Quotes Time!

Don't feel like writing any post, but want to share some quotations...

An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her.
-- Agatha Christie

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes."
-- Frieda Norris

No man is truly married until he understands every word his wife is NOT saying.
-- Author Unknown

Why do people say "no offense" when they're about to offend someone?
-- Author Unknown

If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.
-- Anita Roddick

Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend's success.
-- Oscar Wilde

Never let a problem to be solved become more important than the person to be loved.
-- Barbara Johnson

If you want the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain.
-- Dolly Parton

glitter-graphics.com

Quotes taken from here and here and here and here

Life Slipping Away...

What do you say to a patient of an incurable disease, whose condition you know will only get worse as time goes by?

Last night MIL sent an SMS, saying that FIL could be taken home from the local clinic. He was taken to Rovaniemi hospital on Monday and yesterday he was taken back to the local clinic after some tests. He had a long sleep apparently and couldn't be woken up for some reason. Yesterday MIL was dropped by our place by a neighbour who had to run some errands in town and the three of us went to the clinic. A few minutes after we arrived, R2's elder brother and girlfriend arrived - they were the ones who took MIL and FIL back to their house in the countryside (about 25 min. drive away from here).

I wanted to cry when I saw FIL. He seemed to be in and out of the conscious world, as though life is slipping in and out of him. Sometimes it looked as if he understood most things, sometimes it looked like he was confused and he didn't know where he was or what kind of clothes he had on. He couldn't even put on his clothes on his own anymore. I don't know how fast the disease will worsen his condition, but it seems to me that it's going rather fast these days compared to, say, a year ago.

It's going to be really tough on MIL as time goes by. They live in a countryside with such a huge lawn and they use firewood in the living room fireplace, so every day or every other day the firewood has to be carried from the barn to the living room and as you know, wood is rather heavy (just a few pieces of firewood isn't enough for one day, mind you). I don't even know what to pray anymore, except for MIL to be given the strength, energy, patience, joy, and peace of mind.


glitter-graphics.com
Additional note: FIL can still walk on his own, so it's a good thing.

U-Min: Japanese Poppers

Found this accidentally and my mouth was gaping open while watching. SUPERB!!! BRILLIANT!!!!

Health News + Moving in Progress

Yesterday nite we heard shocking news about FIL. He was taken to Rovaniemi hospital due to some health problem (there's no full-blown hospital in Sodankylä, so women who want to give birth have to go to Rovaniemi hospital), but they said that they'd take him back to Sodankylä health centre perhaps today. Just now I received a reply from MIL that FIL has been taken back to Sodankylä and she's glad that the condition isn't any worse. Remember that FIL has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease since 2006 if I remember correctly (or at least around that time).



I'll let you know about his condition later on when we've heard more news about it. When it comes to moving, we still have to move some stuff to the new house 'coz the final moving date is next Sunday. We've gotten rid of most of the things we have here. There are still some boxes that need to be moved and we haven't taken down our bed and my computer table plus my computer (today R2 took down his computer plus the computer table).

If we happen to move to the new house faster than Sunday, we'll only be able to get online on Monday (the internet connection is moved there only on Monday), so I'll catch up with all of you later, OK?


glitter-graphics.com

P.S. Do you ever wonder how much stuff you've been piling up over the years? Every time we move to a new place, we're amazed at the amount of things (plus junk) that have piled up, even when we lived in a small apartment (the first apartment we lived together was only 49 square metres).

Busy Monday

This morning I went to the PO to send my submission to a writing contest. It felt good that I'd completed a 2-page writing in Finnish 'coz it helped me think in Finnish he he...I don't have high hopes about winning the contest, but just thinking that the judges will be reading my submission makes me feel EXCITED!!! :-D

After that I continued riding my bike to my friend's place (I was hoping for mild weather and I got my wish - it was only -8'C so I could ride my bike there). It was rather uphill and I hadn't been riding my bike for long journeys for a while, so I cheated and walked my bike when I was near her place (the toughest uphill part). Then about 15 minutes later a friend of us picked us up with her lovely daughter and we had fun at her place and we had lunch there. ;-D THANKS for the fun, girls!

Next time it's my turn to invite them to our new home he he he he...;-D



Now back home and waiting for news whether or not we're going to move some more stuff to our new home today. My legs are rather tired 'coz I dropped by at the supermarket on the way home 'coz we almost ran out of milk he he he...good exercise, though!

