Clearly, I'm still dealing with a serious lack of internet. We're weighing our options now as far as service goes, but it doesn't look like we'll get internet service at home for under $180/month. Isn't that just freakin' fantastic? I can't get over what a great deal that is..n't. It's brutal. But, I'm stuck halfway through television seasons and am dying to find out what happens to Meredith and friends, so obviously, it's a must-have service.

I am so out of touch.

I have access to everything during working hours. Unfortunately, I spend those hours "working". We have no TV at home, so I'm totally behind on the Hills, ANTM, Grey's (like, an entire season behind...seriously), the Office, Weeds...I have a lot of downloading to do. Legally, of course.

The weather is cooling down a bit. And while I don't want to say too much on the subject and piss off my snow-laden Ottawa friends, the sunny beach weather may be over for now. At least, in the "spend a day at the beach" sense, though I'm told that you get those days off and on throughout the winter as well, so maybe there's still hope of rectifying the raccoon tan that I have acquired. It's been incredibly windy for the past two days. We went for a somewhat insane run yesterday morning and I thought, as we ran at an angle over a bridge with flimsy sides, that it wasn't a very smart thing to do. The wind was so strong that we weren't running in straight lines at all...we totally looked drunk at 6:30 a.m. Which, here, wouldn't be that odd, actually. At one point, the wind was blowing so hard into my ear that it actually hurt. The island isn't wide enough to give any shelter, so you're pretty much due for bad hair, no matter where you go. The ferries still run, though I'm pretty sure that I saw a woman run outside to barf this morning, so it's a bit choppy. Still, I'm not wearing a coat, so...I'll be quiet now.

The vacation feel is finally starting to wear off, though our weekends still seem like mini vacations, since we're always seeing something new. Or new to me, anyways. We've got a good little routine started with our morning runs or walks, actually eating breakfast (as opposed to the caffeine and baked goods diet I was on during my last few months in Ottawa), and I'm already feeling a million times better. I do shed a single tear at the thought of Farm Boy...or even Superstore...or the Market on Yates, since produce is such a bugger to come by here. Yes, you can find a fennel bulb...but you will pay $7.99 for it. Seriously. We've dabbled in the locally grown produce (marginally less expensive), which is limited to beets, sweet potatoes, some things I don't recognize, and fat carrots. They grow fat because they can't grow long, because the soil isn't very deep. Some things are tricky to find - we finally found capers and kalamata olives and Kurt located some canned chipotle peppers today, which I am pretty excited about. I do love a caper and a chipotle. But not together.

We have found the most amazing sushi. I'm a bit shocked at just how amazing it is, since sushi doesn't seem to be a real hit with the locals. About a 7 minute scooter ride from our place is this great little restaurant that has become our favorite, possibly because it is the most random place I've ever been or possibly because the awesome bartender brought a bottle of Grand Marnier to our table and literally drenched our tiramisu in it last week. Either way, it's pretty great. There is a take-out hut attached to a normal looking restaurant, attached to a dark English-style pub that doubles as the sushi bar AND an internet café. We went there on one of our first days here and we shared #60 off their sushi menu. What arrived is only "sushi" in the sense that it's rolled and involves rice and seaweed, but what they've actually done is take an inside out spicy tuna roll and then lightly deep fry it and drizzle some sort of delicious sauce over it. I'm not big on fried food...in fact, the smell of deep fried food occasionally makes me dry heave...but this was/is AMAZING. Last Friday was not a good day, so we took ourselves out on a date and got a #60, along with various other delicious numbers, followed by aforementioned drenched tiramisu, and left in much better moods. Luckily for us, we can't actually afford to eat our feelings very often.

The other good thing (besides #60) that happened last Friday was that we became the owners of real, actual furniture. As in, items that do not require a pump to inflate. A queen-sized bed, a sofabed, table, 4 chairs, a desk, a tv/armoire, a mini-bar (haha), the biggest mirror that I have ever seen and three of the ugliest lamps I have ever seen became ours last Friday, at the total cost of $900. Thank you, Fairmont. Yes, it is hotel furniture and quite obviously so, except that Fairmont doesn't skimp on the swank and it's actually pretty decent stuff. So long as it's not inflatable, I'm happy. We're no longer eating off our laps, while sitting on the floor. Baby steps.

Finally, I just finished booking our trip to Mexico in February and already dreaming of fresh picked pineapple, pelliscadas, morning walks on the beach and quality time with the family. I'm so excited. Our 2007 Mexico trip was by far the best trip we've ever taken together, and we're hoping for a repeat performance in '08. Of course, actually getting to Mexico is slightly more tedious. Instead of a lovely direct flight from Toronto, we fly from here to Miami, and then on to Dallas, where we spend 4 hours, and THEN on to Mexico. Too bad that neither Miami or Dallas made it on my "cities to see before I die" list, or I could have at least made some headway. We do stopover in NYC on the way back, but I'm not sure if a 6 hour overnight stay qualifies as really "seeing" the city, so that box will remain unchecked for now. It's only a 2 hour (cheap) flight from here though, so the Aussie and I are planning a shopping trip.

Anyhoo...that's all.

OH...and the mourning period for Samsung X426 is officially over, with the acquisition of a far sleeker replacement. The mourning period for Sony Ericsson w810i continues until further notice.