1. Hubby took a nap on the sofa and then when I was walking towards the toilet from the kitchen (the kitchen's light was on, but the way towards the toilet was dark), I jolted when I suddenly saw a huge shadow coming towards me. His footsteps were so light that I didn't hear a thing, so I was shocked when all of a sudden he was right in front of me. I let out some noise when we almost hit each other and we ended up laughing and holding each other close. 2. Hubby was standing up from his computer chair and I jumped out of mine to ask for a hug, but he looked at me with a wicked grin and immediately started running away from me in very small steps, begging to be chased. I ended up chasing him a few steps and we held each other, giggling.
3. More sunlight WHOOPPEEEEEE!!! One of my fave times is when the afternoon sun is shining through our kitchen window. 3. This video clip of Jason Brown skating to his heart's
content (and making me happy in the process, too!). I LOVE people who
look like they're enjoying themselves doing whatever they're doing. Very
inspirational!
1a. Looking at my own reflection on hubby's eye (I told him not to blink for a while when I enjoyed looking at it HA HA....;-D
1b. Forgot to write this: On Sunday when I was about to go to work, after I put on my winter shoes and jacket, R2 knelt down, squeezed me, and playfully said, "Don't goooooooo!!!!" LOL LOL!!!!
2. Having a farewell Japanese dinner with hubby and my Japanese and UK friend. It was FUN FUN FUN. :-D
3. The sweet little girl came to the store with the daddy and she ran towards me and gave me a hug again. :-D
4. Making weird faces and making hubby laugh.
5. SO THANKFUL that our house isn't that far away from downtown, so I can walk to and from work easily (yesterday it snowed so much that biking to work was just impossible with all the thick snow everywhere).
7. Making a stupid mistake at work, but the customers forgave me and I didn't beat myself too much after it happened.
8. Not beating myself too much about my own mistakes is a HUGE progress. In the past I could continue doing so for days or even weeks! Learning from my own mistakes isn't the same as beating myself about it.
9. Reading a very heartwarming love story/manga between a normal person and a deaf person that gives me more insights towards the life of a deaf person (the kind of insights that didn't even cross my mind).
10. Buying a pair of cheap sports shoes for work purposes (the current pair I'm wearing is starting to get worn out).
11. Finding two cheap, sturdy second-handed bags online that I need he he he...Two for only €10!
The other day at work an old lady came to pay for her groceries, but she said to me that she didn't want the milk carton that she took 'coz she had taken the wrong one. Mind you that the milk section was at the back of the store, so I told her to just leave it at the cashier so that I could return it to the original place later on.
After serving a few more customers, there was nobody in line, so I took the milk carton and ran to the back of the store 'coz I didn't want the next customers to wait too long for me to get back. While running on the fourth aisle with the milk carton in my hand, I spotted a little girl in the middle. She was standing there in the middle of the aisle, halfway between me and where the rest of the milk was at the back of the store.
We locked our gaze at one point and we realized who it was we were looking at. She's this little girl who's been really friendly to me ever since we met at the store 1,5 years ago. Her parents are also very friendly and she has a little sister. At that time, her parents and little sister were near the milk section.
Anyway, when the little girl saw me, she smiled so widely and started RUNNING towards me with arms wide open...In my hurry, I couldn't break her heart. She probably thought that I was running towards her!!! (FYI: She did this once when they were at the store and she saw me from afar) So when we were close to each other, I stopped, knelt down, and gave her a hug.
I was a bit worried what her parents might think of me hugging her, but from the side of my eyes, I could see them turning around at us and laughing. Phew!!! She really made my day that day! :-D Before then, all we had ever exchanged were words and smiles and occasionally I gave them some candies he he...
Anyhow, here are some photos I took with my mobile camera (not such good quality), but anyway...
2nd pic: The sun peeping from behind the trees at around 2.30 pm yesterday. Felt marvelous to be able to see it again after such a long time!
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...
It's hard to be fair to all the kids in the daycare 'coz some kids are more vocal when they demand your attention more than some others who are more shy and quiet. I'm learning to spend my time with different kids, but it's rather hard to get closer to the ones who don't seem to be interested in spending time with me. But then again that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't want to spend time with me, so I've gotta try anyway. I'm gonna try to talk more to the others to get to know them more. :-D
Highlights of today:
1. One boy insisted on my sitting next to him during lunch break, so I gave in he he...He's also greeted me with a hug this morning. :-D
2. Some kids were very interested in my lunch, 'coz I brought my own lunch. They wanted to know what it was HI HI HI...
2. When it was time for me to go back home, I was playing with three kids. One of them said to me, "You can't go anywhere!" Uh oh...
