My first Father's Day - a day to remember

Greetings from the other side.

Yesterday I got to celebrate my first ever father's day. Coincidentally, it was also my father-in-law's 50th father's day. I figured out that when, or perhaps "if", I get to celebrate my 50th father's day, I will be close to 90 years old when that day comes. I have had my first child later than he had his though.

To celebrate your first father's day is surely something very special, and something you will always remember. However, yesterday will stay in my memory not just because of what day it was, but also because of how it turned out.

The day started with me waking up to the lovely, and very excited, sounds from my wife in the living room as she was talking to the baby. It turns out that our little, soon to be 4 months old, girl had managed to roll over on to her stomach, on her own, for the very first time. What better father's day gift can a dad really get? :) So the day started off really well, with everyone in a happy mood.

At lunch-time we went over to my in-laws, where we met up with my wife's brother and his family, for father's day lunch. Everyone was in a merry mood, and my daughter was lying on the floor in her babygym (it has a built in mat for her to lie on), making happy sounds and talking away at the things dangling above her head. Not long after lunch was done, it was time for her to take an afternoon nap. Everything went well, and she soon fell asleep.

Fast forward not even an hour and she wakes up screaming and inconsolable. For the next 1-2 hours (my conception of time during this is a bit blurry) she screamed and acted like her stomach was aching. I should also point out that she hadn't, at this point, had a poop for about a week. I have heard that this is normal for babies, but before this time she had generally pooped every day, so this was completely new to us. Anyway, my wife - who is suffering from postpartum depression, anxiety, etc (more information about that in this post) - was incredibly distraught by the whole thing, but she did her best to keep herself together for our daughter's sake. Luckily there were others there to help as well, including her mother and sister, both of whom we owe a great debt of gratitude for being there for us yesterday. After a while, when nothing we did seemed to help, my wife called the hospital, and they told us that if it didn't get better we should come in and they'll take a look at her. Not long after, we were in a scramble to get the car ready, baby dressed and into the car, etc. Then we raced off to the hospital. My wife's sister came along, which was a good comfort for my wife.

Luckily, while we were in the car, the little one stopped screaming and seemed fairly content. This continued while we were at the hospital, and she hasn't started screaming like that again since either. At the hospital they weren't really able to find any issues with her, nor any cause of why she had been screaming her lungs out like she was. They told us that it is normal for babies to go 2 weeks without pooping as well. We swung by the pharmacy on the way back home and picked up something for the baby, in case she ever has stomach issues again.

Seeing your baby cry like that really cuts like a knife in your heart, and it was especially difficult for my wife given how she is feeling. She did good though, and I am very proud of her for keeping it together as she did despite all the stress it caused her. For my wife and I, as I imagine it would be for any parent, it was very difficult to hear our child scream like that, and feeling helpless to do anything about it when nothing seems to work. It just tears at something deep inside you.

Coming home from the hospital, it was a mixed sense of relief that it seemed to be over, and a fear that it would happen again. Luckily it hasn't. She seems to be doing ok now, which is a huge relief for us. My wife and I are left a bit shaken, but happy that she is ok.

See you all on the other side!

The ups and downs of life with a baby

Greetings from the other side.

Time passes very quickly these days. When our daughter was first born, and for the first few days thereafter, it seemed like every day was a week long and I lost track of time more times than I care to count. After that, however, time appears to have sped up again. Now it is just flying by, almost to the point where you can sort of say - if comparing to how it felt when she had first arrived - that every week is about a day long. That is a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but it does point to the fact that time seems to go by so quickly now. She is already 3-months-and-a-bit old, yet I have no idea where that time went!

She is healthy, and growing, which warms my fatherly heart to see. When she first arrived, she lost weight for a while, and we had to stay at the hospital where she was born a few days extra until they saw that she was putting on weight again. She is the first child for both my wife and for myself. While my wife had done the smart thing and read up on a lot of stuff beforehand - though in retrospect, all babies are different, and so not all that information has been as useful as we would have liked all the time - I never really did that. Then suddenly one day I had a newborn baby to take care of. Luckily the people at the hospital were very kind to show me the ropes on how to change diapers, etc.

As I have written about before, my wife had a difficult birthing experience, and she lost a lot of blood and had to be taken to surgery for stitches. She got to hold our daughter for a little while after she was born, but after that we didn't see her again for roughly 6 hours. Something which was very traumatic for her. After giving birth she has also suffered from postpartum depression, which, coupled with her past history of twice suffering from stress-related burnouts (utmattningssyndrom in Swedish), which she is also having symptoms of again, and being a highly sensitive person (HSP) has meant that she has not been able to enjoy motherhood as much as she would like.

At this point, I will point out that my wife has given me her full blessing to write about this, as she herself isn't trying to keep it a secret and has been very open about it.

I should also point out that she does love the baby and has bonded with her well, and she does do her best to look after her. She harbors fears that she isn't a good mother, or won't be able to take care of her daughter like she wants to if she falls deeper into the depression and exhaustion. Which, of course, is a vicious circle. She doesn't have the energy levels she should have, nor the resilience to sounds when the baby screams - which makes her stress-levels shoot through the roof. She has better days, and worse days, of course, regarding her energy levels and her depression issues. She always does her best though, and I am always doing my best to help as much as I can.

