Emulator ERASING game?! / Teething baby winter dream

I was NOT FUCKING IMPRESSED that my ZSNES emulator decided to ERASE my DQ6 game... ugh! "Save State 0 Too Old" - damned error message! At this rate, I'll get to know the game up to Amoru Cave quite well, since this is the third time I'll have played it! Eric also got on MSN right when I was going to bed; he asked if I was going to church today... I guess so, since I'm awake AND have saved pasta. :P


I went to sleep and had a dream that Eric and I were buying chocolate wine for Phil, but we stopped off at a local school first. That school was in the middle of exercise drills, so Jamie Nivala led the entire student body up and down a bunch of stairs. We found out exactly what was going on as we were herded outside: there'd been a bomb threat called into the building, but it turned out to be nothing. My dreams aren't logical, since OUTSIDE is not a good place for that situation!

To celebrate our narrow escape, we had a bit of the chocolate wine, then hightailed it up into the mountains to pick up a bunch of people from a conference... they needed a break from their teething babies! Eric apparently knew a bunch of Chinese, and was practicing it with my parents in regard to a Veterans Displacement Centre we could see in the snow. This was the first time that my parents had seen that area in the wintertime, and the first time that I was up there with them in Eric's car! (in the dream world, I'd always been there in Eric's company, ranting at him about Mr. Creep all the way) We got to the conference centre and admired the bright yellow walls as a backdrop for colorful sports jerseys (which Phil also wanted), where baby Ayler was apparently teething at three or four months old! Amos was crying because he wanted to get away from David. Emily, Mike, Vernon, David M., and others were trying to entertain babies or calm them down; the older ones just wanted Vernon's chips and popcorn, while playing with the brightly-colored toys! We were playing "catch and release" with the toddlers in the first lane of a deserted highway when my alarm went off. o_O No idea what triggered that one - talking about the winter with Chinese Eric, maybe...

Phil, Grace, and Micah will be missed...

When Eric picked me up this morning, he wondered if I'd spent time with Chinese Eric and Nathan yesterday. NO! IT WAS A FAMILY LUNCH! He complained about traffic while I found my lunch ticket, then he said that he should be at church by 9. That was currently not possible, as it was 8:55! I just hoped that Stanford isn't the type to yell at his minions, although I'm sure he can be quite intense at the restaurant! It was mainly a quiet ride over, but he did observe that I seemed to be in full DRAGON WARRIOR mode on Friday evening when he'd called - oh yes, and DRAGON QUEST V is next, which he's never played! He also wondered whether Steph and Lisa's wedding gift of pottery was all right, since my dad hadn't been driving too smoothly the night of the baby banquet. I guess I'll have to remember to ask them about it on Thursday!

Got to church, where I unloaded my extra Z-Grip pens on Priscilla and Joanna while waving to a VERY pregnant Alysia. I saw Jon, who said that Harmony and Ayler would come later... he was there to lead worship! Was going to sit in my usual spot, but I saw Darren C. and Jason - since I never see Jason more than once a year, I moved. He showed me lots of Calgary and Edmonton pictures on his phone, while asking me about Taiwan / my church / small groups and things like that. No, I don't have a phone - otherwise, I could keep in touch with him that way since he doesn't really use Facebook anymore! It's always good seeing him, though! (he said "God Bless" - that's totally fine!) Julie and Jeremy did indeed get baptized, so I gave them their cards later, for which they thanked me. Talked to Auntie Catherine, Sophia (her daughter Olivia is almost SEVEN already, and her mom told her about Grandma), Andrew L. (who's always tired - NOT NEWS!), and others before going upstairs.

At Toddler Sunday School, only David / Evelyn / Ashley / Anastasia were there! Lanie, Danny, and I had an easier time; James was clingy and crying too much, so he went with his mom. Priceless doctor advice from little Evelyn: "I'm going to check your head.... yes, there's something wrong. Your brain is playing tennis right now!" Talked about Lego, the panda and other animals on my BORN TO BE WILD shirt, elephants, fire engines, building a fort, climbing the door, cleaning up, and more. Went downstairs for lunch, where I was able to grab a seat in the crowded room. Stanford went all-out for the ten courses, and poor Christon was continually checking on things! The videos were good, but startled baby Ayler! Discussed Victoria, weddings, chow mein, drunken chicken, leftovers, curry noodles, tea, lemonade, sweet and sour pork, and much more with Alan / Tracy / Jon / Harmony / Edwin / Jane. When everything ended, I said hi to David M. while playing with Micah for about an hour. He's smart, and knows Jon Chan plays drums and Margaret plays guitar. I'm sure he liked his Uncle Angus scooping him up and playing with him!

Gave Grace a card and some stickers for Micah; it was just a little thing, but she thanked me anyway. I told Margaret that I was having issues with being a GOO-MAH and not a GOO-JEH, hahaha. Made plans with Deb and Dylan to go over on Wednesday to play with Declan, heh. Yes, he wanted my hat and glasses, but THAT WASN'T HAPPENING! I talked to Randal for a bit - YES, I WAS AT SERVICE TODAY! He says he believes me even if I wasn't in my usual spot, hahaha. When Eric finally got going, we said goodbye / see you soon to everyone, and got plenty of leftovers. He thought I was drunk, but that wasn't true at all. Then he wanted to drop me off at #4 / Alderbridge, but I didn't think that was a good idea. We discussed fight music, his latest FB display picture (not a WOW character, but himself with a shirt featuring Jon's head multiple times!), town music, how I should change mine since it's three months old (BOOTY LOGO!), and more. I'm sure he'll bug me on Friday!

Zellers storage bins, TRACKER luggage bag, and more Amacon fuckery!

I watched a show called URBAN LEGENDS which featured the story of a couple who found out that they were really brother and sister. Maura's dad and John's mom had had a brief fling, and their children unwittingly got together, feeling that they'd known each other for years. The show said they were still together (having had at least one child), and were looking to move to Sweden - it's the only country in the world where it's legal to marry your sibling!

