friends, family & health.
So, my friend Sini is probably unpacking her suitcases in her apartment in Sweden at this very moment. She'll be there for a whole year. Sure, Sweden isn't that far away and it's probably not too expensive to go and visit her every once in a while, but I'll miss having her around.
I've known her for 12 years and she's one of my closest friends. Plus, out of all my friends in Finland, she's the only one who likes Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. We had Jesse & Andrew movie nights, which was epic in the most epic ways. (It all started with The Social Network - like most things do - because I love spreading the obsession. Then we watched Zombieland, and now we keep saying "Cardio!" and "Someone's ear is in danger of having hair brushed over it", because everything about that movie is perfect and you know it. After seeing Cursed, we kept saying "I woke up in the bushes" all the time, which was frowned upon by the rest of our friends. Roger Dodger made us both stare at the ceiling until our necks hurt, because the movie is pretty much all about sex and we are awkward Finns. The Education of Charlie Banks made me realise that I know too many songs from the 70's and 80's. Sini laughed. Watching Adventureland was a bit weird because we didn't know whether we should bitch about Kristen Stewart or drool over the half-naked-Jesse-in-swimming-pool scene. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus made us miss Heath Ledger and also discuss how it's even humanly possible for Andrew to look sexy when he's dressed as a fat lady. Red Riding had us looking at the ever-so-interesting ceiling again, because, well, sex. I even got Sini to watch Boy A and comforted her by saying that Never Let Me Go is even sadder. And so on.)
But yes, the movie nights aren't the only thing I'll miss. I'll miss hanging out with Sini, texting her when we're both watching Merlin and there's something really gay happening between Merlin and Arthur (meaning, like, twelve texts during one episode, bwa ha ha) and going to concerts with her. She's one of the few people who aren't annoyed by my anxiety at concerts (or if she is, she's doing an Oscar-worthy job hiding it). All in all, I'll just miss her a lot. ♥
But good things came out of this, too: our entire group of friends gathered at Sini's place on Monday, to eat pizza and listen to music and just have one more perfect day together before she had to leave. It was wonderful. Everyone was there - even Ferdane, who I hadn't seen properly since Christmas - and it was just so lovely. And I met Sini's Swedish boyfriend! He's really funny and sweet and he likes The Lonely Island (which is the most important thing). Plus, he has freakishly flexible legs. He was sitting on the floor, all folded up like a human origami or something. But yeah, he's really nice. It was a great, great day. (Even though Ferdane asked me the horrible "How's your love life?" question, which I just hate. But she meant no harm, so I wasn't too angsty about it.)
/ end of the Sini appreciation part of this post.
Later on Monday, my mum's second cousin Ismo came over. He lives in England but he's on holidays in Finland, with his English wife Sally and their kids Amy and Andrew (I do understand that Andrew is a common name, but that doesn't stop me from getting all flaily about it). They're all really nice. We talked about football (read: my dad spent 20 minutes talking about his undying love for Machester City, and then stared at Ismo in disbelief when he said he doesn't really care about football) and weather and stuff. Then my mum mentioned that I'm going to start studying English at the university next week (oh god, next week, oh my god, oh my god) and a whole bunch of questions followed and it was a bit awkward. But they all told me that my English is really good, which was nice.
Oh, and then I started wondering if people in England would notice very easily that I'm Finnish. Because Ismo still has a really strong Finnish accent (to the point where Andrew kept correcting him all the time, haha) and he's lived in England for twenty years. I find these things really interesting. Oh well, I guess we'll see when I go to London in December. I can just stop people in the streets and ask them if I sound very Finnish. ;)
Anyway, it was nice to meet them. Also, excuse me while I do an I have relatives in England dance.
And then the health things.
Basically, acid reflux disease is a bitch. It doesn't usually bother me that much, and the pills used to work just fine. But, last Friday, I had 45 minutes of sleep at night and then woke up because I felt really fucking sick. I thought I was going to throw up, so I spent some quality time curled up on the bathroom floor. I didn't throw up, so I went and curled up on the couch (which is slightly softer than the bathroom floor). I was also shivering, from the lack of sleep, even though I had five blankets. Also, heartburn is not fun. It makes me want to squirm out of my skin.
