The Opposite of Finland? Aruba!



Aruba!

Sad to say, vacation is over! We are flying back to Finland, where, unfortunately the forecast is STILL calling for snow. We really thought that by the time we got back to Rauma, the snowy season would be over. I have an appointment on Tuesday with the tire "hotel" to remove our winter tires and put back on the regular tires -- I hope I don't have to re-schedule!

We spent a wonderful week in Aruba -- this really is one of our favorite places, and we visit at least once a year. So you can imagine how hard it is to leave sunny and temperatures in the 80s (Fahrenheit) and return to snow and the 30s (Fahrenheit)!

I've been getting together lots of food and special toiletries to bring back with us. I originally was going to ship a boxful to Rauma, but the cost to ship a medium-sized box with Jif peanut butter, Bisquick, ranch salad dressing, cookie mix, chocolate chips, marshmallows, and a few books was going to cost over $100! I couldn't believe it! So we're just going to tote back as much as we can in our checked bags and our carry-ons.

One thing I'm definitely bringing back is a bottle of Skinny Girl White Cranberry Cosmo. I took a bottle to Aruba, and it was delicious (and of course, you can't find that in Finland -- yet!). Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel created this yummy concoction. It's lighter than a traditional Cosmopolitan drink, fewer calories and not so sweet. Perfect over ice with a slice of lime.

I'm also bringing back plenty of Easter goodies for some of the American expats' kids in Rauma, as many American magazines as I can handle, and all that stuff that I was planning to ship.

If only we could just "beam" to Rauma like in the old TV series, "Star Trek," and avoid that horrendous overnight flight. 

Here's a link to the Aruba pictures:

https://plus.google.com/photos/103069509757300719995/albums/5725797412883448577?authkey=CNu0iMOM4fS2DA#photos/103069509757300719995/albums/5725797412883448577