Double

Took mom to her shingles followup, and got an appointment myself for skin allergy. The doctor's attitude was clearly different when I actually have an appointment instead of just accompanying mom. Way more friendly and talkative. He just wrote me a prescription on the same ointment from 5 years ago and didn't even look at my rash. (Well, I showed him that ointment first, though.)

This time we didn't have to wait, so there was 18 minutes left for some micro grocery shopping. Then we picked up 2 Japanese bento boxes at Fujiya and ate them at home. Continued on L's picture. Kept dosing off as usual. I only had 5 hours of sleep. Then sis-in-law called about that bead shop. She's interested but checked her mail late. I ended up spending more time going through the site, and throwing more items into my cart and reached the maximum discount level. It's gonna cost me over 400 bucks... Yikes! I can't believe I'm going that...

L's picture is still not done... I'm loosing all fun drawing it. Since when did drawing become such a chore?

Yoga class

Bad me. Failed to sleep early again and got waken up by the second parcel. Estimated sleep time: 4 hours. The corners of my mouth is flaring up as I type this. The parcel's brokerage fee was less then the less one. Strange, but I will not complain. Wait... it's still way too expensive!

Ate some oatmeal and went to borrow A's bus pass. (Thanks!) Of course I forgot to factor in the driving and parking. Didn't check the time but I think I either narrowly made it, or just slightly late. There was a lady who was later than me, so I wasn't the last one. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but nonetheless, had some post holding. I think I'll be able to tell by tomorrow if it's given me any benefits or made things worse.

Session with OT continued after the yoga class. More info exchange. Then I went back to MT and looked at a few shops, and it was 5. Met up with and took him grocery shopping. Thanks for sharing the watermelon, blueberry, and bread!

Came home and kept falling asleep at the desk as usual. (T_T) FMG sent me another mail about closeout sales so... of course I'm looking again. Never learn. (T_T)

Stiff

Didn't sleep well. Opened my eyes with super super stiff back. Didn't get up until super late. Didn't see A despite it's Sunday. Continued with L's picture.

Karaoke

J asked if I'd be interested to see the fireworks. Downtown would be hell so I went against it. photo: karaoke party: food

Plus, it was Andre Rieu's concert movie tonight. I kind of want to go, but not comfortable to ask A. We ended up deciding on a karaoke night. Was gonna do it at S's but he was out and couldn't get home in time to prepare. So we did it at J's.

A had not been feeling well and undecided about going anywhere. (Yet he went downtown earlier.) I didn't want to push him. Then he became very stuck to me. OK, I'm not sure why you're sick, but seemed like you don't care if I also catch it. If you're well enough to get suck to me, you should be well enough to go to J's. It didn't matter if he went or not. I'd still go alone. At the end he decided to go. But we've wasted quite a bit of time, and ended up being the latest. (When he want to grope me, nothing else matter, including trying to be on time to whatever is next.) Grrrr....

Karaoke was fun. I got to dig up a few old anime songs. Then a few episodes of Densha Otoko. The party ended around 2. Yikes... my car insurance had expired before I got to put the new sticker up! I was going to do it before I left home, but (1) needed to bring A the hard-boiled egg, (2) the shop where I'd be picking up the steam rolls might close so I had to go there first. In short, I was in a hurry, and forgot about the sticker until after midnight. Gas price seemed OK so I filled up, and fixed the sticker at the gas station.

Came home, tried to work on L's picture, but kept falling asleep... Ended up going to bed super later again without much done...

Brokeside Mango Mangosteen

From April. Dark chocolate mango mangosteen. Did they put these two together because they both start with "mango"? It's yummy, but the packaging makes you think it's yummier then it actually is. Chocolate + tartness is almost always yummy. However, there's no fragrance. Can't detect any mango at all. And somehow it tastes more like berry. In shot, I cannot tell the difference between this and their other chocolate covered fruit juice center varieties. Hmm...

