Chiropractor / Mahoroba

Thank God for chiropractor day. I didn't realized it, but I haven't been able to think straight since Saturday. (Perhaps even Friday.) The treatment made a huge difference. My shoulders are finally able to relax.

Tried to meet up with A to make up for the lost weekend. Some grocery shopping, then hung out at his place. He presented me the gift #2 he's been telling me about, but had been keeping the content a secret. It... it was... the Mahoroba game Pinky! OMG OMG! It's my holy grail! It may not be as expensive as some of those event-limited ones, but to me, this is rarer as I'm not a gamer. (Region coding of the game also makes it near impossible to find over here.)

Wow... thanks A! And thanks J and M too! Who actually brought the Pinky back from Japan.

Horn

Photo taken February 2010. Thanks A. It's a Japanese product and surprisingly delicious despite its unappetizing name! And of course very dangerous. Even more dangerous than Pocky! The cookie is light and fragrant while the chocolate gives it the right amount of moisture. They have perfected it.

Snow

The snow became rain but didn't melt much snow. The streets have turn into slush. The temperature was only gonna fall, so I dare not drive. Didn't take R&B's invite, didn't even get to see A. Awwwww...

So, I continued with Pinky heads. Thought it would be a simple repaint, but noooo. The marker seeped through the masking tape and stained the plastic badly. Alcohol didn't work, nail polish remover didn't work. No choice but to grind off a not-so-thin layer. Then endless sanding. Took hours and hours and hours... (T_T) Didn't even get to paint anything today. Oh well...

Moral of the story: do not use Diaso masking tape. It leaves residue behind, and transfers marker stain.

Birthday party

S's first birthday party. Happy birthday!

The weather's been bad... so is my back. My body was completely frozen and took me 1.5 hour to get out of bed. (T_T) Late to pick A up, late for helping out setup... (T_T)

It's been snowing non-stop too. By the time the party ended around 5, there was at least an inches on the ground. Fresh snow like this is super slippery. Driving condition was horrible. My car skidded a bit near A's place. I was too scared to stay and went home straight. Traffic was bad too. The radio was full of accident reports.

Awwww.... will I even be able to leave the house tomorrow???

Pinky face

Worked on Pinky face all day. Sanded a lot and a lot and a lot. Painted a bit. Screwed up a lot. Fixed a lot. It's almost done now. Just need a few coats of protective vanish. Can't avoid brush strokes. Did my best, though.

Car tune-up

Finally, took my car in for the 2-month late tune-up. On my way there, heard on the radio that it was -2 degrees. That was around 11... yikes! That garage doesn't have air conditioning or heat. It's covered but also open air. I put on the heaviest coat and was prepared to sit there for a few hours. Turn out it was surprisingly warm! Because the sun was shinning right on my back. I'm sure without that, it would be very different.

Thought there would be lots to fix, but no, only an oil change. Phew... (But is it really OK?) That garage is cheap, but do they skip stuff? Oh well, I shouldn't complain. I've been going there for years and so far so good. (Well... except for not being able to fix the engine warning light.)

Worked on another set of blank Pinky heads. Last set was for a friend. This is for me. Can't resist, hehehe... It's actually more efficient this way too.

At dinner time, dad wouldn't come up again. Should have known better... that he completely wet himself and the chair, and was sitting there waiting for things to dry before coming up, so he could deny he wet himself. Sigh... (T_T) He came up late, and finished eating late, then went for even more food. Mom stopped him, then he went for the junk food... Sigh... (T_T) Oh last night he went number 2 at 5, in the commode. Luckily, mom caught him in time and sent him to the washroom. It's very difficult to clean the commode after number 2. Sigh... (T_T)

Nestle Noir

Picture taken January 2010. It was actually from Christmas. Thanks R and B! It was very good! You can tell it wasn't the cheap stuff. That Christmas I got a lot of chocolate and had plenty to share. (Yet still over ate a bit, haha...)

Dinner

Also dad's daycare day. He took a nap after coming back, and then mom discovered his diaper was torn up. Pieces of cotton were left in the washroom garbage bin, but the outer shell was no where to be found. I hope he didn't flush it down the toilet! (T_T) One day, one day, he's gonna kill us all by giving us either heart attacks or strokes! (T_T)

Eat-out day with brother's gang. Aunt Y's ride home didn't work out, so she keeps staying with us. She's with us more then at her own home. All thanks to her son and daughter-in-law mistreating her. Well... I'm not in any position to say anything since she looked after mom before mom got married, but some of her behaviors are annoying. Oh well...

