Starting the moving process

I have already moved some books (granny's), yarn and childrens movies/dvd's. I also made arrangements with a friend of mine that she will be taking some of my stuff to her care. They will not be taking anything big, but useful. This is okey, as I am trying to find a home for all my stuff. Quite a lot of my stuff I am saving, but things that I haven't unpacked yet I will be throwing away. Well I will be taking them to flee market first and then throw them away.

Grr, I just receievd a word from my boss that the bank that I thought did checks, actually doesn't do them any more. So I am now sending a message to my brother to contact his bank. Grr. I can't wait that rest of the world stops using checks. The value in the check will be about 11 euros and the value of the check will be at least double that.

This morning I took few bags of things to the flee market. I hope most of it will go. I am priceing more stuff and am ready to take them there as soon as there will be more room. I have taken the spot for two weeks. Then when my vacation is over I will count what I have left and see if there is any point taking them to the flee market or not.

Argh, the point that I was trying to make is now gone. I have written this one post for two days already which means I have spent way too much time on this already. So I am just going to post this one out.

Money order update

I went to two other banks today to ask if I could get a money order from them. Well the both banks told me that I would not be able to get one if I was not a customer. (Ahh sucks.) I told in both banks that I do have relatives that are customers of the bank, so I will be able to get the money order via someone if it is possible to get one in foreign currency. The first bank then checked out if it is possible, and told me that the chance of getting one are quite slim even for a customer, but it doesn't hurt to ask. So I have asked my aunt to find out if it is possible for her to get the money order.The second bank also didn't know the answer right away, so I left my contact information there and am now waiting for them to call me back tomorrow or latest friday. If it is possible, I will need to ask my brother to ask for it from the second bank.

If these two banks say that they only give money order in euros, I will have to go to my old bank from which I got rid of just beginning of this year. I bet they have the same thing that they can't give it to a non-customer. Oh, boy! Luckily my boss still has an account there, so I can ask him to check the availability if the two that I checked today won't pan out. I am loyal to a place as long as I receive good customer care. When the customer care sucks, I will try to avoid doing any business in that place if possible. Unfortunately it just now seems that I might have to go back and hope for good customer care.

As I mentioned in earlier post I have sent the letter to US, so now it is waiting game with that one. All I need for the second letter is the check (money order) and reply if I can use the DHL. I sent another email to them today, so hopefully I will receive an reply soon. If I will be able to get the money order first, then I will be just sending it to them with DHL anyway. I will email them after that, that if DHL is not possible to use for return then I would prefer the letter to be sent via post.

To do list update

Paspport: waiting to be picked up
CE request US: sent, waiting for reply
CE request G: waiting for check and information if DHL can be used.
Books: most of them at my sisters
Yarn: all of it at my sisters
DVD: some of them at my sisters
Bench: reserved for a friend

Flee market: need to go check for available tables

Bulgaria:
Spending money: ok
Bag: not bought yet


I am thinking about putting something on the facebook, but haven't yet decided what. The time is still very vague so I don't like to answer that question. Another question is why? Because I can, just sounds so pompous.

Dentist Part final

Last Wednesday I had my final appointment with dentist. It was the time to remove the last two wisdom tooth that I have left. As usual I was quiet nervous about it and as usual there was no need to be nervous. I had checked before I left there that I do have enough painkillers for the next few days. I also had made sure I have soup to eat for the next few days.

I do have to say that it might have been the fastest visit to the dentist (with about 16 minutes in the chair) that I have had in the long long time. The lower teeth was a bit trickier and needed two doses of sedatives, but was quite easily yanke out. The upper teeth was really easy and was yanked out in about a minute. Most of the time went for the waiting for the sedatives to kick in.

Then when I go back home, my face still continued to go numb. Luckily it also took away the pain that I might have been feeling otherwise. So in the evening I took the painkiller just to be in the safe side and get some sleep. I slept very well, thank you for asking. Had it not been my friend I would probably have slept till noon. So I spent the day with my friend (also working at the same time... Well she was working too so this was possible) and I took a painkiller in the morning to be on the safe side. So one painkiller the day after the yanking. That's it. Then I noticed that I really don't need any.