Shingles

Woke up by the parcel form FM. Fedex had me pay just under $37. That was ridiculous! My purchase was just under $76 and after shipping, total went over $111! And now an extra $37?!?!?! But I had no choice but to pay. After a closer look, custom is actually less than $4. The rest is Fedex fees. F%*^$%# them!!!!!!!! OMG I still have one more parcel coming!!!!! (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T)

Back to the shingles. Took mom back to see our family doctor for a fallow-up. No new medicine, only the usual osteoporosis drug. After we ate out near home, mom needed to stop at the bank to pay for some bills. I went with her and saw... a guy with a really fake beard standing at the counter talking to the teller. Then I saw him putting away a gun... a fake-looking gun. Hmm... it was almost comical and I didn't want to believe it was real. Just in case, I went outside to make a call. (If the situation was more threatening, I would have grabbed mom and run. It seemed fine to leave her taking care of her business.) The process was pretty slow. The guy exited, and the bank staff locked the front door. OK, then, it was real. By coincident, uncle and aunt Y came to the bank while the cops were taking statements. Wasted about 30-40 minutes. After a quick washroom visit, I rushed to my chiropractor appointment. The receptionist said lots of their patients work at banks, and from their first-hand experience, robberies are actually very common. Yikes!!!!!

Wardrobe

(No photo today. This was taken on the 5th.)
Cleanup some old clothes and dug up a bunch of really old stuff (over 10 years) that still have the tag. Brand new stuff that I never wore. Hmm... Also many short skirts that are too short for my age now. I don't understand why I bought them, because I hate skirts thanks to my crooked legs. Hope my nieces can use them.

Beads

(No photo today, this was taken on the 21st.)
Got an e-mail form the bead shop so I realized I hardly touched the tip of that site. Continued on the bead hunt and ended up reaching the 50 units level again. If I did it last night, I could have gotten a bigger discount. Can't believe I spent that much money on beads within 2 days... I'm seriously scared...

Shingles

Mom's got a few sores on her face that really concerns her. She thinks it's the "snake" (shingles). So we went to see our family doctor, and he confirmed it. There're some on her right eyelid and could be bad if it gets in her eye. We tried to get the prescription drugs right downstairs but they only have one of the 2 items. We had to go to LD for the eye-drop. Mom immediately took a dose of each. This sounds serious as the eye-drop needs to be applied every 2 hours. I hope mom gets well soon.

Even though I felt sick because of the vampire, the black cloud over my head seems to have lifted. On the other hand, I can also blame it for giving me that black cloud. Hmm...

Brookside Fruit Crunch

From April. For the same price as other 200g chocolate, this bag only has 142g. (Why didn't they square it off?) However, it's worth the price. The crunch is from cereal. Feels healthy too. Since there are a mix of fruit, the ingredients list is long... and contains a few chemical-looking items. But... but... it's so yummy, I don't care...

Dream

I think this can be classified as nightmare although it wasn't extremely scary. I was in someone's home talking to this Caucasian man about 50. Then he left the room. (It was a somewhat messy study.) I saw my cell phone on his desk. Seemed like he made me surrender my phone. Not sure what was going on, but instinct told me to leave immediately. "I was kidnapped". But at the same time I was wondering how can that guy be so careless? I ran to the next-door neighbour. Again, all Caucasians, with a bunch of kids. They seemed unbelievably comfortable with me. I asked to borrow the phone and called 911. However, reception was really bad and the call was cut off. Second trial was the same. I turn to a girl and asked if I could use her cell phone, but she said the battery is dead. (It was the first generation "water bottle" type with 2A batteries!!!!) Oh well I had no choice but to stick around. No one was surprised that I was kidnapped, or offer any help. No adults talked to me either, and they all went on doing their own stuff. At that point I felt something was fishy. Could this be one of those isolated villages and they want new members so they kidnapped me? Didn't know how long I stayed, but I left that house. One girl didn't want me to leave and followed me (to the very end). She kept begging me to stay and told me my effort is useless. (That was the scary part.) Luckily that place was not as rustic as it looked and I easily reach the town area. I was searching for pay phones on the street but there was none. (I had nothing... no money, but 911 should be free on pay phones... right?) Then I tried some shops but they had none either. (An open corner with a bakery and antique telephone shop.) As the sun set, I arrived at a dramatically hilly area that felt like Women Street. Didn't feel like going into those shops so I kept walking around. All these time the girl was following me. Sometimes she seemed like she wanted to leave with me, sometimes she wanted me to stay. She wouldn't tell me the name of the town but I found it on shop doors. (Squirrel something...) Then there was a part that I was reading a book about the history of this town. Hilly alright. Not sure if there was a missing part, but there was an antique suitcase, and I was looking at a twin tail school swimsuit high-school anime girl rolling down a stair case and got badly injured. She fell under the bed and thought "Oh no, I'm dead, my body is going cold." I was lying in that Caucasian girl's room... thinking I must die to get out of the situation. I seemed to have synchronized with the anime girl and as she died I opened my eyes and I was in my own bed in my own room. But there was a few moments between these 2 worlds that was super creepy. I could see the stain glass lamp shade from her room being in mine.

