Cuddling babies in incubators?! (dream) / UPKEEP AND BUSYWORK

I didn't make it to church, but that's okay! Of course, Eric tried calling me! Had a weird dream: Harmony was about to give birth in a hospital, but baby Ayler was just over a year old. He was playing with toy cars when Jon and Harmony weren't cuddling with him in a huge incubator machine. Calla was a nurse there, and decided that Harmony was due for labor because her breasts were really distended, so took her and Jon away. Steph and I tended to the baby, and got him to line up all his cars in a neat row. Auntie Betty showed up with a little Dawn, and held her hand as she opened the big heavy door all by herself. Last thing I remember of the dream: we were all playing with the kids! I don't even want to know why I had it! (am also busy with my "FB tagging / photos / pictures / notes" upkeep idea this afternoon... maybe I'll call my rock later tonight)

Berman, vibrators, Calla NOT Kayla, binoculars, Auntie Grace, and Green Village

Surprised Eric this morning by answering the phone with "Wedding Forum - how may I help you?" Hahaha! We discussed many things on the way to church: weddings in general, good friends, Christian music / static / the Shell Busey home improvement show / 99.3 the Fox, his meetings after church today and next week, religion, funerals, morbid stuff, wedding shows, TLC, things working out after all ride-wise, how I was "drunk" / "getting married," flipping through a Henri Nouwen devotional (of ALL the reading material I could have chosen?!), and more. Since he opted to jaywalk when we parked, I went to the crosswalk and avoided an awkward encounter with Randal. I know it shouldn't be, but it still kind of is for some odd reason. As it is, he said "Morning" to me when I exited the Sunfire since he was passing by; I just said "hello" in response.

Got into the sanctuary, said hi to Joanna and Priscilla on the other side (it IS Spring Break!), saw Enoch, then noted Paul's presence. I was determined not to let him have the power to ruin my day, so reminded myself of that. Thank goodness he didn't sit close by, although he did say hi to MY friend Jeremy, whom I am protective of! (Jon also said hi to him) Talked to Nathan W. about his folding the bulletin in creative ways, and noted Jon talking to Jeremy about French Press coffee (incentive to attend Sunday School) and the Whip later. Gave Jon his envelope from Berman and Grace, and noticed that Pastor Bob mispronounced Calla's name as "Kayla" - I'm not even sure HOW that computes in his mind! There was also a very brief question and answer session after the offering; Eric later told me that the plan was to make it a regular part of service. Oh dear... more excuse to leave early!

Made sure to say hi to Grandma and tell her that we'd be going to dinner with Jon tomorrow, even though she won't remember. Auntie Eva wanted to make sure I knew the plans - yes, of course! Went into the fellowship hall and said hi to Deb, Auntie Soo, baby Ava, Adam, Andrew, Lawrence, Amanda, and others. Yes, my parents get back tomorrow from their South American cruise! Checked with Jon about stuff tomorrow, which was fine. Went upstairs and said hi to Mel, Frances, Micah (who wouldn't hold hands with his little friend), little Joanna, Benedict (who said the sleepover went as expected), Martin, Sarah C., Mei Lin, Auntie Vivian, and others.

Saw Jessie, Lanie, Rachel's grandma, new kids named Jared L. (3) and Natalie (1), Ashley (gave her a Kleenex when she cried), David, Evelyn, Ramen, Shira, and James at Toddler Sunday School. Played with toys, cars, Legos, binoculars, and puzzles; also indulged James wanting to touch the subtle bling on my blue sweater, and his seeming need to hold my hands. Learned that Ashley is allergic to hand sanitizer, which does happen. It was fun, and I had missed that whole thing.

Afterwards, I checked with Jon about his teaching at the HOHOHOs, and he figures that he'll start at 3 and be here at 4:30. All I gotta do is tell Grandma not to cook anything at least 20 times tomorrow afternoon, hahaha. Doesn't matter if Jon's invited Eric to the Hog Shack / hockey game plans, although we shouldn't count on Big G to pay for the whole thing! I said hi to Pastor Edward; when Auntie Grace (with Uncle George) spotted me, she gave me a big hug hello! (I'm sure Dave and Tiffany are doing well) Went to Green Village for lunch with Grandma, Uncle Eric, Auntie Brenda, Auntie Eva, Uncle Percy, and Auntie Paula - yes, I can understand Chinese!

After Auntie Eva filled up at the gas station (then bought oranges and milk at the nearby Safeway), she took us back to the townhouse. Grandma took her purse into the washroom - like I told Steph on the phone later, WHO'S GOING TO STEAL IT?! She also forgot where her room even WAS in the house. *sigh* Now she's cleaning while I'm watching UNTOLD STORIES OF THE E.R., KING TUT TOMB STORIES, and more. Some poor guy on this show has a vibrator stuck up his ass, and insists on anonymity. Good luck with that one! (especially since you need a gastroenterologist and anesthesia!)

Sugar cubes make mouths tingly?!

When Eric picked me up for church this morning, he commented that I was unusually chipper for the morning, so I said that I'd banned someone already. We discussed that, journals, Ivan, my "long" receipts as proof that I spent thirty thousand dollars, rides, turn signals, cruising, germs, the West Final CFL game next week, karma, voting, Alistair getting tickets, Christon's emails about dinner, Christmas plans, Geoffrey's address, Bible Study, my blue toque, Paul shitting on my hospitality, and my standing up to people. Also talked about the Grey Cup game being in BC, Pastor Tom's last Sunday, glaring at people, his doing SOUND at Illuminate on Friday (a praise and worship service?!), snacks, Daniel Fellowship, my being "drunk," Christmas tunes, DARKWING DUCK / Dave Wong, exes, grudges, the emulator crashing (I swear I'll have to use Vizzed to play MOTHER 3), and more. When I got into church, I told Randal that he looked warm with his scarf, so he said that my toque looked just as warm. Um, yeah? That's kinda what it was designed for... why I even talked to him, I have NO idea.

I talked to Nina and Gerard about Awana, yesterday's shopping, Christmas plans, our weeks, brandy beans, Timothy Fellowship, and more. While that was going on, I saw Paul talking to Mr. Creep - YIKES! Then I was a sneaky ninja and gave the bag of Maynard's Swedish Berries to David Ho - HE could give it to Hien for me, haha! (she thanked me later, even though she'd told me to KEEP THEM!) I said hi to Nathan W. before settling down in a pew, which I actually got all to myself today. After service, I talked to Jeremy about work, Eric's mustache, and a possible Jon birthday dinner - he had to check his calendar, heh. Saw Jordan and Thomas eating sugar cubes because of the tingle - of course it's going to be sweet, kids! Discussed stuff with Andrew before going upstairs: SNES games, emulators (which I've now linked him to), TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, and more. Said hi to Stella and baby Ava, Tim, Jon C. (who's getting baptized next week), Mike K., Sonya, Stanford, Calla, Frances, Micah, Isaac, and others. Margaret tapped Amasiah on the shoulder, and she thought it was me - nope!

Saw Jessie, Rachel's grandma, Anastasia and her dad Danny, Mattias, James, Ramen, Shira, Ashley, Alexis, and a new ten-month-old baby at Toddler Sunday School. James climbed into my lap and wanted me to read a DORA THE EXPLORER book to him... okay, I was up for that briefly! I talked to Mattias about tow trucks, to Shira about coloring, to Ashley about toys, to Alexis about silver balloons, and to the new baby (referring to her as "baby") about toy eggs and such. She seemed to have fun, and cried when her grandma put her in the stroller. I guess I am good with kids to a certain extent!

Went downstairs to wait for Eric (who was listening to Stanley's guitar playing), and talked to Grandma briefly before Auntie Anna came to pick her up. I just let her think that Jon had left already, haha. Vivian hadn't seen Eric when I asked her - DAMN! (also talked to Auntie Catherine briefly) When we finally got going, we talked about forgiveness / toxic people / tact / microwaving instant noodles on Friday at church (I WILL STAY HOME!) / spending time with people / Mr. Creep / naming people. Got home and called Steph briefly, then talked to Jon a little longer about stuff. Now I can game in peace!

