it is my understanding that Sabine's intention is to say "as you go further back in time, approaching some singularity, Thing Happens at N seconds before you ge

it is my understanding that Sabine's intention is to say "as you go further back in time, approaching some singularity, Thing Happens at N seconds before you get all the way back to the singularity". So, I think you are correct, and her phrasing has caused this confusion around "before" and "after" terms.