JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI / Sleeping in!

Eric picked me up, and we were at Dylan's shortly; he saw Randal in front of us, and pointed this out. I had no idea about that! There were a lot of people over; I talked to Connie, Wesley, Vicky, Raymond, Jon, Karen, Lincoln, baby Declan, Dylan, Deb, Cindy, Randal, and Geoffrey about Grandma updates, toys, alone time, the sushi documentary (JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI - he's 88 years old and still works every day!), Facebook, Ayler, the dinner last Sunday which I didn't hear about till the next day, old potato salad, beer, chicken, chips, the baby wanting glasses or pants, fans, and more. It was getting pretty warm, yeah. On the way home, Eric said that his family is visiting Kieran in the States for at least a couple of days, so he probably won't be going to church on Sunday. I exulted at the chance to sleep in, and he said I could call my parents (whom I've seen too much of in recent days) / Sam / Ivan. NOPE! Discovered that I'd missed a call at 7:30 from Chinese Eric - DAMMIT! I WAS AFRAID OF THIS.

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*

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!

$100 bill, jellybeans, vodka, transitions, Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and new babies

When Eric picked me up this morning (after I discovered a stain on my sweatshirt which won't launder out - NEW ONE AHOY!), he joked around about my being "drunk" as per the usual, but he didn't know that the "buzzed" interpretation was actually true! I vented about Paul, and he said that nobody said I had to date him - well, thank goodness for THAT! He also wondered whether there was any progress on a certain front, so I updated him on things there; Eric also asked whether I'd watched any hockey games with Eric Ho. HAVE NOT - WE SHOULD! (perhaps I should call him tomorrow evening?) Eric thinks that Paul being away now doesn't give me a chance to forgive him - trust me, I won't do it in front of him since that'll give him a reason to do similar shit again. We also discussed the Fox, Blur, 90s music, my sleep issues, Christian music, Vegas, escalaphobia, Julie C., Friday's potluck at Pastor Bob's definitely interfering with the weekly tradition because it starts at 6:30, his selling points as to the age gap between Fellowship groups, and more.

I saw Grace, Micah, Winnie, and her kids Megan / Connor / Cameron. I'm aware that Winnie goes to Tenth now, but misses everyone at VCEFC too. Good thing I saw her! Pastor Bob started out his sermon with the tired lighthouse joke, and the whole thing turned out to be on conflict. As I thought, Eric later asked me whether I could apply any of it to Paul - escape?! NOT DENIAL. I was distracted by the kids, but that's okay - I might be more so that way in a short while myself! The sound was a bit off; later, Mike K. was telling me and Jessica that we should have had some black gospel music as a backing tape ("we need Whoopi Goldberg!"), and I suggested that we should have vocals and singers' projection lessons! Melia told me that she and Angus might make it to Steph's wedding in Vegas. Heard that Wes and Esther had a baby boy on the 9th, and that Edwin and Jane had a baby girl just yesterday! (called my sister to update her - we forgot what we put in that baby pool!) After service, I exchanged laid-back greetings with my brother, who said that last week's dinner was pretty good, and the next one might be soon. Dad asked where Harmony was, but she had just woken up; Mom wondered about that, but even *I* know that late pregnancy makes you tired! (and my sister-in-law DOES like her sleep!)

Talked to Gino about the potluck; he thinks I'd cook something, which is definitely unlikely! Asked Quan and Julie S. if they'd seen Julie C. - "in the sanctuary during service" doesn't help, man! Discussed stuff with Eric for a bit, then said hi to Lily / Victor / Amanda / Karen I. / a sleepy baby Marcus before going upstairs for Toddler Sunday School. Saw Jessie, her kids Ramen and Shira, Anastasia, her dad Danny, baby Natalie, a new kid named Karen, Wesley, Ada (who went to the older class), Mattias, David, Evelyn, and Rachel's grandma. (I gave out a bunch of jellybeans, chocolate coins / eggs, and Easter bunnies - Jessie said I was always so thoughtful) Said hi to Frances, her sons Micah and Isaac, and her sister Sophia as well before they left. Frances hasn't seen my parents at church in a while; that's funny since I'd just talked to them a few minutes beforehand! She also wondered when I'd talked to her husband Mel about THE HUNGER GAMES: it was a FB status, hahaha. Talked to the kids about going to the bathroom (EVERYONE WENT - I even went into the men's room!), Lego, toys, noises, throwing things, and more.

Went downstairs, saw Grandma, talked to one of her friends in English, got change for my $100 bill from Uncle Adrian, and assumed Eric had left already. Geoffrey was waiting around for Uncle Hansel, anyway. Finally saw Julie C., and gave her the huge Ziploc bag of candy - I told her to share it with her mom or her friends at school after she hugged me twice. ("Oh my God - Mom, look!") Margaret was bugging Rachel about the Easter candy I'd given her, too. Said hi to Sean and Ian, as well. I was about to call Eric on the upstairs phone when he came out of a room and saw me. On our way out, I saw Auntie Grace and Uncle George. Auntie Grace asked me when the baby was due, so I told her. SO NICE!

We went to Pho and ate lunch with Jeremy, Lesley, Ivan, Alan, Tracy, and Kevin. Discussed paella, Sunday Dinners, Joe and Helen doing the Sun Run together today (someone has to look after their kids Nathaniel and Abby, though!), Billy and Stella, proposals, rings (Lily and Lesley thought Stella didn't have a great boyfriend if he was asking her to pay for everything = not knowing about the ring in his money belt), getting robbed while traveling in Thailand / Europe / other places, Prince George, school, staying up till 4 AM, Christon, Amy, Paul, Alberta, and more. They talked about transitions, Sarah C. / Emily L. / Sam / Quan / Vania / Jen / Connie / Vivian L. / Harmony, age gaps, an IRON CHEF program, planning, lawyers, Brian, and such at their meeting while I focused on the crazy Pittsburgh-Philadelphia hockey game on TV. Later, Jeremy waited for Eric to give him a cheque. On the way home, Eric and I discussed my accidentally blocking Vicky (it IS awkward like Scott says, and not easy like he thinks!) / Jason / Friday's potluck / #4 and Alderbridge / sleeping / stickers with a TELUS calendar / $5 and Jon at the Hog Shack / gum / Vivian S. / Danielle moving and other topics. Got home and blogged some of this up before taking a much-needed nap! Good thing I got up before the game started, although I still do need sleep.

Wishful thinking, horrifying screennames, and being BACK ONLINE!