He's definitely dead to me!

I spent the ride to church venting and ranting to Eric, as per the usual. He tried telling me NOT to hold grudges against Paul, but I'm not going to forgive insults from an ex-con! Says that there's a Missions Conference on Friday, and then wondered at my ranting about inconveniences. Hey, it happens! When we got to church, I said thanks to Raymond since he handed me a bulletin, and then chose poorly when it came to sitting down except that it was with Jeremy, Mark, and their parents Doug and Laura. Good to see them from Kelowna for Thanksgiving! The reason I chose poorly was that it was behind Paul and his total tone-deaf singing (I don't know how Phil stood it!)... at least Vania and I bugged Nathan W. about his sister Natalie's Facebook status where he didn't know what "LB" meant, hahaha. One of Jon's friends (Beth) was the speaker, so I'll have to tell him about that later.

Said hi to Auntie Ying and Uncle Peter, Adam L. (gaming), Andrew L. (school and chilling), Mary, Hien, Auntie Catherine (thinking of her family / condolences), Chuck and Andrea (SURPRISE / belated birthday wishes getting together this week, which I doubt will happen!), Karen and Lincoln (apps and expensive business licenses / New York hat), Grace, and baby Micah. Also talked to Enoch, Amasiah (pumpkin pie), Jon C. (birthday wishes for today!), Frances / Isaac / little Micah (junk food / school), Lily, Christon (birthday card / Bible Study), Jeremy (birthday card / borrowing my Neil Strauss book), Deb, and more people afterwards. Eric tried telling me that Dylan had been playing piano - I didn't notice that, actually. However, I *did* notice that Mr. Creep wasn't there today - SO MUCH AWESOME! Eric later told me that he was sick; hey, that's great! Saw Jose and Shally back from their honeymoon, too. Gave Emily, Nina, and Gerard (who just added me to Facebook) a bunch of candy that I didn't want.

I went up to Toddler Sunday School (saying hi to Tim on the way), and saw Ada / a cheerful Mattias / Anastasia / Ramen / Shira (who talked!) / David / Evelyn / James / Brandon / Ashley / Lanie / Auntie Ying / Jessie / Danny. Discussed felts, toy cars, toy ice cream, tow trucks, SITTING DOWN, going to the washroom, holding hands, fighting, and more. Once I got out of there, I showed Dylan my phone bill as proof. He didn't have $2, and Calla said that Deb was out for lunch already with his parents. Acer didn't have the money, either - not that I'd expect HIM to do that, but Dylan did ask. Apparently, I said that Paul was dead to me in front of Dylan, which Eric caught and told me. Meh, it's perfectly fine! Said hi to Grandma on the way out, told Mom that Teunis couldn't make it tomorrow (so she invited Eric instead :P), waved to Quan when we were outside in the sun, and told Auntie Susan to hurry up across the street before the traffic light changed again!

Eric and I talked about "ridiculous" notions, trust, judging, his being my foil tomorrow (YAY!), my "future lovers," talking in person vs. online, my weekly tradition, being friendly, Christmas tunes, video games, pasta for breakfast / lunch / dinner, drugs, being "drunk," being reasonable, the "libido" Thanksgiving Dinner, and more on the way home. At home, Vanessa said she still wants to go to Granville Island - it's doable! Now, it's time to immerse myself in FINAL FANTASY!

Bleeding / Caller ID defenses! / Done BREATH OF FIRE II

For some reason, I was bleeding today when I took the toaster oven out - WTF? At least I checked my mail, and Janina had mailed a lovely birthday card! Calla sent me a Gmail chat message asking if Stanford were teasing me with riddles; er, no? Apparently, the message was meant for someone else; good deal, haha. Then Paul kept trying to call me, but my Caller ID defenses were UP! Later, Deb tried to call me as I was in the middle of a boss battle with Barubary from BREATH OF FIRE II, so I said I'd call her at 8 while clarifying last night. Hmph! At least that gave me time to FINALLY finish the game! :D

Deb and Dylan dropped by at 8:20 to pick up the jerk's stuff, and tried to change my mind about the potluck at their place tomorrow. I wasn't impressed with Randal's "incentive" of dancing naked, although Alan's reply of how he liked nudity and would like that show DOES sound like what he'd say! After they left, I settled into my usual routine of ignoring all phone calls. :D

Elk / bison / pork chipotle sausage, and more real life than you can handle!

Eric didn't tell me that he planned to stay out all day till after lunch... UGH! On the way to church, we discussed Christian rock, emo fluff, 99.3 the Fox, ZELDA / MARIO / DARKWING DUCK / the BBQ / Mr. Creep / Raymond / Randal / the Fellowship retreat / BALDERDASH / ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT / Dave Wong / real life. When we got to church, I gave the Hardbite BBQ chips and notebooks to Emily / Nina / Gerard - I also talked to them about the summer and Awana. Got to my usual seat to find Mark and Jeremy there, so we talked for a bit about links, smoking cigars (flammable material?!), and tonight's menu - no Cuban cigar ashes on the burgers, please! Said hi to Nathan W., and enabled his laziness during handshaking time, hahaha! Calla gave me a birthday card (with a chocolate cake on it) and "HOPE" religious bookmark from Cindy - totally unexpected! (I should thank her for it later...) After service, I gave Eric his birthday card (30!) while talking to Jon / Mike T. (sick on honeymoon?!) / Denise (who got my birthday email - working that night!) / Auntie Ying (might get together at Metrotown?) / Grace / Micah / Marcus / Chung / Karen I. / Karen Lew / Paul.

Got upstairs since I tired of the BS easily, and played with Alexis / Esther / David / Evelyn / Ada / Ashley / Anastasia (I learned her dad's name is Danny) / Ramen / Shira / Mattias. Talked to them about toys, drawings, families (the lesson for the day), crayons, their family, Lego, cars, and more. I'd convinced Mattias to go with us to storytime, and was trying to set a good example when Jessie noticed that "my friend" wanted to say something... hah, I was actually expecting Eric to be earlier than that! Apparently, we were going for a Pho lunch again - sigh, I forgot my wallet this morning since SOMEONE was rushing me out of the house! David and Mattias followed me as I was going to the door, and they said bye to me - so cute and sweet, haha! Christon, Mark, Jeremy, Jon, Harmony, and Paul joined us for Pho - we were split up into two tables! Noticed that Paul was a messy eater, and had too many questions about the cuisine - JUST EAT IT! We discussed last names, Connie, Amy, coffee, my birthday dinner cuisine (Greek - no location yet), the Fellowship retreat, Bellingham, Shanghai River, Shanghai Wind, SLB, Christon not getting any sleep last weekend, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, bean sprouts, and more.

When Eric and I got in the car after lunch, I didn't approve of us being out all day and going straight there - there would be really nothing to do at Jeremy's, and I did need to catch up on things even if Sunday tends to be a little slow! After we got in via the underground parking with lots of bikes, Mark did put on a British comedy named BLACK BOOKS, which was acceptable! As it was, I had to watch / listen to three hours of DAY 9 STARCRAFT videos; I definitely didn't understand those! (Jeremy later said he couldn't, either - and he's PLAYED a bit of the original STARCRAFT!) Discussed limes, recipes, Facebook (I finally DID catch up), the buzzer number (Raymond had to ask me since everyone else was busy with onions / burgers - HA!), hardcore bands (Paul was shocked when I said that I'd heard of Bad Brains - hahahaha!), figs, Youtube videos, a band called BORIS, cleaning up, spelling simple words like "resistance" and "Syracuse," plans for tomorrow, recording, Shally's bridal shower, and more.

