Teppy, you were totally right. That IS hawtt!!!!

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The corsetiere was a vendor at the event, and it was amusing to see how many women at the party last night had new corsets on. It was like a Buffista F2F, until the beatings started.

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Hot damn, Steph! That corset was made for you.

So my visit with Frankie was great. He's sweet and affectionate and loves to play with other dogs, doesn't lunge or bark at cats, sits on command and walks well on a leash, doesn't seem prone to jumping up on people. Since I have cats, they let me pay a deposit and I'll bring him home Wednesday to see how he does! The shelter will even lend me a crate, harness, and leash for the week. And calling home I just found out that my grandpa sent me a fat check! We call him Mr. Marshmallow Heart wrt rescuing animals, so that works out quite well.

Shir, that sounds fascinating. Look forward to hearing more about it.

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Hot damn, Steph! That corset was made for you.

SRSLY. They have different styles, and one of our friends who has several corsets from this place was at the booth pimping them to people. So she recommended one with more of a straight-across top (is that Edwardian?) instead of the sweetheart neckline this one has.

And, truthfully, I had always loved the look of the Edwardian neckline more than the sweetheart. But the flames had me at hello. I mean, hot damn. Literally. And there happened to be one in my size, so I grabbed it to try. And our friend said, "Oh, I was going to recommend the one I wear [with the straight neckline], since that's the one I always wear, and we're built the same."

She laced me into it and then said, "Okay, the one I was going to recommend? Fuck it. BUY THIS ONE NOW." And then I looked in the mirror and went "Guh." And I waved The Boy over, and he took one look and said "This is what all the discretionary money is going towards. You need this."

So I haz a new corset!

(And a sore butt, which I am going to plunk into a hot shower momentarily.)

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Happy Birthday, beth!

Congrats, Shir!

Nice corset, Steph! Wish I had the nerve to try one.

ION, I've been flailing about for the last year, looking for work and living in my sister's basement, not dealing with health issues, though I am paying for COBRA. I can't get an interview for the few jobs I've applied to and I have been reluctant to look for temp work, because that would mean phone answering type stuff that I hate.

I've been on the fence about whether to go back to school. I just recently discovered that the Community college here offers a Web Graphic Designer degree. If I had know this a year ago I would have been working on it already. So, now I'm trying to decide what to do with myself.

I'm not getting unemployment because I didn't make enough on my temp job to qualify, I'm living off my tax refund right now, and applying for jobs. Do I commit to full-time if I can get Financial aid or do I try to go part-time and take any sort of job I can get to have money coming in? Do I keep applying for Graphic Designer jobs since nobody seems to be hiring for Prepress?

Do I try to do all at once? I've been out of full-time work since January 2009. I can't believe I still don't have a good plan! This school idea has me excited for the first time in a long time but I'm not sure the logistics actually work.

::flailing:: again!

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When we lived in Brazil, I was horrified when this woman from Peru lit up in my living room. I hope she knows it's not culturally acceptable here, but she lives in Honduras these days so I don't know.

Maybe send her outside as hospitably as possible? You know, maybe on a porch or some nice shady spot with a chair and an ash tray set up. If you don't want to get into the "politics" of not smoking around the children maybe plead an allergy? If you make the smoke break a nice little break instead her feeling all "out back, cancer stick" it might go over more smoothly.

As far as Ellie... well, maybe present it as one of those... old-fashioned things? When I was a kid we had an elderly neigbor who'd use certain ethnic slurs. Mom's take on it was "those words used to be more common and it can be hard for old people to change habits. It's sad that he says them, but just try to ignore it."

This could be an interesting visit! Is she staying with you or just coming for the day?

****

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETH!!!!

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thanks everyone

breakfast out -- that included ice cream ( at our usual place the owner brought out sundaes for my birthday ) I ripped out my winter garden and put in the beginnings of the real veggie garden. Soon a shower and then arabic food with my sister and bil

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Happy b-day Beth!

Shir, that sounds great! Congrats!!

backtracking a bit:

I got Chinese food for dinner. My fortune is "The weather is wonderful." That one doesn't even make any sense with "in bed" added.

Maybe it's another way of saying blowing sunshine up your..... er. never mind.

Hey, speaking of Hil, you ok over there in DC?

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The corsetiere was a vendor at the event, and it was amusing to see how many women at the party last night had new corsets on. It was like a Buffista F2F, until the beatings started.

NATLBSB

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Hey, speaking of Hil, you ok over there in DC?

I'm doing OK. No idea about the wider world of DC, since I spent most of today napping.

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