While I was at the library yesterday, I responded to Mandy's email - then I played a lot of gaming at home! (which I *just* lost!) Woke up at 6 AM today, craving vegetables for some reason. Luckily, I had some in the freezer! I remembered the candy for the children, which I ended up giving to Nina and Emily - Auntie Bessy asked if I were sure about this, but I totally was! Julie C. missed out, though! Eric called to say that he had to pick up Dylan as well, which was okay by me. We talked about the front seat being jammed forward, Deb, the holidays, baby Declan, sleep issues, sleep schedules for the baby, our weeks, forgetfulness, and more on our way to church. I saw Julie M. and Denise at the crosswalk (Dylan and Eric opted to jaywalk), and we complained about the non-automatic crosswalk signals in Vancouver; they're SO UNLIKE Richmond!

Sat next to Jeremy and Mark, who greeted me. We proceeded to talk about a bunch of stuff like office hours and such. The new pastor was all right, I suppose; being a word fiend, I liked his analysis of the word "time," although it sounded like what I read on a webpage long ago! Jeremy and I laughed (well, I snorted) at the "do not get drunk on wine" Bible verse in the reading, haha! After service, I gave Dad my tax envelope while he wondered where Jon was. I talked to Enoch and Wes about Twisted Sister and other things while stupid Paul was lurking in the background - GO AWAY! Said hi to Grandma, Mrs. Ho, Jordan, Ian, Olivia, Phil, Sophia, Helen C., Mike K., and others before I simply decided to go upstairs. Saw Ada, Ashley, James ("FIRE!"), Ramen, Shira, Jessie, Rachel's grandma, Danny, Anastasia, Lanie, David, Evelyn, Mattias, Marcus, Karen I., and others in Toddler Sunday School; we discussed Mandarin, drawings, toys, slides, and more.

When I finally got out of there, Eric was looking for me, saying that my sister was doing the same thing. I initially called him a liar, until I did see her with Mom; she invited me to Pho, but I had to decline on account of Eric fixing my Internet issues AND his having no cash anyway! Got her and Lisa's work schedules, so will call them tomorrow night after the hockey game; I'll call Chrystal, too! Eric and I discussed Randal and long emails, Paul, the non-support I'm getting from my brother about that situation (DO NOT FORCE ME!), Teunis, Bible Study, LEFT FOR DEAD, the longest winter ever (which has yet to happen over here), no 12 Days of Christmas, DARKWING DUCK, video game music, and more. Yes, I included my feelings in the email I sent Randal, but that doesn't mean I'm falling in love with him again! I can always get his phone number through other means than asking him since I "lost" it four years ago, haha.

We later talked about keyboards, messy wires, routers, resetting stuff, AVG, my snowglobe, STARCRAFT and the DAY 9 DAILY guy, browsers, bottled water, what he could eat (I felt bad for delaying his lunch!), Elections Canada hand sanitizer (I'm not wasting our tax dollars by not using it!), and my fan / speakers. Then we talked about dust, my computer case, books, my not believing that email, his teasing me via character names, the lava lamp, the desktop computer, D-LINK sites, emulators, "romantic time with Chinese Eric" (WISHFUL THINKING THAT IS NOT HAPPENING SINCE HE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE READY FOR A RELATIONSHIP, AND UNDERSTANDABLY SO!), and more.

I think he was understandably horrified when James (thinking I was back online and actually at the computer - HAHAHA!) popped up on Trillian (I forgot it was on) to say hi via YM! He called me over and wondered about the screen name (it references "69"), so I told him that my friend had said it was his female friend's old one, and he had apparently never bothered to change it afterwards! Trust me, the dubious look he gave me perfectly matched the one I gave the computer screen while reading this explanation years ago! I definitely thanked him later! While catching up later, I saw that Grace H. has unfriended me / deleted her FB profile.

2011 Yearly Survey: Fashion Concept, Achievement, New People

This entry is allowed to have non-aligned tags.


Fashion Concept, Achievement, New People

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? Played a whole bunch of new (to me) video games like FINAL FANTASY VI!

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Didn't really make any, so there aren't any to break. As for next year, the only one I have is NO MORE HOUSEGUESTS! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Hmm... Michelle. Not sure about anyone else.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Nope.

