A Touch of Love

You know one of those days when you feel like you're not performing that well at work, but then out of the blue someone gives you a positive feedback? I had one of those days a while ago. I was feeling hormonal and grumpy inside. In short I wasn't the most patient worker that day. At the end of my shift, I was chatting up with a customer when another regular one came over and gave me one positive feedback after another in front of the other customer and the other customer kept on agreeing. At first I could say thank you in a clear voice, but after a while I couldn't hold back my tears and couldn't even say thank you properly. Thankfully I had tissue ready in my pocket, so I could dab my eyes with it.

The customers were tactful enough to change the topic when they noticed that I was getting teary-eyed and was struggling to speak. All the way home I had a hard time keeping my tears from falling down. The moment I arrived home, I was practically sobbing. I was so touched by that customer's words and was grateful for the mental boost. The encounter made me realize that deep inside, even though I knew I wasn't performing that well that day, those unexpected words were exactly what I needed to hear. Even now as I'm typing these words, I start crying again.

It's amazing what a touch of loving kindness can do to another human being. All I can do is try to give my best, learn from my mistakes, and pay it forward.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! 💟💟💟

I'll end this post with this beautiful song..."When Love Takes You In" by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Life Goes On

An innocent question can lead to a dose of surprise. The other day I asked a regular customer where his wife was, because I hadn't seen her for months. 

His response was, "We're divorced now. Our divorce was final on the 23rd of this month. Her decision."

I was struck dumb. I managed to reply, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."



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He continued, "She lives in southern Finland now. She wanted me to move there, too, but I didn't want to. I have my place here and a small cabin, so she filed for a divorce. It's her decision."

I could only respond, "Oh dear...it must be hard. By the way, her daughter lives there, right?"

He replied, "Yes, her daughter has a son. So now she takes care of the grandson." He packed the few items he had bought and added, "I'm still grieving about it."

I said, "Of course you are, of course.......But life goes on..." 

He agreed, "Yes, life goes on."

I didn't have time to process the information. The next customer was already waiting, but I felt like his words were hanging there in the space between us. It's funny how news like this can stagger you, even though you don't really know them that well.

I first met her a few years ago. From the get go, she told me her abbreviated life story even without being asked. She had just retired at that time. If I could describe her with one word, I'd choose the word sunshine. She was always full of laughter and bear hugs. Seeing her face at work was always a pleasure.

Sometime last year she came by with a huge smile on her face. She said that her grandson was due soon and she would go there once the baby was born. A few months later, she showed me his photo on her mobile phone and told me her grandson's name. The phrase "her pride and joy" sprung to my mind. I have no doubt that she'll be a doting and fun grandmother.

Life goes on...people come and go, some are born, some pass away and sometimes you don't even have time to say goodbye...but life goes on for those left behind... 


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3BT: Random Days

1. Playing "Poker Face" game with hubby while playing cards with MIL (it wasn't planned, just made up right then and there). The point of the game is to keep a poker face while the other party makes faces to make you smile or laugh. Dang it was SO hard to keep a poker face that we ended up laughing like crazy over and over again. SO MUCH FUN!!! :-D

2. A grandma gave me a bar of chocolate at work. BLESS HER! And it wasn't even the first time for her to do that. :-) I shared the chocolate with hubby at home he he he...


3. We've booked the tickets to go to Indo via Singapore on our summer holiday, so we're spending some days in Singapore as well in between flying to my hometown and flying back to Finland. And we've also booked the hotels in Singapore YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!! :-D

4. I've contacted a few friends who live in Singapore and they've told me that they want to meet up, so I hope there's no hindrance for us to meet. EXCITING!!!!!!!! :-D

5. More feeling of freedom as I get less afraid of disappointing people when I feel that they have high expectations of me or when I feel that they expect something from me that I just can't give (something I just realized lately).


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6. The sidewalk is now clear of sand and gravel. That means I can ride my bike at full speed again WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

7. Having lovely and fun coworkers who treat me (the only expat in the group) like one of them. I hope we can work together for a LOOOONNNGGG time. :-D

8. Listening to this soothing and comforting song. Death is not the end. We will meet again in heaven...


9. Laughing so much at these photos ha ha ha ha...I'm trying to imagine the amount of time and effort it took to match the characters with the cats ha ha ha...As a cat lover and a fan of Game of Thrones, I think whoever it is has done a great job at it. :-D

 Game of Thrones: Cat Edition

Language Troubles Again

Every now and then at work we have Russian customers/tourists. I assume they have their own business there because many of them buy so much stuff (good for my workplace, hey! :-D). However, it can also be challenging to communicate with them, especially if they're the older types because they don't speak any English. Sometimes some of them speak a little Finnish, but sometimes not. 