One really strange thing was, every single person in that dream town was Caucasian.

Sick

(No photo today. This was taken on the 16th.)
Decided not to go to yoga class because I really didn't feel up to it. Emailed E but also left a voice message just in case. Also emailed A to inform him that I won't be borrowing his bus pass. Got out of bed at 4. Spent the rest of today feeling sick. Finally dug up sis-in-law souvenir from a few years ago (reusable chemical hand warmer). It didn't last as long as I thought. Now I have to cook it back to liquid but I'll do it tomorrow. Vampire seriously sucks. (T_T) It probably sucks up all the iron pills I've taken and makes me stay pale.

So, haven't heard from him all day. He knows that I'm sick. Not even an email asking how I fell. So, should I not take this as evidence of his capacity? He will never love me. I can be sure now. All he wants is sex. Which, I'm still not ready to commit. And I really hates it when he makes it my fault and he's the victim. Sucks, really sucks.

Took a closer look at the MSM from Costco. It's for osteoporosis pain relieve. Grrrr.... I've bought the wrong thing...

Vamp

(No photo today. This was taken on the 16th.)
Extremely tired. Lower back especially bad. No energy. Kept falling asleep all day. Then at dinner time, mystery solved. The vampire showed up. A whole week too early. Does this have anything to do with the iron pills? Feel sick this time and need pain killer right away.

Crap... can't wear that pair of pants for tomorrow's yoga lesson... or maybe I should skip it?

Pressure

Alarm went off at 12:30 but couldn't peel myself off the bed until 2. No energy again. Body stiff and sore especially lower back. Canker sore has been killing me. My brain is still gone. I was in extreme bad mood. Mom wasn't home so I fear she might had gone to see dad on her own. Relieve came after reading her note. Brother took her to his church community day. So I thought I should call A up although I didn't quite feel like meeting. Has it turn into a duty to see him weekly? Mom came back with Mr. L who also went to the community day. He gave her a ride because brother had to go to North Van. She brought a hotdog and some treats back, which became my lunch. Then I went to meet A and we went Costco mainly for my prescription refill (and MSM). Can't believe he actually hates that place now. Every shop he liked at some point he hates now. And he keeps telling me to be positive and not "complain"?!?!?!???? He hasn't been feeling well so I took him home for washroom... but! No he didn't go. Instead he was all over me. Did he lie so that he could be alone with me and grope me all over????? Sorry I haven't been feeling well at all either, and you failed to understand that. You asked me to dress up so I did. Uncomfortable dress with cold legs and shoes not for walking and bad for my back. What did I get? You all over me when I don't want it. And you said I should be happy that you're reacting. If that's all that you want, then there's no way I can stay around. All the awkwardness, all the discomfort, all the brainwashing, all the pressure and stress.... I can't take it anymore.

Note to self: remember Costco does have MSM on it's own. Behind the counter, just under $13. No need to buy the combined stuff anymore.

Pot of Gold

From March. From uncle Y for Chinese new year. Thanks. Not a big fan of Pot of Gold because it's usually too sweet too heavy too many. This one might be a little different. At least it's not "too many". However, I suspect it's expired because (1) no expired date, (2) part of the chocolate surface started to have that white powdery layer, (3) some soft fillings have hardened. Hmm... how old exactly is this? Donno... (T_T)

Rain

(No photo today again. This was taken on the 18th.)
No wonder why I felt so bad yesterday. (Or even earlier.) It's been raining all day since night. Body stiff and canker sore very painful. No energy.

