22/02/2013

I don't always get it right you know

I am not perfect. No. Far from it. I hope I haven't given a picture of a perfect 50's housewife who makes no mistakes. Now now. Let's be honest.

Exhibit A: Cooking
Sometimes I get it right. Sometimes I get it wrong. Sometimes I burn stuff. Sometimes I make alien invasion blobs in the oven:

Blobs... Or maybe I was going for the "Alps"?

















Exhibit B: Artistic Abilities
Zero. Zip. None.

My musicality and ability to write has not translated into any other art form, unfortunately.
I tried to make Christmas cards this year. Needless to say, I should have bribed my 5-year-old nephew to make them for me. I was too embarrassed to send them to anyone outside my core family (they know what talentless tool I am).
Here. Have a crappy Christmas. Next year you'll get an SMS instead.



















Exhibit C: Photogenic my ass
"Darling, why don't you ever take photos of me?" I sometimes ask my husband. I don't think I break mirrors or have hairy moles on my face, why doesn't he ever take photos of his wife?

Husband's reply:
1) You're always on the move and out of focus.





















2) It's impossible to take a nice photo of you because you pull funny faces.





















3) You hide behind things.





















4) You use props.





















Sigh. Fair enough.

Exhibit D: Karma hates me
I have the WORST karma when it comes to travelling. The only thing that hasn't (yet) happened to us is a proper plane crash. Even though, that also was close once when the wheel didn't come out of the plane when landing. We keep losing our luggage, missing flights, ticket problems, security problems...and last time I think it was us who broke the entire Helsinki-Vantaa Airport system and ended up queuing with a few thousand other people for several hours...
Never travel with us.

















So. Mrs. Marvelous certainly does NOT equal "Mrs. Perfect". So that you know. 

Now stop laughing and go and do whatever you were doing. 

Over and out.

15/02/2013

*Gah*

Oh lordy.

It has been a while since I last updated my blog. It has been a busy start of the year. But let's rewind a bit.

Christmas in Finland was wonderful. We got the best of the weather (-15°C), we got some extra love from family and friends, got stuck at the airport as we were trying to leave the country and in the end, made the plane but our luggage didn't. Some hours later we boarded to Portugal, got the worst of the weather but some more extra love from the family there.

As the year changed, so changed my luck as well, and both my husband and I caught a nasty cold. That didn't make the long trip back home any easier.

But we made it, in the end. I was sick for a couple of weeks and in that couple of weeks I had time to reflect a little. What should I do now? How to activate myself? If I can't find work here, how to fill my days?

So, one anxious afternoon I applied to a few schools thinking that "you have to be in it to win it". What could I lose? Nothing. What could I gain? Everything.

I had restrictions, though. I couldn't physically go to another country (how would my husband ever get out of bed in the morning if it weren't for me kicking his ass up?), I refused to go to a local school and pay €35000 per year (yes, really) and it had to be a school where I wouldn't have to jump through hoops in order to justify why my qualifications, previous degree and level of English are all more than adequate.
Some of the schools I applied for asked for quite a few extra things in the application process which I knew I could cover with my CV and Cambridge Proficiency, studies/work experience in Australia... but I was afraid they'd still ask for TOEFLs and such (TOEFL is based on American English and needs to be renewed every now and then while Cambridge is valid for eternity, based on the good ole' Queen's English). And GMAT? GM-bloody-THAT, I say.

End result: all the schools I applied for accepted me?!?!? No extras needed, my paper trail was enough to prove my skills and ability to tackle a Master program.

Now I needed to select the program. I had options!

My husband and I had very opposite views on which program to choose, his view was to take the best known Uni and I wanted to choose the program that appealed to me the most content-wise in a smaller Uni (tailored for those who already had working experience as managers). After my husband talked to some experts at his office, he came home agreeing with me. Let's go with the program that appeals to me most, Uni name and rep mean very little, globally thinking. Fight averted, I enrolled for MSc in International Business.

So there I am now, sweat beads forming on my forehead as I try to remember things I last studied loooong ago (before electricity was invented...). Let's see how it goes in the end. So far I've spent 4-8 hours a day studying, swapping my sporty activities for brain exercise and flattening ass.

I'm hoping, as I get more used to cramming and start picking up the speed, I can free up some time for sport again. I miss working out and my flab agrees! I also want to free up time to meet up with my local friends now that I finally managed to get some. Oh, and not forgetting French!

Other than that, it was Valentine's Day yesterday. I provided food, husband provided wine and iPod provided jazz. Good times and plenty of love in the air.

Life ain't shit after all.


Oui, c'est moi.