucia, Mercedes, Laura, Julio, Francisco
1996 - Haner (New York, March 22) Christian, Ryan, Austin, Mary Ellen, Joshua, Breanna.
1996 - Incarnato (Italy, March 27) Sara, Deborah, Rosanna, Mariarca, Emanuele, Pasquale.
1996 - Garja/Tijerina (Mexico, June 26) Luis, Jose, Carlos, Esperanza, Rebeca, Ana.
1997 - Boniello (New York, March 24) Trifon, Sabrina Juliet, Olivia Frederica, Gerard Martin, Sophia Betty, Stella Raquel.
1997 - Secco (Italy, August 11) Davide, Jacopo, Nicolo, Elena, Silvia, Mattia
1998 - Prijono (Indonesia, November 29) Danny, Davis, Dylon, Douglas, Dominick, Deirdre.
1999 - Martinez/Muniz (Mexico, November 23 1999) José, Gerardo, Antonio, Fabian, Julia, Cecilia.
2000 - unidentified (Saudi Arabia, February 20 2000) 3 boys, 3 girls, all survive
2002 - Headrick (Kansas, April 6) Grant Douglas, Ethan Roy, Sean Edward, Melissa Sue, Jaycie Linette, Danielle Patrice.
2002 - Harris (Alabama, July 7) Kierra Christine, Kaylynne Antoinett, Kaleb Reddrick, Kobe Byshari, Kieran Anthony, Kyle Jacob.
2003 - Perry (Pennsylvania, March 19) Ian, Simon, Olivia, Zoe, Joshua, Madison.
2003 - Al-Khatih (Gaza/Palestine, September 12) Yasser, Arafat, Ammar, Palestina, Tahreer, Nida.
2004 - Van Houten (Michigan, January 7, 16, 17) Jon Paul, Gerrit, Peyton, Nolan, Samantha, Kennedy.
2004 - Hanselman (Ohio, February 26) Kyle, Logan, Alex, Isabella, Sophia, Lucy.
2004 - Otten (Illinois, April 9) Jacob, Joshua, Tyler, Isabella, Madison, Rileigh.
2004 - Gosselin (Pennsylvania, May 10) Joel, Aaden, Collin, Alexis, Hannah, Leah. Also have twins.
2004 - Hayes (New Jersey, September 14) Connor, Eric, Ryan, Rebecca, Rachel, Tara.
2004 - unidentified (California, September 15) 4 boys, 2 girls.
2005 - Ibrahim/Ahmed (Egypt, January) 5 girls, 1 boy, Imen, Esra, Elee, Aye, Esme, Muhammed
2005 - Moreno/Sanchez (Mexico, July) 6 girls, Flor, Gabriela Segumi, Fátima, Elizabeth, Mayela, Ángela.
2005 - Figueroa/Perez (Dominican Republic, December 27) 3 boys, 3 girls, Emilio, Manuel, Hugo, Paola, Nerey, Emely
2007 - Masche (Arizona, June 11) Bailey, Savannah, Molli, Cole, Blake, Grant.
2007 - Byler (Florida, September 1) Brady, Eli, Ryan, Jackson, Charlie, MacKenzie.
2008 - Carpio (New York, October 6) Justin, Genesis, Joel, Jadon, Jezreel, Danelia
2008 - Temiz (Germany, October 16) 4 girls, 2 boys, Rana, Esma, Zeynep, Zehra, Adem, Ahmed.

In addition, there are 6 surviving octuplets born to Rosario Clavijo in Spain on December 5 1996, and a set of 6 surviving septuplets born to the McGhee family.

There is the possibility of 50 sets living, as I don't have follow up info on these sets:

1978 - unidentified (Guatemala, September 1978) 5 boys, 1 girl, unsure how many survive
1980 - Abbas Basha (Egypt, June 1980) 6 girls, unsure how many survive
1983 - Ahmed (Iraq, January 25 1983) 6 boys, unsure how many survive, not verified
1985 - Shanun (Israel, October 8 1985) 5 boys, 1 girl
1986 - unidentified (Australia, 1986)
1989 - unidentified (Italy, May 20 1989)
1993 - Radic (Ecuador, April 23 1993) 4 boys, 2 girls
1994 - Caram (Argentina, March 2 1994) 4 girls, 2 boys, unsure how many survive
1996 - Carotenuto (Italy, February 27 1996) 4 girls, 2 boys
1998 - unidentified (Saudi Arabia, September 6 1998) 3 boys, 3 girls, reported to be spontaneous, already had a set of triplets
1999 - Belfort (June 15 1999)
2000 - unidentified (Saudi Arabia, February 20 2000)
2002 - Sheikh (Pakistan, October 30 2002) 5 boys, 1 girl
2003 - Ghosson (Lebanon, October 11 2003) 4 girls, 2 boys, Batool, Mariyam, Hitaf, Aya, Ali, Abdelrahman (1 may have died, the hospital site says 5 went home)
2003 - Chiarelli/Lo Vetere (Italy, 2003) reportedly conceived spontaneously
2012 - Gul (Afghanistan, 2012) 3 boys, 3 girls (one was 1 lb 9 ozs) spontaneous

If anyone knows whether these sets survived, please email me. Most of the info I got from old newspapers, but they never followed up on how many survived.