Zombie

(No photo today. This was taken on the 18th.)
Couldn't get up... and ended up lying in bed for too long. No energy. Kept falling asleep at my desk in the afternoon. Then brother called for eat-out day. At the restaurant, I realized I've left my handbag at his place! Aaaarrrgh!!!! This has never happened before. My brain has clearly been missing. (When leaving my place, I forgot to bring my slippers and jacket.) It could be the other stuff that I was carrying too. After dinner mom took advantage of brother's phone plan and made a long distant call. I sat with niece N to give her a few Photoshop tips. However, I've been using CS4 and got a bit lost in her CS5. Overall, I've been a zombie today. Mind has been extremely muddy. What happened...?

Flyers

Thank God for chiropractor day. Feeling much better although still not completely well. Took care of my car insurance right after. $$$$.... Then across the street to the re-purpose / re-cycle art supply store. Didn't find anything worth buying. Next stop, the bead shop on Main. Didn't find anything either. Good. I always end up buying stuff that I shouldn't have.

It was Nofrills after that. Somehow it was really cold inside and I didn't even get to the eggs. At least picked up a copy of their flyers as we didn't get any last Friday. Might as well go to Buylow. Bagged mixed salad was on sale so I got one. Flyer again. Salad for dinner.

Even got to take a walk after washing dishes. The weather was mild and even a bit chilly. Perfect for walks. J was talking to M, and I got the knock, so we didn't get to talk. I'm just glad that the knock came. My tummy has been feeling more bloated.

Car

Tried to get up at 11 but of course ended up getting up at 11:45. Back, neck and shoulders are still very stiff and heavy. Didn't have enough time but the vacuuming still had to be done. Then I realized mom had been using attachments from various vacuum cleaners on aunt L's hand-me-down. Yes, she has kept all the attachments form machines we used to have. I couldn't change the brush so she had to come help me. Brute force was the answer. Sigh...

As usual, I opened my wallet to check if I had enough cash for the oil change. To my horror, I saw... A's bus pass!!!!!! OMG I forgot to return it to him yesterday!!!!! How can I be so stupid!!!!! Sigh... this is what happens to my brain when I'm in pain. I phoned him up immediately to apologize. Turns out he didn't realize the pass was missing, and could have been fined $160 if caught. Yikes... thank God no one was checking. (T_T)

I was 10 minutes late for the oil change. The shop was super busy! And hot too! Most of all, unbelievably messy and dirty. I don't know how long I can tolerate that. (T_T) They are cheap and trustworthy, though. K made an effort to isolate my car to L. Way too intentional. Don't like it.

It was 2 when I left the shop. The oil change cost me $50. (K gave me a discount. Thanks.) Oh yes there are oily finger and hand prints. For that price, I don't think I'm qualified to complain, but... but... I just washed last Friday! And since it costs my back dearly, I can only do it 1-2 times a year. (T_T)

There was lots of time before seeing A, so I might as well go for the air care test and went to where I thought the center was... and couldn't find it. My memory had failed me again. Thank God for smart phones. (Although my mini one is inferior to most others, it does the job.) I was one set of traffic lights off. Got there, dreading about how I'd get a heat stroke waiting in line, but there was no lineup! I was able to drive right into a test station! Amazing! Thank God thank God! So, $45 and a few minutes, my car passed. (I remember it taking longer in previous year, though.)

Got home at 3. Finally ate lunch. I only had a cup of yogurt at 11. Chatted with J for a little and promised to call him between 9 and 10. Then I left the house again to meet A.

Got there around 4:40 and of course went treasure hunting the dollar store. Can't believe I picked up more stuff. Sigh... (coarse colour sand or fine colour pebbles?) Then went to Save-on to get a copy of their flyer. (We never get any flyers last Friday.)

A finished work and met me at Save-on. We ended up buying a watermelon and some corn on the cob. S's bus was delayed so A and I sat down at OP and placed our order first because that short-staffed place take forever. Then S showed up pissed off by the inaccurate bus schedule. He was also mad at Google not shipping his pre-ordered tablet until 2 weeks later. On the other hand, it seemed to be available at LD, so A wanted to get one (for me... yikes) and we all went to the closest branch. Unfortunately they sold out around 12:30. But lots of clearance games for $5.

After dropping S off at Royaloak (why does A keeps wanting me to drop S off at farther away stations?????) we went to get mom's request: Ensure and eggs. A got some ham. Then back to Save-on for my salad greens and yogurt. A also bought some salad greens. Seems like every time we go somewhere, he buys something. Hmm...

