Sharing the sweetness

The work week is almost over for Mr Siili and I know he'll be happy to have the weekend to rest. We don't have any plans, but I do hope we'll spend some quality one on one time.

I have been watching Taekwon-do in the Olympics the last few days. For the first time, there is a sport in the Olympics that I've participated in and still care about. Although, the Olympics uses World Taekwon-do Federation (WTF) rules and I have practiced under International Taekwon-do Federation (ITF) rules. The main differences, in competition, seem to be that WTF requires more/different padding & protection, no use of hands for punching and they are always screaming! The girly squeals are the most annoying. I have no favorites, it's just interesting to watch.

A friend of mine will be coming over this evening after she gets off work. It'll be nice to see her as I've not seen anyone I know other than Mr Siili for a few days. I really should go food shopping first, though.

As I said at the beginning of the month, I signed up for NaBloPoMo for the first time. I was quite excited because the topic was SWEETS and I love sweet stuff. Only 'problem' is, I haven't written much using these sweet prompts because I've had quite a bit of things I've wanted to say using my own topics and I try not to post more than once a day on most days.

Anyway, today is Friday and as I've not got much to say, I'm going to use the daily prompt because it fits quite well.
Today's NaBloPoMo prompt is:  What was the last piece of candy that you gave someone else?

When my MIL was over last Saturday, she was in the mood for a little something sweet, so I shared my stash with her. Specifically she tried a piece of candy I brought back from Shanghai last fall called White Rabbit. It's a simple milk candy that isn't too sweet and doesn't have much flavor, but it is quite yummy.

Our stroller has arrived!

I've known 'forever' that we need a stroller for when the baby comes. What I didn't know was what kind of stroller I would want. There are so many different models, with different features and prices to choose from. I was lost! (Sort of like I still am with cloth diapers. Ugh.) From the beginning, I did have a rough idea of what I wanted:
- 4 big wheels (not tiny ones like in the travel strollers) because I will need it in the winter with snow,
- no pink,
- combined bassinet (baby) & seat (older child),
- not too heavy (it's relative, I know),
- can fit into the trunk of our car and
- less than 350€ (some of these can cost up to 1 000€ and more!!!).

Some co-workers and friends added that having an adjustable push-handle bar for my height and also to move it out of the aisle in the bus is very handy. And being able to flip the push bar in both directions is great, but not absolutely necessary.

Fact about strollers and buses in Finland: One adult with a child in a stroller can ride the bus for free in my town and maybe even all of Finland.

When I finally started seriously looking for strollers about 3 months ago, I put the word out to friends and some co-workers (who have young kids) letting them know I was looking. One co-worker helped me navigate some of the websites in Finnish and also gave me her opinion on what was good and what was from her own experience. She helped me quite a bit! My SIL gave me some websites with actual brick and mortar stores I could go check out. I did look at the websites, a tiny bit, but I never made it to the stores. Mr Siili and I went to one baby store, where I quickly rushed to look at stuff because Mr Siili was tired of going through stores (we had been to several furniture stores already that day). I also looked on a local FB group where used clothes and baby items are sold. Since I didn't look at the page every 2 minutes, all the ones I liked and that were decently priced were already reserved.

Then two co-workers let me know that they had strollers to sell. The first stroller I looked at was in the style I wanted and of nice colors (dark blue and dark green). But the fabric was faded, one of the tires was flat, it was old and not what I was looking for. Even if it was only 50€.

The second stroller I have not seen, except for the website (with detailed description only in Finnish and pictures) where my co-worker and his wife bought it from, some pictures and one piece of fabric of the stroller. (The guy lives an hour train ride away from where we work/my town.) But, knowing my co-worker and what he says of his wife, I can only imagine how immaculate of a condition the stroller has been kept. His wife said the price is 150€, but my co-worker said we can discuss it. I'm happy either way, because 1) it is lower than my personal set price and 2) that is 200€ cheaper than a new stroller of this exact brand and type, which just happens to be my upper limit for stroller price.

My co-worker was on holiday all of July and we had agreed that when he got back to work in August he'd bring it to work and thus my town. It's not as if I needed before then, so it worked perfectly in my opinion. Just this morning my co-worker sent me a text message to let me know the stroller is in town and I can pick it up!

Without further ado, here's our new-to-us stroller! (At the bottom of the post, because I'm remote blogging.)

And that is is the sweetest thing anyone did for me today!

NaBloPoMo prompt: What is the sweetest thing someone did for you today?

NaBloPoMo, giving it a go

Paxlet is now free to come whenever he wants. I've seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
The concert was great yesterday and I survived if quite well. The weather even cooperated quite beautifully. The worst of it was/is the swollen ankles, which I was prepared for, and the cigarette smoke. Ugh, that I wasn't prepared for. The first two bands were Poets of the Fall (Finnish) and The Vaccines (British). The first band I know and feel are decent enough, but don't listen to the outside of the radio or someone else playing them. The second band I've never heard of and didn't really care for them. I mean, they weren't bad, just sort of boring, monotonous and very British (not that that is bad either).
RHCP was who I was there for and so excited to see. We didn't have the of places to see, as it always seemed some tall guys were right in front of my friend and I. And because we were far enough back, Anthony, Flea and the others were sort of small on the stage. That didn't diminish my excitement or the fact that I have now seen Anthony Kiedis live!! That's one thing I can write off my bucket list.

I had my neuvola appointed today. My neuvola hemoglobin is not going up at all, in fact it dropped down one more point to 106. The nurse suggested that I try taking it with some orange juice.
My blood pressure was also a bit higher than normal today. Compared to what it has been most of the pregnancy, it isn't much higher. The nurse didn't seem too concerned, although she did instruct me to call there (during the day) or to the labor and delivery department at the hospital if I start getting headaches, blurred vision, (something else) or very itchy palms/feet. As those can be signs of toxicity.
I also mentioned that I didn't think Paxlet was moving as much the last couple of days, especially on Monday. So the nurse gave me some homework to do: actively monitor and count Paxlets movements for an hour (or two, depending on the outcome) each evening over the next few days. If I get 10-15 movements during the monitoring, all is fine. If less than that, I should move around a bit and/or eat a little something sweet and monitor again. If the movements are still under 10 during that time, I should call to get further monitoring. Paxlet passed with flying colors this evening, especially after I ate some ice cream.

I've seen and read about NaBloPoMo for some time, but I've never tried it. I stumbled across it again yesterday and for some reason I decided I'd give it a go this month (as often as I feel like). And what a coincidence, this month's topic is SWEET. I can do sweet, I love all things sweet.

Today's topic is: What is the sweetest thing someone said to you today?
I didn't have much interaction with people today, but my cats snuggled with me and Mr Siili asked if I slept well. Both of those things are pretty sweet to me.
- JustHeather