Saying Goodbye

Reaching the end of an engaging story feels like saying goodbye to very dear, beloved friends. This is especially true when it comes to watching or reading a series. You've invested time and energy into the characters and you're dying to know the ending, but at the same time you're also reluctant to say goodbye to your beloved friends. After all, you've cried and laughed with them and they're your own fictional best friends. You've grown to love them over time. You've grown to know them so well and you want the best for them. You may even be able to quote their words or mimic their voices. You may even say this randomly in your daily life, "Ah, so-and-so would have reacted this way to this incident."

I remember several times in life I had to hold back and slow down when I knew I was nearing the end of the story. It was bittersweet. When I finally read the last words, I sighed in agony and either pleasure or sadness (the latter was reserved for sad endings). It wasn't easy to say goodbye to my beloved fictional friends. When it came to stories with sad endings, if I felt like the writer had done some injustice, I'd internally reject the endings. I would then do my best to try to forget the actual endings and make up my own endings. I can, though, accept some sad endings if I feel that it's justifiable enough. 

I don't necessarily like open endings in general, but there are exceptions. I like the fact that open endings allow the readers to continue the story without having to disregard an actual ending. However, sometimes I feel that I am left hanging off a cliff and I can't see anything down below or around me since everywhere is covered by some thick fog. There's this thirst for more resolution that sometimes occurs when I reach an open ending. When it happens, I feel like asking the writer, "Why do you leave me hanging here?"

How about you? What are your experiences on reading/watching engaging stories? Would you share some with me?

Writing Challenge: I Kid You Not

I love online silly quizzes and long, serious quizzes. Back at uni days when internet started to be the hot stuff in my hometown, a group of friends and I used to take short, silly quizzes. One of them was "Who's Your Celebrity Match?".

Each of us eagerly did it, wishing to be matched with a cool male celebrity. I remember that one of the questions was about the kind of male underpants that we thought was hot. Funny how it was the only thing that stuck in my mind. I don't remember the other questions at all. Har har...

One friend got Brad Pitt and the others got pretty good matches. And yes, we were all jealous of the one who was matched with Brad, because the others weren't as cool.

Oh, wait, you want to know my result? Well, let me just tell you that his name starts with an F and ends with an O. A five-letter word that makes up his first name. His face is famous for gracing hundreds of romance novel covers back in the 1980s and 1990s.

Yep, you can imagine how much my friends had a laugh at my result. And I did try the test again, altering one or two answers, but the result was still the same. No kidding.


glitter-graphics.com
P.S. For those who're still confused about who it is, click here to find out the answer.  

3BT: Random Days

1. Playing "Poker Face" game with hubby while playing cards with MIL (it wasn't planned, just made up right then and there). The point of the game is to keep a poker face while the other party makes faces to make you smile or laugh. Dang it was SO hard to keep a poker face that we ended up laughing like crazy over and over again. SO MUCH FUN!!! :-D

2. A grandma gave me a bar of chocolate at work. BLESS HER! And it wasn't even the first time for her to do that. :-) I shared the chocolate with hubby at home he he he...


3. We've booked the tickets to go to Indo via Singapore on our summer holiday, so we're spending some days in Singapore as well in between flying to my hometown and flying back to Finland. And we've also booked the hotels in Singapore YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!! :-D

4. I've contacted a few friends who live in Singapore and they've told me that they want to meet up, so I hope there's no hindrance for us to meet. EXCITING!!!!!!!! :-D

5. More feeling of freedom as I get less afraid of disappointing people when I feel that they have high expectations of me or when I feel that they expect something from me that I just can't give (something I just realized lately).


glitter-graphics.com
6. The sidewalk is now clear of sand and gravel. That means I can ride my bike at full speed again WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

7. Having lovely and fun coworkers who treat me (the only expat in the group) like one of them. I hope we can work together for a LOOOONNNGGG time. :-D

8. Listening to this soothing and comforting song. Death is not the end. We will meet again in heaven...


9. Laughing so much at these photos ha ha ha ha...I'm trying to imagine the amount of time and effort it took to match the characters with the cats ha ha ha...As a cat lover and a fan of Game of Thrones, I think whoever it is has done a great job at it. :-D

 Game of Thrones: Cat Edition

3BT: Random Days

1. Me: "I want my Mother's Day caaaaakkkkeeeee!" (a joke based on Creepshow movie where the dead guy demanded to get his Father's Day cake)
R2: "But you're not a mother."
Me: "Awwww shucks...that hurts..."
R2: "That means you can have your cake every day."
Me: "OOOOOOOOOOOHHHH BRILLIANT idea! I LOVE IT!" :-D

P.S. The words "you're not a mother" didn't hurt me at all. :-D WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!