Since A wouldn't let me leave, I couldn't call J at the promised time. I got home at 10 and tried, but he had already turn off his phone. However, I reached him online. And the conclusion is, lets try again tomorrow. L also wants to meet... but I don't think I should give him any false hopes...

Terra vegetable chips

From March. "Mediterranean". Thanks A! On sale at $3.75. Apparently 5 bucks normally. "Seasoned with Mediterranean Spices and Olive Oil flavour". What? "flavour"? Not real? Awwwww~ but it tasted very good. A few chips were bitter, but only very few. At least it says "trans fat free". Not zero trans fat.

Ophthalmologist

Mom's eye appointment before 11. It was unusual that we were only told to be there before 11, the clinic was not full. Mom said it was the people who paid the extra $ to have the operation done at the Metrotown clinic from Saturday. (The doctor only do that on Saturdays.) Works fine for me. He only took a quick look at mom to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. We were out the door at 10:55. Amazing.

Met up with A to borrow his bus pass for my appointment in the afternoon. Meanwhile, ate early lunch with mom at T&T. It's always the sticky rice wrap for me and dimsum for mom. Then we dropped by to see dad. Picked up soy milk and got home at 1:30. Rested till slightly after 2 and there I went, back to Metrotown. Walked around for a little and went to my appointment.

Got there right on time but the OT took a few minutes to come out. We talked and she suggested me to join me for yoga next week. So I think I'll have to borrow A's bus pass again. The neighbourhood has an average of more than one bagger on each block. And I'm very sad that the non-chain dollar store has disappeared.

Needed to get a pair of suitable pants for yoga. There were huge lineup at both the fitting room and cashier at UB. Wasted some time and met back up with A around 5:20. Thanks for dinner and the jacket. The intention was for a walk, but as A said, walking in a store always ends up with a purchase. Both at Costco and Walmart. Oh well...

Weather fluctuations

(No photo today. This was taken on the 13th.)
Opened my eyes at noon but just couldn't get up. My whole body was frozen and heavy. My eyes couldn't stay open either. Didn't think I felt back asleep. Finally got out of bed at 2. My back was better than yesterday but the soreness has spread to the back of my right leg. Mom gave me some ointment before I slept, and it helped a lot. At least it let me relax enough to fall asleep.

Of course I completely failed to get up early. Phoned A up and found out he was doing much worse than me. Today is a lot cooler than yesterday so it could have been more comfortable to drive somewhere. Oh well. He was still feeling sick at 4 so there was no meeting today. But tomorrow I'd be borrowing his bus pass again so we'll still meet.

I'm sure he's feeling the weather. My current back condition masks my forecasting ability but I can still feel a little bit. Between late after and sunset, it switched from "sunny" to "OMG it's gonna rain anytime" every half-an-hour for who-knows-how-many-times. So much for my plan of taking a walk. Didn't feel well enough to vacuum my car again. Sigh... when will it get done?

Sore

Back's sore on the touch. That's why I can only wash my car once a year. (Twice the most.) When you're constantly in pain, there's no way your mood can be good. Met up with A anyway. He didn't seem to feel well either. But after a burger, he was better. My car was very hot and the bridges were jammed up so we stayed in the area. Went to drop off some stuff to the clothing donation box and recycling depot. Then DQ. A had his burger and I had a ice-cream Popsicle. Wasn't hungry. Shouldn't have eaten that but it was just too hot. Then Safeway for grocery. They don't have whole watermelon so we got one at a nearby store. After going back to A's place to drop off the stuff that needs refrigeration, we walked back out to a neighbourhood store for corn. Thanks A for sharing the watermelon and corn.

Came back home and kept dosing off at the desk as usual. Back hurts... Still need to vacuum the car... (T_T)

Black Friday

Luckily nothing bad happened. Thank God. Brought some ice-cream to dad just before 6PM. Dinner was over so he was back in his room... and completely naked. His T-shirt was on the bed but neither the male nurse nor myself could find his pants. Then the nurse checked the top of the wardrobe and there was one pair of shorts. Shouldn't be the one dad took off but a pair that the staff keep there. The mystery is, where has the pair dad was originally wearing gone?????? It wasn't in the trash can or outside the window.

