3BT: Random Days

1. Had another invitation to have a free pap smear test at the local health centre about two months ago and the other week I received the result. Nothing wrong with me. YAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!! Funny that without the test, I wasn't even thinking about the possibility of having any problem down there, but I did get a bit anxious when I opened the result via snail mail.

2. I told hubby that on my free days, I prefer to wake up later and sleep late. He said, "Sleepyhead!"


I retorted, "But it's a good way to spend my free day, don't you think?"

He asked, "Well, in my opinion it's good to spend your free day by doing something that you can't do at work."

I replied, "Yes, I can't sleep at work, so that's one of the things I love doing on my free days. Sleeping in." (roaring with laughter)

Hubby laughed along with me and he couldn't argue back HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

3. Last night hubby went to bed earlier and when I was entering the bedroom, I realized that it was so silent (I suspected that hubby was awake, because otherwise I'd hear his snore) and the second thing I realized was a bad smell. Yep, hubby had farted prior to my coming inside the bedroom. That set me giggling and hubby turned around to hold me and I said, "Honey, this bedroom stinks. Did you fart?" He laughed along with me...Ah, the joys of fart! :-D 
 

Come Again?

Last Saturday we moved the clock one hour back, so we got a blissful one hour extra to sleep in he he he he he he...Yesterday it was horrible weather because the temperature had gone up above 0'C the whole day and night, so the snow was melting away so fast and it was so wet and yucky everywhere (like walking on slushy ice). Thankfully I had bought a pair of long-legged boots perfect for this type of weather, so I walked to work. 

When I arrived at work, a coworker asked me, "What time does your shift start?"

I replied, "Three."

She said, "Then why are you here already?"

I replied, "Come again?"

She said, "It's only two."

I checked my wristwatch and realized that I hadn't moved it an hour back. ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!! Well, at least I wasn't late HA HA HA HA HA...This reminds me that I have to be more careful in spring when we have to move the clock one hour ahead - otherwise I may be late to work!!! The reason why I was more focused on my wristwatch instead of my clock or mobile phone clock was that I had set my wristwatch a few minutes ahead of time to make sure that I would never be late to work he he...Oh well, lesson learned! This was actually the second time I was ever too early to work (thank GOD I've never been late, though!). The first time it happened about a year or two ago, I had remembered the wrong time for the start of my shift he he...

Anyway, can't wait for the next batch of snow to cover up the ground again (hopefully this time they stay and they won't melt until spring!!!).  
 

glitter-graphics.com

3BT: Random Days

1. Me: "How much do you love me?"
Hubby: "Too much."
Me: HUGE SMILE + HEART melting. :-D

2. Winter Wonderland is finally here, though that doesn't mean that the snow won't melt and refreeze, but at least I've been enjoying the view so much because of all the white snow. :-D

3. An old customer (a retired guy) said, "If only I still had my own business, I'd hire you right away." This sentence made me thank him, laugh, and it also made the customer behind him smile (which made me smile even wider). BLESS HIM!!! :-D

4. About a month ago I was tempted to buy this cute little jacket for my brother's second son, but even after the discount I still thought it was a bit too expensive. Last week the shop put up a sign saying that they had put bigger discounts on them, so I went in there to check it out and they still had two of the jackets that I was interested in buying and guess what? It was only one third of the price that I saw, so I grabbed it right away and paid for it. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!! :-D SO HAPPY to find superb bargains! :-D

5. It snowed for hours on end on Friday and here are two pictures I took. The second picture was taken two hours later.

6. Today the temperature was 1'C and it had been snowing again during the morning, so I went out to clean up the snow and hubby helped, so I went to make this happy-go-lucky snowman he he...:-D "Oh, what fun it was to make this snowman in the yaaarrrrddd!" LOL LOL!!!

Childhood Memories: French Baguette

One of the memorable treats that we got when we were children was the long French baguettes. At that period of life in my hometown, it was quite a rarity. At that time kids were still playing folk games with their friends and computers were unheard of. Plenty of my neighbours didn't have any fridge yet. There were no big malls, just small private owned stores selling daily needs and snacks and goodies. It was a very different period of life.
 
