New baby Vuori

It's a boy! 

He was 12 days late, but worth the wait. His name is Otso John Vuori, and he is 50 cm and 3.58 kg (I believe that is 19.685 inches and 7 lbs 9 oz for you US folk).

Angela

heavenly

lumi is combing my hair right now and i hope it never stops. she is gentle and steady and it feels so good!

Luck

The handle broke off the double stroller this morning. This sucks because obviously we are going to need it soon, and lumi is just not ready to walk long distances without a break, so we can't rely on the single stroller.

But I am feeling good about it because it was a hand-me-down and there were some things we didn't like anyway. And the best part? The situation just highlighted how lucky I am. No one was hurt or traumatized. And both Kimmo and I blamed ourselves for weakening it, not each other. And when it happened, no one got mad; we started laughing.

I am so so so lucky to be married to that guy.

The Locket Thief

The Locket Thief by Daniel Patrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i enjoyed this book much more than i expected to. there are some cringe-worthy expressions along the way (something about taking a sledgehammer to knock the plans out of lara's head on the first couple pages nearly made me stop reading) and it could do with some proofreading.

but still, the story is fun. i found myself wishing for more details about the world patrick creates. and like most people, i enjoy a lively young female protagonist. if you enjoyed 'the golden compass', then this may be something you like.

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Sacrifice

Eating 3 helpings of ice cream so the plastic box can be put into action as the cats' water dish doesn't make me a hero. But close, right?

and it's just delightful

our internet installation person: a middle-aged woman. 

the security guard at the government office: a hot young woman. 

maybe it's just a series of coincidences, but i am getting the feeling that gender equality is really real here.

doctors

my friend (and former roommate!) nikki just got her phd, so she is now a doctor. it's excellent.

Nurtureshock

NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i know it's basically required reading for a certain parental demographic, but that ubiquity doesn't make it any less fascinating. i enjoyed it and i intend to reread it in a few years so i can reabsorb the teen-related stuff.

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"US concealed gun safety teacher shoots student"

i don't think this will help all gun nuts toward a safer path, but maybe it will help one or two:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23691146

Sasheer Meets Her Flasher

I recently watched this again. I think it's hilarious and I love the range of emotions she can express with her facial expressions.

Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself

Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace by David Lipsky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i had a really hard time getting through this book. i restarted it several times and finally (because i'm moving and am trying to cut down on the bulk of my media) finished it. i love david foster wallace's work and it is fascinating to hear his thoughts on things, but it was just a little too writer-focused to be really relate to.

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The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

as pointed out by many people, this book is not a harry potter book and it is not related in any way. but rowling demonstrated with harry potter that she is a great writer who can build a world and sucks you into it, and she has done it again here.

there is a little mystery and great characters and some teen angst, but it's mostly adult angst and class issues and marital issues and other bits.

i really liked it and toward the end i couldn't put it down. and in an enjoyable way, not in a buckle-down-and-finish-this-so-i-can-finally-stop-reading-it way.

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instead of thank you notes

i try to be rigorous with my thank you notes, and i'm proud of this. but i read this carolyn hax advice column today, where she points out that while thank you notes are still a good idea, we should really rethink the whole concept of gift-giving, given that stuff is much easier to acquire these days.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/carolyn-hax-reconsidering-our-gift-giving-habits/2013/06/27/30f3284a-d389-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.html

it's an interesting point! especially for the adults in my life (because it's still fun to buy toys for kids most of the time). most adults i know can buy what they want or need whenever they want, and do a much better job than i would at getting exactly what they want. so i think it might be a better idea to skip the gift-giving and send a card, or maybe donate some money to charity in someone's name.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i have mixed feelings about this book.

on one hand, i really enjoyed the characterizations. flynn masterfully guides the reader to hate or love the characters. the plot is fascinating.

then it started to feel too long. i was ready for it to be done. i got bored with amy's interactions with the drifters. and then when it finished? i thought the ending was too abrupt. i wanted to know that something happened for the detective or for go or somebody who deserved it.

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Dead Souls

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

just fantastic. there are parts that seem tedious and long-winded (aren't all russian novels like that), but most of it is hilarious.

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Navel

My pregnant bellybutton is visible through 2 layers of clothes. And one of those layers is a fleece shirt.