3. Another one held up both her arms (I was standing near her) while moving her legs up and down excitedly, so I knelt down and she gave me such a strong hug that I almost fell backward (I didn't expect that kind of strength 'coz she was such a tiny girl). After that strong hug, I stood up and she tapped my butt a few times while saying, "Okay, go now, go now, go now" with a smile on her face. :-D ---> It brings such pleasure to make a little kid smile. :-D
Oh brother...those of you who have kids are REALLY lucky, even though bringing up kids is one of the toughest tasks on earth. One thing I LOVE about the job is getting free hugs from the kids - the unexpected ones he he...:-D
1. A wonderful shopping trip with hubby and MIL today. ;-D
2. I've received the magazine in which my article is published. (I'm not going to put the scanned version of the article here 'coz I'm afraid that it may be against the law - esp. 'coz it's supposed to be released only in the beginning of November, but if you want to see it, just let me know by writing a comment for this post and I'll send it to you via email.)
3. Receiving the papers to get my reward for the article HUE HE HE HE HE...tomorrow I have to post it ho ho ho...
4. Spending plenty of quality time with hubby plus another wonderful cabin trip last Saturday.
5. Seeing hubby and MIL "fighting" about who should be paying - each of them insisted on paying for the other party HA HA HA HA HA...
6. Winter Wonderlandddddd again in Sodankylä after two days of snowfall.
7. Finding canned red beans and managing to recreate the kind of beef red bean soup flavour that my Mom usually makes in Indo. WOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!
8. Eating the beef red bean soup while it was still hot and feeling as though I had been at my parents' place in Bandung, eating my Mom's food. Mmmm...
9. Feeling that now I can officially call myself my Mom's daughter - because for years I felt that my brother was the one who was more talented in cooking than me (and I've always been more like my Dad in terms of personality, too). But hey, turns out I'm not THAT bad he he he he...I'm improving myself!!! ;-D
10. Giving MIL some of my beef red bean soup and some of my white egg cake. ;-D
11. Getting a tight hug from MIL and giving one back. ;-D
5. Finding a wonderful forum online for infertile people that helped me feel that I wasn't insane with all the turmoil inside me.
6. Reading this beautiful reminder when self-pity kicked in:
We have no right to ask, when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way. ~ Philip S. Bernstein
And all of a sudden the world became A THOUSAND TIMES brighter! :-D :-D :-D
7. Crying out all my pent-up fears, doubts, anxiety, stress to God and feeling good afterward, 'coz I know He understands every single thought and emotion even though I don't need to use words.
8. Excitement 'coz I'm going to call my Mom via Skype today.
9. Hearing this beautiful quote while watching "The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button":
"You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went You could swear, curse the fates But when it comes to the end You have to let go..."
Sorry I haven't had time to blog-hop. I was feeling a bit under the weather so I took a nap every day after coming back from work. The library's closed tomorrow, so tomorrow I'll have some time to blog-hop. Let's do some recap about the things I've been doing, shall we?
1. Last Saturday we went to my in-laws and as I was walking across the field to take pics, I saw a creature moving so fast nearby (approx. 2 metres away from me). Since I knew it was moving too fast for me to take a solid pic, I decided to take a video instead. I still didn't know what it was after I took the video, so I showed it to my MIL, who said that it was a "kärppä". I looked it up in my dictionary and it means an "ermine/stoat".
I've taken some pics off the video, but unfortunately they're not too good, but here they are anyway:
I was actually trying to get good pics of these hares when I came across the ermine he he he...As you can see, the mother hare's fur has turned more and more brown as time goes by.
I also took these pics:
2. Went to the birthday party late from my in-laws' place. The birthday girl was so eager to ask me to colour some princesses with me HA HA HA...She also showed us all her gifts and her beautiful dress and she sang a few songs for us! :-D We both got a hug from her, too! SO SWEET!!! :-D
Oh, almost forgot...while we were colouring some princesses, she told me, "You colour the pics very well." I said, "Why, thank you. You've done a great job, too."
Then she said all of a sudden, "I think you have a beautiful voice." I was SO surprised to hear that, but I managed to say, "THANK YOU, you have a beautiful voice, too...And face, and hair!" She nodded. :-D
3.Went to church today for the first time to hear the sermon and I must say that I didn't get the sermon except for some phrases here and there. I understood the songs more than the sermon 'coz I could read the lyrics from the hymn book. I understood the MC better than the priest who gave the sermon 'coz the MC is a woman, so her pronunciation is naturally clearer than the male priest's (if you know how Finnish language sounds like, you'll know that it's harder to listen to a man's voice when speaking rather than a woman's, esp. if the man is using a microphone and you can hear the echo of his voice).
As the church has this program for foreigners, one of the priests had invited us to come to lunch at their camp site after the sermon was done, so four of us went there with them. We had a nice lunch and there the priest also gave us a short sermon (this time I understood the sermon MUCH better 'coz it was a small room and no microphone was used).
