I am making this post from the comfort and privacy of my own home! Hello 21st century! It only took me almost ten years to catch up to you.

So, what are the NSFW sites/ fan fiction / videos / whatever things I should be looking at right now?

ETA: Oh, and I forgot the obvious question: what TV shows should I be downloading?

I am presently waiting for the Olympic torch to arrive.

So, I have decided to celebrate my new financial status by finally getting the internet in my house. I know some of you have had home internet for at least ten years, but I have never! I am excited! My installation kit will apparently arrive in the mail next week!

Today I paid off the last of the money I owed.

I am debt-free for the first time in my adult life.

NO MORE STUDENT LOAN!

I feel like I finally pushed the fucking boulder all the way to the top of the fucking hill. And the view from up here, it is heady.

Ah, let`s see. On Wednesday, after two days of sneezing/coughing/watery eyes/runny nose/general feeling like crap, I coughed up some phlegm with streaks of blood in it. Oddly this didn`t scare me because the thought I can go to the hospital now Was very reassuring. I was the only one in the emergency room (rural hospital yes) and I had a chest xray and saw a doctor and got put on a ventilator and given a presciption for an antibiotic and a puffer and sent home (all in less than two hours.) So I am off work until this clears up. It is scary. No one has told me it is bacterial pneumonia as a complication of H1N1, nor could they as they didn`t take a swab, but after reading up on the medications (docs must hate the internet) I feel pretty convinced. It is such bad timing too. I mean, Halloween? My favourite holiday? When I already had two awesome costumes made for two masquerade dances? Oh well.

Okay, I think I've mentioned before about how when my parents moved home to Cape Breton in 1984, they rented a place in Skye Glen, and a local character by the name of Dan Norman Cummings made them this wonderful tape and sent it to them by way of a neighbour. He had written a song about the death of my dad's aunt and uncle in a car accident in the 60s and wanted to share it with the family. We came across the tape a few years ago and we LOVE it. There's yodelling. There's humour, original songs and, well, I feel like I know him, even though I never met him.

So. Recently we discovered that there must have been a copy of the tape, and it ended up in the hands of a Gillis family in Sydney. And they also loved it. And made sure it was posted on the internet for all to share.

Go. Listen.

My sister Joanne is finally making her art available for sale online! Check it out!

For someone who doesn't wear makeup most of the time, I sure love the stuff. Recently I figured out how to make small purchases online, and ordered some makeup samples. Last week I got my shipment from Fyrinnae and I am so happy with their sparkly shades. So much pretty! My choices were a little gothy, but so far I love the way everything looks. 9 eyeshadows, 2 lipsticks and a bamboo brush for about $20, and free shipping! It got here in less than 2 weeks, too.
Today I got my order from The Body Needs 2, which contains sample sizes of Mac cosmetics. I've only had a chance to peek at it, but it looks good.
Makeup samples are perfect for me, because I get tired of shades long before using them up. The samples appear to have enough for at least a dozen wears each.

Last week, in the parking lot of a mall in an actual small town, I parked next to a running car, with the keys in the ignition, the doors unlocked and an unattended baby in the backseat.

Yep.

Shopping in the country is different from in the city. On-line shopping isn't an option for me right now, so everything's very limited. I am happy to be able to buy groceries locally at the Co-op, but clothes are another story. There are a couple of good used clothing places, but for new clothes it's pretty much drive 70 km to shop at Walmart, Reitmans or Additionelle. Not good. Especially not good this week because it's finally time to retire some of my old bras. Last time I bought new bras (about three years ago) I got measured and found I, like many women, was wearing the wrong bra size. I needed a 38F.
I know the fact is that no one is terribly well served by clothing manufacturers, but can I take a moment to complain about being curvy? And not curvy as a euphemism for fat, either. I mean, I am fat and that's fine. But I'm talking about women with a considerable difference between waist and bust or waist and hip measurements. Everyone knows clothes don't "hang right" on women with curves, right? That's why models look the way they do, right? Right, and design choices have nothing to do with it. Riiiight.
I am not saying "real women have curves" because, true as that is, real women also do not have curves. All women are real women. And I would like it if the clothing industry acknowledged that and actually made clothes for different kinds of bodies.
Anyway, bra shopping. I went into the mall and tried the two bra shopping options (Walmart and Additionelle) and was frustrated to find that Walmart went up to 38DD and Additionelle started at 40A. I was especially cross with Additionelle for not carrying any cup sizes above DD.
So I was thinking I'd have to keep wearing my ratty three-year-old bras until I could swing a trip to Halifax. Then I remembered there is an independent lingerie store in Port Hawkesbury called Marlene's so I stopped in there. I was excited to find that not only were there bras in my size, there were bras in my size in a variety of styles and colours! Whoo! That's like finding a unicorn, you guys. And from looking through the racks I can say there were bras in even harder to find sizes, like 34F or 46A. Plus I feel confident that the owner would be willing to order something in for a customer who couldn't find anything in her size.
Now I have three cute new bras. In colours, even!

