Summer Is Back!

Yep, it's been great weather for the past few days again, going up as high as 25-27'C under the sun during the day, but thankfully it gets cooler during the night ha ha ha...it can go down to around 17'C during the night, but due to the colder weather weeks ago that lasted for a while, I can see some autumn colours already. COOL!!! Usually here in Lapland autumn only lasts for a few weeks and when there are strong gusts of wind, soon enough the leaves will have fallen to the ground already, so I don't get too many chances to take pics of autumn colours. 

Anyway, due to a friend's request, I made a daisy wreath yesterday when we spent time with MIL in Kelujärvi. They grew wild there, so I could pick them up to my heart's content. It was actually my first time making a wreath on my own and in the beginning I had a bit of a hard time forming the "round crown shape". It was SO hot that the daisies wilted not long after R2 took this pic. 

Here are some autumn colour pics. Today I went for a walk near the river 'coz I just felt like it he he...gotta enjoy the hot days here as best as I can 'coz we have a short summer up here. Just look at how blue the sky was! :-D

Boy, time flies so fast. Next month I'm gonna have another nephew. Because we're planning to go to Indo next year, I'm gonna start buying gifts from now - whenever there are good deals or summer sales, it's always a good time to start buying them ha ha ha ha...

3BT: Random Days

1. Finally having time to change my blog's template and lo and behold, it was MUCH easier than in the past. In the past, when I uploaded a new xml file, if the uploaded blog template doesn't offer as many sidebar widgets, I had to make sure to save every one of them and then adding them one by one manually. Nowadays all I had to do was click on "keep all widgets" and I could rearrange them easily by dragging and dropping them. THANK YOU, Blogger!

2. The new-and-improved reply button right below the commenter's post. It makes things much easier! :-D

3. It's a hot day today, so I went to the supermarket to buy some stuff and I didn't even have to put on any jacket. WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!



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4. Having 30+ free English e-books in my Kindle reader for PC. I'll be adding more later on ha ha ha ha ha...Mind you that here in Sodankylä there's only a small bookstore with very limited choice of English books and ordering some from the internet would cost more due to shipping cost.

5. LOVE the features in Kindle reader for PC (best of all, the reader is FREE!!!). I can make the font size bigger, change the background colour, add a note, even find meanings of words easily (simply by blocking the word) or bookmark certain pages.

6. Waking up to a very clean kitchen (hubby had cleared up the dirty dishes and just tidied everything up) HA HA HA HA HA...

7. A week full of bliss 'coz I don't have to work (my first batch of summer holiday). YIIIIHAAAAAAAA!!!

Thought Mixes

Ummm...I have so many different things to say, so I'll just write them down in a list.

1. I do love face-to-face conversations, but I tend to thrive more on one-on-one conversation than a group conversation (this can also apply to phone calls/chats). That doesn't mean that I don't like group conversations. Not at all. It's just that one-on-one conversations have a different depth and focus compared to a group conversation. I've always felt like this from ages ago.

I have so many fond memories of group hang-outs with my closest friends back in Indo, but the thing is nowadays it gets harder and harder to match up the schedules, so I find that cyber talk with them is more effective in sharing our lives with one another. I know that some people who don't really like cyber talks and with them, it's by far more effective to have a face-to-face conversation.

2. I have a hate-and-like relationship with Facebook. There were a few times that I was considering stopping the use of it, but it's getting so hard these days, because most of my close friends and my brother and SIL find it easier to share the latest photos there. And it's also easier for me to share my photos with my bro (and Mom will be able to see them too) through Facebook rather than just bombarding his mailbox with so many pictures.

3. Yesterday we went to Kelujärvi with BIL and MIL because MIL wanted to plant some potatoes there (among other things that we did there). It was a gorgeous day. Had a morning shift and then after work the sun was shining hotly (almost no wind) at around 20'C. I got to sunbathe and at some points it even felt too hot for me that I had to go hide in the shades ha ha ha ha...

Walked down to the cabin area near the lake and take some pics. Watched two wild ducks far away in the middle of the lake and wished I had a better zoom to be able to take better pics of them. At one point they were calling each other and then they met in the middle for a little while. It was a lovely sight, though I could only see two black shapes without being able to see their original colours. There were SO many mosquitoes, though I was safe enough after spraying myself all over with Off (mosquito repellant). We ended the eve there by going to their wood sauna. Lovely! :-D

Here are some pics...first pic: Hubby busy preparing the ground to plant some potatoes.

Next pics are pics of the ducks:

Then pics around the lake area:

And other random pics:

3BT: Random Days

1. Yesterday was a hot day at around 25'C, so I had time to read the rest of the novel until the end (it was the "light" English novel I bought in Crete - which turned out not to be too light 'coz it involves women who've been abused by a certain man).

2. Feeling that time was moving SLOWLY while sitting on the swing outside and reading the novel. It's an amazing feeling!!! It was FANTASTIC that I didn't have to work yesterday. Such a BRILLIANT day to be outside in the garden! :-D



3. The sexiness of hubby while he was seriously concentrating on building a new computer table for me (he ordered a new one and they came in pieces and he had to follow the instructions to build it). My, I have GREAT taste in men! LOL!!! ;-D

4. The rain today, so I didn't have to water the plants.

5. Yesterday I planted some seeds of kang kong and chye sim sent by Blur Ting. THANKS A LOT, Ting! I hope they thrive in my care, too, just like in yours!!!

6. Meeting an ex-Finnish course classmate at work and had a small talk with her. ;-D


7. The massage oil plan went VERY well. It was FUN (and it gives such a nice smell!) and we want to use it again HO HO HO HO HO...

