Oiling My Ears

Each year usually by the time November rolls around, I take out my SAD light box and sit in front of it regularly each morning. Otherwise I'll feel lethargic and uninspired and my brain goes foggy. If October is grey and rainy, though, I usually start using my SAD light box that month. This year was crazy in the way that I had to use this lamp already in July as this year's summer was so grey and rainy. We're now down to 6 hours of daylight and it's getting rapidly less and less as we're approaching Christmas. I noticed that a few people have already turned on their Christmas lamps when we drove around the other week LOL!!!

Ever since we got back from Malta, I had been dealing with sinus problems. The nurse prescribed me a stronger type of antihistamine and the doc prescribed me four bottles of nose spray that I could use long-term (though I prefer not to!). I only bought one bottle first and I'm now down to 4/5th of it and I had been trying to figure out a way to stop using it. You see, when I had my days off, I could get by without using it, but for work, I needed an optimal mental capacity so I could focus on work and communicating in Finnish, so I had been using the spray for work. I had also tried other means: Neti Pot, nose oil, steaming my face. The pressure between my eyebrows and along my upper teeth kept coming back. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

In the end I tried something else: oiling my ears. I took a Q-tip and oiled each end with baby oil and then just shoved it into my ears. The weird thing is that it has worked pretty well so far! I've been doing it for a week and I haven't had to resort to using the nose spray at all and the pressure is 90% gone. Strange but true, eh? :-D

It's been snowing again for the past few days. Yesterday was the first time I had to shovel the yard and today I'll have to do it again. It's good to be forced to get out and do something physical in winter. It was kinda heavy to shovel the snow as the temperature was 0'C and the snow was very wet. A thick pile of dry snow will be less heavy than a thin pile of wet snow.

Here are some Winter Wonderland photos I took when I walked back from work:

Here's also a video clip of downtown Sodankylä taken by Samuli Korvanen:

Slow Down!

My new fave type of snow is the kind that falls down very slowly on a colder day (meaning dry snow) with snowflakes big enough that my eyes keep wanting to check their shapes. Because it's dry snow, when the snowflakes pile up, their form is still intact. It's quite disconcerting to ride my bike when my eyes keep on glancing towards the snowflakes that have fallen on the sleeves of my parka, trying to make out their shapes ha ha ha ha ha...But what makes me love it so much is the fact that it feels like it's breathing slowly. I know it's weird to say it like this, but the slowness of the speed reminds me to slow down. Slow down! Why are you in such a hurry? Stop and admire the snowflakes for a change. 

Another thing I love about Finland is their sauna culture. In sauna, you can't exactly do anything much. Besides, even if you want to do many things, it can be way too hot in there that all you want to do is just sit there and enjoy the heat and humidity, especially on dark cold winter days. Sometimes we talk in sauna, sometimes we sing each other crazy songs, sometimes we just sit still and say nothing, but we've been doing one particular thing for sure lately: back scratch. I scratch his back, he scratches mine. And then we purr together HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH...

I feel that going to sauna is good for the soul, because it's also a chance to slow down, to stay away from all electronic devices, to connect. 

Here are some photos I've taken on different days. 

First photo: notice how the branches of the trees are curving down so badly due to the weight of the snow.

Second photo: a sunny day when I was on my way to work. Just had to take the photo as it was such a brilliant day.

The next photos were taken yesterday with my mobile again. I should've tried using the automatic setting as well to see if it'll take clearer details compared to this "snow" setting. Oh well, next time.

Notice the difference between this pink sky and the one I took on my previous blog post. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. Had a lovely Indian head massage for free because MIL bought me a voucher for that as a Christmas gift. Bless her and the masseuse!

2. Walking back home from the massage with stars twinkling above me and snow particles twinkling below my feet. Dark blue sky in the background and snowy trees. This is such a beautiful place!

3. Making this dessert, though I modified the recipe a little. :-D

4. Watching this brilliant ice skating performance:



5. Watching some beautiful sky when the temperature was cold outside (the purplish photos were taken on Sat at -27'C and the pinkish sky photos were taken on Sunday at -30'C). 

6. Compiling four video clips into one: 

3BT: Random Days

1. Saw a woodpecker outside MIL's place today. It was cold outside (-23/24'C) so I tried taking pics from inside her place, but then it flew away so I had to go out to take more pics and video clips ha ha...

