Interesting discovery

I haven't done much over the last few days on my blog but configure the adsense. I've asked friends and family to help with some of the settings and also click a few links to see how this thing works. So far it's pretty straight forward. I should add a bit more color to my blog and also more content. I was told to keep my blog simple as to not overwhelm people who visit it. I should categorize the topics and my rants in separate blogs. Then I thought to myself, I'm already lazy enough as it is and you want me to go galavanting the entire www to just organize my RANTS?

I do like having comments to improve. So I guess I just need to put in a bit more effort. Since my hubby got me a brand new lappy, I'm motivated to make things work a bit more on my blog. It seems fun to be writing some sort of an online diary about what I've been doing or am planning to do. My memory isn't so good these days and lack of sleep is taking its toll. I'm grateful for a wonderful daughter, she's a baby after all even if she does sleep a full night (I REALLY mean a full night 10-12 hours she's broken records by sleeping 14 hours once) I find it difficult to fall asleep. I feel unfulfilled as I spend most of my days serving and entertaining her. I feel like I've made myself into a court jester for the little princess. I love kids..don't get me wrong but being home day in day out is driving me insane. I don't only lose the sense of time and I also lose common sense on some things. I haven't been up to date as to what's been going on with the world as it seems to be too much to absorb. I'm lucky if I remember my name. Which leads me to this:

I was on the phone making an appointment for a surgery I am suppose to go to but it would have to be done only next March. I have no idea who to contact and what to say to these people once they answered the phone. I assumed that if I called and explain to them what my situation was it would be enough.

To my HORROR, when they asked my name...I hesitated for a whole minute. The lady was not convince that I was who I said I was hence she asked for my social security number twice. I got it right the first time and got it wrong the second time and so on. It sounded right in my head but I uttered it out wrongly.

I thought to myself...'What on earth is wrong with this woman?! Why couldn't she understand me?' Then she explained to me that there aren't 80 days in October to make my social security number such. When I ran the numbers through my head and said it out loud I then realized after saying it the 5th time what I said wrong. I am normally a bit of an airhead in the mornings or when I'm über tired but lately I'm an airhead 80% and also an absent-minded professor.

After this whole encounter with the name and the social ID. I forgot what I called them for <.<". So they pulled up whatever information they had on me to job my memory. After an awkward 3 mins on the phone going through my hideous medical history, it finally hit me that I called them to book a time for the surgery. Then came this line of questions as to which doctor would perform my surgery and how...I said "Listen ma'am...just a moment ago I forgot my first name and said my social ID wrong over 10 times...How would you think I'd remember the name of a doctor I haven't met and on top of it a strange name for a surgery which involves cutting my knee open and inserting a laser sort thingy to fix the broken ligaments?". She then said that she'll ask the doctor who diagnosed the problem to me to call me...I wasn't convinced as I knew I'd have to probably go through all this again. So she did I obliged and the doctor called.

I'll keep the story short by saying that I got this all cleared but I still have to make an appointment with the hospital for said doctor to perform the surgery. I'll be in a cast for 2-3 weeks hence I would be needing some help from relatives to care for my dear daughter.

So now I know what I will be facing around March, I've decided then I'll spend my time brushing up on my work skills as well as spend more time writing my blog. Don't worry I won't bore you only with news on my recovery but I'll try to add the recipes as I go along. Now I'll end my post with good night while I still figure out the adsense-nonsense. :)

A day indeed

Alyssa at 4 months 3weeks or so :)

I haven't been writing much on my blog after Alyssa was born. I've been randomly passing by and thinking of updating it every now and what not. I've been doing lots of surfing on the web to find new recipes to try and reinvent, tips on photography (yes I'm a lousy photographer), tips on sewing (yes this too <.<) and all the other DIY things you can think about. I have been thinking of putting the little slugger into some sort of photoshoot hence I've been googling up child photography. I found an exciting hobbyist that has made this into a business of hers. It's these types of people that got me thinking of what are my talents and hobbies that I can put into use. Provided my lazy bones don't get in the way I can pretty much do anything.

Before Alyssa was born I planned to digitize all my recipes so they don't get lost but sadly that was a dream. I've again let the lazy bones take over me and I've been too occupied with feeling sorry for myself (thank you post pregnancy hormones) and trying to cope with the new person in my life. It has been going great I have to say, she's been relatively easy and like most babies love the attention from their parents. I've never felt so close to someone so little and have never thought I'd be so in love with this little person.

Some people say somethings happen for a reason, the things I've gone through in the past has let me up to this day and of course there were the good and the bad times but everything happens for a reason. Nevertheless, I'll try to upkeep my blog from now on and will add recipes here for those who are interested.