We had elk sausage, bison sausage, pork chipotle sausage, pina coladas with rum, good beans and rice, plantains, and hilarious times at dinner tonight... all for less than $10! After dinner, we watched more ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and then made fun of Michelle Bachmann / Sarah Palin! "Some cultures are more equal than others / the French culture is diminishing / Muslim Catholics" - HAHAHA! We also guided Paul through responding to the BBQ Evite on the computer; Raymond and I separately answered his questions as to how to find people on FB, and why certain people would just show up on his profile page. (FRIEND SUGGESTIONS!) I noticed his grammar wasn't up to par, but I should remember that he didn't get much education! I'm half-joking when I say he should watch out because I'm the one who has heard of Bad Brains, muhahaha! Eric and I drove Jon and Harmony home, then discussed the usual stuff - he thinks I should be forced to experience real life. I want things to happen on MY OWN TERMS, and I just won't go to various obligations to show him who's boss! To set up an excuse, I called Auntie Ying later than I said I would - now that I've finished blogging, I still need to input codes and then play games!

I've successfully avoided my mother on Mother's Day!

NHL refs, welcome to hell!

Eric picked me up shortly after 9, and we were on our way - talked about traffic, last night, the "NO DUH" news story about Canucks fans being disappointed about the loss, my being "drunk," my noting the El Dorado liquor store relocation, and other things. He jaywalked when I told him NOT to - how evil! Once I was at church, I gave the Christmas jellybeans and candy cane to Emily / Nina / Gerard - we talked for a bit about juggling, Awana, Osama bin Laden, Carley, and more. Said hi to Jeremy and Nathan W. once I got back to my own seat; I was surprised that Randal was at church since it was Mother's Day. Every time someone made a reference to that, I winced and said "OUCH" on his behalf, haha - Eric told me later that he seemed to be in good spirits when talking to Jon and Harmony later, but WHO KNOWS. (I'd have said more to him than a question on whether he got my email, but MR. CREEP had to sit by him - no looking behind me today!)

The kids did a cute presentation, spelling out MOTHER: "O is for Old, since she knows she's getting older!" We all laughed at that one, hahahaha! Jeremy missed it since he was elsewhere, but I let him know before Kevin said Jeremy was counting offering with him. I also noticed a funny typo: CHRIS TOMLIN as "CHRIST" Tomlin, hahaha... of course I pointed it out to Nathan! After service, I left quickly to go find Grandma and say hi, who thought I wouldn't remember Auntie Paula - OF COURSE I DO! Went quickly into the fellowship hall before Mr. Creep could get his hands on the snacks (fruit and bagels today), and later observed him talking to Enoch - NO! Laughed at Cordia's silliness, and asked Hien how she was: tired from watching dramas, apparently. Went upstairs / outside rather quickly after that: saw Maxine with baby Emma, said hi to Deb / Joshua / Keenan / Cory (who was hiding from me) / Nicholas / Micah / Isaac / Karen / Stanford / Calla / Auntie May.

When I talked to Chrystal, she went to the toddler room with me: Jessie, Rachel's grandma, Mattias, Ada, Alexis, Ashley, Ramen, Shira, David, and Evelyn were there. (I said hi to Linda, Chung, and Sandi) Had fun playing with them, but I did need to tell them not to run / spit / throw things. Also played with Lego / toy cars / the alphabet, and read books to them: definitely a usual day for me! After that, I went downstairs to find Jon / Wesley / Jeremy / Christon / Eric discussing black ties and funeral wear in general for Tuesday - apparently, Raymond is also a pallbearer, but I guess at least Randal has support. Pastor Tom suggested buying black ties at Sears for their price range. Harmony invited me to lunch, but I decided to pass since I had much stuff to do at home, which wouldn't be improved by having to WAIT to do it! Eric and I discussed my sympathy feelings, white blossoms, the census, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, it being a good thing we didn't go for lunch since I had no cash, French words, BS, and more. Teunis and I have just been discussing WHAT CHILD IS THIS? / GREENSLEEVES melody, the past, flutes, animals, Valhalla, Jethro Tull, the Green Men, hockey, and more. Found a message from Vanessa about tomorrow's plans, which all sound good to me!

Hannah and Priscilla experience loss / Gregor the Strong / Arabic Name

I received an email from my dad, saying that Hannah and Priscilla's great-grandma / Wai-Mui's grandma died the other day (?), and that the funeral is on Saturday. Since I have Awana, I don't think I can make it! Teunis and I talked about interesting Norse / Viking / Icelandic sagas about a badass named Gregor, haha. We also discussed beef jerky, the origin of the word "glamor," outlaws, setting houses on fire, and more.

Your Arabic Name is Basimah Faizah

Salam!

What's Your Arabic Name?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

I am never going to be sorry when it comes to YOU, or YOU!

When Eric picked me up this morning, I ranted almost the whole way about Mr. Creep - no, I would not have felt safe in an elevator with him! Apparently, Eric thought that he needed to use the elevator on Friday... thank goodness that was NOT the case! Then Eric tried convincing me that my safety was less important than Mr. Creep's using the elevator - UM, NO. YOU ARE NOT A FEMALE - YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS! I don't care if other females seem to be okay with him, as MY intuition is likely better than theirs! (I realize I sound high-and-mighty / holier-than-thou, but I don't care about THAT, either!) My safety is and should be PARAMOUNT in this case, anyway - Eric thinks that Mr. Creep isn't interested in my stuff when I leave it under his (Eric's) titular care, but still. I don't want him to even LOOK at it, thanks! Eric reminded me about thinking of LOVE and NEIGHBORS... the VAST GLOBAL sense is fine, but not the CLOSE sense! I haven't wavered in my position for OVER A YEAR, so I don't know why he thinks I'd do so NOW! We also talked about rain / umbrellas, Buckley's stuff, "placebos" in capsule form, "tasting awful but working great," stupid traffic, my supposed "rudeness" to Mr. Creep (I would NEVER say SORRY to him - HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WE WERE GOING HOME AND MEANT IT!), MissionsFest, and more.

When we got to church, we had to wait outside the sanctuary - I gave the toy cars to Mattias and got a prompted "thank you" from him, haha. I was just happy that he seemed to really like them! The sermon was okay, but I was amused for some other reason... the interim Pastor Tom and his wife Sandi came up and introduced themselves (again), so that was fine too. They have three young kids, one of whom is named Paxton... I saw them around the fellowship hall later! I gave the greeting cards (Steph's birthday / Chinese New Year / Grandma's birthday) to Jon for signing purposes later, and told him that Chinese Eric seemed really interested in SERVANTS. As I was telling Jeremy later, I had no new info for Chinese Eric in two days over MSN! Face-to-face is probably best, since he sleeps a lot because of his meds! I would have said hi to Alan and Tracy, but Mr. Creep was there - NO WAY! Said hi to Hung, who said that HE had been among the people waking Hien up by throwing pillows at her, and then discussed ear piercings / research with Jessica Leung later. Talked to Andrew L. about school (lots of reading!), to Hien about officially meeting her friend Hung yesterday (I actually did NOT know him before then!), to Grace H. about breakfast and food in the mornings, and to Cindy about her busy week... no snow day for HER, unfortunately! Said hi to baby Micah and Grace Y., greeted Vania / Geoffrey / Victor, asked Tim about his trip to South Africa (his son Joshua had gone, too - HE said it was fun!), wished Rich a happy belated birthday, and verified that Eric was staying for Sunday School before going upstairs to Toddler Sunday School.

Saw Frances' son Micah busily looking at a board book - he likes trains, he told me! Ramen seemed happy to see me, while Mattias told me about a red truck / choo-choo trains / eggs - YAY FOR ENGLISH! Apparently, he loves his brother Marcus (Calla and Stanford were taking turns holding him), and knows his Chinese name! I said hi to Shira (hula hoop!), Ada, and Ashley as well - Mattias seemed to be drawn to the sparkly glitter glue for the older kids, haha. I'd like the shiny stuff, too! When Auntie Ying had a free moment from reading to the kids about Elmo and such, I asked her how she was - Phil's apparently been really patient while teaching her about the computer / Facebook / iPad! Hahahaha, it's really cute that she wants to learn! She says she'll call me about getting together now that her mom is out of town; nice!