Then we were interviewed HA HA HA HA HA HA...The priest asked us some questions and she also encouraged other people to ask us questions. Interesting. It was SO hard for me to try to explain my life in Indonesia, 'coz EVERYTHING is SO different!!! Anyway, we had a good practise to speak Finnish, though he he he he...
OK, I think this is long enough. Time for me to read some Finnish!!!
Since Valentine's Day has been too commercialized, let me just use the Finnish version of it as my post title he he he he...
Last night I tried putting my mobile on silent and as a result I missed my Taebo session, since the darn mobile didn't ring at all. As you all know, hubby bought me a new mobile as a X-mas gift and I had never put it on silent before. Why did I put it on silent during the night? Well, the other night a friend of mine in Indo sent me an SMS in the morning (around 3 am Finnish time), so we both jolted up and woke up for a few seconds because of that. Well, I don't think I'll ever put it on silent again after this morning. Or maybe I should read the guide book to find out how to customize it.
Anyway, this morning in class my Brit friend MC gave me a Valentine's Day postcard.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, MC!!!
She picked the one with a picture of a CUTE cat, since she knows how crazy I am about cats HUA HA HA HA HA HA...The postcard is displayed proudly on my book shelf, right next to the card from Crystal and the postcard from Juliana RW. *grin*
When my class almost ended, I was thinking of buying some pepper steak from the supermarket and cooked them in the oven. However, when I checked the price, I changed my mind. 300 grams of pepper steak cost €8.50. I decided to buy some pepper steak from a nearby grill resto instead. After all, only by paying €10 I could get two portions of pepper steak complete with french fries and fresh salad on the side. I called hubby first to make sure if he wanted some and he said yes since he hadn't eaten anything during the day.
I arrived home at around 3.15 pm and couldn't hold back my hunger, so I ate right away. Hubby only came home at 4 pm and he ate right away. He finished it all. I still have half of it left he he he he...Then hubby thanked me and hugged me REAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL tight. Yummmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...
For dessert we had some chocolate pudding (he bought some from the supermarket yesterday - he bought the kind that I LIKED so much he he...). Then I told him that it was a cheap date and he agreed HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
Today has been a nice day, even though it's SO windy. And the period of darkness has been slightly shorter. I notice that in the mornings it gets light earlier and it gets dark a bit later than usual. ;-D
Okie dokie, gonna blog-hop some more and then do my homework. Tomorrow morning I have to wake up early to do my Taebo he he he he...HAAIIIYYAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!
P.S. Do you know that I've never received any flowers in my entire life? HE HE HE HE...Last year's Valentine's Day I bought myself some roses since I thought, "Well, I can buy myself some flowers if I want to, so why not? Let's make me happy!" And I didn't only make myself happy by buying some flowers. I also made Mom happy since she loved having 'em in our living room HA HA HA HA HA HA...
1. Calling my Mom via Skype to say happy birthday to her (today's her birthday). I got to talk to Dad a bit, as well. I'm HAPPY to know that they're all healthy and well. ;-D Everything's ready for next Saturday! ;-D
2. Getting a hug from my mother-in-law and she wished me a happy birthday again. She also gave me a pot of flowers (cactus). I'll upload the photos tomorrow.
3. Eating my birthday cake. VERY delicious! Mother-in-law bought one for me he he he...it was strawberry-cream cake. YUMMY!!!!!!
4. Enjoying beautiful nature again and I saw lots of reindeer on some fields HO HO HO HO HO HO HO...Plus when I got back from the frozen lake (I went there to take pics), I was welcomed by jolly birds singing so wonderfully. Today there were SO MANY of them so that their song was SO vivid!!! Free nature entertainment. What can be better than that, eh?
5. Hubby was planning to take the tougher burger buns and he left the softer ones for me HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...;-D However, I mistakenly put some ketchup on his bun instead of mine, but I TRULY appreciate his heart. Bless him!!!!!!
6. Being able to force myself to practice some more Finnish with my mother-in-law he he he he...
7. Being able to beat my hubby during our card game HUA HA HA HA HA...He's been beating me and my mother-in-law over and over again and today I told him that I wanted to play cards so that I could beat him. Then my mother-in-law suggested playing cards and I got lucky all the time HUE HE HE HE HE HE...YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!! ;-D
1. When my husband came home from work, then I sat on his lap and we hugged for about 15-20 minutes (kissing in between). I LOVE sitting on his lap and holding him like that. It felt SO good. It felt like recharging my battery with so much warmth.
2. When my husband tucked me up on the sofa with a blanket as I was trying to rest due to my headache.
3. When he scraped my back with a coin.
4. Inner freedom due to a clear conscience. One of the BEST things in the world!!! ;-D