5. What countries did you visit? None.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? People who are true.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Jan. 1 (watched MANOS - with commentary - and TRON while having hot pot with white Eric, Jon, Harmony, Jen, Jason, Dianne, Nathan, Raymond, Ray [a little person!], Isabel, Wesley, Christon, Jeremy, his brother Mark, and Trish at Jeremy's... also had dinner at the HOHOHOs, with a stopover at Peter and Holly's later)
Jan. 7 (hung out here with Eric Ho, but he had to leave early since he wasn't feeling well)
Jan. 8-9 (EPIC 21st BIRTHDAY AT BILLIE'S with her, Sean, Aaron, Scott, Shawn, Dorna, Sara, Patrick, Lars, Samantha, and Alana!)
Jan. 24 (Teunis came to stay again!)
Jan. 28 (MissionsFest 2011 - thank goodness we located Chinese Eric!)
Feb. 3 (Chinese New Year Eve lunch at the townhouse, spending time with Grandma at Aberdeen Mall, and then the LONGEST Chinese New Year Eve dinner EVER at Shiang Restaurant because we waited an hour for the food to arrive and another hour for the fish and dessert!)
Feb. 6 (Chinese New Year dinner at the townhouse combined with Super Bowl viewing - got to see Lisa again, which is nice!)
Feb. 12 (desktop conked out, so THANK GOODNESS that I have this laptop from Chinese Eric, AND a computer geek living with me!)
Feb. 13 (the Morrills treated me to De Dutch Pannekoek House)
Feb. 14 (celebrating Steph's birthday at the townhouse - STATUS HIJACK!)
Feb. 15 (double monitors!)
Feb. 27 (celebrated Grandma's 91st birthday at Neptune!)
Mar. 2 (hung out with Chrystal at London Drugs, White Spot, and Richmond Centre - yay for creamy curry chicken!)
Mar. 4 (small group outing at Cattle Café with Eric / Martin / Christon / Kevin / Cindy / Jane / Geoffrey)
Mar. 8 (had pancakes with cheesecake batter between them for Mardi Gras)
Mar. 11 (JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE - thank goodness that Justin L. / Trevor / Melissa were all okay!)
Mar. 13 (heard GOOD NEWS about Steph and Lisa!)
Mar. 15 (hung out with Steph and Lisa - Nando's Chicken, Marble Slab Creamery, and Chapters)
Mar. 23 (FINALLY updated my Matthew Good collection, and found the Prank Calls 2 CD from Corey!)
Mar. 31 (hung out with Vanessa - yay for Caribbean rice!)
Apr. 1 (met Tess - tara_knight - for the first time)
Apr. 3 (Harmony's belated birthday dinner at the Tapenade in Steveston)
Apr. 13 (met Teunis' friend Cat for the first time)
Apr. 15 (hung out with Vanessa before she went back to Victoria - went to Ikea and Specialty Chicken and Wonton House... SWEDISH FISH!)
Apr. 17 (noodles, Nathan's Asian research, and the 3-2 HOCKEY WIN at Jeremy's!)
Apr. 19 (went to Deer Garden with Auntie Ying; later, went to Chinese Eric's to watch an excruciating 7-2 loss with him / Nathan / Citrus / Jeremy)
Apr. 20 (went out and LOST MY STUFF ON THE BUS!)
Apr. 21 (got email from Translink saying that my BATH MAT and such had been FOUND! - also went to Jeremy's to watch a 5-0 loss)
Apr. 24 (Easter Sunrise Service)
May 2 ("Easter" dinner with Steph, Lisa, Teunis, Jon, Harmony, Eric, and others at the townhouse)
May 4 (had an SLB hangout at Shanghai Wonderful with Nathan, Steph, Lisa, Eddie, Eunice, Eric M., Jeremy, Christon, and Teunis: NOSTALGIA!)
May 11 (FINALLY finished inputting names and interests in LJ game posts!)
May 15 (had pulled pork, cornbread, "collard greens," and spicy coleslaw at Jeremy's while watching a 3-2 win in Round 3)
May 23 (went to the Burnaby Heritage Village Museum with Teunis (his childhood!), and then to the DF BBQ to talk with Amanda / Hien / Quan / others - good times!)
June 4 (went to Jeremy's to watch the 3-2 OT win against the Bruins just 11 seconds in!)
June 13 (went to Jeremy's to watch the 5-2 loss in Game 6)
June 15 (went to Jeremy's to watch the 4-0 hurtful loss in Game 7 plus the hockey riot footage)
June 24 (hung out with Chrystal at London Drugs / Miyabi Ramen)
June 25 (Awana BBQ at the church)
June 26 (hanging out with Billie at Metrotown)
June 27 (hanging out with Vanessa at Yaohan)
July 1 (Jazz Festival at Granville Island with Eric, Christon, Jeremy, Cindy, and Vicky)
July 20 (had dinner with Cindy and Deb at Miyabi Ramen)
July 21 (Dad's birthday dinner)
July 29 (Teunis finally moved out to a new place downtown!)
Aug. 4 (finished the epic dungeon and space adventure project... 9086 ENTRIES TOTAL ON THE JOURNAL AT THAT POINT!)
Aug. 11 (Janina's package arrived: a card with mini dog stickers, squirrel stickers, dog print stickers, bear stickers, bird stickers, "Excellent!" cherries stickers, a sticker of Elmer Fudd playing basketball, an "Experience the new better game" blue blank card with a pinball machine, BABYSITTER'S CLUB / Twisted Whiskers (cats / dogs / fire hydrant / bones / hairspray / "Dander B-Gone" spray) / scratch-n-sniff banana stickers, a "Mr. Lunch" cow / chicken / mouse with cheese envelope, a "World's Bliss" Maui postcard, a "What Dreams May Come" Hawaii postcard, a Raven Images wizard with a crystal ball postcard, a fairy postcard, a "Don't Freak Out" postcard, a "Let's Turn This Into A Math Problem" postcard featuring arsenic poison into a beverage (HAHAHAHA!), and a "human body" postcard featuring an "eater" / Diet Pepsi bottle / "lack of Diet Pepsi warning system.")
Aug. 11 (went to Jeremy's with Eric for a Nathan movie discussion night - CHINESE ERIC WAS THERE!)
Aug. 16 (hung out with Chrystal at White Spot - ADULT PIRATE PAK DAY! :D)
Aug. 26 (finished EARTHBOUND!)
Aug, 28 (finished DRAGON WARRIOR 1, but was sick of level grinding... discovered the ZSNES later that night)
Sept. 1 (finished DRAGON QUEST 1... later, I hung out with Steph and Lisa for dinner at Sushi Han, and dessert at Timothy's)
Sept. 4 (had to stay out all day - celebrated Eric's 30th birthday with elk / bison / pork chipotle sausage, pina colada with rum, plantains, and more hilarious times at Jeremy's!)
Sept. 5 (finally had time to finish DRAGON WARRIOR 2)
Sept. 10 (finished DRAGON WARRIOR 3)
Sept. 14 (my own birthday celebration - beating Mom to it - at Kalamata Greek Restaurant with Jeremy, Mark, Deb, Dylan, Chrystal, Eric H., Nathan, and Harmony... I slayed the "bitchy Yazmine ending our friendship over 50 cents" memory dragon!)
Sept. 15 (finished DRAGON WARRIOR IV)
Sept. 16 (went out with Randal, Jon, and others after Fellowship to celebrate my birthday)
Sept. 17 (my birthday also coincided with the start of AWANA, which I didn't participate in this year)
Sept. 18-27 (I allowed Paul to stay when his apartment got burned down, but it didn't end well)
Sept. 22 (Mom's Lemonade Pork Chop Extravaganza)
Sept. 29 (finally finished BREATH OF FIRE II)
Oct. 8 (finished FINAL FANTASY VI)
Oct. 10 (Thanksgiving dinner at the townhouse)
Oct. 14 (hanging out with Chuck and Andrea while they were in town)
Oct. 20 (finished FINAL FANTASY I and II: DAWN OF SOULS plus SOULS OF REBIRTH and SOULS OF CHAOS)
Oct. 28 (gave up on MOTHER 3 because of the lack of infinite oxygen codes!)
Oct. 29 (hung out here with Eric H. to see the Canucks win 7-4 against the Capitals, and eat Pizza Hut)
Oct. 31 (had a crazy dinner with Jon, Harmony, Steph, and Lisa - announcements galore!)
Nov. 1 (finished MOTHER 1 / EARTHBOUND ZERO)
Nov. 9 (visited Cat, and had a good time just talking!)
Nov. 13 (finished LUFIA AND THE FORTRESS OF DOOM)
Nov. 20 (Jon's 30th birthday extravaganza at Jeremy's! Had healing between me and Randal - phew!)
Nov. 26 (visited Grandma at the respite centre on one hour of sleep - unintentional)
Nov. 28 (finally finished MOTHER 3!)
Dec. 1 (hung out with Chrystal at the usual place!)
Dec. 8 (finished FINAL FANTASY IV ADVANCE)
Dec. 15 (finished FINAL FANTASY V ADVANCE)
Dec. 17 (hung out here with Eric Ho... watched the Canucks win 5-3 over the Leafs, then went to Richmond Centre / Chapters / Lansdowne afterwards!)
Dec. 18 (stayed up for over 24 hours again, and then got BAD NEWS)
Dec. 25 (SOMEONE trying to ruin my Xmas with guilt trips and such)
Dec. 26 (hasn't happened yet, but family Christmas dinner)


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Realizing what I really wanted out of my home.

9. What was your biggest failure? Being less "private."

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really.

