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John,
I remember you commented about how the second half of our meeting last Wednesday was quite
heavy. During the first half though, it is true that I like apples and pears but don’t like the
peel so mom takes the peel off before she gives it to me. And I had a pear for my afternoon
snack earlier today speaking about which, and I’ll let you know that I’ve had a few All Bran
Bars before. The kinds of vegetables that I like are carrot sticks, cucumbers, red peppers, and
little red tomatoes (either cherry or grape) and I already told you in a previous E-mail
that the kind of dip I like to have with my vegetables is LITEHOUSE brand “ranch” flavour. I’ll
also let you know BTW that when my mom cuts my carrot sticks before she gives them to me, she
cuts them small because I don’t like it when they’re too thick since it makes my teeth sore.
I have to spend anywhere from ten to 45 minutes in the bathroom after most meals and snacks
even after I have a meal or a snack when out in public. As for forcing myself to go poop even if
I don’t have to go, I know what I feel like later on if I don’t at least try to go.
I feel that I shouldn’t have to be told to throw my clothes in a laundry hamper and then put
on a clean pair...it is true that I’d want there to be someone in my house or apartment whenever
I’m spending a long period of time in the bathroom, just for that “level of comfort” and I’ll
tell you that Carol’s the only other person who I’d want around whenever I’m having stomach
problems such as the ones that I detailed in my
last E-mail. I still don’t think it’s fair that Mac and Megan
shouldn’t be allowed to live by themselves in their own suite.
Tuesday May 20,1008:
> ...I feel that I should have the same care as what that girl, Megan, needs who lived in the
basement at your
> other house for a few days last month and who you considered not safe to live on her own,
she’s almost
> blind so therefore probably needs someone around to help her. And my friend Mac’s also
probably not safe
> to live on his own, he should have a worker staying with him in the same suite 24/7 because of
his heart
> condition...
I remember how it was mentioned at the meeting last Wednesday that I’d still be by myself in
the bathroom during those long periods of time while the other person would either be on the
other side of the house or just on the other side of the door and it was also said that I’m by
myself when I’m in bed sleeping at night as long as I’m in a separate bedroom. If I live with
Carol and if at anytime she wanted to have a shower, I know that I might have to be alone for a
short little bit if it’s during the day when I’m not in bed. Or in my current situation where
I’m living right now, I could be alone inside the house when I’m on the computer during the day
while both of my parents could be outside working in the backyard. And I won’t take it any
farther than those four scenarios that I just detailed, now you know that I’d be okay to be left
alone if everyone else who I’m living with is on the other side of the house or apartment.
Now I don’t see what the big deal is, just as long as someone’s available who could come stay
with me when Carol needs to go out. And for your information, John, I will let you know that for
a good portion of my life I did have a dream of independent living just like my friend Kris. I
also dreamed at that same time about going to college after High School and then having a job
though now my mom says that she can’t see me working a fulltime job because she knows how easily
I could become stressed, and I can agree with her that I’d most likely get too stressed having a
job fulltime. This was back during the time when I was going to High School when I had this
dream until grade eleven when the teachers in BASES really started to pressure me and I just
couldn’t take it, they continued to pressure me until the point when I had to be taken out of
school for a month (still in grade eleven) during which I had to be home schooled. Once I
went back to school a month later, I only felt like going to school every second day because I
would get so tired after one full day that I’d want to stay home the next day. I blame the
medication I was on at that time for making me feel so tired while I remember my parents
disagreed and said that I probably started to lose confidence around that time because I kept
getting taken out of school for long periods of time. And then later on after this it got to the
point when I just couldn’t handle school anymore and this is why I didn’t graduate, I only made
it as far as finishing grade eleven. I remember it was just before I started grade eleven when I
was put on medication for the very first time, I’d say that maybe I would’ve finished grade
twelve if my parents had waited til after I graduated from High School before they put me on
medication while my parents don’t agree with me about this.
