Bronhi original

From last May. Part of the goodies A brought back from home. Thanks for sharing! This "toffee with herb extracts" is actually pretty good. There is a hint of liquorish and very fragrant. The flavour is deep and layered. Most of all, it feels real. (As to "not artificial".) Good stuff. A bit dangerous on the addictive index, though.

House-sitting (2)

Ended up going to brother's after lunch. Took mom to help with changing the guinea pigs. However, couldn't find the cardboard fence. (T_T) Couldn't put the pigs on lawn. Took like half an hour.

Then we went to see dad. He wore his shirt unbuttoned and showing both shoulders. Basically, almost half naked. (T_T) Caught him spitting onto the wall... took a picture and realized the wall was covered with his spit!!!!! Grossssss!!!! (T_T) Sigh... at least we didn't have to clean that up. He's removed his name tag the nursing home made for his walker (which was in turn borrowed from another relative). Now he has removed half of the label I covered with layers of packing tape. Sigh... Of course his watch is still missing. It's pretty save to consider stolen.

Took mom home and I packed a day's stuff to bring to brother's. I really don't want to spend the night there with the vampire. But I've gotta keep my promise to student T. However, T did not return. Grrrr!!!!!

Wanted to see the pride parade. Wanted to see BC place's open house. (T_T)

Phoned Mu again. She wasn't home. Phoned Ma again, woke her up at 2:30pm her time. She's in crunch time for an illustration job so we'll try to talk again tomorrow. Good luck on the deadline! Phone Mrs. L but no one answered. Hmm... this year's phone call is a disaster.

House-sitting (1)

Needed to deal with the knock, then washed my hair and showered. (Don't want to shower at brother's.) By the time I got there, it was 4, grossly late. (T_T) Student T downstairs seemed to be eager to talk to me. He asked me if I was there last nigh. I say no. And he was really concern that the lights were on. I told him it was the timer that turns on every night. Then he was mumbling about hearing kids and noises etc. He looked fidgety, and didn't express himself well. Was I so difficult to talk to??? Then I went back upstairs to feed the guinea pigs. He came to the back door this time wanting to take a banana (which he said he'd usually get with dinner). Since sis-in-law didn't leave me any or instruction about that, I let him look. He tried to open a cabinet but it was child-proof. He gave up immediately. I opened the fridge for him. There were some apples and nectarines. He said he'd take a small one and went back down. Not sure if it was apple or nectarine.

After a bit, he came back again, asking me if I know it would rain tonight. I checked online and yes, it would rain. He than looked like he had a eureka moment and said more reason he need to spend the night elsewhere. I asked him if he's got friends to go to. He said no, it's his vacant family home(?). I asked if he'd be alone at both places, what difference would it make? He then look super fidgety and said he's not a logical person. Hmm... I said I would not stop him and he can go if he wants. He went back downstairs.

Next time he came asking for Tupperware to take the food with him. Of course not knowing where the stuff is, I let him look again. This time he found it right away. So downstairs again he went.

Not sure how long had past, he left, in the rain.

My vampire showed up. Can't be on a worse day. But at least I'd be going home.

Can't call W because he's busy moving. Called Mu but she wasn't at home. Neither was Ma. Chatted with her sister for a few moments and that was all. Hmm... not fruitful in terms of calls.

p.s.
Turns out sis-in-law left student T with a bunch of bananas. He ate them all at once.

Glasses

Cousin M is in town. So we went for our annual family lunch. They come every summer to see dad. However, this is the first time dad cannot eat with us. So it's just me and mom, cousin M and her husband.

The 4 of us finished lunch. Cousin M got a separate take-out order of wonton to bring to dad. They drove the Mini today so I took my car instead. Dad... was lying in bed the wrong side. (Feet on pillow.) Of course he's torn up his diaper. Sigh... He also tore up his pants. Mom took it back home to mend. On closer look, dad didn't just tear up the seams, but the fabric itself. This pair of pants cannot be mended.

Cleanup continues. Dug up a bunch of old glasses. Most are dad's. There's one from late uncle L that looks vintage. I wonder if I should try selling it on e-bay or something. (Otherwise, donation.)