The other week I had these encounters.

I've finished serving a woman who bought tons of stuff. I remember that she bought 15 big packs of chocolate powder (to make chocolate drink). She started packing her stuff because she wanted to get tax refund, so my other coworker was dealing with that while I stayed behind the till. Once she had finished packing, my coworker asked me if I could refund some money to her. It was as if I had counted the chocolate powder packs wrongly. The customer had packed everything up in many bags except for 10 packs of chocolate powder. 

We tried to communicate in English, but to no avail. My coworker was confused and so was I, because I felt that I had counted them right. Mind you, all the bags were tied up, so it would have been too hard to open all of them up just to count the chocolate powder packs. Yet the customer kept on pointing towards the 10 packs of chocolate powder that she had left on next table. My coworker again asked me if I had counted the chocolate powder packs wrongly, but I said I remembered there were 15 of them and the customer must have put 5 of them in one of the bags.

Then it hit me!!!! She wanted to return the 10 packs of chocolate powder packs because she probably thought 5 would have been enough. So I said to her with big gestures, "So you don't want these 10 packs?" 

Then she replied, "Yes, yesss, don't wanttt..." (pointing to the 10 packs on the table).

HALLELUJAH!!!! Finally we were progressing. My coworker wasn't able to start processing the tax refund if this matter wasn't sorted, so I returned some money to her and then it was all settled. Phew!



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Anyway, that same day not long after the above incident, a Russian man came over to my friend who was behind the till. He had a tub of yoghurt in his hand and he asked my friend something in broken English. My friend didn't understand what he wanted, so I decided to follow him.

He pointed to the tub of yoghurt and asked, "Three?"

I thought he wanted to buy three tubs of yoghurt, but there was none left on the shelf, so I told him I'd come with him.

When I reached the spot, I realized that there were still plenty of yoghurt left. Then he asked again, "Three? Banana, vanilla?"

I thought he wanted me to read out loud the different kinds of flavors that was available in English, so I started naming them out loud.

He shook his head and said, "No, no, three...banana, vanilla...Do you have at the back?"

After we did this a few times, I finally realized what he wanted. He wanted three kinds of flavors in each tub of yohgurt, so I told him, "Ahhhh...you want three flavors for each of them. No, no, unfortunately we don't have it. These are the only options available."

He asked again, "You don't have at the back?" (he meant in the warehouse)

I replied, "No, no. Just these." 

Then the woman who was with him said something in Russian that I assumed meant, "It's OK. Just take some. These are fine, too."

It felt GOOD to finally be able to decipher what he wanted he he he he... 

3BT: Random Days

1. Finding the earring that has been lost for a long time. Apparently it had fallen down while we were in sauna ha ha...


2. Ordering a winter jacket online because the ones they had in the stores in this little village were either twice as expensive or didn't have a two-way zipper and finding out that the size fit perfectly, so I didn't have to return it. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!

3. Me: "Honey, you look good!"
R2: "You look better!"

AWWWWWW moment of the day! :-D 


4. Me: "So how's the cake? I managed to mix up some of the ingredients the wrong way, so it didn't turn out the way it was supposed to be, but it's still tasty, right?"
R2: "Yep."
Me: "Of course. Guess how many egg yolks I used for it!"
R2: "Sixteen."
Me: "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! That's correct!"

R2 started laughing like a maniac and he even had to stop eating (his shoulders were shaking and had trouble breathing).

Me: "That was just a wild guess, wasn't it?"
R2: (in between laughing) "Yep."
Me: "DOOOHHHHH!!!!" 


5. Warm rice, squid, and sambal terasi (Indo chili sauce). VERY YUMMY!!!!!

6. The sun has finally been shining for the past two afternoons (yes, it was cloudy for half a day).

7. A very warm (albeit cloudy) February and it's been above zero for days. The snow is melting rapidly everywhere. Will spring come sooner? It does seem like it. Very strange but I don't mind it at all he he...it's all the better if the snow melts so fast without refreezing again.

