6 posts tagged “annika”
Yesterday was the summer solstice for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. How did you celebrate the arrival of summer and the longest day of the year?
In Thousandlakez, midsummer is a paid day off, which means we all empty the cities and head for the closest lakeside cottage to get hammered.
Since Sami is still Far Far Away, Annika took me in and we revived an old tradition of spending midsummer at her parent's house in Hämeenlinna. I was eager to get my groove on, so I made the hour-long drive on thursday as soon as I got off from work. On friday morning I was already at the square of heavenly peace:
On thursday evening when I got there, I was immediately greeted by the herd of dogs that reside here.
Pepi here frenched me as soon as I got out of the car, and being deprived of hugs and kisses for over a month now, I was not far from spooning that dog. She loves me to bits and pieces for some reason that is beyond me, but I suspect it's because she knows I'm most allergic to her. The three other members of the pack, the minidogs, don't shed as much but are equally adorable.
On friday morning, we di what every Finn does on midsummer: packed a lot of food and a lot of drinks, and headed out to Annika's lakeside sauna. The sauna, sadly, was busted from only 40 years of active use, so we had to borrow the neighbor's lakeside replica. That is where we met our man for the midsummer: Batman.
Batman is "4 years old, soon six" (it must work differently in bat-years) and will not be featured in pics here to protect the privacy of his lair. He did, however, let us in on the secrets of owning your batmanism heart, body and soul, in the sauna:
"What's your favourite soda?"
"Batman-soda"
"Really? What does it taste like?"
"Like Batman"
Heart, body, and soul!
We stayed to watch the midsummer bonfire, and I tried to convince Batman I'd make an amazing Robin, but apparently I don't wear spandex that well. So, after drowning my sorrows of this unsuccessful career-change in a few a-mazing hotshots, it was time for the bonfire. It's a tradition here, to have a midsummer-night bonfire, but it's usually too dry or too rainy for that.This year, however, it had just stopped raining, and with the help of 10 liters of gasoline leet skillz, the fire was going.
Late in the night, we headed back to our lakeside cottage and went to sleep. I stayed for most of saturday too but had to come back home in the evening because I have to wash a lot of clothes before I head to Turku on tuesday. Unless I choose to walk around nekkid after the operation, of course.
All in all I enjoyed myself like a queen. Annika and her parents are always so welcoming, and it's always fun to go there since I know the neighbors and a lot of their friends from 10-12 years back by now. It's always fun to get up to date on what everyone is doing, and I really forget time and space when I'm there. I think I even got a little of the weight I've lost back because I was so totally spoiled over there. I swear, I was fed like I was going to be the main dish at the christmas table.
Once again, it was pure heaven. I can't really describe what a silent lake, good friends and good food do to a soul, so I think I'll end this post with a pic.
"Hello?"
"Hi Honey!"
"Ohmygodhibabe! How are you doin'?"
"I'm fine, thanks. How are the guys?"
"What guys?"
"Good answer. Just checkin'"
Haha, funny, funny! In fact, so funny that your paycheck just bought me strawberry champagne and the june issue of Elle.
All kidding aside, the funniest thing was probably that I had to show my ID at Alko. For me to not be able to buy this bottle of bubbly, I would've had to be 7 years younger than I am!
Although, it might be a better thing to be carded at Alko for suspicions of being max 17, than it would be if they would greet me by name at the door and ask me if I wanted "the same as usual?"
Having the weekend off, I've been doing some sunbathing. And some cleaning. Since it's hot as hell, I had to vacuum in my bikini. Bet you wish you were home now, huh?
And I mopped! For real! No, believe it. Still in a bikini. And I cut away about half the skin on my index finger while mopping. Because around here, we mop the way you're supposed to. With a lot of aggression. But the main reason I'm telling you this is because I have now both vacuumed and mopped (and will probably have to at least vacuum a few more times before you get home), so you better take your shoes off before you come back home or I'm going to go batshit crazy.
As for all of us, me and everyone I've had contact with, we're all doing fine. Juhani called me today though:
"Hi. You know your maid of honor?"
"Yes, I believe I do."
"She sent me email concerning your bridal shower"
"umm.. dude, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to tell me any of that"
"no, just wait. She sent me email, and I'm not gonna go"
"You're not? Why?"
"because I already planned a bridal shower"
"okay..."
"you and me go out, have lots and lots of beer, and Sami drives us around to all the clubs"
"I'm in!"