11. What was the best thing you bought? This GOLD BOND LOTION with MENTHOL!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Corey and Eric Ho for being there when I needed to vent about certain things.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? No comment.

14. Where did most of your money go? Food and quirky things.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Spending time with certain people.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? Too many songs out there! Probably Matthew Good's ZERO ORCHESTRA.

17. Compared to this time last year, you are:
i. happier or sadder? Sadder right now, but maybe happier in the end?
ii. thinner or fatter? The same... or so I'd like to think! Haha!
iii. richer or poorer? Hard to say.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Spent more time with certain people whom I need to be happy.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Ignoring my own limits.

20. How will you be spending Christmas / Hanukah? I'm not sure - maybe church, then who knows? I do know that my annual Christmas greetings wall spam will be part of it, though!

21. What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2011? Can't think of anything...

22. Did you fall in love in 2011? Maybe, maybe not. ;)

23. How many one-night stands? Zero.

24. What was your favorite TV program? HOCKEY!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Yes.

26. What was the best book you read? Not sure.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? FOSTER THE PEOPLE! (I know, I know...)

28. What did you want and get? A friend to be there for me.

29. What did you want and not get? No comment.

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Haha, I'm not even sure if I saw anything this year!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Turned 35 (yikes!), and played DRAGON QUEST 5 while waiting around for Paul to show up. He never did. I COULD HAVE SPENT THE DAY AT AWANA!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Trust me, I'm working on that. ;)

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? I didn't have a fashion concept, at all. :P [this is my stock answer, since "BLING!!!!!!! :D" is not acceptable :P]

34. What kept you sane? Knowing that certain people would be around if I needed them! Too bad it didn't work out in one case...

35. Which celebrity / public figure did you fancy the most? Did anyone with a sexy accent and nice eyes make the news this year? ;)

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Not really any at all...

37. Who did you miss? Danielle, Mandy, and Krista!

38. Who was the best new person you met? Eric is going to bug me about this answer, but Matt A. definitely qualifies! (and so does Siobhan!)

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: DO NOT IGNORE YOUR GUT FEELINGS!

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Can't think of one right now. [I never can!]

Opinions aren't calendar dates and easily changed!

Let's just say that I will not be changing my opinion of anybody because it's Christmas! Eric picked me up, and we talked about last night since I was unable to do so with his mother in the car yesterday! Then he made me do a spiritual exercise about the birth of Jesus and what it meant because I referred to Christmas as "another day on the calendar" in my rant about how I would never forgive people based on what day it was! I'm not saying Christmas ISN'T special, but I think it's lost its meaning. It's sad, so I need to find my own.

Church itself was okay, although I did have to move after saying hi to Nathan because I noticed Paul was right behind me. How Harmony can stand sitting next to someone who's really tone-deaf, I don't know! Eric drew the Day 9 STARCRAFT guy, and then drew me and Paul with a plus sign connecting us - he later claimed it was a cross. I DON'T THINK SO! Said hi to Yvonne, Ben and Erin (!), Darren C. and a couple of his friends, Lily, Maxine, Keenan, Calla, Hannah L., Gavin, Grace, Micah, Christon, Cindy, Dianne, Vivian, Karen and Lincoln, Adam L., baby Ava, Tim, Billy, and a few others. When I saw the Awana kids, I said hi to Sean and Ian! Saw Julie, who hugged me: "I FINALLY FOUND YOU!" YAY! I gave her the brandy beans and massive Reese's peanut butter cups, so she hugged me tightly while thanking me - the surprise and joy was the best Xmas present ever! Went upstairs to talk to Quan and Gino, while Ramen / Shira / Jessie / Martin / Wesley / Ashley were there for Toddler Sunday School.

I had just finished telling Jessie that I'd be there for the entire time when Eric came upstairs and said we had to leave since he had food prep to do before going to his grandma's - oops! When we went downstairs, I shouldn't have gone into the fellowship hall while looking for people to give leftover candy - Jon thought that Paul had something to say to me, and literally made me listen. WHAT IS IT WITH HIM AND BEING A DOWNER?! I WAS NOT IN THE MOOD TO LISTEN TO FAKE XMAS WISHES OR FORGIVE! Trust me, I discussed this with Eric at length on the way home! (that is, when he wasn't bugging me about Matt or ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Christmas music or the New Year's Eve stuff) HE DIDN'T APOLOGIZE TO ME! Ugh... at least my OTHER FRIENDS get it! I HATE CERTAIN PEOPLE, AND ALWAYS WILL!

Xmas Eve Service 2011: Guilt trips NOT working!

When Eric picked me up, I was surprised to see Veronica in the car! Of course, I had to be polite (not that I wouldn't, but...) as we talked about Harmony's pregnancy / holiday doings / the parkade / hockey / Eric's cough and cold which he's had forever / online chatting / Kieran / potlucks / my family / TV shows like SURVIVOR and AMERICAN IDOL. At church, I said hi to Christon, Phil, and Harmony - Christon had run into some icy conditions up north in Chetwynd, but I'm not surprised! Talked to Christon for a while (about Bathroom Readers) after he gave me a Christmas card; I had his at home since I wasn't sure when he'd get back this time, oops! He said that Nathan wanted to do something at Jeremy's for New Year's Eve: sounds good to me! That games get-together is apparently at Vivian's on Tuesday if he can arrange things; meh. I said hi to Mark and his parents when they got in; I waved to Jeremy up front, of course!

When I sat next to Mark (and we were listening to Stanley play guitar), I heard Jon asking someone if they'd like to sit next to his sister. Of course, it HAD to be that IDIOT Paul - since I had respect for the setting, all I said was that it WASN'T a good idea right now! Jon thought I'd slammed the car door accidentally on purpose - believe what you like, since it's still not going to make me forgive him! When Paul tried making me feel guilty by saying we could hug and make up because it's what Jesus did for us, I simply tuned him out. Since Mark was sitting right there, I had to explain to him that I normally wasn't vindictive, but I wouldn't forgive insults in my own home! (along with a bunch of other stuff I'm sure he didn't need to know - but it's all good!) Then we talked about Jon and Harmony's moving, which he totally forgot about until Jeremy got home and asked where he'd been... oops!

I noticed Paul disrupting the appearance of the worship team after Communion by going up and praying near the cross - YOU CAN DO THAT LATER! Also, I smiled and waved to Helen K. when I saw her! After service, I made sure to say hi to Chris and Wes - they both liked my Santa hat, for sure! I told Wes that I had to indulge my inner child, dammit! It's true that there were children around; when I went into the fellowship hall later, little Cory surprised me by coming up to me and hugging my legs! Hahaha, that was the highlight of the night! I said hi to his older brother Nicholas while talking to his mom Helen K. about how she and her husband Danny had to do a better job of hiding presents if their kids are under the impression that Santa's come already! Cory said I could look like Santa, but not really - hahaha! We also discussed Harmony's pregnancy, heh. Of course I'm the auntie to a bunch of church kids already, and she knows it!