You obviously know now that I use to walk to and from school by myself before I lost
confidence, I wanted to start walking to and from school on my own when I was as young as seven
but my parents wouldn’t let me. The first time I remember being left at home alone was the only
time I remember being left alone in our old house, this was only about a week before we moved
out, and this was when I was 13 years old. My parents wouldn’t let me be home by myself until I
was 13 years old, and for all the years up until then I couldn’t wait to be left home alone or
walk to and from school by myself. I had looked forward to doing those things back then. I
didn’t get to start walking to school by myself until grade nine and for many years until then
they kept saying that they were going to give me mobility but they didn’t. And then in the
message I sent you on Tuesday Jan.29,2008I, I told you what happened once I got there in grade
nine:
> ...even though I didn’t have to take P.E. in grade eight, I almost
had to take it in grade nine. I got out of the
> ball sports part of that course at the last minute though. They still
had to keep me enrolled in P.E. so that I
> could attend the few days of CAPP (Career and
Personal Planning) that are in “P.E. 9.” That CAPP would
> only take just a few days of the semester while for the rest of that
semester I would spend that block in the
> BASES room having an extra tutorial block. I already had another
tutorial block in the BASES room that
> semester that I could use to get caught up on extra homework I had. I’m
higher functioning and I didn’t need
> more than one tutorial block per semester. They were going to have me
doing O&M (Orientation &
> Mobility)...with my vision teacher, but a lot of the times during that
semester the vision teacher I had at that
> time had to cancel at the last minute so I therefore ended up spending
half a semester wasting an extra block
> in the BASES room when I could have been off taking the grade nine
computer course that I didn’t get to
> take...
And then a few years after the above excerpt, I got more mobility during the first semester
of grade eleven. When that semester ended and then it became time to start the second
semester (this was around the same time when the teachers had started to pressure me), the
vision teacher I had that year couldn’t do mobility with me during that semester (the
second one that year) because she said that she was too busy and just didn’t have time. A month
later or one month into the second semester was when I had to leave school for the second month.
And the vision teacher that year said that she’d come back at the end of the second semester to
do just a few mobility sessions with me, but she didn’t come back so I ended up not getting any
mobility during that semester.
In the message I sent you on Sunday Feb.24,2008, I told you that I had a worker for about a
year who’s name was Andrea Sharp. She started working with me in the summer of 2002 which was
after I’d been out of school for a few years. I had good behavior and everything else in my life
was pretty much going good during those few years after I left High School and before the summer
of 2002, but then once Andrea started working with me was when I started to get pushed to do
these things again that I hadn’t done since before I left school such as setting the kitchen
table (at home), cleaning out the dishwasher, etc. Now here is the excerpt from the February
24th message where I first told you about Andrea:
> ...You heard at the meeting last Thursday (the 14th) about the list I made with the
psychologist when I saw
> him at Able Clinic of things that I did regularly and things that I can do but didn't always
do
> independently....I had a worker around that
> same time who also worked out of Able Clinic and who’s name was Andrea Sharp...
And most recently, remember a few weeks before Valentines Day just a few months ago I wrote
to you and said that I wanted to go to the grocery store with you and buy something to send to
Carol for Valentines Day...and you could teach me how to do my own shopping while doing so. You
remember that my mom just didn’t sound too enthused about the idea.
Now as for something happening to my parents such as what they said (a car accident)
for example, when I had that conversation that I had with my mom after our meeting last month
with FVMH I reminded her that my friend, Mac, is six months older than me and that he isn’t
being forced by his family to move out this soon. I also reminded my mom about Nathan who I told
you hung around with Mac and me when we were in High School, he’s a more nervous person than I
am. He doesn’t like to have friends and he shuts himself in his bedroom whenever there’s a bunch
of company at his house, he’s only a week older than me and his parents aren’t forcing him to
move out now either. My mom then said to me after I reminded her about Mac and Nathan that Mac
has a brother and a sister who can look out for him after his mom’s gone and Nathan has a sister
too who could look out for him. As for myself, you know now that Carol has daughters, friends,
and other family members. Here is something I said in the message I sent you on Wednesday
Apr.2,2008:
> ...My parents did up a plan for the ministry a few years ago which my social worker who I
had at that time
> helped them with, they had to put down a few emergency contacts when they were doing up the
plan incase
> say if my parents get killed in a car accident for example. My parents put down the phone
numbers for a few
> of my aunts and uncles on my dad’s side of the family, and I wanted Carol’s number on that
list so they put
> her’s at the top of the list so that if something ever did happen Carol would be the first
person who they
> contact. This plan was again done a few years ago obviously while Carol was still my
worker...