2. I broke my beloved big mug by accident (that I got for free from a flea market owner), was sad for a few days, then went to one of the flea markets here and found a replacement. It was a little bigger and it only cost €2. Here's a pic of it. YEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!

3. Being in touch with some new friends via FB. :-D

4. Getting an additional work shift on Sunday due to a coworker being sick. It's nice every now and then because it means getting double per hour. :-D

5. Saying the EXACT same word with hubby at the exact same time while watching a movie.

6. A brilliant ninja fight scene at the cliffs in G.I. Joe movie. 
 

35th Birthday

Today is my 35th birthday. When I woke up, I was greeted by the gorgeous pink sky outside as the sun was starting to rise (yeah, I woke up late because today was my free day LOL!!!). 


glitter-graphics.com
Today I just want to be thankful for these things:

- For this breath that I still have. The gift of life. 

- My husband. When I was preparing to marry him, I thought that I was sure that he was the one for me. What I knew then deep down in my heart versus what I know now shows me that my choice was right - my faith in us back then was blind, but now I've seen the proofs and what I see is far more beautiful than what I could have known then. The longer I live with him, the surer I am that he is definitely the one for me and the more thankful I am to have him by my side. Just by being himself, he makes me feel like I'm the best version of myself. He helps me be the best version of myself. And it helps a lot to be accepted and loved just the way I am - even when I'm cranky, even when I make mistakes, even when I'm obsessed with some things, even when I'm having my PMS. 

Honey, marrying you is one of the BEST decisions ever in my entire life. Each day spent with you is a day full of fun, laughter, love, and tenderness. I just hope and pray that God will keep us hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart until death do us part - and I hope that He will give us plenty of time together still on earth because I want to grow old and I want to grow together with you. I cherish you and I still want you even after all these years.

- My parents. For letting me make my own mistakes, for trusting me to make my own decisions, for never nagging me to come visit, for never making me feel guilty for anything (either deliberately or not), for loving me without choking the life out of me, for letting me be my own person and letting me choose my own path.

- My mother-in-law. Thank you for accepting me into the family with such warmth and love, for teaching me things tenderly and patiently, for never criticizing me, for supporting me and for your constant appreciation. I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law.

- Friends - old ones, new ones, online friends. I'd especially like to thank my blogger friends and new online friends here. Even though most of us have never met, but you've supported me and showed me your love and compassion and I'm very thankful for that. And all the friends I've met either online or in real life have taught me so many things and inspired me in many different ways.

- My boss and coworkers. Thankful that I'm accepted in the team without being treated differently, that I still have a job despite the tough economy. 

- My kind customers. I've talked to some people about this and they all confirmed that there are so many nice and kind customers here in this village and I'm thankful for that. When I first started work, I made so many mistakes, but none of them said anything harsh to me. They reminded me of my mistakes tenderly and over time they've forgiven my other mistakes and they have also shown appreciation towards me and I'm forever grateful for that. 

- Infertility. Infertility has taught me so many things that I wouldn't have learned otherwise and it has also allowed me to meet so many lovely ladies that I wouldn't have met otherwise. I'm thankful for the many lessons and the gift of new friends that infertility brings. 


glitter-graphics.com
OK, now I've finished the list, so it's time to enjoy my mud cake topped with berries. :-D 

Birthday Treat

Today is my bro's birthday and it reminded me of birthday treats (esp. for those over 18 years old). In Indo, it's common for the birthday boy/girl to treat others on their special day. I remember that when I was at the uni (I had been tutoring kids in my spare time so I had some savings), I asked some of my close friends to go to Pizza Hut to eat together on my birthday. My treat. 


FYI: For younger kids, it's common for the parents to pay for everything. I remember when I was in Junior High School (my allowance wasn't enough to treat my friends at a resto), I invited a few friends to our house and my Mom cooked all the food and ordered a cake and we just had fun eating and talking there. :-D



glitter-graphics.com  
One close friend then moved to USA and she started working there. On her birthday, she brought a cake to her workplace. Her boss said to her, "Poor you! Why did you bring a cake on YOUR birthday? We're the ones who're supposed to treat you on your special day."