We went to the same Taiwanese restaurant. There was a total of 8 of us, but they don't take reservations. So my household went first to get a table. Arrived at 6:30, was told to wait 15 minutes. It turn into a 35-minute wait. Oh well... Brother's gang was late too, so I suppose it worked out fine. Their food was as good as last time, except one of the chicken dish was full of junk... it was the very top and bottom part of chicken legs. Not much meat. The way we were sharing, made the discovery late, and we missed the chance to complain. Oh well...

And I missed the high exchange rate yesterday. Thought it would still go up a little today, wrong...

Cleanup

It was about time to clean up the tax-related correspondence I've received so far, plus some other stuff from before. (Which includes making mini envelopes out of those.) There were piling up...

Continued scanning from last night, so I can discard some more stuff.

Took a bunch of junk food Pinky pictures. (Very time consuming.) Wow my stock is gonna last for another year. Maybe i should post twice a week instead of once.

Worked on the 2 blank heads for a bit...

After filing and throwing a bunch of stuff, my room is still so cluttered. Why...? (>_<;)

Nursing Home (2)

Got hit by one of those fake virus scan last night and had to go through a full scan that took 1.5 hour. Annoying! How do they do that? I was just looking for supermarket checkout counter pictures, clicked on a Google search result, actually went to a legit site with no problem. As the picture was loading, boom! "Your computer is infected"! Couldn't get out of that once the window showed up. Crap... Grrrr..... Luckily my virus scan picked it up right away and cleaned up. But I still didn't feel better until I did a full scan.

So, again, I think I only got 2 hour sleep. Yes yes yes, I must be subconsciously trying to kill myself. Dad's nursing home tour was at 10:30. I barely managed to complete it, more or less looking normal. (But I wasn't really there.) It took slightly over an hour. Came home, had lunch, and Dr. L's office phoned. He wanted to see dad. It must be something about the recent tests from Dr. F the urologist. So, the idea of taking a real nap after lunch went out the window. Ended up dosing off at the desk for about an hour. Sleep quality was poor as my posture was really bad. I was surprised that I was able to dream in that condition. I must be really tired. However, the dream wasn't nice. It was the "forecast" of what was going to happen next. So, in the dream, mom and aunt Y went to the car first while leaving dad at home. (Totally screwed up because he's the one who's seeing the doctor!) I was frantically trying to put together a Pinky for Pinky picture. But I've already disassembled and filed away the one from this morning, and needed to find the right parts. Of course, the more I tried, the more I screwed up. Couldn't do it and went into a panic. Then I woke up. Mom and dad was already all dressed. Aunt Y was staying home. And I was able to resurrect that Pinky. Phew...

The appointment was at 3. Again, dad was acting like he's all fine and doesn't have any Alzheimer's. Sigh... Turn out dad has a bladder infection. No wonder his pee stinks like hell. (OK just to be fair, he's already waaaaaaaaay better than before the surgery. A skunk smells better than his pee.) We only had about 30 minutes left on the parking. Mom still gave the pharmacy a try, and succeeded. Usually it takes an hour. I guess 3:30 is a slower time.

There was a few flakes of snow this morning. By the time we finished with the pharmacy, it was truly snowing. At places, the flakes were as big as a dime. Luckily noting stuck. The temperature is supposed to fall to -10 at night on Thursday. I was hoping to take my car in for a long overdue tune up, but now I don't want to. That garage doesn't have any heat. I'd freeze to death sitting there waiting!

Dad came home and wet his workshop chair again. He refused to go pee when mom reminded him. He kept saying he didn't need to, and of course later emptied everything while sitting on that chair. This now happens almost every day. (T_T) Caught him playing with his clothes again sitting on the commode in the middle of the night... Mom decided to sleep with lights on to aid dad getting onto the commode. How can any of them sleep well?

Strudle fig nugens

Strudle fig nugens. One of the goodies A brought back from home last May. Thanks for letting me try some!

This fig nugen is nothing like any I've had. It's light and fragrant. The ones available here are waaaaaay too sweet. There's nothing but overly sweet. Why are the North American ones like that? Why can't they be more like the European ones?