Played with the cat some more after I exited the section. But the automatic main entrance door wouldn't open. Turns out it locks after 6 and I need to buzz the nurse. This time another nurse let me out through the backyard gate.

Washed my car... took a long time. Of course my back is really stiff and sore. Feeling extremely unwell... (T_T)

Ghirardelli Squares

From January. Got it across the border in the previous November for Christmas. It's a limited edition and I haven't seen it anywhere else. (At least in Vancouver at the time.) Saved one for mom, and when we opened it, I was shocked to find only 12 candies inside. Yup, quite expensive in this sense. However, it's worth every penny. The top half is white chocolate with ground up bits of red mint candy cane, with the bottom half regular milk chocolate. It's the most delicious white chocolate I've ever had! (Well, technically speaking, not pure white chocolate.) If it's still super awesome after a meal, imagine what happens when you're hungry. Too bad it's expensive.

Hot

(No photo today. This was taken on the 5th. Dad's nursing home's cat.)
Still using that skin ointment, so no car-washing today. Hot but not the hottest. My room faces west so it gets hot in the afternoon all the way into night.

Mouth corner

(No photo today. This was taken on the 5th.)
Slept for the missed portion from the day before.... 7.5 hours? Back is not doing well. Especially lower back. Left should is also bad. Would have gone for a walk but I'm using that eczema cream on my mouth corners and must stay away from the sun. The rash has grown in size and feels irritated. The cream is long expired but it still work as moisturizer.

Cousin B called and I let her know that dad doesn't recognize the shoes and keeps throwing them outside his room... Sigh...

When I was about to put away the leftover tofu, mom opened the fridge and took out a crumbled bunch of clink wrap. OMG... she wanted to wrap the dish with it?!?!?!!!!!! Of course I used one of the Anchor glass bowls. That clink wrap was wrapping a piece of ginger root before and she kept it there for the next one. She claims that the tofu will be recooked again so it's fine. Sorry, I just cannot accept that. Why can't she understand that this is exactly the reason why people think old folks are dirty?

Surgery day

Only got 3.5 hours sleep. Corners of my mouth are flaring up. There was a car accident on highway 1 that caused a big traffic jam. 3 lanes were squeezed into one. I must have gotten nervous from the delay and took one wrong turn missing the bypass. Still got to the hospital thanks to brother's GPS, but about 15 minutes late.

According to the nurses, the doctor had a difficult case in the morning and it avalanche onto everyone after. Mom's surgery was supposed to be at noon, but she actually went in at 1:25. We were the first one up after the doctor's lunch. So originally we should have been before his lunch. Mom's freezing eye-drops were wearing out and she felt discomfort. I hope she voices her condition in the operation room.

Thought I found a shaded parking spot, but of course the sun moved and my car was baked. Didn't use the shield either. Luckily it was more on the rear. Then, the way back also gave me a wrong turn. But this time I got last time's mistake right. Technically speaking, it wasn't a wrong turn but I just follow the GPS, and it seemed to have took us to a long route. Oh well. It also made a few contradicting instructions and at least 3 that I knew were wrong. The lesson is, the signs are the most correct.

Stopped by T&T for a late lunch around 3:45... which means it took us one hour 45 minutes to get back. Way worst than last time. Sigh...

Got home and of course could not keep myself awake. Bad for my neck... (T_T)

The cherry from brother trip are starting to go bad so mom decided to use them for jam. I was pitting them, cutting them into halves... then I saw it... tiny white worms!!!! Ewwwww!!!!!! They seem to have gotten in there when the flower was blooming. Mom was shocked as she's eaten quite a few! She said these are maggots... I hope she's right. If they are parasites, it's gonna be really bad...

Not sure if it's the bad traffic or I'm getting used to the drug, I seem to be more irritated by small things like before...

Pre-op

Last day before mom's cataract surgery. She's clearly nervous despite experience, and had been nagging me for setting up alarm clock and changing the GPS destination. I know she doesn't trust. me. Sigh... She's so nervous, she washed the rubber car floor mats before I even got up. Thanks... But you still don't trust me...