First American Set To Survive
1993 - Brenna, Ian, Julian, Quinn, Claire, and Adrian Dilley of Indiana, born May 25 1993.

First African-American Set To Survive
2002 - Kierra, Kaylynne, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran, and Kyle Harris (Alabama, July 7).

The Thompson sextuplets were the first African-American set to be born in the US, with 5 surviving.

First Set Born From Fertility Treatments
1968 - Lynne (d), Julie, Susan, girl (d), Ian (d), and Roger Thorns were born in England in October 2 1968; they were the result of HCG treatment.

Youngest Mother of Sextuplets
19 years old - Unidentified (USA, December 30 1831)
19 years old - Unidentified (Nigeria, 1907) 6 girls, none survived.

Lightest Birthweight (Total, all 6 survive)
9 lbs 2 ozs - Van Houten (Michigan, January 7, 16, and 17 2004)

Lightest Birthweight (Single Baby, surviving)
15 ozs - Sylas Morrison (Minnesota, June 10, 2007)

Heaviest Birthweight (Total, all 6 survive)
24 lbs 14 ozs - Hayes (New Jersey, September 14 2004)

Heaviest Birthweight (Single Baby, surviving) .
4 lbs 10 ozs - Ryan Hayes (New Jersey, 2004).

Longest Gestation
33 weeks - Prijono (Indonesia, November 29 1998)
33 weeks - José, Gerardo, Antonio, Fabian, Julia, and Cecilia Martinez (Mexico, November 23 1999).
33 weeks - Wang (China, May 29 2003)

Delayed Birth
24 days - Jeremiah, Noah, Christopher, Rebekah, Hannah, and Faith Collins born October 18 (Christopher) and November 11 1998. Four survive.

Natural Delivery
3 sets - Vanhove/Gadeyne (Belgium, August 17 1983), Ibikunle (Nigeria, March 31 2003), Van Houten (Michigan, January 7, 16, and 17 2004).

Spontaneously Conceived
40 sets (most pre-1960s)

In recent years:
8 sets: Garja/Tijerino (sometimes seen as Martinez) (Mexico, June 26 1996), Hong (China, December 23 1998), Unidentified (Saudi Arabia, 1998), Ibukinle (Nigeria, March 31 2003), Wang (China, May 2003), Abdel-Meguid/Abdel Hakim (Egypt, October 27 2003), Chiarelli/Lo Vetere (Italy, 2003), Gul (Afghanistan, 2012)

All Female Sextuplets
8 sets - Only 1 (possibly 2) sets with all surviving.

1831 - Unidentified (USA, December 30 1831) none survived.
1893 - Unidentified (England), no word on survivors.
1907 - Unidentified (Nigeria) with none surviving.
1980 - Abbas Basha (Egypt, 1980) no word on survivors.
1983 - Hannah, Lucy, Ruth, Sarah, Kate, and Jenny Walton (England, November 18 1983) Said to be 1st surviving all-female set.
1997 - Abdel-Fattah (Egypt, October 31 1997) 4 survive
2005 - Moreno/Sanchez (Mexico, July 2005) born at 32 weeks

All Male Sextuplets
2 or 3 sets - None survived as far as I know.

1967 - Unidentified (Pakistan, November 1 1967), with no info on survivors.
1983 - Ahmed (Iraq, January 1983) Reported, not confirmed, but never followed up on if any survived.
1985 - Calcatelli (Italy, January 9 1985). One died at 10 days, but I don't know how many survived. [Note, this set may actually be 4 boys and 2 girls]

