Pure Alexia

Remember the book on sale that I bought a while back? Well, the English title is The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks. It's a fascinating book full of real life stories of people who've suffered from different health problems. I haven't finished reading yet, but what I've read so far really fascinates me and it's about pure alexia. Click on the link to read more information on it, but basically speaking, Oliver has met some patients who have lost the ability to read letter and/or musical notes and/or the ability to recognize daily items, yet they still retain their ability to write (although they're not able to read what they've written).

They have found ways to navigate life with their disabilities. It's heartbreaking to read one story where the woman's condition gets worse as time goes by despite her best efforts to navigate life with her disabilities, but in another story it's truly encouraging to read how another woman manages to live a full life despite her disabilities. In fact, she even manages to use her experience to help out similar patients deal with their challenges. It's fascinating to read how a musician who has lost the ability to read musical notes can rely on her/his muscle memory and his/her ears to play a piece of music. It's heartwarming to read how other people around the patient have helped them navigate life.


But seriously, imagine for a while that you've lost the ability to recognize daily items. You go to a supermarket and then suddenly you realize you can't read the labels anymore and you can't even be sure if what you're looking at is an apple or an orange. You pick up the newspaper and you feel that what you see is written in Martian language. How would you feel? What would you do? 

All in all, even though I haven't finished reading the book, I HIGHLY recommend it. 

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby found himself in an old video (he only appeared for a few seconds), but it was great fun for me to watch his younger self (thinner with more hair LOL!) in the video he he...

2. My period finally arrived before my summer holiday officially started, so that means I'll be period-free on my summer holiday. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!

3. I didn't have to cook today as hubby had promised to buy some pizza. :-D

4. Went to a bookstore on a (rare) sunny day, found an acquaintance from Indo visiting this place, had a nice chit-chat with him, then I found a very interesting book on a discount (only €2).

5. I was looking for some dance songs to do some exercise at home and then I found this. And yes, I did follow the movements and had a blast HA HA HA HA HA HA...



6. And yes, you've guessed correctly! I did try out the other videos as well (some can be pretty tough for me, but still I had fun trying them out and I got really sweaty LOL!!!). These videos are great for a change compared to other exercise videos he he...

7. Watching funniest moments in Family Feud show in youtube. Some of the answers are hilarious! 

3BT: Random Days

1. A mistake in reading turned into a funny episode at work. 

What was supposed to be "täytetty pasta" (stuffed pasta), I accidentally read "täytetty paska" (stuffed shit). I was reading it way too quickly, but it made me (and other people) laugh he he...

2. Playing Town of Salem in FB, invited by hubby and laughing out loud when playing it together. One time he managed to kill me and trick me. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

3. Waiting for another book to come (another one from my wishlist), courtesy of Bookdepository again, because they offered me another great deal, so naturally I couldn't resist he he he he...What I love about the site is that I don't have to pay for postage and they always deliver pretty fast. Plus they give me (free) cute bookmarks. :-D



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4. I believe I've married a genius. He has made me laugh many times over even when he's not trying. And he always has the ability to calm me down in ways that I had never seen anyone do. If I thought I picked the right guy to marry over 8 years ago, I had no idea just how right my choice was! Oh, and it was a privilege to be able to tell him all this face-to-face. :-D

5. Being alive still and being able to spend time with hubby.

6. Buying Father's Day's cake on a discount because I went to the store an hour before it was closed down the day before Father's Day and claiming the cake to be our anniversary cake (our anniversary was 6 days before Father's Day in Finland and because the both of us have no fathers left, I changed the cake's title HA HA HA HA HA HA...).



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7. Ordering a bike bag online and then realizing that one zipper was broken and that it was much too small for my taste, so I reported it and got my refund pretty quickly. It was nice doing business with that site.

8. Ordering another bike bag from another site and it finally came right before the old bag broke down. It's a little bit smaller than the old one, but much better than the small one with the broken zipper.

