Special Delivery

The funniest thing just happened. Samuli has been working really late this week and when I called him today at work he told me he was like +60km away from Tampere and that he would come home after 15:00. I of course grumbled because it sucks when he works late (yesterday he came home at 18:45... that's a 15h work day) but then he told me that he had gifts!

A couple of hours later he calls me up and asks me where I am and if I could come out in 5 minutes and take the 'gifts' from him because he can't bring them on his bike. So, I go outside and stand on the curb on the side of our apartment and he drives up in his truck, flips open the side door compartment and hands me two six pack of beer. Apparently his boss had come over to him this morning and handed him two cases of beer and been like, "*grunt* happy Midsummer" (Midsummer (Juhannus) being this Saturday and a big deal in Finland. People go to the countryside, make bonfires, get wasted and drown. We're not planning on doing the latter.)

Mmmm... beer...

I bet it was a really weird sight for our neighbors. Girl waiting on side of road, big truck pulls up, trucker guy delivers two six packs of beer.

Other strange yet true events of today: I made myself a skirt!!! Yay! I've never actually really sewn anything before... until today!

Me in Homemade Skirt

On subject of strange yet funny news: What I found in the fridge yesterday morning:


Yes, that is an EMPTY cheese container back in the fridge. This is a habit that Samuli has. Sometimes I find EMPTY milk cartons and other TRASH in the fridge in the morning... hmm...

Weddings, Beer, Dentists, Krum and a very weird dream.

I was supposed to write this entry on Monday and it was going to be powered by Becks and some awesome lamb bratwurst. Unfortunately though I got a little too carried away by the food and drink and opted to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire instead. I have to say having seen that the second time mmm... it has some hot actors! I mean a lot of you already know about my unhealthy infatuation with Daniel Radcliffe but damn Krum is just... pure sex. Anyway, moving on before Samuli comes home...

I have to talk about the wedding!! It was such a nice, fun, cute wedding! Elina looked so beautiful in her white (!?!) dress! The church was decorated with flowers and the smell of roses was everywhere! The ceremony was nice with Janne's big band playing and Elina's choir singing. Oh and instead of rice they gave out bottles of soap bubbles!

Guests and Bubbles

Then moving on to the two things that my father in law and I think are essential at a party good food and lots of booze. Well, the food was really good. None of that traditional Finnish crap served at every wedding, birthday, graduation, easter, Christmas, funeral... They had salads and wok with rice and it was good stuff. The booze front was a little disappointing. My brother was smart and went and got a cup of punch then gave it to me when he realized he was our designated driver. I had a couple of sips and had Samuli taste it which left me about half the cup. When I went back to get more it was all gone. I talked to Auvo (my father in law) and he told me that almost the same thing happened to him, only he didn't even get to have a taste. Later on we found out that most of the booze had gone in Janne's brother who at one point was hugging Elina's mum (hilarious!)...

Cutting the Cake

The desert and entertainment was kick ass. They had ice cream with berries and toffee like sauce and wedding cake with layers of delicious strawberries. They had a hilarious play (performed by their friends) about how they met and the early stages of them dating. It had lots of pervertedness and Elina's infamous quote to her mother "oh we just kiss and hold hands"... and Janne's subtle way of telling his parents his girlfriend is pregnant "mum, dad you're grandparents!"

Elina and her precious Oona

Since this wasn't your usual kind of couple and it wasn't quite a traditional Finnish wedding it was only right that they didn't have that boring kind of first dance. Instead of the traditional waltz they danced to Happy Together by The Turtles. It was so cute and funny and just friggin' perfect for them.

Tearing up the Dancefloor

Such a Cutie Couple!

Of course they did veer back to tradition and had the traditional waltz after that.

So, all in all it was a really beautiful and fun wedding, perfect for Elina and Janne.

I just woke up from the weirdest dream. It was the 100 years war and I didn't want Samuli to go off and fight so we were hiding. There were weird soldiers all over the place and we had to duck into bushes and things all the time. Then we ended up in a really weird tomb like base of a pyramid with these rabid bear/hyena things trying to kill us. Then I took this baton thing and smacked one of the animals on the head several times. When it was dead I skinned it and then sliced it up and marinated it in some trippy sauce. Some how we were suddenly outside grilling and I had put the sliced up rabid animal on my little grill... Then I realized I wasn't the only one grilling and looked over the fence into our neighbors garden who had this HUGE coal grill with a whole animal roasting on a spit. I of course was very jealous and said something like "fuck what an orgasmic grill you guys have"... So, random.

Bed Linnen, Booze, Steak and a Hard Day's Work

Today's entry is being fueled by a severe lack of sleep and a bottle of Turning Leaf Merlot of E & J Gallo Winery in California.