Went out to Oakridge (taking Dad's jacket - yesterday, I took his sandals) to see if I could get a duffle bag since things were up to 70% off on clearance at Zellers. I didn't, but I did get three red storage bins at LESS than Teunis paid for the three green ones last year - HA! The clerk thought they were separate, but I picked up the thing used to bundle them since that had snapped off: from $20.86 to $10.36! Then I decided to go to Richmond Centre again, this time to ask the Bentley's people about duffle bags. They had a REALLY HUGE one for $19.99 (London Drugs sold them for $10 more), but I didn't need that. Eventually, I settled on a less sizeable one from TRACKER ($44.99 to $24.99) which had small wheels, even though I wasn't in the market for wheels originally. I guess they'll help if I'm concerned about heaviness!

I left satisfied, and was going to go home for a brief while so I could drop off my purchases and get my oven mitts since I can't find any around the townhouse kitchen. However, my key got stuck in the front door lock! I called the manager Hester from the front door, and was surprised (but not really) when her husband tried blaming ME for it! "You used the wrong key, so you caused the sticky door!" [not true] Then Hester told me, "That's not our problem, because you're an old tenant - not a new tenant." WHAT THE FUCK?! Ugh... when I finally got someone to take my key out of the lock before the management came, I thanked her very much! Luckily, she was still there when Hester's husband came to check out the issue, as she could translate into Mandarin or whatever dialect. IT'S NOT MY FAULT, AMACON!

When I finally was able to get into my apartment, I noticed seven missed calls: one was from Vanessa, of all the people. Hmm! I organized the purchases, cleared my phone, and decided to take a shower as long as I was home. Figured I need to get more shampoo and conditioner (as well as a farewell card for Phil / Grace / Micah), so I'll take care of that on Wednesday. Waited for a while at the bus stop, and called Chrystal when I got in. I'm good with paying for my own meal this time: it's on Wednesday night at the usual time and place! (What'll I do between banking and 6:30? Hang out at the mall with too much money temptation?!) Also called Eric to advise him that I wouldn't be going hiking tomorrow since I would DIE; even if he says it's more of a walk and I won't DIE, I'm still not going. Then I said that I'd still be here on Sunday, and I'd been told by two or three separate people to go to the damn meeting. He wondered if I were in the Russia mafia once I said that my parents were there... definitely not! I joked that I was at the townhouse to steal all their stuff, hahaha. At least I don't have to go anywhere till Sunday!

Dream about train stations, Marissa, Rich, Chinese Eric, and Phil

It's a good thing that white Eric didn't call me this morning because I wouldn't have been awake, although I got up at 9:45. Besides, I actually remembered a dream which I gotta write down! Thank goodness for extra time to fart around! Although I note that LJ is down right now... *sigh*

I dreamed that I was in a conference building, and that I had to see my dad. He was meeting Marissa and her crew at a nearby White Spot, and I had to get over there before Rich knew about this. Rich was actually there before I was, but wasn't mad about it. He said that he was there with some old and new co-workers / work friends, and let me know that he'd be going up north to pursue a new endeavor as a police officer. Finally, we saw Dad and Marissa's crew in the crowd of white people at the restaurant.

We joined them for dinner, and later went our separate ways. I met up with Chinese Eric at a train station, where he was busily going through some figures on paper about Telus. He helped me up a particularly nasty set of stairs, and I appreciated the friendly touch and hand-holding! Once there, we met up with Phil and talked to a bunch of people about hockey. I misheard that Parise and Suter had been traded soon after their acquisition by the Minnesota Wild, and wondered about that. Someone wrote next to my typed question: "NO!" Then I went with Phil and Eric to the Thompson train station, on the other side of the building, and talked for a while till the train came.


Triggers: Talking about the Puckhead meetup at White Spot / hockey in general with Chinese Eric, wanting Phil's ministry updates via email, seeing Rich at Eddie and Eunice's wedding, and trying to keep up with hockey news. Odd, but interesting enough!


Edit at 1123: LJ is working now, an hour later. Good!

Eddie and Eunice's wedding

Saw Grandma briefly before going over to Jon and Harmony's, where we saw Holly preparing to take care of baby Ayler for the afternoon and evening. He was a bit fussy, but that's to be expected. Baby seemed to like looking at my blue-and-green wedding wear, though! He was staring at it, haha. The wedding and banquet were at the Capilano Golf and Country Club in West Vancouver... lots of traffic wanting to go to Stanley Park, for sure! It was a pretty casual wedding, and I caught up with Winnie and her two kids Avery and Wesley / Pauline (she left when she was 17, and she's 41 now - yes, Richmond HAS changed a lot!) / Steph / Lisa / Phil / Grace / Jane and Amy (Vegas, motherhood, the nice weather) / Jeremy / Sam / Emily / Karen Choo / Rich / Vanessa (Prince George and hicks and the radio!) / Alan / Tracy / Denise / Daniel / Michelle / Uncle Richard / Auntie Gloria. SO MUCH DIVERSE FOOD! Butter chicken, dim sum, very fresh fish, etc. - I couldn't finish my plate! Had some room for dessert, though. Got home with the sweaters / towels (I'll sort it out later), only to discover that I'd missed a call from Chinese Eric! I can tell since it says "BLOCKED CALL" - and of course, I couldn't call him back since it was 10:45 already! Oh well, maybe tomorrow. Have also made a decision to restart AGAIN! *sigh*

