1. Was at MIL's and it rained cats and dogs and I was so afraid it'd rain because I had hung my work shirt outside because I needed it dry quickly. Came home and found that it hadn't rained in our area despite the fact that our place was within a 3 km radius of her place. WOOOHOOOOO!!!!
2. Was sharing my thoughts on how a double standard on women was unfair and hubby was really thoughtful. :-D
3. The heat wave has temporarily stopped and it's nice to have some cooler days in between. It's around 11'C at the moment.
4. Had a good time at a coworker's graduation party (my first invitation ever to a graduation party that doesn't involve my husband's family). This is what I wore for the party (notice the blown-up raindrop photo on the wall?)
5. Had a great time and lots of laugh at BIL's birthday party. 6. The weather was great the day after the parties at 30'C and I took these photos:
1. Had fun at the pre-Christmas party with my coworkers. We rented a fired wood hot tub and I enjoyed soaking myself in the tub in the yard, though couldn't stay in the tub too long because the water temperature was 40'C he he he...Here's a pic of the tub:
2. Even though I was lousy at playing Alias with some of my coworkers, we laughed so much that my cheeks were so sore. :-D
3. The party organizers were thoughtful enough to know that I wouldn't drink wine, so they bought me some juice and soda. :-D BLESS THEM!!!
4. Cooking and eating seafood while hubby's away from home, so nobody complains about the fishy smell LOL!!!!
5. I made some berry pudding and rummy sauce and was wondering how on earth I could bring them to work because it was kinda heavy, but thankfully hubby was able to give me a lift. :-D And glad to know my coworkers liked it. :-D
6. I've bought our own Christmas hamfor the first time. Hopefully we'll be able to cook it ourselves without making it too dry. It's gonna be interesting because we've never prepared it ourselves ha ha ha ha ha ha... 7. Watching this video:
Been busy with so many different things, so haven't been able to blog or blog-hop. First of all, had a company party until late at night with another group of people from another branch and of course I was the only foreigner in the bunch ha ha...But it went very well and I realized even more that these days I could manage those kinds of group gatherings better than in the past. I remember how overwhelming it was in the past 'coz my vocabulary was so much more limited. Of course it also helped that I had known my own coworkers for a while, so I felt more at ease with them as well. We laughed so much that my cheeks got sore he he he...and I managed to talk more to some coworkers of mine there 'coz usually at work we don't really have much time to chit-chat.
In between the party I had work as well as a test, so before and after the party I had to study the materials. I had to take the test in Rovaniemi, but thankful that another coworker had to go there with me, so we could go together. It was fun getting a ride from her 'coz during the trip we also talked about so many different things that we never got to talk about at work. :-D
I was a bit worried about the test, but it went very well (THANK GOD). The thing is, I would have felt bad if I hadn't passed because the company had paid me to take the test and I needed to pass it so that I could learn something else at work. Without the certificate, I wouldn't be able to do the new task that would be available at work later on. So my coworker and I were both relieved that we had passed the test. :-D After this we'll have more things to learn at work, because the test only comprised of theories, but the practice will come later.
There have been again heart-warming situations at work when my regular customers wondered where I had been and said that they had missed me. One or two of them even joked that their days were "complete" now that they had seen me at work LOL!!! BLESS THEM!!! THANK GOD for sense of humour!
However, I felt a bit uneasy when one customer (don't actually remember this one particularly as this one was not quite old yet) asked me where I had been and then I heard this customer say to me, "Yeah, here in this little village everybody's being watched because they want to know who's leaving." (rough translation of what the customer said)
That very second I just had this eerie feeling as if the government had sent spies to watch my whereabouts ha ha ha ha...Too many movie watching!!! LOL!!!
Anyway, I saw this one on FB and it's SO good that I just have to share!!! I'm gonna blog more about the Rome trip later. Take care, folks!
I've been so busy lately. Last week I had work from Monday till Thursday, then on Friday I left to Kuopio to attend a wedding party there. Well, the party was scheduled for Saturday, but it took about 8.5 hours by bus and train to go there, so I had to leave early. I came back tired yesterday and I think I have a slight cold now. It's 22'C inside but I still feel cold. Good thing I don't have work today nor tomorrow, so I can rest fully. It was a tiring week, but the party went so well.
When I arrived in Kuopio at around 8 pm, it was already on the plus size and apparently it had rained A LOT the day before, so there was slushy ice everywhere. The next day was again a very sunny and bright day and there was slippery ice everywhere. Thankfully all went well and nobody fell down on ice. Anyway, here are some pictures that I took. The wedding ceremony and party happened in Koivumäen Kartano, Kuopio. Such a charming manor with great food and wine. :-D
I spotted this lovely painting of the manor inside, so I took a pic of it he he...The manor's second floor is used for the family to live in, so they use the first floor for restaurant/coffee shop.
We were the first group of people to arrive (except the bride and groom and their family members), so I took some pics while it was still empty he he...