Yesterday we went to my MIL's place 'coz we didn't go there on Saturday. We had fun playing cards with BIL and his girlfriend and MIL. I won the first game, but the second game I sucked real bad, though we had to stop the game before it ended 'coz it was getting too late - but rest assured that we'll continue the card game when we're all there again he he he...

No pictures to show you this week 'coz I've been busy. I'm also thinking of some ideas to write for other writing contests. Hmmmm...ideas, come to me he he he...OK, better blog-hop now...


glitter-graphics.com

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby asked me if I still wanted any chocolate pancake before he ate them 'coz there were only 2 or 3 left (just in case I wanted some, too). I'm grateful for his thoughtfulness.

2. Hubby wanted some homemade pizza, so I made it today (took me 2 hours in total 'coz I had to make the dough myself) and called hubby when it was done and I was SO happy to see his delighted face when he hurried home to eat the still-hot pizza.

3. Living in a small village means that hubby could go back home for lunch without having to spend too much time on the road.



4. Snow on electric cables (a few centimetres thick) - it looked like some kind of decoration for the cables.

5. A close friend of mine said that I'm rich in detecting my feelings and mapping them out.

6. A close friend asked me how I'd like to be supported during my battle with IF and for me that's one of the best things that someone can say to me when I pour out my heart about our IF battle.

7. Laughter and card games with MIL, hubby, BIL and his girlfriend. LOVE the friendly atmosphere filled with jokes. Never felt any tension whenever I'm with my Finnish family.



8. I've just finished writing a submission for a writing contest (R2 still needs to correct my grammar and spelling). It's the experience that counts - plus it means I've succeeded in forcing myself to write in Finnish about a certain topic for public again (well, at least for the judges).

9. The process of moving to our own house has been going well.

10. Free online scanlations of Japanese comics (with English text) to read. YYYEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!

11. Anticipating for our potluck lunch at a friend's house next Monday - three expats in Sodankylä will meet and babble HUA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

12. Made strawberry pie without a proper recipe, but it turned out that hubby LOVVEEEEDDD it so much ha ha ha...


glitter-graphics.com

Paperwork + Packing

Today we went to the bank again to sign SO much paperwork he he he...We were also offered home insurance and car insurance with a discount, but we'll have to compare the cost first with some other insurance places before we sign any deal to get the best quote. We're also offered MasterCard without any annual fee 'coz then that card offers travel insurance (whereas Visa doesn't), but we have to think about it first - I'm not going to apply for the card 'coz I don't even have any salary, but R2 might change his.



When I first saw the figures of the home and car insurance quotes, I was shocked...but after I divided it by 12, the cost per month isn't that high he he he...but this proves that there are really many other side fees when you own your own house versus when you just rent an apartment he he he...

This evening and this weekend we'll be moving stuff to the new house bit by bit. Our internet connection will be moved to the new house at the beginning of next month, so if we happen to move already next Saturday or Sunday, I can only get online on Monday. But then again we'll be so busy unpacking everything during the first few days we're there anyway he he he...

R2 still has to deal with some other type of paperwork that we have to get within 6 months before the whole paperwork deal is over. Phew! It's interesting, though, to know what kind of paperwork that one has to do to seal the deal here. I mean, I've never owned a house in my entire life, so I don't even know how it works in Indo he he he...here now I know a little bit about it and the extra costs that come up just to seal the deal - the notary fees, the bank fees, the fees to get other types of paperwork.

One thing that we didn't calculate was the number of windows there are in a house. After I counted them, I was thinking to myself, "Do we have to buy many more curtains?" But while packing things, I realized that R2 has already plenty of curtains of different patterns hi hi hi...and I KNEW they must've come from his Mom (there's NO way he'd buy spare curtains if he doesn't need any), so I did ask him about it and he confirmed what I knew already hi hi hi...THANK GOD for thoughtful Moms!!! That means we don't have to spend money for curtains in the near future - if we want to buy new ones, we can, but at least not in a hurry 'coz we've already spent so much money.


glitter-graphics.com

The other night I was thinking to myself, "Hey, now that we have some lawn, we can have a small barbecue party in summer. YIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" And yeah, I started daydreaming about the time when my parents and brother and family can come visit me, 'coz we'll have plenty of rooms for them he he he...