As a husband, it hurts seeing the woman you love go through these issues. You want to help, but you also know that there isn't much you can do other than to try to alleviate the stress by helping out as much as you can, and being there for her. I, myself, suffered from depression and anxiety issues for 13 years before crawling my way out of that particular issue, so I know a bit about what she is going through, even though I think each experience is unique in some ways. I wish she could get more help with her problems. It took a little over 2 months after our baby girl was born before she got to see a psychologist. She has another meeting with the psychologist planned. Though I admit she doesn't feel that it gives her much help, and she would prefer to get help in the form of cognitive therapy.

Luckily, our daughter has been good about sleeping at night - only waking up a couple of times and then sleeping 3-5 hours in-between waking up. This is especially good since my wife is a very light sleeper, and usually takes a long time falling asleep.

We've been blessed, and fortunate, to have her parents living close to us. They've been really good at helping out, which has been a real help for us. It has helped my alleviate some of the stress and burden from my wife, which has been invaluable. We can not thank them enough for all they do, even if it is just allowing our daughter to sleep in her stroller/pram at their house so my wife can rest for a bit.

Yesterday, we got our first snow of the winter here. There is now a thin blanket of snow on the ground - at least in large patches, as some of it has melted away already.

I am, as I said, doing my best to support my wife and take care of the baby, while also looking for a new job. Though part of me thinks that it might be a blessing in disguise that I haven't found a new job yet as it has allowed me to be home and help my wife now that she is going through these things. To be honest there is no place I would rather be at this point in time. I get to support my wife when she needs me the most, and I get to spend time with my daughter on a daily basis, and watch her grow and learn new things.

I think that will be enough from me for now. I hope you are all doing well out there, and remember to take care of each other! :)

See you all on the other side!

Welcome, little one.

Greetings from the other side.

It has taken me a bit longer than planned to write this new post for the blog. The reason for this is the birth of my daughter, which has meant that all plans I might have had previously has taken a back-seat to changing diapers and helping my wife in any way I can. I must say I am really enjoying my new responsibilities. :) It is amazing how much love you can feel for someone you have only just met. I just feel like I want to everything in my power to make her feel happy and loved.

Becoming a father is the biggest, and greatest, thing that has ever happened to me. Period. She has only been with us a short while, yet I can't imagine my life without her now. I guess you never fully understand a parent's love for their children until you have children of your own.

Her life didn't start out quite as we had anticipated. Her mom lost a lot of blood during labor, and had to be taken off to surgery to be stitched and get new blood. From what we were told, she lost about 1,7 liters of blood in total. While she was away with that, I spent time with the newborn. Unfortunately for her, and her parents, they were a bit worried about her as well, so she had to undergo a lot of tests to make sure she was ok. Luckily, everything has been given a green light. :) We had to stay there in hospital a few day extra though, just to be on the safe side, and to allow my wife to recuperate.

The heat has been a bit of a problem for us. The first night back home, we had 28 degrees Celsius in the bedroom. We have had to move in with my wife's parents, while the heat-wave remains as it is cooler in their house than in ours. The heat is really getting to my wife some times though. Which is understandable. It is affecting us all. We're doing our best to make sure the baby is ok as well. Luckily, we've had a couple of days of cooler temperatures as well - which have been welcome. The wind has picked up a little as well, which has helped.

Sofie's parents have been really helpful and kind to take us in like this, and they are such good support to us as we start our new journey as first-time parents. It's a shame that my own parents live so far away, but hopefully they will be able to come see their first grandchild soon.

That is a difference between my wife's parents and my own. For my parents, this is their first grandchild, while for my wife's parents it is their sixth. My wife is 16 and 13 years younger than her siblings, and both of them were also younger than my wife is now when they started having kids, so hence the difference there, and I am the oldest of my parent's two children (I have a younger brother). To put it further into perspective, earlier this summer my wife's niece got married.

So far, she has had days when she's done almost nothing but eating. Such as, for example, yesterday, when she only took short naps between feeding times all day. Today, on the other hand, she's sleeping. They did tell us it would take a few weeks for her to find her rhythm though.

I am going to try and update the blog with new posts when I can. Though how often will depend a bit on the baby, obviously.

See you all on the other side!

Long time, no see - from a dad-to-be.

Greetings from the other side.

It's the height of summer, the warmth is melting everything away, especially my pregnant wife. A bit of rain wouldn't hurt, and perhaps a cooler day or two, in this heat-wave we are currently experiencing. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a warm, sunny, day as much as the next person. But at least for my wife's, and the trees and plants around, a bit of cooling rain would be nice.

Oh well, we'll take it as it comes. One day at a time. Which, incidentally, is how we are dealing with the pregnancy as well.  We are now one week into that magical 4-week period, centered around the expected delivery date, during which the baby can arrive any day really. For both of us, this is our first child, and it's both nervous and exciting all at the same time! :) I will admit though, that it is mostly exciting. We both can't wait for this new member of our family to arrive!

