Susie’s Thoughts

I was tagged with this meme already a while ago, but I’ve been working on my site and didn’t have time to do it until now. I’m still working on my site, but this is a short meme so I’ll do it now and worry about who to tag a little later. I still have the awards to pass on so there will be a lot of fun to come.

Here’s what my birth month tells about me:

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Might be that there are more in the list that suits me, but I have to admit I don’t understand all of it. What does “Wait for friends” mean? Does it mean I’m sitting at home waiting for my friends to visit me or that my friends are a little slow and I have to wait for them to catch up?

Stuperhero Extraordinaire tagged me and here are the rules:

1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.
2. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (see below).
3. Pick your month of birth.
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Now, I’m supposed to tag 12 people….I don’t know if I know 12 people, and for the moment I don’t even have time to try to figure out whom to tag, so I’ll leave it to later.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Morgan at The Process of a Miracle tagged me with the Two Things meme. She, on the other hand, had been tagged by Mauriuca. Even though I’m still quite busy, I don’t mind being tagged, because that saves me the time to have to figure out what to write about. This kind of meme also makes me think about things that I take as granted and maybe not even notice about me. Always good to reflect over what you do and why.

Two Things meme

1. Two names I go by:
   Susie and Susanne - Susie being my nickname and Susanne my real first name.
2. Two things I am wearing right now:
   A warm sweater, because it’s cold outside, and my contact lenses, because I just got home from work.
3. Two things I want or have in a relationship:
   Love and passion - this was a tricky one. First I was about to go for love and friendship as Morgan, but then I figured that I already have male friends and the difference between a relationship and a friendship is passion.
4. Two things I like to do:
   Only two things? How am I supposed to choose only two out of all the things I like to do? I like to laugh and to do something creative, like painting or photographing.
5. Two things I want very badly in this moment:
   I need someone to clean my house, do my laundry, go grocery shopping and make dinner… I need a housekeeper. And I need someone to do all my paperwork and translate my tutorials… I need an assistant.
6. Two things I did last night:
   I wish I would have done something interesting, but my life is quite boring at the moment. I worked and I helped my daughter with her homework.
7. Two things I ate yesterday:
   Fish soup and Karelian pies. The fish soup was a traditional Scandinavian fish soup made with fish and potatoes and the Karelian pies are pastries made of rye crust, filled with rice pudding. We eat them freshly baked when they are still warm with egg-butter on the top.
8. Two persons I last spoke to:
   My daughter and my dog. The dog is a person too, because he always talks back. He’s the best to talk to, because he always agrees, no matter what I say.
9. Two things I am doing tomorrow:
   Work and study Economics,
10. Two favorite days of the week:
    Friday and Saturday
11. Two favorite Holidays:
    Midsummer and New Year
12. Two favorite Beverages:
    Coffee and Cider
13. Two things about me that you may not have known:
    I’m a good baker, I can make delicious cinnamon rolls, and I tend to forget where I put my glasses. I never remeber to check where my glasses are before I remove my contact lenses, and once they are removed I’m almost blind. More than once have my kids had to look for my glasses for me.
14. Two jobs that I have had in my life:
    Taxi driver & Receptionist
15. Two movies I can watch over and over:
    This is a hard one, because I hardly ever watch a movie twice, but I would say A Beautiful Mind because I just love the way they used the game theory and made it something interesting and also easy to understand. The Notebook, because I used to work on a home for old people and the couple in the movie reminds me of the lovely people I got to know at my work.
16. Two places I have lived:
    Porvoo, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden
17. Two of my favorite foods:
    Carrot Casserole & Rutabaga Casserole. Carrot and Rutabaga Casseroles are traditional Finnish Christmas foods and I’m going to have some for Christmas dinner before we leave for the airport. Good thing we eat Christmas dinner at Christmas eve in Finland.
18. Two places I would rather be right now:
    It’s cold and I would rather be in a warm sauna right now, or somewhere else warm and peaceful.