OK, enough rambling. I've been trying to think of participating in some writing contests, but first I need to find IDEAS on what to write!!!! I'll blog-hop later...

Self-Worth?

Yesterday I had a chat with an online friend whom I never met. He lives in Indonesia and he asked me if we had kids yet. I said no. He then said this, "I hope that you and your husband will have a kid soon so that your husband loves you more and life will become more perfect."

I then said to him, "If hubby doesn't love me more as time goes by (just because I haven't produced any heir for him), then it's outrageous!"

After all, we're supposed to love each other in sickness and in health, in good and bad times, right? What good is a marriage vow if the love between us is conditional? I'll love you more if you beget a child for me? That's insane! It should be "I'll love you more despite...", shouldn't it?

The conversation reminded me of an IF Discussion Guide that I read a while ago. Where does my self-worth come from? Is the fact that I'm not a mother yet decreases my self-worth? I don't think so, 'coz if that's the case then I'm doomed until the day I can call myself a mother. I refuse to think that way, thank you very much.

Anyway, just think for a moment that we lose everything that influences our self-worth: our work, our spouse, our children, our family, our pets even, our neighbours, everything. If we lose them all, do we still have our self-worth? What most influences our self-worth?

Psalm 139:14 states: ""I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows very well."

I admit it's still hard to know with all my heart and soul every day that my self-worth should come more from God than from other things on earth, but then again if I attach a huge amount of my self-worth to those immortal things on earth (which can change in the blink of an eye), then my self-worth is oh, so fragile. I'm learning to see myself from God's eyes and it's not easy....but the other option is far worse, so I'm going to stick to this lesson step by step.

Homes and Degress of Sentimentality

When we were in the process of moving to this current apartment last year (yep, in January 2009), I felt SOOOOOOOOO sentimental about leaving our old apartment. The reason was that it was the first apartment we lived in as a married couple. It was such a small apartment, but still it was filled with so many memories. (If I recall, someone once told me that you'll never forget the first place you live in with your spouse - was it you, M?)


glitter-graphics.com

When I left Bandung to live in Finland, I also felt sentimental 'coz I had, after all, lived in that city my entire life (28 years and 4 months) and I had to leave my beloved family and friends there - as well as my job. I remember on the way to the airport, I was escorted by so many people: my parents, my bro and his-then-girlfriend (now wife), two uncles and two aunts. I remember saying goodbye to the mountains surrounding Bandung 'coz I knew that Sodankylä landscape is much more flat and I'd miss the mountains.

I said goodbye to the familiar, to my safety zone, to embrace the unfamiliar. I remember crying while saying goodbye to everybody who escorted me and then bracing myself to face the unknown and telling myself that Bandung is my ex-home and starting from then my home is hubby.

Funny thing is that I just realized that while I'm in the process of moving to our new home now, I'm not as sentimental as those two occasions I just described. I don't know if that is caused by the fact that we're moving to our own house that will probably be the house we'll stay in forever (unless something else comes up and we have to move to a different place - though I prefer not to 'coz it's such a hassle to move) or because we've only stayed in this place for a year or maybe there are other reasons, too.

It obviously doesn't mean that we don't have many memories in this current apartment, 'coz there's no way you can live in a place for a year without having many memories, right? Or maybe it also has something to do with our TTC journey 'coz the year we have spent here has been rough in terms of our hope to have a baby due to the non-baby-situation and so maybe in a way I'm eager to "change scenery" and move on. So for me, this move is FAR easier than when we moved from our first apartment.


glitter-graphics.com
Anyway, I've always liked knowing why I feel a certain way. For me, just finding out the why "solves" half of the problem. It gives me a sense of direction, so the speak. Knowing why I feel a certain way enables me to get in touch with myself and to understand myself better. It's FUN to dig deeper and deeper into myself to find out every little detail and secret. ;-D

Yeah, now I'm rambling...too much coffee and staying up this late makes me ramble in my blog ha ha ha...better go to sleep now after publishing this post just in case tomorrow we have to move some more stuff to the house (we've started moving some boxes there already).

3BT: Random Days

1. Rubbing hubby's legs and feet with lotion when I noticed that he started scratching them due to itchiness. At the same time, I had the privilege of tickling his feet HUA HA HA HA HA HA...

2. Being squeezed SO tightly and yet SO tenderly by hubby makes me feel SO loved.

3. Seeing hubby's enthusiasm and smiles. He's a phlegmatic that tends not to show his feelings too clearly if you don't know him, so whenever enthusiasm strikes (which is rare), it makes me feel GOOD.