Eventually I fell asleep, and felt a bit better when I woke up. But yeah, it sucks. And it gets even more fun. See what Wikipedia says about the treatment:
1. Sleep on the left side, or with your upper body raised.
Relief is often found by raising the head of the bed, raising the upper body with pillows, or sleeping sitting up. The upper body must be raised, not just the head; pillows that only raise the head do little for heartburn and put strain on the neck. Sleeping on the left side also keeps gravity working for you, keeping your stomach below your esophagus.
Guess who always sleeps on their right side? *raises hand* When I was a kid, I actually couldn't breathe properly if I slept on the left side, so I avoided that. Hmm. Guess I'll just sleep with shitloads of pillows then.
2. Eat smaller meals.
Eating a big meal causes excess stomach acid production, so attacks can be minimized by eating smaller meals. It is also important to avoid eating shortly before bedtime.
Great. Smaller meals. Awesome.
3. Lose weight.
Gaining even a few pounds increases your risk of heartburn. Exactly why isn't clear, but the leading theory is that more body fat puts more pressure on the stomach, which can cause highly acidic stomach contents to reflux to the lower esophageal sphincter. For the same reason, tight clothing around the abdomen can also increase the risk of heartburn.
You know the universe hates you when Wikipedia tells you to lose weight. Ouch.
4. Avoid acidic and rich foods.
Though less well supported by evidence, a sufferer may benefit from avoiding foods that trigger their symptoms. These commonly include acidic fruit or juices, fatty foods, coffee, tea, onions, peppermint, chocolate, especially shortly before bedtime.
Cry deeply (like a boss). Apparently I have to cut down on the chocolate. And lemon-flavoured ice tea (which is my favourite thing to drink). Why, universe, why.
Also, I have to go see a dermatologist sometime soon, because my acne has spread all over my back and my chest. This does not make me happy.
But yeah, seeing my friends and meeting my relatives was great. ♥♥♥
Awesome Monday kicks the ass of Horrible Friday.
I've known her for 12 years and she's one of my closest friends. Plus, out of all my friends in Finland, she's the only one who likes Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. We had Jesse & Andrew movie nights, which was epic in the most epic ways. (It all started with The Social Network - like most things do - because I love spreading the obsession. Then we watched Zombieland, and now we keep saying "Cardio!" and "Someone's ear is in danger of having hair brushed over it", because everything about that movie is perfect and you know it. After seeing Cursed, we kept saying "I woke up in the bushes" all the time, which was frowned upon by the rest of our friends. Roger Dodger made us both stare at the ceiling until our necks hurt, because the movie is pretty much all about sex and we are awkward Finns. The Education of Charlie Banks made me realise that I know too many songs from the 70's and 80's. Sini laughed. Watching Adventureland was a bit weird because we didn't know whether we should bitch about Kristen Stewart or drool over the half-naked-Jesse-in-swimming-pool scene. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus made us miss Heath Ledger and also discuss how it's even humanly possible for Andrew to look sexy when he's dressed as a fat lady. Red Riding had us looking at the ever-so-interesting ceiling again, because, well, sex. I even got Sini to watch Boy A and comforted her by saying that Never Let Me Go is even sadder. And so on.)
But yes, the movie nights aren't the only thing I'll miss. I'll miss hanging out with Sini, texting her when we're both watching Merlin and there's something really gay happening between Merlin and Arthur (meaning, like, twelve texts during one episode, bwa ha ha) and going to concerts with her. She's one of the few people who aren't annoyed by my anxiety at concerts (or if she is, she's doing an Oscar-worthy job hiding it). All in all, I'll just miss her a lot. ♥
But good things came out of this, too: our entire group of friends gathered at Sini's place on Monday, to eat pizza and listen to music and just have one more perfect day together before she had to leave. It was wonderful. Everyone was there - even Ferdane, who I hadn't seen properly since Christmas - and it was just so lovely. And I met Sini's Swedish boyfriend! He's really funny and sweet and he likes The Lonely Island (which is the most important thing). Plus, he has freakishly flexible legs. He was sitting on the floor, all folded up like a human origami or something. But yeah, he's really nice. It was a great, great day. (Even though Ferdane asked me the horrible "How's your love life?" question, which I just hate. But she meant no harm, so I wasn't too angsty about it.)