Afterwards, I went downstairs to see what we were going to do for lunch, since I'd heard rumors of spicy laksa with the parents. I saw Grandma knitting the start of something, so asked her what it was despite knowing the answer: "Your mom told me to make this, and I don't know what it is!" Said hi to Christon and Deb, ignored Dylan (talking to RAYMOND!) until I imperiously told him I expected an apology (oops?), and yelled hi to Jordan. Eric also went with the family for spicy laksa soup - good thing the place was small, so we were split up into two tables! We discussed whether a waitress was a man or woman (thanks, Mom...), red and green jellybeans (maybe for the Maks), giant candy canes (ditto), Dine Out Vancouver, (soy) milk / ice cream / cheese / lactose intolerance, spicy stuff, Pad Thai, tax stuff, DARK COCOA soy milk, the PUSH festival, holiday weight gain, Burmese tea, mango slush, Jon's new haircut which he got compliments on (harder for him to headbang during worship!), both sets of parents pressuring Jon and Harmony to buy a house even if they have no money for it, pork hock, Chinese New Year, my buying healthy cereal / juice / yogurt in the past few days, "drunken" beef, and more. On the way home, Eric confirmed what I knew already from the "I have to pick up a friend at the airport" conflict... the K-Man is indefinitely back in BC from Ontario, and of COURSE Eric is annoyed by this news! (K stayed overnight at Eric's house on Monday before being dropped off to take the bus to see his mom in Powell River for now) Then we talked about the "moving" prayer meeting (not my cup of tea - I MIGHT BE AROUND CERTAIN PEOPLE!), shifting programs, French conversation, my being "drunk," my being vigilant and watching my things AT ALL TIMES, counting the words I say to people (it was so brief that I could do that!), the Minnesota-Vancouver hockey game (which we ended up losing 4-0), WORLD OF WARCRAFT Lunar Festival, and more.

Wearing KILTS in relationships! / Chinese Eric was SICK!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Eric came over for about five minutes while I got ready, since I thought he was calling me from the house at 6:30 - whoops. After giving me a Christmas present (which turned out to be a Canucks mug with Apples and Cotlets candies), he correctly assumed that Teunis had moved the bookshelf with all the books - if you think I did that myself, you'd be WRONG! We were on our way within a few minutes, and spent the ride discussing the usual subjects: his speaking in French, Homestar Runner things, "blue liquid" (which sprung from his joke that I was drunk - WRONG TIME FOR THAT... GET BACK TO ME NEXT WEEK!), doing sound, our weeks, WOW references, driving in the rain NOT being fun (but imagine if it were snow!), and more. When we got to church, he asked whether he should give Steph's gift to me, Jon, or Harmony - and whether he should just keep everything for them and Christon in the car. I advised him to give the gift to Harmony, and just take everything with him unless it was too bulky - that's what he ended up doing! In the sanctuary, Calla was telling Nathan about her wedding - Stanford hadn't wanted to get an umbrella, but the weather forecast was iffy that weekend in October, and it ended up POURING! Her brother Acer wants to get him a kilt for Christmas, symbolizing their wearing shorts / skirts / no real pants in the relationship! Jon came up in the middle of THIS conversation, and wondered what we were talking about, hahaha!

Nathan also wondered what had happened to Chinese Eric on Wednesday (he'd seemed excited about brunch...), since everyone just ended up staying home. I said that Jon and I figured that maybe his mom wouldn't let him out of the house because of the sunlight outside, which COULD happen! Harmony was giving us an inquiring look, so Nate said that it was a Chinese Eric "thing" to bail without explanation sometimes, and added that he had a Chinese friend named Eric for Calla's benefit. "If you want a white Christmas, look over there at the piano where white Eric is, hahaha!" (I talked to Chinese Eric on MSN when I got home, and he said he'd been SICK! He was sleeping and resting - he hates being sick, which is apparently happening to him more often now - yikes! I'll have to remember to tell Nate that tomorrow - I'm only in for Xmas dinner because he's coming, and I can get a ride from Jon and Harmony... haha)

I managed to give Christmas cards to Dianne, Wesley, Lincoln, Cordia (before she had to go to the bathroom), and Phil for his mom. Said hi to Kevin, heard about Randal's new job (not my place to congratulate him), and talked to Isabel and Nathan about her plans to go to Europe for two years later on. Nathan tried telling her in a funny way about Ciel and Singapore, but she didn't get it! The candlelight service itself was good, especially since certain people didn't show up! However, the candles on the Advent display were finicky when we had to ignite tealight candles for our symbolic Christ action, haha! Good thing my row was among the first to do that! (although I ended up going in the wrong row - Nate said he'd done that, too)

Later, I said hi to William / Emily Lam (Sam came back last Friday) / Christon (who gave me a card) / Jon (who gave me Karen and Lincoln's card) / Karen, Lincoln, and Vivian / Dianne (she's in charge of the turkey dinner) / Hannah and Natalie / Priscilla (she's a Christmas Eve baby, so I made sure to wish her a Happy Birthday instead of Merry Christmas) / Cordia (she laughed when she saw the "Santa Makes A Tragic Wrong Turn Over Tokyo" card - I knew she'd like it!) / Dawn and Eni / Andrew L. (figure skating!) / Adam L. / Lanie / more people. By the time that was finished, I was definitely ready to go! I gave Eric a LOOK when I asked if he were leaving soon (he was talking to Christon about phone interviews and such - said he was ready if I was - OH YES!), and then Dianne wanted to know if we were going anywhere afterwards. Chris was playing with my Santa hat - good thing I saw him since he leaves tomorrow! His brother Wesley wanted to go out with Jon and other people later, so Eric and I referred them to Dianne - her parents have been away in China since the 2nd, and Cindy went to Fraserlands tonight instead of OUR church! On the way home between Christmas songs / DARKWING DUCK, Eric tried telling me to befriend certain people: NOT HAPPENING WITH ICKY FEELINGS! Yes, my abbreviation for Bible Study is BS - what of it?! He also hopes my mom doesn't poison me with the turkey tomorrow, haha. Got home and emailed Karmie to wish her and the family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, too.


Trivia fact for Saturday, Dec. 25: What did Germans use to make artificial Christmas trees when they were banned from cutting down fir trees in the 19th century? Goose feathers that were dyed green, wound around small sticks to resemble branches, and then inserted into a bigger stick that served as a tree trunk. They were made as tabletop ornaments after forest preservation laws were passed to stop the decapitation of fir trees.

Alternate reality seven years into the future, MANOS, Grandma and humor awards, gifts

I had a weird dream where if you went through a certain warehouse door, the other side contained a hole through which you'd drop. After dropping through the hole, you'd be in an alternate reality where it was seven years in the future, but towels would follow you around everywhere and try to incapacitate your car. You could get back to the present, but your car would slowly fall apart as soon as you made a certain turn, and little children (like a white-looking Mattias) would fall apart and forget everything they'd learned. I could hold Mattias through this process, since his dad Chung assured me that he would be a baby again.

After I got back to reality, my mom told me that Grandma had won 16 awards in a row for being a humorist. Calla came over just to see the many little heads on the mantel! We went to a restaurant to celebrate, but I stupidly left my bag on the chair when I was only intending to stay a little while. So I had to go back inside, but didn't find it! I went back outside to the rather busy bus stop; these two East Indian girls were talking about which bus they should take. There were five nightbuses (which doubled as shuttle buses during the day) and two regular buses. Just as the last of the regular buses left the stop, one of the restaurant workers came out to find me: he had my bag with candy and stuff in it, along with another one which I recognized as Mom's. After he stared at me a bit, I figured I should at least say thanks.