She was stunned. She had no idea that it's not common for people there to treat others on their birthdays. In fact, it's very common for your friends to chip in some money and pay for your dinner at your fave restaurant. 

Another friend moved to USA, but he wants to keep the Indonesian birthday treat tradition, so the American friends were so happy to be treated by this guy on his last birthday ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...

What's the custom like in your country when it comes to birthday treats?

P.S. I'm not really big on birthdays. With my family, usually we just either dined out in a restaurant or ordered some food to eat together at home and we'd also order a cake from a deli. :-D Here in Finland oftentimes MIL buys me a cake and we'd eat it together. :-D 

On Unfulfilled Potentials

(Nothing much going on and I'm lacking in inspiration, so here's a post I wrote in my IF blog he he...)

 

Was talking to my closest friends about different topics and we ended up talking about unfulfilled potentials. One friend said that when she saw great pianists, she always wondered what would have happened if she had been more focused on learning the piano when she was younger. She said that as she grew older, in a way it got a little tougher to accept the fact that she may not be fulfilling her potential as a pianist because she had less and less time to reach that dream. In the past if she saw great pianists, she felt more inspired and encouraged to follow that dream because it seemed that there was still ample time to do so. However, she also said that hopefully as she grew older, she would be wiser to accept the facts about unfulfilled potentials in any area of life. 

 

I suddenly started thinking about infertility and motherhood. I told her that for me, motherhood was similar to her pianist dream. I don't actually know for sure how much "potential" I have to be a mother, but it was a dream I had for a certain period of time.

 

In my simplistic mind, when talking about unfulfilled potentials, you'd either have to do something about it or let it go. Letting it go also means accepting the fact that at the end of the day, maybe you'll only have fulfilled your potential until P instead of Z. In another life (so to speak), you may have made different choices and you may be able to fulfill that particular potential fully (or in a higher level than this life), but we've only got one life to live, so that's that. And we'll never know for sure anyway if in another life we'll be able to reach that potential more fully.

 

In my family, my brother is the more musical one. He took organ lessons when he was younger and the teacher said he was talented. He was in the course for years and then he stopped for a while, then continued it again for a while and for a period of time, my Mom was feeling sad because she felt that he could do more with his musical talents. Then when he was at the uni, he picked up the guitar and bass guitar and nowadays he plays bass guitar at church. In another life, he may be able to perform in stages or produce music by himself. Who knows? But this is his only life and he's made choices and he loves playing guitar/bass guitar at church. 

 

When speaking about possibilities and unfulfilled potentials, there are too many unknown factors. R2 and I have made our choices and we have to live with it. In another life, we may be trying out something else at the moment, but in this life, I'm content to be where I am - even though every now and then I'm reminded of "my unfulfilled potential" that may be painful, but I'm THANKFUL for the lessons that IF has brought, because through IF I'm given a chance to learn more:

 

1. How to love myself despite myself.

2. That God's grace is enough.

3. More than ever before I know that God understands my pains and He cares, even though I've yelled at Him and accused Him of being unjust. 

4. That I've married the right guy.

5. The painful lesson of letting go and letting God.

 

glitter-graphics.com

3BT: Random Days

1. Reading this sweet post-it note that hubby left on the inside part of our front door:  

2. Just realized it the other day that I'm already halfway down till my retirement age. :-D

3. Having been diligent enough to force myself to keep on translating the Finnish book no matter how hard it is. This story I'm currently translating is definitely tougher than the previous ones!

4. Knowing that my friends and family members are safe despite the demonstrations going on in different cities in Indo due to the fact that the government will raise the prices of gasoline.

5. MIL came for a visit and we had a nice, long talk about many things, including funny stories about her cows. :-D


6. She could even explain to me one particular word that nobody else knew (I had asked around to other Finnish people in Facebook) hat I found in the book I had to translate. YEAHHHH!!!!

Why I Blog

Read a post on this topic on some blogs and it reminded me of my own reasons to blog. When I first moved to Finland, before I learnt the language properly, I was lonely. The full-time Finnish course started about 8 or 9 months after I moved to Finland, so before then I had so much time on my own. In the beginning it was okay (I'm not a people person) and I spent time learning to cook and bake and trying out different recipes. After some time had passed, though, I felt like my brain was about to explode!!!