Bring Up The Bodies

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

for some reason, i didn't enjoy it as much as i enjoyed wolf hall. i'm still loving mantel's thomas cromwell (sure, it's easy to enjoy a from-the-viewpoint-of-the-traditional-villain story, but hilary mantel's cromwell is impeccable).

maybe the problem was that the characters' names were harder to keep straight (this could be simply my aging brain, but it was difficult that sometimes he was "charles brandon" and sometimes he was just "duke of suffolk") and i couldn't remember who was related to whom. i read wolf hall in paperback and i read bring up the bodies on my kindle, and that may have made a difference. sure, you can bookmark on a kindle. but the problem is that i'm not sure when i will need a bookmark, for something to make reference to. so then by the time i realize that what i thought was an insignificant name is in fact important, it's hard for me to just flip back and find it. and of course, maybe there is an easy way to do this on my kindle and i just don't know how to do it.

but anyway, it's still a great read if you like historical fiction or if you're interested in that particularly juicy part of english royal history. i want to read more of her books. maybe "a place of greater safety"?

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Mosquito-repelling soap

This is great:

http://www.africanglobe.net/business/african-students-invented-anti-malaria-soap-awarded-25000/

Napping

For some reason, not bothering to fully close your eyes looks even lazier.

celebrating victory day

it's victory day, so i have the day off work. today is the day to celebrate the victory of the allies in wwii.

lumi and i went to a couple of playgrounds this morning. on the slide, she wanted to hold my hand the first few times but then afterward she did it alone. and then she looked around and said quietly to no one "lumi all by self." i love it. she's proud of herself and it's not even about showing me or anyone.

dieting

i have done a terrible job recently of sticking to my primal diet. i had had a few bread-ish things, and then we spent the weekend in barcelona and we had "pan" at every meal. i feel chubbier, but i don't feel bad. i think this means that i'm lucky and don't have a gluten intolerance at all (conclusion: i am clearly more evolved!).

but i don't like feeling chubbier, and it's not hard normally to not eat bread. where it gets difficult is when traveling and when in social situations. for example, last weekend we went to the zoo. the nicest restaurant is this italian place at the very top of the hill, overlooking the city. so we ate there, and the simplest thing was for kimmo and i to share a pizza. 

i have spent the last few days getting back to more 'primal' eating, though i'm not as 'clean' as i could be. but i do feel better. and it's hard enough with a growing belly to feel good about how one looks, so i'd rather avoid extra fatty pounds and inflammation if i can. i was starting out almost 10 kilos lighter than i was starting with my last pregnancy, and i'd rather avoid landing at the same destination.

yoga

i've been doing the bikram yoga for a while now in prague, and i had a great workout on sunday. i think i'm still exhausted from it! for the last few times, i have been doing the pregnancy series and since it is modified it feels less thorough. but also i have been going to czech-speaking classes, which means i haven't gotten the instructor's little reminders for each pose (the non-modified ones). sunday's was an english class, and i really made an effort for each pose, and it felt great.

Anne's House of Dreams

Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i don't know why i can't stop reading this series, but here i am at book #5. i don't even really like anne, and my eyes glaze over when montgomery starts describing the flowers or the trees or the rocks or whatever in her super-romantic style.

i guess i just want to know what happens to anne. and the peripheral characters are charming.

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Freedom

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i liked it a lot. i remember it getting a lot of flack when it was released, but i don't remember exactly what people disliked about it.

sure, there were some things that went too far or seemed over-exaggerated. but just like in 'the corrections', the horrible thought processes and decisions that the characters make are just too close to home to dismiss the book. there were several points during reading at which i was physically uncomfortable because i recognized my own terrible patterns in this or that character. that's not easy to do for a writer, but franzen nails it.

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Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i was hoping to really like this book, but i admit that it wasn't too satisfying. i read part of it in high school, and found it too boring to finish then. it wasn't much different now, though i really did start to pick up speed at the end because i wanted to know what happened. but the character of raskolnikov is so repellent, and the redemption is so silly! it feels unfinished somehow.

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Conqueror

Conqueror by Conn Iggulden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

a good ending to an enjoyable series.

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Khan: Empire of Silver

Khan: Empire of Silver: A Novel by Conn Iggulden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i enjoyed the story, just like the first 3 in the trilogy. i'm only sorry that it has been such a large gap of time, because i had forgotten some of the previous story lines, like how the tsubodai-kills-jochi went down.

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working out

i have had a hard time working out since lumi was born but now that i'm finally not nursing lumi first thing in the morning, i feel like i can start morning workouts again. but now there is a problem: kimmo will be traveling soon, so i can't just slip out for a walk/run in the morning because lumi would be alone.

so i started this little program: http://michaelashcroft.net/2009/04/19/16-days-of-beginner-crossfit-wokouts-you-can-do-from-home/

and i've been doing it for about a week now. it is great! all the exercises are quick but really get my heart rate up. and best of all, i don't need any equipment. so i have been sneaking out of bed at 5:15, putting on a sports bra, and doing these in the living room.