Chair and dinner

Didn't sleep well, and totally screwed up today. I was already late to meet A, yet mom came to tell me (and went on and on) about cousin Y's uncle-in-law passed away. He was in his 90's and super healthy. 4 days ago his son drove him to mail a parcel. His knees buckled and fell, so straight to the hospital they went. Turn out his lungs were full of fluid. Aunt L who passed this news to mom said that it was lung cancer, but the way mom said it, made me doubt. Oh well. 4 days later he died in the hospital. Geeze... it was super fast! At least he didn't suffer, and didn't cause any trouble for anyone around him. It's really a blessing to be able to go swiftly. Look at my dad... sigh... (T_T)

Although it was quite late, I still managed to take A to get his on-clearance dream chair. I'm so glad it fitted into my car. Barely, though. Hope it works for him this time. He's been through numerous chairs and desk gadgets trying to fix ergonomic problems.

Then I must rush home to drive my folks and aunt Y to dinner. It's part 2 of dad's birthday. There will be part 3 because aunt L had a bunch of teeth extracted and can't eat solid food. She's in the middle of getting new dentures done. Aunt Y2 didn't seem too happy at the dinner tonight. Usually she's really cheerful and positive, but tonight she wasn't like that. Would it be because her friends from Calgary made her dine at the same restaurant yesterday? Although she said it didn't matter.

Came home and kept dosing off at my desk as I tried to write this. Why am I so tired?

Dream

Didn't sleep too well. Kept dreaming but forgot most of it by the time I woke up.

In the dream, I was homeless, and was sleeping on the floor in a supermarket... in the narrow space between the checkouts. I even had a carton box as my "home", and was kind of hiding from the staff. After I got up, I pretended I was a customer. It continued 3 times, (meaning 3 days?) I got up, took my toothbrush out, and went to washroom. On the 3rd time, I was really worried. The staff seemed to have noticed me, but they didn't do anything. But I was thinking, how long is this gonna last? Will I be doing this forever? Then when I went to washroom. The stalls were right there lined up against the wall like fitting rooms. Not sure about the other stalls, but mine had a toilet that was set flushed to the wall on the left. Tried to pee but couldn't use it properly. The dividing walls were raised high and I could see that someone was in the next stall too. Her shoes... looked exactly like Pinky 031.

Dose off at my desk after dinner. Looks like I really didn't get enough sleep.

It was some kind of waiting area... the interior was similar to where I got my smart ID card, but bigger, and not the room, but the hallway. Grayish blue-green carpet with wood penal walls, and there were 2 elevators. The rooms were restaurants. Tonight's dinner members were all there, dining. I went in and out of our room. An East-Indian-looking lady (in her late 20's?) dressed in muslin outfit was feeling sick. Sis-in-law tended to her. Meanwhile I was looking at a dollar-store-like corner nearby. There were a bunch of handbags and reusable shopping bags on the rack. One of them stood out. The packaging said in Japanese "10 pound bag, work-out during any outing". The bag was made of clear plastic and contained a bunch of different size and shape dumb bells. They were kind of cute. I took one (heavy!) and tried to show it to sis-in-law, but she was still busy with the East Indian lady. Uncle and aunt Y2 were at her side too.

Another part of the dream was, I finished some sort of medical appointment with mom and dad, and we were on our way home. It was a nice sunny day and the streets looked like a HK estate. There was a store with gashapon and stuff in the window. I went in and took a look. Can't remember what I saw, though...

Mascot / Kenx

Met up with A at Metrotown. Thanks for the diary! There was a rare Purdy's mascot in front of the store, so I tried to take a picture, but a Chinese guy right in front of me was being a jerk. I'm 100% certain that he was trying to block me on purchase. May Karma deal him what he deserves. (I should have taken a picture of his face.) Grrrrrr...

Went to Michale's afterward. Amazingly, couldn't find anything good to buy. OK maybe there was one, but clearance price at $5, not cheap. So I left empty-handed. Ate dinner at Nando's. It was on the expensive side for what they offer. Oh well. (Thanks A!) Then we hung out at A's place. He showed me the Kenx his colleague lend him. It was interesting. Good exercise. Thanks for the FMA postcards! Then we watched a documentary. And that was it...