Becoming a dad for the first time in my life, is a somewhat surreal experience. I have never met this new little person that will soon come into my life, yet I have known for a very long time that I love it dearly. To feel such love for, and connection to, someone you have never met before, feels a bit strange. At the same time, it is also a source of worrying. Thoughts such as "will I be a good dad", "have we forgotten anything ahead of the birth", and even things like "how do I change a diaper again??" some times races through my head. Now, to some of you, that last bit might make you smile a little, but the cold, hard, truth is that I have never changed a diaper on a baby before. I've never had to. I am sure it is very easy, and that all will go smoothly, but if you haven't done something before, it might make you a bit nervous until you have tried. As an added note, I should probably say that it is not like it is keeping me awake at night, or anything like that. None of the above things are. Though it can pop into my head on occasion.

In the end, all I can hope for is that we have prepared enough, and wait for the baby to arrive. I know they say that you can never fully prepare for what's to come - the sleepless nights, the stress, etc - but as long as we have everything we need for the baby's arrival, we'll deal with everything else as it comes.

I am hoping I can start writing more regularly in the blog again now. It felt good to sit down to write on it again, so here's hoping I can keep it up! :)

So until we meet again my friends.

See you all on the other side!

A small update from the other side

Greetings from the other side.

I realize that I have been absent from blogging for quite some time now. Well, over the summer to be precise. This is due to many things. Examples include, but are not limited to: work, getting married, working on a side-project, and other IRL things.

I'm still not sure how regularly I will be able to write here - it will really depend on IRL things - but I want to say that the 'Life on the Other Side' blog isn't dead or forgotten by me. I still want to keep this going, although for now at least it will have to be on a whenever-I-have-time basis.

I hope everyone has had a great summer! :)

My own summer has been an eventful one, at least to me. I only had about 2½ weeks worth of time off from work, though that is because I started working there in August last year. Next summer I should have more than that. Anyway, in those 2½ weeks I got myself married! Which honestly was one of the best things I have done in my entire life. :) Which is good, because I am not planning on doing it again. ^__^

After the wedding we had about a week off, just taking it easy at home and sort of 'landing' again after the whole experience. After that we went over to Sweden and spent some time with my family there, which was nice.

Unfortunately we didn't get a honeymoon, but that's more down to financial reasons than anything else, and we are happy anyway. :)

Now it is time for me to go and get some work done on my side-project. Until next time, my friends.

See you all on the other side!

My first Easter in Finland

Greetings from the other side.

My first Easter on Finnish soil is coming to an end, and I have to say it's been a good experience.

But let's start from the beginning.

As I wrote in my previous post about how I worked on Maundy Thursday, I won't go into that anymore in this post.

The Friday was spent in a calm manner. We didn't really get up to much, although I did get a lot of writing done which felt good. I've been slacking off a bit on my writing lately, so it has felt good to get back to it and being creative again.

We also had my future in-laws over for some Easter 'fika'. Though, again, I wrote about that in my previous post, so if you want to read about it you can find it here.

In the evening, after we had had dinner, my fiancee introduced me to something called "pasha", which you can see in the image below:

Granted, as I understand it, this wasn't the normal kind of pasha that they normally make, and enjoy, as that one contains lemon, something which I can't have. Never the less it still tasted really good, I thought, so I hope she will make it again some time. As I understand it, the pasha originates from Russia.

Saturday didn't get off to a great start. Looking out the window at all the snow that had fallen during the night.

Not much to do about it though. In the afternoon, my fiancee and I went over to her parents place, where we met up with her siblings and their families as well for an Easter bonfire - where we grilled some sausages over the remains of the fire - and a good time. My fiancee's sister and her husband also brought along some friends, a young couple from Afghanistan and their little baby.

On Sunday we went to church. It was nice, as always, but sadly not very many people there.

After church my fiancee and I went to her parents for lunch, and this beautiful and very tasty creation that her father had made:

In the evening we all went to a christian concert in the city church, where my fiancee's brother and nephew were performing as well. It was a good way to end the day, I think.

Time for me to sign out for today. The sun is shining and it is my last day off before heading back to work. I think I might head out for a walk, or something.

See you all on the other side!

Stockholm tragedy & birthday celebrations

Geetings from the other side.

This feels like a strange blog-entry to write. I've wanted to write another one for a few days now, but then the attack in Stockholm happened and...well, my focus went elsewhere for a while. Which is understandable. Even though I now live in Finland, I am still a Swedish citizen. It is still the country where I grew up and where my heart lives. When a tragedy like that happens, it affects me. I am thankful that my brother and his girlfriend, and other friends and relatives I have down there in Stockholm, all seem to be ok. But my heart also goes out to all those who were there on that tragic day, and especially to the friends and families of those who lost their lives on that day.

In other news...

Last weekend my fiancee and I went over to Sweden to celebrate a relative of mine's 90th birthday. It was a calm, but very nice, celebration together with him, his wife, and some of their closest relatives and friends. We all met up at my parent's place for a while, then we went to dinner, and then it continued at my parent's place until the evening. One of my most vivid memories from the day was another relative holding a short speech in the restaurant and then getting the entire restaurant to stand up and sing for the 90-year-old birthday-boy. All in all it was a memorable day, and one which I think was greatly appreciated by my 90-year-old relative.