Snoring baby nephews / YVR bear / Sausage and watermelon

Woke up at 7 AM for some stupid reason: lots of time for gaming and such, then! Called Eric at about 9:15, and Ron answered the phone. Yes, please make sure your son is awake enough for a phone call after his "late-night" hijinks at Alistair's, haha! When Eric did get on the phone, I told him that I'd probably be at Jon and Harmony's taking care of the baby, and to just pick me up from there for the BBQ whenever he decided to leave. Of course, I had to have coffee at the Copa Café later on, heh... I mailed Siobhan's Canucks lip balm / Vegas postcard / greeting card first, though. Met Auntie Catherine and Marcus when they arrived half an hour late; Mattias was with his other grandma. Talked about Vegas (but not the real reason why I was there), steak, rice, veggies, water, Bible Study, feeding kids, dropping napkin pieces on the floor, fussiness, plans, whether my sister has a boyfriend yet (HAHAHAHAHA), Facebook, and other things. No, she didn't have to drive me anywhere; I had time to kill, so decided to walk to Jon and Harmony's. I had to rest a couple times at bus stops and things of that nature (like a playground swing), but browsed FRONT ON MAIN and their interesting books for at least half an hour once I found out from the BAREFOOT CONTESSA people that the Riley Park library was closed down! Thank goodness it didn't really start pouring rain till I was in the house... it was indeed fortuitous that I grabbed a jacket before I left!

Mom and Dad were already there helping with the baby and laundry, and I got to find out where the laundry machines were. Talked about Grandma not going to bed till 2-3 AM (poor care aides!) / profound loss / care home activities like the aquarium / different levels of dementia (I feigned interest for Chinese Eric's sake), Safeway $5 sales, socks, kissing the baby, various aspects of baby care, the baby being happy with blowdrying after a diaper change, the one-month dinner on Sunday, a new ESC pastor / family meeting, poop, pee, Russia, cards, Teunis, Uncle Michael / Yvonne / Aaron / Lillian, Auntie Kwai, and more. I got to hold the baby for quite a while after he fell asleep (opened his eyes occasionally), and he started snoring! To me, that was amusing - but Dad thought he shouldn't. Hey, all I do is move blankets if they're too near his nose or mouth... Mom thought that I was making the little noises; NO!

When Uncle Joe got there with fish congee and more, my parents left since they had stuff to do. I took the opportunity to check stuff on the laptop a bit later. Auntie Wing Yee got there even later, and I told Harmony (who was up at the time) that I'd put her Vegas gifts on the table. There was a reason why I'd waited till my parents left, haha. She thanked me for the postcard / green necklace / shirts / teddy bear when she opened the bag! Harmony's mom certainly had stuff to say regarding "air-drying" the baby to prevent diaper rash; I tended to agree with Harmony that the process probably doesn't involve practically wrapping the baby in blankets and leaving a little air pocket at the bottom, but I didn't say anything. At least she said she'd do it her way! Discussed food, landlords, feeding baby, syringe feedings, strollers, mocha balls, Jon being at worship practice, vinegar and eggs, Chinese Eric saying hi and wanting to see the baby, my recent rough patch, and more.

Eric called later to say he was leaving his house; sounds fine to me! When he got here, I told him to come meet the baby for a bit, who was sleeping in his bassinet by then. Discussed my mom's Sunday ride offer, my not being able to be trusted around babies ("the baby's safe now"), today's hockey draft, the ESC pastor / family meeting news being true (and Eric intends to be at said meeting on Sunday!), and more on the way to church. At church, I updated Alan / Sam / Tracy / Jon / Phil / Vivian / Connie / Randal / Raymond about Vegas and the baby news while having sausages / potato salad / watermelon / hot dogs / salad / eggplant / garlic bread. Julie just got back from Uganda, too. I cleared the air with Randal as far as the FB notes on the past were concerned, and I'm sure he thought it was more disturbing than he suspected! Lesley gave me $2 back for the farewell dinner ticket, which I did hear about. Discussed Jon's "breastfeeding attempt," the grad banquet, the FAMILY FEUD game, how Micah might adjust to L.A., it being best NOT to post pictures of the blowdrying process to Facebook (Jon thought that would be the best!), Ivan's stolen stuff, cheese-filled smokies / SLB squirting out their contents, Tracy's pregnancy, eating a lot, and more. On the way home, we heard about Jerry Sandusky's conviction on 45 of 48 counts of sexual crimes against children - GOOD!


Baby Ayler: I'm a boy, I'm three days old in hospital, and I love it when my aunt holds me!




This is where I make like a bear in the YVR airport on the way to Vegas:




Hi! I'm 3.5 weeks old, and I snore already!

Bizarro World church service? Not sure if I want this...

When Eric picked me up this morning, we discussed the usual subjects like my being "drunk." As non-religious as I might be these days, I have enough respect for that setting to NOT do that, thank you very much! He said that I was going insane, but I took exception to that. Talked about my Friday mistakes, our future plans, THE WALKING DEAD "zombie music," and more when we weren't just being quiet. When we got to church, I asked Edwin about Jane and baby Rebecca before he had to do Communion prep with Alan and Brian (but he did thank me for asking); asked Auntie Rebecca when she'd be leaving (there's a farewell dinner on Canada Day); said hi to Edmond and Alysia; and changed my seat to sit nearer to my friends. Jeremy updated me on Mark's new job on the Island, transportation, environmentalists, tanks, unusual work weeks, and more.

Church service was really BIZARRE! The order was all switched around and mixed up: the tithes and offering was SECOND, the announcements were in the middle, and the sermon / Communion were AT THE END. I made a note to ask Christon about this later, of course. Someone's cellphone kept going off, so Jeremy joked to me that we'd overlook such a minor offense (applying current sermon material on conflict!) - I had to tell him about Sophia and John's wedding, where one went off during the VOWS! Jeremy showed me his Bible's translation of the "speck in your eye" verse: "having a log in your eye" is even funnier! We also discussed Jon's picture in the bulletin: it COULD have been from before Jer met him!