I love my maid of honor, Annika to tiny bits and pieces, but I can relate to how Juhani wouldn't want to participate in an all girls evening. He is, still, almost 2 m (or 6 foot 8, if I did my math right) tall, looks like a biker and is the closest equivalent to one I can come up to without him owning an actual motorbike. You all around Europe (go Yurp!) and the US of A would probably get the image right if you think viking. No, I said viking, not that dwarf with the pantyhose' and plaits from Lord of the rings. Come tell me it's not a gay movie... 9 guys in tights and plaits running around looking for jewelry...
To top it off, I'm still a bit surprised that anyone would throw me a bridal shower, or a bachelorette party, as we call them. I know it's kinda a duty for the maid of honor, but I'm still stunned to think all my friends would have the energy to re-arrange their calenders just to show me a good time. And pay actual money for it. I'd settle for all of us sitting on a rock, drinking beer. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they'd all decide at some point "screw this crap. Keg party!".
But we do go a long way back with Annika. For the past ten years, I've spent midsummer (which basically means we all get the day off work and get hammered) at her place in Hämeenlinna. With that one exeption a few years back when I was suspected to have salmonella. I didn't, so y'all can touch me now. She, on the other hand, has always spent the 1st of may with me in turku. With that one exception last year, when I was unhappily working.
Which I will be this midsummer too, but even if I get off work at 8 pm, and am at her place at 10pm at the earliest, I'm still gonna party my shorts off.
This sidetracked a little bit, but the main thing is that I still miss you every now and then, and I hope you're still doing fine.
Love You.
Things I Love:
Spring/summer. It's gotten really warm really fast and I'm totally peeing my pants with happiness.
The wall. I think Joni will post some pics of it sooner than I can, and I urge you all who are reading to go check it out. It rocks and I love the pic and the maker to pieces.
Payday being just around the corner
Annika, who has the patience (and looks) of a saint. I'm like Santa on Prozac when I get unleashed and get to go shopping but she is voluntarily with me and is totally zen while I jump around giggling hysterically.
Things I Loathe:
The knee waking me up at nights again. Odd. Might need another cortisone-injection and/or a scalpell, but they'll drag me kicking and screaming to the needle a second time. The tendon goes all the way up to my butt and my leg was numb/sore for 3 days after the last injection.
Cold mornings. Warmth all the time, please.
Things I'm indifferent about:
The thesis. I gave my supervisor the restructured first ~40 pages, and she didn't hate it. She was actually content with it. Because researchers being content usually requires the crusifiction of lesser students I am still treading lightly. I'll write one more analysis, tie it together and send it in by friday and she'll let me know next tuesday if it goes through or if I'll have to wait until next fall. Fingers crossed, I'll let you know. And if she lets it pass then you'll probably see the glow of me because I will be so happy that all the blood in my veins probably turns into glitter.
It's snowing.
The Future Husband wakes up, curses the darkness, takes a look out the window and starts discussing..... gardening.
It's really coming down, for real, winter snow, big heavy flakes, and he stood by the window wondering if we should install a patio or just plant a lot of flowers to cover up all the ugly in our tiny little garden. With my green thumb, the only thing I'd like to install back there is a barbecue.
I don't think he's completely processed the weather yet. He's back home but it doesn't feel like home yet because almost everything is just wrong. He is very alert, at 4 in the morning, when it's daytime back in Ecuador. He knows it's supposed to be dark and cold, but he's too pissed out about the lack of twenty or more degrees and sun to get accustomed to it yet. On the other hand, I never expected it to go in a flash, it must be really hard.
On other topics, I read Annika's post on facebooking and I have to say I disagree. I can see how it is extremely addictive, and I have finally, due to enormous amounts of pressure, added myself on Facebook. On one hand, it's kind of nice to find people you haven't seen in years on Facebook. You might send them a message or two to get an update on the past decade, but then that's kinda it. On the other hand, it's very, very Hot or Not . People have hundreds of friends and they get Superpoked! , or sen requestes to join Oktoberfest or bite a chunk out of the closest Vampire. I've seen people who go to the same university as I do, have other people who do the same in their friends-list. No harm in that, but th funny thing is when these 2 people walk past each other in real life, they don't say hi. They're just facebook-friends. I myself have lots and lots of people in my friends-list who I haven't seen in a deacade or so, mainly because I've chosen not to. Let's face it boys and girls, in these times it's not that hard to stay in touch if you really want to. But then comes an invitation to be a facebook friend, and you just click the Confirm-button because that's the polite thing to do. Eventhough you're really still waiting for an apology for all the times person X bullied you, didn't answer your love notes, ratted you out etc on second grade.