/ end of the Sini appreciation part of this post.
Later on Monday, my mum's second cousin Ismo came over. He lives in England but he's on holidays in Finland, with his English wife Sally and their kids Amy and Andrew (I do understand that Andrew is a common name, but that doesn't stop me from getting all flaily about it). They're all really nice. We talked about football (read: my dad spent 20 minutes talking about his undying love for Machester City, and then stared at Ismo in disbelief when he said he doesn't really care about football) and weather and stuff. Then my mum mentioned that I'm going to start studying English at the university next week (oh god, next week, oh my god, oh my god) and a whole bunch of questions followed and it was a bit awkward. But they all told me that my English is really good, which was nice.
Oh, and then I started wondering if people in England would notice very easily that I'm Finnish. Because Ismo still has a really strong Finnish accent (to the point where Andrew kept correcting him all the time, haha) and he's lived in England for twenty years. I find these things really interesting. Oh well, I guess we'll see when I go to London in December. I can just stop people in the streets and ask them if I sound very Finnish. ;)
Anyway, it was nice to meet them. Also, excuse me while I do an I have relatives in England dance.
And then the health things.
Basically, acid reflux disease is a bitch. It doesn't usually bother me that much, and the pills used to work just fine. But, last Friday, I had 45 minutes of sleep at night and then woke up because I felt really fucking sick. I thought I was going to throw up, so I spent some quality time curled up on the bathroom floor. I didn't throw up, so I went and curled up on the couch (which is slightly softer than the bathroom floor). I was also shivering, from the lack of sleep, even though I had five blankets. Also, heartburn is not fun. It makes me want to squirm out of my skin.
Eventually I fell asleep, and felt a bit better when I woke up. But yeah, it sucks. And it gets even more fun. See what Wikipedia says about the treatment:
1. Sleep on the left side, or with your upper body raised.
Relief is often found by raising the head of the bed, raising the upper body with pillows, or sleeping sitting up. The upper body must be raised, not just the head; pillows that only raise the head do little for heartburn and put strain on the neck. Sleeping on the left side also keeps gravity working for you, keeping your stomach below your esophagus.
Guess who always sleeps on their right side? *raises hand* When I was a kid, I actually couldn't breathe properly if I slept on the left side, so I avoided that. Hmm. Guess I'll just sleep with shitloads of pillows then.
2. Eat smaller meals.
Eating a big meal causes excess stomach acid production, so attacks can be minimized by eating smaller meals. It is also important to avoid eating shortly before bedtime.
Great. Smaller meals. Awesome.
3. Lose weight.
Gaining even a few pounds increases your risk of heartburn. Exactly why isn't clear, but the leading theory is that more body fat puts more pressure on the stomach, which can cause highly acidic stomach contents to reflux to the lower esophageal sphincter. For the same reason, tight clothing around the abdomen can also increase the risk of heartburn.
You know the universe hates you when Wikipedia tells you to lose weight. Ouch.
4. Avoid acidic and rich foods.
Though less well supported by evidence, a sufferer may benefit from avoiding foods that trigger their symptoms. These commonly include acidic fruit or juices, fatty foods, coffee, tea, onions, peppermint, chocolate, especially shortly before bedtime.
Cry deeply (like a boss). Apparently I have to cut down on the chocolate. And lemon-flavoured ice tea (which is my favourite thing to drink). Why, universe, why.
Also, I have to go see a dermatologist sometime soon, because my acne has spread all over my back and my chest. This does not make me happy.
But yeah, seeing my friends and meeting my relatives was great. ♥♥♥
Awesome Monday kicks the ass of Horrible Friday.