It was slightly passed midnight when I got home. (Yes the time of this post is adjusted to fit into the date.) 2 blocks away from home, I saw... that female beggar walking on the street! She was carrying a large reusable shopping bag that looked empty. OMG... does she live nearby? What was she doing? Why was she walking outside so late in this -4 temperature? I do feel sorry for her, but I'm more worried about her turning to crime. Plus, I was mean to her too, didn't give her anything after the first 2 times. What if she remembers my plate number and do something to my car?

Ghirardelli Squares

Picture taken January 2010, but it was actually from the previous Halloween. Wow... my stocked-up photos last forever!

Thanks A! It's really good! Which makes it a bit dangerous. I agree, the quality is no comparison to any of the common candy bar brands. This is good stuff!

Chiropractor

Since it's a nice day today, I can't say I'm feeling bad, but my thinking must have been affected. Or I'm just too numb. Looking back 3 or4 days, I was super grumpy.

Made a mistake on the appointment time, and actually arrived on time. (Thought I was late, haha...) Got there at 3:40, waited in the waiting room till 4:15. The chiropractor actually came in... just before 4:30, I think. By 4:45, I was sitting in my car. So, a 15-minute appointment took 65 minutes, while 45 of them was wait time. I brought along some jump rings to fix, but still, too much wait...

Took a walk to the Michael's on Broadway. It was cooooold! I was under-dressed. Strangely, I seemed to be numb to the cold too. Ended up staying there for almost 2 hours! OMG... how did it happen? I was just trying to take a look at everything because I have 2 half-price coupons. OK it must have been sensory overload and took me super long time.

Picked up a bunch of stuff for mom at Zeller's after that, and got home around 8:40. Ate, and fell asleep at the desk again. I thought I had enough sleep. Hmm...

Then, recording today's purchases. Kept dosing off. Was gonna e-mail J but it's too late now. Oh! And I forgot to phone the garage back! They were busy when I tried to book an appointment while waiting at the chiropractor. Awwwww.... (T_T) And I need a haircut too...

Nursing home

First tour at one of the nursing homes. It was... impossibly depressing.

Maybe the facility was old (built in 1969)... and resembles a run-down hospital... or most people there wander and the doors need to be locked... But basically it's a place for people waiting to die.

All residence are in diapers. I suppose they need to. (But it's not provided. We have to supply our own.) That, smells like my dad but 100 times worse. That's right... each of them is like my dad... so multiply the number of people there...


It's the smell of death. Everywhere smells like death... including the cafeteria...


Again, dad was putting out a cheerful and smart appearance. What an actor! Why doesn't he act like this at home? Mom thought he likes that place base on how he was all smiley and said hi to everyone he came across, but oh dear, that was soooooo wrong. I guaranty it.

While mom and I finished preparing afternoon snack in the kitchen and called dad to come up from downstairs, he kept saying "yes". But this repeated every 15 minutes for 3 hours! Mom got mad and ate dad's piece of cake. Turn out he was dismantling telephone sets. He was really thorough, and the phone sets were pretty much broken into the smallest components. I was hoping to save the keys for accessories, but they're not found. Where has dad discarded them? I hope he didn't flush them into the toilet. (T_T)

Urologist

Dad's urologist appointment today. The doctor didn't like it when he learned that dad sits on the toilet for an hour to pee, every time. So he prescribed a bunch of tests from blood and urine to ultra sound and bladder function. Line up is so long, it will not be until May that all the tests are done.

However, I believe that dad sits on the toilet for so long because (1) his knees are weak and he doesn't like getting up and down. (2) He's waiting for the "next" pee because his bladder doesn't empty completely. (But improved a lot since last surgery.) Meanwhile, he takes apart his clothes or diapers... (T_T)

Took mom grocery shopping after dad was done, and it was around 3:30 when we sat down at a cafe and ate. Both mom and I only had some bread for lunch. Dad had a proper lunch, though. Mom made sure he was fed right. Yet he ate double our portion. (T_T) I want to not care about that, but can't help. (T_T)

Took dad for the blood and urine test right after the late lunch. Then some more grocery shopping.

When I finally dropped them off at home and went to puck up the shoes from A, it was 5. I was tired and didn't do much besides a short walk inside the mall. Came home, fell asleep at the desk, ate dinner, keep dosing off, and recorded today's Etsy's arrival. Didn't get much done...

Photo

Just using some of the photos that haven't been used. Mostly dad's screw-ups. Last one's a filler.

