The Case of The Missing Tupperware Cap

The other day in the evening I was preparing my lunch boxes for work because I had an early shift the next day, so it was more practical for me to do it the night before so that in the morning I only had to grab them with me to work. I took down two "Tupperware" boxes from the cabinet along with two caps. One box was white with a white cap, whereas the other one was white with a dark blue (navy blue) cap. I started preparing my snack first (usually I sliced up some bananas and mixed them with yoghurt) and then I was confused when I couldn't find the dark blue cap. Where had I put it?

I started getting frustrated after some time. I even looked at the bathroom ('coz I went there before preparing my food) and everywhere else in the kitchen. I knew I had taken out the cap from one of the cabinets, but I had forgotten where I left it. I started groaning in panic and hubby then got out of his chair and asked me what it was all about, so he helped me search.

And in just under a minute, he found it. And at the same time I laughed like crazy 'coz it was just HILARIOUS!!!! It was close to me, yet I missed it altogether. Where was the culprit, you asked?

It was lying on top of one of the round plates of the stove. You see, our stove is like this pic below and apparently I just happened to leave it there and because it was getting dark outside and I didn't put on any light, my eyes missed the "optical illusion". Dark on dark. My goodness!!!

Photo taken from here

Anyway, all's well that ended well and we had a good laugh over it LOL LOL!!!

3Doodler + Handicraft Lesson

I'm not really good making things (I feel more at ease writing stuff), but I still think this creation below is cool. 3Doodler. What do you think?



I remember when I was in elementary school we had a "handicraft" lesson and the teacher made us learn to create different things. What did I do? I got plenty of help from my Mom. I had no patience nor interest with that kind of lesson, whereas my Mom did. I remember at one point we had to make an Easter chick with wool. It's something like this: Easter Chick. 

I don't remember how old I was when I had to make it, but I remember getting some help from my Mom LOL!!!!! Even though I know that parents weren't supposed to help, but still I was stubborn enough to stop doing something if I didn't feel like it. 

I also remember having to make some "tapai" (peuyeum) in one class, but for some reason it didn't turn out too well, so my Mom told me to just buy some from a tapai seller and bring it to class LOL!! Each of us was supposed to bring our own homemade tapai and eat it together at school. The teacher asked us then if the ones we brought were our real homemade tapai (not bought) and I stayed silent. Sorry, teacher, but there was just no time to remake a new batch of tapai to bring to class he he he he...Ah, memorieessss! :-D 

When I Saw Your Face...

Yesterday I had an evening shift at work and near the time when the shop was about to close, I was mopping the floor near the cashier area when an older guy came in. I had my back facing him, so he called me and when I turned around, I immediately saw his rather "disappointed" face LOL!!!

He was probably wondering how much I understood Finnish 'coz he could see from my face that I was a foreigner. But he tried anyway and he didn't ask for anything hard, so I could help him out just fine on my own. Even if I didn't know/understand what he wanted to find, I would still have been able to help him by calling out my coworker, but the moment that he saw my face was so funny. :-D

He must've been a new customer, because all the regular customers know my face and they know I've worked there for a while, so they won't hesitate asking me for help. This face of mine has its own advantage at work, though, because they know that I'm a foreigner simply by looking at my face, if they don't know me well, they'll resort to using more formal Finnish (or they'd speak more slowly) in order to make sure I understand their words. :-D

Anyway, here's a pic of my frosty hair. Photo taken when it was -21'C outside (and I just went back from a trip to the supermarket). 

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.

A Great Day at Work

Yesterday I had a great day at work. For some reason it was a rather quiet day - I guess 'coz it was snowy in parts and the wind was pretty strong. The last half an hour was REALLY REALLY quiet.

What was great about yesterday? Here are some reasons:

1. I got to talk to some regular customers. It's nice to "bond" by having chit-chats about this and that.

2. An old woman asked me if I dyed my colour or if it was my natural hair colour. She said, "LOVELLLYYYYY!!!!" HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE...THANK YOU! :-D

Side note: MANY people in Indo dye their hair blonde/red/brunette, whereas I've seen plenty of people here dye their (blonde/brunette) hair BLACK!!! Yeah, go figure!