Later in the dream, I went and read a ZITS comic where the mom was doing laundry, and Jeremy had been transformed into a little kid with all her expensive stuff. She was NOT impressed, and wondered what she'd done. Jeremy: "I won't tell if you won't!" HAHAHAHA! Then the dream ended because my alarm went off... good thing I set it for 1 instead of 2, because I have more time to eat leftover sushi while writing and checking stuff! No idea why I had it, although I've been reading ZITS regularly, and of course I did see Calla yesterday evening!

As advertised, Jen's decided to postpone the bad movie night. She included a Youtube clip of MANOS in her email, hahaha. This is why these things are hard to schedule, as I told Eric! I likely would have passed tonight because I need the downtime before tomorrow's busyness!


Facebook quizzes taken from Jessica G. and Nina:

How Tall Are You? Leslie got You're vertically challenged (short).. You are probably one of those people who are so short that people make fun of you for it, but are able to see. (Ouch!)

Reveal Your Personality from Your Working Style
Below are Prediction result of Your Personality:
You may rely so much on the logical approach of thinking that you overlook what other people care about and what you yourself care about. You may decide that something is not important just because it isn't logical to care about it. If you always let your thinking suppress your feeling values, your feeling may build up pressure and find expression in inappropriate ways. Although good at analyzing what is wrong, you sometimes find it hard to express appreciation. But if you try, you will find it helpful on the job as well as in personal relationships.
Your Working Style:
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are friendly
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Adaptable and a realist
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You rely on what you see
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Hear
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And know first-hand
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You good-naturedly accept and use the facts around you
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You look for a satisfying solution instead of trying to impose any "short-term" solutions
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are sure a satisfying solution will turn up once you have grasped the problem
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You solve problems by being adaptable
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And often can get others to adapt
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Too
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : People generally like you well enough to consider any compromise you suggest
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are unprejudiced and open-minded
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And tolerant of most everyone -- including yourself
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You take things as they are, and thus may be very good at easing a tense atmosphere
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are somewhat quiet and reserved
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Although you can be quite talkative on a subject where you can apply yourself
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : In everyday activities, you are adaptable
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Except when one of your ruling principles is violated
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : At which point you stop adapting
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are good with your hands
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And like sports and the outdoors
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Or anything that provides a wealth of information for your senses
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are interested mainly in the realities brought to you by your senses
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Both inner and outer
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You are apt to enjoy fields where taste
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Discrimination
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And a sense of beauty and proportion are important
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You have a special love of nature and a sympathy with animals
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You often excel in craftsmanship and the work of your hands is usually good
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : You do best in careers needing realism
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Action
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And adaptability
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Examples are engineering
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Police work
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Credit investigation
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Marketing
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Health technologies
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Construction
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Production
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Recreation
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : Food services
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ : And many kinds of troubleshooting

How sexy is your name? Dear Leslie, your sexy level is as much as 126 points which mean: sexy as ........!!!!. This number's based on below formula.
L + E + S + L + I + E = 31 + 15 + 23 + 31 + 11 + 15: 126
Less than 50 points: not too sexy
Between 51 and 75 points: pretty sexy
Between 76 and 100 points: damn sexy!!!
More than 100 points: sexy as ........!!!!

You Are Generous With Your Friendship

You are a kind and compassionate person. You make friends with people from all walks of life. You bond easily with people. You highlight what you have in common over where you disagree. You aren't superficial or status-oriented. You love people for who they are - not what they have or how they look. You believe in maintaining and improving relationships. You do your best to be a good friend.

The Gift Box Test

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

Gentle dentist appointments, no payment, visiting Grandma, pasta, new Bathroom Readers

First time using my sister's "new" laptop, so I need to get used to it! I went to see Sean, who actually impressed me with his gentle dentistry skills! He let me know whenever he was doing something, for one. It's been a long time since I've been called "Les" at least ten times in 45 minutes, haha! (and of course he can do that - it's SEAN!) We talked about Jon, Harmony, my parents being on an Italy cruise with Vivian's parents, Alex (met someone in Texas and got married?!), Sarah and Vernon, Hannah and her new husband Eugene, his missing Jon, Steph coming by his house in her car for Vanessa to see, the Croatian Cultural Centre, Calla and Stanford (Sean met him at Fraserlands before they started dating), Jason and Karen, plus more stuff. The receptionist Winnie gave me some good news: no more payment is required from me! She also gave me a message to pass on to my sister, who apparently hasn't been to the dentist since she went to Regina in July 2008! When I did, she said that she keeps on forgetting to book an appointment! I got a free calendar while waiting for X-rays to develop, too... I heard Sean talking about firecrackers or fireworks on the phone in the back room, haha.

Decided to go posthaste to visit Grandma: found the hospice without too much trouble, and actually interrupted her when she was sleeping! She thought that I was crazy for not sitting in a chair to read, wanted me to have some of her mixed fruit in a can (no), wanted to know when the parents would be getting back (and then disbelieved my answer), thought I shouldn't have eaten before I came to visit (er, I kinda needed to eat lunch before the dentist appointment...), thought Jon would be taking her out for dinner (no), and complained about the interruptions going on when she was sleeping. At least she called me good for visiting her! I hung around for about an hour or so (reading), and then called Steph to see where she and Lisa were - just heading back from Body Works, as it happened. When they got to the respite centre, Steph talked to Grandma briefly. Grandma called me the younger sister to someone there - no, I'm the older sister, and I just had to correct that! Told Steph, who just facepalmed!

Since I didn't care what we had for dinner, a homemade meal at the house it was! Steph, Jon, and Harmony sat on Mom while they were at Alan Liu's house, hahaha! Went grocery shopping at Killarney Market first - they bought garlic, dill pickle rice crisps, Dijon mustard, and other things while we discussed hockey / getting gas / Tina Turner / passports / Celine Dion / bacon / Terrence / Jay-Z and Beyonce / Hollywood Theatre / mushrooms / kiwis / ADULT SMALL uniforms (JORDAN!) / the smoke alarm / salad / pasta sauce / my microwave and oatmeal / cayenne hot sauce / being a lush / Mariah Carey / bombing / Melissa and Denver or Anaheim / Ironwood Marble Slab Creamery later / Lisa's birthday being the same as Kate's / GLEE / more crazy subjects. Steph and I concluded that Jon was rude to his sisters since he didn't include us on the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT email exchange, and I didn't know where it was being held. Good thing it's at Steph's, though Lisa can't make it till later. Good thing it's at Steph's, though Lisa can't make it till later. Now pasta / chicken / mushrooms are cooking, and we're watching the Avalanche-Canucks hockey game with the PVR. Gotta love rewinding live TV while it's still recording the live stuff! I've heard that the new Bathroom Reader (Uncle John's Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader) is out now, so I'm totally going to buy it (plus something else to make my collection even) tomorrow since I need to do some banking anyway!

10:10 on 10/10/10, sister update, impending babies, Kiki and Lala tagging

Hey, it's 10:10 on 10/10/10 - how quirky! I love these coincidences! :D

Steph called me at 9 to see if I were going for lunch tomorrow, using the same incentive which Harmony had: I'm sure you have something for me, but that'll have to wait! Spent about 15 minutes discussing delusions, Karen I., Mattias being attracted to lights (he's about two - Thanksgiving!), Regina, Grace looking huge too (she's due next week?), Uncle Daniel, Megan, Calla and Stanford's wedding, Eric / Wesley / Jeremy, Grandma, Italy, the 430, Lisa, plans, support, and more. I guess she hasn't seen Jon and Harmony in a month, heh! I do look forward to seeing more of Lisa in the future, for sure. Discovered that Hien's deleted her FB account again, too.