The leaves have just begun to turn red on the earliest-changing trees. One sister went back to Toronto on Saturday and another is on her way to Springhill, NS, today. The third is planning on sticking around for a few more months, until Christmas, and then wants to take off on some kind of adventure. For the past two weeks we have all been home and it was awesome. When we're together we are a force to be reckoned with. They let me know that, now that I am in Cape Breton, we will eventually all live in the same place again, as they all intend on returning and considered me to be the only hold-out (as I thought myself that I'd never live in CB again.)
I am about to spend my first fall and winter here since I was sixteen. I don't know quite what to expect. Snowstorms, power outages, isolation? Snowshoeing, card playing, sleigh rides? Probably all of that will happen.

Temperatures have been in the low to mid thities all week, several degrees higher in my apartment. Modesty and inhibitions have melted. I would happily take to to the streets in nothing at all, if I thought that would actually be more comfortable than clothing. Which I don't, actually. Galen spends most of his time rolled on his back with as much surface area as possible exposed to the air.
I'm not complaining, though, not really. This is summer and a damn nice one, too. I am going out for ice cream, though.

Lately I've noticed made something that's just an annoyance into something slightly risky by biting my nails while I drive.

Today I wore a black coat with faux leopard furcollar and cuffs, a black pencil skirt and a pirante wench lace up top to lunch with family, just because that`s what I felt like wearing. My mom ave me a real dirty look when I came in, but my grandmother told me how stylish I was and came over to touch the fur. I guess fur (even faux) looks different to someone who remembers the 1920`s?

So, I signed up for a new cell phone a few weeks ago. Because they charge $2 for a paper bill, I agreed to do e-billing. But because I was on vacation I wasn't anywhere near the internet for a week and I wasn't able to do the easy sign up for online account management within 72 hours of activating my phone. So now I need my account number to register for the online account, but I have to get into the online account to get my account number. ARGH. I will call customer service tomorrow to get it, but tonight I feel caught in a circle of stupid frustration.

A friend lent my sisters and I the complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer box set a while back. We are currently in season five. I have watched episodes of the show before, and liked it, but mostly I had seen season four Riley/The Initiative episodes and so had not seen any of the best stuff. So good! I know, I'm a little late on the bandwagon here.

We will be pushing on to the end, then probably going directly into my Angel box sets.

We have been preparing for taking a table at the farmer's market this Sunday. Joanne had prints of some of her paintings made (though not nearly enough!), Emily has been busy stitching up adorable stuffed animals and I have bought ingredients for my contribution of baked goods. We've all done little sketches and there are a few other things, like embroidery and pins and hankerchiefs. It is going to be fun.

( Here are some of the creations: )

One of the things I love about my newspaper is this: We don't have an answering machine.

It took me a while to notice this and realize how out of step with modern times we are. If you call during the day, a real person will always answer and take a message for you if the person you want is not in. If you want to call in the evening or on a weekend, well, you can just call the editor at home. And people do.

I get to drive by places like this every day.

I am so lucky.

Possibly I'll be driving 2 hours to Sydney tomorrow to see the new Star Trek movie (which I have been excited for since seeing a preview in which a young Kirk drives a classic convertible over a cliff.) Depends on how the day goes.