It could be worse (be warned, the link really is Worse), but I still think I prefer Vox. Voxaholics of te world, unite!
What better way to spend a lovely friday, the last day of this summer's work, than moving. We had moveed all of our stuff from Sami's place during the week, and on friday we hit my place in Turku. We arrived at my flat at about 7-ish in the evening, and we were back to our new flat at about 1 in the morning. So we decided to carry all the stuff from the van the next morning. This was just the beginning. It's been a grueling 3 days of carrying, worrying, cursing and hurrying. We are both under a lot of pressure since we are leaving for Thailand on tuesday, and we should have everything done by then. After we get back from the trip we only have a few days until Sami leaves for Paradise, so therefore all the Manly Work has to be done by then. Otherwise I'm gonna have to seriously brush up on my flirting skills on the neighbours...
The flat is lovely. I love it to pieces, I really do. The garden is heaven even though no-one's taken care of it for about a year or so. Still, I can't wait to sit on a thai beach with a bundle of drinks so strong they melt the tiny umbrella in them. This vacation is a very anticipated one, but it has been difficult because we booked the trip over half a year ago, and by then we didn't know we were gonna have to move just days before it. I've always had the luxury of moving bit by bit before this time. This weekend, it's been touch and go with everything. Both of our nerves are really wrecked, and who better to snap at than the person right next to you. I'm sorry love, but you've been a real pain in the ass too. We've both been real princesses the last three days, but we've accomplished a lot too. And it's nice to know that even when all the nerves in one single human body are wound so tight they'd easily win over any Stradivarius, you can still approach and hug. Just make sure you have an ice-cold beer in your other hand. We've been using lots of those. Thank god for Juhani and Tapsa. They've really been bearded, hairy, beer-loving angels. And they've probably prevented a lot of murder-suicides during this weekend just by being The Sound Of Reason.
The blogging might not be so frequent for the next month or so, due to both our trip and his. My lectures are also starting again, I really can't wait to see everyone again! The sucky part is that I'll have a lot less money to spend, but then again, this is a really wonderful stage of life. Apart from the stress of moving, the stress of being apart for a few months and the fact that I will have to travel back and forth every week, I feel really content. I feel like I belong. And it's Wonderful.
And a late, but filled with love CONGRATULATION to Rubberduck
Paradise on Earth called again. The whole thing was supposed to be on hold until next fall, but seems they need people right now. They wanted to pay hideous amounts of money, free food, housing and flights to and from the location. They need one pair of guys, and some of Sami's co-workers are engaged otherwise, one is becoming a dad and there's just all kinds of stuff going on with all of the guys at that particular time. Seems the only 2 guys who are actually available at that time would be Sami and one other guy. So they will be leaving shortly to spend a few months working in Paradise.
I will of course miss him, but I can't even think about that right now because I'm so excited about it all! It's such a great opportunity for him, and I know I would love a similar chance to do something that really drives me. It's good for his career, for our financial situation and it's sooooo exciting. And I get a chance to go visit him at the end of their stay. Sami did invite me to come with him for all the time he would be working, but my thesis and german classes won't allow me to travel for a few months.
All in all it seems the travelling is starting to bother me less and less. I still miss him when he's away (of course), but I realize it's a part of his work he'll never get out of. As long as the countries, locations and areas are peaceful I can cope with it. As long as there is trust and a genuine knowledge of the importance of the significant other in both of us, we're okay.
Other than that, there has been a lot of travelling lately. My brother is in the military, the parental unit is in beautiful Greece. And I have the day off. I spent a lot of it at the beach and felt really relaxed. Tomorrow there'll be a little more action though. We will have to go shopping for stuff for our new apartment!
We got the apartment! It's ours! To rent, I mean. But anyway! This loveliness of 73 square m, and our very own petite backyard is situated in Upinniemi. You're all always welcome to Our Home. Just notify us at least 1hr in advance so the guards at the gate will let you in. All you foreigners coming by, for you it's 2 weeks in advance for a security check-up. So hereby everybody is always welcome to this seaside beauty at the outskirts of my new hometown. I'm already looking foreward to spending a lot of time with my cousin Laura and the ever so lovely Annika. Since I'm counting on her coming to her senses and moving to Helsinki. Move, move, move! I'll still be coming to Turku every week, because I still have to pfysically attend the classes I'm taking. Lots f moving around, and for the first time ever, I'm really enjoying my new found sense of mobility.
