Oakridge / Hanukkah dinner / Safety / Don’t BROADCAST everything!

After asking if we can meet earlier (at 4?) since everyone can play with Ayler before he and Harmony try to put him to sleep without a meltdown, Jon says that Mike and I can bring ginger ale to the Christmas dinner since there will be a lot of cranberries / sauce – sweet! Mike can even just not buy it, haha. Jeremy J. will be at the dinner, which is even better! Actually, I don’t even want to attend the dinner because of certain things happening – like my mom being upset that I took certain things from the townhouse which I thought I was entitled to, and then CALLING ME TO YELL ABOUT IT YESTERDAY MORNING FOR FIVE MINUTES BEFORE HANGING UP ON ME! This impacted the second phone call that Mike made, only because I was still upset. He didn’t notice, though – I told him about it on the way back to Lynn’s after packing a whole bunch of stuff for a few days. We put some fresh cat food out for Piper the cat, and I was able to put down my wheeled bag and unpack some stuff before Robert came to pick us up. Went to Oakridge, where Uncle Laurie was working at Kernels Popcorn, so we scored a bunch of free stuff. While there, I let Robert know that I probably wouldn’t be able to pay him back for the microwave until next month; he appreciated that, which is good. Then we went to some electronics place, Mark’s Work Warehouse (Mike tried on a lot of pants and shirts), Canadian Tire, Superstore (no poutine chips), and Chapters. Talked about not rushing, sweaters, the dinner, jar openers, freaky / bad memories, Chinese people backing into parking spaces, forgetting Christmas cards, and Costa Rica.

Afterwards, we went to Vivian’s place where Mike showed me DON’T COPY THAT FLOPPY and YOUTUBE POOP GASTON videos, plus SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Beethoven’s Ninth sketch in a bid to cheer me up. At least those gave me a few laughs! I forgot my laptop bag over there, but it seems almost everyone else forgot stuff in the rush for a folding chair and NOT Erica’s coat. Vivian seemed stressed while driving us to her ex-husband Richard’s place, including picking up Claire and Marek on the way there. “What’s my route?” doesn’t translate into “ask her what my route is,” for one thing. I stayed out of things except when Vivian hit a curb: “Oh, I thought you meant there was a PERSON!” Mike asked me about stuff later, and I agreed with him; I was definitely on his side! The dinner at Richard’s featured barbecued steak with Bearnaise sauce, which wasn’t kosher since it mixed dairy and meat. Still, it was very good! Luckily, I’d picked up Richard’s name from Robert and the afternoon’s general conversations, so I introduced myself to him in a direct manner. Claire, Marek, Sarah, Jeremy, Ivy (Richard’s girlfriend), Nora (Ivy’s niece), Uncle Lawrie, Richard, Michael, and I discussed music / the DOGE meme / wedding planning / parties / gifts / “no more Christmas but Hanukkah instead” / (ice) wine / school / batteries / food / cake / asparagus / TV shows. Ivy and Nora gave Uncle Laurie a ride home, and gave me and Michael a ride to a nearby intersection to Lynn’s house.

Mike and I held hands while walking home, and then watched a show on Japan’s history with Emperors and wars, before a Jason Statham movie called THE TRANSPORTER. We discussed personal things, dirty laundry, my possible unstable emotions, Robin, drama, instability, Mount Gay rum, jokes, his going out alone today to do stuff (that was fine), pens, beer, possibly being hungry, Piper hiding all day, morbid romance, New Year’s Eve plans (gay bars / Oasis?), understanding, and help before I was able to set up my laptop on the kitchen table. Once I did, we discussed wi-fi passwords and the COLBERT REPORT before he did some stuff. I checked my email to find suggestions from my sister, and one from my mother – she had broadcast everything to the entire family when I’m positively sure she’s told everyone about it already! Mike came into the kitchen and saw that I was upset so I showed him the email, which he didn’t agree with. He offered to help with food items and the house key, and also with dinner tomorrow if I can’t face anyone. I made sure that he knew I definitely appreciated it; he’s now seen how upset they make me sometimes, even if a part of it is my own fault.