My one regret was finding out that Sabaton was playing in Umeå at the same time as I was home, the day before my relative's 90'th birthday celebrations. I had missed that completely. Would have loved to go see hem play. Oh well, maybe some other time. I only have myself to blame for that, really.

Spring is really here now. Even though we saw snow falling as late as Tuesday last week. Still, there is that sense in the air that spring is finally here. :) It's a good feeling. Everything is starting to come to life again.

We're still finding carpenter ants in the house, although in smaller quantities than before and mostly around the bathroom. We're going to give it some time still, to let the poison work and see what happens. Hopefully we won't see any more of them soon.

That's all from me for this time.

See you all on the other side!

The ant war continues & Concert for a 90-year-old

Greetings from the other side.

A quick one today, as it is a very busy day.

Yesterday we had the same guy who had been here before regarding the ants, visit us again. We had removed the skirting boards ('golvlister' in Swedish. Blame Google if I got the translation into English wrong. ;) he he ) and he drilled holes into the walls behind them and pumped them full of ant-poison. Now, last time he was here we didn't have much luck getting to the ants. This time however, we had almost immediate success! 10 minutes after had had done that, we had about 10 dead ants on the floor. The following day we were up to about 30. We spent the night at my future in-laws place because my fiancee didn't quite feel like sleeping here with the poison in the walls and the ants crawling out of the walls. I can't say I blame her for that.

Hopefully we have been able to deal a decisive blow to the carpenter ants that had taken up residence in our home. Granted, there's no guarantee they won't come back later, but we are hoping they will at least be gone for now. We still have to wait and see how it goes though.

After some warmer days we now have somewhat cooler days again. Not 'cold' per se, but we do get temperatures that drop into the minuses at night.

As we are heading into the warmer periods of the year, Spring and Summer, I will start to see my work-load increase again. Both at work, and at home around the house. I have quite a few little projects I want to take care of this summer, so we will see how that goes. I'll probably write more about them in here as I get to them.

On the Sunday, last weekend, my fiancee and I, together with her parents, went to a concert at the city church which was held to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the school where my fiancee's brother works. He was there as well, playing the piano for several of the acts that were there, as well as performing a beautiful piano piece which he had composed himself. In all honesty he is probably one of the best pianists I have ever heard, and it was a pleasure hearing him play. All in all it was a good concert with a lot of good music.

That's about all for this time.

See you all on the other side!

Spring-time is a comin'

Greetings from the other side.

Life moves on at its own pace here in the countryside. Spring is coming, and you can really feel it in the air now. It's a really nice feeling! Spring does something to you, I think. It revitalizes you after the long, dark winter, and helps to lift your spirit up. We are moving towards warmer times, and it feels great! I think we all need to stop sometimes, take a deep breath and just enjoy the now. That goes for all seasons, but perhaps especially for spring. Take the time to enjoy the blue sky, the sounds of the birds coming back to life, the sunshine on the green pine and spruce trees, etc. It can really help give you some energy back. At least, that's how I feel. 

Yesterday, we went to a jumble sale ('loppis' in Swedish) at the school where my fiancee's brother works. They are tearing down the old buildings and building new, so they needed to get rid of a lot of stuff. There were a lot of things there, and a lot of people. It was difficult moving around to look at things. We managed to get a couple of items though. I was hoping to find a guitar, but unfortunately not. Oh well, maybe next time.

After we got home from that we sat outside in the sunshine for about an hour, drinking tea, eating a cinnamon bun, and talking. It was really nice just sitting on the stairs looking out over the fields and towards the forest. It was warm, the wind was calm, and it is moments like that that really make you appreciate living in the countryside.

Last week I helped out in a different place to where I normally work. It was only Monday and Tuesday, but that was about all I could do since I also had my regular job that I needed to do. It was good to see a new place, meet new people and see how they did things. I really enjoyed my time there.

I keep learning new skills since I moved here. Latest thing I have tried is that I have cut down my first two trees using a chainsaw. It's a lot of fun, and I do enjoy the physical work. I'm still very much a beginner at it, but I am learning. 

This will be all for this time.

See you all on the other side!

A beautiful winter's day

Greetings from the other side.

Today is an incredibly beautiful day outside. The ground is covered in snow, the sky is blue and it is essentially a very beautiful painting as you look out over the landscape. Each season is beautiful in its own way, but I think that a really clear winter's day with blue sky and lots of white snow is among the most beautiful. We had guests over today and I spent a good chunk of that time looking out the window at the beautiful wintry painting that nature had painted outside.

This winter has been very mild, and so we haven't really had the amount of snow outside that I had wish we'd have. I guess that is why you notice a day like today even more. I've been spending some time outside, shoveling snow, bringing in fire wood, etc. It's a pleasure working outside in beautiful weather like this. :)

In other news my future father-in-law celebrated his 70th birthday last weekend. It was a very fun event, with lots of good people and good food. :) His children, grandchildren and sons-in-law and me sang a song for him as well.

It was less fun to come home and find about 30 carpenter ants over the following 2 hours crawling around our living room and hall. We've had a guy over to look at the issue and take care of the problem. Unfortunately we don't know yet where they have their nest in the house, so we need to wait until we can find it. There is a problem with that though, and that is that it has been too cold so they haven't been very active since last weekend. So we'll have to wait until warmer weather comes along and they become active again before we can start locating their nest. We're hoping that will come soon.