1 month 1 week and 4 days old

It seems like only yesterday when my little slugger was in the belly. It still feels funny not to have her inside anymore. She has been a wonderful baby (as wonderful as all babies can be :)). Of course she has her cranky and moody days...sleepless nights...at the end it's rather worth it. It's so amazing to see her smile even if it's not too often but everytime she does it, it makes all the daily baby-fighting frustration and stress disappear. The picture below was taken a few days after the worse hormone break-outs have disappeared. They are not all gone, scabs have just appeared and it will also go away sooner or later. According to my research all over the net and advices from midwives and doctors, apparently these baby acne business can last up to when the baby's 5 months old...except that it'll get less and your baby's smooth skin will return. Your little prince or princess will look lovely once again.


My giant baby (thanks to gestational diabetes) is happily sleeping at this moment, she'll be awake soon and will start to demand for food and a diaper change :D. Hopefully she'll wake up only when her daddy's home so I get to rest. Napping is scarce for me as I have piles of housework to do... these chores never seem to end O_o !

I'm somewhat looking forward to next week's event when our little one will have her baby naming party in combination with a housewarming party. We've invited quite a number of people and hope they can come. Since we do live rather far from civilization (at least for now), to have a handful people show up would mean alot to us. Guess what?! We have people coming from all over Finland and even from UK and GERMANY!!! My friends and relatives are lovely =). I'm grateful to have them and to have met them ^__^ . I'm going back to my chores and tend to that whiney dog...soon I have to read up about how to tackle that <.< ...It could be breed specific...

Tomorrow is the big day...

I'll get to see my little princess (or monster) tomorrow. Happy Birthday (1st July 2009) my dearest! Goodbye to peeing 15 times in the night, heartburn, kung-fu kicks and uncontrollable hiccups! However I'm going to miss being a mother kenguruu. You've been a part of me for so many months. It's now time to meet the rest of the family. Daddy is excited to see you and a bit scared as this is a new experience for him. Just so you know, he'll be there for you from the first moment you are out from mummy's belly.

Although you'll come out through a brutal way, hopefully mummy will be healthy enough to hold you. If not daddy will be there for you and when mummy has recovered then mummy can take over. Don't worry you'll get milk ;) (hopefully). So don't worry.

Grandma will come visit either on Friday or Saturday (3rd of July or 4th of July) Some of mummy and daddy's friends may come visit on the 2nd onwards...We have your summer bed prepared at home...since it's going to be hot we'll be sleeping downstairs for sometim'e until mummy's stitches are removed and mummy feels good enough to be climbing stairs. In the meantime mummy will be getting lots of help from daddy and grandma....

Love you and see you tomorrow...

Planned C-section

Okay...this is not my idea clearly...but since I have a stubborn baby that's not only the wrong way around but she's also rather huge...over 4 kg estimated weight...So we have to take her out via c-section. At a point things will go flying if she comes out under 4 kg as then I've lost all my trust towards these doctors. Right now I will keep my fingers cross that baby makes it out okay and I still am somewhat alive at the end of the whole surgery. Now for more food...had a peach to quell the hunger but need more to avoid fainting...Adios for now but I'll try to be back soon...

Oh and I've just moved hence I haven't been writing much...with a tummy the size of an elephant's belly I just can't seem to do as much as I planned hence the house is still a mess no matter how much I try to organize...I look forward to healing up quickly so I can get back to my routine...or get use to a new one...whatever >.< ....sigh...okay now...I go...rant later...

Life's like that...

I was at the office today saying farewell to another colleague. With all the economic turmoil it's getting harder and harder for people to stay at their jobs. I guess it's good to be thankful that you are employed at the moment instead of reaching for higher goals. I'm excited to be on maternity leave soon but I'm also sad that I'm going to be missing my colleagues at my external office. Since I work together with them more than the ones at my own office you tend to feel closer to them. Then I thought, hey I'm an external...there is nothing wrong with this...part of everyday process...but as a human it doesn't work this way.

I look forward to returning to my external office next year. Hopefully time and tide changes as the economy picks up. In the meantime, one just has to hold on to what one has without expecting too much. For now I'll keep this note/blog short. Just wanted to express my disappointment of good people being let go.

Just another day...

We had a show and tell and we had 4 couples coming to see the place which isn't too bad :). 1 couple came back the 2nd time...we wonder why <_<...at least my dear hubby will send out the offer one last time... if these people are interested then it's good on them and for us too...We've decided that we'll ask for some help from friends but mainly use a moving company to move the rest of the junk we have :P... The only reason why we have to move is that we REALLY have lots of stuff and the stuff ain't small because they were bought for much larger apartment/house. It would be pointless to throw these things away. In any case I'm going to miss this apartment...small and easier to clean...almost effortless. I'm just dreading cleaning something double this size x__X. This year my plan is to do nothing but watch my baby grow and try to keep sane while she cries the night away.