Here's a blurry pic of it, but wanna show how beautiful the red line on the back of its neck is...

And here's a clearer pic of it...

And below is a combination of two short video clips. It flew away in the first one, but it came back for a while.


2. Managed to seduce hubby to buy some kebab from a local restaurant LOL LOL!!!

3. Getting some positive feedback from MIL's neighbour who knows me from my work. BLESS YOU, grandpa!

4. This scene: 

5. Listening to some old, nostalgic songs...mmmm...

6. After all this time, we're still holding hands while watching movies/TV series together side-by-side on our respective lazy chairs. :-D If I let go too long, he'd complain and would want to hold it back ASAP LOL! I cherish these moments! 

7. Getting excited because I start comparing for ticket prices to go back to Indo sometime this year. Have to ask the boss for permission first before we can buy the tickets, but still it's LOVELY to plan this holiday. And I'm GRATEFUL that we have the budget and opportunity to do it.

8. I had a vivid visualisation the other day to handle some emotional battle and it worked SO well that I felt high for a few hours after that. I'll be surely using this technique again whenever I need it. :-D 

9. Had a chance to share said technique with other people and hoped that it could help them too (if they wanted to try, that is). 

3BT: Random Days

1. Me: "How much do you love me?"
Hubby: "Too much."
Me: HUGE SMILE + HEART melting. :-D

2. Winter Wonderland is finally here, though that doesn't mean that the snow won't melt and refreeze, but at least I've been enjoying the view so much because of all the white snow. :-D

3. An old customer (a retired guy) said, "If only I still had my own business, I'd hire you right away." This sentence made me thank him, laugh, and it also made the customer behind him smile (which made me smile even wider). BLESS HIM!!! :-D

4. About a month ago I was tempted to buy this cute little jacket for my brother's second son, but even after the discount I still thought it was a bit too expensive. Last week the shop put up a sign saying that they had put bigger discounts on them, so I went in there to check it out and they still had two of the jackets that I was interested in buying and guess what? It was only one third of the price that I saw, so I grabbed it right away and paid for it. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!! :-D SO HAPPY to find superb bargains! :-D

5. It snowed for hours on end on Friday and here are two pictures I took. The second picture was taken two hours later.

6. Today the temperature was 1'C and it had been snowing again during the morning, so I went out to clean up the snow and hubby helped, so I went to make this happy-go-lucky snowman he he...:-D "Oh, what fun it was to make this snowman in the yaaarrrrddd!" LOL LOL!!!

Snow Fort

It's been pretty warm these days. That meant we've got lots and lots of snow again. Yesterday and last week I spent 1,5 hours and 2 hours respectively to clear the yard from snow. Had to move some of the old snow to make room for new snow and due to my height, I couldn't use the big shovel to do that. That was why it took a long time to do it 'coz I had to use a children's shovel he he he...Good exercise, though! My arms are definitely sore afterwards.

Wanna see how high the pile of snow is in our yard? Today I went out just to show you the "snow fort" that we've built in the yard. I use myself as a point of reference (I'm 145 cm).

First pic: normal pose. Notice the higher pile on the right side of the pic. We have another pile on the left side of the pic which is probably a little bit higher than that.

P.S. If you're wondering what the yellow "armband" is, it's called a reflector. Because it can get SO dark here in winter (and it can get worse when it's snowing a lot), people wear it so that car drivers can see us when we're walking on the pavement or when we walk across the road. Esp. in the village roads there are normally no sidewalk for pedestrians, so pedestrians have to walk on the side of the road.

Second pic: tried to pose from one of the higher piles of snow.

Third pic: I was going to go higher up on the pile of snow, but managed to slip and fall down gracefully LOL!!! Actually if I want to, I can use this pile of snow to slide down. LOL!!! There's one benefit of being short HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHHHH...

Here's also a pic of a homemade Christmas gift that I got from my talented friend. :-D

And the last pic is the icicles forming around the bottom side of the roof...

Let's just see how much more snow we're going to have 'coz winter here lasts a long time still...if there's so much more snow coming later, it's going to be tough to find space to pile up the new snow.