And again if something does ever happen to my parents, you obviously know that I want Carol
to be the one who I live with until she’s just too old to care for me. I don’t think it’s right
that Mac can stay with his mom for as long as he wants to or that Jenny gets to live with Judy
while my Carol option doesn’t sound too likely, I also don’t think it’s right by the way that I
now haven’t saw Carol for nine months. I said in the
message that I sent you on Wednesday Apr.9,2008
that Carol not wanting me to live with her “feels almost the same to me as my relatives saying
no if I did want to live with any of them,” you should know by now that I feel more comfortable
around Carol than I did with any of my own relatives hence we are now at the point where I won’t
let any of our relatives in the house. I felt so close to Carol that to me I think of her as the
only other member in my family besides my parents. You said to me when you were here just two
weeks ago about how Dianne and her friend Fern, who came over from the island, feel so close to
each other that they consider themselves sisters even though they aren’t related biologically.
Now here again are the many reasons I detailed in the message I sent you on Friday Feb.8,2008
why I consider Carol as family:
> ...I felt so close to Carol that for the last little bit before she stopped working with me I had
considered her as
> family. Carol even said herself at one time that she considered us family and one time when
she sent us a
> birthday or Christmas card she signed inside it “love Carol,” again I had looked forward to
knowing her for as
> long as she’d be around but now that connection is broken due to my
parents’ mistake. I have considered
> Carol as family (and still think of it this way) because she borrowed our pressure
washer one summer, she
> also borrowed our rug cleaner (our shampooer) another time, she even borrowed my camera
tripod for Krista’s
> wedding last summer, Carol said my mom was in her (Carol’s) dream once, we invited Carol to
our birthday
> dinners, my dad gave her a fish one summer when we got a big order of sockeye salmon, and when
my
> cousin, David, passed away we bought Carol a $50 HBC (Hudson's Bay Company) gift card as
thanks for all
> the extra help she was for us at that time. She even took time off school then to stay with me
so that both of
> my parents could attend David’s funeral...I don’t think a lot of people though would call in
sick for things like
> that even if they got paid to...
Another thing I since thought of, Carol got me a Best Buy gift card for one of my birthdays
within the last few years when she was still working with me, and she gave me a puppy calendar
for Christmas once or twice during those two and a half years when she was doing my respite. I’m
disappointed that I couldn’t take her to the China Kitchen for her birthday at the beginning of
the month and I didn’t get to spend Mother’s Day with her, I’d rather give a Mother’s Day gift
to her instead of to my own grandma. I just hope that I’m living with Carol before my
birthday coming up in October. And now something I said in the message I sent you on Monday
Apr.14,2008:
> ...and then a while later that same morning Marjoree phoned us to let us know that she was
going out to a
> plant sale and asked if my mom wanted to go with her. My mom said that might’ve been a nice
thing to
> do, but she wasn’t feeling well that day. If Carol still had contact with us, maybe she
would’ve phoned my
> mom one day and invited her to go with her to a plant sale...
And I don’t feel it’s right that my parents can see our own relatives or anyone else they
know at anytime when they want to see them while Carol’s and my relationship is in the state
it’s in right now. When Carol use to come here every Sunday afternoon, she was our cats’
favorite lady because they always liked to snoop through her purse. It should be obvious by now
that Carol’s my second favorite lady
after my mom.