8. A customer of mine gave me some meat out of the blue. Yep, meat! :-D BLESS that person! 

9. Having a dishwasher (the previous owners of the house had installed it). Even though we don't use it regularly, but every now and then when I just don't feel like washing the dishes by hand, the machine is there to help me. :-D 
 

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). 

35th Birthday

Today is my 35th birthday. When I woke up, I was greeted by the gorgeous pink sky outside as the sun was starting to rise (yeah, I woke up late because today was my free day LOL!!!). 


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Today I just want to be thankful for these things:

- For this breath that I still have. The gift of life. 

- My husband. When I was preparing to marry him, I thought that I was sure that he was the one for me. What I knew then deep down in my heart versus what I know now shows me that my choice was right - my faith in us back then was blind, but now I've seen the proofs and what I see is far more beautiful than what I could have known then. The longer I live with him, the surer I am that he is definitely the one for me and the more thankful I am to have him by my side. Just by being himself, he makes me feel like I'm the best version of myself. He helps me be the best version of myself. And it helps a lot to be accepted and loved just the way I am - even when I'm cranky, even when I make mistakes, even when I'm obsessed with some things, even when I'm having my PMS. 

Honey, marrying you is one of the BEST decisions ever in my entire life. Each day spent with you is a day full of fun, laughter, love, and tenderness. I just hope and pray that God will keep us hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart until death do us part - and I hope that He will give us plenty of time together still on earth because I want to grow old and I want to grow together with you. I cherish you and I still want you even after all these years.

- My parents. For letting me make my own mistakes, for trusting me to make my own decisions, for never nagging me to come visit, for never making me feel guilty for anything (either deliberately or not), for loving me without choking the life out of me, for letting me be my own person and letting me choose my own path.

- My mother-in-law. Thank you for accepting me into the family with such warmth and love, for teaching me things tenderly and patiently, for never criticizing me, for supporting me and for your constant appreciation. I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law.

- Friends - old ones, new ones, online friends. I'd especially like to thank my blogger friends and new online friends here. Even though most of us have never met, but you've supported me and showed me your love and compassion and I'm very thankful for that. And all the friends I've met either online or in real life have taught me so many things and inspired me in many different ways.

- My boss and coworkers. Thankful that I'm accepted in the team without being treated differently, that I still have a job despite the tough economy. 

- My kind customers. I've talked to some people about this and they all confirmed that there are so many nice and kind customers here in this village and I'm thankful for that. When I first started work, I made so many mistakes, but none of them said anything harsh to me. They reminded me of my mistakes tenderly and over time they've forgiven my other mistakes and they have also shown appreciation towards me and I'm forever grateful for that. 

- Infertility. Infertility has taught me so many things that I wouldn't have learned otherwise and it has also allowed me to meet so many lovely ladies that I wouldn't have met otherwise. I'm thankful for the many lessons and the gift of new friends that infertility brings. 


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OK, now I've finished the list, so it's time to enjoy my mud cake topped with berries. :-D 

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!!!

Weekend Update

1. Hubby had a game night with his coworkers last night and I had an evening shift, so we couldn't meet, but he left me a lovely Post-It message. Not only that, he remembered to send me a good night SMS in between partying with his coworkers. PLUUUUUSSS when I woke up this morning, I found out that he had bought me a hamburger in the early morning at the kiosk and he left me a note to tell me about it (in case I woke up before he did). My heart just meltsssss he he he...


2. There's a piece of rather sad news about one of my regular customers. I've written a few times about a cute little girl who has taken a liking to me over the course of my working years in my current job. Anyway, the daddy came over the other day and he said that they were moving somewhere else, so he informed me just in case it was the last time we'd meet again.

I was too shocked to comment too much and there were other customers waiting in line already, so we couldn't chit-chat too long, but I'm sure gonna miss them. Mind you, I don't really "know" them. I only know the parents' names and the little girl's name and sometimes I buy her and her little sister some chocolate, but I still felt touched that he made sure to tell me about it. I still hope that they'd come back here every once in a while and that we'd meet again, though (because the grandparents live here). We shall see about that...

