It was quite a homecoming. Poor Amanda couldn’t stop smiling.
-Scott-
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Once again things are changing. I know you readers are probably wondering “NOW WHAT!!??” But that’s the way it is… I might be moving to Göteborg (or Gothenburg as it seems we say in English) For those of you who don’t know, it’s in the south of Sweden.
And what the heck do I want to move there for?
Well, it’s a big game company, it’s not in Finland and they want to hire me. 
I think those are three reasons good enough. Nothing is 100% certain yet, but if all goes well, I shall go over for the trial period of six months and Kirsi and the kids will follow some months after that. So yes that means some pretty HUGE amount of time away from the family. Besides the fact that Kirsi and I have basically been together 24/7 since we met (long before we were even a couple) and being away from the family for that long of a time will be pure hell, it also means that there will be fewer strips going up. I don’t even know if/when I’ll have my own computer/ internet. These things might take some time and I hope that you (once again) understand, that if all of this happens, I’ll have a lot of things taking up my time. Especially at the beginning.
I’m not sure how things will go, but I’ll keep you guys N’ gals posted.
(A little bit of collective finger cossing wouldn’t hurt either 
)
-Scott-
Recently I came across an interesting site. It’s the Finnish version of partypoker.com Even though that link is to the Finnish language version, you can change it to whatever language you want when you get there.
Now, I’m going to be clear, that I don’t encourage people to go out and lose their home gambling online. So clicking the link and NOT gambling is fine too.
Having said that… if gambling IS your thing then this is the site for you! partypoker.com is pretty much THE online poker site. With over 30 million downloads it makes it reliable, as online gambling sites go. They have great bonuses and even give some free points to get you going.
Like I said, I’m not a gambler and I really don’t think it’s the best way to invest your money, so you won’t see me there, but I know there are a lot of people who love to spend their time AND money on gambling. If you’re one of those people… then check out: partypoker.com
-Scott-
So… for the last couple of months I’ve been helping Kirsi work on the Nutcracker for her dance school. This time instead of just helping out with some minor technical stuff (music, graphics etc) I agreed to actually be on stage in the role of Drosselmeier. But I wasn’t about to be the only non-dancer on stage so Julian and Pablo were recruited.
It was fun! Kirsi choreographed a dance for us and I got to dance with her. The whole Austin family was on stage. I was Drosselmeier, Kirsi was one of the parents and also did a Spanish dance, Amanda was a ragdoll, Theresa (and the other girls in her class) had three roles and Gabriel was The Nutcracker. So I got to dance with him too.
Because of all of the hassle with the Fisakrs MLL foundation playing ego-maniacal Nazis last Autumn and trying to put a monkey wrench into everything, we decided to show them who’s who and planned to make this the best show ever… and I think we succeeded.
So why did this take up so much of my time? Well, besides practicing the dance I’ve been making digital backgrounds. Everything from snow to ballrooms to winter wonderlands. I also made a lot of the props (puppets etc.) then there was the remixing of the music and if that wasn’t enough the night before the show I sat down and decided to try and get a program done.
But now it’s over and life continues… Sure it was stressful, but we had so much fun working together that we definitely plan on doing more. If it was up to me that’s all we would do. I’m a true believer that if you don’t enjoy your work change your job.
-Scott-
So… the 26th of December Finland gets hit my the mother of storms. Nothing but uprooted trees and fallen electric cable for kilometers around. We were without electric for over five days! I have to admit that I actually almost enjoyed the blackout. We have our own fireplace downstairs and the weather was warm for this time of year. The whole family slept downstairs in the dining room and living room. You can light up a room quite a bit with candles. I got lots of reading and drawing done (without my trusty tablet!!!) Other than the fish having no air or heat we go by pretty well. My parents lend us their generator, but because of the cost of gas we could only use it a few times throughout the day. But it was enough to keep the aquarium alive…
We got our electric back today (31st of December), but no internet. This blogpost is being done at friends’ house where we’re spending the New Year.
I don’t think they’ll fix our internet lines for some time, so I really can’t say when the updates will start again.
Hopefully soon.
-Scott-
First of all for those of you just stumbling in here… I don’t have Mesothelioma. But I learned of one of our readers, Heather Von St.James who shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Lily Rose, was diagnosed with Mesothelioma, a type of cancer that kills 90-95% of those who have it. Fortunately she beat it and is now part of a support website where she tells her story and helps those in similar situations.
It seems that Cancer affects everyone at some point in their life, either directly or indirectly. I lost my Grandmother earlier this year and Kirsi lost her mother to a severe sickness so this is kind of a current theme right now.
Here’s a link to Heather’s blog over at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather/
Now I want to point out!!!
This is not some sob letter blog that asks for money at the end of it. They’re there to inform and help people! And Heather’s story is a good read even if this doesn’t directly affect you. She beat cancer and is here to talk about it, that’s quite an achievement!
-Scott-