As we understand it the nest in our house is probably a satellite-nest, with the main nest is located somewhere else in the vicinity. This means that unless we can find the main nest this spring/summer they might return. Wish us luck!

In more positive news, my fiancee and I are going away together with her sister and her husband this week on a bit of a skiing holiday. It's also to give my fiancee a chance to get away for a bit and rest up.

I think that'll be all for today. Feeling a bit tired so going to go rest my head a bit.

See you all on the other side!

Finding the rhythm

Greetings from the other side.

Getting back into the regular blogging thing has been a bit more difficult than I envisioned when I decided to slow down my blogging output over the holiday season. There are many times when I have thought I should write something, but then something else comes up and I end up postponing writing a new blog entry for another time. Oh well, such is the way of life I guess, and I will have to see where it takes me. The blog is still there though, so maybe I can get into a better writing rhythm with it again, eventually.

Last weekend we had a visit from two good friends from Sweden. It was the first time they were here since my move, and it was a real pleasure to have them here for a visit over the weekend. Having friends or family over to visit is always a good feeling. Even though I like it here in Finland, and I am very happy here, there is always that part of me that misses my friends and family back in Sweden. So whenever people have a chance to come over here for a visit, or I get a chance to go over there to visit, it is always a good feeling.

Tomorrow we are going to celebrate my fiancee's father's 70th birthday. His actual birthday is on Monday, but for convenience sake the celebrations are being held on Sunday instead. It should be a good time, and my future father-in-law has made the food and cakes himself, so you know it will be really good. Being that he is a chef and all.

In a couple of weeks time my fiancee and I are also going away for a few days together with her sister and her husband. It will be nice to get away for a little bit and see something else. There might be some skiing involved as well, if there is enough snow. Either way, I am really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away and see a different part of Finland as well. :) Hopefully I can remember to take some pictures while I am there and possibly post some of them on the blog.

That will have to round off a relatively short blog. Before I sat down to write it I thought I had a ton to write about, but when I actually started writing most of those things just disappeared. Oh well, maybe for the next blog post. :)

See you all on the other side!

New experiences and wedding planning

Greetings from the other side.

It's been about two weeks since my last post. I guess part of it is a busy schedule and other things to think about, as well as possibly having fallen out of the habit of writing a blog a bit. I'll try to get back into it though, as I do enjoy it. It's a good way to communicate, and to write down the thoughts I have.

This might turn out to be a short-ish post though, as I have other things to do as well today.

I had my first attempts at using a chainsaw yesterday, helping my father-in-law to cut up some logs. It was quite fun. I enjoy working outside like that. :) I also think it is a good lesson to learn for the future, how to use a chainsaw properly, seeing as how I am probably going to be using it in my work at some point in the future, and possibly in my personal life cutting up firewood, etc.

My fiancee and I also went out for a date yesterday. We went to a restaurant together, something we haven't done in a while. We had a pleasant evening, and the food was great. We discussed plans for the upcoming wedding, the wedding budget, and such. I've never been to that restaurant before, but I enjoyed the atmosphere there. It was a cozy and slightly rustic place.

Today, my fiancee has gone off to a wedding fair ("bröllops mässa" in Swedish. Yes... I actually had to look up the translation for that using Google. So if the translation is wrong, blame my Google searching skills) together with a friend to look for more inspiration. I'm looking forward to hearing what she's found when she gets back. :)

I've also spent some time with my father-in-law in the woods helping him cut down trees, cut them up and then move them. Granted, he was the one handling the chainsaw as I hadn't yet even had my first try at it yet. It was fun though.

Right now it is a bit icy outside. I'd much prefer it if the ice would be replaced by a bit of snow. There's very little snow on the ground today. Almost feels like spring is on it's way, but we're only in January still. Feels a bit odd for the season.

I think I will end this post here for today. I'll try to get back with another post as soon as I can.

Until then, take care.

See you all on the other side!

Welcome to the new year!

Greetings from the other side.

And thus I return from the holiday season, bringing wishes of well-being and happiness for you all. I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years together with family, friends, loved ones, etc. I also hope that the new year will be a good one, for everyone on this blue marble in space that we live our lives upon. May this new year at least see the beginnings of an end to wars, abuse, poverty, loneliness, and all the other things that ails the world. At least that is what I hope for, and pray for.

The night before yesterday I sat up until 4 or 5 am playing a tabletop roleplaying game over the internet with my friends. It was so much fun, and I have missed it dearly. I don't get to do that too often these days. Then I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep, before I got up because I had to be at work the next day. Granted, I didn't need to be there until 1 pm, but I had some other stuff to do before-hand as well. It is safe to say that I was pretty knackered by the end of the day. So early night for me last night and then I slept for about 10 hours. I guess my body needed it. It's good that the weekend is here now.