Little Men

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"little men" is just as sappy as, but with less interesting stories than "little women". a couple of the boys were endearing, but for the most part they were not compelling.

why did i finish it then? i read it on dailylit.com, which means you just get a little at a time, and it makes it easy to read even the most dull literature.

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Anne of Windy Poplars

Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i gather this is a not-very-popular item in the series. it still feels like anne for the most part. i think montgomery does a good job of reeling it in just when you're about to throw the book down and say "yes, we know that anne is so special and intriguing that she is like a magician in her interpersonal relationships and it's getting kind of old". usually just when my eyes were glazing over, i would arrive at a different kind of story, and i was hooked again.

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Prague Winter by Madeleine Albright

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 by Madeleine Albright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

a wonderful read, and especially great now that i'm living in prague. she makes the panic and uncertainty of wwii-era central europe come to life.

as a young-ish citizen of the US, it has always been hard to fathom how exactly hitler accomplished all he did. in the US stories, he is always so clearly evil that it would take an idiot not to recognize it. yet albright's book shows how he hid behind 'understandable' policies for so long and people were so wary of war that they said 'ok, fine' and would give another few inches that it feels like it could happen again today.

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the end

i just finished 2 weeks of training. i'm exhausted. fortunately, we're going out for mexican food for kimmo's birthday.

it feels like we're going out for me because i'm the one who is crazy-excited about it. refried beans! guacamole! enchiladas!

exhausting job

it's day 9 of teaching factory by myself. i'm quite tired. and they just asked me to do it again! so i will have a week off, and then i will teach it again by myself.

and then i will rest. 

this is ridiculous, and unsustainable. on most days, i have arrived home too tired to romp with lumi or be decent with kimmo or do a little exercise.

so what is the answer? i don't know. if this is what they want, i can't keep doing this job.

birthday

today is kimmo's birthday. i already gave him his gifts (long underwear and a dvd), so the only thing left is a little sparkling wine and a cake.

paying for friends

i'm considering not paying my dues this year for the International Women's Association of Prague, and therefore dropping out of the group. I don't get much out of it, since I don't have a lot of extra time/energy these days outside of lumi and work.

The only thing I "do" in it is the book club. But I am really enjoying the book club! The dues of the club are around 100 €, though. Including the pricey meals and the pricey books, is that worth it for the book club? I don't think so. I will be sad to leave it, but I think I must. I guess I could try to start a book club outside of IWAP.

Great women rulers...of literature!

My friend Sarah gave me this for Christmas.

Day 5

i'm on day 5 of a single person teach of teradata factory. it's exhausting! i'm really looking forward to the weekend, but feeling like it won't be enough to replenish my energy.

this car is awesome

reading

a great reading day!  i read a hilary mantel essay (speech, actually) last night, and today, this.

ice swimming

check here for my ice swimming experience!

it was crazy. i dipped in 4 times, and followed each with a sauna. unfortunately, the last time i didn't stay in the sauna long enough, so i was cold. the trick? don't get your hair wet.

monday

it was a wonderful long weekend in finland. it wasn't cold (hovering right around freezing) but there was lots of snow.

and now i'm starting a single trainer delivery of teradata factory and i'm already tired. oof.

dook

tonight is the dook game! and of course i won't be watching it, because i will be in helsinki, probably sleeping.

it saddens me how little i'm involved in basketball these days. but it feels so foreign. no one around here watches or cares, so either i need to live in online discussions, or i just kind of find other interests. and i have to say that i think i'm a little less highstrung than i was when my emotions rode on wins and losses. 

but maybe i'm just a little more dead inside. :)

cold

it just started snowing again and all i can think about is how i will get to have a sauna in 2 days, when we go to finland. 2 days!

nanny meeting

we had an interview today with another nanny!  i feel good about this person. i hope it works out.

exercise

i went jogging twice this week, but otherwise i feel like i'm barely getting any exercise. i used to wake up early and do some floor exercises (arms, abs) before going to the gym for cardio. but that was all before lumi arrived. now most of the time when i try to sneak out of bed, she wants to get up with me. of course, the obvious solution is to do extra walks for cardio, and then do those same floor exercises at night. but for some reason, i have zero motivation to exercise at night. i'm terrible at it! i would like to change that about myself.

moneygram!

i sent a moneygram today to my friend in burkina. it's a good service, and seems much better than western union.