The side of my cheeck is a bit sore to touch, and I am not able to open my mouth too wide. But there is no pain to speak of. I really like this! Too bad the first one couldn't have been like this. Well just on a side note, the dentist didn't have the right side up, but the left side. Well she would have noticed it anyway, but I did point it out when she started to look to the left side.

"Girls want to die" -article

I was traveling from Turku to Lahti via Helsinki as I got a bus ticket for 5 euros from Turku to Helsinki. So it was way cheaper to travel that way. So the bus was in Helsinki at the same time as the train left, so I spent an hour in Helsinki. As I was hungry, I search for a place near by train station to eat. There was this paper called "City". I started to read it while eating my chicken bagel. There I found this article "Girls want to die" (I found it online for you to read)(It is in finnish, you might be able to use translator but finnish is such a hard language to translate that there will be mistakes).

It is about in our country it is still unexplained why girls kill themselves. We have the highest suicide rate for girls under 25 in europe and 4th highest in the entire world. This is a subject that is not talked about. It is not research. We talk about young boys (age under 25) and adults, but not young girls/women. The article does list few reasons why (but they also apply to boys as well), with low education and unemployment. Most of the suicides are done while drunk. There is also a story in the end of a young girl that tried but changed her mind and asked for help and was saved.

It is a very good article about the current situation in Finland. It shows how the society usually values boys more than girls. Even in "high" society country like ours. Where the boys suicides were the topic of discussion for years, the girls suicides has just raised its head. Still girls have killed themselves always. Why is this? Better late than never, but still makes me wonder. What young girls hear is that boys will be boys, but girls will have to grow up and take control. So why do we live in a world that is lead by men, when women control the everyday life? Oh, boy. I could rant about this quite a lot but that is not the point. I just found this article and wanted to share it with you.

Application

Yet another application sent out. I was a bit hesitant to sent this one out, as it might change my plans if I would get it. But then I thought what is the chance for me actually getting it, so I sent the application. There is no logic on my action you say? Well you see if I don't try it is all my fault that I am still in the same place, but if I at least try I have tried to change the situation and it is not my fault. The reason I say, näh I won't get it anyway, is to make my expectations low so what ever comes next will be a happy event. So if I think I won't get it, I won't expect anything so it is not really away from me to sent a paper to the place. I.e. I don't use too much energy worrying and planning and what iffing.

So my current plan is still valid. I just need to find a bank that will give me money order in USD and check if DHL has cheaper prizes then FedEx or was the price I saw just a marketing price. FedEx would want over 150 euros from me to send few papers to Grenada. The price that I saw to DHL was about 30 euros. If I remember correctly last time I used DHL it was under 40. So now I am just waiting to receive a reply to hear if I can use DHL or if it must be FedEx. In the meanwhile, I think I will fill out the papers to US and pay their fee (with credit card) and take another step closer to be able to apply for the visa. Last time I checked they had 210 spots left. So I will have to hope that this year there won't be very many late travellers.

What did I do today...

In the making of

mmm ready

Chocolate-apple cake

 and yesterday?

Rhubarb pie

Yet another pic update

(...because I am lazy and bit too tired to write properly)

Pic by my niece. This is what she has been watching here: Once upon a time and UBOS

Pic by my niece: This is what she has been filling up and emptying

Pic by my niece: Carpet in my spare room

Pic by my niece: Sofa pillow that is not in right place

Pic by my niece: Rumpali! (You know the movie Bambi and the bunny from there...)(This used to be mine but she wanted it few years back and I gave it to her.)

I took this one. Just to show that the sun is shining and that we went to a family park near by.

While my niece was running around I lay in the ground and enjoyed the moment of peace

No sand, so I had to take picture with the sky!

Castle at the family playground

Pic by my niece: Pic of me driving and you can see from the mirror that my niece has the camera

Strawberries!

Self portrait of my niece... Yeah she got a bit crazy with my camera...

Money order?

Wau it really feels nice to live in a country that is supposedly ahead every other country. So it is not normal to have you fingerprints taken with ink (so 80's or somehing). We have not been using checks for at least 25 years maybe more. I do have a vague image in my mind that there has been signs that say, you can pay with check in here.