After that descent into Bizarro World, I went to look for Grandma as I usually do. She wanted to know where I'd been (not there!), and accepted Auntie Paula's help of an arm to get her to church service. Went into the fellowship hall, where there were actually tables set up - FINALLY, AFTER THREE AND A HALF YEARS! Alan gave me a bunch of invitations for Jon / Harmony, my parents, and me to attend Eddie and Eunice's wedding in July. I talked to Andrew about his writing (DEATHS AND GENRE!), to Lincoln about Steveston, to Gino about Friday night / Facebook / rambling / the "different woman" Teresa / that Mafia game, to Sam about his Richmond job, to Emily L. about life and the Cattle Café picture, to Auntie Catherine about a future get-together with the kids, and to Hannah and Gavin about piggybacking. Also said hi to Mike K., David M., and Adam L. (Karen and her son Marcus were at the window - she says he loves stuffed animals, and calls them all "dogs," haha)

Saw Jessie (who'd assumed I just leave early all the time - I'll let her think that!), Shira, Ada, James, Mattias, Ashley, Ramen, Wesley, Emma, Denise, Lanie, Natalie, Danny, Jesse, and Anastasia in Toddler Sunday School. Gave Ashley and Jonathan their Easter candy, said hi to Natalie's mom / Auntie Bessy / Uncle Patrick when they came in, and played the role of "kiddy bathroom attendant" again with Mattias. Lifting him wasn't too bad, I guess. Discussed bread, rolls, toys, different types of food, coloring, buttons, water, and more. Looked for Eric later on, while Grandma asked if we'd be having lunch with them. Mom said that Auntie Anita had free Koinonia lunch tickets, so I bugged Eric about them when I did see him.

We ended up going to lunch and talking to Christon / Alan / Jeremy / Randal about the mixed-up weird service (maybe only on Communion Sundays?), ESC initiatives, church website meetings, BBQ food at Alan's, Jon's last-minute dinner, tongue and other ingredients, Canucks stuff on sale now (Harrison had something like that), the Alpha course, Mike T. and Emily C., cross-border shopping, and other religious stuff. On the way home, Eric and I discussed bestiary stuff / TROGDOR [HOMESTAR RUNNER] and LINK [ZELDA] references in DAWN OF SOULS / Van Halen / my not doing anything wrong / Pastor Bob having unfortunate initials / WORLD OF WARCRAFT stuff / effective ads for prostate cancer ("IT'S OUR TIME! .... to talk about it") and Teunis likely not wanting to pay attention to ads / spending time with people (TOO MUCH!) / my "non-existence." When I got home, I called both my siblings to update them on stuff, and got a ride from Steph for Thursday's dinner. Now, hopefully time for a nap!

Grandma's 92nd birthday!

Today is Grandma's 92nd birthday! Vanessa got on MSN briefly to share my excitement over sushi overriding BS tomorrow, hahaha. I was responsible and paid my Shaw bill before I went out to do some banking and then spend some time with the Big G. Of course, she forgot that I had told her about this by the time I did get to the townhouse at 2. She made some black garlic oil noodles with chicken for me since I said I hadn't eaten yet, which was nice.

Then asked me whether I had boyfriends in the computer, and then asked whether I talked to White Kid (Eric M.) all the time on the computer. Not really! (if SOMEONE would sort his stuff out...) Phil liked those FB statuses, anyway. I reminded her about her birthday card, and she called me "good" for that and telling her to drink water. Harmony's dad Uncle Joe called to invite her out to dinner; of course, she forgot that Mom and Dad went to the States! Then she told me not to call my sister at work because she's a police officer... HAHAHAHA!

Coffee is a must, man! / One less year to live!

Had to take a nap earlier, which meant that I missed a message from one of my favorite people in the world... *sigh* However, I did get an email from Randal asking if I still wanted to meet for coffee after he got off work. Sounds good to me, especially if he also offered to pick me up! At least the MARIO music perked me up after the nap, haha. Phil called me later with the passport info I needed (number / dates of issue and expiry), so that's a good thing!

Vivian LIKED my wall post to Steph, where I told her to remember that I was real and she was fake! (a family joke) I also called Steph to wish her a happy 29th birthday, and had to make the message at least somewhat morbid! "You have one less year to have long walks on the beach! What do you think about that?! MUHAHAHAHA!"

Colorful rainbow font messages (dream) / Apology acceptance / Phil

I had a dream where James came online and told me things about dragons in colorful rainbow font, and that's all I actually remember. Interesting! When I got up after melatonin at 11:45, I discovered Phil had finally called / emailed me. Of course I accepted his apology for missing my calls yesterday - he IS busy, after all! Says he'll give me the passport info when he gets home later, which is fine by me!

Then I fielded a YM message from the usual suspect, who actually accepted MY apology for the other night - maybe he needed time to just simmer down, heh. Since I'd hinted that he needed to check his own Yahoo account, apparently he did. His reaction to the Regards ecard was "Awwww... you're so sweet! Yes, we will kick assholes' asses! Love you!" AIYA - I SPENT TWENTY MINUTES ON THAT THREE WEEKS AGO, AND THAT'S ALL YOU GOTTA SAY?! *shakes head*

#9 with Rita and the parents

When Mom called at 12:15, I told her that I couldn't go to the passport office because Phil hasn't given me his information yet. She still invited me to lunch with Dad and Rita, so I went with them to #9. We talked about travel, England, the Pantry, Jon / Harmony / Steph, Rita's turntable from London Drugs, Chinese food, Flora the waitress, the thrift shop, Germany, rent for a huge place, the lease, money, and the Russia cruise in July. Also talked about Rita's nephews living in Powell River, Italy, rock sugar, South America's heat, wonton soup, various noodles, Grandma, how Rita doesn't like garlic, chicken chow mein, Skype and technology, Danny's Wonton House, Ironwood, Lansdowne's past as a race track, and the numerous changes in Richmond in the past 40 years. When I got home with some leftovers, I had a surprise YM message from the usual suspect wishing me a happy Valentine's Day - maybe things will be okay after all. Thank goodness he wasn't online, though; it was great so I could leave apologies for my behavior last night, and I need a nap!