Valentine / birthday

Sorry, no sweet Valentine's Day card. Too depressed to make one.
One of the two nursing homes return my call from last Friday at noon. The appointment was set. Since they're only available Monday through Thursday, and my schedule this week is kind of full, it was set for next Monday.

Mom cooked some of the new year cakes for lunch, so I thought it would be nice to have tea. Ended up dropping the teapot lid, and it broke. Aaaaaaargh!!!! Why why why why why why...! I tried to glue it back with epoxy glue but made some mistakes. The proportion was wrong and the glue wouldn't dry... (T_T) There's a seal inside the lid. I hope I didn't break anything valuable.

Dad's been grumpy again. Looks like he knows he will be sent away, and doesn't like it. But he's fighting us with all the wrong things... Like eating even more out of control, "stealing" our own toilet paper at home, tearing up dry diapers, digging out contents of drawers and spread them out onto tables and counters, refuse to go pee so he'd wet himself, his clothes, and the furniture...

Nevertheless, it's his birthday, so we wouldn't be so straight. Ate-out day with brother was also set to today for the occasion. Dad over ate as usual. Went to brother's place after dinner for mom to play with the guinea pigs. Meanwhile, brother went to Safeway to pick up a cake. This kind of western style cheese cake was a bit too sweet... but I shouldn't complain.

Didn't get to do much besides filing and recording the newly arrived Etsy purchase... oops! Forgot to take a picture! (This one's taken after the stuff has been filed away.) How could I forget?!?!?! Aaaaargh!!!!!! Am I loosing my mind?!?! ... Maybe I am. The rain isn't too heavy but the wind is strong enough to be called a storm. Can't think. This also explains my clumsiness.

To make room for the new arrivals, I had to do a big shuffle of the pill boxes slots. Now that I look back, it was a big waste of time.

Toilet paper

Dad went crazy and tore up toilet paper at home. Not only the ones he stole from the daycare, but our own too! He pulled the paper from the roll holder, and stuff them into his vest. Then he took them out and spread them on his bed, then tore them up, making a huge mess!

Sigh... big waste of toilet paper. Big hassle of having to clean up. If he could act so "normal" in front of the doctor, why can't he treat us the same way? Is his sole purpose to give us trouble? Torture us until we all burnt out and die?

Truly Tea Biscuits

Truly Maria Tea Biscuits. Photo taken December 2009. Wow... over a year already? Oh dear...

This, is more like my dad's cup of tea. OK, not really his, but forced onto him by mom. This tea biscuits is very light and clean. Can't detect any grease. It is why dad should eat this (as to chocolate chip cookies or butter cookies.) Actually they aren't bad at all.

Richmond

Hung out in Richmond with A. The sandwich at $8 was robbery! But he seemed to like that cafe, so... (>_<;)

Thanks for the coupon and early Valentine's Day gift... It made my day! (^_^)

Far

Dad wet everything last night, including the blanket... (T_T) Why does he have to take the diaper and his pants off under the blanket? It's not every-now-and-then, but often. Way too often!

Awwwww can't even remember how it started, but I came across (online) a dojinshi that I really want to get. It was a book T showed me the first time we met. Is it because FMA is fading away? Or is it because T's been unresponsive? I feel the need to catch the memory... It's so far away...

Family doctor

Our family doctor ordered an appointment with dad... probably because of the nursing home application. He was sloppy as far as I can tell. I even asked him if we should give him more info, and he said it was fine. Dad was acting really friendly and proactive, totally unlike him. Perhaps he knows what's going on? I know he doesn't want to be sent away. But then he's not cooperating at home. We're way over the limit already. When the doctor came across the question of whether resuscitation should be performed, he went "yes" without asking us. Well... dad, you fooled him well. How cunning! When we first went to the daycare, mom say "no" to that question. The Alzheimer's drug has given him back some brain, but he uses it to fight us instead of working with us. What can we do? We'll all go down. (T_T)

After the appointment, we had lunch at a HK style cafe restaurant nearby, then went home. Oops... forgot to take a Pinky picture! I was too hungry.

Toilet paper thief

Dad came back from daycare with a bus ticket. Which means, he didn't use it!!!! He rode without paying!!!! AAAAARGH!!!

Then he started taking out toilet paper from his pockets, those without perforations from the daycare. After that, he unzipped his fleece vest, and took out a huge amount!!!! No wonder his belly grew 40%!!!! AAAAARGH!!!!! The stolen toilet paper filled more than a shopping bag.

