This is my last week working for this company. I've worked in publishing for around 18 months now, but starting next Monday I'll be a free writer, yay! I was actually shocked at first, when I heard they wouldn't renew my contract here anymore, but soon I realised I can get enough money to get by working as a freelancer - and I will probably enjoy myself more.I know I'll miss having a work community and the effectiveness you feel when you have to wake up and leave for work every morning. On the other hand I've never been very good with routines dictated by someone else - or doing much anything dictated by someone else - so being my own boss and making my own schedules sounds wonderful! Of course there will be deadlines, but it's still different.Also, I get to spend more time with Juudit and at home in general. Especially after we moved from the Helsinki city centre (Punavuori) to a suburb in Espoo, work days have gotten very long due to commuting, which has meant less time with my loved ones - and a messier home. I hope I'll have more time to have things organised around the house, and there won't be a hundred domestic things on my to-do list constantly. That might be only in my dreams, though, as it seems I'll have more than enough of assignments and then I'll have Juudit with me all day for a day or two during the week. Arranging more mummy-daughter time is my top priority, so if there won't be more time left for cleaning and organising, then so be it.Today I have been googling for nice hobbies for mummies and toddlers, as I'm not very outdoorsy type and actually hate going to parks and sitting beside a sandbox watching kids play. I just think it's utterly boring - and I know saying this out lout makes me sound like a bad mother. But I'm not, believe me, I'd just rather go to a musical playschool or art club with my daughter than buy a gore-tex outfit and stand outside in the sleet and rain waiting for Juudit to build another sand cake.Luckily she'll still have daycare on most days - and her father on weekends - to take care of her outdoor activities.I think we'll start a music club together, and Juudit's aunt Emilia has promised to take her to a toddlers' dance class weekly. Then there's the possibility of her grandparents taking her to a gym class, and I also want to start going to puppet shows and other nice cultural activities they have for toddlers.After January Juudit will probably be disturbed because of too many stimuli and activities - or then all my plans have gone down and our mummy-daughter days consist of lying on the sofa watching cartoons.
Tehehe, I know I should probably do something about it myself - learn what I should do - but I've been amusinlgy annoyed to notice nobody's visiting this blog. I have always loved journaling just for myself and keeping archives of everything - documenting my life, so to speak - so I shouldn't care that much, but I have to admit that I do.Maybe when time will allow and I have taught myself more about networking in the "blog world" etc., I'll finally get at least one reader. Said she bitterly after two posts. *giggle*We really did do some serious shopping yesterday and got loads of new stuff for decorating this new house. Or is this a flat? I'm not sure of the proper term in English. The shopping took us so long, we had to leave Juudit for another sleep over at her grandparents, which made me cry a little, because I missed her so much, and was worried she might miss us, too. Being sad I asked Karlo to tell me something amusing from the previous night's office party, to lift my spirits, and he decided to tell me how his raunchy boss had asked the ladies of their table to share stories of their sexual experiences, and how the girls had openly and willingly shared. Well that was exactly what I wanted to hear, thank you very much... That my husband spent the night listening to wild sex stories of his attractive colleagues, while I was at home alone - and boringly pregnant. Men. Will they ever learn? *sigh*We stayed up pretty late, going to sauna and watching TV, knowing we could sleep longer than usually, but I was sure I would be up by 9 am the latest. To my surprise Karlo woke me up at 10.30 am, and while it was lovely to sleep in, I felt guilty not being able to go get our daughter back home before noon. When she got back, she was excited about her new, "big girls' bed" (instead of the old crib) we had bought and put together the previous night - but wouldn't stay there for a nap. She was also otherwise clearly offended we had left her for two nights, and cried and acted up a lot. Because she was so tired and cranky, I decided we wouldn't go to our friends' daughter's name giving/the mother's 30th birthday party tonight. It was a shame, as I know Juudit would've loved it there playing with other kids, if she would've been all perky. Now Karlo went there on his own, and I took Juudit to bed already at 7 pm, and luckily she was okay with the new bed now, and fell asleep immediately.So here I am, alone again, and wondering if I should bake that pizza from Thursday now. There are a couple of good shows on TV tonight, plus one of my favourite films, Dangerous Liaisons, with marvellous John Malkovich, so I hope Karlo will come home soon. I think he will, because the baby will go to bed around 10 pm, and Karlo borrowed his parents' car to drive there. So he can't have more than one glass of bubbly. Yay!
I was so happy to wake up this morning and see the temperature was well below freezing, and there was even a little snow on the ground! So far this "winter" has been so depressingly warm, rainy and dark, I've really enjoyed the dryness, coldness and sunshine of this day. I hope this winter will be better than the last two ones. You never know with the climate changes these days.Oh, I ended up doing some more "blog stuff" yesterday, and in the end had time only for the first episode of Cranford (but it was just as good as I had expected) with one glass of Chardonnay and some chocolate. I played a meditation file called Divine Name on my iPod when I went to bed, but my mind was too restless to really concentrate without falling asleep. Karlo came home only around 3 am, and as a result had troubles getting up to work this morning.I'd like to find some good blogs to follow, but I don't really know how to search! I'm interested in reading intelligent and funny musings of everyday life by women of my age, with similar values and situation in life, but to my big surprise there aren't any categories like that in blog catalogues. Hehe. I guess I'll just have to browse through zillions to find a couple of good ones. I like Petite Anglaise, but I'd like to find something smaller. She's so huge nowadays, it makes reading feel a bit impersonal.Oh, and I don't like blogs with too many photos in them. I like to read more than watch - but I still prefer a pretty, crisp and stylish layout.
I'm missing Juudit already, but before we go get her from Karlo's parents, we have to go shopping a little. Our new home is still unfinished with decorations and furnishing, so we have to use all the opportunities we get to go shopping without a tantrum-throwing 2-year-old.
I don't know much about blogs, but I've still wanted to start my own for a long time. You'll have to forgive my cluelessness about blogging, and also my bad English, as it's not my own language.
It was very difficult to decide whether I should write in English or Finnish. The latter is my mother tongue, so I naturally express myself better in it, and it would be easier and faster to write in Finnish. On the other hand I'm used to writing and thinking in English, when I'm online, and - of course - this way more people can read me, and I'm vain enough to want that.
Tonight I was actually supposed to do tons of other stuff than creating a blog. This is a very strange night for me, because my daughter Juudit is sleeping over at her grandparents and my husband Karlo is at an office party. It's so rare nowadays to have the whole house and night to myself, I was stressing over how to make the most of it.
I left work pretty early, went to shop for goodies, such as fresh baked bread, Lapland cheese, buttered popcorn, chocolate and dry Chardonnay. Mind you, I'm pregnant, but I allow myself two glasses per week. Oh, I even bought a frozen pizza, but I'm afraid I won't get hungry enough for it tonight.
The plan was to first enjoy the bread and cheese while slowly reading the day's paper. Checked - I really did that. Then I was supposed to meditate long and hard with no interruptions, go bathe in sauna ALONE and just enjoy the heat, and afterwards have my Chardonnay with chocolate and popcorn, while watching Cranford, a BBC drama I've been taping and really looking forward to seeing.
Well now, I somehow ended up brainstorming with this blog idea right after the bread, cheese and the day's paper, and here I am a couple of hours later, blogging away, and thinking which part of my plan to drop, as I really don't have time for all the mentioned activities anymore. After all, it's a workday tomorrow, and I'd better be in bed in two hours the latest. So will I ditch the meditation, sauna or Cranford? Help!
I will tell you more about me later, now I'd better start enjoying this rarity!
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