David Lee, Mad Greek plans, Kenny, minor mistakes, smartass remarks

Someone named David Lee tried adding me to Facebook; I thought it MIGHT be the one I knew from church a REALLY long time ago (but "David Lee" is a very common name!), but it wasn't. DENIED! Then it turned out to be Kennedy using her friend's account, and she tried dictating to me what I must do: "DON'T talk to Brandi anymore - she has no respect!" Hahahaha, like I'm going to give in?! You were grounded for a good reason, young lady.

After I had a much-needed nap, I got up to discover that Chinese Eric had tried calling me. Since I won't allow myself to ignore THAT at any time, I called him back. After he worked outside, he just wanted to let me know that his doctor's appointment had been moved, so he might be meeting me even later tomorrow evening. Hey, that's totally fine since it's not like we had a specific time in mind! I wondered if he could eat Greek food (although he was fine at Kalamata, now that I think about it) - he said as long as it wasn't too spicy or had too much lamb and stuff, it should be fine. Then he brought up Mad Greek when I was indecisive about restaurants or even going out to eat. It's VERY close by, that's for sure! Plan of action: He'll call or buzz me when he's about to leave from dropping his mom off and doing some stuff, and then I can call Mad Greek myself to see if it's pretty busy. Sounds good to me!

Vanessa got on MSN right when the first intermission started, so we talked about surprises / minor mistakes / Teunis / Krista / smartass remarks concerning gum and chewing / showers / cleaning up / being moody. Turns out Teunis unfriended me on Facebook because of that remark - hey, if you can't take snark about it, then you don't deserve to be my friend anyhow! Now, I don't have to keep his mail, not that he would want it! Of COURSE the hockey game went to overtime and a shootout... *grumble* Seven of the last thirteen games?! I hate shootouts... at least it was a 2-1 win over Phoenix. Cindy emailed me about the phone message I left yesterday, so PHEW! Phil has not called me back yet... ugh.

Baby Dragon, cruising, passport guarantees, Christian bookstores, and more

I'm all churched-out, and don't want to do it again for at LEAST another two weeks! SO KNACKERED! Eric picked me up after 9, and bugged me about having beef for breakfast: "What if that's what Christon has gotten together for lunch?!" Somehow, I didn't think that would happen... I was right, since we had noodles / subs / grapes / strawberries / kiwis! We talked about BS, Bible Study, unfortunate abbreviations, Phil, Pastor Bob, spoiling the kids with jelly and chocolate hearts, his guaranteeing to the government that I would be too crazy to leave the country (DON'T DO THAT!), Chinese Eric, Valentine's Day, dreaming, what I did yesterday, quotes, MOTHER 3 on Hard Mode, FINAL FANTASY, video games, forums, GARBAGE DAY on Youtube, and more. When we got to church, I told him not to abandon me again - I met him at the church door, heh. Talked to Phil about the passport thing; since it was more convenient to do it at lunch, that worked for me!

Sat by Jeremy and Mark, and talked about wedding invites and furniture clean-out; when I said hi to Pastor Bob, he wanted to know who I was! I suppose that could be a fair question, hahaha. (Eric thinks I "rarely" come nowadays - HEY, I STILL ATTEND CHURCH MORE OFTEN THAN MY SISTER, OKAY?!) It was interesting to have an art slant on the sermon, but I was still looking for coffee afterwards - I asked Jordan, who told me that there wasn't any! Oh well. Said hi and talked to Reigan, Auntie Eva (Grandma arrangements - she'll call - "I'm so behind since I have no computer!"), Auntie Paula (her health - she thanked me for my concern IN ENGLISH!), Auntie Ying (future Vancouver lunch plans?), Sheena (late birthday wishes), Amanda, and Quan. Also talked to Lincoln (busy AND just engaged two days before his Valentine's Day birthday!), Andrew (biology / midterm papers / getting stuff done early), Mom (Polly and Alan's lucky money - she unexpectedly paid me back for the passport photo costs!), Harmony (maternity leave / research into expensive carseats and strollers / naming / a year off / active and kicking Baby Dragon!), Polly and Alan (THANKS FOR THE MONEY! AND AWANA!), Vania (tagging), Deb, baby Declan, Dylan (belated birthday wishes), Sonya, Nathan W., Uncle Johnny, and others. SO MANY BABIES AND CHILDREN!

Went upstairs to Toddler Sunday School; saw James (who leaned on me and held my hands), Mattias (I had to play the role of "kiddy bathroom attendant"), new kids, a baby whom I just called "baby," Jessie, Rachel and her grandma, Jonathan, Anastasia, Ashley, Ramen, and Shira. The kids were really hyper today, but I gave out the candy anyway. They liked the slides, trucks, puzzles, and all the usual toys. Chung told me that he won't let Mattias have sugar; I guess I should have let the kid have one or two jelly hearts before Daddy showed up, haha. When I got downstairs, Grandma didn't know where Mom and Dad were; they were in the front! Said hi to a bunch of people in the fellowship hall, and sat by Mark later at the welcome lunch. He remarked on how little Noah looked like a KILL BILL character with his white dress shirt and black tie, and how all the other kids (Anne / Sophia / Olivia / Nathaniel / Abigail / Joshua / Keenan / Benjamin / Mattias) were running around and creating mayhem. You got that right!

I said hi to baby Marcus / baby Emma and her dad Tim / baby Ava, and talked to Acer / Mark / Geoffrey / some Hong Kong guy / Alan / Tracy / Auntie Lillian about Craigslist job searching from Hong Kong / crowded conditions in Hong Kong / Translink / transit / fare evasion / feeling ripped off / NOODLES FOR US WHEN THE KIDS FINISHED! Told Jon about spaghetti squash exploding, and that funny pee sign. Phil and Eric helped me with my passport documents, which was excellent. Also talked to Sophia and Helen about Steph / family vacations / travel / Strawberry Shortcake gum - Elaine IS coming back in a bit before New Hampshire and her husband Matt's family, as Andrea said a while ago! The family meeting was about transitions, change, questions, inter-generational stuff, worship, devotions, and more. Got a lot of tag prompt writing done, and laughed when Mark inserted pencils in his shoe.