Two weeks ago I was still planning to travel all around in September/October but right now that passion has gone away...I'm just sort of waiting for January to see if I'm even capable in traveling to see 'Peanut's' grandma in Malaysia. Since it's going to be a long journey and on top of that there will be quite some stopovers along the way. I'll keep checking the ticket prices...It could be that we'll fly around February instead of end of January. That way I get to avoid Chinese New Year ^__^ (save on ang-pow) Yeah yeah I know cheapskate :P.

Anyways, after we've moved the first thing I'll do is get some berry bushes because this year I don't expect to get anything from them and it would be nice to be able to plant them so I (meaning making my hubby dig and plant :P) can at least get next year's harvest. Otherwise garden landscaping will REALLY just have to wait until next year...So in the meantime I'll just have to enjoy what flowers I have on photo...This is from the Lahti Balcony bunch...my stargazer lilies...

Situation check...

Okay...I'm in the middle of cleaning the oven and the stove top...but I feel so out of energy and on top of that....yep you guessed right.... laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy.... We're selling our apartment and tomorrow the estate agent is coming to run the show...hubby and I got tired of wandering strangers coming to our place so we decided to let the agent show it to a bunch of strangers rather than just one at a time...This way it gets shown to many at the same time....Here's a small preview of the place:






It's 65.5 square meters, quite a comfy size but since we moved from 95 sq. m. to this...we have WAAAAAAAY too many things to fit a new comer to the house....Hence well we need a bigger place...So from now until say a month from now hopefully we would have sold the place and we can then move to our new place (that depends also after we've figured out what the hell is that weird thing in the garden on the plot we bought since it wasn't mention during the sale <.<) Anyways the add of the house is in Finnish but if you want to preview it... click here.

Ciaoders!

Sleepless in Helsinki....

I wish I could be like Nemu, able to fall asleep whenever the lights go out or whenever she just feels like taking a snooze...I've been having a belly of rocks that creates tension and cramps so it's been bothering my sleep the last two nights. Not to mention an irritating phlegmy cough that just won't go away. Some nights it's gone and only bothers me during the day and SOOOOOOOOOOMETIMES... >.< ARRRGGGGHHH! Well the kicking and the coughing combo is bad so I'm up all night...and then I'm dreadfully tired in the morning.

Tomorrow (today actually) is my first day back at work after the Easter holiday. I took an extra day off to get some of my official stuff done like closing of excessive bank accounts and checking the insurance, visit the pharmacy and etc etc....The day was too short to say the least. I should have taken an extra day. I guess I'll have to do it next week or the week after depending on what I have on schedule. I've been holding back on buying baby stuff until next month due to the fact that we will possibly be moving pretty soon. Then I'll need a few days to sort some 'OTHER' things like change of address, internet connection, blinds (don't want no snoopy neighbors) or curtain rails, gardening tools (have to start soon before the planting season is over), some berry bushes to start with and a mad rage to pull out all the idiotic plants called 'Sirens'. Yeah some old people like em...but I really hate the smell of them as it irritates my nose so much. The scent is not mild but JESUS christly strong, it's like walking into a store full of those old hags that lost their sense of scent and sprayed twenty tons of parfume ala Poison on them (or was it Poisson :P).

In any case I'll pull the plants adjacent to my yard...they can keep theirs for all I care, I just have to minimize the smellies so I don't die from being fumigated by natures old hags wearing too much parfume. Go figure the builder's wife (the people we bought the house from) loves them <.< cause she belongs to the parfumery generation. She's a nice person (so far) as I don't know them so well so can't judge yet... apart for their taste of shrub fences :P. Maybe they don't like what I'm going to do with my garden but hey! It's mine and I'll damn well do what I wanna do :P...that's the whole point of having a garden right? <.<

I should actually try to roll around in bed with this rock solid tummy... if this horrible feeling doesn't go away by end of this week I'm visiting the nearby health clinic's doctor and complaining about this....I really need to rest and not being able to sleep many nights in a row is torture.

Easter almost over and week 28 creeps close

As frightening as it is...the days pass really quickly and the kicks and punches are starting to come in stronger than ever. Baby 'Peanut' has no limitations to what she does and does it whenever she wants. It's not really much of pain but sometimes she strikes you just on the nerves that make you swear like you've never-ever...I'm starting to reminisce what I'm going to miss from work...At least my colleagues will be the first I'll miss and then the absolutely fast pace working environment that keeps me on my feet all day long. I do look forward to going back for a bit more challenge after my maternity leave.