Had cheesecake and cookies while talking to Amanda, David, Hien, Quan, Silvester, Alan, Vicky (who thanked me for the care package), Tracy, Randal (who's going to Willingdon to keep in touch with Jen), Dylan (who also gave me a Christmas card), baby Declan (almost two months old now - he was WIDE AWAKE!), Deb, Mike K., and others. I should have had coffee if I'm going to stay up again, yikes. Hopefully, I'll get some sleep instead! On the way home, we discussed my parents' cruises / Veronica bumping into Steph and a friend (I'll assume Lisa) at Granville Island / tomorrow's plans / food preparation / losing a phone at one of Ron's concerts / doing dishes at church / swim club / sound duties. Good thing I've caught up on stuff already!

2011 Yearly Survey: Shame, Embarrassment, Lies

1. Was 2011 a good year for you? Why? It was an okay year... good things happened, and bad things happened. Yeah, I could say that every year.

2. What was your favorite moment of the year? I've had a few of those, even in the last week! Just hanging around with a treasure is very interesting!

3. What was your least favorite moment of the year? I've had a few of those in the last two weeks, as well. Let's just say that things didn't work out the way I thought they would.

4. Where were you when 2011 began? At Jeremy's with a bunch of people - HOT POT NIGHT!

5. Who were you with? White Eric, Jon, Harmony, Jen, Jason, Dianne, Nathan, Raymond, Ray [a little person!], Isabel, Wesley, Christon, Jeremy, his brother Mark, and Trish.

6. Where will you be when 2011 ends? I have no idea... maybe out with friends? [stock answer]

7. Who will you be with when 2011 ends? Friends, most probably.

8. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions of 2011? I didn't make any... easier not to break 'em that way. ;)

9. Do you have (a) New Year's Resolution(s) for 2012? NO MORE HOUSEGUESTS! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY!

10. Did you fall in love in 2011? Perhaps, perhaps not. ;)

11. If yes, with who? A ghost. :P

12. If yes, do they know? Sure... that's why ghosts visit me in the night. :P

13. Are you still in love with them? Nah.. it's all too ethereal loving a ghostly being.

14. You regret it? You shouldn't regret love.

15. Did you break up with anyone in 2011? Kinda-sorta, with the ghost mentioned previously.

16. Did you make any new friends in 2011? Yes, and I love them for who they are.

17. Who are your favorite new friends? Matt A. and Siobhan!

18. What was your favorite month of 2011? August.

19. Did you travel outside of your country of residence in 2011? Nope. I is boring. :D

20. How many different states / provinces did you travel to in 2011? None.

21. Did you lose anybody close to you in 2011? Yes.

22. Did you miss anybody in the past year? Danielle, Krista, and Mandy!

23. What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2011? Not sure that I saw any!

24. What was your favorite song from 2011? No idea.. I don't get much into "new" music. Probably Matthew Good's ZERO ORCHESTRA!

25. What was your favorite record from 2011? No idea.

26. How many concerts did you see in 2011? None... I really need to get out to a band gig one of these days!

27. Did you have a favorite concert in 2011? I didn't go to any.

28. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2011? Nope - just your regular amount!

29. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2011? I don't do drugs.

30. How many people did you sleep with in 2011? None.

31. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year? Possibly - hasn't everyone?

33. What was the worst lie someone told you in 2011? No comment.

34. Did you treat somebody badly in 2011? Depends on your perspective, doesn't it?

35. Did somebody treat you badly in 2011? Yes, but I won't get into details here.

36. How much money did you spend in 2011? Eh, the usual amount!

37. What was your proudest moment of 2011? Setting limits for myself as to what I will tolerate from people.

38. What was your most embarrassing moment of 2011? Not sure I have one, although I'm sure there are some...

39. If you could go back in time to any moment of 2011 and change something, what would it be? I could put something here, but the moments I'm thinking of all taught me something. So maybe not?

40. What are your plans for 2012? Ready for this? Not sure what my plans are, but I'll be ready with my SUPERPOWERS! MUHAHAHA!

Cutting off contact is reality?! / STUPID ASSES!

Stayed up all night since I couldn't sleep; probably not the best idea! I managed to cram all the Advent calendars, chocolate, candy, brandy beans, massive Reese's peanut butter cups, and candy canes for Jon / Steph / Lisa / Harmony / Julie C. / James / Brandon / Rachel / Jonathan / Ashley / Ramen / Mattias / Shira / David / Evelyn / Anastasia in my bag before I left, but it was pretty crammed! Turns out that only half of the children (Ramen / Shira / Anastasia / Ashley / Rachel / Jonathan / Ashley) were here today, along with new kids (cousins?) named Isabel / Wesley / Martin. Eric and I talked about last night, impersonating an annoying NPC named Navi from LINK, traffic, his family's presents to mine, my sleep issues, hockey, CLAYMATION CHRISTMAS, addresses, and more on the way to church.

I made him carry my (heavy) stuff inside because the ground was gross from the rain! At church, I immediately noticed Mr. Creep in the back row of the section next to me, so vowed not to look that way. Talked to Nathan W. for a bit about his book and peanut / hazelnut allergies, then Jon and I exchanged plastic bags of stuff. I got candy bats (which I'll probably give away), Reese's peanut butter cups, a colorful orange sweater, green pants (am I a PUMPKIN?!), and some other stuff. Eric gave me some Canucks mittens; SWEET! Gave Jeremy a Christmas card, of course!

After service, I said hi to baby Micah (who wanted to play the guitar and drums), Sam (back because of Winter Con and other things!), Sabrina (whose niece loved my bling sweater - she'll have a sibling soon?!), Calla, Gavin, Lily, Hannah L., Adam, Grace, Phil, Uncle Peter, and others. Couldn't find Julie, unfortunately! Dad said Mom was in the sound room, so I asked her if Chinese Eric could come to Boxing Day dinner; she said yes, so I'm going to tell him that later. PHEW! Since I was getting tired of dodging Paul all the time, I went upstairs early... excused myself to Jessie as "BUSY!" and talked to Lanie about awkward family dinners during the holidays. After Sunday School, Eric said that he was driving Paul to help Jon and Harmony move - the poor guy quickly found out why that was a bad idea, after he asked me why I only spoiled half the children today!

Paul thought I didn't KNOW that Eric was moving the car so I could get in: OF COURSE I KNEW THAT! Then he called me a bitch who put bleach on his clothing: for all I know, he did it himself! When he told me not to give him any more "lip," I lost it - HE BETTER NOT EVEN START WITH THE INSULTS! It was a tense and mostly silent car ride over to the old place, with his accusing me of banging his knee with my seat. I'm sure it might have bothered him, but it probably hurt less than what he might have gotten into in prison! Then he said that I closed the car door on his leg while I got out of the car: hey, it wouldn't have happened if Mr. Grade A Asshole had taken Eric's side to get out!