There were SO many things I wanted to discuss and share with other human beings than hubby. I still didn't have enough ability to discuss these things with MIL (bless her!), so I started blogging and tried to find friends. I just wanted to have "normal conversations" with other adults. I wanted to learn from them, I wanted feedback, I wanted them to hear me out and I wanted to give feedback, too. I visited so many blogs and left many comments here and there in the hope that some of them would feel some connection with me and be my blogger friend.

My closest friends were only an email away, but they couldn't cope with the amount of info nor details that I shared with them (just look at how many blog posts I've produced back in 2007 and 2008 and you can imagine how many SUPER LONG emails I wrote them). After all, each of them has so many other things to do in life than read and reply my emails. Thus another big reason to blog.

After some time, though, the blog provided more than just online friends. It is also a good outlet to try to make sense of what I feel. It's also a good diary to jot down what I've been doing and what I want to achieve and what I've learnt along the ways so that if I ever forget, I can just go back and reread the posts. And boy what a journey it's been!!! :-D

Once we both fell into IF (infertile) category, I also started a separate blog, because I don't think that the readers of this blog want to read posts connected to infertility, but I do need that blog mostly for my own personal diary. I need to pour out my feelings - not only to understand what trigger them or why I feel a certain way, but also to let them all out "in the big vast universe" and then leave them be. I hope that by writing them out, I don't have to carry them on my back anymore. I also need that particular blog to know how far I've gone or where I'm standing in my IF journey and hope that whoever finds it would feel what I felt when I found other IFers' blogs - that I'm not crazy with all the chaotic feelings churning inside me.

I've deleted one Finnish blog 'coz I haven't updated it in a LONG LONG time. Although there's another blog that's half-Finnish half-English that I haven't updated in a LONG time, I'm not going to delete it 'coz some people may need it 'coz I've written my experience when taking YKI testi (Finnish National Test), so I'll just let it be.

P.S. I never really felt like I'm that much into details until a close friend pointed it out in an email that I wrote about my Indo friends' visit to our place. A visited B and then they both came to visit me last year. The story that A wrote us (about what activities A had done in B's place) was much more succinct than the story I wrote about their visit to my place. So from then on I realize that I am crazy about details HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...

P.P.S. I've tried reducing the amount of words I use in my emails to my closest friends, mind you...and these days whenever I want to write in such great detail about something, I'd rather do it in my blog than bombard them with my long emails. If they want to read the story in details, I'll just send them my blog post link. This is another lovely reason why I blog - I can write as long as I want to without feeling like I'm bombarding someone else's space. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. Tickling hubby's bald patch and then scratching it and hearing him sigh in relief HI HI...

2. A regular customer asked, "Why do you always look happy?" ---> GLAD to know he thinks that way, he notices it, and he mentioned it to me. :-D

3. I managed to control myself during a certain occasion after having been forced to do a drastic measure.

4. I was taking out three shopping carts out of the store when a customer who was about to come in offered me some help, though I didn't ask for any help. Thankful for this person's helpful spirit!

glitter-graphics.com

5. Having an opportunity to make a snowman and having fun making it.

6. Yesterday the thoughtful grandpa who had given me flowers a few times already in the past gave me a pot of pointsettia. BLESS HIM!!!

7. The store I'm working for has been getting more and more customers near Christmas (I think even more than last year's busy season), so I'm happy to know that business is going well.

8. This conversation with a coworker:

Cw: So, how are you going to spend your Christmas?
Me: Nothing much. Just spending time with my MIL.
Cw: (grimacing in sympathy) Oh...
Me: (quickly correcting her) NO NO NO NO NO...it's actually REALLY nice to spend time with her!
Cw: Oh, so you have a nice MIL.
Me: Not just nice, but she's like my own mother.
Cw: (relieved) Ahhhhh, I see...

The convo made me feel that she had heard too many bad stories about in-laws and thankful to have such a MIL.

9. Seeing reindeer tracks on the yard after it had snowed so much. I could just imagine it trailing across our yard at one point in time.

10. Accidentally opening up another Christmas gift for me which came through the mailbox (I thought it was hubby's order for himself) because it meant I still had time to find another gift for him, too (which came by mail yesterday!). Phew! That was close!

