OT

No yoga class this week because of the statutory holiday. E's appointment got moved to today. She's gonna help me apply for subsidized gym fee. Hope it works out. Met up with A & S for dinner. Thanks!

Watermelon

Mom heard brother wrong and thought he'd come and pick us up for lunch, then visit dad, then dinner. From experience, I know that he always eat lunch with his church friends. I still waited just in case. Around 3:45 mom finally made contact and it was decided that we meet around 5:15. So I went to help A with his grocery and pick up the corn and watermelon he saved for me. (And some other grocery items.) Thanks~ Barely made it home by 5:15. (Again, he knew I was in a rush yet he got stuck to me... and pressure was up too... sigh...) Came home and found K fixing our awning in boiling heat! (It faces west.) Mom had called brother to postpone our meeting until K was done. Lucky I brought the watermelon because we didn't have anything to treat K. He was gone by 6 so I phoned brother up. No one was home so I left a message on the machine. Turns out he was nearby already. By the time we got to dad's, it was around 6:30. Thank God the cat was there, so the girls wouldn't be bored. We stayed until dad finished the fruit we brought. A nurse was giving the residences ice-cream pop! Nice treat on a hot summer day.

Then we ate at Honolulu. It's been a while. I finally agree that place is actually not bad. Came home and kept dosing off... until a loud beep (?) outside. It was a cop car stopping a vehicle. Just like the other night! It was just before 11. This cop car was a regular one unlike the last K9 unit car. The 2 cops only talked to the "suspect" and he wasn't even asked to leave his car. He was released after less than 15 minutes. The cop car stayed behind for a bit, and then left, as if nothing had happened. It worries me that there's been such incidents so often. Is my neighbourhood not safe anymore?

Hot

Huge difference from yesterday. Even the wind is hot. Took aunt L, aunt Y and mom to see dad. Dropped them off after a little bit of grocery-shopping. Was going to walk to the bank to pay my visa bill, but mom strongly insisted that I drive. So I did. My car as usual turn into a sauna so I actually prefer walking. Oh well. Picked up a loaf of bread and went home. I don't even remember when was last time the knock came 2 days in a roll. (But today's was yesterday's leftover.) Dose off a bit.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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)

Stuff

Met up with A just before 4. Very late yet he didn't seem eager to complete the errands. Post office, liquor store, then Michael's. The t-shirts were not such a good deal so nope. The frames were not on sale so I'd wait for the coupon next week. Picked up 3 small items with clearance label yet the coupon worked. Yay! (Nope, not complaining at all.) Dinner at Cactus Club nearby. Thanks. Dropped A off and then went to feed brother's Guinea pigs. Sis-in-law left enough food so they didn't whee when I got there... not even for the hay. However, when I opened the fridge door, they whee like an alarm! OK... fresh veggies are no comparison to hay. Went home and of course kept dosing off at the desk...

Phone calls

Huge weather fluctuations. Yesterday's chiropractor treatment is nullified. Cousin B still hasn't called so I was thinking borrowing A's phone to call. Coincidentally he called me when I was just about to call him. So I went and called cousin B right away because of the time difference. Caught her at a bad time and didn't get the info I need. She'd be calling tomorrow or over the weekend. At least she gave me her son's contact (the address I've got is not current). I forwarded the message to him again. It didn't take long before I got a reply. Good, it's not July 1st but July 5th. Mom scared me again.

Had dinner with A and then went shopping at Costco. Thanks for the stuff. I think we over-shopped a bit...

Missed a call when I was driving to A's. Turns out it was the bank. Mom took a message. This means my new account is successfully setup and I need to go see them to pick up a code or something... but wait... haven't I already received a letter? Can't I just go online for the setup???

Chiropractor

Body condition bad. Couldn't think straight. Thank God for chiropractor day. Went home directly afterwards as aunt L requested us to take her to see dad, then she offered to buy us dinner. But brother called right after for eat-out day. So mom ended up treating aunt L instead.

