Mid-end week stress.

It's funny how every once in awhile I get soo stressed and one thing that always comes to mind is: "I'm doing soooooooo many things at the same time and OMG there's no time to blog about it." I'm not sure if that's sensical or not but that just seems to be the way it happens. I guess when there's nothing going on, I don't feel inclined to write because there isn't much to say but now... well! I need a nap.

School is done for the period! Almost! I have a multi-period course so until we get the project to bed (the project which I have yet to obtain- due May 13th or something), there's no rest for the wicked.

After celebrating Finnish independence day on Monday and Mos Nicolaie, I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and today, Thursday. There've been pretty long day but I'm happy to say, I made it for my second gymnastics class yesterday! My friend Santtu was at the gym too and I didn't know he went there so that was pretty cool :)

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Bucharest... bus time unknown... my flight is at 4:45pm and I arrive after midnight. This is the new flight as the first one I booked was cancelled due to the Finnair strike. I'm not sure how that affects me because I'm not flying with them but I think they have some understanding with the airline.

I'm listening to Bloc Party now in an attempt to relax.. but I just realized I have to write another email so I'm gonna leave this for another time.

Last but not least: Canada in 12 days!

Friday afternoon.

Finally, I can come back to the times where I feel exhausted on a Friday afternoon after a busy week, a job well done (more or less, I'm still learning) and more work ahead! I'm telling you, this isn't me complaining, because I can honestly say that being brain dead has never felt so good!

Let's rewind a little. So last weekend I checked out Raappana at Tavastia in Helsinki. He was AWESOME! Not only did we get to listen to authentic Finnish reggae and not only was it amazing, but I also made some new friends via my Canadian friend from H@nken, Nicole!

If you wanna check out Raappana, click here. And you should very much click there.

Sunday, I spent a lovely morning working on some projects and then an even lovely afternoon hanging with Matti and Anne, debating paint colours for the bedroom, doing an Ikea run and eating! Then back to work at home.

Monday, I mostly just hung out at school at did minimal work. I went to a class. Then Juha texted me saying he had a fever and I weighed my options: spending another day at school doing minimal work or going to Tampere and helping him out a little and getting a day off between Helsinki and work? So evidently, I went home.

Tuesday I did some work from home, ate lunch at Uni and ... honestly, I can't really remember. I think I was fighting off a cold and it worked!

Then came work! Wednesday to Friday I woke up at 7am every day, was at work by 8:15am and left around 4:30-5pm. It has been such an intense 3 days but in a really great way. I sort of feel like a super hero with a secret identity... except a super lame one because I work in IT. Still, I'm really enjoying my job but I can't really reveal any of the details. But I'll try to explain why I'm happy about it in some very general terms that don't give anything away...

Like in most work places, you have lots to do. Let's call each thing you have to do an "assignment." Each assignment has lots of different components, or not, but in the end, someone needs to see your work. Parts of the assignments were clear to me before, others weren't. While there's still a lot to learn, I feel like I've learned sooo much this past week! Honestly, I was pretty nervous to go into work on Wednesday because I hate feeling useless but now I'm looking forward to going in next Wednesday because I'll feel more oriented, and consequently, more competent as well! And the days have been busy, hectic and stressful but time seems to go by pretty quickly so I can say that I'm actually enjoying myself there. It also helps to have really great people in your cubicle, as well as helpful co-workers [and a great cafeteria]!

So, I think that's it for now. I don't want to overdo it but I basically just wanted to convey a sense of enthusiasm and bubbly-ness coming from the fact that I'm finally employed! [and the added excitement of actually earning a real paycheck.]

Take it easy,
xo.

Work as a result of The Hangover.

Yesterday, thanks to my darling boyfriend, I clocked 3 hours of PAID work time. Basically he was too... ill... to drive himself and do his deliveries so I drove him and coached him to smile nicely and be polite to the customers even though all he wanted to do was hurl...

So it all started Thursday morning! The day was looking pretty busy but I was looking forward to the running around - even without the energy. I got up at 9am. Studied Finnish from 10am to 12pm and then I took a lunch break. This break was rather extended because I figured I wouldn't have much time to laze around later. I watched some TV online and ate lunch. Then around 2:50pm I left to meet a friend. We scouted all the second hand and Asian shops in the area; I spent 40 euros. BUT I bought: a really nice sweater, a soap holder, a candle holder, many spices, ghee, some warm GREEN mittens...and some other stuff... In total, I think we walked about 6 or 7km. I got home at 6pm, exhausted, ate a small dinner and ran out the door at 6:20pm to get to Finnish class... another 1km walking there and back... came home at 8:15pm to Nina, Juha and Juuso. Nina brought her brother's dog over for a visit so Juha could meet him too. They bonded before I got home :)
I ate another small, quick dinner and we rushed out the door to pub quiz... another 700m or so walk. We hung out there until about 11something and then Eeva drove me home. The boys said they'd be going for a drink at Semafori and they wouldn't be long...

I got home, exhausted, read a little, watched some Ugly Betty and went to bed around 12:30am.

3:30am - I am awoken by the sound of ... Juha. Anyway, long story short, I managed to get him to bed.

Okay so one down, one to go... I laid in bed... tossed and turned... Juha snored and his stomach protested the alcohol as it tried to make sense of what had happened... the stomach that is. I got up around 5am to check Facebook. I turned the light on in bed and read a little... before I knew it 7am rolls around and nothing. I felt wide awake. And my day went on from there...

I met Nina and we walked to Sokos together. I was impressively coherent all through the day and didn't even feel tired. I later realized that I have a really regular sleeping schedule and this tends to happen to me a lot. I miss a night of sleep and it's fine. If you start missing more, that's when it gets problematic. I was gone for maybe 3 hours or so. Once I got home I found a half-dead zombie-like version of Juha. He'd apparently tried taking the garbage out and walking around the building a few times to feel better but to no avail. Then around 5:30pm he started getting calls from the primary driver who needed help with his deliveries. Since Juha didn't feel up to driving, I drove and he delivered. We did 5 deliveries in 3 hours... one of them was to his co-worker who was also at the bar before.

I was pretty happy about the whole day's events! I earned the first bit of salary that I'd earned in the past ... well... let's just say over a year [because I worked for free in the summer.] And the money I earned offset my shopping splurge from Thursday! Not to mention I felt like I'd really been needed for something! [Which is a great feeling as you seek employment.]



To add the cherry on top of the cake, we made Indian spiced cauliflower and green beans with rice for dinner! It was absolutely delicious... but maybe could of used a few extra vegetables. We didn't take any pictures though. BUT then for dessert, I used the almond-flour waffles I am so fond of and added berries, banana and cinnamon! Awesome. And yes, there was some late night Yatzee! [note the dice.]

Now I gotta run! Päivi and Anna are coming over for lunch!