So, my last post was on December 20, which you can find here. Since then I have had my first Christmas here in Finland, and it was a fun and enjoyable time together with my fiancee and her family. Next year we will be celebrating Christmas with my family in Sweden, and then probably do an every-other-year kind of thing. Anyway, focus on this year, and this was the first time I had ever celebrated Christmas away from my family, so it was a bit of a strange feeling. In the end though, it was an enjoyable time surrounded by good people and a warm atmosphere. It is definitely something I am looking forward to do again another year! :)

Even the family dog, Bamse, got excited about Santa's visit and all the presents. Sadly I don't have a picture of him at that moment, but here's another picture of him taken on the same day at least:

He's a big Newfoundland boy, and at 10 years of age he is currently older than the average life-expectancy of dogs of his breed.

There were a few new food-items among the Christmas food that I hadn't tried before. I honestly don't know what to call most of them in English,so I won't attempt to. I will say however that I enjoyed everything that I tried.

Oh, and I also worked during Christmas service on Christmas Eve, as well as during mass on New Years Day.

Christmas Day was spent taking it easy and having lunch with my fiancee's parents. On Boxing Day (Annandag Jul in Swedish) we went to visit my fiancee's sister and her family.

In the days before New Years both my fiancee and her mother got ill. We had intended to celebrate New Years with my fiancee's parents, but in the end we went over for dinner and then went home again. My fiancee went to bed early and I stayed up chatting with friends online for a while. Luckily they are both feeling better now. Though her mother had to go to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia, something which she has since then been going to the health clinic 3 times a day and gotten regular doses of antibiotics intravenously. My father-in-law and myself have luckily managed to stay healthy so far.

All in all it has been a good time, and I can look back to it with fond memories. Now we have a new year in front of us. Let's do the best we can out of it! :)

I wish you all a happy new year. May the new year bring happiness, peace and love to all.

Until next time.

See you all on the other side!

Advent Sunday is a coming

Greetings from the other side.

As Advent Sunday approaches, the Christmas spirit is on the rise in this household. My fiancee has made gingerbread cookies, and Christmas music has slowly started to filter into the ambient atmosphere. Both of us are people who love this time of year. We have even got a bit of snow and frost outside today, which was a pleasant surprise to wake up to this morning. It isn't much, and you can still see blades of grass sticking out through the snow cover, but it is better than nothing. :)

I got calendar from Sweden in the mail today from EFS. For those who don't know, EFS is an independent organisation within the Church of Sweden, which focuses on missionary work, voluntary work, and every-day faith (according to the website. They can say it much better than I can. Though I had to translate it from Swedish, so hopefully my translation is acceptable). I spent two years at an EFS church in Umeå, Carlskyrkan, doing work-training, and even more time as a volunteer. It was a really good time in my life and I have a lot of fond memories. I met so many really good and wonderful people there, including the people I worked with. I am really thankful to all of them for giving me the opportunity to be there, and for receiving me with open arms! :)

I am happy that the calendar has arrived, because we were talking just the other day, my fiancee and I, how we needed one. :) It is now hanging on the wall above my desk at home.

On Sunday, which is Advent Sunday, I am scheduled to work at church at the service. I'm not sure what the job is called in English, but in Swedish we call it "Kyrkvärd". Basically, I make the preparations before the service, I make sure everything is where it needs to be, I handle the sound equipment, and just make sure everything is in order before, during and after. I've done it on a couple of occasions already, but I am still nervous because it is my first Advent Sunday and there is going to be a lot more people there. Wish me luck!

I've had to go back to my moving-boxes and rummage through them to find the Christmas CDs I brought with me from Sweden. I've only found two, but I am pretty sure there should be at least one more in there somewhere. Granted a couple of boxes at the back of everything could contain some CDs, but I didn't feel like bringing everything else out of storage just to get to them. Luckily my fiancee has quite a collection of Christmas music CDs that we can listen to as well.

See you all on the other side!

A look in the rear-view mirror

Greetings from the other side.

A few days have passed since my last entry into this blog. It has generally been a calm few days, so I think this will end up being a fairly short entry, but it is an entry none-the-less.

On Thursday we went to celebrate one of my fiancee's nephews on his 20th birthday. It was a bit of a drive to get there, but nothing too big. We went there together with my fiancee's parents. It was a good evening, I thought. Good company, good food at a restaurant, and then we rounded off the evening with some coffee/tea at the birthday-boy's apartment. One of the things I love about my fiancee's family is that they are all so friendly and nice people. It has definitely helped my settling in here in Finland after my move.

I have to say, sitting in the car as it drives through the country-side over here, you could see patches of light on the thick cloud-covered sky. This light came from greenhouses on the ground below which were using what appeared to be pretty high-powered lamps to simulate sunshine for their plants in order to grow them all year around. It was interesting seeing that light reflected on the cloud-cover above though. You could definitely tell exactly where all the greenhouses were.

Went grocery shopping, and ran some errands, on Friday. It was a bit of a rainy day, but not too bad.

With Advent Sunday closing in, but my fiancee and I are eagerly awaiting the time when we can start 'officially' listening to Christmas-related music again, and plans are being made for decorations, etc. She's started baking in preparation for Christmas as well. Sadly, there is no snow on the ground anymore, but we are quietly hoping it will return at least in time for Christmas.

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day in this household. I got around to start listening to an audio book by Brandon Sanderson called "The Last Empire". I've heard from friends that the Mistborn series, the series of which "The Last Empire" is part of, is really good, but I haven't had the chance to get around to it until now. I have to say that so far I am really enjoying it. It feels a bit strange listening to it as an audio book though, as I am generally a person who prefers to hold a book in my hands when I read. It's ok though. I might get the actual physical copies of the books later, rather than just have them as audio books.

