Ate too well…

Yet another Christmas passed. This time we celebrated the holidays up north, in Taivalkoski with Sanna’s parents. The yuletide was really nice time with the extended family; Aapo got a lot of attention from the relatives…

I ate well — too much, and several times a day. The food was excellent, and there was plenty of it. As a result, I gained at least two kilos during the trip (from Wednesday to Monday), and now have to spend the whole spring exercising and eating right — otherwise I need to buy a new wardrobe.

The Christmas eve is the main day in Finland. I read a good book, ate, visited the graveyard and opened gifts. Aapo got lots, and he was really happy with the rope of his sled; he played at least half an hour with it. He was also very interested in the wrapping paper. Maybe the presents are worth studying next year, who knows.

Sanna asked me to buy Carcassonne board game, and we spent several hours playing with it — I today bought an extension pack to it (this makes the inexpensive price of the basic game more understandable) to add to the joy. Christmas eve night and Christmas day night were spent with jigsaw puzzles.

My boxing day ride (a Finnish Christmas tradition of visiting relatives with a horse and sleigh on old times) was from Taivalkoski to Helsinki via Kuopio, about 800 kilometers — with two very fast stops. The first leg was driven by Aki, my brother-in-law, and I had to drive only 400 kilometers. I was so stiff and hurting after the journey that I’ll wait at least to the next year before doing it again. Sanna and Aapo will join me on Friday, until then I’ll live bachelor life and clean up the mess on Thursday evening.