I slept really badly last night. Was still awake when Samuli left for work at 3:40 and the time I did sleep I had weird dreams. I dreamt that Samuli had violently attacked me and I was all bruised and battered. For some reason I was moving these really heavy boxes down from some shelves and they kept banging up on the bruises and hurting. After a while of that I thought I would go and try to conciliate with Samuli. I walked into what looked like the living room of our cottage in Mäntyharju and he was sitting on the sofa. It was kind of dark but he stood out because he was wearing a white long sleeved t-shirt and white boxers. He was smoking a cigarette and when he talked his eyes shone red. Pretty weird stuff.

I got up at about 8:40 and felt pretty awake. My task of the day was to find a wedding gift for Elina and Janne. So off I went into town without any breakfast thinking that I would be there for max 1 hour. We'd agreed to get a bed sheet and when I got to the shop I realized that I'd forgotten to ask how big their bed/duvet were. I called Samuli and asked him to find out and he told me work was going badly and he would be home very late (should I be suspicious, he tells me this every week... LOL). Well, I decided rather than hurry on home to an empty house I might as well hang out in town and do some SHOPPING!

As you know shopping takes energy and after a couple of hours I was getting hungry. McDonalds looked so appealing but every time I talked myself into it I could here Samuli's scolding voice in my head going on about how much money he waste on stupid frivolous things. So I kept telling myself that I would go to the shop and buy something and make it when I got home.

At this point I should tell you about my latest obsession. There was my obsession with ribs, followed by the orgasmic wings but at the moment my taste buds are screaming for entrecote. That perfectly imperfect cut of meat found between the ninth and eleventh ribs thus in the U.S. it is called a rib steak. Now, that cooked to perfect bloody medium rareness is the most delicious steak and fries meal I have had. So, of course at 15:00 I was damn hungry and was willing to do anything to get some of that lovely goodness in me. So it was time to raid the supermarket and then head on home.

Samuli got home earlier than I thought he would. Only 13+ hours at work. He pretty much mooched of the lunch/dinner I had just finished making myself (I didn't make him any because I thought he was coming home much later... honestly I'm not such an awful housewife!) and then headed off to bed.

Tomorrow it's off to Farmer Country. I still can't believe that Elina is getting married!!

As a finishing note I would like to say that I am getting really tired of all the music I have. Lately I haven't heard anything really awesome. I've even begun to rip my old CD's onto iTunes hoping to spark some kind of lost nostalgic passion but to no avail. So, if anyone has any music suggestions please feel free to tell me. And as regards to my taste, anything goes.

Some More for You Flower Pornoists

Here are some more pictures for all you flower perverts:

Iris from In-Laws garden

White Ball Flower

Spiky-like Flower Thing

Chives In Bloom

Bachelorette Party, St Mikhell and More Weird Roadside Fun

As some of you already know in 5 days my boyfriend's cousin (who I've know since she was like 15) is getting married! Some of you also might know that a little before Christmas she gave birth to the cutest baby girl. I'm really happy for her and her hubby-to-be and am really excited for her.

It's been a heck of a year for her. Let me remind you once again that she's 19 now and the groom is 18. So, as you can imagine her last year has been pretty crazy: finding out she is pregnant, exams, graduation, giving birth and now getting married! Crazyness! But I'm so proud of her for achieving so much :)

So, what would a wedding be without a BACHELORETTE PARTY!!! This was quite a small occasion with only four of us but it was fun. But I think I'm a little bit too old to hang out with the crowd there. I mean sitting in a park and getting drunk on a bottle of cider and giggling like idiots and claiming to be totally wasted (ON ONE BOTTLE OF CIDER) is not really my cup of tea. But seeing as by boyfriend's sister is underage we couldn't exactly go to a bar... not that that would have been such a good idea with this particular group of people.

I did learn 3 essential things from the party. Firstly when my time comes I will not put most of the bachelorette party planning pressure on one person. Secondly I want a HUGE party with like tonns of crazy people! And thirdly RUSSIAN STRIPPERS! But yes, my bachelorette part won't be for a while... Having said that all this wedding talk is getting me a little worried. (Actually this weekend 3 people asked me if we'd set the date!) I want quite a big wedding and a lot of my guests would be coming from abroad and that requires a lot of planning. I was even thinking about beginning to make the guest list. I mean that isn't such a crazy idea considering that some people are coming from really far away and many are busy with things all over the world. I mean is it crazy? Am I getting Bridezilla-fever?

Flower Pervert Porn

Moving on... LOL. On Saturday my father-in-law-to-be had to go pick up a tractor from Mikkeli so we gave him a lift and went to have a look at a newly landscaped park over at Naisvuori, because that's just the kind of sick twisted flower porn picture taking couple we are. HISTORY ALERT: Legend has it that Naisvuori (Women's Mountain or Mountiain of Women) gets its name from the women who climbed on it to watch the fighting of 1789, six kilometers away. This however is false but still a fun story. Anyway we went up to chill in the small park which I would recommend for anyone visiting Mikkeli during the summer. There is also a tower (which you can climb up) with a cafe selling waffles.

Naisvuori Tower

Samuli's Park Porn (View from Naisvuori)

It was another scorching weekend according to Finnish standards and I finally got to go swimming in the nearby pond. The word pond by the way may be misleading since it is quite big and over 10m deep. It was really nice the water was so warm it was unbelievable!