Kept dosing off at the desk all night. Energy level still very low. Don't want to take iron consecutively, though.

Hospital / zongzi

Failed to go to bed earlier and failed to fall asleep for at least 2 hours. Think I got only 3.5 hours of sleep. Mom was eager to get going and said aunt Y wanted us to pick her up before 1. Not enough time to cook oatmeal so I only ate yesterday's hard-boiled egg and a banana. When mom phoned her up, she was eating lunch and not ready. I ended up picking her up around 1. Then the 3 of us went to see grand-aunt at the hospital. Uncle Y stayed home working on his green house. He had a tough day when admitting grand-aunt.

Grand-aunt's doing well. She was in front of the elevators trying to use the pay phone (without realizing it needed money, though.) Thought they only need to put a tube into her head to drain fluid, so I was shocked to see a 6-inch stitched-up scar running from her right temple along the side of her head. We stayed for a bit and left.

Next stop, dad's. The cat came out today. Aunt Y was happy to see her. Dad was sitting at the secondary dining table, just finished afternoon snack, and seemed happy and more talkative. He even requested a certain small sweet cookie bought bulk. I don't think any of us got it. But mom said it's the mini Ritz. We'll see.

After that, there were talks about getting grocery but they changed their mind because it was "too hot". Well... since my car doesn't have A/C, it is hot inside the car. But that only happens when you're riding in it. Plus, the cardboard windshield shade helps a little. Anyway, we ended up just went to pick up the zongzi from a domestic seller. Mom commented that the gentleman aged a lot. Yes, he had trouble walking. Yet he's still in the business. Mom also said his zongzi home business made him enough money to buy 2 houses. (Yes, they're painted in the same colour and has an opening between the fence.)

Dropped aunt Y off. Mom wanted to see their son's dog. It wasn't trained properly and likes to jump up on people when excited. Mom expected a much smaller dog and was scared. This medium-size beagle mix is a bit heavy when it jumps onto you.

Got home, and ate half a piece of cake from aunt Y. That was my lunch at 4. Mom cooked one zongzi for dinner with the rest of lettuces as salad. She didn't wait for me to dress it and ate the lettuces plain and raw. Of course it didn't taste good. The biggest fail of today (and yesterday) is, no one realized it was dragon boat festival yesterday!!! (Hence no zongzi.) Oh well!

Summer solstice 2

Summer solstice "again". Brother came to have a hair cut and drove mom and I to see dad while he went to pick up some stuff (hardware? and grocery). M was not on duty so mom did not drop dad's shorts. We only dropped off the 3 t-shirts bought 2 days ago. Took dad to the dinning room and brother return in the middle of his diner. He has church gathering tonight so eat-out day is postponed.

On the other hand, surprisingly, mom wanted to eat-out and said didn't mind Ikea. I took the chance to pay for our house insurance. Traffic was congested at places I didn't expected. Mom called with my cell phone to let the office know the we were on our way. We just made it, and wasn't the last one. There was another customer too.

After we were done, we went to the Pricesmart next door, and decided to come back after dinner. Ended up eating in the mall (the free-range chicken place, but didn't order chicken). Then a bit of grocery-shopping back at the supermarket. The last item, soy milk, had to be bought at a different shop. I thought they close at 9 but actually 8 Sunday to Thursday. Barely made it.

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

Yes, it's summer solstice today and it gets hot all of a sudden. The air is humid and heavy. Last night my neck was sore turning right, but luckily didn't screw up further today. But the neck itself is stiff allover.

Summer solstice 1

I'm confused. Some say it's today, some say it's tomorrow. There's the calendar one and the astronomical one. Hmm...

Another Etsy package arrived. The beads that I've been hesitating to get. A bit expensive but high quality. Using them in miniature instead of accessory may be a waste.

Made it to Bodyshop's time-limited half-price sale with ease. But still, it was lunch time and 2 hours into the sale. I didn't expect to get the toner I want, but amazingly there were 4 bottles left. Cool! So I picked up 3 as usual. That only happens during their buy 2 get 1 free deal, which is going on in parallel with this half-price sale. Last time when they had such a big sale, it sold out for months. Maybe father's day was just over and they had ample stock from that.