Here's a cute tagging photo from Julie C.'s friend Christine Leung:

No dinner after all / Dream of original plays and Anne atop a bookshelf

Pastor John called me at 3 to say that he regretfully couldn't give me a ride to the dinner since he had to run an errand in Burnaby, and then would go directly to the church from there. He spent a couple of minutes trying to figure out ride options, like Uncle Joel / Ivan / my parents. I told him that Uncle Joel and Ivan's families were probably staying out in Vancouver all day, and that my parents weren't going. (I had no idea if they were, but it's all about sanity!) Then he said he was sorry (since he figured busing would be too hard - with Sunday bus schedules, most likely YES!), but at least he did let me know! After about an hour of trying to figure out whether I was COMPOS MENTIS enough to make it to this dinner (and looking for various people's numbers like Christon), I finally just let my need for sleep win out - naptime for me!

Went to sleep and had a dream which involved vast quantities of food, Richie / Eric / Jeremy / Kevin / others being in my group when it came to produce an original play with a bunch of shows within a week, yellow paint chipping off a building, outwitting Randal when it came to his spying on our play schedules, seeing little Anne on top of a bookshelf with a large blue book authored by someone named Graham, her sister Olivia and mother Sophia trying to convince her to come down with spoonfuls of rice pudding, stores involving puke, and Tracey just sitting down in the middle of the floor with toys. Triggers: seeing Tracey last week at Jason and Karen's wedding, Wesley thinking Calla and Stanford's lemony wedding cake reminded him of puke, hanging around with Eric / Jeremy / Kevin, seeing Richie this morning, having to see Randal, the colored bags in Toddler Sunday School, the paint chipping off the yellow poles on the Canada Line, and lots of food. I woke up at 8, which didn't really surprise me!

Port Hardy, unintentional Mom humor, editing, and free drinks!

I called Eric at 5:50 to see whether he'd left yet, then he said that his picking me up was contingent on whether I'd bought new shoes! Hahaha, I didn't have unfettered time to do so, now did I? That's what I prefer, so I'm not rushing to get to places later! His Powerpoint is IMPORTANT as it's needed tomorrow; my "need" for new shoes, not so much. He said we'd be transiting there, so I put my bus pass in my pocket before changing from my red bling sweater to my green bling sweater! We saw a lot of Canucks fans on the way to the banquet, and discussed stops / parking / slowing down being a risk whenever he goes out with me / umbrellas for the rain / HMV / THE APPRENTICE / finishing Powerpoint / Wendy's and bad memories / any spelling and grammar FAILS being the fault of copy-and-paste.

Once we got there, we saw that we were at the "Gingerbread Men" table - hmm! We were with Jon, Harmony, Christon, Jeremy, Kevin, and Dianne... and had come just in time for the seafood bisque! Discussed Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Dennis, literally just missing a flood, Nanaimo, Campbell River, rich vs. poor people, drinking and tolerance, dancing later, red and white wine (plus rose), bread, the waiters cutting Alan off, ushering, Randal figuring he didn't know Calla and Stanford well enough to be at the banquet (and it IS expensive!), and Italy souvenirs. Also talked about double-fisting, Julie S. at the banquet, the bouquet and garter tosses, Thanksgiving, free drink tickets, being LOUD when the toasts came to our table (we got the photographer's endorsement even as our parents were wondering who the loud people were!), the efficient nature of this wedding banquet (tea / coffee / dessert by 9:20 or so, no kissing games, and only a very few short speeches with a very short slideshow?!), Auntie Lillian's English speech which mentioned their possible children (NO PRESSURE, RIGHT?!), and more. Jon wondered whether Dad's speech at his and Harmony's speech had been edited... I have no idea, even if it sounded like a first-generation person wrote it! At least it was better than what Mom would have come up with... unintentionally funny lines, anyone? Auntie Lillian's speech definitely did NOT sound edited by Acer or anyone else!

When Stanford came up for his speech, our table was trying to figure out just how much he'd had to drink: our conclusion (reached very shortly due to rambling and forgetfulness) was A LOT! After a cheesy grade school-ish rhyming poem, they segued into the first dance / father-daughter dance, tosses, and more. Went to the bathroom with Dianne, where I encountered my dad on the way there, and my mom inside - luckily, she was busy talking to Fidela about moving and her new boyfriend. At one point, Daniel asked whether they were playing Chinese music, so I asked Johnny (who was manning the computer sound) - he said no. I had a rum and Coke, Jon had Scotch, and we all had fish / beef / raspberry cake / cheesecake / wedding cake with impossible-to-eat fondant, fruit, chocolate, and more. Later, I skirted the edges of the dance floor in order to spend some time with little Mattias, who seemed attracted to all the shiny lights. I lifted him up to see the light from the podium, since he was pointing to it! Cute kid!

Gave Rich the favors from last week's wedding; with everything that happened, I didn't actually carry out my stated plan of giving them to him on Sunday! He accepted this explanation (as well he should - it's the TRUTH!), and thanked me. Eventually, I joined in the dancing - talked to Chrystal, who totally agrees that we should hang out now that her parents are gone. We'll figure things out tomorrow! Mike T. nearly dodged little Megan a few times, but her dad Kenny was watchful! I asked Megan if she was having fun, and she said yes. Talked to Cindy, Danielle, and Andrea about purple ties, clothing, and more. Hugged Calla goodbye; they're honeymooning in Hawaii! It was a fun time... and I did tell Citrus that Eric and I had seen the Citruso truck on the way home this afternoon. I'm aware it's usually around somewhere, but it's still cool when I do see the truck! On the way home (we left at about 10:20?), Eric and I discussed flies (as in the insect :P) / how drunk I was / whether Raymond impacted my enjoyment of the evening (not really) / my being really drunk tomorrow morning before church / washroom encounters / being tired from dancing and standing around / the Canucks fans not looking happy (I read that we'd lost 2-1 to L.A. in a shootout!) / his car radio not really working well / his deliberately annoying me / my bus pass / HandyDart / escorts for the bus passes. That reminded me about the bus pass application: I just checked online, and I did indeed mail it some weeks back - PHEW!. Since things ended so early, I can probably play some games before bedtime!

Calla and Stanford's wedding - STANFORD, STANTON, and STANFIELD?!

When Eric picked me up, he commented on my sneakers; hey, it's not MY fault that my other shoes decided to go kablooey on me, is it?! We discussed his mother calling, "Randal's slow-acting poison in the water," the Joker, iconic theme songs, how to get to the church, not wanting to go home in between, Powerpoint, waking up decidedly after 9, Google Maps and Translink giving you EAST avenues when you type WEST, and more. When we got to the church, he asked if we should leave the umbrella in the car; sure, since we parked right outside! Saw Martin, Kevin, Yvonne, Dave, Vivian, Chrystal, Tim, Maxine, Joshua, Keenan, Randal and Jen (who of course came together), Shally and Jose, David and his sons Ian and Gabriel (Nintendo DS and toys kept them busy), Emily C., Mike T., Raymond (I had to sit directly behind him), Andrea (!!!), Christon, Wesley, and Jeremy; yes, we all sat on Stanford's side because he needs more friends!

Discussed the name theme going on with Stanford and his brothers (STANFORD / STANTON / STANFIELD?!), NAME FAIL (Pamela should never be spelled as PEMILA!), WARIO games, NBA JAM and being ON FIRE, last night's scrapbooking (Christon didn't leave Alan's till after midnight; the rest stayed till 12:30), short weddings (Jeremy's cousin got married on a golf course - the ceremony was only 15 minutes!), seeing my parents / Cindy / Dianne on the other side (I saw Uncle Reuben and Auntie Christine too), Andrea's life in Hamilton (Chuck's at work - hard to get to know people - must be within 25 minutes of the hospital), Christon wanting to get home before midnight to cut a birthday cake for his mom PRIOR TO doing Powerpoint / prayers, and more. Jeremy noticed an organ upstairs, and it was playing what I thought was whimsical music, but then I recognized the MARIA song from SOUND OF MUSIC. (someone expected clouds and mushrooms!) We laughed when the shy flower girl went down the aisle with her mother (better than CRYING all the way down the aisle!), and again when Stanford had to ask for a prompt from the pastor in the middle of the vows! One of the ushers was also named RUDOLPH... OH MAN!