The guests sit here in a U-shaped dining table. The whole place and decor just made everything feel different. :-D
This is the dance room and you can see the spot for the band.
This is what you see in the front after you enter the entrance where there's room to hang your jackets.
This photo below is on the left side of the above photo. There is a staircase on the left side of this fireplace.
Two delicacies made by an Indo friend along with the bride: pineapple cookies and lemper.
I REALLY REALLY love this spot below. The door on the left side is the door to the dance floor.
The menu is written in 3 languages: Polish, Indonesian, and Finnish. :-D
The appetizer...yummy...
The main menu:
For dessert there were 3 types of cake: strawberry, a kind of chocolatey Polish cake, and then a kind of Indo cake. The band was great, the guests had fun dancing and I had fun watching them and taking pics and videos ha ha...now I should start blog-hopping again. :-D
Yep, back to routine life again after a week of fun with my friends. The last time I met them was around 5 years ago (back in 2006). I must say that they came at the right time. A week before they came, the weather was horrible. It rained almost every day and the sun only came out on Thursday. Last week the sun was out EVERY DAY and it got even as hot as 30'C. Yep, they were laughing and saying that they could get some tan in Lapland, of all the places in the world! He he he he he he he...We went to the river bank and my two friends went for a dip in the river.
On Friday we had a BBQ party in my place and we had a blast. I invited my BIL, SIL, MIL, R2's cousin (close friend) and also two friends (but only one of them could come). We had too much food and drinks, but at least we had more than enough for everybody ha ha ha...
Here are some pics of the BBQ party...
We bought the wrong kind of BBQ grill 'coz it was so small, but then again we had prepared so much food that it was OK to wait for a long time to grill the satay and sausages HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...R2 was the grill master and I helped out in between chatting with the guests.
My friend made this delicious German cheesecake he he he...
The rest of the guests...
Yesterday we drove to Rovaniemi and stopped by at Santa Claus Village. We met Santa there and took a pic he he...It was free to come inside to meet him, but we couldn't take pictures inside, so we had to buy some ourselves.
Here's a pic of us in Santa Claus Village area. R2 wanted to be the female elf HA HA HA HA HA HA...it wasn't I who told him to do that! :-D
OK, now it's time for me to blog-hop a little. I feel that I'm starting to have a cold or something 'coz my throat feels a bit weird and I slept so long yet I still feel so tired. I've been coughing during my sleep, but I've taken some cough medicine now. I'm just going to take it easy before I have to go to work later on. Good thing I have some days off now to recuperate.
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...).
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...
Well, on Friday we didn't go anywhere at all since the party was cancelled. Jarppa's girlfriend was sick, so we just stayed home and enjoyed ourselves he he he...And on Saturday I found out that my page rank is now down to zero. Oh well...I knew it would happen sooner or later as it has happened to some of my blogger friends who blog for money. ;-D
Yesterday there was a snow storm when we got back home from Kelujärvi and today it's been snowing as well. Next week is Skiing Holiday for school students since next week is the midway between winter and summer. Funnily enough, Arttu's birthday on the 20th this month marks the day when the day is as long as the night. ;-D It's gonna get brighter and brighter soon. I'm REALLY looking forward to Easter holiday since I want to try baking an apple/chocolate cake and perhaps we can go miniskiing again. YIIPPPPIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!
Anyway, here are the bird pictures. Today I spent most of it SLEEPING as usual he he he...I need to be REALLY fresh for tomorrow's class. I'm going to read a bit from the text books after publishing this post and I'll blog-hop tomorrow.
And here is a crazy picture I took hi hi hi hi...It was SO MUCH FUN! Arttu was busy gaming online and I took the picture just for fun HA HA HA HA HA...This is Vampirella Amel LOL LOL LOL!!! ;-D
Here's a normal pose of us hi hi hi...Hope you've had a FAB weekend, everybody! Take care and bless you all!
In Finland on Leap Year Day there's this funny tradition where women are allowed to propose to guys and if the guys say no, then they have to buy the women a skirt he he he he...
I then asked hubby and his brother what would happen if the guys said yes. I was wondering if the women had to buy the engagement ring as well HA HA HA HA...They said, "Well, of course then the guys had to buy the ring and then they would get married."
I then asked if such a thing ever happened that they had known of. Apparently this is just a tradition, so they don't know of anybody who has ever proposed a guy and then get married.
One thing for sure, though...if there is a woman who proposes and the guy says no, I don't think that a skirt would be enough consolation "prize" for her, don't you think so? *wink*
Enjoy your weekend, everybody!!! Today I'm gonna be busy again since Jarppa (R2's second brother) is going to throw a party. He's only inviting some friends and his girlfriend is only inviting several friends. I guess the object of the party is to let them know that Jarppa's now residing in Sodankylä with his girl he he he he...And I bet it's gonna be a LONG night at the bars and karaoke, so I have to take a nap first before the party starts at around 8 pm. So don't wonder if I can't blog-hop until late Saturday or Sunday. ;-D