Sets With Identicals
6 sets

3 identical, 2 identical - Calcatelli (Italy, January 9 1985) 6 boys, 5 may survive [Note: I've seen a report that they were 4 boys and 2 girls]
2 sets of identicals - 1903 - Unidentified (Ghana, April 19 1903) 2 sets of boys were identical, 1 boy fraternal and 1 girl fraternal. None survived.
2 sets of identicals - 2003 - Abdel-Meguid/Abdel Hakim (Egypt, October 27 2003) 2 boys identical, 2 girls identical, a boy & girl fraternal. 5 survive (1 girl died).
2 sets of identicals - 2006 - Bailey (Arizona, February 17 2006) 2 boys identical, 2 girls identical, 4 survive (IVF conceived).
3 identical - 1998 - Hong (China, December 23 1998) 3 boys identical, 1 boy fraternal, 2 girls fraternal. 4 survive.
2 identical - 1998 - Lacasale (New Jersey, October 20 1998) 2 identical babies were lost in utero, unsure of sex.
2 identical - 2007 - Soldani (California, September 12 2007) 4 girls, 2 boys, Lucia, Joely (d), Bailey (d), Briana (d), Bruno, Santino.

American Surviving Sextuplets (less than 6 surviving)
Not counting the sets where all 6 survived, there have been 27 other births of sextuplets in the USA since 1831.

Sets Born Per Year (USA)
Since 1989, there have been an average of 1.125 sets of sextuplets born each year in the USA.
About 2.72% of all sextuplets will have some identical children.

Sausages and banana = phallic breakfast / Harmony and Jane's baby shower / Italian food

I had sausages and a banana for breakfast. Yes, yes, I know.... phallic symbols out the wazoo on a "religious" Sunday morning. :P Since Nada Surf's POPULAR was on the radio when Eric called, I gave him the greeting "Wash your hair every two weeks, got it?" (which could have backfired if Veronica was on the other end!) He was bemused, and told me that there surely must be other options! Of course, of course... later, he said that he'd never heard the song. On the way over, we talked about jerks / feelings / online people / Paul / "avoidance" / yesterday's wedding / my grandma's questions about him. We also established that April Fools is next week exactly (I'M NOT GETTING PUNKED IN REAL LIFE OR THE INTERNET!), and that Easter is the week following. I don't think I'll be going to Good Friday service this year since the description doesn't sound appealing... I do KNOW it's not about that, but "sitting in relative darkness and silence for 45 minutes" is not something I can do these days unless I'm trying to sleep! I also told him that I wouldn't go to curling this Friday even if there IS one more open spot, and wondered why he'd tried calling me a couple days ago. "One more opportunity to go to Bible Study" doesn't wash with ME! At least he didn't put on the Christian station this week!

At service, we learned that Auntie Rebecca would be leaving the church to return to Hong Kong since she has "received signs from God" that it's time to look after her elderly in-laws and mother. (I think we'll all miss her jolly laughter and concern!) We also learned that Micah had had fevers and seizures recently, leaving Phil and Grace VERY worried, and praying desperately! (I'd totally understand that) At least they know what to do about it now! Later, I saw ELAINE! Talked to her for a bit about China, New Hampshire (where her husband Matt's family is), starting a family because it's time, and "waiting on God to determine their next ministry step." I'll think of her a lot, and same with Auntie Rebecca! Chatted to Andrew L. about things before saying hi to Billy and his sons Benjamin and Noah. Said hi to Deb and a smiling baby Declan before trying to secure transportation to the baby shower from Tracy or Yvonne; I called Steph from the church phone (with Uncle Eugene right there) to see if she could do it. ("Go have lunch with the lards instead of sushi by yourself - it'll be free, and I can pick you up!") Tracy gave her directions and said she'd drive me, but she still had to go home and organize stuff. I didn't even ask her since I knew about that! Yvonne had the same worship meeting that Eric was going to; right after that was squared away, Eric wondered if I had a ride out of there. YES! Said hi to Amanda, Dylan, Anita, Allison, Wes / Esther / their daughter, Frances, her son Micah, and Elaine again. Elaine had to decline lunch since she's spending a lot of family time with her nieces and nephews before she moves again! UNDERSTANDABLE! Also talked to Randal about seeing Karen Choo last night; he figured that the "normal" way of contacting her was good enough, haha!

Saw Danny, Ashley, Ramen, Shira, Ada, Mattias, James, Jessie, Anastasia, and Lanie at Toddler Sunday School. James wanted to build a submarine, and Mattias wanted to build a tablecloth (?!) and a tram like the ones in San Francisco. Ashley didn't want to do much else except color her picture of the seasons and weather, which was fine. Afterwards, I secured my place at lunch with Mom, and we left pretty much right away. Said hi to Auntie Paula, Uncle Percy, Auntie Eva, Auntie Evie, Alan (who said Polly was at a choir practice - they'd been to Tsui Woo just yesterday, which IS NOT SURPRISING IN ANY WAY), Auntie Helen, and others at lunch. Mom was worried that I wouldn't get enough to eat (so she really ordered too much ha-gow / noodles / eggplant / chicken feet / green onion pancake / dim sum in general), and Denise later said that everyone was running late anyway! When Steph got there after eating lunch, people told her to eat some more, which she reluctantly did.