Brother's gang has left for their trip, but since enough food is left for the guinea pigs, I don't need to go today.

Tools

Originally wanted to go for a semi-annual car tuneup, but couldn't fit it in. Oh well.

After lunch, took mom to see dad. She noticed that his watch was gone. However, his lost slippers came back. Hmm... Then we went to brother's to take house-sitting instructions for the next few days. The daycare kids were napping so we had to wait for a while (until at least one of them woke up) before brother and sis-in-law could talk to us in normal volume. Got home at round 3:30, and aunt Y was here already. After some afternoon snack and pictures, I went to Metrotown to meet A. (1) To delivery his coffee. (2) To check out XS Cargo together as we both need something from there.

Finally... got my reacher. Yay~ (Should have checked online earlier. Wasted a lot of time going to the other branch.) A got his weather station too. Then some grocery at Walmart. Somehow my back was screwing up. Perhaps falling blood sugar level added to it. I suddenly entered zombie mode. Felt better after dinner at Wendy's. Then hung out at A's. Thanks for the back rub!

Pardon crackers

Photo is from last May. Thanks A for sharing! This looks exactly like Goldfish. But the similarity stops here. Pardon (not sure if this is the bran name or description) is quite different. Goldfish is salty, cheesy, light and crunchy. Also looks artificially coloured. This "Pardon" eats more like a cracker. The texture is less powdery. Less salt and no cheese flavour. (At least I didn't detect any.) Overall it feels more healthy.

Coffee

Out of 9 errands, only one got done.

1. Take mom to Pricesmart (n) she beat me to it
   
2. A's coffee beans (y)
   
3. A's weather station (n) low quality
   
4. Reacher x 2 (n) sold out
   
5. No-stitch helm tool (n) not what I thought
   
6. Mom's cell phone (n) picky about branch location
   
7. Buy acetone (n) bottle way too big
   
8. Buy US$ (n) out of energy
   
9. Pay card bill (n) forgot
   

The sun was still shinning bright, but why were the lights in parking lots on???

Pens

I suppose pens can't be recycle...? Makes me wonder if I left these at Emily Carr, will some student pick them up and use them in an art piece?

Cleanup

Did some smaller cleanup today. When I was cutting up receipts, I noticed how uniform their sizes are! It wasn't used to be like this! Perhaps the HST has something to do with it.

Worked on the cake-top Pinkys... fingers are sore. Can't progress until I find somewhere that sells smaller bottles of acetone.

That house is no more. Demolition is completed. They're moving fast.

Cake

Since brother's gang will be away for a few days camping later next week, we ate out for mom and aunt L's b-day. The original plan was for me to pick up aunt L to my place, then brother's gang would join us for cake. Then we'd all go visit dad before eating out.

However, somehow brother's got a visitor and was delayed for an hour. So, the 3 of us eat cake first. (One form A yesterday, thanks! And one form aunt L, which was in turn given to her by cousin C.) Mom was very nervous about aunt L who eats dinner at 5:30. So she decided to postpone the cake on brother's gang until after dinner. We left directly to see dad as soon as he arrived.

We hit dad right at dinner time. He was spitting and shooting snot even while eating, and made a mess... Sigh... He tends to eat the "better" stuff first, and left the beans to the end. Then dessert (some kind of moose) came. Sis-in-law urge him to finish the beans. Dad then put all the beans into the moose. Sigh... (T_T) But at least he ate them all.

Mom also brought some of our cake and left it to dad. If he didn't need to go to washroom, I'm sure he would have eaten it all, right there. (This had happened so many times. Apparently, he likes to come up with "something" so that mom would have to "serve" him. Usually yucky stuff.) After mom finished aiding him to washroom, we left for our own dinner. Today was the Taiwanese restaurant in Richmond. Some grocery-shopping afterward, then dropped aunt L home. Finally, cake time. I though my nieces would have enough stomach for that very heavy cake... and both of them said so, only niece N was able to finish her piece. Sis-in-law has health issues so she only took a bite. Brother finished off niece G's left-over. They didn't want to take any home either. This means, we still have some in our fridge. Hmm... I was counting on the kids to consume more. Now that cake would probably have to live in our fridge for a week. (Until it's all eaten.) That cake artery cement... can't, and shouldn't eat more than a tiny piece each day.