11. Trustworthy, reliable friends whom I can count on, including those I've never met in real life.

Life's But A Fleeting Shadow

In shock here. Through Facebook I just found out that an ex High School friend passed away 2 days ago. I found out through another friend's wall post about this, so I went to the deceased's Facebook profile and read that 2 days ago the wife had put the notice on his wall. What really went through my heart was seeing a pic of his baby on the profile pic. That baby's picture was uploaded in October, so you can imagine that it's still such a small child.

This ex school friend of mine is 34 years old and until now I have no idea why he died. I was never close to him at school, but I remember him clearly. While I was browsing through his pics, I saw his prewedding photos and I couldn't help thinking, "You go through life not knowing what'll happen next. You find your spouse, get married, and plan for the future, though each day may be your last."

Many times over I get a reminder of how precious life is, how we should cherish each moment we have with our loved ones. I pray that God comforts all the bereaved in the world and I hope that the bereaved let themselves feel God's comfort and not close themselves up in their pain and grief.

On an altogether different note, I've been so busy at work 'coz two people quit this month and then another coworker got sick last week and another one got sick this week, so it's been kinda crazy. I hope nobody else gets sick. Today is also a busy day for me 'coz I have to do so many things. So far I've baked 2 cakes, cooked some food, clean up some snow from the yard (R2 did most yesterday but there's still some left), and now I need to clean up the house 'coz I won't have time anymore later on.

So, if I don't blog until after Christmas, I just wanna wish you all:

Online Social Media + Snowman

Yesterday I was reading posts about online social media, particularly F-b.ook. I must say that I have a love-and-hate relationship with it. There were times when I was thinking of quitting it completely, but it's hard nowadays 'coz I've got a mixture of people in my list already and now I've joined an online Finnish group where I can ask anything to the teacher and get to know other people who are learning Finnish from around the world.

Besides that, it's a really good place to get in touch with old school friends and nowadays my closest friends use it to put their travel pictures and other pictures as well - it's easier sharing pictures that way compared to sending them via emails 'coz some of us live in a place where the internet connection isn't so reliable and fast. It's also a good place to try and sell things to your friends and to ask for opinions on something (provided that your friends are active).

But other than the good sides, sometimes I feel that browsing through F-b.ook is like being a Peeping Tom. There are some people who share too much and sometimes when you least expect it, you get to read those things and it feels as if you were suddenly transported into the person's underwear closet and you're shown all the kinds of "dirty laundry" that you don't even wish to see.

Of course you can hide that person's newsfeed once you find out that the person loves sharing too much info, but then again there are still so many other complications that can occur by spending time in online social medias, such as being unfriended by someone or unfriending someone, the urge to ask the person what you did wrong after being unfriended, the lingering question whether you should explain to the person you're going to unfriend why you want to do that, the temptation to "peek into" other people's lives, the thin line between sharing and showing off, etc. etc. etc.

Anyway, enough about this...the other day I made another snowman 'coz the temperature was 0'C and the snow was wet enough to make one. The pictures were taken at around 3.30 pm.

First pic: taken with a flash.


2nd pic: Taken without flash.


3rd pic: Taken without flash from a different angle.

Oops I Did It Again!

The surprise gift was a success!!!! :-D Yesterday when the computer game arrived, I was torn between wrapping it as it was (so he'd know that it was a computer game DVD) or wrapping it in a bigger box so he wouldn't know what it was. The thing is, I did this kind of trick once already a few years back, so I wasn't sure if he'd suspect that what was inside the package wasn't what it looked like.

But I decided to wrap it up in a bigger box. I jammed in some paper as well so that when he shook the box, he wouldn't hear a thing HA HA HA HA HA HA...*EVIL GRIN*

And true to form, he did shake the box to find out what it was. At first he wanted to wait until November 3rd, but I was afraid that he'd ordered the game without my knowledge, so I pushed him to open it yesterday already HI HI HI HI HI HI...And after that he said he had no clue what was inside it and he didn't expect it to be a computer game. So mission ACCOMPLISHED, people! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!

And right now he's enjoying the new game he he he he he he he he...Side note: I had to ask a friend who loves gaming to find out which game R2 would enjoy playing among all the latest games available. He then asked me what kind of games R2 had been playing and I gave him a list of game names and from the list, he found out which would suit R2 best. And he was right, so it's also thanks to him that I managed to find the right gift for R2 he he he he he...