4. Hubby's warm embrace. I feel so safe whenever he holds me.



5. Chatting with MIL and telling her that I miss her - and reading the reply that she also misses me (in capital letters) HE HE HE HE HE...

6. Reading so many soothing, comforting, encouraging, enlightening, eye-opening blog posts. THANK GOD for internet!

7. Hubby's hands. I've just realized recently how much I LOVE his hands and their shape. :-D

8. Signing the house deed with hubby today. YAAAAYYY!!! (Side note: Next week we have to go to the bank to cash in the loan and pay the money to the ex-house owners)



9. Being able to understand the gist of what people are saying or what is written on the papers and being able to answer questions directed straight at me when I go to the bank and the notary office with hubby and when I go to the police station to move my residence permit to my new passport. 3 years ago I didn't know anything and now I feel like I'm not "deaf" anymore. :-D That's such a LIBERATING feeling.

10. Re-learning to be kind to myself despite everything (though sometimes I forget to do it, but I've been reminded to do it again).

11. My heart's burdens are lifted in bulks today, simply by reading encouraging blog posts from fellow IF-ers. I feel like I'm ON TOP OF THE WORLD even though my problems are still there. HALLELUJAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Praise the Lord!

Moving Again Soon!

Yep, we'll be moving again at the end of this month, so this is actually the shortest amount of time I've spent living in one place. We've only stayed here for one year. The longest time I've spent living in a house is in my parents' house in Bandung for 25 years he he...

We've decided to buy a house on credit. It made me feel at first kinda afraid 'coz the economical situation is so bad everywhere, but anyway we've calculated the cost and we'll be spending more or less the same amount of money we spend by renting this apartment. The only extra spending would be house renovation (which means we have to save money per month for this purpose just in case something happens in the future and we'll have to spend quite a sum of money to renovate something) - whereas when we live in rented apartments, we don't have to renovate anything 'coz if there's trouble we can always ask the company to fix it.

We have to sign the papers sometime this week (I think). On Monday we already went to the bank to sign in the loan papers. So we'll be rather busy this month and I'm EXCITED to move (I can tell that R2 is also SO excited). The house is old, but still it'll be our own house in the end he he he...It's got 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, 2 small toilets, 1 bathroom and a sauna plus a little yard (which is actually GREAT 'coz if we have a huge yard, we have to clean up the snow ourselves in winter and it'll be HARD work considering the length of winter we have up here).

We weren't really looking for a house to be honest, but then Arttu's relative wanted to sell their house and they asked if we wanted to buy it, so we decided to take that offer. So we've started packing bit by bit 'coz we can start moving some things there already 'coz they're after all our relatives he he he he he...

This is really like an unexpected blessing for us and I'm SO thankful for it!!! :-D :-D :-D


glitter-graphics.com

P.S. If you want to help brighten up someone's day and join in a good cause, there's a little project on the way that you can read by clicking the icon here:

Join In a Good Cause!

Click on the link for further info on how to brighten up someone's day:

Photos + A Short Convo

Yesterday went to visit R2's cousin and his 6-year-old daughter wanted me to play with her right away. When they visited us a few days ago, she asked me to play hide and seek in our place and when it was time to go home, she cried 'coz she wanted to keep playing hi hi...Anyway, here are some bits of our convo in between playing:

Her: How old are you? I'm 6 years old (holding up her fingers).
Me : 31 (holding up 10 fingers and explaining to her that it's three times that much plus 1)

She imitated me a few times, but I don't think she realized just how much older I am compared to her hi hi hi...After all, the last time we spoke last month, she asked me if I was a "big" girl or an adult (even though she herself pinpointed to me our wedding picture in her living room) he he he he he he...

Her: I'm a Finnish girl. What are you? English?
Me : No.
Her: Finnish?
Me : (laugh) No.
Her: Then what nationality are you???
Me : Indonesian.
Her: Really? But to me, you look Chinese.
Me : Well, I am Chinese, but I was born in Indonesia, so I'm Chinese-Indonesian.

Dang...it's SO hard to try to explain things to kids. You've gotta be really creative hi hi hi...And it's funny that now she seems to understand "races". When I first met her about 3 years ago, she didn't realize that I was different (she didn't stare at me like I was some sort of alien) and she didn't understand why I didn't speak at all (that I didn't speak Finnish to her).