3. The grandpa who asked me to translate his book came over today and he bought me some flowers again!!!! BLESS HIIIIIMMMMMM!!!!! (Trying to think of any gift idea to give him on Christmas hmmmm...) :-D :-D :-D Ahhhhh...the perks of having a job like this he he he...


4. I've been enjoying the new tasks given to me at work. Funny thing was that before I knew that I was going to be given the new tasks, I had been feeling rather "stumped" already at work. I didn't want to go up in rank, but I wanted to do something else, as well. And boom...the new position (not a higher rank) with new tasks filled the need very well, even though in the beginning I was VERY nervous about whether or not I was capable enough to fulfill them. THANK YOU, Lord, for knowing my needs even before I knew what to ask!!! 

5. The other day I saw aurora borealis again thanks to my friend's message through my FB wall he he he...The temperature was only about 2-5'C. What I saw wasn't nearly as lovely as what you can see in this page: Aurora Borealis, because it was rather cloudy here in Sodankylä at that time plus I didn't wait for hours outside. Plus there were lots of street lamps all around us and they were really bothering me from enjoying the auroras fully. I really wished I had had a button where I could switch off all the neighbouring street lamps for half an hour, you know? HE HE HE HE HE...but anyway, click on the link to enjoy the BRILLIANT photos!!!

3BT: Random Days

1. A customer bought a few stuff but then realized that she had 30 cents less than what she had to pay. When I was asking her what item she wanted to take out, the guy behind her immediately said, "Don't take anything. Here, let me just give you 30 cents." The woman thanked him profusely. :-D

Sure it wasn't a big amount of money, but not everyone would do that and it's lovely to witness something like that. :-D

2. My first batch of summer holiday is coming soon and we're going on a week cabin trip. WOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Can't wait!!! :-D

3. Thankful that in this tough economy, we still have jobs and we're still able to do some budget trips on our holidays. 


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4. My BPPV symptoms have been much less and less severe in a short amount of time and I'm even thinking of exercising again. My body's itching for a real exercise. Here's to regaining health!!! :-D

5. A friend's dad's bypass surgery went very well and it seems that so far the recovery period has been well, too. HALLELUJAH!!!!

6. Reading this prayer that I found accidentally:

“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess:

Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity.

Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples' affairs. With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it. But thou knowest, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends.

Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point.

Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains -- they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing.

I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn't agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Keep me reasonably gentle. I do not have the ambition to become a saint -- it is so hard to live with some of them -- but a harsh old person is one of the devil's masterpieces.

Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy. Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so.

Amen”
 

7.  Small epiphanies that allow me to understand some things even better than before. I cherish them with all my heart! :-D

8. Hubby for making me laugh a lot 'coz of his antics. :-D 

Addition: Just had a full blown exercise - sweating and all that. Now I feel VERY VERY fresh. WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Feels WONDERFUL to be able to exercise again. :-D 

Back from Silence

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!

3BT: Random Days

1. Hubby upgraded my computer and had to change my mouse into a bigger one (the old one had to be taken away 'coz the port behind the CPU had changed, so it didn't fit anymore). I then complained that it was a bit too big for me (I have small hands), so immediately he went online to order a smaller one. BLESS HIM!!!!

2. Hubby's been having some holiday (due to accumulated overtime) and it's been LOVELY to be welcomed back home from work with tight hugs. :-D

3. Got two nice surprises (I'm afraid I can't tell you what they are 'coz it's private, but I just want to cherish them) he he he he he...

4. Peeling onions wearing swimming goggles WORKED!!! I didn't even shed a tear during the whole peeling and chopping process! YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!

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5. A customer came by and told me that she had read my blogs and enjoyed them. THANK YOU!!! Your words of encouragement are well appreciated! :-D What a nice surprise!

6. Muscles that are a bit sore after an exercise and a shower. Endorphin rush is awesome! :-D

7. Accidentally finding old songs in youtube that you had forgotten and then being able to enjoy them once more.

8. Watching this fun video clip: 

The Computer Counted Wrongly!

Last night I was reading a Finnish blog that told stories about troublesome customers and I was reminded of an occasion with an older guy. He's one of our regular customers and he's a very friendly guy, but he's very keen on checking everything up on his receipt. For example, a few times he came by to buy a few of that day's offers, but he took the wrong ones. Right after he packed things up, he always went to the side to check the receipt. A few times he took the wrong products and he opted to return them and then he'd ask the cashier to go get him the right products (that were on offer that day).

