Running!

Thanks to my great supporters Maja, Johanna, Jonte and Benke, and my local running group, Mojo Runners, for a good run at the State To State Half Marathon in Oxford, OH, this weekend. My time was 1:35:38 being the 10th overall woman and 2nd in my age group.

And thank you, Benke, for the wonderful evening at downtown Cincinnati, Sept. 27, 2008 - our 11th wedding anniversary. We had a absolutely world class dining experience at Jeff Ruby's. Maybe the three course dinner plus a beer with nachos as starters and a creme brulé at the end was the secret recipe for the running success the day after? Have to try it again!

//Hanna

Ike strikes West Chester

Back in Ohio. Whoooaaa! A pretty windy day this past Sunday, Sept. 14. 35 m/s (80 mph) over our little corner of the world. I don't think anyone really thought Ike would bother to come all the way this North! We'd just arrived on our little field trip with the neighbors when the wind was getting a little bit too heavy; cracking tree branches and your eyes and ears buried in dirt. Half of the corn fields were flying in the air... Benke had the time of his life on the windy patio (there is no bad weather, just bad clothes!).

Besides the damage on the property (The Landings was badly hit!), about 700.000 people in this part of the US was out of electricity for 1-4 (at least) days. We've been very fortunate to only be out of power for 2 days, but the schools are still cancelled to this day, it's hard to find gas, the shells on the grocery stores are half empty, people buy huge sacks of ice and I don't think it's only for the Coke this time. We've had some nice and cozy moments in candle light and neighborhood get-togethers over the barbecue.

See Ike in action: http://picasaweb.google.com/Sandelowskyalbum/Ike#

Summer is over. Ready for school?

What a wonderful summer we've had! A perfect mix of play, work and lazy days; friends, family and own time; sun and rain; city, suburb and country. A little bit of a shock because the prices here - how are we ever going to get used to paying $9 for a gallon of gas, $9-10 for a pound of chicken or $5 for a loaf of bread... Good thing we mainly walked, biked or took the bus to different places. Benke finally came from OH, was happy to see us but also shocked because of the prices and the weather - well, let's just call it a prolonged jet lag with a little touch of culture shock (and forget all about it, shall we, honey?)

Maja was well taken care of by her cousins Helena and Christina while I was working. Johanna celebrated her birthday with the family. Jonte had a fun birthday party for his best friends, Johanna went on a Scout Camp for 9 days, and the last week we managed to fit in Ola & Anna's wedding, sailing outside of Stockholm, a family party and Johanna's Sleep Over Party with 8 girlfriends (wanna see Johanna's party pics? Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/Sandelowskyalbum/JohannasPyjamasParty#). The schools already started in Sweden and Johanna and Jonte visited their old classes. Both kids got to join the classroom activities, the teachers had them do some assignments, they had lunch and PE and recess with their old class mates. A wonderful day for preparing them to get back to their old school later in January 2009. "Welcome back, you're still one of us!" - what a great last day in Sweden. After that we cleaned our house, packed our things, said farewells and left again.

Another ferry over the Baltic Sea, and we're now in my childhood's Finland again. Benke and I are officially on vacation, even though it feels a bit strange when everyone else seems to have gotten back to business, the fall routines with school and work are felt everywhere. It helps to have been able to spend time at Susanna's brand new summer house (beautiful!) in Karelia just a couple of miles from the Russian border. Or at my parents' country house in Somero (precious!), with grandpa and grandma and my sister Minna who is visiting from Nepal. We're having sauna every night, we're fed with sour bread, salmon and potatoes and we've driving small cars again. There will be a Härkönen Family Gettogether later this week - just before Benke and the big kids will return to Ohio, work and school.

Check out the summer pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/Sandelowskyalbum/FinlandAugust2008#







Maja and I will enjoy another week here visiting friends, family and the surroundings. We're ready to get back to Ohio for antoher fall!


//Hanna

Happy Birthday Jonatan 8 years Aug. 2!

Antoher year has gone - another blog on Jonte's birthday! Have a happy one, darling!!

//Mom and Dad

Fun in the Sun in Sweden

Hooray! These past days have shown the best of the Nordic summer. Warm, pleasant, sunny, beach, good friends, family, beer, BBQ, strawberries, biking in the countryside, kids playing. Not one single second of computer games or Mom-I'm-bored. Have a look at: http://picasaweb.google.com/Sandelowskyalbum/FunInTheSunInSweden

//Hanna

Grattis min kära dotter på 11-årsdagen

Önskar Pappa från Ohio, USA

Roots and Time: Finland

The kids and I traveled to Finland last week. We met all my family except for Minna who's still in Nepal. Happy Birthday Mika, Susanna and Mom! Little cousins Sampo and Nooa, bigger ones Marc, Jan, Tuomas, Antti, Tanja - everyone was there. On Sunday we saw my beautiful God daughter Laura's Confirmation. Just like her mom, my friend Susanna, I, too, after having met all these youngsters have a bit confusing feelings of sadness and excitement over how fast time goes. And still she and I feel just the same as before: two girls hungry for life! This year we've known each other for 30 years. We just got to celebrate that - maybe a trip somewhere?!








I left the kids at Grandma's. They are having a blast at the summer place where my awesome mom and my sister in law Sirpa will take care of them and four more cousins, for one whole week. I heard Maja was lost for a while today and all the seven kids, two ladies and probably even grandpa went crazy looking after her. She then chose to make a grand appearance - from underneath a berry bush she was hiding in, happy as ever!

So hey, here I am, sitting in our quiet house, probably just as lonely as Benke over in Cincinnati. I went back to work today. The Doc is on duty again! Fun, of course, like I'd never been gone. I've been looking forward to this week for months - and still, I feel kind of empty. I miss my family.

//Hanna