Since it's still Easter Monday, my dearest hubby and I took a ride to Helsinki center to have some lunch-dinnerish combo at a Nepalese place we've never tried before (Restaurant Mountain). To our surprise the food was actually reeeally good. It's so out of the way everytime we go to the city that we never bothered to go all the way there just to test it out, but since almost everything is closed today except small stores (open until 16:00) and some restaurants, we decided we'll give it a go...We didn't regret it one bit as the price was also affordable... :) We would have eaten at home if we didn't have visitors today looking at our apartment, but it was good that they came so I got to eat what I REALLY wanted to eat ^__^ !

So what did we do the Easter weekend? Well, we went to visit Peanut's Grandma to be with Nemu. She was so spoilt over the weekend as she was free to run anywhere and everywhere...Literally EVERYWHERE! <_< She was so spoilt to a point that she forgot her name :P. I was happy that I didn't have to cook or clean...but it was a bit difficult to sleep on a smaller bed than what we have and being so big up front, the mattress was not very comfortable on a convertible couch bed thing. So we stayed only one night, I ended up being really exhausted after we got home that I slept until 12:30 <_< (The Tipsywan style). My dearest hubby came to wake me up so that I could help just freshen up the place before the visitors came, if he hadn't I'd probably sleep pass the Tipsywan hour :-O .

So that was what we did in Easter and dreading week 28 all at the same time. Today I'm continuing my preparation for Baby 'Peanut' I decided to order some of her things from UK but I need to figure out the logistics company that would either receive or pick and deliver. We aren't buying her pram until much later as I'm not planning to go to town anytime soon so we'll buy it sometime in August. The cotbed comes later too as she'll be placed in an Ikea cot or a travel cot in our bedroom until she can move to her own room. The travel cot is a good idea as we may be travelling around so she can be sleeping in that in the beginning saves buying too many baby furniture. I also got to know from Andrea a friend that nasal aspirator (although not used often) is a life saver, I tried googling to find out more about it but did not get a definitive answer on how necessary is that. Rather than sucking the boogers out of your little one I think opening her nasal area with a device (non battery operated) may be a life saver for a frustrated little one that is having trouble breathing while trying to feed.

I should get the mother's box soon as I left the application 1 1/2 weeks ago, I'm hoping to get last year's box since this year's option is rather meh looking. I don't want my little girl looking like a fish :P even if she probably doesn't care what she looks like at this point. Oh well one can hope. If I don't like it I can always sell it forward and buy a nicer one for her. No harm done. :), now I'll just get my things in order for tomorrow as I have one day to handle some paperwork and other stuff :).

Ciao!

Happy to be a soon-to-be-mum

Although 4D ultrasound cost me a canon and a tank, it was a big relief to see that my baby was neither an elephant, a whale nor an alien...However the distorted figures of my precious little thing did scare me every now and then as it wasn't easy to focus in on her. Yes it's a SHE!!! No we don't really have a name for her yet. We 'had' a list but it sort got spoilt after seeing her. She didn't seem to fit any of the names we liked. So now we have to redo our list and try to find something more suitable for her and not to mention easy on Finnish tongue <_<. Somethings I'm just not willing to compromise but when it comes to a baby looking almost a carbon of her dad it's just inevitable that she needs a strong name.

I guess it's best to wait until she's born, we'll still have about a month after that to register and find her an official name. Until then she'll just have to settle with some digits. At some angles she does look like her aunt Denise...maybe it's those pics when you can see through her eyeballs :P...Because Denise didn't really have much of white when she was a baby. She had black mouse eyes! :D

Being now 26 weeks and 1 day pregnant I feel that everyday is closer to the day when my little ambulance will appear. I cannot wait for that painful day however I want her to still grow well inside. I've taken a vow to work with less stress and if I run out of hours, I just have to make a habit to do it tomorrow. It is not going to be easy...Another thing I can do is to take more breaks throughout the day since I can work later from home and this way I don't tire myself too much.

These few weeks I've seen so many kids and babies that I'm wondering what I'll do wrong with my own...Everyone seems to have the perfect little angel and seem to be handling it very well. I just hope that when my turn comes my little angel will be a little angel not a fire engine or an ambulance. Anyways here's a small preview of my precious little thing...

Another day at work

I'm in a meeting...actually an info meeting that will last about an hour. So far all the information I receive have been decoded to 'blahblahblahblahblaaaaahblblablablablablablahablabee' I wonder if it's just me or is my brain just mushy today. Nevertheless, I'm trying to cope up with my mails...Thankfully only 20 at the moment...Not too many high flyers over the weekend.