Steph answered the door; I quickly got away from Paul, and busied myself talking to Jeremy, Randal, and Nathan. We talked about Korean BBQ, Chinese Eric, bread, De Dutch Pannekoek House, menthol cigarettes, smoking, tagging in FB pictures, Twitter, spending too much time on social networking, how Nathan met Ciel ("a modern Internet love story"), my sleep issues, Ciel coming on the 23rd, brunch offers, FINAL FANTASY, the new place maybe being bigger, Gold Bond body lotion (the REAL source of the "menthol" status!), and more. Randal said I actually looked pretty alert; my response was that I didn't know how I was standing and talking to them in the kitchen! I helped move a few bags and the violin, which Jon said he appreciated. On the way home, Eric and I discussed what happened earlier with me and Paul, 2012 being the YEAR OF NO HOUSEGUESTS (even if Matt comes to Vancouver... WE ARE JUST ONLINE FRIENDS!), Saturday's Xmas Eve service, Friday's weekly tradition, and more.

A while later, he popped up on MSN to tell me to go to bed - yeah, but I had to blog it all out! He thought that I should be tired by now, and we both let past issues affect us... maybe, maybe not. I know I made a list of what to tell Chinese Eric, in case I forget! Then I found out that Teunis did what he threatened to do in the summer (cut off contact), because of harassment about the Jasmine thing - sigh. He hopes to hear from me again, but we'll see... I'll have to do the photo UNTAG thing later!

Triple Action Relief Gold Bond lotion with medicine! / 4-1 win over dirty Senators

The Canucks scored four seconds into a power play, and just 70 seconds into the hockey game in Ottawa! Too bad people were injured because of the Senators' dirty play, but the Canucks won 4-1! Shortly afterwards, I went to London Drugs to find lotion. While browsing, I couldn't resist picking up two more packages of Voortman's Cookies - yay for Shortbread Swirl! Found some Gold Bond body lotion; I've heard good things about the Triple Action Relief extra-strength medicated green bottle, so I picked some up even if it wasn't on sale. (maybe that's what Christon should have picked up for Wesley last week, haha) Since the instant noodles were also on sale (four packs of five for $5?!), I picked those up along with some almond milk. Now I'm home, and it's time to take a shower!

POUND OF BRANDY BEANS! / No religious bombardment, please!

Called Jon to see if he'd be there tonight (after the ONTD people said I should do desserts night), but he's going to be at a concert with his band. Maybe we'll see each other later for exchanging stuff, on MY OWN TERMS! Then Eric got on MSN to say he would be here at 7 and then buy cookies and fruit - YAY! That didn't end up happening, but we talked about Christmas stuff like the ALL-DAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC RADIO STATIONS / gingerbread candy canes / Paul / Mr. Creep / LJ attacks / THE WALKING DEAD / zombies / torrents / STARCRAFT / care packages / desserts on the way over. We did have to see Mr. Creep, but luckily he left really early! Talked to Christon, Raymond, and Kevin about buying stuff for Wesley / Dianne / Vania / Vicky / others.

I decided to go to Superstore with Eric just in case I saw stuff there which I wanted to buy personally: good decision, as I saw SCORCHING jalapeno popper chips / on-sale brandy beans (almost a pound for $3.27!) / on-sale Sidekicks with a limit of two for 99 cents. We bumped into Cindy, who thought that we two looked familiar - she was at Superstore to unwind after work because it was "quieter," hahaha. Discussed peanut butter, jelly cups, mandarin oranges, Pocky, chocolate, Dianne coming home on the 23rd, and more. When we got back to the church, Ben / Carmen / Randal / Jen / Vivian had all shown up. Eric was evil and wanted me to share my brandy beans ("drunk!") or my jalapeno chips with the group - NO! We discovered that Mr. Creep had bought seven quality chocolate bars for one person, so people distributed them instead! Talked about the Darwin Awards, humor, laughter, jokes, Finger Soccer, peanut brittle, lip balm, tea, bath salts, cupcakes, and more. On the way home, Eric had to bombard me with religious messages - and bug me about hockey / STARCRAFT / Committee Meeting. I just won't go on Sunday, then! Billie also said she got my Christmas / birthday cards, so YAY!

Keg gift cards, disinclination to go out in cold weather, healing, and more

Tonight's dinner menu:

Pumpkin Fritters
Winter Salad of some sort
Carbonades Flamandes (aka beef stew cooked in Belgian beer)
Mushroom Risotto
Pumpkin Pie


Chinese Eric picked me up, and we were off to Jeremy's. We talked about SERVANTS, TV, eating a limited amount of beef, the Advent calendar, the hockey game, not being inclined to go out in cold weather, Paul (of course I warned him against the jerk!), Teunis (hard to pronounce!), Safeway, gift cards, restaurants, Starbucks, the J. Edgar Hoover movie, hanging out, and more. Made a brief stop at Safeway to look at their selection of gift cards before he settled on one for the Keg. Christon let us into Jeremy's place, and Eric said that I was pretty sharp since I recognized his voice - haha, that's what happens when you see someone a lot! Met a few of Jon's friends (talked to them about Toronto / Vancouver / black people / chicken knees / chicken feet) while Eric and I settled on the couch.

Eric got me some water, and we had a good time just listening to people! I said hi to Connie, Wesley, Harmony, Holly, Peter (who wasn't surprised to hear Steph was working), Eric M., Jeremy, Mark, Christon, Trish, and others. After I asked Mark how church was today, he said that the new interim pastor gave a sermon today. He mentioned that the guy is also white, which led Raymond to wonder if we'd had any other white pastors. I answered that Pastor Glen had been white, but that was before his time. Randal then said that he'd come to the church right after all that, and wondered why Pastor Glen had been dismissed. I gave them some details about the petitioners and everything else, and then Randal said that he couldn't believe we've known each other for almost eight years! Yeah, it's been a long time - half of which I've spent judging him!

When Randal said hi to me as we were eating dinner (I guess I didn't mind his sitting next to me on the couch since it was crowded...), that started off a long-overdue conversation about books / the past, his past anger, the non-Christian Ginger ultimately being shallow [she got married and her statuses are about Louis Vuitton handbags!] even if she was creeped out by my morbid joke (they broke up soon afterward), Korey's manipulative nature (he doesn't read his status updates), Karen Choo being a good mentor (helping us both through issues) and Ivan Choo. We also talked about Dylan and Karen not getting along (you THINK?!) / Steph and her life / pumpkin ale / meeting people / Vegas / grudges / overanalysis / Bible Study memories. He guarantees that he'll accept a friend request from me on Facebook, so we'll see about that. Then again, he says that I saved him from a hideous marriage! Hahaha, nice!