I’ve gotten a couple of awards lately and I’ve also been tagged with a couple of memes, and since I’m still quite busy I will do them one at a time. I’ll leave the awards for later and pass them on when I have a good bottle of champagne at home. I decided to start with the meme Lee at Tar Heel Ramblings tagged me with. Dawn at Twisted Sister had tagged him with this Blue Tea Meme. The rules of the meme is like this:

“Devise a list of 5-10 courses you would take to fix your life. It’s more fun to be in classes with friends, so include one class from the person who tagged you that you’d also like to take. Tag five other bloggers.”

1. Advanced Dog Training. This will be the course I’ll take with Lee. We have two dogs at home, and even though I love them dearly I have to admit that they lack a lot of good manners. The dogs are mixed breed and siblings and they are not easy to train. Even though the dogs behave a lot better now at the age of three, there is a lot of training still to do. I would love to be able to walk them both at the same time, but since stupidity seem to grow in company, their bad behavior usually gets worse when they are out together. The male dog is insecure and doesn’t know what to do when he meets other dogs, usually he barks and looks like he would want to eat dogs we meet. He loves other dogs and get along well with them once he gets a chance to say hello, but no one wants to get near him because of his bad behavior.
2. Speed reading course. I’m studying Economics right now and I’m also trying to refresh my CSS skills and at the same time trying to study some PHP. I could really need some speed reading skills, because there is not enough hours in the day for me to read what I need and want to read and at the same time take care of my work.
3. Vector Graphics. I would like to learn to use a vector graphics software like Illustrator or Inkscape. I already know how to use Photoshop and InDesign (DTP software), and knowing how to draw vector graphics would be a good additional skill.
4. Stretching time. I need more time, or I need to learn how to use my time wisely. So I guess I would need a time stretching course or maybe a time management course.
5. Italian. My cousins are Italian and I haven’t seen them since they were little kids. They are grown ups now and I always wanted to be able to speak Italian to be able to talk with them in their own language.
6. German. I’ve studied German for five years many years ago, but because I never really used the language since, I’ve forgotten almost everything I’ve learned. I would want to study the language again so that I would be able to use it too, not only understand it.
7. Russian. Russia is important for our country not only because of our history, but even more as a business partner. I’ve got a lot of students from Russia and we’ve got a lot of Russian tourists in our town each year. I would love to be able to speak Russian, even though my students speak English very well. I’m studying Business Administration and knowing Russian would be good for my future career.
8. Romance. I know how to flirt, but I have no idea of how to be romantic. I would just love to take a course and get step-by-step instructions on how to be romantic without starting to laugh.
9. Creative writing in English. I would love to be able to write better English. I know my English is good enough to blog with, but I would just love be able to write poetry or short stories in English. There is so much I still don’t know about the language.
10. Last but not least, Finnish. I live in Finland, my Finnish is awful. I need to write Finnish every day. I can manage the spoken language well, but I struggle with the written language. I study in Finnish and every assignment takes me twice the time it should because I have to check and recheck my language. I never seem to be able to understand the rules of this language and I would just love to take a Finnish course for dummies to finally be able to write Finnish as fluently as I write Swedish.

I’m not going to tag anyone directly. Instead, if you find a course in this list of courses, you would want to take with me, please feel free to do the meme, and also send me a message and I will check your courses out.

Rolando tagged me with this handwriting meme and since this is a fast one I decided to do it right away.
This is the message (for those of you who can’t read it…)

Rolando tagged me with this handwriting meme. I don’t like to write in lines, most of the time I do mind maps.

I tag the following people

Hope at Hope Radio

Dawn at AntiBarbie

Morgan at The Process of a Miracle

Joanne at the laid back buddhist

Melissa at SuchSimplepleasures

My best sunshine to you all!

Susie

Joanne at the laid.back buddhist tagged me with this meme and now I have to reveal even more about me. Soon there will be no secrets left.