On the way back we finally stopped to take a picture of a little roadside oddity that's been fascinating Samuli every time we take the Farmer Country road trip. There is this sand mining area (I kid you not they mine sand here!) with this big ass sand pyramid!

Sand Pyramid in All its Baffling Glory

Top of Sand Pyramid

I think that counts as a weird road side thing... It did look way cooler a while back before they dumped that other big pile of sand in front so you can't see the bottom of the pyramid. Still this seems to be a bit of a lameish road side oddity so here is another road side view. A sure sign that you're taking the Farmer Country road trip.

Good Sign of Finnish Summer

Destruction in Disguise

I just spent the whole weekend in a car going to various parties and sitting in a hot car was getting pretty annoying, but come Monday I was at it again. This time we were on the way to Turku, the asshole of Finland.

'Suomi Neito' or Maiden of Finland is the national personification of Finland quite like Sweden's Svea-mamma (who by the way is said to be the mother of Suomi Neito) or any other of the numerous national personifications. Suomi Neito also refers to the shape of Finland on a map. With a little imagination it looks like a female form... with a little more imagination her ass is somewhere around Turku. Not only this but Turku is the butt of many Finnish jokes (harhar). On top of this I'm from Tampere and we have a long-standing mutual feud between us... fought with jokes. Oh and lets not forget the students from Tampere University belonging to the 'Ei-Turkulainen Osakunta' (Non-Turkuan society), which since 1997 has made annual excursions to Turku to jump on the market square, doing their part to undo the post-glacial rebound and push the city back under the sea. Go Tampere!

- Finland is the only country where U-turns are permitted. Explain why? - Turku 25 km

Now you must be thinking that there must be a really good reason for me to be driving 2h to Turku and back and there is. This:

Pono

Tom and Emma's dog! Isn't he the cutest little thing?

I don't really like dogs at all, but this one is a cutie <3

Apparently he kept Tom and Emma up all night peeing on the floor. LOL. Like I said, destruction in disguise! A very cute disguise might I add.

Continuing on the subject of weird roadside attractions. On the way to Turku there was this big ass barn like thing on a field. It turned out to be the Finnish agricultural museum. Woohoo! On the way back from Turku we stopped to let the dog pee and look at sheep while I checked out the gift shop.

Map of the Agricultural Museum Sarka

It was pretty funny looking like this huge building in the middle of fields, so yes I think that counts as a weird road side attraction. We also stopped at another weird road side attraction, Ideapark. Nordics largest mall (104 000m2) built on a field on the side of the Tampere-Helsinki motorway. I was left outside with the dog... pfff... but I did get many people ooing and aahing at the cutie pie!

400 Turku people at the bottom of the Aura river is a good start

4000 Turku people at the bottom of the Aura river is problem waste

Gardens, Roadtrips and Parties

(<-- so trailer trash I know!) The awesome news of the week is that our garden actually looks like a garden as opposed to construction yard and gravel. And it comes just in time cuz the weather has been great this week. Unfortunately our garden is more of an evening garden which means that Samuli can't really enjoy it since he's asleep. Now there are of course weekends when he's not working, but our weekends are so full for June.

Rocky Flowers for the Lazy Gardener

It began with this weekend which was graduation weekend in Finland. On Saturday we drove 180 km to Mänttä and back for my parents friends son's graduation party with my mum, bro and Samuli. It was kinda a weird party because most of the people were relatives of the family and we didn't really know anyone and they all seemed to be the silent Finnish type. All sitting solemnly and eating with occasional murmur in hushed voices.

Splattered Bugs on Windshield

On Sunday Samuli and me drove to Helsinki for my cousins birthday/graduation from secondary school party. That by the way was a 356 km drive (ugh in hot Car from Hell with broken gear box). It was a small party with just my mum, Sam and me, more like family lunch. My aunt made good salmon and salad and I got to laugh at my cousins so all in all a fun afternoon.

Tower Rest-Stop

On the way back we stopped at this rest-stop that I have wanted to stop at since forever! It's a very basic kind of rest stop with just a toilet and some picnic tables but on top of a rocky cliffs edge next to the motorway is a tower you can climb up (see pictures... duh). I love weird roadside attractions (reason why I adored American Gods) and although nothing like House on a Rock it's as good as it gets in Finland.

Up a sloping path...

...And then some spiral stairs...

...And you have a severe case of vertigo...

When I got to the top and looked down I got really scared. I mean the tower was weirdly built so that when you looked down you felt like you were actually hovering above the parking lot. I mean look how small Car from Hell looks! Plus Samuli thought it would be funny to shake the tower which really really really freaked me out. I mean I am just awful with these things.

Not at all Happy Face

Vertigo aside it was worth stopping since there were some nice views of fields... and motorway.

Evening Sun on Motorway Oddity

Pathway up to Tower

Artsy Piece Commemorating Those who Built the Motorway
(with weird embedded penis like rock)