3. I met the little girl whom I adore (who likes me) with her Dad, but at that time I wasn't at the cashier. He then told me that she wanted to buy something and give me the money herself (she's 2 years old), but 'coz I wasn't at the cashier, he asked me about my work schedule this week. So he said to the daughter, "How about we come on Friday so you can buy some candies from Amelia?" HI HI HI HI HI...

4. Another old woman asked me the usual questions (where I'm from, how long I've stayed here, have I gone back to Indo at all, etc.). When I told her that I hoped to go back to Indo in autumn, she said with a smile, "Go bring a friend here. He or she is VERY welcome!!!"

That's such a NICE thing to say! :-D

5. When I used a stool to change the price tag on the higher shelf, one regular customer said, "Be careful, don't fall down!" :-D THANKS for caring!

6. A lady (whom I had never met before) asked me the usual questions and she said nice things about my Finnish. I can tell that she's an open-minded people about foreigners living in Finland and it's just nice to meet someone like that. :-D

And today??? One time when I was about to put something on a higher shelf, I had a hard time 'coz the stuff on each side of it was making it hard for me to put it in place, then an old grandpa who was passing by (a regular customer) helped me hold it up so that I could do it more easily and then he joked, "I can reach a little higher than you can!" (he's not that tall, he's only about 10-15 cm taller than me - FYI I'm 145 cm) hi hi hi hi...but I TRULY appreciated his help - AND his sense of humour. :-D

On occasions like these, I feel that there's hope for mankind still, you know? :-D

Why Didn't I?

A few months ago I read a blog post on Blur Ting's sons helping her out doing house chores and I wondered why I didn't help my Mom more often when I was younger. Then I remembered something that happened when I did try to help her.

First of all, mind you that I was such a sensitive child. Secondly, back then my Mom sold food in the traditional market, so she had to cook a lot of dishes when she came back home from the market (other than the fact that she had to cook our meals, too). Thirdly, my Mom had been working in the kitchen since she was very young, so she knew which was which and she had learnt to be a fast cooker, chopper, or whatever she had to do.





While I was still in Elementary School, sometimes I wanted to help out in the kitchen...BUT due to my inexpertise and slowness, my Mom sometimes snapped at my "incompetence". My little heart was SO hurt by her words and impatience that I just refused to help out too much back then. I remember writing in my diaries how I "hated" experts 'coz they were so impatient.


Now, looking back, I realized that she didn't mean those words and that she was a driven woman who was used to working at her own pace and she had demands to fulfill (she knew how many types of food she had to cook each day and how long it'd take to do it and I was just "on the way" 'coz she had to teach me from ground zero). So, she probably felt it was MUCH better to do things by herself 'coz of the reasons mentioned above.

This made me realize, as well, that in order to get help, you have to be willing to receive it - even if it means that you need to "teach" the helper. If the helper can't deliver what you expect him/her to be, you can either stop getting the help from them (if you have that choice) or you can try to teach them to do things the way you want them to be.

P.S. I'm happy to say that now that my Mom's grown older, she's grown to be more patient (esp. 'coz she can't do things as SUPER fast as she used to anymore).

3BT: Random Days

1. Watching two birds dancing in somebody's lawn. They're shaking their tail feathers up and down and chirping merrily. Mmmmm...

2. Being able to go on this week's UNEXPECTED car trip and having enough money to do it.

3. Having a non-sensitive nose, yet still I have a healthy appetite. Not having a sensitive nose helps A LOT when there's some bad smell near you HE HE HE HE HE HE...

4. Eating out at a restaurant during this car trip. We haven't really done so since we don't want to pay too much for our food, but it's NICE to be able to do it every once in a while.

glitter-graphics.com

5. Getting a new training place.

6. Getting delicious FREE cake on the last day of the course. We could also take a big piece of the cake home HUE HE HE HE HE HE...(Yeah, I'm a glutton!)

7. Sending someone a thank you note. :-))))

8. Hearing hubby say "thank you" a few times.









9. Hubby did something to help me, even though I didn't ask him to do it. I LOVE IT when he does this kind of stuff HE HE HE HE HE...



10. Watching droplets of rain water on these leaves in my MIL's garden...mmmmm...VERY beautiful!