Anyhow, yesterday had fun at my friend's place and she gave me her own homemade gift: a happy-looking tonttu (elf) that she made herself. It makes me feel SO HAPPY just by looking at it, don't you feel the same way too?

So, THANK YOU for the gift, my friend! :-D The tonttu's enjoying its new home he he he...

In Between "Two Worlds"

When I was a child, I used to think of myself being in between two worlds: the real world and my imaginary world. I considered my imaginary world as a place where I could run away to whenever I needed to. I even imagined myself standing in the middle of two worlds where I had one foot on the real world and another foot on the imaginary world and I was happy to be able to stand like that between those two worlds. They helped me cope with life, so to speak.

Recently I read a blog post that reminds me of this. She moved to NY from the UK and she's now been living in NY for years. She stated that she would never become a true blue New Yorker, but she also felt that she didn't "belong" in the UK anymore. She said the feeling didn't make her feel troubled, but it just felt weird.

I can relate to that. After having lived in Finland for almost 4 years, what I consider "normal" has changed. When I first moved to Finland, my perspective and what I considered "normal" was still very Indonesian, but now I know more about "the norms" in this place and what people do and what people expect from the government, etc. I don't feel that I ever want to live in Indo again (though if I REALLY have to and there's no other choice, I know I can make it), but I'll never become a true blue Finnish person anyway even if I have a Finnish citizenship later on.

Speaking of this topic, I've always been a "foreigner" whether I was in Indo or in Finland, so I'm used to that. I'm used to being the "minority" 'coz I'm a non-native person. Now I feel like I'm in between two worlds again in this real world: between Finland and Indo.

It doesn't matter, though, even though I'll never become a native my entire life (roughly speaking, even if I move to China 'coz my grandparents are Chinese, they won't consider me as a native 'coz I can't speak the language), I know where I belong. First and foremost, God accepts me the way I am and loves me. Secondly, I've got my family and plenty of friends who accept me the way I am. That's enough. Isn't that what we all need? To be accepted and loved just the way we are, whoever we are, wherever we are?

Anyhow, here are some more winter pictures I took yesterday...

First pic: "snowy flowers" he he...it was around -17'C or -18'C yesterday.


I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the shadow/sunlight patches on the snow...don't you?

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby for being who he is, someone who really dampens out my ability to be angry at him.

2. Grateful for being on the same page with him.

3. Hubby's soft lips. :-D


glitter-graphics.com

4. An old guy asked me today at work if he could return the bras he was going to buy for his sick wife if they turned out to be not suitable for her. It's just heartwarming to see that he takes care of his sick wife.

5. Hubby's smooth cheek and chin after shaving - lots more fun for kissing sessions! ;-D

6. Bought a tiger cake today 'coz I've been craving for some cake HA HA HA HA...



7. Meeting my friends today and practising some Finnish (not just chit-chatting in English).

8. No internal storms.

9. Getting some more compliments about my Finnish and having some time to chat with a few customers when the store wasn't too crowded.

10. Finding a cheap shower curtain with a cute design - I'd been wanting to buy one, but they were all over 10 Euros. The one I bought today was only 5 Euros. YAAAAAYYY!!!!

11. Harvesting my first batch of kang kong and cooking them. They're SO delicious! The first time I'd ever eaten kang kong in Finland he he...THANK YOU, Ting, for the seeds!!!!


12. Taking a nap together with hubby...yummy!!! ;-D

13. Being able to get SMS from my Mom again. Her provider had been wacked for about two weeks, so she couldn't reply my SMSes, but now it's been working fine again. YEEESSS!!!

14. Calling Mom on Skype for 2 hours and hearing her stories about Ken and his development. Boy, that little Hulk has learnt so many things SO FAST!!! ;-D

15. Getting notification from PO that the poster has arrived and tomorrow I'm going to get it after work. Hope it turns out GREAT!!! I'll take a pic of it later on to show you HO HO HO HO HO...

3BT: Random Days

1. Hanging out with friends and having fun talking and laughing and eating ha ha ha...

2. Blogger's automatic spam detection 'coz I've been getting lots of that lately in my comment box and spam is REALLY annoying!

3. Sending an overdue thank you note to someone who really deserved it and knowing that the person appreciated it.

4. Chatting for a LONG time with a friend with whom I hadn't chat in a LONG while.

glitter-graphics.com

5. Meeting my MIL in my workplace and having time to give her a proper hug 'coz there weren't too many customers at that time.