I'm working from home today since I did not see a point to be at the office to be locked away in a meeting room the entire day. At least over here if I mute the phones and grab something to eat. It's a great compromise. Peanut has been a good boy/girl over the past few days although its kick still bothers me. For some reason I'm getting constant migraines...it comes and goes but it never fully goes away... :-/ I have this emulating hot sensation on my back that's causing aches but after a few days of that I'm starting to get use to it. All I can say is that I'm pretty broken to the core at the moment but I'm still doing 'cartwheels'. For some reason I feel normal... <_< If you can call being overly fat in the front normal.

I weighed myself again and to my surprise, I'm still the same weight as last week...huh? I've been eating much more and much better...It's not possible to stay the same weight with the baby's water bag growing and weight increasing... I'm either seeing things or I should throw the machine out the window.

My dear hubby on the other hand has been really stretched out at work...He's been getting headaches that linger for days and after taking an elephant dose of painkillers then it went away. The problem is, it doesn't stay away for long, it comes back after a day and in worse case scenarios it comes back after a few hours of work. I think his blood pressure has risen and I urged him to see the doctor to get some shut eye. It pains me to watch him suffer like that and still try to carry on. For now I feel like super mega mum since I'm up and about with pains that murmur in the back just like a mosquito in summer. I'm not so to say rearranging the nest since we are moving 'soon'. I'm still cleaning up pretty much without bending or climbing too much.

I found that some of the detergents I use irritate my nose so I have to avoid using them at the moment and just use regular hot hot water to clean up. The grimes don't go away so easily but if that's the case I hold my breath and squirt a few, wipe, run to the window and exhale and inhale frantically. Nemu has been a gracious dog....she hasn't caused me much trouble indoors (at least). I'm still iffy about the fact that she gets over excited over babies. So I'm planning a sort of play area for Nemu so that she doesn't come near the baby unsupervised. My 24 weeks tally is almost up (tomorrow) and I'll be counting down 24 weeks +1 day the day after tomorrow. Heading boldly into my 25th week. So far the journey has had its ups and downs. The downside was memorably tough but the up side was surprisingly enjoyable. He/she is not such a bad little one, it doesn't really know what it's doing inside, just wanting to find a comfy spot to sleep isn't being rebellious. It also gets up and jiggle and samba here and there. I mean you can't possibly sleep the entire time, I know I couldn't even if I'm dead exhausted.

So in theory I only have about 2 months and 1 week before I go on maternity leave. I'm feeling liberated and free :). Although not too free yet since I have a big project going on I have to start and get it to handover condition before I leave. In the meantime, back to listening to the 'blablablablablaaas' hopefully there is something I'll catch so that my time spent won't be too useless after all.

Cheerios! ^__^

My poor Nemu

Nemu had to go to the dentist at the vets and this is the first time she's ever needed to get sedated for an operation. They discovered she has tonsillitis and on top of that her teeth were so bad they had to sand it down and remove all the dental plague and stones, she also had bacterial infection on the gums but that was minor... They wanted to sedate her for longer but I guess after convincing them it was only so that they could do just enough for Nemu. She's still strange today, who can blame her. She had an IV drip on the left paw and was still weak last evening that peeing was difficult as she couldn't get to her pee stance not to mention walking straight <_<. I'll bet my neighbors thought Nemu had one drink too many at the pub.

Today Nemu's better however she's still not fully herself. She took her first 1/2 tablet of antibiotics and tried to cheat... <_< She ate all her yummy food while cleverly avoiding the pill but I caught her so I forced it down her throat...not a nice picture but someone's got to do it. She didn't put up much fight...she doesn't normally anyways...

All in all she's been rather baby-ish today and was whining a little...She fell asleep on the couch but awoken to a terrible nightmare...It shocked me cause she was half asleep and was tearing the couch into bits and pieces with her claws...Oh well...Now we have Nemu's claw marks all over the couch, thankfully the material is 'rather' strong but still it now looks incredibly horrible...Anyways a short video of her before and after operation.

Horrid pain in the ribcage :S

Okay... I'm going to be a b*atch and complain now about this stabbing pain on my left rib cage just underneath the breast...It feels like someone has done a yiihaw and a flying flippin' kick on my ribs and now I'm left with nothing but this sharp pain that makes it difficult to breathe. What makes it worse is that I have this lingering cough that doesn't seem to go away. So everytime I clear my throat I feel like my ribs are going to explode or crack. Oh yeah! It's fun to be pregnant, so everytime someone asks how I feel...I swear one day I am not going to be able to control my hormones and things will start flying out of my mouth and it will begin to sound something like this... "I'm friggin' pregnant you helmet hut, my belly's the size of a watermelon and probably weighs as much as one, my back started to intergrate some new pain receptors, my face is like an exploding volcano of pimples, my ribs are shattered on top of that I can barely breathe and I feel hungry even when I'm full! so what do you think I feel <_<..."