Or if my parents want to go to Mexico once my dad does retire, then these would be the times
when Carol would’ve stayed with me if her and my relationship didn’t end. Before the altercation
last August, Carol did say that the longest she’d stay with me anytime my parents wanted to go
away once she (Carol) retires would’ve been one week.
Another thing that I asked my mom about when we had our conversation after our meeting last
month with FVMH was about the fact that if I live in my own I won’t have anyone to watch movies
or any TV with in the evenings to explain what goes on. My mom responded to this by telling me
that I could invite whoever lives upstairs into my basement suite when I want to watch movies.
Speaking about TV by the way, you know that I haven’t watched any TV with my mom since before
Christmas so my parents had been taping all my shows for me since then. My dad had to open some
new blank VHS tapes two weekends ago because we were running out of tapes and some of them
didn’t seem to be recording very well. I’d look forward to staying up with Carol most evenings,
relaxing, watching TV with her, and eating junk food, and I also said this in the same message
that I sent you on February 24th:
> ...If I could live with Carol we could stay up on Christmas Eve and watch either
“the Grinch,”
“Elf,”
or
> “The Muppet Christmas Carol”
and while doing so have either the round butter shortbread cookies with
> red and green sprinkles or the red and green Christmas smarties or both things with either
regular milk
> or chocolate milk to drink. It use to be our tradition that every year on New Years Eve I
would stay up
> til midnight with my dad and we would watch the Mr. Bean movie (the
original one),
but I haven’t stayed
> up til midnight on New Years Eve for the last five years...
And something else that Carol and me could have in common besides the facts about we both
have the same stomach problems and neither of us like to travel too much, I might have the same
sweet tooth that she has:
-If I decide to kick my quirky diet habits one day so
that I could eat out more often than I do now, Carol and I could eat supper out almost everyday
so that cooking can be eliminated from her already stressful life.
-You know that I went for the full order of natchos last time we went to Moxie's even though I
shouldn’t have, just like when Carol can’t resist the urge to eat more chocolate than she
should.
-And you know that I’d always go for one of my round double-layer chocolate Safeway cakes
whenever I get an opportunity.
And after our meeting last Wednesday with FVMH, now we know that we can follow Mary Hill Road
to Pitt River Road all the way from Elgin Avenue after we leave our meetings instead of taking
that other street back out to Shaughnessy. Here is what I previously said about there being a
Tim Hortons in Guildford:
Sunday Mar.16,2008:
> I didn’t even know that there was a Tim Hortons in Guildford until we first discovered that
one on 152nd Street
> at 104th Avenue on our way to the meeting last month, and I didn’t know until two days ago
that one’s only
> an express Tim Hortons On the Run and that it’s part of a gas station...
And I guess now we know that there might be two Timmy’s locations in the Guildford area, the
express one at gas station at 152nd Street and 104th Avenue as well as a regular size one just a
little ways to the South of there on the East side of 152nd. Now you know that I like the
Commodores after we heard their song “Nightshift” on the radio on our way to the meeting, you
also know now that I like Gordon Lightfoot after we heard on the way back from the meeting his
song “Sundown” and after we heard someone else’s version of “If You Could Read My Mind” on our
way to the meeting. And you know that I like Judy Collins after I heard that commercial on the
way to our meeting that said she’ll soon be coming to the Orpheum in Vancouver though my mom
said that she won’t be coming there to sing. Out of all the singers that I like, here is a list
of the ones who I already mentioned so far in previous messages that I sent to you:
Billy Joel
Commodores
Crystal Gayle
Eddie Rabbitt
Elton John
Gordon Lightfoot
Judy Collins
Kenny Rogers
Lionel Richie
Neil Diamond
Neil Sedaka
Neil Young
Ray Charles
Righteous Brothers
Roger Whittaker
Ronnie Milsap
Stevie Wonder
Willie Nelson
One time when you were here within the last few weeks, you asked me if I ever saw “Dr.