Walking Home

Lots of snow was falling slowly. Slow enough for me to almost be able to distinguish the forms of the snowflakes falling from the sky. The roads and sidewalk were almost empty that Sunday evening. The rather chilly temperature didn't dampen my spirit, because I was on my way home from work and the scene was just too beautiful to describe. When the snow fell down slowly like that, it felt as though life were moving forward in a slow motion. I felt reminded to cherish each moment in time and not to rush forward. To focus on the moment.

I took out my mobile phone and plugged the earphones to my ears. Then I chose a song from my list and chuckled when I realized that a pair of snowflakes that had attached themselves to each other fell on my mobile phone's screen. Oh, how I wish I could have taken a picture of that pair of snowflakes! All around me the snow kept on falling steadily, gently, slowly.



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While listening to one of my favourite songs on the list, I sang along out loud on the sidewalk. Bliss! Where else can I do that without bothering anyone except here? The world seemed so hushed.  No need to hurry. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the song. Sing your heart out to your delight!

I took out my mobile again after the song had finished to choose another song after that one was finished because I didn't want to listen to the next one on the list. My mobile had no capacity to do a random play of the songs on my list. Soon after my thumb hit on another song title, my ears welcomed the song with a smile (if they can smile, they were definitely smiling widely). And I couldn't resist the temptation to sing out loud again.

I felt free. I felt at peace. I felt as though the world was big enough for everyone of us. And my heart almost exploded with joy when I arrived home and I was welcomed with bear hugs and kisses. Oh, the simple joys of life!

3BT: Random Days

1. Writing this note for hubby (I had an evening shift that day): "Just eat me all up 'coz your wife is going to cook something else tomorrow, OK? Signed: The Slaughtered Lamb. :-D" ---> I had cooked some lamb the day before and there was some left in the fridge, but I knew that he would be worried whether he should eat it all up or leave me a little piece of it, so I stuck the note on top of the box containing the lamb meat. I'm glad to know the note made him smile. :-D Hubby, you INSPIRE me!

2. Had a brilliant idea to trick hubby again on Christmas. ROFL ROFL!!! I'll write about it later on after Christmas if it works!!! I'm just SOOOOO excited!!!



3. Bro told me he woke up earlier specially on my birthday to say a prayer for me. My heart melted!!!

4. My Mom sent me a bday SMS and she also sent prayers. THANKS A LOT, Mom!

5. My closest friends send me birthday greetings and them really touched me deeply and one of them made me laugh by writing down how we first met. :-D More mushy mushy feelings...

6. Watching the frozen snowflakes on my bike saddle and bag when the temperature outside was about -20'C. Amazing artwork!!!


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7. Falling in love with characters in books/stories/movies...ahhhhh...I know they're not real, but there are just so many unreal things that are so adorable he he...

Funny November + 3BT: Random Days

I've been busy and have been getting a bit of a cold again, so haven't been writing here nor have I had a chance to blog-hop. This year is a funny November. Usually October is the yuckiest month of winter when the temperature still gets a little bit over and under zero, so the accumulated snow melts and refreeze and then there's new snow coming in and then it melts again, but this year this all happened in November. However, now it seems that it's gonna be much colder this week. So overall this November has been very warm compared to the previous years.

A week ago it was really dangerous 'coz the thick snow melted and even our yard became like a skating rink. My customers had been saying to me how slippery it was outside. Some got really sad 'coz almost all the snow melted by then and there was brownish, yucky, wet snow on the side of the streets. Those who loved White Christmas just groaned in sight of all those yuckiness he he he...Thankfully the other day it snowed again. It wasn't too much, but enough to cover up all the dirt he he...Now that the weather has gotten much colder all of a sudden, it's actually better this way. If we had lost all the snow, it'd been SO dark here, especially next month.


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Work is going to get busy again next month because one coworker has resigned and another one is currently sick. Dunno how hectic it's gonna be, but there will sure be changes to all of our work schedules. We shall see.

Yesterday R2 came back home from work in a very agitated state, asking me if there was a package for him. I said no. He had been waiting for the package already the day before. Then he found out that it had arrived already, so he went back to the PO to get it. I got a hunch that it must've been my bday present hi hi hi hi...so when he got back home, I asked him, "Is the package THAT important that you just had to get back out to get it right away?"