When the pastor recommended that Stanford kiss Calla, we weren't expecting a blown kiss... then he gave us some entertainment by dipping her instead! That must have taken some rehearsal, haha! We discussed whether Johnny would show up in almost ALL the photos, Jon needing to teach in the afternoon (so he'll transit to the downtown banquet), whether our group would fit on stage, coffee at Jeremy's later (Eric and I just went home since he couldn't think of anything else to do), Christon not wanting to go home because he'd be too distracted, whether we knew more than a handful of hymns in the Baptist hymnal (Jeremy was having fun with that!), HE TOUCHED ME being a bad song title, and more. I said hi to Billy, Mel, his baby Isaac, Karen I., little Mattias (his newest word is "flowers" or "fa" in Chinese), Harmony, and more people when we came up for the photo. Jon also commented on my sneakers and the occasion - WHATEVER!

Later, I saw Auntie Anna and Uncle Stanley (who are NOT married to each other!), so of course said hi. Eric and I discussed it being the "perfect" (rainy!) weather to walk home, Powerpoint taking priority over STARCRAFT, possibly calling Ivan this afternoon for tomorrow night since Eric's not going (I do NOT have phone phobia - can't do it if I don't have the number!), my thanking him, being hungry, eating at 11 AM, dropping me off at the mall so I could BUY new shoes (NO HEELS!), and more. Pretty interesting times, though of course it doesn't compare to last week!

John Lennon, 70, afternoon weddings, Pittsburgh dream, fall-inspired names, RICHIE RICH

Happy 70th Birthday, John Lennon. I wonder what you would have made of the world today - particularly the Internet, and new music technology...

Thank GOD that Calla and Stanford's wedding is in the afternoon! Enough time to check online stuff is necessary! (Candace agrees!) Had a dream about quadruple Vicky Shourounis appearing around me (one of whom was smoking) at a baseball diamond - my mom tried convincing me to go on escalators in the building, but I was having none of it. I got to see the Pittsburgh Pirates take batting practice in their blue uniforms, and got to man their carrels of mail. No idea where that dream came from, and I certainly haven't been watching Alanis Morissette's IRONIC video (where she appears in quadruple) lately!

I got a call from Eric's phone number just now; of course I assumed it was him, so I answered the phone with "Yo." It turned out to be his mother Veronica! Hahahaha, oops! After saying hi and "how are you" (curse this need to be polite! - just kidding!), she said that Eric had had a busy morning (as usual) and was enroute to my place. Told me to enjoy the wedding - should be doable, but of course it won't be like LAST week, haha!

Your Fall-Inspired Name is Dahlia Pumpkin

How delightful!

What's Your Fall-Inspired Name?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Trivia fact for Saturday, Oct. 9: Why were most of the cast members over six feet tall in the 1994 film comedy Richie Rich? To make the film's star, Macaulay Culkin (who was almost five feet six when the film was shot) appear shorter and younger. It was Culkin's last child-star role.

Awkward scrapbooking times at Randal's...

Eric picked me up at around 5:30, and we spent the ride discussing scissors / hair / reading about mass murder / "fusillade" NOT being a made-up or mispronounced word / my being "drunk" as an established "fact" / Randal / slow revenge / cackling / his eating only nine pieces of sushi / Raymond ruining purple for me / red / green / Hyundais / apathy / his Australian character Stanley knowing everything / money / meetings after church not necessarily costing money / Vania attempting to call because she was stuck on the highway. Yes, I did have to cut a knot out of my hair, otherwise it would have been bugging me all evening... as if the scrapbooking session wasn't awkward enough! When we got to church, we saw Christon / Joyce / Cordia waiting... Citrus was there briefly. I settled down to read; unlike last time, I made sure I brought a book! (plus my stickers if needed later)

After the practice, we talked about the baptisms / Alan and Tracy / Randal's place / Randal being a leader who just doesn't have follow-through (Christon claims he doesn't mind if his scrapbook idea was stolen) / dinner. Eric and I stopped by Subway, where he insisted that I have a six-inch sandwich... he also said that I had to come in to yell at the Subway guy. Hahaha, no... parking was hard enough for him, so I didn't want to ruin it by getting out of the car! Don't ask me how I think those two are related... when Eric came back, he said he was performing an act of self-sacrificing love by also getting a dozen cookies for the entire group! He also said that I probably WOULD have yelled at the Subway guy tonight because the guy was doing everything WRONG! "It was like it's his first night on the job - he almost put the wrong sauce on my spicy Italian! Oh, and I got you a toasted sub with onions! Haha!"

On the way to Randal's, Eric and I talked about DARKWING; writing on Facebook walls; closure conversations; drama; my stuff needing to be in his trunk; Dilys / Lesley / Jon's orchestra friend starting with a T all living around Kingsway and Joyce, or Randal's building; awkward times ahead; tomorrow's wedding. Once we were actually there, I pretty much refused to say anything. Randal brought me and Eric some water in Bailey's mugs! Cindy showed up with a TON of supplies like letter stickers, a hot glue gun, various kinds of paper, smelly felts, scissors, other stickers which her teacher friends gave her, and lots more. I was relieved that Randal at least didn't ask us to reimburse him for the Homesense scrapbook's cost! (though Cindy practically gushed about how PERFECT the brown paper and subdued pattern on the cover were...)

We set to working on our pages - I had no creativity whatsoever, so I just expressed myself with the stickers and felts while everyone else cut things out / made things like a fake hockey ticket to a Game 7 Detroit-Vancouver game, various Vancouver landmarks, the Aerosmith (or Red Wings) logo, an Inukshuk, a "horse," and more. (some people even had photos - Eric did, on his camera!) I'm surprised I found enough letter stickers for "Hi Pastor John! / Karmie! / Josiah! / Hannah! / Noah! We will miss you - Leslie Ng. && blessings from Vancouver - VCEFC, BC - goodbye! Thanks for everything!" Cindy thought that it showed my happy style - HAHAHAHA, little does she know that I was only keeping myself busy! This means I'll have to replenish my own supply of stickers, since I totally envy Cindy's collection! Once I saw that Randal was using my stickers, I decided to use his Spiderman and Batman ones; I think it was overkill, since he only used 16, and I must have used 40! Oh well.

We talked about Dianne being in Port Hardy and returning tomorrow, Randal sleeping in the open, bachelor suites, loud lobby people, seals / sea lions / Portland / Newport, her time spent dragon boating, the intense rain there, it raining outside (not good for Calla and Stanford's wedding - at least Jason and Karen had nicer weather!), Chung telling Dylan about the news on Sunday (ironic "Vision Night" indeed!), keeping up with things via Facebook, Cindy's niece Denise, Jeff refusing to let people put pictures of his daughter Allison up there (in his profession, you do need to be careful!), "Where's Waldo?", our weeks, emotional drains, workshops, public speaking, and more. Cindy apologized for talking a lot, but it was fine - glad to hear HER instead of someone else! Kevin mentioned that his Hotmail inbox had been inundated with emails from Wai-Mui, Uncle Hansel, and Uncle Peter; Vicky and I recommended Gmail since it collapses everything into one "conversation," pretty much! At one point, Vicky asked me if I'd finished those wedding leftovers - yup, just today! Eric joked that I could restock at tomorrow's wedding; hahaha, that's the plan!

When we finally got out of there after 11, everyone else thanked Randal for hosting. It's true that we'd have been kicked out of the church about an hour before that! On the way home, I jokingly complained that all this was cutting into my downtime; we also discussed rides to the wedding tomorrow at 12:15-ish (NOT WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE!!! STOP THAT!!!!), Powerpoint, not worrying about the sandwich, ginger, morbidity, responsibility, poop, my winning the STICKER DOMINANCE WAR, fear, phone phobia, threads, #4 / Alderbridge, and more. Thank goodness HE still rocks, unlike certain people I choose not to name!