One time, though, I was at the cashier and he bought some products and then went to the side, took out his mobile phone and started counting. I was serving other customers, but I could see what he was doing from the corner of my eyes. After a while, he came back towards me and said, "Hey, the computer counted wrongly! Look at the receipt! The machine counted wrongly!"

I was busy serving other customers, so I asked him to wait and I pressed the buzzer to call my coworker to help out. While waiting, he kept on saying, "I recounted each item with my mobile phone and the sum I got wasn't the same." I was a bit annoyed by then because this time it wasn't about getting the wrong products or anything like that. I just couldn't imagine how the computer could have counted wrongly. 


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Anyway, my coworker came over and I explained the situation in brief to her and she went to the side with him after grabbing a calculator. At lightning speed she inputted each price and she said, "The sum is correct. See?" She shoved the calculator in front of him to show the total sum.

Confused, he still insisted by saying, "But I counted them using my own mobile phone's calculator and I came up with a different sum!"

So my coworker gave him the calculator and told him to input each price all over again while both of them checked/said out loud the price of each item. After checking everything this way in a much slower fashion, he was finally satisfied. He said, "Oh, I guess I must have done something wrong." For all it's worth, though, he did say thank you to the both of us after all the hassle, but still nobody else had done this kind of thing before and after him and I must say that I haven't really met any troublemakers or customers that say harsh words (swear words) to me like what I read in the Finnish blog. 


There was one funny story told in the Finnish blog. There was this old man going to a supermarket and this fellow was working there. The old man asked him if they had a certain brand of toilet paper rolls (actually the old man asked for some ass wipes!).

The fellow told him that they had other brands, but the old man got angry and shouted, "I DO NOT WANT this and that brand for my ass!!!! I want the brand I mentioned 'coz it's very soft! That's THE BEST kind of ass wipe I'd ever use for myself!!!! How dare you tell me that I should use other brands of paper to wipe my ass!!! This store is no good! At least I can get those beloved ass wipes from another store!"

Oh dear goodness!!!!!! 

3BT: Random Days

1. A customer gave me two bunches of tulips (pink and purple). They're still blooming nicely in my kitchen. :-D BLESS him!!!

2. Watching this funny video:


3. Enjoying the abundance of spring sunlight. Despite the fact that it can still drop down to -20'C this month (which is not normal), the sun has been smiling at us a lot these days. Ahhhhhh...

4. New challenges at work will appear in a few months' time, so it's gonna be exciting (though in the beginning it might be stressful) LOL!!! But I'm psyched to learn new stuff! :-D

5. Anticipating the two birthday celebrations this month (MIL's and R2's). CAKE CAKE CAKE!!!! :-D *drool*

6. A bigger fridge at work. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. A grandma gave me a bar of chocolate (again). She's just SO sweet and thoughtful! :-D THANK YOUUUU!!!!! And yes, the graphic below described my facial expression very well upon receiving the chocolate bar LOL!!!


2. Another grandma told me that her hubby had been missing me at work 'coz he hadn't seen me in a long time. (Unfortunately I don't know which one her hubby is 'coz I meet too many customers at work each shift, but that means the only thing I can do to make sure that I treat him well is to treat everybody well.) I'm touched!!!

3. Me: "Hey, I've just recently noticed that my buttocks aren't as supple as they were before. Have you noticed, too?"
Hubby smiled wickedly and nodded.
Me: "WHAAAAATTT?????? Are you pulling my leg or have you really noticed the difference?"
Hubby: "Yeah, I've noticed."
Me: "When did you realize that they'd changed?"
Hubby: "Ages ago:"
Me: "WWWHHHHAATTTT????" (short pause) "But you still love them anyway, right?"
Hubby: (nod) "Yep."
Me: (smile) "Good."


4. Taking a holiday from FB has done WONDERS to my brain. I feel like it's been unblocked and now it can breathe freely again. Phew!!!

5. Sauna scent. I love adding some scent (we've mostly used birch or eucalyptus) to the bucket of water we keep in sauna. It's like aromatherapy! Heavenly!