After getting to the party room at Tracy's place, we found MORE food in the form of fruit and veggie platters / Costco chocolate croissants / mango juice / chocolate chip cookies / other items. (we had fudge cake later) Talked to Harmony, Amy (she and Brian are getting married in August), Jane, Connie, Yvonne, Grace, Deb, Tracy (who's due in September), Denise, and Steph about various topics: CHOCOLATE IN DIAPERS! SUCKING MILK OUT OF BOTTLES! WINNIE'S KIDS! CHANGING A CREEPY BABY DOLL! THE HUNGER GAMES! CLOTH DIAPERS OR DISPOSABLE DIAPERS! BABY ISSUES! DECLAN! BABY POOLS! Dylan, Brian, Jon, and Edwin showed up after having some beers ("man shower"?!) to help with the heavy lifting and eat some food. Later, the Ngs and Ho decamped to Jon and Harmony's newer place for a few minutes while deciding what to do before dinner; we walked to Kafka's Café for the Syphon / peppermint tea (Steph got it for me) / water / coffee. We talked about hipsters, clam chowder, soccer games, Paul being unreachable (whatever!), Alan drinking wine, pregnancy, Jon singing random songs (without profanity) to the baby (who can be "Baby Ug"), Jane being a sweet girl, pre-natal fitness, chemistry, and more before busing to the dinner location.

The area at Main and Terminal brought back some Greyhound memories for me, but I'm VERY over that (kind of) relationship! Campagnolo Restaurant was pretty good; we talked about soup, pasta, pizza, grappa, Purdy's hedgehogs, hazelnut, Caesarean sections, the cervix, pregnancy, Dawn's family, Alice, Glen Clark, Uncle Daniel's family (we're SURE he has secret lunches with Megan since his wife disapproves of their son-in-law, and Phil before him!), our cousins, Eni / real estate, hockey news, Auntie Catherine and Uncle Y.C., TMI, the MOM'S BATHTUB READER which Mom got for Harmony (she didn't regift the largely-unread one I got her YEARS ago), and more. Grandma was in a worse mood than the last time we took her out for dinner, that's for sure! She doesn't like Shanghai food, but she was SMILING and laughing a couple weeks ago when it was just the younger family members! At least I survived the busy weekend, and have the rest of this week to regroup before SATURDAY!

Grandma NO FILTER / Dawn and Eni's wedding

Managed to renew most of my library books before going out to Dawn and Eni's wedding and banquet. Somehow, I needed to survive the afternoon and evening with my parents, and also needed to survive tomorrow! The thought of next Saturday kept me going! Mom told me that she had Princess Cruises chocolates for me, along with some instant noodles. "You should boil them in water first to get rid of the wax!" This time, I didn't even bother telling her that it was an urban legend. They're not the most healthy thing to eat, I know, but that doesn't mean the wax thing is TRUE! (she also had no idea how to pronounce "Eni," or where Albania was!)

We discussed Vegas and who might look after Big G, who at least knew she was on her way to a wedding. It wasn't until later when Steph told her that it was Dawn's wedding that she clued in! She kept offering us something to eat - maybe she was hungry - but I told Steph that she'd offered me cookies while a funeral was actually going on once! (even if I'd wanted to eat them, I JUST WOULDN'T!) Again, she has NO FILTER! She asked Steph how long Pastor Bob was going to talk for, and opined that they (ministers) said the same thing every time! My poor sister was trying to shush her! During the prayer, she told Steph to move her purse and program because someone might take them!

Saw Benedict, Jen, Karen Lew, Vania, Uncle Reuben, Auntie Christine, Vivian, Uncle Timothy, Auntie Lillian, Auntie Catherine, Uncle Y.C., Uncle Hansel, Auntie Cathy, Lawrence, Andrew T., Uncle Cho-Kai, Auntie Anna, Linda Yan, Jenny, and others at the wedding at UBC. Jon talked to Dawn's parents Uncle Albert and Auntie Betty, but I figured I could do that later. I expected some religious content, as Dawn's parents still go to church. Not sure how personally religious Dawn is at this point, but it doesn't matter to me. My parents think that she can work on Eni, which I don't think will help if he dislikes it. I'm not saying there can't be religious conversions or whatever, but it's none of our business! Jon decided to clown around with his tie, and put it around his head for Steph to take a picture. The actual wedding ceremony was pretty good, and PASTOR BOB officiated?! (for some reason - Eric says "declining vision," and I say "only met the guy THREE TIMES!" - I couldn't recognize him at first) I guess it makes sense since he was pastoring in Hong Kong for a number of years. The ug told me about the Whip last week; I'd heard about it, and it seemed to go well. I liked Eni's mom's name, which is a variant spelling of Tatiana. :D