9. Deciding to make my own Christmas cards this year (something out of character for me because I'm not a handicraft lover) and finding some great deals on craft packages to make them. Oh, and it's finally Winter Wonderland here! The temperature went up a while back, making all the snow melt away and now we have fresh snow all over. YEAAAAAHHHHHHH! :-D


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Healing Step-by-Step

The other day I was talking to someone and at the end of our conversation online, she said that she hoped that me and my husband would stay heart-to-heart and hand-in-hand until we became grandma and grandpa. It's very common for people in Indo to say something like this.

I replied, "Thanks for your wish, but because we don't have kids, we'll never become grandma and grandpa. We'll just become old honeymooners HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..." ;-D

She replied, "Oh dear goodnessss..." ;-D

Yep, I was in a naughty mood at that time ha ha ha...and no, I didn't feel any pain or grief at all when I wrote my reply he he...I LOVE these light-hearted moments! :-D

 

I think sense of humour is vital in life and I feel that I'm progressing more in my healing journey when I'm able to make jokes about our circumstances. Humour has definitely helped our marriage in so many ways. 

Speaking of humour, I'm reading a book called Bad Karma which is pretty funny he he he...The writer is a man and the main character is a woman who's been turned into an ant because of her bad karma. I bought the book in Finnish, so it's taking a bit more time to read it than reading an English book, but so far it's been pretty entertaining. I've just started reading about her adventures in being an ant he he he he he...

To be honest, I'm simultaneously reading several books at the moment ha ha ha...I'm such a sporadic reader indeed. :-D


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3BT: Random Days

1. This year I've finally managed to return the favor to someone who generously helped me years back. It feels good to finally have a chance to show my appreciation to that person. WOOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!

2. Receiving these lovely belated birthday gifts from MIL. I was SOOOOOO touched when I got them yesterday. The one written in Finnish means: "Thank you for listening and caring, for giving and sharing, and for being always near." And she especially chose the blue angel because she knows that blue is my fave colour. BLESS HER!!! She's an angel herself!

3. The excitement of waiting for some Christmas gifts to arrive. I've ordered myself a book ha ha ha a ha...Who says you can only give somebody else a gift? LOL!!!

4. Coming back home from work at night and realizing that hubby had put up some Christmas lights here and there (no Christmas tree, just the lights). It certainly created a more festive atmosphere amidst the whiteness of the snow and the darkness of winter! LOVE it! :-D

5. In the beginning MIL was supposed to be away during Christmas, but the plan was cancelled. I feel bad that the plan was cancelled, but I'm glad that we'll have MIL with us again on Christmas. Christmas without her feels weird. 

6. Today I managed to spook hubby when he came back home from work. Because it was so dark outside already, it was easy for me to hide behind the front door (actually I crouched next to it) and then jumped at him BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH...:-D

7. Reading this inspiring list: 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do.   

8. Watching this video clip below:

3BT: Random Days

1. Writing this note for hubby (I had an evening shift that day): "Just eat me all up 'coz your wife is going to cook something else tomorrow, OK? Signed: The Slaughtered Lamb. :-D" ---> I had cooked some lamb the day before and there was some left in the fridge, but I knew that he would be worried whether he should eat it all up or leave me a little piece of it, so I stuck the note on top of the box containing the lamb meat. I'm glad to know the note made him smile. :-D Hubby, you INSPIRE me!

2. Had a brilliant idea to trick hubby again on Christmas. ROFL ROFL!!! I'll write about it later on after Christmas if it works!!! I'm just SOOOOO excited!!!



3. Bro told me he woke up earlier specially on my birthday to say a prayer for me. My heart melted!!!

4. My Mom sent me a bday SMS and she also sent prayers. THANKS A LOT, Mom!

5. My closest friends send me birthday greetings and them really touched me deeply and one of them made me laugh by writing down how we first met. :-D More mushy mushy feelings...

6. Watching the frozen snowflakes on my bike saddle and bag when the temperature outside was about -20'C. Amazing artwork!!!


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7. Falling in love with characters in books/stories/movies...ahhhhh...I know they're not real, but there are just so many unreal things that are so adorable he he...