I think that will be enough for now.

See you all on the other side!

A mix of Seasonal things & Life

Greetings from the other side!

We still have snow on the ground over here. Something which I didn't think would last this long. I was fully expecting it to have melted away by now. It even snowed a bit more last night. Though we have warmer weather now, so it might still melt away before the week is over. I am kind of silently hoping that it will still be white outside come Advent Sunday (1:a Advent, in Swedish).

Now, Advent Sunday happens on November 27th this year. The day before that, there is a custom to celebrate what is known here as "Little Christmas" (lilla Jul). It is not a major thing, and I personally don't recall having ever encountered it back home in Sweden (though I know it exists there as well). As far as I have been able to understand it, "little Christmas" is most common among families that have children. One tradition associated with it is the tradition that a secret "Santa" throws presents in through the front door and then disappears before anyone finds out who it was. I can definitely see why that would be exciting for the kids in the family. :)

It has been a fairly calm week for me, but at the same time it feels like it has just flown by and like I haven't had the time to do all the things I wanted to do. Then again, time has flown by ever since I moved here to Finland. I guess it is a good measure for how much I enjoy it here.

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and we celebrated it by having my fiance's parents over for lunch, and then we went over to them, together with my fiance's brother and his family, and had dinner there. Both occasions were really nice. I had, of course, already called my own dad earlier in the day and congratulated him on Father's Day as well. Am looking forward to visiting my parents in a few weeks time. :)

On a sadder note, something is wrong with my new phone. For some reason, when people call me they some times cannot hear me while I hear them perfectly on the other end. Sometimes hanging up and calling me back can help, but not always. On those occasions I have to call them up for them to be able to hear me. Other times they hear me, but then the sound keeps coming and going for them, i.e. they hear me and then they don't, then they hear me again and then they don't. It's annoying, so I will have to take the phone in to where I got it from and ask them about it. The phone itself is only a few weeks old, so it shouldn't have these issues.

That will be all for today. It has turned out to be a shorter post than I thought at the start of it, but that is just the way it is. Hopefully I will be able to write something longer next time.

See you all on the other side!

All Saint's Day

Greetings from the other side.

Happy All Saint's Day to those who celebrate it. Yesterday evening, my fiancee and I went to the local graveyard together with her parents to, like many others, light candles in remembrance of loved ones and relatives who have passed. It was dark outside, and the graveyard was lit up only by the candles that people had put on the graves. It was very beautiful, and gave a sort of serene feeling inside. Even though it was a bit chilly outside, the beauty of it sort of made you warm on the inside anyway.

I have always liked All Saint's Day. It, much more than Halloween, was a part of my life as I grew up. I guess that is why it, with its quite remembrance and honoring of those who have died, hold a much more special place in my heart than Halloween ever has or will. I respect other people enjoying it, and it does seem like fun, but I guess since I didn't grow up with it it doesn't mean as much to me.

Today my fiancee and I, together with her parents, have sung in the local church with a temporary choir that was put together for All Saint's Day specifically. It was a nice ceremony, with remembering all those in our parish who have passed away in the past year. A candle being lit for each one, while the pastor reads their names out loud. I am happy I was able to be part of that, and I hope that our songs will have given those there some comfort.

The weather is beautiful outside, though a bit chilly. Currently it is -3,3 degrees Celsius, so not that bad but still starting to get a bit chilly. I am thinking I might go for a walk later if my knee is ok with it. It feels good to be able to take walks again. I've missed it when my knee-issues have been getting in the way.

Work has been going well. I just need to remember to let my knee rest from time to time and to think about how I lift and carry things, etc. It is quite enjoyable working outside this time of year. It is one of the things that I like about my job, that I get to work outside and get fresh air. In the winter time, however, there will be less work for me to do outside, so most of my work will take place indoors instead. Which, depending on how cold it gets outside, might be a good thing.

Now I am going to rest for a bit.

See you all on the other side!

Halloween, and other things

Greetings from the other side.

So, as 'some' of you might have noticed if you were paying attention, yesterday was Halloween, a day which in this household wasn't really celebrated in any particular fashion. Neither my fiancee nor I grew up with it and since we don't have any kids that might want to dress up, or any neighborhood kids that might come knocking on the door to trick-or-treat us, we just had a calm, normal, day instead. Which was fine with us. I did stay up late and watch my friends play a tabletop rpg (role playing game) online called 'Slasher Flick' though. It is a game that is based off of so called 'slasher movies', things like Friday 13th, A nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, etc. It was quite fun watching them and I really wish I could have been able to play as well. Sadly I never got around to making my two characters for it, nor did I really have the energy to focus on playing, but listening in and watching them play was fine. I would highly recommend it to people to try out on another Halloween some time. I know I will definitely take the chance next time we decide to try it out for a one-shot game. Then again, only try it if you enjoy the idea of playing a tabletop role playing game in that genre, of course. It was a good, fun and creative way to spend a few hours in the company of good friends, and that's never a bad thing really. :)

My knee is slowly getting better. Hopefully it is well enough now that I won't have any issues with it going forward. There's always that slight insecurity when it comes to physical issues such as my knee problems. Even though it feels alright it doesn't mean you shouldn't have rested it a day or two more, and there is always the risk that the issues might return if I am not careful. The chiropractor did give me a couple of exercises to do to help strengthen the supporting muscles around my knee though. There's one of them that I haven't had the chance to try properly yet as it requires me to sit down on the floor and with my knee in the shape it has been that wasn't much of an option. Getting down was painful, but getting up was even worse. I am going to try it out soon though, as my knee is feeling better and, crucially, it seems to recover much faster after it has been under strain, which is good.