but like many of these things, it is ridiculously out of date. if you are in the US, you can do it online and it seems great. but if you're in the czech republic, there is a lengthy paper form you fill out. then, right after you spend 10 minutes filling in the paper form, you hand it over to the agent, who spends 10 minutes typing all your information into the program on his/her computer. why you can't do most of the typing yourself online, and then bring in the cash for the transaction, i don't know. it seems like it would be a real time saver.

anyway, i had done it before so i knew what to expect, so it went reasonably quickly, right up until the agent clicked 'Go' or 'Send' or whatever it's supposed to be. it turns out that the exchange rate had changed! the amount of money is near the top of the form, and by the time she had finished typing in the rest of the form, the CZK-CFA rate had changed. that's was fine for me because the change was in my favor (more CFA per Czech crown) except that it rendered the entire form invalid. so i had to get another paper form and fill it all out and then she had to once again type it all in. it was ridiculous! she said that had never happened before while she was using moneygram, which is somewhat reassuring.

and also? they only accept cash. 

it's just part of life here, i guess

we took the cats to the vet this morning just for a check up and to be registered with a vet in the event of some future emergency. i had found a vet who speaks english, and contacted them via email and phone. i was warned that without an appointment, we could wait up to 45 minutes. so we made an appointment for 8:30. we arrived at 8:25. we did not get into the office until 9:20. it was ridiculous and frustrating. and we had lumi with us because she was feverish last night, so that just added to the waiting annoyance.

fortunately, there was some free entertainment provided by the other patients. one family brought in a huge dog (maybe an irish wolfhound?) and lumi was excited and wanted to ride it. she kept saying "lumi ride horse!"

jogging

i went for a jog this morning! i had to very carefully and quietly sneak out of bed at 5:30 (both cats and lumi were sleeping around my legs), but it was a really nice way to start the day. 

i have to figure out how to better use earbuds when i jog. i like listening to music, but i feel like i'm constantly pushing the earbuds back in. is the answer to go with the older style that comes with an ipod? the sound isn't nearly as good and there is no 'seal' with the ear, so you get a lot of background noise. but they can withstand the jogging movement, so maybe that's ok.

Reading

Kimmo took this picture through a Lego door. I really like it!

childcare stresses

after that first meeting with a nanny candidate yesterday morning, we
had a good opportunity to compare and contrast: a parent-teacher
meeting at our daycare.

we love our daycare center. from the moment we walked in the door the
first time, it just felt right. you can tell that the teachers really
care about the kids. we had looked at another place in prague and
while they seemed perfectly nice and the kids seemed happy and healthy
enough, it just didn't feel right. of course, at that point our
current daycare had not even opened its doors, so we knew that they
might not always seem calm and organized! but i'm happy to say that
this impression has not changed in over a year, even with the addition
of many new children. lumi is happy there and trusts her teachers and
we feel really good about her safety and happiness.

and then yesterday we had a meeting with them, and all our good
feelings were reaffirmed. her teachers had put together a big packet
of information of "observations" about her development in all areas
and it was clear that they adore her as much as we do. we had an hour
and we discussed her development and behavior (including some problem
areas) and then we spent a while exchanging stories of funny stuff
lumi does, which helped fill in a lot of gaps for both of us (like
which languages she uses for certain situations, and which songs she
sings). it was wonderful.

and now i find myself scared to hire a nanny because it won't feel as
good as our daycare situation.

nanny interview

we just had our first meeting with a nanny candidate. she seems really nice. 

next step: test it out to see if lumi agrees.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

charming, charming, charming. i loved it. it's a fast read with endearing characters and many moving moments.

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summer

it's ridiculously warm here today. it's +12 C! almost all the snow melted in the last 24 hours and everyone seems to be filled with the hope of spring.

summer

it's getting warmer here and all the snow is melting! it's kind of great and fills me with hope. and also the knuckles on my hands are less dry.

swimming

we went to swim at "Aquadream" water park yesterday. lumi loved it!

"Katachi"

Shugo Tokumaru "Katachi" from Kijek / Adamski on Vimeo.

so great!

maybe the attitude is added in translation

yesterday i saw an advertisement on the American Women's email list. it was for a nanny available in the afternoons who speaks english and czech. we are considering getting help, especially for the days when i am teaching and kimmo is traveling. so i emailed the address listed, and got this response:

If you will to see me and have serious interests  , please write asap, I 'v got more demands.

this seems ridiculous to me. you were the one advertising! why does it sound like i'm inconveniencing you?

Anne of the Island

Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

montgomery is killing me with this drawn out romance with gilbert blythe. i have to say i enjoyed the characters in this book better than anne of avonlea. paul irving is annoying, but phil gordon is fun.