8. Not experiencing any back pain or weird pain after lifting heavy stuff to the shelves at work.

9. The good feeling I got after exercising with my Wii yesterday. Yeah, babbyyyy!!!

10. Stool!!! Having one stool at work (and at home) is VERY beneficial for a short person like me. :-D

11. White butterflies in our garden.

12. Nice-smelling flowers at one end of the garden - they've started to bloom!!!

3BT: July 6th, 2010

1. The hottest day this summer at around 28'C under the sun (about 24'C under the shade).

2. Went to a nearby store to find myself a pair of jeans. My budget was only 15 Euros (I found a pair of jeans there at that price before) and found a pair that cost only 5 Euros (they were on a discount). YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!

3. Because of #2 above, decided to buy a bottle of massage oil (for me and hubby to use later on before we change the bed sheets ahem...) and two bags of hubby's fave candies (salmiakki mix).

4. Slathered lots of mosquito repellent to read in the garden and enjoy the weather. Felt grand to read in the garden surrounded by beautiful yellow flowers all around you. (Note: I did sit on the swing set for a while, but it was too hot, so I moved to a shady place)


5. Watching the bees busily looking for nectar here and there all around me.

6. Lying down to enjoy the sky and the breeze in the shade and feeling sleepy after a while he he he...





7. Watch my plants growing (esp. by comparing their pics taken last month versus their conditions today).

8. Despite the fact that hubby snores and sometimes I have to kick him to change his position if he happens to fall asleep first, I can sleep better with him by my side than when I sleep alone.

9. The quietness of this place is such a BLESSING. While lying down in the garden, I could only hear the occasional sound of vehicles passing by the street and if I had let myself, I would have fallen asleep.

Short Update + 3BT Random Days

1. First harvest of the strawberries - didn't get too many, but still it was exciting!!!





2. Eating the fresh strawberries on such a HOT day (around 25-27'C). Oh my goodness...so heavenly!!!


3. Hearing a colleague speaks to her child on the phone and saying "Rakastan sinua" (I love you).

4. A smiling, friendly colleague.

5. Laughing at the irony when hearing one person at work saying to me, "You should eat more. Take some bread, won't you and get yourself fattened up a bit" whereas my aunt in Indo tells my Mom that I've gained weight (based on my recent pics).

6. Zumbaaaaaaaaa cardio workout. It's fun (though hard to follow in some parts), but it's a nice change after doing Taebo for over 2 years.

7. Toying with the idea of going back to Indo this November (read the notes below this 3BT post for further info). I can just imagine eating all the glorious food and meeting my family and friends again...and I bet at that time Ken either will have been walking already or he'll be learning to walk already. I'd love to play with Ken!!!

8. Having a hubby who's not fussy even though I'm not a really diligent house cleaner.

9. Knowing that I was tired from cleaning the hotel rooms for hours on Saturday, hubby washed the dishes and cleaned up some other parts of the apartment without being asked. Ahhh...I feel loved!!!

10. When talking to hubby about the possibility of my going back to Indo and asking him if it'd be okay if I stay there for a month, he asked, "Do you have to be there that long?" :-D

11. Despite our being cranky due to fatigue on Friday, we didn't get into any fights (didn't lash out on each other) and we managed to control ourselves.

12. Giggling like crazy when reminiscing about the movies/series I grew up with (I'm going to share this with you later on sometimes - have to compile it first).

13. Getting my food package from tokoindonesia.de. YIIIPPPPIEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Now I have so many ingredients that I could never find from any of the stores here. YAHHHOOOOOO!!!!

14. Getting good advice on my training period from Karen. THANKS SO MUCH for listening to me and giving me valuable advice!!!!

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Since I haven't much time to separate my posts, let me just write here a short update about my training. It seems that my boss wants me to help out the hotel cleaner for the whole of next week, so I have to go to work at 7 am already. It doesn't matter 'coz it means I can go back home earlier. What surprised me was that she told me that if I could handle it, I would then be doing the whole cleaning thing ALONE while the official hotel cleaner is on her summer holiday later.

I was rather shocked, 'coz when I came to do this training, I was expecting them to teach me more of the office work instead of cleaning. Granted it's not a huge hotel, but I don't think I can manage doing it ALONE EVERY DAY for at least 4 weeks (remember that I'm not getting any salary, just some unemployment benefit). My boss did say that if I didn't think I could handle it, I should just tell her. So I'm planning to tell her that sometime next week after I know how sore my body'll feel like. (side note: at least one good thing of doing this cleaning thingie is that I HOPE I can lose some weight 'coz I've gained 5 kgs since I moved here he he he...)

To be honest, I had been thinking of going back to Indo since a few months ago, but since this opportunity came (at that time I THOUGHT I could get an office job after this training ends), I decided not to think of going back to Indo...but now...I'm not sure anymore. I did get some editing job at the office, but right now it seems that I'll be doing the hotel cleaning for at least 5 more weeks (hopefully NOT alone 'coz I can't guarantee that I can handle it alone). Though I can see already that there's so much office work to do, still they didn't give me any more than the editing job (which would be finished soon).

That's why I've been browsing for plane tickets to Indo. The more I think of going back to Indo, the more I couldn't care less about whether or not they'd offer me a job here later or not (esp. 'coz it'd be FAR easier for me to fly to Indo now when I have no kids 'coz it's such a long trip; plus R2 can't come with me if I go to Indo in November). It doesn't seem that they'd offer me a job, anyway (or not the kind of job I expect). I haven't really decided yet, but in a week or two I have to decide so that I can get the ticket with the cheapest price available. OK, now time to cook and blog-hop a bit later on...