My fiancee will give my knee another reflexology treatment later today. Hopefully that will be the thing that pushes it over the line and makes my knee completely well again. Keeping my fingers crossed at least! :)

See you all on the other side!

Halloween and life

Greetings from the other side.

Halloween is now upon us. Everywhere you look online there have been Halloween sales going on for he past week or two, and 'spooky' images and images of pumpkins carved in various ways have been popping up everywhere. I have to confess though I have never been that much into Halloween. I guess it is because it wasn't really a part of my childhood as such, I didn't really grow up trick-or-treating, and I don't really remember it being a 'thing' in general where I grew up until I was too old to really go trick-or-treating, etc. I get the idea behind it and the draw of it, but I just don't really feel very much about it when it comes down to it. I do think that I am probably a minority in that these days, which is fine. I don't mind Halloween as I think it is probably a fun holiday for kids, and grown-ups get a chance to be creative with their decorations. :)

I realize that I might sound like a really boring person, but hopefully I made it clear that I don't mind Halloween. All I am saying is that it isn't something that I grew up with so it doesn't really hold any special place in my heart. I can understand why others enjoy it though, but it has never been a big part of my life.

The sky is blue outside the windows for the second day running. It is beautiful. The air is cold and crisp as well. :) I really wish my knee was well so I could go out for a walk, but in the long run it is probably best that I stay inside and rest it until it is well again. I hope that will be soon because after something like four weeks I am getting a bit tired of it being like this. Granted, it has been better at times and worse at times, so it hasn't been all bad all the time. Which I am happy for. I just wish that it would go to being good ALL the time soon so I could start doing the things I want to do again, and help out more around the house and everything that goes into that.

Winter tires are finally on the car now, thanks to my father-in-law. I would have done it myself but because of my knee I really couldn't. He was also with me yesterday when I was working at a memorial service to help me out so I wouldn't strain my knee more than necessary. I am really thankful to him for that, and so is my knee. The knee was sore afterwards, but not as sore as it could have been. When we were driving there it was actually a bit slippery out on the roadway, and at one point the tires spun a bit. It wasn't too bad though, and we got there in one piece without any scares. I guess winter is on its way now. I have been told by a couple of people that they are expecting this winter to be really cold and bad. What I guess in Sweden we would call a 'varga vinter' (wolf's winter). We will see though. I remember last time I saw someone promise a "varga vinter" (the newspapers that time), while I was still living back home in Sweden, it turned out to be a really mild winter instead.

I think that's all for now. Time for me to go stretch my legs a bit. Need to still keep moving my legs from time to time so the knee doesn't get too stiff. I just need to be careful when I do it.

See you all on the other side!

A visit from my parents

Greetings from the other side.

It's been a busy few days with my parents visiting. It's been good to see them again for the first time since my move here almost 3 months ago. It is also a bit of a strange feeling, having guests in the house for the very first time. As we were setting things up for their arrival we noticed little details that we hadn't thought of before, such as the need for a couple of not-so-wide mattresses for the sofa-bed. In the end we were able to sort it all out though.

My parents brought with them some more pieces of my furniture that I had to leave behind in Sweden in the original move over. It is good to have them here now. The book-case needs a fresh coat of paint, but aside from that there's really not that much that needs doing with the furniture besides deciding where to put them. My guess is that most of it will be going upstairs, as we are starting to run out of room in the downstairs apartment. Not that it is cluttered with furniture, etc, everywhere or anything like that, but more that in order to prevent it getting too cluttered it is better to put it upstairs instead where there are more spaces to put them. We shall see.

I also got my winter tires over, which is a good thing. :)

It was great having my parents over for a visit, but it was also a bit exhausting entertaining guests for 4 days straight. Now, it may not sound like much to some, but neither my girlfriend nor I are used to having people staying over for that long. My parents did their best to help though and they were good guests. My girlfriend had it a bit rougher than I did as she was having trouble sleeping. Though those problems started before my parents arrived. My father-in-law was kind enough to drive them, and me as I tagged along, around to different places so they could play tourists a bit and see the different sights. I would have done it, but I have not really learned to find my way to all these different places yet, so I am glad he was able to help. It also gave my girlfriend a chance to lie down and rest while we were away.

We also celebrated our engagement together with my parents while they were here, and they brought with them engagement presents (and a couple of birthday presents) from family back home in Sweden.

My girlfriend and I are planning on trying to go over to Sweden for a visit some time before Christmas if we can. Looking forward to meeting up with some family and friends in Holmsund and Umeå when we do. :)

See you all on the other side!