Dolittle.” I saw the
newer one
(1998) with Eddie Murphy, I own both this one and the
2001 sequel
on VHS. You also asked me if they still make Sesame Street, I’ll tell you that they do and that
next year (in 2009) will be its 40th anniversary. And then after you asked me if they
still make Sesame Street episodes, you then asked me if they still make the Muppets. They no
longer make any Muppet TV shows, but they still make the odd muppet movie. The last muppet movie
that they made was the made-for-TV
“Muppets' Wizard of Oz”
in 2005. Before they made “The Muppets' Wizard of Oz,” I heard that was only suppose to be the
first of two made-for-TV muppet movies that they were going to make within the next few
years (as of that time) but I haven’t heard anything more about anymore muppet movies since
the release of “Muppets' Wizard of Oz” in 2005.
Stuff that’s been happening on the news (and in the paper) over the last few days:
• My mom told me that they showed a clip from “The dog, the cat and the rat”
YouTube video on Global’s five o’clock news last Wednesday (on the 21st), but just a very
little bit of it.
• Wednesday May 21,2008: My mom read in the Peace Arch local newspaper that the new shopping
centre they’re building in South Surrey at 160th Street and 24th Avenue will include these
following big-box stores; London Drugs, Best Buy, Thrifty Foods, Winners, and a Steve Nash
Sports Club. When I said to my mom after she read the story that we already have a London Drugs
and a Winners here in South Surrey, she said that they might be closing out the current
locations and then move into bigger locations...plus my mom also thought that they probably
wouldn’t want to have two London Drugs locations so close to each other, you know that
the intersection of 160th and 24th is quite close to the Peninsula Village London Drugs. BTW, I
wonder what would be going in Peninsula Village where are current London Drugs is and in South
Point where our Winners currently is if they are planning to move those two stores instead of
opening second locations. And this is the first I heard that we’re getting a Best Buy, I kept
hearing before that we’d be getting a Future Shop in that area. I wonder if they’ll still be
building a Future Shop in a different spot of that same area now that I hear we’re getting a
Best Buy. Anyway, I’m glad to now hear that we will get a Best Buy. And Thrifty Foods, another
grocery store. I wonder if they will have anything I like better and that Safeway doesn’t
currently have, just keep in mind what I said here in the message I sent you on Sunday
Apr.27,2008:
> My mom read in the newspaper a few days ago that they just opened a new Wal-Mart
SuperCentre in
> Duncan over on the island and that the “first Wal-Mart ever” for South Surrey will also be a
“SuperCentre
> one” meaning that besides just the department store, it will also include a grocery store,
produce, and
> my mom thought maybe also some bakery stuff. She also read that this Wal-Mart location for
South
> Surrey will open sometime this summer (summer 2008) and I hope that Wal-Mart’s grocery
store isn’t
> gunna put Safeway Canada out of business, that Safeway in Peninsula Village has the best
Chinese
> food. And even though that is the only location we know about so far that has that Chinese,
you know
> that all of the Safeway locations have a lot of other good stuff that I like too...
• My mom saw the story on the news two days ago (on Friday’s news) about a man who was
working in a boatyard on Vancouver Island when all of a sudden he heard a noise that came from
around one of the boats, and when he looked he saw four kittens. They gave the kittens some milk
in a bowl and then they waited for the kittens’ mother to show up, after 13 hours nothing
happened so then they wondered what to do with the kittens. One of the other guys who works at
that same boatyard said that his dachshund just had a puppy so then they thought that maybe
the dachshund (the mother) could look after the kittens...and it worked.
• My mom told me that she heard about the bad accident on the Port Mann Bridge when my dad
had the radio going while he was doing his wine today before lunch. This accident closed the
bridge to all traffic for the next several hours.
My meals and snacks for the last few days:
• Thursday May 22,2008 - evening snack: I had a piece of bread with peanut butter
spread on it and with that I also had a couple more of the Cadbury milk chocolates that my mom
and dad gave me for Christmas. I had two of the same ones that I had the last time I had these,
which was also the first time I tried these chocolates; a strawberry cream and a vanilla
fudge.