Randal also mentioned that he saw some potential between me and Teunis for a romantic relationship - not with certain things going on, that's for sure! All I mentioned was the chewing and noise issues, which he thought we could have compromised on. I don't think so! (I should tell him this tomorrow, hahaha) When he said that we didn't talk enough, I was surprised! Then he implied that if I kept loving Teunis and inviting him out to church, he might be a Christian - I don't think so! I accept that he has a great respect for Christianity in general, and that's fine by me! I didn't say that I didn't like his way of thinking, haha! However, I do feel much better now... but I'll still be careful, of course! (he said he feels bad about how we ended off last time in 2007, so we'll see)

When H. Ross came in, we gave each other a high-five! Everyone was congratulating Harmony on her pregnancy, heh. I talked to Christon about the small group formats and such, and had to laugh on the inside when he asked me whether the stuff happening on Fridays around here was resolved yet! I don't think it will be, hahaha. The guys were talking about Youtube videos, the hockey score (Vancouver won 2-1 over Ottawa in overtime), BC Lions news / the Grey Cup, vuvuzelas, STARCRAFT, hockey pools, message boards, and more prior to Gino and Quan dropping by with balot. GROSS STUFF, man! Then Paul took over the computer to look up anime, so BOO! I smiled and said hi to Jon H. while Eric and I were leaving, too! On the way home, we discussed a Grey Cup hangout / his assessment of Paul being cocky (that's actually right!) / help / touch / the election results / appointments / cold weather / hanging out / seeing people only occasionally being good (for sure!) / Nathan coming back at the end of the month / Ciel / more stuff. Pretty good friends, yay!

Metric buttload of stuff / Honey Goldfish / EMI

When Eric called this morning to see whether I was coming out, I told him that I would since I had a metric buttload of shit to give out. Once I saw him, I clarified that I didn't mean literal shit! We talked about the ass Paul, today's meeting, bad drivers, the extremely rainy weather, my not doing Committee next year, yesterday, and more on the way to church. Sure, we were late, but at least I didn't see Paul there! Later, I gave Deb the baby oil as a practical gift before talking to Jeremy about work and stuff. Then I talked to Karen and Lincoln about the sucky weather and our weeks - always good! When Vivian came by, Dylan remembered it was her birthday - at least she was celebrating by going out to dinner after all the meetings she had to attend! I let baby Micah see my shiny keys after talking to Phil and Grace (plus dodging Gavin / Margaret K.), and said hi to little Micah, who waved back.

Learned stuff about Jon C. and Croatia / Molly and China, said hi to Auntie Ying (who knew I'd hung out with Chrystal thanks to Uncle Lewis), and talked to Kevin and Dylan about next week. Went upstairs to Toddler Sunday School - gave Halloween candy to Rachel (via her grandma), Anastasia, Ashley, Jonathan (I had an extra), Mattias (honey Goldfish!), Ramen, Shira, David, and Evelyn. Ashley remembered my name when Jessie was asking her, haha - no one remembered Lanie's, and almost all the kids named their siblings as their friends, hahaha. The kids were prompted to thank me, and Auntie Ying said that I was so thoughtful... hey, the candy was cheap enough that I could rationalize spending $20 for eleven of them! Lanie and I agreed that we could still hear the kids if they yelled into toy boxes, hahaha.

By the time I got downstairs (saying hi to Stella), Eric said that they all were waiting for me - he and I had Pho near the old church with Randal (rode in his car?!), Christon, Jeremy (who left a bunch of stuff this morning), Deb, and Dylan. We talked about how nobody had seen Paul in about a week or so (GOOD), the bad stuff he's going through (KARMA), Randal's dad, Christon's stressful work week caused by someone quitting, Fort St. John, meeting Wes in Chetwynd at a happening 7-11, people buying islands, small group stuff, Martin's wedding, EMI (Sex Pistols!), McDonalds, seniors coffee, iced coffee, and more. Once we got to church, Eric wondered about the usage of the word "incumbent" on the ballot - yeah, questionable stuff there! I was surprised when my stuff was moved after I got back from the bathroom - but found everyone else on the other side of the sanctuary! (Dylan said that the party was happening over there, and has similar sleep issues!)

We were trying to make quorum as usual; Alan was texting Steph about it, and Tracy bemoaned the never-updated membership list since Dianne / Wes / Erin (who's been in Ottawa for years!) are still on it! She said that Brian was being voted in, but he's in Japan! Steph came in for two minutes to vote and leave since she had to work at 3 - she says tomorrow's dinner is near Broadway Station, so that should be fine. Jon bugged me about the email I sent yesterday, and asked whether I'd talked to Paul since I kicked him out - WHY IN THE FRESH HELL WOULD I DO THAT?! He thinks the conversation needs to happen; meh, we'll see! I kept myself distracted by trying to entertain a fussy baby Marcus, who'd missed his nap. We learned that Pastor Tom is leaving us for Toronto really soon!

After the meeting, Eric had to talk to Citrus about STARCRAFT, but it was a lucky thing that Christon was too busy to talk to him. I told him just to EMAIL it instead - I had stuff to do at home, man! We talked about French stuff, cows, pigs, chicken, pizza leftovers, MOTHER 3, MOTHER 1, LUFIA, games in general, potlucks and my having to leave when things were getting good, cash, and more. Got home and talked to Corey briefly via Skype about plane tickets, MOTHER 3, and more - HE'LL BE HOME FOR A MONTH ON DECEMBER 10! That's good news, indeed!

Kalamata Greek Taverna and Dragon Ball = GOOD TIMES!

Just before I made reservations for tonight (under "Lisa" because they thought "Leslie" was "Wesley" - I wish my parents gave me another name!), Jon called me to say that Paul couldn't make it; I totally understand his reasoning! Money issues are NO FUN! He said that if I convinced people to make it to his gig before the drummer moves to Scotland, he'd let me in for free and buy me beer and such. HAHAHA, nice! I'm sure he saw Nate's RSVP on Facebook, too. Teunis also wished me a good one via MSN when I told him about this, heh.

When Chinese Eric got here, he chilled for a few minutes while I tried looking for the 4 GB drive unsuccessfully. On the way to the restaurant, we talked about health issues / California specialists / personal stuff / the States / my bowl which he forgot / energy / parking / lamb / traffic. At Kalamata, Deb and Dylan were there already - Chrystal, Harmony, Jeremy, and Mark showed up later. We talked about pregnancy / childbirth (Deb is seven months along), where white Eric was (turns out he forgot - I'll roast him on Friday!), Robin probably forgetting as well, Jon's whereabouts, life updates, analyzing the structure of the menu text, texting Nathan to see where HE was (really late?), red wine / white wine, meat, fish, church, biking, Ciel, immigration, Nate's dad REALLY planning ahead, Asian stuff, durian, Randal, work, taking pictures, salad, and more. Harmony had to leave early to bus out to the UBC gig, so I opened presents AFTER she left, hahaha.