WHAT THE HECK... RESIGNATION?! UGH!!!!

When Eric picked me up this morning, we discussed intonation / the Lions game vs. the Blue Bombers / toxic vs. venom / his thinking that I need a good relationship with people / my being a snake / the hockey draft / the wedding / "cool people" / being "drunk" / obligations. At church, I couldn't get out of the car because of the grass - unfortunately, Cindy had to happen by and witness Eric reparking the car twice so I could get out! Once I got into the building, my usual row was full; I had to sit behind Jeremy instead! I said hi to him, and he wondered if I'd heard what some people had done after Fellowship on Friday. Apparently, they'd gone over to his place as a surprise, but he was in the shower. His roommate Ryan came home while they were trying to break in, and wondered just what the heck was going on, haha! This is why you don't just SURPRISE people! (the same thing happened to Connie a few years ago, in fact!)

Talked to Chrystal after that, and noted that her aunt was back from China! I assumed that Auntie Ying would be too jet-lagged to attend service, heh. Chrystal's parents and Emily are or will be on the same tour, so she'll get LOTS of alone time! We also discussed the wedding. Went back to my seat to find Connie nearby - she did indeed drive home last night as Jenny was feeling woozy! She packed a bit when she got home at 12:15 AM because of a work trip to Düsseldorf; hopefully, she'll be at church next Sunday after she gets back the night before! Said hi to Joyce, and handed Christon and Jeremy their birthday cards and Guylian chocolates later on. Learned that Julie, Yvonne, and Sabrina will be getting baptized next week (Seraphim baptism cards, or regular Thanksgiving cards?) - along with some other Sabrina (that'll be confusing!) and some guy named Vernus - WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT?! Oh, Chinese people...

During Communion, I joked that Stanley (sitting behind me) was being lazy since he wouldn't stand up to "pass the peace" with people, and he got the humor! Then I was surprised to feel a tap on the shoulder, which turned out to be Randal (of all the people) wanting to shake hands with me - FINE, WHATEVER! I followed Raymond and Randal (who happened to be sitting beside me - I kept personal space barriers!) to the other side for the sacraments. Good thing I did, since I saw Mr. Creep in the last row of the farthest section! UGH! Randal impeded my progress back to my seat by shaking Mr. Creep's extended hand, too! However, the announcement that Pastor John was about to make would drive most other thoughts from my head...

HE SAID THAT HE IS RESIGNING BECAUSE HIS VALUES AND VISION DON'T REALLY FIT WITH THE CHURCH LEADERSHIP! I thought that maybe one of his family members had a life-threating illness or something, but as he went on with the emotionally difficult announcement, that wasn't the case. People were shocked, sad, crying, and going through a bunch of emotions! Christon said it was a closely-guarded secret, and offered Connie his hand - I put an arm around her for added support and comfort.

Later, I saw Harrison eating chips and pretzels from a paper cup, so said hi. Little kid interactions usually cheer me up a bit, which is what I wanted. His dad Alex wanted to know if I were in Awana - yes, you DO see me almost every week! Turns out that Harrison got an extra-large Sparky uniform when he's really a small... sure, just exchange it on the 16th! Victor said hi to me, so I talked to him briefly about Awana... I didn't really care if he could tell I'd been crying! When I got into the fellowship hall, I'd pretty much decided to skip toddler Sunday School in favor of the quick forum to talk about the announcement and feelings. Got some coffee, and was talking to people when Auntie Catherine pulled me aside. She gave me a birthday card and a fountain pen (with my name spelled wrong - but she means well), so I thanked her for the belated birthday wishes.

Went over to where Christon was talking to Harmony and Jen, since I figured he'd have inside info on this... Wesley and Jeremy joined us later. Discussed 2004, lessons, this being different than the Pastor Glen situation, dreading today, post-mortem emotions, processing, not demonizing the Deacon Board, losing sleep, Lesley not keeping it together before service (so Jeremy started crying - and wished he could have taken the Communion platter from her), little hints like "re-structuring" / a pre-season game hint given only to Eric, who's good at hiding things (and why wasn't *I* invited?!), Christon telling Dylan to RELAX and RECHARGE in the Philippines (he doesn't know), last week's meeting, stages of grief like anger / sadness / denial / some acceptance, respecting privacy, and more. Chung, Christon, and others will remain on the ESCC and carry out Pastor John's vision of social justice as best they can, so that's good.

Calla, Karmie, Pastor John, Phil, Chung, Pastor Edward, Tim, Jon, and Christon spoke during the forum to clarify feelings and state that this was a final decision. Apparently, he's reconsidered it once already in June, when friends talked him out of the decision; however, he noticed the same cumulative events and patterns. There will be a family meeting to discuss this on the original date of the AGM, so that's why it was moved. Also talked about agony, personal reflections, kind offers, and more. My Sundays are looking busy this month, for sure! At least this time around, I won't have to deal with as much negativity from certain sources.

Afterwards, we all clustered around to discuss things some more; nobody was in the mood to discuss the birthday dinner tonight, but at least the birthday boys will get a break from cooking! Christon might just buy a rotisserie chicken from Safeway and call it done since he doesn't know if he'll have the energy for cooking. I know Jeremy's youth church had something similar happen, where the pastor who baptized him had to leave! People wanted to go out to have a (non-alcoholic!) drink so they could talk about things some more - when Mr. Creep came up to the group since he wanted lunch, Eric indicated that he wanted to go. That's certainly VERY good friendship, since he KNOWS how I feel about him! In the car, I thanked him for leaving - then he said he'd normally go for lunch (NO!), but there were other pressing matters to attend to. Well, good - I'm still glad I had a narrow escape!

He made sure that his family had left for O'Hare's pub without waiting for him, and then we were both mainly quiet / somber / subdued as we thought about things. Even our joking and such was muted! I saw a truck which said DERRICK TRUCKING - good thing it didn't say what I thought it might have! He jokingly thought I was a rude lady for making him check his email for what I'd be bringing, when I could expend a minimum amount of effort to tell him right then! However, I couldn't help him with the start time of tonight's dinner, so he WOULD have to check his email for that... HA! Also discussed what Randal had done during Communion (detailed above), BS small group outing (not sure what they're doing), and non-specific food items.

When I got home, I called my sister at work with the fresh news; Mom had beat me to it, she said. (I guess being the wife of the soon-to-be-retired church administrator has its perks...) I told her about the wedding - yes, the inside joke WAS "it's about time!" She thought it would have been a good wedding since I saw people I hadn't seen for years - oh yes! Also, she thinks that our parents are going to Italy on the 15th or 16th. If next weekend is just as hectic as this weekend (no indications that it WON'T be...), then I just might not make it to the family Thanksgiving dinner! Who knows.

Holy deathly fanjets, Batman! / My first Pyrex bowl / Daniel and crash courses

High-scoring words of the night:

ALTHO (126 points) - against George M. [3W, 4W, hook off WISED to make WO]
DEATHLY (890 points) - against Sheila D. [2W, two 5W]
FANJETS (400 points) - against Jennifer F. [two 5W]
HOLIER (174 points) - against Charmaine C. [two 4W, hook off AXES to make RAXES]


Went to London Drugs and got two wedding cards (Jason / Karen and Calla / Stanford), an on-sale Pyrex bowl (it's tempered and better for microwaving than a glass bowl - according to customer service - also has a vent in the lid!), two mini Guylian shell boxes for Christon and Jeremy's birthdays (I can DO that now - they're so sweet!), Snyder's of Hanover jalapeno pretzel pieces for Sunday, on-sale cherry passion Tic-Tacs, and iced white tea with blueberry.

When I got home, I emailed the group at large to say what I'd be bringing to the Sunday Dinner, then emailed Auntie Vivian to say that I won't be at Awana on Saturday. Daniel can get another crash course in secretarial duties, haha! Later, she thanked me for letting her know (it's my responsibility!), and hopes that I have a great time. I intend to!