1. I’m actually a really shy person even though it doesn’t show. One day in high school I got tired of being shy and stood up in front of the whole school and held a speech. I was still shy after that, but I knew I wouldn’t die of it.
2. When I get drunk I always tell the truth. One time I got drunk with my boss and I told him what I really thought of him and all the things I thought he did wrong. After that we became the best of friends.
3. I manipulate men with my smile. It was a lot easier to get a drunken guy out of the cab by smiling at him than dragging him out. Even passed out guys wake up when I smile. When I was a little girl I was called sunshine because I smiled all the time. I guess I already then knew I could get what I want with a simple smile.
4. When I want a man I make sure I get him. I don’t believe in waiting around for a guy to notice me and I hate games like playing hard to get. If this scares the guy and he wants the chase, then he isn’t the right guy for me. I never understood why there are books about how to attract the opposite sex. This is not something you can learn by following some simple rules in a book, this is something you have to learn by doing… (Disclaimer: If a man is taken I don’t want him, so this only applies on single men)
5. I talk to everything around me; animals, houses, rocks, trees, people, the earth, the sky… everything. Sometimes I get so tired of talking, so I lock myself in somewhere and I don’t want to see or hear anything for several days… and I don’t talk.
6. I’m not one of those positive and upbeat people that always have something cheerful to say. I do smile a lot, but there are times when I walk through the valley of darkness. I’m not afraid of the darkness and I’m not afraid of the dark, I believe we need both light and darkness in our lives to be whole and healthy people. I don’t believe in snapping out of darkness, I believe in living it through.
7. I almost never ask people questions about themselves. When I meet someone new I tell about me and then I wait and see what they tell me back. I get a lot more information by examining how people choose to present themselves. I never only listen to what people say, I also listen to the way they say it, the words we use usually tells more than the actual message.

I haven’t tagged anyone before, so I guess it’s time to do that now. The people I’m going to tag are people that I want to know something more about. Hopefully they haven’t been tagged before with this same meme. I checked, but if I missed something I’m sorry.

The first one I’m going tag is Delmer at What’s a Delmer Look like? Delmer is pretty open about himself, but I’m sure there are still some things we don’t know about him.

The second tag will be Hawk at Hawk’s place. Ever since he asked me what the words Hawk’s Haunt brought to my mind I have wanted to know what made him ask such a question. I’ve been waiting patiently for him to reveal the reason, maybe there will be a clue in this meme.

The third tag will be Jon at Chimeric Day Dreams. Jon is the type of man I have never met in real life. More than once when I have read his blog have I wondered if he is a real person. Everything unfamiliar intrigues me and that’s the reason for this tag.

The fourth tag will be for Rolando at RPlayground. Rolando is building up a real community around his blog and who wouldn’t want to know the secrets of a person with that big of a heart.

Might be that I am supposed to tag more than 4, but I’m not going to. I’m only going to tag men, because men are sometimes a big mystery to me. I can’t be sure of course, since I haven’t met any of these men in real life, but I think these 4 men represent different ways of being a man and if they take the challenge of the meme, I might have a better clue of what a man might be.

Jon at Chimeric Day Dreams tagged me to write to the 7 people that have inspired me recently, and this is something I really have to sit down and think about. At work I’m surrounded by people all the time and in my interaction with them there is usually a seed of an idea for something new every day. Sometimes I notice that seed, sometimes I’m so busy I just let it pass.

Before I write something to the people that have inspired me, I’m going to reflect over the question Jon started his post with; How do you see yourself?

I am the only person who will follow me from the first breath in my life to my last, and therefore I think that the way I see myself is a really important question. It is not an important question only for me, but also for the people I have in my life, because the way I see myself will affect the way I treat them. If I only see my own shortcomings and faults I will not be able to value myself and what I do, and there will be really little I can give to other people.

Life is not easy. After giving birth to my daughters, the first time I hold them in my arms, looked them in their newborn eyes, I had so much respect for them and what they had to go through to start their journey through life. I was so honored to be the one they chose to be their advisor on the journey. Then I remembered that I started my own life the same way and I felt the same respect for me and for the people I had chosen to be my guardians through life. Unfortunately in my everyday life and the struggle to make ends meet I sometimes forget what I felt those first minutes in my children’s lives and I have to remind myself of that from time to time.

