Sayonara

It's time to say good bye for a while. I'll be back blogging in the middle of December. Until then Sayonara.

Good Morning?

How can the kid be always in so good mood when he wakes up in the morning?
Since he was born I have been forced to keep my morning bad moods to myself. It wouldn't be fair to start yelling at the kid. (Yelling at the partner is ok). And I have actually noticed that I am not at all so angry in the mornings anymore, though I still don't like waking up early.

Oooooooh, I am looking forward to those days when Vimme is a teen and sleeps until noon if you let him.

Pack and Polish

Tomorrow our landlord will come to check what is the condition of this flat. I know we have to pay for a lock change; we managed to loose a key... erm... about 5 years ago. Everything else should be ok. The last proper cleaning will take place next saturday when we have packed the van M gets from Finland. So, if you have nothing else to do then you can always join us to pack and polish.

Pros of Leaving

Nice thing about leaving is that everybody comes to see you before you go. Past few weeks have been really intensive socializing with friends. I like being busy this way. I have a feeling that coming six weeks in Finland will be very social too. I am looking forward to that.

Tops

Oh those happy days when I was young and didn't understand english pop song lyrics. Some of my old favourite songs sound so stupid now. And I hate the fact that I can't stop liking AC/DC though their view on female matters is terrible. Ignorance is a sweet state.

Georgia and the Skull

Georgia O'Keeffe

This is one of my favourite pictures of Georgia O'Keeffe. She looks vital though she obviously is very old.

I once copied the skull on the background on a paper with a pencil and took the drawing to a tattoo shop and got it printed on my skin. It's my praise to Georgia. People who see it might think that I'm a member of a suspicious secret sect or ambassador of death. I don't care. I think it's beautiful. And I like giving new meanings to old things.

Listing is Hard

I made a list of music I like on my profile. Boy, it's difficult. When you have written your favourites down, the list suddenly looks so plain and boring.

What would I like to write on it then? Bands that no-one ever heard of? Would that make me look - what - cooler? Or fooler? What about hooler? (Finglish rules!)

Another problem is, that there are certain albums I listen to from certain bands and nothing else from them. Like 'Point of No Return' from Kansas or 'It Still Moves' from My Morning Jacket or 'The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion' from Black Crowes... If I say that these are my favourite bands, that would be lying, because I practically haven't listened to anything else from them, but still I like these particular albums a lot. Life can be so complicated sometimes.

Ambivalence

We had a "sayonara-going-away"-party on saturday. I wonder where we will have our next house warming party. Propably not as a first thing in Japan - unless we three want to party on our own. We don't know any other people there yet. And Vimme would be there with us. A party with Vimme wouldn't be a wild one, though he tends to drink a lot, act wild, be loud, and pass out after a while.

Now it starts to feel sad to leave. It definitely is still exiting to move as well and I am looking forward to live in Tokyo, but it is so sad to leave all these people behind. Sniff.

Party Party

Last night I was out with four other mothers. We had a nice dinner and few drinks at a restaurant. Half past nine we were all ready to go home. Toddler's mothers don't party all night long.

Today's News

Maybe I told you about the Scandinavian Children's book Competition we participated with my mother-in-law. Now the result has been released and we didn't win. But we still have a chance to be published. Keep your fingers crossed.

Who Does and Who Doesn't

Vimme, Markus and Piko's tale.

Here's how our morning walks look like. Piko doesn't need his leash anymore if we are in a park. He has no intention or energy to run away from us or attack other dogs or children (his former favourite hobbies). He has become too old for that. Vimme does the running now - though he hasn't started the attacks yet and he doesn't mark his territory - yet - he propably will be doing that in some 20 years after a night in a bar.

Good Person

I feel like I was such a good person: I clistered Vimme's photos to a photo album last night. Another little step forward in this packing project.

It's amazing how fast the kid has grown and that's something you see when you look at photos taken a year ago. Or a week ago. Sometimes it feels like he'd grown miles longer over a night. Oatmeal can obviously cause wonders.

Welcome Winter

It's getting cold here. Cold and dark. I remember sometimes in my life I got quite heavy minded when winter came, but not anymore. I have started to like it. I like litting candles when it gets dark. I like wearing layers of clothes. I like how it looks like when everything is covered with snow. But I haven't got that far yet that I would like cross country skiing - if I ever say that I like it, you can call them to get me.

Socially Busy

This weekend has been and will be socially busy. And the next one too. The move is coming closer and closer - everyone wants to meet us before we go and we want to meet everyone. It's nice to meet people.

Last night we had a nice dinner at friend's. It is just fantastic to sit down and get a ready gourmet meal served to you and eat it in a good company. Though Vimme took care of creating havoc during the dinner and while I ran after him, I missed most of the conversation.

Today we'll make sushi with friends. They have a small kid too - we parents will be all running after them with raw fish and vinegar smelling fingers.

An Evening Sip

I am reading John Bradshaw's 'Healing the Shame That Binds You'. (Thank you Chris). Everyone should read that book. It's revealing and puts at least my thoughts into words. Especially anyone who is parenting ought to read the book.

Read it!

I am a bit tired today. I was out last night. I had promised to help a friend at an opening of an art exhibition. There I sold wine and beer to guests and towards the end of the evening I strated to sip wine myself too... Now I am tired. No head ache though. There is always something to be happy about.

Book versus Film

Now I am finally reading 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'. I am amazed how much film makers had added their own details to the film. Book's Tom Riplay is tougher than film's and he planns killing Dickie - in the film it was almost an accident. It was a good film. Still I think the book is better.

Full Booked

M's away for two days now. I am home alone with the kid and the dog. I bet I don't have to think twice what to do with all my time.

...what time?

Define 'Cool'

I saw this film on a video the other day. Oh boy it was a heavy story. Every character in the film was a naive looser on his or her way to his or her total destruction. On the video's cover there were quotes from Swedish film reviews and one said "The coolest film of the year". There wasn't anything cool about the film. The story it self was so sad and heavy that I felt sick. How can something like that be cool?

Bad Education

La mala educación

I saw a very good film today - Almodóvar's latest. I have been his fan since I saw "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". Just when you think you have seen the best film from him, he makes another better one. I am looking forward to see his next film.

Testing, testing

Let's see how much I can write Vimme sitting on my lap. So far so good. Now he decided to run away to see the dog who is sleeping under the stairs. Actually I should go out with the boy right now and I may as well do it.