At that time there was this HUGE supermarket in Dago Street catering to expats and rich people in Bandung. Well, the place looked especially huge for small children with short legs, though if I compare them to the huge malls all over that city nowadays, it's not that huge after all. 

Anyway, this particular supermarket sold plenty of exquisite goods at a rather high price and at the back of it there was a bakery. The bakery sold lots of things, but we only went there to buy French baguettes and some ham or sausage. The ham and sausage were so delicious when eaten with the freshly baked baguette, but we knew they cost a lot of money, so it was a rare treat and we enjoyed every bite of it. :-D


Until now I still remember clearly coming home on a motorcycle behind Dad while holding the French baguette in my hand tightly while the neighbours' children looked at the long bread in awe, because it wasn't something that you could find everywhere. I remember feeling as though I was holding a Light Sabre in my hand HA HA HA HA...I don't know if the supermarket is still there now or not. The last time I was there years and years ago, I think the supermarket chain has changed owner or something (my memory is getting blurry), but don't know what happens to it now. 

Do you have any special childhood treat that you remember fondly? 
 

Joke of the Day: S

Yesterday I brought back the bird feeder from the garden to refill it, but on the short walk into the house, I managed to drop the small plastic hook to hang it on the clothing line. I searched everywhere but it was to no avail. It was hard to try to find it in the garden because there were lots of green leaves still on the ground, so I asked R2 for help.

Me: (panicking) "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I lost the hook of the bird feeder! Do you have anything to replace it with?"
R2: "Let me try to find it. What kind of hook is it?"
Me: "It's made of plastic, green in colour, and it is shaped like an S, but it was impossible to find it outside."
R2: "Okay, let me go look for the ass then." (Yep, he did pronounced it ass instead of "S")
Me: (laughing out loud) "You're crazy!!!" 

He went outside to look for it, but he couldn't find it, either. I told him that it was WAY too small to find, so he went to the shed and found a bigger hook made of some kind of wire, so today I can hang the bird feeder again. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!! R2 has saved the day by finding a better "ass-shaped" hook for me HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

Cabin Trip: Rainbow, Crecent, Gorgeous Sunset

I haven't been blogging here 'coz I've been busy with work and I haven't really got any inspiration to write ha ha...yesterday we were planning to go to the cabin but I wasn't too sure if we were going or not 'coz it depended on whether or not R2 had to work late. Thankfully he didn't have to stay too long at work he he...so we went shopping for food and drinks first before we went there. It was raining when we arrived at around 4 pm, but we got to enjoy a rainbow!!! WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!! The temperature was around 5'C at that time. 

Here are two rainbow pics (I wanted to take a video but it was raining pretty hard at that time so my lens got wet):

Luckily about an hour later, the dark clouds went away and I saw a lovely crescent in the sky. I took some pics as the sun was setting, but the sky became even more gorgeous after the sun had gone below the horizon. Pink, orange...that was just SO breathtaking. And it wasn't too cold to stay outside to enjoy all of it he he he...I ran back inside to get my camera and take a short video clip 'coz there's no way a photo can capture the beauty of it all. 

Here's the crescent photo:

Sunset photo:

Gorgeous flaming sky photo:

Gorgeous sky video clip: 


We really enjoyed our cabin trip this time 'coz we got to be there early, so we had plenty of time to do anything. We warmed up the sauna, listened to the radio, laughed together, and just enjoyed being surrounded by nature. I even saw a few swans far far away from me, but my camera couldn't capture them clearly 'coz they were just too far away. How I wished I had a crazy zoom for my camera ha ha ha ha...but anyway, we were treated with so many beautiful views already, so no complaints there! LOL!!!

Here's one photo of the swans far awayyyyyyy from me:

Weekend Update

1. Hubby had a game night with his coworkers last night and I had an evening shift, so we couldn't meet, but he left me a lovely Post-It message. Not only that, he remembered to send me a good night SMS in between partying with his coworkers. PLUUUUUSSS when I woke up this morning, I found out that he had bought me a hamburger in the early morning at the kiosk and he left me a note to tell me about it (in case I woke up before he did). My heart just meltsssss he he he...