I want to be honest about myself… I am not and I will never be a perfect woman, I don’t even want to be a perfect anything. I want to be humbled, but not humbled as in crushed… I want to be humbled and amazed. In an old post from a couple of years ago I wrote that I’m happy to be an average woman and I still am. To be something in between any extreme is my goal in life.

This is for the 7 people that have inspired me:

1. Even though you chose to live your life for almost 100 years, I only got to meet you twice and that was when I was too little to understand the greatness you possessed. Your life has been my leading star, everything you had to go through during the 96 years you honored this planet with your presence. I feel your blood running in my veins and that gives me the strength to smile even through tears.
2. I chose you to be one of my guardians in life, but you chose to only be partly in mine. You’ve come to be the person I measure all men against and at times I’ve been angry about not having a better man as a measure. You’ve been away now for some time and I have had time to reflect over your life. I’m thankful for what you have given me, because you have been able to give me more than you have gotten yourself.
3. I know you are your own person and not one in a group, but still I am going to address you together with the others. You chose me to guard your life and watch your step, and there have been times I haven’t been that good at my task. I have forgiven myself for that and hope you will too, because this is who I am, I give what I have to give and trust you to have wisdom and strength enough to find the rest.
4. I know you all see me as the one to turn to when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve been too weak to be able to turn to you when my tunnel have been dark and endless. This is not because I have seen you as weaker than I am, this is because my strength have been my weakness and I have been too proud to admit that. I admire you for being able to show how vulnerable we all are and to be able to admit that we need each other.
5. You are afraid I am too guarded and you are right about that. I have a feeling that we will never have that dinner and you will be one of those ships that pass at night. You know it is there, but it is too dark for you to see it pass and see where it is heading at. I wish you happiness in your life, even though I don’t know what will make you happy. Every person, even those we never meet, deserves to get the moment of glory when they feel they have gotten what they have worked so hard for. I hope you will reach your Superbowl one day, one way or another.
6. You inspired me by being so open about your sorrow, you inspired me to let my guard down and reach out when I needed to reach out. I’m still amazed about how life lead the people you need to meet to you at exactly the right moment. Somewhere there is a force that knows what I need, even when I don’t know myself, and leads me to it at the right moment.
7. I don’t know your name, I have never seen your face. Some people try to define you, they put words in your mouth and see those words as laws. I have never been able to understand you and I have stopped trying. I have reached out to you in my darkest moments in life, I have shouted your name, even though I know that is not your real name. I have thanked you when my heart has been filled with joy, and I have forgotten you when everything goes my way. I see you in the eyes of an innocent child, I saw you in the loving hand of that old man helping his wife on the bus the other day. I saw you in the smile I got from the stranger I met in the grocery store yesterday. Even though I don’t think about you every day, even though I don’t praise you in buildings built in your name, or sing songs written by those who think they know who you are, I want you to know that you are in everything I do and I do believe…

I’m not into those meme things, so I’m not going to send this around, but I found this post by Jon really interesting and since I’m just awful at letting go I will list the three things I need to learn to let go of.

Thing #1: My children

When you give birth to a child you know you will eventually have to let the child go and start walking its own path in life, but you are never really prepared for that day when it’s there. My oldest daughter is moving to Florida in two weeks and there will be a continent between us.

Thing #2: My freedom

I’ve been single more than in a relationship and even though having children does put some restrictions on what you can do, I’m still used to being the one making all the decisions in my life. I’ve become used to only having to consider myself and my kids when making plans, so I’m not sure I could have a significant other in my life to consider too. Can you learn how to let an other person into your life, or does it just happen when you meet someone you feel is important enough to share your life with?

Thing # 3: Striving to be perfect

I can talk for hours about how important it is for us to keep our humanity and part of being human is to be able to make mistakes and learn from them. My own mistakes always irritates me to death and I can go on for hours trying to do something perfectly even when perfection is not needed. On the other hand, I only require perfection when it comes to things that are important to me. There’s a lot of things I’m pretty bad at and I acknowledge them, but those are things of less importance and I just let them pass…