Smoki

Can't believe I haven't written a post on Smoki. Thanks A. This picture is actually form last February. Kind of like cheese puffs, but instead of cheese, this is peanut. It's less fluffy and denser than cheese puffs. Smoki is less salty and feels more healthy. Otherwise they're pretty similar.

Kerrisdale

Mom brought back a pair of dad's panties... torn. Yup, dad doesn't only destroy his own clothes, he also tears up the nursing home's bed sheets. Sigh... (T_T)

Met up with A and went to a Kerrisdale French bakery for some take-out cake. Seemed like they only have whole cakes for sale. I actually need some cake for mom's early b-day dinner tomorrow, so A bought a whole and gave me more than half. Thanks~ Also thanks for dinner at the bakery's bistro. Picked up some grocery at the high-end super market next door. Ran into a detour thanks to an accident on our way back.

The cake was made with butter cream. AKA artery cement. (T_T) Yup, it tasted good. but super unhealthy. It was so heavy, I couldn't eat more than a piece 1 cm thick. (The cake was tall, though.) A loves that stuff. Yikes...

Chiropractor

Chiropractor day. Most of the time it does not fall onto the day I need it most. Oh well. Nonetheless, I did need it quite bad.

Then as usual, stopped by DeSerres to see their moving sale progress. Last time I didn't go, so it's been about 3 weeks. Every time I end up buying something. Today was a few pieces of scrapbook paper and ribbon tape. This was purely impulse shopping. I didn't really need those, and the discount was small. "Get it now or it will be gone" gets me. (T_T)

Then I went to the bead store on 4th. No luck on the "long and pointy" charm or drop or dangler I'm looking for. (Together with some other beads and spacers.) Headed to the bead store on Granville Island. I don't know how it happened, but all the staff (2 of them) were super busy trying to fish the store keys back from the roof of the back room. How did the keys end up there? Did someone throw them??? Without the keys, they couldn't close the store, so it was #1 priority... at the cost of ignoring all costumers. I had a hard time cutting in, but managed to show one of them a picture of my search. (Shortest distance to the goal.) Too bad, too bad. It doesn't have to be exactly the same. Just something long and pointy. But still no luck. I hope they get the keys back in time.

It was about 6:50 when I left. Glad that the island now closes at 7. Time to continue yesterday's hunt at Urban Behavior. By the time I got there, it was about 7:20. Should be sufficient. And it was. First, the giant "up to 80% off" sign was replaced by a categorized listing of "what is now how much" sign. The biggest discount is now 70%. Huh?????? Instead of dropping more, they raise 10%. WHF?!?!?! Grrr.... However, the store was 1/4 more empty than yesterday. People ARE buying. I finished the 2/3 that I didn't look at yesterday. Managed to find the 2 xs items that I was forced to give up. Sadly... my body no longer look good in those style. I liked them very much, though... (T_T) Instead, I found an expensive item in the new arrivals. So, besides the 2 good price items, I also bought that unreasonably expansive one. I bet they raise the price before making it down. (T_T) I think I was (1) having shopping fatigue, (2) didn't want to leave empty-handed, (3) xs are hard to come by, (4) "they'll for sure be gone if I don't buy them now".

Dream

First, I was with a bunch of OL in some kind of dark office. They were organizing a funeral. Much of this part was lost by the time I wrote it down. Then the second part, I was with a bunch of family members and relatives inside a high-school lecture-hall-like funeral home. There were lots of other people that I didn't know. Lots. The walls were cream colour in general, and the lower half was yellowish wood paneling. This yellow was stale and unpleasant. The rooms were not square either. The floor of the central area was sunken a few steps.

It didn't feel like a funeral. Almost like an event or something. (Maybe it wasn't a funeral.)