• Friday May 23,2008 - afternoon snack: I had the bag of efruti brand FRUIT JUICE BLUEBERRIES
gummies that my parents bought me from London Drugs.
• Friday May 23,2008: My dad stopped at Safeway on his way home from work and got me one of
my seafood salads for supper, he also got me a triple chocolate big cookie for dessert.
• Friday May 23,2008 - evening snack: I had some Bugles and I got to have the other half of
that second bottle of Lime Crush before it’s too late and my mom would’ve had to dump it.
• Saturday May 24,2008 - afternoon snack: I finally had the KitKat bar that I got at the Macs
store when I walked over there with you last week on Thursday the 15th. My mom put that KitKat
bar in the fridge last weekend when it was really hot so that it wouldn’t melt in my hands
whenever I would get around to having it.
• Saturday May 24,2008 - supper: I had some bacon and cabbage rice with a jellied salad that
my mom made in which she combed two different kinds of jello before adding bits of crushed
pineapple and cottage cheese; “lemon flavour” and “lime flavour” jello. And then we finished off
the confetti Angel food cake for dessert, both of my parents and myself each had a piece so now
that’s all gone.
I also remember another one of the times when you were here within the last few weeks and
while we were in on the computer, you saw a recipe for candy cane cookies (the one that
requires “red food coloring”) in one of my mom’s cookbooks. My auntie Sue use to make these.
Also when you and I were in the Macs store the week before last week on the 15th, I remember
that you saw three different kinds of Glosettes; Raisins, Peanuts, and Almonds. I already knew
about the Raisins and the Peanuts but I didn’t know that Glosette made Almonds, I might have to
try this brand of chocolate covered almonds sometime. Now we know that the kind of M&Ms that I
like are the ones that have the chocolate-coloured packaging. When I was in the Macs store with
my mom on our walk the week before, I saw bags of different kinds of M&Ms next to the cash
register including peanut butter ones that Ihad a few times before. When you and I were waiting
in line to pay that day (on the 15th), did you see the two guys in front of us? One of
them had two different slurpy flavours in his cup and the other guy had three. I did that a few
times when I use to get slurpies but not for a long time because you know my stomach. With my
afternoon snack the next day (on Friday the 16th), there was just a tiny bit of cranberry
juice left in the bottle of Safeway brand that I was on at that time so my mom poured that into
the bottom of a glass and then she got a new bottle of Ocean’s Spray brand from the garage which
she poured into the rest of the same glass. And who do those two long pieces of black licorice
that you got on that same day
remind you of!!
 
Speaking about that same walk you and I did on the 15th, remember that hedge we had to duck
under when we were walking down 140th Street just before we got to the trail. You thought that
maybe the reason why only the bottom of that hedge was cut back was because it was meant for
only dwarves (or as you called them,
“Shrimpkins ”) to walk
under there. I remember that name from that Count Floyd video that you and I saw BTW. Now don’t
you think that the city should go after the people who live in the house behind that hedge,
don’t you think that they should make it the law for those people to cut back the top of their
hedge instead of letting it hang over the sidewalk which isn’t on their property but is
instead it is in a public place where people walk.
