I have been a bad blogger...

But, I have an excuse! I've been without internet, which made my blogging nearly impossible. So, for all of you waiting with baited breath, updates will now be forthcoming of the move, the job, and even a small fire.

The boy, the bunny and I have a temporary home on the Danforth. The apartment isn't great, but it isn't terrible. And, it's really close to the subway station, two Starbucks, a Baskin Robbins, great restaurants and some neat shops. It's a summer sublet, but this should give us a chance to find a place that is great for September.

The boy has started work at pcworld.ca and he's loving it. He's working a lot, but getting to do a lot of neat online tech news type stuff.

The bunny has settled in nicely, with only a few escape attempts.

And I have been doing alright. I finally broke down and bought a new pair of shoes--for work of course. Last week, I worked a couple of shifts, doing news, covering the Alberta site and moderating comments on the viewpoints pages. It was a pretty crazy and intense week with the move, but I was glad to get the work.

For the first little while we didn't get unpacked, and had no kitchen supplies or groceries, so I got to try out some of the nearby restaurants. I found amazing chinese food, a good greek restaurant with a great patio, and two really nice little pubs.

Over the weekend, we went to Ikea and inherited some more furniture from James' parents, who are moving. We are now the proud owners of a futon, a bookshelf, two wire basket clothes storage units that will probably go out the window as soon as we can find a replacement because I keep knocking the baskets off, a fairly well stocked kitchen/pantry and a dining table and three chairs. The fourth is to arrive soon. Now I have to cook. I miss the restaurants--quick service, lots of choices, no mess to clean up.

I found the laundromat over the weekend, and did some laundry. I've always had laundry in my apartment or building before, so it was a little strange, but not bad. The dryers even work.

This week, I only have two shifts. So, to say the least, I've been a little bored.

And there's a group of three pigeons, a big one, a normal one, and a little one, casing out my kitchen day and night trying to scare me. I've decided that the description of pigeons as rats with wings is pretty accurate. There's also a pigeon neighbour with no feathers on his head. I think this weekend I may buy curtains.

The weather has been great, so I've been using my time off to explore the neighbourhood. I've been leery of straying too far, as we all know how great my sense of direction is, but I haven't done too badly as of yet. The Danforth is just becoming trendy, so there's still a weird mix between high-end stores and fruit stands, so it's pretty interesting.

More interesting have been my attempts at cooking. The IGA is thankfully only about two blocks away, so when I'm cooking and find I don't have a key ingredient, it's not far to run. However, we lack a microwave, toaster, and up until Tuesday night baking pans and mixing bowls. And the stove is ancient. So Tuesday, after another exciting day of wandering aimlessly, I came home to cook. I put the pot of water on to boil for pasta and turned my back for a second as I grabbed the veggies for my stir fry. When I turned back around, there were rather large and hot flames coming out from under my pot. After a yelp, which did little to calm the flames, and a frantic search for a fire extinguisher, of which there was none, I moved the pot and blew the flames out, with the help of a glass of water (thank goodness it wasn't a grease fire!). Supper, by the way, was delicious.

I worked yesterday on the newsdesk. I was doing mostly national news, and also keeping an eye for any dramatic happenings in Newfoundland, as our reporter there was off for the afternoon.

Here are a few samples of the types of things I've been doing:


Australia navy story

Iwo Jima becomes Iwo To


Military funeral

Alberta minimum wage

sample your view

Today, I was off again. After shaking my fist at those pesky pigeons, I went downtown to meet a friend from home, Tyler. I'm marginally employed and Tyler is currently unemployed, so we could commisserate over low bank accounts and a love of Starbucks.

Later today, as Tyler headed off for a job interview, I decided that I couldn't handle the lack of money (so many shoes, so little funds) and the incredible amount of time on hand, so I dropped off some resumes at some nearby coffee shops. Anything to help make ends meet.

Tomorrow, I'm back at cbc.ca for another day on the newsdesk. Next week, again, I have only two shifts, but maybe a coffee shop will call back or perhaps, just perhaps, the cbc may be able to give me more shifts or even a *gasp* steady job. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. I've got my eye on a coffee table, a pair of pink argyle flats (way cuter than they sound) and it's a special someone's big 23nd birthday next week.

I took a big risk in coming to Toronto--the weather's better (sunny and over 22 almost everyday!), and working at the cbc could be incredible for my career, but with all this time off (the opposite problem of my days in Guysborough, by the way) I'm finding myself missing the salt water and many people. When I start missing the fog and the roads we'll know I'm in real trouble!

However, I'm keeping up with home news through the Herald and family and friends. I've heard the latest scoop on Guysborough council--I can't believe there might be a non-confidence vote against Warden Hines!--and even heard about Canso on Newfoundland radio. So, if nothing else, I at least still feel moderately in the loop. Thanks to everyone for helping to keep me updated, and please continue to do so!