After a while, people were called by name into a room to have a massage. That room had a stage but not used. I think I saw a roll of massage chairs in there. Our family's turn was up. My late uncle L was called. Aunt L gave a verbal response to save his spot (but, but... he pasted away yeas ago). Funny, dad was not in this part despite all the family was there.

Then it was closing time. People slowly exited the building. Niece N was with me when the staff took plants off the walls and ceiling. There were pine wreaths on the ceiling and Chinese fan palm leaves on the walls. For some unknown reason, my family needed to stay behind for a little bit, and all went into a room, except me and niece N. We hung out in the hallway. A few moments later, the door opened and I saw dad come out naked. Mom was right behind, scolding him. She grabbed him back to put clothes on. Seemed like dad went pee and took all his clothes off. (This does happen in real life.)

There were more, but I couldn't write them down in time.

Paint

Tried to take advantage of Michael's extra 25% off whole purchase including sale item coupon. I need some paint to continue with Y's Pinkys.

First stop, Beadsmart. And... I was shock that the site empty! There was no moving sign. Awww~ I was hoping to find that long and pointy dangler there. Now my chance has shrunk half. (T_T)

Then XS Cargo in the hopes that they'd still carry the $10 reacher. Nope. Long gone. Oh well. Checked out the Dollar Giant next door for those plastic storage boxes. Nope. Still sold out. I think they discontinued it. Whatever is a good deal gets discontinued. Sigh... Then, next door again, ground black sesame. The Taiwanese supermarket had scaffolding store front. If you don't look from the right angle, you'd think they're closed for renovation. I asked the staff where the stuff was, but still couldn't find it. Wasted a lot of time. But I'm glad I got the black sesame at last.

On the way, I heard from the car radio that the exchange rate was good, so I stopped by Yaohan trying to buy some US dollar. But they sold out! Awwwww~!!!! (T_T) Yes, I can come back tomorrow, but the price will not be as good. When I was there, also checked out Iwase's location to see if it's taken. Nope, still empty. That mall is half dead. (T_T)

Today's main event: Michale's. I though they had the 3 for $5 cardboard photo boxes, but nope they didn't. It must have been last week. Daaaaah! Picking out the paint was also time-consuming as some colours are pretty similar, and you can't tell by just looking at the bottle. You gotta actually peek into the inside.

Thanks A for the Urban Behavior tip. By the time I got there, it was 8. Only had an hour. Tried on 8 items and none made it. Some I like a lot. (T_T) Then, then... amongst the stuff people misplaced, I found better size on 2 of them! But... but... the store was closing! I had to leave them, knowing that they'd be gone tomorrow... (T_T)

So... sorry A, I was grumpy because I got 6 fails out of 8.

And... you keep saying the malls are busy so there's no recession. Look at these out of business stores. When will you open up your eyes?

Pomegranate soda

Wold Foods pomegranate Italian soda. Thanks A for sharing! This... sorry, this is written much later and I forgot much of the taste. It was fruity alright. If I remember correctly, it was light too. But besides light and fruity, can't remember much...

Diapers and cane

Once again, mom didn't wait for me and went to see dad alone. Seems like the "back from diaper to underwear" plan for dad was put off. Dad was in diaper. He went number 2 right after lunch, and of course tried to get rid of the diaper. Mom had trouble stopping him from tearing up the diaper so she took it off. It was dry so she was going to put it back on afterward. However, dad was fighting back so much, mom had to get help from the staff... who do not argue with the residence. At the end, dad won, and mom put him in underwear.

Then very soon after, dad wet himself, without diapers. Sigh... The story didn't end there. Mom aid him in the washroom. When he was done, he pulled a piece of paper towel to wipe his hands, then threw it into the toilet. Mom was furious by that time and yelled at him. But it was too late. Dad flushed it and said it was fine. Sigh...

He also lost his cane. Mom informed the staff and all the rooms were searched with no luck. It had to be in his room. One place mom didn't look, was under Mr. H's bed. He thinks everyone wants to steal his his new shoes so he hides them there. Sometimes he borrows dad's cane to reach them. Of course mom didn't realize until much later.