So I went to my bank to ask if I would be able to get a money order to Grenada. First it was a bit like "wait what did you say?" and  then it was "okey, we can do this!". The next problem was, that they would do it only in Euros, and not in the currency I need it to be. So I need to go see other banks if they will be able to help me out. Also I just need to hope that the fee the bank takes will not be grater than the value I will be putting in it. Oh, well it is not a big hassle. Just annoying that I will have to wait few days to get it done.

I also email our old housekeeper to find out the real address of the other appartment, as all I have is the PO box number (for the old appartment). But I think I will be able to send the US one forward soon. All I need to do there is to fill out the form and pay the fee with my credit card. Then send the papers to the right address and wait.

Grr, more waiting.

Rough times

I have had both my nieces over here for few days. Yesterday we went to visit my friend who had just last week received two cats. She also has a boy who is the same age as my nieces. The day started a bit slow as one woke up at six and the other after seven. The other one did not have a good day at all. Just complaining every other little thing. I was so surprised that we even got to my friends home.

Luckily there she cheered up and all three played together. There were some tantrums over there as well but the kids sorted them out themselves. When it was time to leave it was more rough for the other one who hadn't had any tantrums yet. She really liked to be there and wanted to go again soon. Luckily the ride back was much more calm. Well they sang this song called Silkkii (the chorus part) in chorus for the entire trip back home. There were some doubt how the words really go, but they had fun.

They both had a fun day and evening (the tantrums were more rough on me than on them) and both went to bed quite easily. Too easily. After few minutes I went to check upon them. Well other one  (with the tantrums) were drawing and other one was trying to sleep. I told that now it is time to sleep and took the papers and pens away. Then the one who tried to sleep asked if she could sleep in another room. Of course I said yes, because she also said she had a headache. Oh, boy. That's when the other one started to cry.

So I spent an hour (at least) calming her down and making the other one sleep in the same room. I had to pretend to be asleep between them (on the floor). Oh, boy the amount of the crying. Well I did notice that she was tired and this is why she was crying. I just assured to her that my other niece will be sleeping there as well and hold her pretty much the entire time. In the end it was easier to pretend to be asleep. She did test me, poking once in a while and checking if my eyes were open. But I kept my cool and did not open my eyes untill I was farely sure she was asleep.

This morning they both woke up at their own time and are now watching Tom and Jerry.

I noticed that...

-My rice has little bugs in it. I noticed it when I was boiling it up. What buggles me a bit is that it was supposedly in air thigh box. Oh, well one thing that I don't have to worry about eating or storaging.

-My DVD player has learned a new game. It is called push open, and it will open and close right away. Luckily it won't continue that very long. It is very annoying though. Also one more thing that I don't have to storage. I think I will donate it to anyone who wants it or through it away.

-Few days ago I noticed that there was two little girls drawing on my floor. I did not know the second one. I am hesitant to take small children in, if I do not know them, but as they were clearly playing and had fun, I didn't dare to say no. I just have to note, that she was younger than my niece. (No parents to be found anywhere)

-I am really tired already, and can't wait till another hour has passed so that I can say to my nieces that it is time to go to bed. They are playing at the moment so I have a moment of peace, but it is just for a moment.

-I am pretty sure that I have forgotten tons of things that I needed to do. My mind is just so occupied at the moment. So Sorry if I have forgotten something that I have promised to do!

Then it is time for updates:
Wall in my bedroom: Painted
Police station: Passport renewed
Police station: Fingerprinted (it was so funny, when they didn't first understand what I wanted. They asked who wants my fingerprints. The guy who took them told me that he had done this once earlier for similar occation.)

Hmm, I think you are otherwise up-to-date on my plans and life. But now I don't hear any voices, so it is time to go check what the two are up to.

Entertainment

On Friday evening my aunt arrived with her husband and a child who they look after once a month. This was really nice surprise for my niece (although I did let it slip earlier so that she would be expecting them)(preventing her headaches). My niece and the boy really clicked and started to play right away. Even though it was really late, we let them play just for a little while.

On Saturday morning they played a bit more, because the fun park where we decided to go opened at noon. So we had to spent the time between six am to noon at my place. Then we went to Tykkimäki, which is a family fun park, mostly for children not so much for adults. As the boy was so little he needed an adult to company him on some rides. This did not slow them down at all. I did two rides: Ferris Wheel and a frog ride (you would pedal on a circuit about four meters above the ground). Luckly there were also a play ground and a hoplop type of a place where the two could spend the rest of their energy. I am happy to say that when we left no one was crying "why do we have to leave". Also the only persons to get some sun burn were the adults. 