I got Bananagrams: The Official Book (Joe Edley) from Deb and Dylan (word games!), Passive-Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Writings (Kerry Miller) / For Your Information: Does Size Matter? (Editors of Apandisis Publishing) with bookmarks and a card from Nathan, an owl "LOVE!" piggy bank and "Family is one of nature's greatest masterpieces" eco-journal from Jon and Harmony, and a card from Chrystal. Later, Chinese Eric took me to Dragon Ball; I ordered a mango-lychee while he had a supreme milk tea. Then we chilled at my place again for a while, and read about "The 27 Club." I managed to find the 4 GB stick, which is good - yes, I put it in a Ziploc bag so I wouldn't accidentally misplace it or something! We talked about his wishes for a good time coming true, life stages, health, and more prior to his leaving. Now Vanessa is talking to me when I just want to progress further in my game! *sigh*

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!)

Another birthday dinner at Lin's... aiya!

The parents and Grandma picked me up late for Dad's birthday dinner, but gave me some raspberry jam / cherries / an apple / jalapeno cheese slices. We talked about Teunis' move and his being unable to take transit - I just KNEW Dad wouldn't be impressed, hahaha! Mom wanted to know about the diesel on his drive home; I didn't have an answer to that because I don't think it's my business! At Lin's, we talked about Rockets / signing cards / "crushes" / Nathan leaving in October / Wes / Christon / Mr. Creep / my standards / Grandma's perm / SLB / Shanghai noodles / "Happy Family" soup. We also discussed Harmony's money / Dylan / Deb / Cindy / Lisa's shifts / Sunday night (which Teunis can't make it out to because of his own stuff) / Dave Wong / Chinese Eric / London / the Night Market / Grandma giving Steph some birthday money four months late (hilarious!) / Bathroom Readers. When I finally got home, Teunis and I discussed gum and the last weekend ever. Mom elected not to stop over at Jon and Harmony's for cake later, which is fine by me!

Clement and Jocelyn got married yesterday?!

When Eric picked me up, we talked about 134.3 as a "normal" gas price / no Sunday School today / brunch / Ivan, Sam, Deb, and Dylan as ride options from Richmond (but I want to be LAZY on Fridays if he can't make it!) / BC Lions tickets and games / Fellowship / blogging / Chris Tomlin songs and emotion / my being "drunk" / the DARKWING DUCK theme / NO physical contact with Mr. Creep / Christon driving to Seattle / STARCRAFT / hand sanitizer. Yes, I could have washed my hands again before I left, but that would have taken extra time when I was already running late! When I got to church, I read for a bit before Kevin handed me a bulletin; I also said hi to Jeremy, who had spent yesterday at Granville Island, and would spend today there too with his close friends Christon and Jon before going to Seattle with them and Eric for the whole week as a vacation! Said hi to Victor, and noticed that Vicky was now an usher - what the?!

The sermon made me cringe, mainly because Pastor Tom mispronounced "Zaccheus" - it must have been contagious because Christon did the same thing later in a prayer! There will be a grad banquet on Aug. 5, which should be interesting. We also heard that Wai-Mui was released from certain pressure-filled Mandarin ministry duties, too. I asked Jon and Harmony how their trip was: I bet they miss the Belgian beer and chocolates already, haha! Harmony is definitely going to appreciate the downtime this week with Jon not here, that's for sure! Told Jon that Ed and Joan got married the other day, too. Quan, Cordia, Jeremy, and I wondered what the heck was with the traffic jam at the back of the sanctuary - Jeremy said we should just get someone to text a person on the other side to get them to move, hahaha. At least Quan, Cordia, and I gave high-fives and fist bumps to baby Joanna! (and I also saw Wes)

After a while of getting impatient, I just interrupted Auntie Ying to ask how her trip was - it was stressful, but then her mom will be moving in with her in a couple of weeks from Toronto, for good this time. Why the lady didn't just stay here in January, I don't know! Maybe we can get together after Emily and Mike's wedding, haha. (her brother's getting a condo here, and Jessie will apparently be away next week) After saying hi to Gavin (who wanted to play outside in the sun), I asked Eric when he was going to leave - right then, which was perfect since I didn't want to wait around and waste my time or energy! We discussed FINAL FANTASY (4 / 7 / 9 / 10), CHRONO TRIGGER, DAY 9 and STARCRAFT, Stanley, poop containing alcohol, video game music, Christmas carols in JULY, bananas, the McRib being back at McDonalds, XS Cargo next to the Big Crazy and Dollar Giant near Memory Express, Rona, the big giant head (in a fence?!), and more. I discussed poor Fabian paying $70 for half a gas tank, mold in the air, vacuuming, sourdough, and more with Teunis at home before I found out that CLEMENT AND JOCELYN GOT MARRIED YESTERDAY!

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!

Don't you DARE use my name - you are NOT worthy!

Eric made me wait ten more minutes because he got sidetracked; I wasn't impressed. We discussed money, flowers, the emails I'd received today, taking very scenic routes, traffic, Randal, what I'd do for the remaining time after I ate dinner since I didn't bring a book, my anti-social feelings, and more on the way to church. When we got there, I hung out in the kitchen because I had to eat dinner. Later, I read a bunch of missions updates before saying hi to Eric T. and then sitting down under the staircase for a bit. Talked to Pastor Tom about his kids and their personalities for a bit (it took him an hour to get home yesterday - they didn't stay up because they had to sleep) before Jeremy came in. I talked to him about tomorrow night / Isabel / Nate: I said I'd probably go there, but Eric later said he wouldn't since he was hanging out with his other friends. BOO! Of course Jeremy understood this. *grin* (I hung around him more because Mr. Creep came downstairs and introduced some person to us - she thought the ESC prayer meeting was Friday nights before Fellowship; that yellow sheet is REALLY outdated, man! I'm also offended because he used my name!)

Talked to Deb for a bit about the baby, a car break-in, Dylan, moving to Richmond, her crazy week, and more. Said hi to Vivian, and then went upstairs. We did a follow-up on Skeena Terrace - an outdoor movie night IS expensive, as Kevin / Dianne / Vicky / Dylan / Wesley found out! (Cindy was there, too - so of course Eric had to waste too much time afterwards talking to her!) Talked to Christon for a bit while the "different" woman Teresa annoyed everyone with her usual round of questions... poor Vicky and Pastor Tom! On the way home, Eric and I discussed getting gas / guilt / wreaths / profanity / being early / awkward situations / the census. Teunis got home earlier than I thought (11:30?!), and is leaving early tomorrow morning. Hey, it works!