I attached a ZIP file with some images
(images_may2008.zip). The first one is a map that I
drew of that big walk you and I did before we got to the Macs store, we walked counter-clockwise
around the red area. The skinny lines indicate trails. Near the beginning of the walk just after
we came out of the bush and when we were about to exit the trail, you noticed that the trail
extends further west. The portion of the trail highlighted in gray indicates the portion you and
I have walked the furthest on that trail, after coming out of the walkway we then followed the
137A Street cul-de-sac to 18A Avenue where we turned left. And the light orange area indicates
the portion of 139th Street that you weren’t 100% sure about but thought that it’s a quieter
street than the one that I live on. The bright green portion on the second map indicates where I
was telling you when we were in the car driving back to South Surrey last Wednesday where we saw
that they removed the railroad tracks when my dad and me were on our way to Langley at the
beginning of the month to do our Mother’s Day shopping. Not the crossing where we had to stop
and wait for a train last Wednesday, but I assume that trains can no longer travel through that
other crossing on 152nd Street back at 64th seeing that as far as I know that same line joins up
with the one in Cloverdale that they removed a portion of and while I believe that it’s the
other crossing where we had to stop and wait for a train that joins up with the line further
south on my map (the one that 176th Street goes overtop of). And the third image is a map I
did of how our front yard looks right now except in this map I added the sidewalk that I told
you I’d like to see in our front yard. Not a “straight” walkway like the one you told me that
Dianne’s building out to the street from the front steps, what I think would look nice in our
front yard is a curved walkway like what my auntie Karen and uncle Robert, who live in Mission,
have in their front yard. The bright red portion on the same image indicates where I think more
grass should be taken out and more flowerbed added among the driveway and all the sidewalks. And
when my dad and I went Mother’s Day shopping at the beginning of the month, it was either at the
Cedar Rim Nursery out in Langley or at one of the other stores we were in that day where we saw
a set of wood Tete-A-Tete Lawn Chairs which my dad thought would look nice where the square is
that I marked with a #1 on the same map but I still think that either we should build or buy a
wooden bench to put in that spot. The people who lived in this house before us had a wooden
bench in the same spot just like the one that I had always wanted to see there since we moved
in.
Once we got up and before you showed up last Wednesday morning (on the morning of the
21st), my dad discovered that my angelfish in upstairs tank died, the one who you know hasn't
been doing too good lately. And now a few cat stories for the last few days:
• Thursday May 22,2008 - morning: My mom had to yell at Izzy to get off the back
fence because she was eyeing up the birds.
• Thursday May 22,2008 at around 12:30PM: As soon as Izzy came back in after being outside
and before my mom could close the door, she (Izzy) just turned around and went back outside
again and Chloe followed her back out.
• Thursday May 22,2008: My mom said that Izzy must take after our dog, Brandy, because they
both like to lay under that hazelnut tree in our backyard.
• My mom dreamed the night before last night that we had five kittens, they kept running away
from her and she couldn't keep track of them all
• Sunday May 25,2008: When Izzy was having her lunch today, she got a little bit of her lunch
on the end of her nose.
I hope that now for sure you won’t get a Ferrari after you yourself said that “they
smoke,” and I remember
that hybrid cars “are the smartest because they don’t smoke.” Speaking about smoking,
I’ll let you know that Carol smokes but not as much as some people. She said that she doesn’t
smoke more than half a dozen cigarettes most days. And I remember that you brought over some
Excel breath chewing gum one of the times when you were here within the last few weeks, Carol
had gum in her purse and use to chew it lots of times when she came over here. And my cousin,
David, tried to quit smoking many times throughout his life but he never succeeded.
My dad brought me home two scratches last Tuesday (on the 20th); a BLACKJACK and a
GOLDRUSH. And even though I didn’t win on either of those they finally gave me a different
number to beat this time on the BLACKJACK, 19. But last night, I had another BLACKJACK and a
GOLDRUSH to do and this time when I was doing the BLACKJACK, only a second before I scratched to
find out what number I had to beat I said out loud to my mom that “ I’ll bet it’s 20”...and I
was right. And then while I was still doing the BLACKJACK, I got a 21 and again only one second
before I scratched to see how much I had won I said out loud to my mom “ I’ll bet it’s $2” and I
was right once again.
As soon as my dad came home from work two days ago (on Friday), my mom told him that
he's a senior now because a coupon came for him in the mail earlier that same day for the
Starlight Casino and it says that he’s eligible for their seniors’ discount. They go by 55 and
older.
After my dad went to Revy yesterday afternoon and got a board for his compost box that he’s
building in our backyard where the big hole is after he dug out his one shrub, he found a board
in his workshop that he forgot about and had already bought to use for the compost. He had
already painted and put screws in this board that he later found in his shop and that he forgot
about.