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book club meeting

we had a book club meeting last night. i enjoy a lot of the ladies there, but they always seem to choose pricey restaurants. i'm enjoying the book club, so i need to work on budgeting for a couple glasses of wine and just eating beforehand.

New books for the next 3 months:

February - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

March 2013 - The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

April 2013 - Prague winter by Madeleine Albright

one of the women has read a lot of the same books as i have. she seems to have similar inclinations, but her opinion on what is good differs just a little bit from mine. it has only been a few months, but so far i have been safely able to say that if she *loves* it, i will enjoy it but not love it. this came up because i read 'The Lacuna' already and though i liked the story, i thought it was a bit over the top and i was ready to be done with it. she said something like that it was "everything a book could be".

illness

kimmo got sick last night with what appears to be a 6-hour stomach bug. he felt fine before, then was vomiting between midnight and 5:00, then felt fine. lumi had a similar thing last wednesday.

i'm embarrassed to say that when i woke up and heard someone being sick my first thought was not one of loving sympathy, but instead "what the hell are those cats doing?" after a minute or so, i rolled over to commiserate with kimmo and only when i didn't see him did i realize it was him. poor guy.

Isä!

Kimmo is home now from a business trip and the house is a much more cheerful place. Lumi didn't seem unhappy when he was gone, but she seems happier now that he's back.

Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i didn't like this as much as 'anne of green gables', but i devoured it nonetheless.

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eating

now that kimmo is out of town, i'm eating a smaller portion at dinner. i wish i could have the willpower to do it regularly! 

my most successful diet was several years when my stepmother was dieting along with me, albeit remotely -- she is one of the nicest people in the world, so it gave me a good support system and i didn't want to disappoint her by cheating. i wish i had a partner like that now for this!

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i enjoyed the hell out of this. i'm mad at myself for not reading it in adolescence.

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family adjustments

we are looking into kimmo taking on another customer, other than nokia. this means that he would probably need to travel. having him gone 5 days a week would be hard on kimmo, hard on me, and hard on lumi. so we're asking about maybe just 3 days per week.

and then maybe we would get a helper, like the wheatleys have in hong kong. their helper, yeng, is awesome! she is kind and good with the kids and a great cook. the trouble is finding someone like her, because now our standards are very high!

night times

we (actually i, since kimmo is out of town) tried something new last night for potty training. we put lumi back in the crib.  

ever since we bought it last fall, she has been hating her toddler bed, and insisting on "big bed" with us. this is fine (it's not a small bed) and i actually like cuddling with her, but for potty training it would be really annoying, since changing sheets is more complicated for a big bed, and we only have one big waterproof thing for that bed. so ideally we would like to have her in a smaller bed for this process.

when we got back from asia we decided to since the toddler bed is 160cm long, and i am 160cm tall, i would try sleeping with her for a few nights to get her accustomed to the bed and out of the "big bed". plus me being there meant that the changing sheets could be done quickly without a full wakeup for her. but she still hates it and plus she is not making much progress at not peeing during the night. we had one dry night, but i think it was just a coincidence.

so now that kimmo is traveling and he can't take any "get lumi to sleep without her crying and getting up" shifts, i was worried that i would lose my temper too much without my evening alone time. so i put her in the crib. she cried, but not too much, and then had a huge pee at around 9pm. i changed the sheets and she went back to sleep. it was great and i was planning on sleeping in my own bed, but then when i came to bed at 10pm, she woke up. so we both got in the toddler bed, and she stayed dry the rest of the night.

here's hoping it goes better tonight and i get to sleep in an adult bed!

Bootleg alcohol claims another

There has been yet another death related to poisonous bootleg alcohol in the Czech Republic.  The count is up to 39!  

It boggles my mind that people are still drinking bootleg alcohol.  Most of the victims seem to be older people living in smaller towns and villages, so maybe there isn't so much access to 'official' stuff.

i love this

new haircut

i tried a new haircutter (stylist? i'm not sure about the preferred nomenclature) today. he is a friendly older south african who has been living in prague 17 years. i'm not sure about the haircut yet (it usually take a few days of settling in and shampooing and styling before i can develop an informed opinion) but the experience was great.

doctor visit!

today i went to the doctor for the first time since we moved to prague. you need to be registered with a doctor in the czech republic to be able to get sick leave, so even though i'm not sick now i wanted to make sure i was registered. the doctor was very nice and spoke english quite well, which made me feel comfortable. this office had been recommended by the woman who cut my hair a couple of times, who described it as maybe a little overboard as far as care and babying an adult, but she loved it.

and i love getting weighed and having my blood pressure taken and those sorts of things.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

i really enjoyed this. it is a quick read and a great story. it was loaned to me by a book club member.

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