6. Learning to be more assertive at work when needed. It ain't easy but I'll celebrate each little step forward that I make! :-D

When I Saw Your Face...

Yesterday I had an evening shift at work and near the time when the shop was about to close, I was mopping the floor near the cashier area when an older guy came in. I had my back facing him, so he called me and when I turned around, I immediately saw his rather "disappointed" face LOL!!!

He was probably wondering how much I understood Finnish 'coz he could see from my face that I was a foreigner. But he tried anyway and he didn't ask for anything hard, so I could help him out just fine on my own. Even if I didn't know/understand what he wanted to find, I would still have been able to help him by calling out my coworker, but the moment that he saw my face was so funny. :-D

He must've been a new customer, because all the regular customers know my face and they know I've worked there for a while, so they won't hesitate asking me for help. This face of mine has its own advantage at work, though, because they know that I'm a foreigner simply by looking at my face, if they don't know me well, they'll resort to using more formal Finnish (or they'd speak more slowly) in order to make sure I understand their words. :-D

Anyway, here's a pic of my frosty hair. Photo taken when it was -21'C outside (and I just went back from a trip to the supermarket). 

3BT: Random Days

1. Kissing hubby by sucking both his upper and lower lips (and in the process getting tickled by his grown moustache) LOL!!!

2. To sit on the carpet in front of hubby's couch while he was sitting there, then looking up and being able to see his nostrils very clearly from that angle. What a view! :-D

3. Booking a spring trip to Rome. WOOHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!! Can't wait!!!

4. Hearing a small boy (perhaps around 5 years old) babble about money to his mother, which made me and a couple of elderly smile because he just wouldn't shut up.



5. A customer saying, "I'll arrange everything so that the barcodes of each item I bought was facing you so that you don't have to turn them. I don't want you to suffer from de Quervain syndrome." AWWWWWWWW...it was the VERY first time someone had EVER done that!!! So heart-warming! :-D

6. The smell of Indonesian potato croquettes being baked in the oven and then after they were done, the taste was just SO heavenly.

7. Me: (jokingly) STOP drinking coffee!
Hubby: (without missing a beat) STOP eating chili sauce!
Me: UGH! That was a sucker punch!!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHHH...

7. Watching this video:

3BT: Random Days

1. The last Christmas gift package that I ordered arrived already yesterday. Phew!!! Just in time for Christmas he he...

2. I've got surprise gifts and Christmas cards this year. THANK YOU, people!


3. A customer bought a big sack of dog food and said, "This is Christmas food." It made me laugh instantly! :-D



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4. We've booked a trip for our spring holiday next year. WOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOO!!! :-D THANKFUL to have a chance to do a trip again!

5. Slathering lotion all over hubby's legs in winter and hearing no protest.


6. After serving an English-speaking customer, I turned to the next one and accidentally mentioned the sum in English, which prompted us both to laugh at the same time HA HA HA HA...Some days it takes my brain a longer time to switch back to Finnish LOL!!!

7. Hearing, "Don't run! You don't have to rush! I'm not in a hurry" when I try to come back to the till as quickly as possible. 

8. Finding Jeruk Bali (Balinese Orange) aka Hunajapomelo which took me straight back to my childhood 'coz I used to eat a lot of it when I was a child - and we used to turn the thick skin into a toy. Ah...lovely memories!!! :-D

8. Looking at cute/funny cat pictures (well, mainly cat pics but there are some other animals, too). Makes me go ooh-aah-ing. Mmmmmmmm... 


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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

3BT: Random Days

1. A mute customer tried to have a conversation with me again. He showed me some paintings (which I think he did himself) and I held up two thumbs. He's always smiling at me friendly, so it's always nice to meet him. :-D

2. Had a small accident on my bike yesterday - slid on a patch of ice and bumped my right knee, but FORTUNATELY it wasn't any worse than that! No broken bones or whatsoever. Phew!


3. Meeting some friends by accident and being able to chit-chat with them for a while and catch up with them. :-D

4. After hubby had such a long day of work, I was thinking of giving him a back massage in sauna ('coz I had a free day today), but then he gave me a foot massage instead! BLESS YOU, babe!

5. #4 made me even more enthusiastic in giving him the back massage. :-D

6. Despite the onset of a cold, at least this time I manage to sleep well during the night. I sure do hope it won't turn out any worse, though.


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