He said yes with a huge grin, then told me NOT to touch the package at all. And he proceeded in wrapping it up in another room HA HA HA HA HA HA...Can't wait to open it!!! :-D

Here is my 3BT list:

1. Last night I told hubby, "You're the best gift God's ever given to me." And he squeezed me tightly in response. :-D

2. A customer said, "My cat loves Gotler ham so much so that it wouldn't eat anything else but that." LOL!!! Never heard of such a thing before! She made me laugh!

3. Still a few customers said, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a long time." It's good to be missed hi hi...

4. The machine got jammed at one point, so had to wait for a few minutes and there were a few people in line already (but they were all old people). One of them kept on joking with me during the whole wait, making the wait much more bearable. :-D THANK GOD for patient people who do have a good sense of humour! :-D

Long Overdue Photos

I haven't been taking photos with my camera in a while and the battery was dead, so here are two pics from the end of August he he he...taken during our cabin trip at that time. 

And here are two pics taken this weekend. MIL bought some liquorice pipes and we had fun posing hi hi hi...

And some outdoor photos:

And here's a pic of our hands just for size comparison. :-D

Hope you've had a lovely weekend, people! :-D

First Vote, First Snow!

Last night it snowed for a few hours at least, so when we woke up today it was Winter Wonderland. However, the sun has been out today, so some of the snow has melted. Here are some pics I took with my mobile...my camera's battery hasn't been recharged, so these will have to do for now ha ha ha...Temperature today: 0'C. Last night it was 1'C when it kept on snowing.

First pic: One of the churches here.

Second pic: I've ALWAYS loved these red berries when they're covered with snow. It makes an interesting contrast. :-D
 

Third pic: Along the bridge over Kitinen River. As you can see a few autumn trees still retain their leaves, though most of them have already been bald since weeks ago.
 

Fourth pic: The bridge over Kitinen River.
 

Fifth pic: The snow makes an interesting pattern, don't you think?

Sixth pic: Photo taken from the bridge. That's Kitinen River. Oftentimes the water has ripples or waves, so it's really nice to see its mirrory effect today. Looking at it makes me feel serene...*sigh*

After work, I went to vote for the local district election. This is the first time I've ever participated in something like this. I did this kind of thing once in Indonesia and there was a long line of people, but today there were only two people before me and one after me hi hi hi...It went so fast. :-D I feel more "useful" now as a citizen 'coz I'm giving my voice. It doesn't matter even if my candidate doesn't win he he he he...

Cabin Trip Easter 2012

After work on Thursday we went to the cabin. The day started off sunny but then it got cloudy during the afternoon. We arrived at the cabin at around 4 pm and this time we had no trouble walking on thick snow 'coz it had condensed in many parts and became harder (compare it with Cabin Trip Feb 2012). There were tracks of cross-country skis in many places.  

I forgot to note the temperature that day, but it was probably around 3'C under the sun and closer to 0'C after it got cloudy.

Here are some cloud pics...I LOVE taking pics of different cloud formations ha ha... 

This is what the view on the frozen lake when we had just arrived there...

 

Zooming in on the above pic...

Then the dark clouds shifted and here was what it looked like...

Another view of the lovely clouds...

After taking those pics, we tried clearing the path towards the lake before we could get some water for sauna (not drinking water). Then R2 had to get some water, so again he had to do hard work to make a hole in the thick ice. At around 6 pm the sky got so dark again and snowstorm came. It probably lasted for about half an hour or an hour at most, then we enjoyed a very nice view of sunset at around 8 pm (click to view it in a bigger version).

After the sun went down, the sky was filled with stars!!! And a full moon! :-D

At around 5 am I woke up to pee in the outdoor toilet and I saw the HUGEST orange moon ever (I took a short video clip of it but I haven't converted it yet). The orange moon was dangling so low in the sky as it was about to set. I've never seen the moon that low and that huge and that orange before...just amazing!!! I tried taking pics of it but it didn't turn out great (it only looked yellow and it looked small). But anyway, this is a very lame pic of the setting moon...

I'm telling ya that the real deal was more orange than that. I just wish you could all see it for yourself...but anyway...here is why we had to clear up the path before we could get some water. Pic taken when we were on the way back to the car...

Yep, the sun was shining SO brightly on Friday and it was so warm. :-D Here's one other random pic I took when I was there...

OK, now I still have plenty of things to do...wishing you Happy Easter and for those who don't celebrate it...then hope you've all enjoyed a longer weekend! :-D :-D :-D