Later, Pastor Bob said it was good to see me there; I assume Jon had finished explaining our connection to Dawn's family since I'm sure he doesn't know that, and Dad came up to bug us jokingly about something. We asked Pastor Bob if he could see a resemblance, and he said yes. Later, we waited outside for some free coffee; I got green tea, and Grandma settled for hot water since there wasn't any hot chocolate. It was good just talking to people afterwards; Geoffrey is so tall now, haha. He says he misses Canada a lot, but will have to stay in Hong Kong for a few years yet! Said hi to Dawn's parents, who did come here from Hong Kong too.

The family decided to go to Granville Island later since it was near the restaurant for dinner. (Steph drove us there since she wasn't going to dinner; I told her that I'd forgotten Lisa's chocolate, but there was no room in Steph's clutch purse for it anyway) Had saffron and pecan bread from a bakery (interesting yellow coloring inside!), ate mango ice cream, and got some cooked sausage; I'll have mine for breakfast tomorrow, I guess! A bird pooped on Harmony's jacket, so she and Dad were cleaning it up! At Dockside, I found a use for Harmony's notebook... writing tag prompts! I saw Auntie Teresa, who said hi to me - since I don't have anything to say to her, I didn't say anything beyond a curt "hi."

Jon, Harmony, Lincoln, Karen Lew, and I spent time talking about housing / Eric Ho / Holly / Richmond / Joyce Station / minimalism in baby stuff / red wine / Mom's alcohol tolerance / upcoming weddings / Myles (Whistler as a wedding venue?!) / Sean C. / Uncle Keith the real estate guy / life updates / Emily Carr / pregnancy / RCMP / Citrus / Richmond / Joyce working for Facebook briefly. Megan and Andy came by with their 20-month-old son Joshua, who liked looking around at things. We said hi to him, although he was shy... understandable! Dinner was chowder or salad; steak, chicken, or vegetarian; coffee, tea, and tiramisu. We laughed at Uncle Albert's speech, but Auntie Betty really brought the religious points home when she spoke! Oh well, at least the speeches (the others weren't Bible-based!) weren't interminably long! Saw Ivan and Karen Choo later; Karen said she DID get my email and meant to respond with a White Spot lunch invite to celebrate our birthdays, but got swamped with work. She says maybe mid-April would work for her; we'll see! I'll have to tell Randal about this tomorrow if I see him, haha. Everyone laughed when Eni said he was looking forward to getting to know Dawn better, hehe.

Afterwards, my parents decided to go to Shoppers Drug Mart. (Mom was frustrated that Grandma kept telling everyone that she'd just gotten back from Hong Kong, and threatened to pack her off to Hong Kong to live with Uncle Michael instead if she wanted to go there so badly!) I was tasked with staying in the car so Grandma wouldn't wander off. She asked me three times in ten minutes what took them so long, asked whether "White Kid" (white Eric) had a girlfriend yet, and told me that she recognized "E," "R," and "S" from the Shoppers Drug Mart. (she was VERY SURPRISED when I told her that particular store location never closed!) She also told me that she knows the English letters for "Shoppers Drug Mart" and "London Drugs" are different, even though she doesn't know what they say! Maybe Lisa is right, and Big G is playing us all for a bunch of fools when she says she doesn't know English! Dad let me return my library books which couldn't be renewed anymore - well, I have one which I haven't finished, but nobody else has requested it.

At home, Eric called me when I'd just gotten in the door; I heard the "beep" and figured I'd catch him online instead! Of course, I had to restart the computer first after I caught up on things. It was then that I got an unexpected offliner from someone, which was nice, but NOT as nice as the news that Vancouver had a 3-2 OT win over Colorado! As I thought, Eric got back to me online to say that I was going to "flip-flop" about going to church. (and bug me about 54-40's SINCE WHEN, and my vision) I have to go tomorrow, though; I won't get a ride to the baby shower from someone if I don't, and I won't get a ride to the Italian food dinner from Steph if I don't go to the shower! Thank goodness the baby shower provides me with an excuse to get out of a thank-you lunch at Tsui Woo! Every time I type "baby shower," I want to type "bridal shower" - WTF, brain?! I also reminded Steph that maybe she should get something for Jane; I just got her a dollar store photo frame in a very small gift bag, but that's just me and my budget!