Afterwards, I finally made tentative plans with Randal to meet at the Aberdeen Tim Horton's on Thursday; thank goodness I checked, and there is NO HOCKEY THAT NIGHT! I don't mind if he calls me after work that evening, which is progress. Grandma was still knitting outside since my parents were in a meeting; she asked where Jon was, but I told her that he and Harmony had left earlier to buy baby stuff. Eric wondered whether we had to take her home, but we didn't. She recognized White Kid, but (as I told him later) might not recognize Wu-So-Lo (but he DOES have a mustache now) - she definitely won't recognize Mark! On the way home, we discussed banana bruising / Teunis and Tess / co-existing with Mr. Creep and Paul (who was elsewhere today - PHEW!) / the Fellowship AGM / Greek food / Chinese Eric's health issues and whether he COULD eat Greek food / my parents' cruise / advice / blocking people temporarily or staying offline till I got my stuff done / Texas / NOT BEING IN LOVE WITH MATT! At home, I napped for a bit, then checked Facebook to find the news of Lincoln and Karen's engagement. I immediately called Steph to catch her up on things; Karen Grace is excited about being an aunt, too! Discussed research, passport stuff, money, food, and other things. Interesting, but long day!

Abandonment, the crosswalk, pursuit of happiness, and Grandma being confused

When Eric picked me up this morning, he said I'd been hiding between two SUVs. Maybe! We talked about personal stuff, silence, a weird movie called BLACK SUNDAY about terrorists which his friends want to watch before the Super Bowl (okay...), Paul, articulating stuff to my brother, his leaving right after service (fine by me!), my weird thoughts, my being "drunk" (as if I'd ever show up to church in that condition!), abandonment, the crosswalk, and more. On the way out of the car to church, he warned me that the sidewalk was slightly icy - yes, I'd noticed that, but was okay. Got into the sanctuary (after telling Jessie that I couldn't help out today) to have some time to myself before Nathan W. came in - Phil and I both said hi to him, as usual. Of course I made sure to say hey to Jeremy when HE came in, since we're friends and all. Then I bugged little Harrison for a minute or so!

I noticed Jon and Harmony coming in pretty late even for them, and had to bug my brother about it. Jeremy and I shared amusement at some points during the sermon, especially when Phil said that we could leave the Ecclesiastes pursuit of sexual happiness to our imaginations! NOT A GOOD IDEA! Afterwards, I made sure to ask Harmony how she was feeling; she said it was good to see me, haha. I also welcomed Christon back from up north: he told me and Geoffrey that he couldn't wait to escape the prison, and REALLY hopes he's back here for good! From what he told us, I don't think it was a good environment for him.

Stanford gave me a card, which I assumed was a wedding thank-you... I was right! Said hi to Denise, Grace, Micah, and Randal (who said my Adidas bag was big and a nice color - he KNOWS that I carry around a bunch of stuff!) before assuming that Eric would be going to next week's welcome lunch for Pastor Bob. (his son-in-law is speaking on art and culture, too) Grandma saw me and waved from the bench, so of course I went over to say hi. She asked why I didn't go eat with them, and then told me that ever since the church moved, she had no idea where to go. She's always seemed okay until a while ago! After that, she pointed out Jon in the crowd, so I hailed him to come over for a bit. She asked where his wife was - oh, she was somewhere nearby! Then she figured Steph was at work - yes, probably! Since Grandma really DID seem confused, I had to lead her to the sanctuary - I knew Auntie Paula was inside, but Grandma couldn't go in through the exit door! After that, I finally went into the sanctuary and bought a lunch ticket from Uncle Stephen.

When I asked Eric if he were ready to go, he bugged me that my bag was big enough to hold a bunch of drugs. I broke my customary silence with Raymond (who was nearby), and was mock chagrined enough to ask HIM whether I looked like a drug dealer! "No, no... it was a joke... haha." I know, but still. On our way out, I saw baby Emma chewing on her thumb, so I asked her if it tasted good! Mary and I said hi to each other while going in opposite directions at the crosswalk, too. In the car, we discussed Jasmine / Teunis / people ending friendships / the French word for "pumpkin" / whether I felt like killing anyone (not at that moment!) / Bible Study / Valentine's Day / my NOT stalking Chinese Eric / silence / how I should try CHRONO TRIGGER again (it's not my type of game, surprisingly!) / Christmas songs ("it's still winter!" doesn't fly with ME!) / frost on the windshield / meeting people for dinner / MOTHER 3 on hard mode / the Kefka theme from FINAL FANTASY / small doses ONLY of Christian music / making him deaf / hair / roots. Was home by about noon, which is very good - I think I'll need it, before next week!

I chose the sweater and toque because it was COLD, not because they're RED!

When Eric picked me up this morning, we talked about the freezing cold weather / hair / my red outfit including bling sweater and SLED HAT toque (NOT FESTIVE!) / Santa / Christmas carols / the car heater / my cackling / pumpkin ale / baby showers / DARKWING DUCK / trolls / sound duty / his brother being in town last weekend (KIERAN!!!) / family meals (ugh) / my feelings / my opinion that tone-deaf people needn't disturb my peace / yesterday / my ranting / Ween / Decemberween / Halloween music. At church, Auntie Rebecca invited me to her office so I could get the Michael's picture frame - she also said that there were 80+ kids in Awana this year, and they had to put a cap on things because the existing leaders wouldn't be able to handle the load! Haha, not surprised... that's what happens when you want growth! Greeted baby Micah who was pointing at the stage, Auntie Ying, Auntie Allyn, Sonya, and Jessica. Said hi to Jeremy and Christon, then had to move because Paul sat down behind me - I didn't want my ears to bleed all during service! I did hear that he somehow PASSED his criminal record check - with HIS past?! Jeremy had also passed him on the way to church; "I told him to take the bus because it was cold! I was going to take a four-day week at work, but so much for a holiday! PUMPKIN MAIN DISHES?!" Poor guy!