Oh, dad started to pull thread from his shirts again. Mom brought some back home to mend. Sigh... (T_T) And I thought our problem would be solved... (I do admit, it's waaaaay better then before, though.)

Cake-top Pinkys continues.

Cherry

Mom brought dad some cherry from sis-in-law. Dad spat the pits onto the floor, all of them, despite mom telling him not to, every single time. Sigh... (T_T) How do you not think he's not doing it on purpose?

Dad's also been tearing up so many diapers, the staff decided to change strategy. Instead of having him wear diapers all the time, they get him to go pee every 2 hours or so. Mom dug up dad's underwear but whether he would wear them is another question. I suspect he'd pull the threads and destroy them just like before. My concern is, the staff will not change dad if he wet his pants. He tends to hide it too. It's so... unsanitary! (Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!)

Felt a sudden urge to start the cake-top Pinkys. Finally found my spare nail-polish remover. Why did I buy one without acetone knowing it's the chemical that removes paint? Duuuh!!! (T_T) Of course I did buy another with acetone afterward. However, this second one doesn't work either! What's going on? Then I found a tube of crazy glue remover. It worked magic before... but this one's not working either??? Would it be that the active ingredient has evaporated??? I ended up sanding the paint off. Labour-intensive and time-consuming. Fingers hurt.

Dish rack

It was a super late start today thanks to the knock. (Thank God it came, though.) I need dish racks and some craft paint but A didn't really want to go to Richmond. I was ready to give it up altogether as the 25% off sale items coupon is good for the whole week (which means I can go on a week day.) So we went to the Italian bakery for some special cake A wanted. However, that place closes at 4 on Sundays and we just missed it. Oh well! Without any goal, we were gonna wait it out at LD until dinner. Thanks for the Thin Addictives, A! That was a new flavour, different from the one at Costco. Now that LD carries it, perhaps Costco will start carrying new varieties.

A saw a keyboard at LD and the talk of Netlink came up. So we ended up going to Richmond after all. There was some kind of event at the mall. People were gluing M&M's to a giant Styrofoam sculpture.

Unfortunately, Daiso no longer have the dish rack I want. They keep discontinuing the better stuff. One day they will turn into an ordinary dollar store with double the price. Sigh... I had to buy a few lower quality ones. The old ones were made of either bamboo or gum tree and finished. The one they have now is unfinished wood.

Turn out Netlink didn't have A's keyboard either and he left empty-handed. We then went to Timmy's for dinner. Hung out at A's place for the rest of the evening.

Dream

In the dream, mom and I decided to renovate the basement living room. A new TV was needed. So I went to a home electronics store to see what's out there... with someone... (I think that was sis-in-law). After looking at some displays, we lined up at the cashier. I picked up a small item in my hand (forgot what it was) to purchase. Then something happened. Forgot exactly what it was, but seemed to be a guy showing up with a gun. Customers ran for their lives, including me. With merchandise in hand, I was thinking, how would the store stop people from leaving without paying? I stopped in the space between the inner and outer doors. Oh I see, there were security guards. The armed person situation was dissolved and we all went back in. But I was separated with my companion and forgot which TV to buy. Luckily she (?) had marked it in the flyer. However, it was a 48", bigger than the stand we have. But I proceed with the purchase anyway.

Next, pickup. The system was like, you pay upstairs on the main floor where all the displays are, and then go to the basement to pickup the actually merchandise from convener belts like 1/4 size airport luggage carousel set on a table. Somehow my purchase had changed to a Mac and monitor by this time. The monitor was still 48" but it was old style with some thickness. The Mac was huge and heavy like a monitor stand. And then there was a third item which I forgot what... (seemed to be different from the one I picked up on the main floor.) The stuff was not small, so I grabbed 2 shopping carts, which back-fired. I couldn't look after both of them. And I anticipated that I would have trouble loading the stuff onto my car alone. So I asked for help. With the "Mac" in one cart, and the monitor still couldn't be found. I talked to a staff, who in turn brought me to another lower level worker who actually do the dirty job. This salt-and-pepper hair guy looked like a street bum. He probably hadn't shaved for a week and his clothes was dirty and messy. Nonetheless, I tried to communicate to him that one of my heavier item was still on the carousel, but he didn't listen, climbed up a leather, and disappeared into an opening that suppose to lead to the main floor. I was completely lost... and tried to get help from another staff.