Her: I have a picture of you and R2 on your wedding day. It was summer.
Me : Yes, well, in Indonesia it's always summer. There's no snow there.
Her: Really? No winter?
Me : Yes. (although on the peak of Jaya there is apparently still some snow, but it's just too hard for me to explain it to her, 'coz I don't think she realizes yet just how far away Indonesia is from Finland)

Okay, now some more photos from our Helsinki Trip:

1st pic: the train station.


2nd pic: Zooming in on the figures there. Brrr...they look cold, don't they? HI HI HI...


3rd pic: The newest shopping mall called Kamppi. At least I never heard about that when I went to Helsinki in 2004. All I knew back then was Stockmann.


4th pic: Love this clock. The writing on the clock means: "Helsingin Sanomat Office". Helsingin Sanomat is the national newspaper.

5th pic: LOVE this building, though dunno what it is ha ha ha...Helsinki people, care to enlighten me?


6th pic: A cartoonized pic of us in our hotel room. I'm just bored taking pics while we're sitting down nicely, so that was why we posed like that ha ha ha ha...

Helsinki vs Sodankylä

1. I found out that -26'C in DRY Sodankylä feels BETTER than -13'C in MORE MOIST Helsinki (esp. when it's windy, too). Why? Because in Helsinki it felt that the cold air just seeped inside my jackets straight into my bones. Even R2 said it was cold!!! So I'd rather have cold weather in Sodankylä 'coz at least the coldness stays "outside" your body provided that you have enough layers of clothing.

1st pic: There are some Christmas lights left in Helsinki.

2. One thing I forgot about the big cities is the travel time to go from one place to another (plus the cost to travel from one place to another). Here in Sodankylä whenever I have to go "downtown", it takes but a few minutes (either walking or by bike) he he he he...

3. LOVE the fact that there are so many bookstores in Helsinki with an incredible collection of books (including English books) HA HA HA HA HA...whereas in Sodankylä there's only ONE small bookstore. Ahem.

2nd pic: More Christmas lights downtown Helsinki.

4. In Helsinki, everywhere you hear English and different languages spoken daily, whereas in Sodankylä you'll hear mostly only Finnish. They're definitely two different worlds apart!

5. Went to two museums in Helsinki (Kiasma Art Museum and Tennispalatsi Museum). In Kiasma they displayed contemporary art and we felt that many of them were way too contemporary for us ha ha ha...but we were both SO impressed with one particular art form.

This art form is located in one corner of the huge display room. The corner is VERY dark and it's an L-shaped. So from outside, you can't see anything but a plaque stating the title of the art form, the artist, etc. Anyway, the title of the art is: Foam. Then you have to walk inside the L-shaped corner (which is REALLY dark - I had such an ominous feeling when I entered) and then about 2 metres ahead of you there's a huge screen. When I entered the site, the screen showed a round-like figure (which is actually a red balloon) and some foam (like when you've spread some foam to shave a guy) and then you notice someone starting to shave that round-like figure, but before you realize what it's about, the balloon pops out (obviously) with a LOUD bang! I was SO shocked ha ha ha ha ha...so I told R2 about it and told him to go see it. And he was also SHOCKED by the loud bang HI HI HI HI HI...

We both agreed that it was the best display in the whole museum, though we also like two others. The other one is a gorgeous picture which I can't describe (believe me, it's just GORGEOUS!) and the other one is a replica of a WAVE. It's SUPER cool! :-D

In Tennispalatsi Museum there are two displays, but we went only to one of them. It displayed mostly Russian paintings. I LOVE many of them, though I found that there were too many melancholic faces portrayed there. In some pics they look SO real (like photos instead of paintings) so that we had to get as close as a few centimetres away to find out whether they were paintings or photos HA HA HA HA HA HA...We just had to make sure!!! ;-D

3rd pic: Light display which changes colour every errr...few minutes or so?

6. We also went to watch Avatar 3D movie in Helsinki, but alas...something horrible happened. My eyes couldn't take them. The special effect of the movie was such (hard to explain, but those who've seen it must understand what I'm talking about) that 10 minutes into the movie, I started feeling dizzy and SUPER nauseous already! I had to shut my eyes for almost the rest of the movie (which was about 2,5 hours long, imagine that!) so that I wouldn't puke. Note: Even R2 said that in some scenes he felt a bit dizzy 'coz of the way the movie was made.