The person would probably freeze on the spot staring blankly at me for about 10 secs and go "Oooooookay...have a nice day...." and run for the hills. I'm normally cranky but the pains that won't just go away makes me even more cranky. I have made a goal for myself tonight...It's to sleep and not be waken...let's see if I achieve this with a bladder the size of a grape <_<.

The modern parenting

Babies needs are rather marginal...however modern marketing has made parents think that babies need everything! New gizmos and gadgets that never even existed when we were babies or when our parents were babies! I have to admit I've taken into some of the marketing hype in regards to baby products...right now I'll be happy to have the basics when the baby is born :). I am out of energy just looking at those baby things. Yeah they are cute and great but my brain can only absorb so much at this point.

At first I was only looking for things for the first few months...and come to realize how fast babies actually grow and outweighing the price of items :S. I'm taking in any baby clothes used...I've also purchase a few of my own and will purchase something I like the baby to wear when we're going out or visiting. I'm just trying to figure out if I REALLY need everything I'm going to buy or thought of buying. So I'll make a list and strike them out depending on how much these things cost.

In the meantime surfing the net for baby items is just giving me a migraine (which I already have without doing so). Now for some phood... ^___^

Mah Curry Puff

Ingredients

Water Dough:
350 gm of flour
about 3/4 dl of oil
about 1 1/2 dl of water
pinch of salt to taste

Grease Dough:
180-200 gm of flour
100-130 gm of margarine/butter (I prefer margarine it's easier to work with and doesn't taste too heavy, plus you can make this ultimately vegan without using any form of animal product)

Filling:
2-3 Large potatoes diced to about 0.5 cm cubes or smaller but not minced. (preferable all purpose potatoes, the hard ones take too long to cook and the mashed type...well you know <_<)

Other:
1 litre of oil for frying

Method:

Let's start with the filling since it takes a bit longer to prepare. Put oil in a large wok or frying pan and heat until medium hot. Reduce the heat and add in garlic and onions. Fry until soft. Put in the curry paste and curry leaves and fry until fragrant in low heat (about 3 mins should be enough to avoid drying). Now increase the heat to medium -high and throw in the potatoes and a bit of water at a time and keep frying until potatoes are cooked. Towards the end add the sugar and salt. Taste and adjust to your liking. (Note: I use sugar to bring out the taste of the potatoes, you may reduce the amount as this filling is not meant to be too sweet or else it'll be curry dessert and it's not that nice <_<).

Water dough: Mix all ingredients together and knead into a firm dough.

Grease dough: Pinch melted margarine into flour and mix into a firm dough.

Split both water dough and grease dough to equal amounts of little doughs (around 4 balls?). Water dough is approximately 1 1/2 times bigger than the grease dough.

O - size of water dough (not to scale :P)
o- Size of grease dough (not to scale :P)

Wrap the grease dough inside the water dough and seal them and leave under cling wrap to avoid drying until all dough is completed.

Now take one of the dough balls and flatten it into a long oval sort of like a flat loaf (or shape of naan bread with even ends) avoid breaking the dough so that the grease dough reveals. Now roll the dough like you would a swiss roll tugged in tigthly avoiding air in between. Use a sharp knife and cut the roll into 1 cm cookie like slices. After all the rolls are cut, flatten the cookie like slices into a nice round pastry crust and put about 1-2 tsp of filling in each, fold in half and pleat the sides to seal. Avoid stretching the dough too much since broken dough makes holes that would cause hell while frying as the filling touches the oil and POPS!. Otherwise wear a biohazard or space suit while frying to avoid oil burns.

Peanut at 19 weeks and 2 days!!!

Here are some crooked pics of Peanut...but in any case look how much it has grown! It didn't like being peeked on very much but anyhow we manage to take some measurements of the legs, head and arms...everything seemed normal except that it was still rather big!

My beautiful new watch and more!!!

Yay... Jani gots it for me as a Valentine's day gift ^___^ It's so pretty in real...I have to take really good care of it as it's not like my plastic swatches that comes with those protectors....This is soooooo pretty!!!! :) Will take some pics of it later ^__^.

I will put up more ultrasound pics of the baby kicker... Peanut has grown so much that he/she starts to look more and more like a baby :)

I found something I like!!!