Made plans with Auntie Ying to go over to her place on Wednesday (non-hockey day; looked up Translink directions at home), and was going to make plans to get together with Chrystal again, but they didn't work out with hockey and weekly traditions conflicting... I've looked THAT up also! Dodged Mr. Creep while saying hi to Andrew L. (up early and borrowing books he's waited for at school), Vivian (birthday cards!), Karen and Lincoln (how we were), Deb (baby shower and Paul payment), baby Emma, Quan, Gino, Phil and Grace, Lee, and others. Went upstairs to Toddler Sunday School after a while; I saw a crying Mattias (who'd just fallen down) and gave him his birthday present while saying hi to his brother Marcus and his parents Chung and Karen. He seemed to like the toy car and the happy face stickers! (and has lost a toy car by flushing it down the toilet) Saw Jessie, Danny, Rachel's grandma, Lanie, Ramen, Shira, James, Brandon, Ada / Arthur (who left for their own class), Anastasia, Ashley, David, Evelyn, and Alexis. Talked about sitting down, puzzles, toys, crayons / coloring, chickens eating pizza (HAHA), colored Goldfish (the snack), Pokemon, and more.

Went downstairs and said hi to John and Ada L., Hilary F., Julie C., and others on my way out with Eric. I threw some things away, including old jellybeans. On the way home, we discussed my opinion of Paul / video game music / my subconsciously loving Christmas / FINAL FANTASY II / how I should contact Dave Wong (awkward?) / STARCRAFT / DIABLO II / Future Shop / my being "drunk" on beer and wine / carving pumpkins. Now, it's time to relax!

Comfort, boundaries, carefulness, and privacy! / Loyalty

For some reason, Paul woke up at 8:40 and started doing stuff in the kitchen. Of course, that woke ME up as well - I was NOT impressed! I'm surprised I made sense while talking to him about Phil, gangs, Uncle Eugene not being my real uncle (it's a cultural thing - just like we told Eric when he got here in 2001), NOT keeping him company (I NEED DOWNTIME!), his plans for today, spare keys, his NOT using my computer (I'm being very careful), and such. When he left at 9-ish, I went straight back to bed and didn't get up till noon... BLISS! I spent time writing stuff in the birthday cards for Mandy (a_phoenixdragon), Jeremy, and Christon before doing the "computer shuffle" and taking the expensive things out of my room where I'd stored them overnight. COMFORT, BOUNDARIES, AND PRIVACY! (and he wondered WHY the bedroom was the place where I conducted phone calls... *rolleyes* )

You Are Somewhat Loyal

You are loyal when it makes sense to be, but you don't go overboard with loyalty. You're all about second chances, but if someone or something screws up enough - you're out of there. You have a clear and fair sense of the world. You aren't necessarily going to side with someone just because they are close to you. Right and wrong mean more to you than personal alliances. Justice trumps loyalty for you.

How Loyal Are You?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

This is why I do certain things when it comes to certain people. DO NOT QUESTION IT.

"Officially old" at 35 / FOUNDATION / Taking another male in on my birthday

Birthday wishes: Chris W., Billie, Ellen W., Laura, Ryan, Itamar, Jason H., Kaitlin, Sarah G., Susan, Baby's Named A Bad Bad Thing, Unaboard, Crime Library, Sara H., Andrew M., Corey, Hilary, and Connie.


Decided to wish Karen Choo a happy birthday via email, heh. Jon emailed us an update on Paul, and thinks we can go out to eat later. Hey, it's all good if we can combine cheering him up with MY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION! Hahahaha... I'm not evil, and won't think that the apartment fire needed to time itself better! Then Eric called at 6:15 to say he was coming in ten minutes; that earned him a rather piercing "You WHAT?!?!?!?!" He joked that he thought his phone just broke, and said that he was kidding - "I just wanted to remind you that it's Friday." Guess I had to sit through a boring program AGAIN to get to the good parts! (reminds me of Uncle Hansel lecturing us about going to Fellowship just to get to karaoke, hahaha)

When Eric DID get here, I basically spent the whole ride over ranting about how Randal does NOT use his brain! However, I did pay Eric back for the Pho a couple weekends prior; later, I paid Jon back for the sausages and such at that time. Eric might go to Nathan's thing because he suggested Phnom Penh and the Alibi Room - CHINATOWN AGAIN ON TOP OF A STUPIDLY LONG DAY?! Oh well... got to Fellowship late, and I had to focus on Eric's shoes because then I wouldn't look up / in the wrong direction and see Mr. Creep in my line of vision! (when I told Eric this later, he was like "HELP ME...") I did listen to Tim's opinions on stuff in the ESC... but tuned out when Randal described himself as "sexy." I DON'T THINK SO! Connie, Paul, and I also discussed the fire and personal issues. Told Auntie Rebecca that I'd try to bus to AWANA, but that was before confirming things with Paul for tomorrow - guess I'll call her in her meetings if I get up at 2:30 again, hahaha. She'll understand that it's an emergency situation, and appreciate my practicing hospitality, haha!