On Sunday I let my niece watch a bit more TV than normally. Just because she woke up before six and the boy slept till eight. He would have slept even longer if my aunt hadn't woken him up. So my niece watched the tv a bit before he woke up, so that she wouldn't make too much noise. Then she watched again with the boy. They also spent quite some time outside this morning too. My aunt et al left for home before noon, after which my niece called her mother to fill her in about her travels. She said as a good bye "I'm going out to see if there are any friends there". As it has been promised that there will be thunder, I first wondered if we should go for a swim or not. But because the sun started to shine, I decided that we should go. So after having watched a movie (while I did the laundry) we left for the beach. It is not a big beach and it is really trouble some to get a parking space. I was lucky and was able to get a space near the lake. 

I do have to admit that I did not swim. There was so many kids in the water that I did not see it very pleasent. I was able to let my niece go by herself as she had been to a swimming school earlier. Also she had a swimming ring to help her. I was not far away and I was all prepared to go in, if she asked me to. We had a snack with us at the beach. Now she is doing the dishes (washing, rinsing and putting them to dry). I have offered to help many times but she refused my help. 

Oh, my favourite quote so far: "there is something similar with you and my mom?!"

Pic update again

I confess I did take the first pic while driving, but there were no other traffic, so I dared to do so. I just had to take a picture of the things that scared me during the winter time.

Windmills

Also I wanted to show you how well the plant I took to my sister is doing. It really likes the space in my opinion. You can't even tell that it is missing from my bench as the other plants took over really fast. I think it is too crowded still in my flower bench, but that's not my problem anymore. It is the next occupants problem.

The moon lily (or something like that) is doing well

My niece wanted something to do, so I obliged and gave her task to pick the weeds out of cracks of the stones and water the plants. She really enjoyed doing it. What am I going to make her do tomorrow??

My niece watered the flowers and picked the weeds

I have these chalks that are used to draw on the street. Luckily I have a piece of street in front of me, so my niece was able to draw. She told me that this is a worm that is in jail. The ceiling looks like a cloud so that the worm will be happy to stay in the jail.

It is a worm in jail

I asked my niece if she wanted me to make her soup or should we buy some from the store. She wanted me to do some for her. I put some red currant for flavour and black currant so that it wouldn't be all red.

Strawberry-currant soup

For dinner we BBQ:ed some, but unfortunately my niece wasn't too hungry. She had found a friend from the playground...

BBQ

My salad is doing fine! I just need to cover it up a bit because the sun is burning quite a lot here.

Salad is doing fine :)

Oh, yeah the friend my niece found is here now. They are drawing together. My niece showed her my apartment :)) The wall we painted, in the yard the flowers she watered. No pic of the wall, sorry, you'll just have to trust me.

Babysitting and working

Not an easy task to combine. Luckily next year, my sister will have a proper day care if she has a summer job. It wasn't possible for this year. But I am happy to say that there hasn't been many problems that we haven't been able to solve. Somehow it is quite nice that my niece will be able to travel the same way as we did. Especially when we know that this is not very permanent thing, and that my niece really wants to do the travelling.

So the trouble is that instead of palying by herself, she wants to chat with me. This is not possible all the time as I am working at the same time. Sometimes I need to say to her that I can't talk now, I have to work. Usually after 10 minutes she comes back to me and asks if I have done working yet. :) I have tried to explain that my work is time related, so I will have to work the time I have been given. Of course as I work from home, I am able to take break when ever I want and have longer ones as well. This just means that I will need to do the time in at some other point. I usually try to do the day's work in that one day. Sometimes I do a bit extra during the weekend so that I can have some time off during the week.

I have been on a lookout for another job for few years now. I have sent out applications to the ones I find interesting. So far I haven't been able to get into an interview. Oh, well I am not that worried at the moment as this job gives me now chance to live abroad once again. I can't wait! No luck with lotto last weekend, so I can't just quit. Better luck next time, when ever that will be.

Now my niece is vacuuming, because that is one of the best things to do that she knows. :) I hope this will be as easy when we go to my place for few weeks.