2. There's a piece of rather sad news about one of my regular customers. I've written a few times about a cute little girl who has taken a liking to me over the course of my working years in my current job. Anyway, the daddy came over the other day and he said that they were moving somewhere else, so he informed me just in case it was the last time we'd meet again.

I was too shocked to comment too much and there were other customers waiting in line already, so we couldn't chit-chat too long, but I'm sure gonna miss them. Mind you, I don't really "know" them. I only know the parents' names and the little girl's name and sometimes I buy her and her little sister some chocolate, but I still felt touched that he made sure to tell me about it. I still hope that they'd come back here every once in a while and that we'd meet again, though (because the grandparents live here). We shall see about that...

3. The grandpa who asked me to translate his book came over today and he bought me some flowers again!!!! BLESS HIIIIIMMMMMM!!!!! (Trying to think of any gift idea to give him on Christmas hmmmm...) :-D :-D :-D Ahhhhh...the perks of having a job like this he he he...


4. I've been enjoying the new tasks given to me at work. Funny thing was that before I knew that I was going to be given the new tasks, I had been feeling rather "stumped" already at work. I didn't want to go up in rank, but I wanted to do something else, as well. And boom...the new position (not a higher rank) with new tasks filled the need very well, even though in the beginning I was VERY nervous about whether or not I was capable enough to fulfill them. THANK YOU, Lord, for knowing my needs even before I knew what to ask!!! 

5. The other day I saw aurora borealis again thanks to my friend's message through my FB wall he he he...The temperature was only about 2-5'C. What I saw wasn't nearly as lovely as what you can see in this page: Aurora Borealis, because it was rather cloudy here in Sodankylä at that time plus I didn't wait for hours outside. Plus there were lots of street lamps all around us and they were really bothering me from enjoying the auroras fully. I really wished I had had a button where I could switch off all the neighbouring street lamps for half an hour, you know? HE HE HE HE HE...but anyway, click on the link to enjoy the BRILLIANT photos!!!

Bittersweet Tears

Before I share the post, I'd like to add a note first...this post below was posted in my IF blog, but I want to share this beautiful moment here. If anyone of you wonders why I keep writing about my IF journey and why infertility is still an important part of my life even though we've moved on and we've surrendered to life without kids, let me sum it up this way: it's like the opposite of parenting.

When you're a parent (and I'm talking about parents who're involved in their kids' lives), you're bound to think about your kids and their lives, their friends, etc. And your life's peppered with parenting thoughts and joy and problems in your kids' lives as well and their life events. Infertility is that way, too. It changes my life in ways that the arrival of kids change the life of parents. My life is peppered with infertility-related thoughts and I choose it that way. I want to learn whatever I can learn from infertility. I want to learn about my pain triggers and I want to embrace them and hug them and make them feel better. If I'm incapable of doing that, then I'll pray to God to help me heal. Mind you, this post for me isn't a sad one, but a happy one. So rejoice with me, will you? :-D

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The other day I think I had my first experience of crying with so much gratitude that my heart felt like it was going to burst mixed with some grief over the losses of a life as a non-mother. It was bittersweet. The tears didn't run too long, but it was cleansing. :-)


The triggers? 

The gratitude came from hearing positive feedback about myself from different people including from MIL. I was SO touched and thankful to be able to hear those words, but at the same time I realized how much more they meant to me because I'm not a mother. Only after I heard the words did I realize that I had actually been waiting for some confirmation that I was doing something right as a non-mom. Like I was secretly wishing that the universe would give me signs that what I was doing in the community was enough even if I could never become a mother.

The grief came much later that day while I was reading a manga series that dealt with cute little twins (a boy and a girl) that I had subscribed to (I had been reading it since ages ago and it's still not finished yet). Reading about their antics and how they grew not just in size but also in many different areas in life made me feel sad because I could never watch my own child(ren) grow. And that was when I remembered the positive feedback from all those people which counterbalanced my grief. It felt surreal. 

It was probably the first time when I cried tears of grief that didn't weigh upon my chest. Instead, the feeling of gratitude gave the grief some wings...After they held me in their embrace for a little while, off they flew, leaving me sighing contentedly.