When my mom was talking to our neighbour, Marjoree, for a few minutes yesterday afternoon,
she got to pet their cat, Meika, who’s name I don’t know the correct spelling for. My mom told
me that she has pretty blue eyes and off white fur and that she’s nice and soft. Marjoree also
told my mom when they were talking that her husband, Marvin’s, gone away for the weekend fishing
in his motor home with half a dozen other guys.
When my grandpa phoned us last Tuesday evening (evening on May the 20th) and asked my
mom and dad if they were watching “American Idol,” he also told us that the big plastic bag that
they have over their patio furniture blew away during the storm we had overnight on the night
before. The last time they saw it was when they were inside and they saw it blow by their living
room window, and then heading towards the Mission Highway.
Is Sunday June the 8th also okay for you to come here in the afternoon? My friend, Kris,
phoned two nights ago (on Friday evening) and said that
his open house is going to be on that day from noon
til 6PM, my parents said that they’d go to his open house but you and I will still see
him on the Sunday before (June 1st). My mom looked at the map book and said that his
place should be easy to get to; if you’re heading North on 200th Street, turn right at 53rd
Avenue and then his building is an even number so would therefore be on the South side of 53rd
Avenue.
The first of your surprises to be discovered was your red ball in the curtain and it was
discovered by my mom about an hour after you left last Wednesday.
I myself discovered the next one not long
after...not far from your first one, the rope over the dog’s head. You thought that I should
tell Serena when see comes here this Wednesday (on the
28th) to make some more origamis to give to everyone at the office.
And I wonder if you’re also going to forward this here part of the message to Serena, the part
that talks about the origami, seeing as how you’ll at least be forwarding her the second PS
where I detail my thoughts about the videos.
See you tomorrow at 1PM.
-Neil
P.S. I can’t remember whether or not you told me that you clicked on the link to “Studio
Version 9” that I sent you previously, but here it is again anyway just incase:
Movie: Bean (the original Mr. Bean movie, 1997)
Movie: Dr. Dolittle (1998)
Movie: Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)
Movie: Elf (Will Ferrell)
Movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey)
Movie: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Movie: The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)
Muppet Wiki: 13 Kermits *
Muppet Wiki’s page about The Simpsons. *
United States Discount store: Target *
Video editing software application: Pinnacle Studio Version 9
* denotes a link that I already gave in the last
message that I sent you on Wednesday May 14,2008.
PS2. And now the best I could do on my homework that Serena gave me to do before she comes
this week:
• Relaxation Therapy:
This video almost put me to sleep.
• Instant Relaxation:
This is the third video that I watched with Serena when she was here last month. When we
finished watching this one, she asked me which of the three that we watched so far I think
helped me to relax the most. At that point I told her that I thought maybe the first one, the
one that almost put me to sleep.
• Chakra Meditation:
This one we turned off when we were only 40 seconds into the video. I'm not into the ones that
are more religious type and in the
message that I sent you on Wednesday Apr.30,2008
I told you that I’m also not into Yoga or any other type of meditation.
• Relaxation Video:
I’ll comment on the fact that this video used a lot of the same transitions to fade between
images that come with my “Pinnacle Studio Version 9” even though I didn’t find that this video
helped me relax. Again,
“Studio Version 9”
is the program that I used when I was working on my grandparents’ home movies.
p class=MsoNormal style="margin-bottom: 1">Out of the ten videos that Serena and I watched that
day, I think I remember the four that helped me to relax the most being
Relaxation Therapy,
Instant Relaxation,
Dr. B's 5-minute relaxation video,
and
Diaphragmatic Breathing.
And I’d think that
“Relaxation Therapy”
and “Dr. B's 5-minute relaxation” would be my top two though it has been a while since I saw all
of those videos, I guess that maybe I should start to take Dr. McKibbin’s advice to heart and
not procrastinate on doing my homework so that my mind won’t keep getting blank the more I keep
waiting until it gets closer to Serena’s next visit.
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