I'm just so very hopelessly disgusted.

Sigh... I want to bang my head on the wall.

Eat-out day with brother's gang. Sis-in-law suggested a Taiwanese restaurant. I've been there once or twice, ages ago. The food was pretty good. Price was reasonable too. It's just that the sets come in trays and a little difficult to share. The plates and bowls are shaped funny. They don't automatically give you water unless you ask. (To "encourage" ordering drinks). In other words, water is not part of their service.

Case Manager

Woke up at 1, no one was home. Mom left me a note saying the L's have taken them out for dim sum. But, but, but! Our case manager was coming for a visit at 2! As I rushed to make oatmeal for lunch, aunt C phoned. Then brother phoned asking how the meeting went. Mom didn't tell him that it was postponed. I didn't get to finish eating when the lady showed up right on time.

Mom did come back in time, with the L's. Mrs. L wanted a haircut which ate right into our meeting. Mom was too kind not to leave her hanging in midair and ended up missing part of the meeting.

It lasted for an hour and went well. Our case manager now see how dad is doing, and gave us 4 nursing homes she would recommend. One has a super long waiting list, so that's out of the picture. Dad's birthday is coming up. I wanna wait till after that to set up some tours.

Mr. L wanted to borrow the printouts right away... geeze... did he have to take them away before I can call??? I ended up scanning them and tried to print out a set. However, my 9-year-old scanner didn't handle it too well, and I ended up having to do massive touch-ups. Great waste of time... (T_T) At the end, Mr. L realized it wasn't appropriate and left saying no rush, he'd pick them up next time. (Now that I think about it, why didn't I use the other scanner from A? Aaaaargh!)

Kept dosing off at the desk again. Why am I so tired? Worked on some necklaces to keep me awake. I should really be reading the Maya book. But I also need to stay awake... (>_<;)

Chiropractor

Thank God it's chiropractor day. I've been so numb I couldn't think. Was hoping to take a walk to Broadway afterward but it got too cold. I was under-dressed. Oh well...

A few years ago K wrote "wash me" on my trunk with his fingers. The dirt scratched the paint and the marks are still here despite after many washes.

PC Cereal Bars

Pictures taken December 2009. President's Choice Cereal Bars. Looks really healthy and yummy on the packaging, but the real thing is a bit disappointing. Kind of expected, though. 99% of these bars don't taste as good as they look in the photo, as the real thing usually don't look anything close to those photos. Nevertheless, they were cheap. So I suppose not as bad.

Metrotown

Met up with J & M after lunch at J's office. His project is at crunch time and he had to work on a Sunday. (So was last Sunday! And of course no extra pay.) Neither M nor myself had permission to enter the studio, so we stayed in the cafeteria. Food was free although I only felt like a cereal bar. Tried to help M with her secret Valentine's Day card to J but he finished too soon! Didn't get to do the actual lettering. Oh well...

Then I fallowed them to Metrotown to pick up some stuff for M's sister... plus their Valentine's Day gifts. J mentioned paying A for the hard drive so I called A out. (Somehow he didn't get paid, though.) J invited us over for dinner but I wasn't comfortable to drive that far on a rainy night to unfamiliar area so I declined. Thanks though! A picked up some cake and we ate that at his place. (Thanks, that was yummy!) Went home for dinner since it's still new year.

Calls and Parts

Tried to meet J & M but didn't happen. Originally M wanted me to help her talk to the Chinese family whom she rear-ended. She didn't want her insurance to go up so she was thinking about settling outside ICBC. But then J found out fixing the bumper could cost $700-900! that's a whole year's worth of insurance down there. Geeze... I pay around $2000 for mine. Damn monopoly! So, after much considerations, it's better to leave things as is.

Photo's a little late, but thanks A for the Pinky parts! Any parts is good for customizing. (^_^)

Ophthalmologist

Dad's ophthalmologist appointment today. Simple lasering of his left eye. Again, I didn't have enough sleep last night and have been grumpy. We arrived a few minutes late and the clinic was packed! There were 13 chairs and all full. Then there were 13 more people standing. It was pure chaos. It got so bad, the nurse had already sent 4-5 more people into a room to wait. So there were over 30 people crowded into that small office. In all cases, the patient comes with at least one companion. Sometimes the whole family, like us. One person turns into 3. Oh well.