Don't remember what happened after that. Probably woke up. This has gotta be related to the heavy old CRT TV sitting in our living room floor waiting for the day some strong arms show up and sent to recycle.

365 Cola

From last April, thank A for this one.

"Sweetened with 100% cane sugar." And it does taste better. How should I put it...? It tastes real. The other colas taste more artificial. It reminds me of soft drinks back when I was in grade school. Was cane sugar the norm? Or did I not know better?

Pee and spit

Weather's been bad and my back's been achy. (T_T) No energy too. Did I overdo yesterday's cleanup?

Brother came pick us up with his gang late afternoon and we all went to see dad. We went to his room because the living room was not big enough and we'd be disturbing other residences. The moment we opened the door... hell! Stunk like foul urine! He must have pee on the floor! (T_T) My nieces wouldn't go into the room. His spitting has gone worse. Waaaaay worse. He'd spit every few steps now! Unbelievable! That's dangerous for other residence as they may fall and break their hips! If that happens, it would be wheel chair for the rest of their life! Sigh...

Well... I AM glad that we don't have to clean up after dad any more, but he still makes us worry... in unreasonable ways. He IS a hazard to others.

After the visit, we went for an early dinner around 5:30 at a higher class Hong Kong style cafe restaurant. I don't know if it was the rain, but that place stunk like rotting plywood! There was no smile on the staffs' faces either. They all looked like they didn't want to serve anyone. Quality of the food was slightly better, but very salty. Sis-in-law was saying, Honolulu's portion is about the same but 2 bucks cheaper in average. That's at least a good 20%! Most of all, the staff over there are much more pleasant. Hmm...

After dinner brother came for a haircut and my nieces wanted me to show them web sites. (Pinky-related, but tonight's was mainly cats and Pokemon.) I kept dosing off at the desk after they went home. Yup, no energy.

Kitchen

Started cleaning up the kitchen today. There are stuff sitting in the cabinet blind-spot untouched for 20 years! Mom and dad's been saving plastic take-out containers for that long. Sigh... The plastic has disintegrated. Some are yellow and some are sticky. Gross. Some plastic bags containing mystery powder had turn brittle and leak content. Not to mention the elastic bands holding them together have all mummified.

Kept finding Popsicle sticks here and there. Both the original sets and mystery wooden ones that looked used. Gross!!! It must be dad. Instead of consolidating things, he likes to scatter them around. Besides that, tooth picks! Every corner, every crack and creases, he had to stuff something in there. Sigh... (T_T) As the excavation progressed, more "home made" sticks were found! There were hand cut pieces of unidentifiable plastic, and mutilated disposable cutlery. Gross...! (T_T)

Found a whole bunch of stuff... tea and food that have been sitting in old plastic jars. They were all swapped into glass jars. We have ample supply of jars that dad had been collecting, but lots of washing required.

Nevertheless, one corner had been cleared. It took a whole day. The result is 4 bags of garbage. Mostly used take-out containers and old Styrofoam stuff. We also threw away a bunch of seasonings that haven't been touched for a decade... maybe two. There were lots of loose packs of instant oatmeal, coffee, and drinks that don't have individual expiry date printed. They all go to the garbage can, of course.

65 anniversary

One of our banks invited us over for a 65 anniversary celebration. That's how long the branch has been there for. It's quite something for a quiet residential area.

I no longer have an account there, but I happened to answer the phone and was invited too. How often do banks treat you to dinner? Well, it was just sandwiches, but there was a birthday cake too! All food seemed to be made by employees. (But I could be wrong.)