Nevertheless, thank God for chiropractor. Much relieve but still can turn my head to the left. Hope tomorrow will be better. Shopper's doesn't have the apple juice I want, so I went to LD. Then mom phoned me up saying brother was over and finished with his hair-cut. He proposed a visit to dad since mom will be staying away from the nursing home for the next 30 days. The cat recognized me and followed me into dad's room, but she wasn't comfortable staying and left soon. Niece G was away so the 5 of us went for our usual eat-out day. Went to the library after dinner. The rabbits were not out today. ("Wild" rabbit... probably former pets being released onto the community center's ground.) Then brother dropped us off at home. Got the knock. Apparently eating rice seem to help. Showered and return A's call, and it was too dark to put the rubber floor mats back into the car. It has to wait till tomorrow morning. But I've already failed to sleep early. God, please help us have a safe trip. Thanks.

Connoisseur Teacher's

From January (finally!). "Connoisseur Teacher's Highland Cream Blended Scotch Whisky". Whisky filled European Dark Chocolate. Made in Germany. 50g box contains 5 pieces of candy. The packaging looks good, and is perfect for stocking stuffer or small gift. However, it doesn't taste as good as it looks. Initially, I didn't feel the sour after taste, but it only showed up later. The whisky didn't quite match with the chocolate... ah, that's it! That's why it felt weird!

Peaches

Ended up sleeping too much. Or rather, couldn't get out of bed. Didn't get to wash my car as planned either. Body condition at worst. Probably affecting my thinking too, but I haven't been thinking either.

The peaches cousin L brought looked really expensive and high class. When we unwrapped them, 3 out of 4 are actually damaged. 2 are pretty bad. Mom said they're damaged before packaged. Evil store... too bad we don't where cousin L bought them from. And it's not polite to ask or tell her about the rotten peaches.

Karaoke

Movie night turn into karaoke night. Lots of fun. Finally some songs I know. Thanks J&M for bringing the karaoke machine.

Got the knock from Senokot. The wound is still not heal. Wonder if I should go see the doctor.

No photo

(No photo today. This was taken yesterday.)
Cousin L came around 12:30 as promised. She brought us egg tarts, grapes and peaches. The 4 of us had lunch at her favorite restaurant nearby. Ordered way too much food. Then we went to see dad with some of the food she brought. He seemed fine. If you didn't see him spit, you'd be fooled. They left after dropping us off. Mom has to start her eye drops tomorrow, so today was the last chance to visit grant aunt Y. But she didn't want to. (Because my car without A/C is too hot.) And I kept dosing off at my desk for the rest of the day again.

Can't believe I forgot to take Pinky picture at lunch and the nursing home... my back must be affecting my thinking...

Shoes

Had to get up extra early for Aa. Got only 4 hours sleep. Very stiff and tired. Hopped to drive A to work and then borrow his bus pass. Ran late and ended up picking it up at his office. Bought a bag of Brookside goodies on my way to the parkade (parked at Dr. Y's). Moved my car to near A's home as the mall seems to be straighter about parking now. Made a mistake and took the long route. Needed to go pee so I exited one stop sooner and went into the mall. Aa beat me to the hotel. Luckily he was still there so the shoes handover happened smoothly.

Aa seemed grumpy while his 2 friends were more friendly. He had to meet another friend for lunch and left early. I stayed for a bit longer and went past my parking deadline. Thank God nothing bad happened. After returning the bus pass to A, I was starving and went directly home. It was 2 when I ate.

Next, taking the shoes to dad. Mom also had a few pairs of shorts to drop off to him. I played with the cat while mom cut dad's hair. Finally I could take a photo of the cat.

Then we went to buy the $2 ice-cream. My car doesn't have A/C so it was hot enough to drop the ice-cream off home before heading out again to feed brother's Guinea pigs. Mom and I ate at the Shanghai restaurant nearby. Quality dropped so much, I gotta remember not to go back again. Out of the 3 dumplings I ate, 2 of them contained pieces of egg shells. Didn't get to buy any veggies. Oh well.

Came home and kept dosing off at the desk...

Galeb Milk

From December 2011. Thanks R&B for this goodies from their trip! European chocolate does taste different from the north American stuff. It feels more real. This one, however, was a bit more gummy than I thought. Perhaps it's been through a trip and was melted slightly. The chocolate was adhering to the tin foil a little, felt soft, but not sticky. I was hungry and ate half a bar in one sitting. Yikes... It was very yummy.