Nonetheless, managed to take a walk after dinner. Despite mom urges me to take post-dinner walk, we didn't ate until 7:30. After all the cleanup, it was 8:30. Yes, she told me to leave the dishes until I come back, but no. If I leave them, she'd wash them, so it's out of the question.

Bead caps

The "lost" package finally arrived. (Yay~!!) It shouldn't take more then 1.5 months. When there was still no sign of it on day 60, the seller promised to resend the stuff. I was about to contact them again tomorrow, which would be day 110 and leaves me 10 days for feed back. Amazingly, the package beats me to it by one day. I'm just glad that it's here. (However, only half of the bead caps are in perfect condition. The other half have some degree of defects. I kind of expected it, but not this many...)

Mom wanted to bring another piece of cake to dad, so I drove her there around 4. Dad's room was not locked and he was completely naked in his room. A fellow resident saw us entering his room and wanted to come in too. The staff stopped him but he kept coming back. Kind of scary. A nurse came back with diapers, dad's pants, and a lady's shirt. (Dad's clothes are stored somewhere else because he likes to tear them up.) We saw him finish eating the cake and left. Mom pointed out that the staff did not dress dad up from the start. (Dad likes to take his clothes off but there was no sign of clothes... not even torn up ones.) Hmm...

The nurse request more clothes so we went to buy some cheap t-shirts in our neighbourhood. Got some bread and went home. Kept dosing off at the desk. Couldn't help it. Checking the 1800 pieces of bead cap is tough. Only got 1/3 done.

Father's day

Mom's been expecting brother to call because it's father's day. (It's expected that we all go see dad.) Finally she called him around 2. He wasn't home but mom reached him at his cell. He was still with his church friends eating lunch at a restaurant. (Amazing... they could actually get a table on father's day!) So it was agreed that they come here around 4:30. I know mom always want to beat dad to lunch, but too bad today it wasn't even afternoon snack, it had to be dinner.

So I took the chance to go get some cakes. Maxim is still not opened yet. Mom pointed out that aunt L said there's a new bakery on Victoria and it's having a grand opening 20% off. So we got our cake there. It was really crowded and the shelves were almost empty. The individual pieces didn't look good so we went for an 8" instead. Well... it did look like the kitchen put together everything in a rush and our cake wasn't that high quality. Luckily the taste was not bad.

Brother showed up around 5, leaving aunty J and her daughter L to house-sit. Sis-in-law minded it a lot and wanted to go home ASAP, so we gave dad the food we brought, saw him finished eating, and left.

Sis-in-law made us beef stake again. It was awesome although the meat itself was nicer last time. I'm not complaining at all. This time she didn't make garlic toast so that we could finish my salad with ease. (Last time we over-eat.) Brother felt like repairing some cabinet doors, and from there dug up a bunch of old photo albums, and started engaging aunty J with them. She bought into it very much. Mom gave her effort to join in, but I know nobody from their church, so I was very bored. Finally it was mom's eye-drop time and brother drop us off.

Came back, worked on the spoons, felt asleep. Then machine 2 lost internet connection. I panicked a little as I lost the net radio. Tried rebooting the machine, then the cable box, but no luck. However, machine 1 seems fine. But... but... I want to listen to the radio...

Anyway, still need to check back on machine 2. But that's gonna be later.

Ikea

Mrs. M came to sign some documents for mom 2 hours late (at 5 instead of 3) so we couldn't go grocery-shopping until then. Had to drop off the soy milk home because it contains no preservatives and spoils easily. Took mom to Ikea for dinner. The two of us ate for $10.05, very reasonable and the food was good. (Meat balls and salad.) Forgot to see if their market sells that salad dressing. Oh well. The old Ikea location across the new store is being demolished.

Dreading tomorrow's dentist's appointment.