One of mom's friends didn't get invited. The other was busy and couldn't come. It was just me and mom, and actually very boring. Off hand the manager greeted me by soliciting my business. Which made me feel super unwelcome. It felt like he was hinting that I shouldn't be there without an account. Or was that just my negative thinking? Hmm...

We ate, listened to the manager's speech, ate some cake, and left. They were saying, the customers usually come in, do their banking, and leave. The party gave them a chance to chat and know each other better. Well, I guess it's not a bad thing. But personally, I don't think I want my bank to know too much about my personal life. After all, they are after money.

Tired

Uncle and aunt Y wanted to visit dad so we had lunch before going to the nursing home. Dad is well. Still spitting and tearing up diapers. A little bit of grocery shopping back in our area afterward. Drop them home, and I crashed. Was gonna take a 30 minute nap... ended up passing out for almost 4 hours. Why am I so tired? Plus, I forgot to take any Pinky pictures. Not even during lunch. What's going on???

The only picture I took was of a funny car sticker...

Spritzer Citron Lime

From October 2010. Thanks A! This lime flavoured pop was like Sprite, but much lighter, and more fruity. To put it in a less polite way, diluted. Forgot to check the ingredient list again. Oh well. The text is not English. (Italian???) Nonetheless, pop is pop and it was refreshing and the portion size was good.

Nieces

Brother had an emergency (namely forgot to pre-plan) so I helped drop my nieces and their friend off to summer school after lunch. To save gas, I hung out in the area until class ended. Took the chance to research on mom's cell phone. Picked the kids up and went back to brother's until dinner time. It was eat-out day. I timed my pick-up with mom so we all arrived at the cafe roughly the same time.

The girls wanted to play with my Pinkys after dinner, so they all came to our place and I lent them my monthly supply box under the condition of returning them to the original state. Of course that didn't happen. An hour later when they left, most of my prepared Pinkys were different. Oh well. Not that I mind it so much, but it's about promises. I don't let them play with my Pinkys because (1) they go rough, (2) I've prepared those for daily use and don't want to mess up the setup. I do let them play with the dolls every-now-and-then. So don't call me mean.

Old habit

Thank god for chiropractor day. Cleaning up left me in bad shape.

Finally mailed the yellow envelopes. The mail box was full of those. Actually this is the first time I ran into the mailman collecting mail.

Dad's habit of spitting indoors was gone for a few day, but it's now back. The staff at the nursing home told us about how he would spit regardless of location or who's there. The worse is, his roommate Mr. H picked up his bad habit too. (T_T)

Dad seems to be playing some kind of game... or I should say, toying with Mr. H and the staff. When no one's looking, dad tells Mr. H to go back to his room. Amazingly, he listens and actually does it. The staff would find out, then bring him back. Then dad would tell Mr. H that he's naughty. Sigh... Yup, he's both the cop and criminal.

Started cleaning out my pens. Didn't realize I've got so many, way more than I can use. Of course most of them dry up and have to be trashed.

Richmond

Took A and S to Richmond for some shopping. Too bad the fish & chips place was closed. Ended up eating at a Vietnamese restaurant. I didn't mind but it wasn't exactly A's cup of tea. Oh well. Then the shopping for computer components began. I got to spent some time in the dollar stores and other stores around.

Then we all went to S's place to set up the computer. With nothing better to do, I cleaned up his place. There seemed to be some problems and the guys were working hard. So hard, we almost missed dinner. Didn't realize the Italian restaurant was uphill. Should have taken the car there. Took 20 minutes to walk just a few blocks. We arrived at 9:20. They close at 10. Barely made it. Portions were big and the food was filling. Thanks S for the dinner! Then we went back to finish off the setup. Dropped A off and it was 1 AM when I got home. Didn't fill up, didn't buy yogurt...

House and cat

Yet another old house in my neighbourhood will be torn down. It's been vacant for a while. Today I noticed the public trees were fences up. The big tree close to the house is not. It's probably gonna be chopped down. What a waste... (T_T)

Met a friendly playful cat. It was sitting in someone's front yard. I thought it's domestic, but there's no collar and its coat is rough. It followed me to the end of the block. If it wasn't for a dog nearby, I fear that cat might follow me home.