After the program, we talked about Paul / charity / laundry / stinky stuff / jobs / rent / Uncle Eugene. Christon asked me to pick a place - I'm terrible at that, but I was fine with THE FOUNDATION! We finally forced Paul to accept Deb and Dylan's offer of hospitality, and mine as well. As I told Eric, I was doing the same thing two years ago in inviting a man to stay in my abode! He thought I was worried about Paul staying for six months, and reassured me that he didn't think that would happen. I wasn't thinking about that at all, since Paul DID say he didn't want to be a burden on anyone, and really appreciated everything! (Phil's going to let him speak on Sunday, so I guess I shouldn't sleep in, hahaha)

At the restaurant, we talked about tonight's meeting / shelters / stinky stuff / arrangements / age jokes / beer / nachos / appetizers / Lesley / Molly / the Daniel Fellowship / phone numbers / the loud place / my "never" answering the phone / a Bible verse FB application / my piercing yell of "YOU WHAT?!" / SERVANTS / busing / repetitive rap. On the way home, Eric said he'd give the pop and chips back on Sunday - another reason to not sleep in, haha. He bugged me with Christmas carols, Big Sugar's BUTTERBALL, and more just because it was past midnight. UGH! Yeah, I also bugged him about missing my birthday event! Corey's telling me on Skype that I'm not under the hill yet, hahaha. Noticed that Sonya has undeleted her FB.

Blazeghost Attack Text Glitch / Randal Notification Event Response?! WTF?! / Vanessa

Apparently, this is what happens when I attack Blazeghosts (as opposed to casting Icebolt) in DRAGON WARRIOR 4. I noticed this last night, but failed to get a screenshot:




Speaking of "WTF?!!!!!!!" moments, I had one this afternoon when I got a notification that Randal had written on my "Greek food birthday celebration" wall. I immediately thought that Eric had invited him, so sent a rage-filled email his way! Dude's not on my FB friends list for a REASON, and I doubt I'd have invited him anyhow! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH PEOPLE?! Luckily, he's at the same meeting that Phil and Christon will be going to, so PHEW! (although he did say to have fun and enjoy the Greek food, but I'm sure he's just being polite)

Vanessa says she wants to do lunch tomorrow at Specialty Chicken and Wonton House - sure, why not? I have the cash right now that I saved from not going out today or paying people back (oops), so I can do that! If she wants to go to the country farm market and City Fresh / Chapters, it's all cool. Turns out that it's a good thing I didn't do anything today, hahaha - more gaming time! Apparently, there's such a thing as durian mooncake - NOT SURPRISED! Discovered redrum, too... EARLY!

Brent Stabbed Last was stabbed to death! / Promoting Greek food at the BBQ

While I was trying to catch up with FFAF, I asked Teunis which date worked better for him because of the Lemonade Pork Chop Extravaganza - the 22nd (a Thursday), apparently. Kaili's set up a weekly old-school RPG thing on Wednesdays (which isn't THAT important, come on!), but meh. Eric also buzzed me, bugging me about the BBQ and wanting me to censor myself. Fuck that, man! On the way to church, we mainly talked about "what made me learn to cuss" (nothing!) - it's all good with me unless it's directed at me or people I love! Raymond held the elevator door open for us - awkward, but I was embarrassed when I mistook Vicky's boyfriend for Wes. UGH! Talking to Jeremy and Mark about Wednesday, Greek food, furniture warehouse sales, delivery, the 6.7 earthquake earlier today (which I didn't feel AT ALL!), transit, lighting, vending machines, UBC forest, and more made me feel better, though!

I had a beef burger and a salmon burger while telling Vivian that I'd have invited her for Wednesday, but it was a school night. Deb says that she and Dylan could come since he doesn't have to fly out to Chicago for work anymore! Apparently, Paul gets notified every time someone posts something to his Facebook feed, hahaha! (and he doesn't know what "WTF" means... WTF!) Phil and Christon have to attend an ESCC meeting on Wednesday, but can probably do something on Friday after Fellowship; guess I'll have to risk being bored to get something good out of it later! Noticed Mr. Creep, but stayed well away from him by talking to Connie and ignoring the "different" woman Teresa when she asked about dying because I'd told Connie that I wasn't good at MARIO BROTHERS since I died all the time! (RPG things are better for me in that sense!) Talked to Amanda, Mike K., Chris T., Cindy, Andrew L., Pastor Tom, Deb, and others about life / birth / pregnancy / hospitals. Chatted to Eric about NOT giving up games or catching up online, pop, lemon chips, gas prices, Chinese Eric's health, and more on the way home.


Yeah, you read that right... Brent Stabbed Last was stabbed to death! (and his nickname was Brent Good Dagger!)

Noodles defeated me! / Getting high / Mountain king!

When I went out, it took some doing to find Deer Garden, but it's actually in the same plaza as Michigan Noodle Shop. Turns out Twinkle looks like it's closed, so I'm glad Dave and I went there for bubble tea last year, hahaha. Auntie Ying was at the restaurant before I was, which I expected - we talked about the big noodle soup bowls, and the combos reminded me of the ones at Cattle Café, right down to the Korean crystal noodles and tomato / pumpkin soup base! (I got the Tom Yum soup base with beef brisket and enoki mushrooms) We discussed Phil, Melia, Angus, Grace, Sonya, baby Micah, Toddler Sunday School (Jessie / David / Evelyn / Mattias using English / his baby brother Marcus / Ramen / Shira), her being a grandmother (Micah smiles at her!), prayer requests (I just said NO when she asked me if I had any - she doesn't need to know some things!), Angus' mom, Emily's wedding, her friends, Auntie Teresa / Auntie Gloria / Auntie Ena, her sister upsetting her by insinuating that she loved her mother-in-law more than her own mother, and more. Of course, I thanked her for the lunch before we left the restaurant separately!

Got home and discussed gum, Robert Miles' CHILDREN, THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING, Afroman's BECAUSE I GOT HIGH, Aphex Twin, and various other songs with Teunis. Chinese Eric called to see whether I was home or not, so that was a good time to tell him about the computer issues. I brought up my "system restore" idea with Teunis, who said it might work - lo and behold, it did! He said something about the product key, so I told Eric about that too. When Eric came over at 4, he met Teunis, then talked to him for a bit about piracy and things like that. He also gave me the USB stick with ORPHAN and THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE on it.