Long drive

Drove almost all day.
Lougheed... Mom's eye appointment. Got 2 pairs of shorts for dad in the mall.
Army&Navy... dad's clothes. Price range over budget so we didn't buy anything.
Michael's... bought 2 frames for L. Nothing good left in the clearance isle.
PriceSmart... the lettuce on sale was no where to be found. We bought a lottery ticket instead.
Metrotown... afternoon snack to refuel.
Kidnapped A from his office...
... to go to Costco to drop off mom's prescription. 1.5 hour wait.
VanYa for dinner.
Back to Costco to pick up mom's prescription.
CIBC to pay my card bill.
Brother's place to feed the Guinea pigs. Mom took advantage of the free long distance call.

Forgot to take Pinky pictures at meal time!!!!!! Arrgghhhh!!!!

Back and forth

(Photo was taken on June 29th and unrelated to subject.)
Finally replied A's mail but have not heard from him at the end of today. I hope he'll send me his flight schedule. Only 2 days left.

Surprise, surprise. Brother called after diner (around 9 or 10?). Thought he called from the States, but no. He forgot that he had to teach a class and had to come back after dropping everyone off at the hotel. After his class was finished, he drove back across the border. Yikes!! Such a waste of gas!! He called to let me know not to be scared by stuff he dropped off at home when I go to feed his Guinea pigs. Hmm... cannot imagine he's make such a big mistake. But we're only human.

Gotta plan out tomorrow's Lougheed mall trip... I want to also visit Army and Navy, Michael's. Then go feed the Guinea pigs... Mom probably want to see dad too...

Cherry

(Photo unrelated to subject. It was taken on June 27th of wild mushroom growing in public lawn.)
No energy. Whole body stiff and achy. Stayed home all day. Hence no photo.

Brother came at night to drop off some cherries from his fruit-picking trip... but they're not ripe enough. He's gonna go cross-border camping again for a few days tomorrow. So... Guenna pigs still need feeding.

New West

Canada day... but I've completely given up on shooting any Pinky picture card for that. (Not just this time, but in general. Not in the mood and no energy for that.) Opened my eyes at 2, and got out of bed at 2:30. Last time I looked at the clock was 7, which gave me about 7 hours of sleep. I really need it as the corners of my mouth flare up. And it seems to be working.

Wash my hair, and went to brother's to feed the Guinea pigs. Again, they weren't too hungry for dry food or hay, but screamed when I got the bag of veggies from the fridge.

Picked up 3 pieces of chestnut cake from Maxiam's for S who's having a cold. A requested pizza. After the "meal", we went to Best Buy for A's game, which was on our way to S's. We arrived just after 6. Lucky for summer, the sun sets at 9:30. Somehow my energy was low enough I fell asleep when the guys were playing with cell phones and speakers. Then we went to a Malaysian restaurant S suggested at 8. I seldom do to that kind of restaurants as the food is usually hot and spicy. It's good to know that there are non-spicy dishes. (However, there's still a bit of heat despite the "non-spicy".) Dropped S off. Brother called. He said mom didn't answer the phone, so I dropped A off and went directly home. Other then mom, my stomach had been irritated probably from the yogurt I had for lunch, plus a headache started when at S's. I really don't want to bring any gems home that might cause mom a cold so close to her surgery. Luckily, my headache subsided and the knock came. Stomach still feels bloated, though. Kept dosing off at the desk and again failed to work on L's picture. (T_T)

Guylian's Temptations

From December 2011. Thanks A for this Christmas edition. There are 3 of 3 types = 9 pieces in the box and all shape like seahorses. The wrapping is unusual. It looks like the basic twist wrap but all sides are sealed when untwisted, with an "open here" cut in the middle. The candy itself has a chocolate shell with truffle inside.

Milk Chocolate Truffle (blue)
Awesome. Nothing to complain.

Dark & White chocolate Original (light brown)
This one is good too. The filling has strong hazelnut taste. Best of the 3.

Dark Chocolate (dark brown)
This, is disappointing. The sour aftertaste doesn't need to be "after" and shows up when you're sucking on the chocolate. Very unpleasant. (T_T)

Normally, this is one of those gourmet chocolate that I don't usually buy. Now I know to stay away from the dark chocolate for sure.