Hagges marzipan

From September 2010. Thanks A! "Swedish apricot marzipan confection" from Ikea. Didn't know much about "confection" until I looked it up. Here's what Wiki says. Not healthy at all!! (>_<;)

Haven't seen it anywhere else. Despite the scary-looking green, this is awesome and super addictive! And loaded with calories. (Not healthy!) Luckily, I was still able to stop at half of roll. Otherwise I'd have to skip lunch. This requires refrigeration. Does it mean it doesn't contain much preservatives? Forgot to check the ingredient list. Oh well!

Referendum

Time to mail the referendum.

Walk

Saw some kind of dead bird (?) on the ground while taking my evening walk.

The weather's been unstable. Body aches and cannot always take a walk. But when it's nice, it's really nice.

Cleanup

Cleanup continues.
This has gotta be dad's spit or snot on the glass part of the screen door. There was also something on the screen. Both front door and back door. Sigh... (T_T)

Old letters

Mom went to see dad early in the morning with aunt L. I went at lunch time. Picked the ladies up and went for lunch. Aunt L's treat. Thanks!

Came home and it was already 3. Napped a little, and started the cleanup. Today was old letters and cards. All the addresses need to be shredded by hand. Labour intensive.

Then I hunt down some batch re-size script and start processing the NY photos. It was great help! However, consolidating from 2 cameras is still hard work. I'm not even half done!

Bunny Grahams Honey

From September 2010. Thanks L for this one. I think this came in an assorted box with other cookies. Someone got it for her, and she didn't like this grahams one. So she gave me a few bags. The cookie itself felt healthy. It reminded me of baby snacks. But you know, healthy stuff doesn't taste as good. But I don't mind. This seems to be good stuff. Dad ate most of it, though.

Nigh Market

Woke up by A's message at... 1? Thought he didn't want to see me today "because he had seen me 2 days in a roll already". Sigh... (See? I keep wondering if I should just give up...) Then J called and invited me to the night market. Because we'd meet at my place, I needed to do an emergency cleanup, and thus was late to meet A. We ended up meeting at Long & McQuade on Main because he wanted to pick something up. To his shock, they weren't open. Oh well. We then went to see R and B at their place downtown. Since I had to be home by 5, we only got to stay for 45 minutes. A said he hates the night market, so he declined my invitation. Somehow R persuaded him to go with "$10 unlocking i-phone" booths. I want him to break out of his shell, so I'm glad he agreed to go.

Got home at 5:10. A bit late. But J and M were even later! While waiting for them to arrive, A checked my non-functioning HD dock. Thanks! (Seems like my HD was dead. It wasn't the dock.) To avoid boring him, I let him play with my violin, which worked out well. Then J and M arrived. After a short stay, we went to the night market.

We were there at 6:10 and found a good parking spot on the street. Otherwise their parking costs $5. However, the market opens at 6:30 and we had to wait a little. I wouldn't mind because it gave us time to chat. A was bored. (T_T) He was yawning and making gestures. Sigh... how embarrassing... (T_T) No regrets, though. I'd rather be too early then having to pay for parking.

We looked at some booths on our way to the "food court". Not sure how long it took, but we ate "dinner" there. This is the first time ever that I skip takoyaki at the night market. Instead, I had some BBQ skewers, fried stinky toufu (not stinky at all), and some taiyaki.

Then we looked around at the vendor booths. I got some socks, A got me a glass pendant, thanks! And some angry birds plush for himself, plus an i-pad cover. M got a glass pendent at the same booth as mine, and some nail art stuff. J got some knives. Before we left, we went for another round of snacks. I got some taiyaki to take home for mom. By the time we left, it was around 11.

Thanks J and M for dropping A off. I appreciate it very much! It does look so wrong for the girl to drive the guy home and return alone late at night, doesn't it? It also bugs me a lot that A had never realized it. Am I just your driver? Sigh... (T_T) For all the photo we've taken, it's always me putting my arm around yours. You never ever put your arm around my shoulder. I think that says a lot. Right?