I was browsing my ebay for sometime last evening and came across some watches...Normally I'd buy those bulky Baby G's as they are somewhat cool in my opinion. Lately I think the clothes I wear to work with a bulky Baby G just doesn't cut it anymore. So I started to look for watches that could be passed off as jewellery. I use to be quite a Swatch fan but not having too much money I only collected a "few". Here's where I found the watch "Buysawatch.co.uk". I'll try to look for it in Finland if I don't find it then I might look for this in UK :). Have to test the strap as I have fat wrists >__<

Ready for another disappointing Valentine's

Finnish guys are not normally best known for their Romanticism...but more of their boozing talents. I got a guy who is some what not into boozing and as for romantic...well it depends... Year after year this day has gotten somewhat significantless. Apart from it also being dear hubby's birthday which would mean extra work for me to make this day special...and getting less in return...Sometimes I just wonder if it's even worth the effort if I get nothing in return...It only seems that I'm the only one making an effort for this day. I just want to say screw it this year it's nothing special! BUT IT IS!!! I'm also bloomin' pregnant and for some reason I feel that this year it's going to be another BIG BIG BIG disappointment... I'm not making anymore efforts... I'm too tired of it. I'll just think of it as just another birthday and be done with it.

It would be nice to hint what you would like for once...and also to be remembered not to remind. It's freaking frustrating when you have to keep reminding someone it's a special day...It loses some meaning or even the element of a special day just becomes a day of nagging disappointment. I always feel a bit sad approaching Valentine's Day...especially the last 9 years...OH YES....you hear me right.....! So don't tell me I'm over-reacting...okay ranting off now I need to be sleeping before the Tummy-tenant wakes up and spoils my sleep. I'll get through this in one piece... I hope :)

One more recipe

I took some pics the first time I made gyoza it was a success but we had too much to eat hence we were both (hubby and me) exploding from gyoza's. Never the less we had quite some leftovers *ahem* so I froze them until I found the gyoza wrappers again from the Japanese store. I must say using the 'Wo Tip' wrappers give a different taste... Since 'Wo-tip' wrappers may not contain eggs (read 'MAY NOT') depending on the recipe they use to make the wrappers. I wouldn't go as far as to use wanton wrappers for Gyoza as it would be an utterly big mistake plus it tastes different...

This week is my sick week...I have too many doctors appointments this week that I barely have time to sort myself out. One appointment I'm looking forward to is the ultrasound appointment to see the baby cow. At this point I couldn't be bothered if it's a boy or girl...Just have to be grateful for what you get huh? Of course I've always wanted girls but boys can be fun too....right? Anyways, I'm planning to make phad thai today but since I had left over nasi-lemak I decided to eat that first....Jani is craving for the double chocolate mousse I made him (last time was about 1 1/2 - 2 years ago *crikey*) I got the recipe from some BBC magazine but changed the recipe a little as I can't find 1/4 the ingredients in Finland. Nevertheless chocolate mousse is something Jani absolutely cannot keep his hands off :P I'll make only two glasses of it....let's see what gives :D

My My Gyoza!

More or less like Japanese version of the Chinese 'Wo- Tip' instead of just steaming it's sorta grilled then semi steamed.

• 400 grams ground pork
  
• 2 - 2.5 dl chopped cabbage (boiled and cooled)
  
• 1 tablespoon soya sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying, or as
• 1 small green/yellow onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger (REALLY minced)
  
• 1 egg
• salt and white pepper to taste

In a bowl, combine the ground pork, cooked cabbage, onion, minced ginger, egg, soya sauce, salt, pepper and sesame oil. Mix well until all ingredients are well combined to avoid having saltier spots.



Place gyoza wrappers in front of you. Wet the edges with water. Place a teaspoon or two of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Fold the sides up to form a semicircle, and then pinch the edges to seal. Continue with the rest of the gyoza wrappers until the filling is gone. (I'm lazy so I bought meself a gyoza clamping thing-a-me-bob)

To cook, heat 2 tablespoon oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Add 12 - 15 of the gyoza and cook for 2 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom (Eh, GOLDEN BROWN not BURNT!).

Add 250 ml of water to the frying pan. Cover the dumplings and cook until the water is absorbed (8 minutes). Repeat the procedure until all your dumplings are out.



Tip: I usually buy the frozen wrappers from the oriental store/asian store. I have a recipe to make those wrappers too but when you make them yourself, the wrappers tend to become thicker than the ones made from the store and the size...don't even let me start! <__<

Meh got lazy to blog :P

I know I know I was suppose to put up some recipes but I got über lazy. Since I have most of the recipes written by hand on my very torn notebook I'm too lazy to copy write them over to the blog. I'm super tired these days thanks to carrying a mardi gras baby that doesn't know that party's over it's time to go to bed!

I haven't much time for housework as well...Damn...I've been so frustrated with the tiny kitchen the past year that I've been thinking of burning it down... :P (Hence almost set the apartment on fire) I couldn't care less what happens to this apartment... I simply don't know my neighbors here so well except for the electric guitar playing moron next door <__<. I don't like half of them I walk pass daily and for some reason this area although in good location doesn't agree with me. I still reminisce good times when I came the first year even living in a smaller apartment in Leppävaara was better than here. I think I'm not very made for Helsinki but just the suburbs of it...I hated living in the center for all the drunks and hobos keep me awake at night! <__< For some reason Vuosaari has an eerie I cannot wrap my fingers around feeling...also it didn't bring bad memories but not good ones either....Then this place this...horrid little place which I thought we'd get rid off in one year but noooo...not possible now that I'm pregnant...sigh....