6. Orange jelly pudding - I could make it using the powder sent by a friend who just got back from Indo. THANKS SO MUCH, Hen!!! Other than that, she also sent me some other food stuff. YUM YUM...

7. Getting a full-month paycheck today (though I only work part-time) and knowing that they've sorted out the problem with my tax card, so this time my salary didn't get cut 60%. PHEW!!! It felt GREAT getting a full-month part-time salary for the FIRST time ever!!! ;-D

8. Going to save some of the money right away 'coz I need it to apply for Finnish citizenship next year - feels GREAT to know I have the money already for that purpose stashed in my bank account he he he he...

9. Being tucked on the sofa by hubby when I was about to take a nap a few days ago - and I did NOT ask for him to do that, mind you!

10. Tucking hubby on the sofa before his naps - but mostly what I enjoy even more is watching the smile on his face when I do that. It's a special kind of smile...



11. Haven't met any rude customers despite the fact that I do make mistakes sometimes.

12. Nice, proper sleep...long sleep...What a bliss to be able to sleep well at nights without experiencing trouble to fall asleep!

13. Sore muscles from boxing with Wii - AND having hubby scratch my back for me 'coz it was too sore for me to reach my arms back to scratch the itch away by myself.

14. Talking to my family in Indo via Skype and webcam and even voice chat.

15. Chili. THANK GOD for chili and for making it even more enjoyable to eat food he he he he he...

16. Watching beautiful clouds spreading across the great blue sky...

3 Years Ago vs Now

Went to a bar with hubby and brother and girlfriend and noticed something that didn't happen 3 years ago nor 2 years ago (last year we didn't go there 'coz we were in Rhodes at that time). Three and two years ago when we went to the bar(s), the only people I knew were hubby's cousin, brothers, and their partners. Yesterday I met so many familiar faces, the people I'd met through different training places and some of them had a chance to chit-chat with me. Mind you that I didn't chat with some of them 'coz the place was just so crowded.

One of the people I had a chit-chat with was the teacher at the daycare. I told her about my part-time job (which will happen soon) and she said she did two summer jobs in the same store. She also said they missed me at the daycare and that she hoped the work report she wrote for me was useful (every boss had to give me a kind of work report after I finished any type of training - stating the kind of tasks I did there, how long I was there, etc.) and that if anyone needed any job reference about me from them, they could call the daycare to get it. Then she stated again what she had written on the work report, about what she thought about how I did my job and I'm TRULY ABSOLUTELY thankful for it.

glitter-graphics.com

So far I've done some type of training in 5 different places and I've got personal work reports from 3 of the places and I'm FOREVER grateful for them who took the time to write the personal work reports. Even if those reports don't mean as much for my future employers, they DO mean A WHOLE LOT to me. Without the support of all those people - and some others I've met along the years (too many to count or name) who have helped boost my confidence in learning and speaking Finnish - I wouldn't be where I am today.

I'm also thankful for having WONDERFUL close friends who are GREAT listeners (who don't judge me and who want to support me the way I WANT to be supported), all my blogging friends who have always been there for me (sharing my ups and downs, supporting me, praying for me)...I wouldn't have made it without all of you...

I just want to send some gratitude to heaven...and may God pour blessings on those thoughtful people who've made a difference in my life...

glitter-graphics.com

3BT: Random Days

1. Yesterday's intimate housewarming party with two friends was the first time I became a hostess in my own place (never had any before) he he...and it went well, though I was slightly worried about the food 'coz I had to time everything right so that everything I cooked was still warm (it was -32'C in the morning, though the temp. went up to -24'C during the day).

2. I got a special homemade housewarming gift. I'll take a pic of it later on when I've put it up. ;-D

3. Today was "our first time" in the sauna, if you know what I mean. *wink wink* Naughty naughty! ;-D

4. Lying down on the sofa with hubby after sauna (after hubby scrubbed my body with loofah and soap HO HO HO HO...).


glitter-graphics.com

5. MIL saying to me: "My little daughter, I'm glad you exist" and me saying to her back: "I'm also glad you exist."

6. Fresh orange that I ate after sauna (I got thirsty)...mmmm...

7. Kicking the ass of my own worst bully AKA myself before she can shoot me with negative phrases, sentences, adjectives.