The surgery itself only took a few minutes. On our way out, dad took the men's room key... but usually mom takes him into the lady's room. (For the stalls, and mom can aid him.) He... wet his pants big time. Luckily, mom brought along a spare pair of pants. But it took a while because he also wet the floor and his feet. I was waiting outside at the elevators and there were 2 men coming from the same eye clinic wanting to use the washroom. They couldn't because dad took the key. They were waiting for someone to come out. Sigh... (T_T)

It was around noon when we got home. So we picked up aunt Y and went to a neighbourhood Chinese restaurant. There was a baby boy with unbelievable haircut so I couldn't resist sneaking a picture. Mom went to get dad's eye drops. Somehow the deductible still hasn't been reached and we had to pay full price. Almost $30 for a tiny bottle of eye drop! Expensive!

Got home, continued working on some necklaces, and dosed off at the desk. Then A sent me an online chat. I supposed my sleep wasn't deep. Then I realized how I have disappeared. I haven't been online on chat, my phone's battery died and I only found out last night. And when it's in my handbag in the other room, I don't hear it ring. Oh well, since the furnace broke, I haven't been feeling that well anyway. It's my time off.

Traditionally yesterday was supposed to be vegetarian and today a feast. (We had leftovers from the day before.) So the whole family ate out. It's kind of rare to gather so many aunts and uncles. The food was good. Brother's gang came with us after dinner for a while. I felt asleep at the desk soon after they left. The just before midnight, I came back to life again and kept wasting many hours on Etsy.

Chinese new year

I supposed I should still say "happy Chinese new year" although not feeling too well.
Rained all day non stop. Achy achy... no energy. Plus, the vampire doesn't care if it's Chinese new year or not. No eating out today. We have plenty of leftovers from last night.

Christmas wasn't that long ago, yet it's another occasion for over-eating. Dad is especially bad. Started to take video recording of his craziness. Today started with a 25-minute shot. He wouldn't stop scratching the floor with his cane.

Uncle and aunt Y came visit. They are very traditional. Mom has some trouble booking a table for tomorrow's dinner. Everywhere's full. Yikes! We managed to find a table at a less desirable place.

Did some more cleanup and organizing around the new bookcase. Still not done. Spent some time searching on Etsy. Finished 2 necklaces and started 2 more.

I didn't even take a Pinky picture for a new year card... (This one's from yesterday and doesn't count.)

Chinese new year's eve

First 24 hours of vampire is no fun... Had to be ready for the furnace people too. They ended up being an hour late. Nevertheless, the problem was slow motor speed. Very easily fixed. Only took half an hour.

Dad came back from daycare and hunt for food as usual. However, from his pants pocket he took some cake out! That's just gross... (T_T) Must have been given to him by fellow daycare members during lunch time. Of course he ate it. Mom then found the toilet paper and paper towel he stole form the daycare. It filled up a shopping bag. (T_T) At least he seems to have stopped taking gloves. Or, the daycare staff knows to hide them.

I needed to go pay my visa bill. Dec-Jan was more than double my usual spending and I cannot afford to miss the deadline. However, not sure if it's the vampire or the Tylenol, I have no energy and kept dosing off at the desk, wasting the whole afternoon. Luckily, the restaurant mom chose has a bank nearby. So I did it at dinner time.

Came home and continued dosing off. Today has just been a sleepy day with zero energy. I haven't done so, but I think I should take an iron pill. Don't feel comfortable mixing with Tylenol, though.

Big cleanup

(Picture taken 2 weeks ago and unrelated to subject. Dad was dismantling a shirt and made a mess.)
Since the motor-change yesterday, no heat's been coming out downstairs and aunt Y's room got very cold. I didn't know she wore a sweater to sleep! So tonight I brought out the portable electric heater from brother and set it up in her room. Hopefully it helps.

The furnace shop's been contacted but they can't come until tomorrow. We'll see what happens. Meanwhile mom kept blaming the maintenance guy for messing around our thermostat setup. She doesn't know how to work it. After reading the menu, I don't think I get it completely either. So... I'd wait for the guy to come. Don't think they messed anything up, though.

Continued cleaning up around the new bookcase and reorganizing it. Still not done. It has turn out to be a much bigger project then I thought. Didn't have time to read the Maya book either.

To make things worse, the vampire showed up late evening. The pain killer is working but still doesn't feel well.