Just one more, and then I'll study, I swear!

And yet another detail which I forgot to share. No, no more ER stories. I've decided they're too depressing.

I don't think I've mentioned our neighbours here before. Gary and Suzie have lived next door since before my parents moved here, which is also before I was born.

Gary (whose real name is Derek..no idea why we call him Gary) is about eighty and originally from England. He's facinating, he has tons of war stories, and sailing stories, and RCMP stories. He's got a high tech microscope, a HAM radio tower, and a darkroom, not to mention he paints beautifully and builds boats. Mom says when they first came, she thought they'd moved in next to James Bond.

Suzie is younger, not quite sure how old she is. Her real name is Choo Poo (see, they both have code names!), and she's from Malaysia. She's an expert cook and gardener, her dahlia's are beautiful. She also knits these fantastic sweaters, they're the comfiest and warmest I've ever worn.

Anyway, now that you have been introduced, I will continue. Suzie's mother, Peggy, lives next door to them. Everyone pretty much just calls her Mother. Saturday was her 80th birthday. Suzie and Ann, her sister, went out to get her a cake. It was supposed to say 'Happy 80th Birthday Mother'. They didn't realize until they got it home that it actually read 'Happy 18th Birthday Mother'.

So we joked that she was actually turning 18. She got a big kick out of that, and took us all (Gary, Suzie, Ann, Vick, and my family) out to Fan's for dim sum. Suzie wrote down what it was we had so I'd remember all the names:
Har gau: shrimp dumpling
Sui mai: steamed pork and shrimp dumplings
Steamed buns: the actual name was really long and she spoke too fast. They were sweet and had pork in the middle
Fung Zao(pheonix talons): Chicken feet
Lou mai gai: gelatinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves
Wu gok: Taro dumplings, these were my favourite! I ate two, and they're not small...
Yau yu sou: deep fried squid, I didn't like this too much. The suction cups turned me off...
There were also a bunch of different types of noodle dishes and these honey-sesame things with mystery filling. It was soooo good. Plus they didn't try to feed us jelly fish this time. That was not fun.
-note: any errors in the above list are mine!