8. 70% done reading a teenage novel (in Finnish). Only 30% left to go. YAAAAAAAYYY!!!!


glitter-graphics.com

9. Crispy spring rolls that I made today in the oven instead of deep-frying them (the first time I tried doing this, they wouldn't go crisp - I think 'coz the filling was too wet or something).

10. Knowing that some people are praying for me (close friends and blogger friends and some relatives).

11. I've got an interview for another training place (read: don't mistake this for a real job) coming up next Friday. WISH ME LUCK!!! I have NO experience whatsoever in this type of place (daycare), so I don't know what the boss is going to ask me...gasp...but at least this is something to look forward to he he...

3BT: Highlights of the Past Month

1. Feeling like honeymoon again when coming back from my Indo trip. WHOOOPEEEEE!!!!!

2. MIL hugging me TIGHTLY and saying that she had missed me! :-D I had missed her too!

3. Being kissed by Ken on the cheek (without asking him to do so!).


4. Spending time with my family and friends in Bandung.

5. Going to the spa, going shopping a few times, and watching a movie with my Mom despite her current busy life as Ken's caretaker.

6. Being able to chat using a webcam with hubby during my Indo trip. THANK GOD for a faster internet connection in Indo, too!!!

7. All the glorious food and drinks that I could eat during my Indo trip - and I didn't have diarrhoea or any other health problems AT ALL during my trip.

8. Being able to meet about 17 of my ex-elementary school friends in a small gathering. It was FUN!!!

9. Getting enough sun and rain in Indo and when I got back to Finland, I got enough snow! :-D Couldn't have asked for more! ;-D



10. My priest asked me to come forward on the last Sunday I went to church in Bandung to pray for me and R2. He also prayed for our wish to have kids.

11. Hearing a story about my parents and knowing that God's angels had protected them from harm (I'll write about this later).

12. Playing with Ken and making him giggle so much! ;-D

13. Finding a strand of white hair - I've lived long enough to experience having at least one HUE HE HE HE HE...

14. Watching hubby's and MIL's expressions when they tried preserved seedless plum I bought in Hong Kong airport hi hi hi...SO FUNNY!!!

15. Being at home, being able to cook and experiment on cooking, being able to sleep on my own bed.

16. Christmas lights are up in our apartment - we don't have a Christmas tree, but we have some Christmas lights (not shown in the below pic, but just wanna show you how much snow we have now).



17. Finding some Christmas gifts for my loved ones today (and also I bought one for me HA HA HA...)

Where Do I Start?

So many things to say, but I can't cram them in one post. Oh well...

First things first then. I've done 7 weeks of training. Only 6 weeks to go. YAAAAYYYY!!! I hope I can lose a little bit of weight before I fly to Indo 'coz I'm sure I'll gain weight when I'm there, esp. 'coz I haven't eaten any "real" Indonesian/Chinese food since last October. Yum yum...I'm drooling buckets already when thinking of all the food I can eat later he he...

Today my MIL gave me a pair of woolen "tossut" that she made herself. Here they are:


Aren't they cute? Maybe someday I should ask MIL to teach me how to do it. We'll see he he...


Here are two flower pics that I took two weeks ago. Last week and today rain came pouring down, so I didn't take any pictures. The good thing about the rain is that my MIL doesn't have to water all the plants she has outside, so she can rest. :-))))





One funny incident happened at work about a week ago. I had just finished cleaning one room when the boss walked along the corridor and spoke to me while walking towards me "bla bla bla bla bla...?" My brain was trying to absorb the "Finnish" words, but they sounded weird. Half a second later, I realized she was speaking ENGLISH!!! I was using my "Finnish brain", but she was using a different language, so I was flabbergasted for half a second.

She realized she wasn't speaking to me in Finnish when she almost finished her sentence, so she said to me in Finnish, "Sorry" and she translated her words into Finnish HA HA HA HA HA HA...Then I replied in Finnish, of course. I tried to speak only in Finnish at work, 'coz I really needed the exercise. One bad thing about this type of work is that I don't speak or hear too much Finnish, esp. when I have to work alone (there are days I work alone, there are days when someone helps me out).

Oh, and don't worry about my family who live in Indo. They did feel the earthquake, but fortunately nothing bad happened to them or my friends. Phew! I hope God protect them all and that help comes quickly for those in need.

Now I need to start doing something I've been wanting to do in a while. I'll blog hop tomorrow, OK? Have a blessed weekend, everybody! :-))))