Lahti was dead boring to me. I found nothing interesting except the lake opposite our apartment and mum-in-laws place. I don't mind visiting Lahti but I cannot phatom what to do there. The cottage which is about 100 + km from Lahti was idyllic little getaway for me. I love the nature there and the idea that there are almost no neighbours is pleasent! I know I can be a hermit sometimes and I like people but sometimes if you live close to them all the time (neighbors) it can be somewhat a familiar stranger. You know nothing about them but yet you keep seeing them...You are curious about them but you don't want to share you life with them but still they can hear almost everything you do or say when you're in your confined space.

I'll help them if they need my help that's what neighbors do but...I'd like to not get involve if it's even possible :P. I'm just mentally counting down the days when I can kick this apartment goodbye... Now I have to get back to some documentations and prepare for tomorrow's neverending meetings. Another day and more experience to come... Can't wait to go to Frankfurt...happy to have short visits if not I'll be dead tire....

More recipes coming...

I know that my recipe blog is a bit boring but today I got my Darling Hubby to take pictures of the process of making Gyoza. It wasn't easy -___- as he was busy engaging a battle with Persia on CIV IV. So some pictures are rather dodgy but you get an idea. I will make the pineapple jam again one of these days as well as the tart now that I have this cool cookie dough presser. I had some pics of making the sambal for Nasi Lemak. However I am freaking lazy to do more... My kitchen is just a holy mess and it's demotivating to do anything...I'm still waiting for my king size kitchen with a real gas stove before I start actively blogging some of my favorite recipes...HOORAY! One way I can keep all my recipes in one place without losing them as when they were a form of scrappy notebooks that tear to pieces... <__<..Back to the kitchen...wouldn't want to burn my Gyozas!!!!

Baby 'Jyri and Tiina' is born!

My dearest 'baka' friend had a baby this afternoon. According to the message a sweet baby girl, weighing 3,44 kg at the length of 51 cm. This is such an exciting day! I'm sure they are thrilled. I would like to visit the family but I think I'll wait until they have settled in with their newborn. I can understand the need of privacy and getting bonded with the child. I'd like to have that with my newborn as well. I don't need someone in the background nagging me and wanting to hold the baby every now and then...I guess it's fine in the hospital but when we get home we just want to be alone for a while...at least 2 weeks :).

For me the bonding process is important. Your baby is never a baby forever so this is the best time for new parents to reflect the moment. Get it into their heads that there is a new person in the family...new adventures and frustrations of trying to get things right. I keep hearing that perfection isn't everything with a baby, you just need to do your best. Let's see what kind of a control freakazoid mumsy I'll be! :D

Holidays are over

I admit I might have overdone myself during the holidays. As soon as the guests have left I started to break down. Parts of my body would not co-operate anymore and I slept throughout the whole afternoon. I tried to keep awake to watch Sahara with my dear hubby but fell asleep 3/4 way through so don't ask me about the ending :P.

I also tried to play CIV IV with him but in between turns kept dozing off. :-/ I almost fell asleep on my frying pan while waiting for it to heat up since my dearest hubby wanted me to make spaghetti bolognese after eating all the Neo-Chinese food I've been making the past week has been a real disappointment for him. Not because he didn't like Chinese food but he doesn't fancy it as much as Italian. The only thing that got him happy was when I made Tiramisu. My poor hubby got depressed at the thought of having to go back to work tomorrow, I just wanted to make it all go away. He hasn't had much of holiday while the guests are here. I wasn't too sure what he wanted to do during his vacation besides playing CIV IV. I do know that driving around and always on the move is not being his thing. Neither is it mine since I'm 14 weeks pregnant, I get mega tired at doing 1/4 what I use to do. I could say I'm over exerting myself during my 'vacation'. I do love cooking, heck if my kitchen was bigger it would make things a hell-o-lot easier. I'll just have to make do with the kitchen that I have for now ^___^.

I'm looking forward to the new home we will have end of 2009/beginning of 2010. It won't be 100% ready as it has to be built over winter and have another coat of paint in Spring. The most important thing to get ready are the bathrooms and toilets, the fireplace, master bedroom, baby room and of course MY KITCHEN! :D. Ah but there is just one more thing missing, we're still waiting for the land so it may still be a dream....With the finance crisis and all who'd know what to expect. Okay dearest hubby had a midnight snack and I just wanted to accompany him because I felt strangely alone. Maybe I'll brew myself some Milo and hot milk NAM!!!!