I wanted to go to the toilet to puke, but we were sitting in the middle of the row and I didn't want to bother other people. So the only trick I could do was just shut my eyes - the nausea subsided only after 45 minutes of doing this, can you imagine that? It felt like a HORRIBLE case of sea-sickness. Ugh!!!

I wonder if anybody has experienced something like this? Or am I just the weird one out?

7. What did I buy in Helsinki? One Finnish novel on a discount (only €2), one Finnish Exercise book, and some chocolate he he he he he...

4th pic: The Indian food we had at Tandoor Resto in Salomonkatu (near the Tennispalatsi Cinema). We had lunch buffet for €8.50 each - the red meat is chicken and that's the BEST thing ever! ;-D

OK, I'll blog-hop either later today or the day after today 'coz I'll be busy tomorrow. My new passport is done and the Indo Embassy employee even sent it to our hotel the same day, can you believe it? I'm REALLY impressed and thankful for their help! ;-D But tomorrow I have to go to the police station to move my residence permit to the new passport and I need to cook and clean up the apartment, as well.

3BT: Random Days

1. Asking hubby, "Have you EVER regretted marrying me?" and he said no HUE HE HE HE HE...

2. Being able to laugh while watching comedies - there was an occasion where I didn't feel like laughing while watching a comedy 'coz I was down and that occasion reminded me that to TRULY laugh your heart out while watching something funny (without a care in the world) is such a WONDERFUL thing. 



3. Seeing breathtaking sunsets that made me able to endure the cold weather 'coz the beauty was just something that I HAD to absorb with my own eyes 'coz that kind of beauty reminds me of God's greatness.

4. Getting more enlightenment by reading other people's blogs. It really helps me expand and stretch (and hopefully become better and better as a human being in general). :-)))

5. Discovering something that hubby had done in the past that he hadn't told me before. It's nice to find out more things about him. :-D

6. Something hubby said made me SO happy and touched - about that it's better to have a bigger main bedroom 'coz that then we can put the baby's crib in it. (Side note: NO, NO, it doesn't mean I'm pregnant yet, but it was the FIRST time I've ever heard him say something like this and it just filled my heart with such a warm, gooey feeling - also 'coz it means that it's fine to have a baby with us in the same bedroom). ;-D

7. Hubby has NEVER told me what to do. (I know I've written this down several times already, but I really must give him credit for this and it's one of the VITAL things for me 'coz I know how stubborn I am. If I'm paired with a "leader" type of a guy, there's gonna be TOTAL CHAOS from the beginning. I just want to cherish this side of hubby's personality. :-D)

8. Hubby's sensitivity towards my mood. He doesn't aggravate me when he senses that I'm feeling down and cranky (he doesn't get angry 'coz of it) and he tries to cheer me up.

9. Meeting a friend and talking to her for hours. It felt GREAT! ;-D

10. Walking to my friend's house when it was around -25'C outside (it took me around 25-30 minutes to walk to her place) and getting myself a natural shade of "mascara" as the result:

Weekend Fun

Haven't had time to do anything much today 'coz I went to visit my friend for hours ha ha ha ha ha...Here are some pics I took last Saturday:

To get a better view of the sky, here's a video clip I took despite the harsh temperature hi hi...

2010 Started with a Bang

Last night as we were about to fall asleep, we heard a LOUD BANG which was immediately followed by a rush of water. We were SO shocked. R2 jumped out of bed right away and ran to the bathroom. I followed him, though not as quickly. Warm water was streaming with full force from one of the hoses between the washing machine and the shower box. R2 grabbed a pail to try to make the water run more slowly while we tried to figure out the "stop" button/handle. He finally spotted it, but he had to use a screwdriver to turn it off.

This is what had happened to the hose:

We were thankful that this happened while we're still here (not while we're in Helsinki for example), though we had a bit of a hard time to go back to sleep 'coz we were afraid of something else happening. I do hope there's someone who can fix this problem for us today or at the latest tomorrow ('coz we're only apartment renters, so we can report this to the company that owns it) 'coz Wednesday is another public holiday here.

We didn't do anything much during New Year's Eve and New Year 'coz R2 had to be on-call. He even went to work for an hour or so on New Year's day. While waiting for the year to change, I had fun tweaking these photos he he he...

OK, time to blog-hop now...