More interviews....

....as many of you know in the last year and a half I have gone through so many interviews, that i can't even count them all. Most of them were the interviews at the different countries embassies in order for me to get a visa to travel to a civilized world ))) Well, I am not quite done with the interview process yet. In January I will have 2 more interview to go through. They are both VERY important to me, most important of all, I would say. First of all, one of them is for Germany, and although I have been to Germany before, this one is more important though because this interview is for me to get a visa to go visit my sister for her wedding in Germany...
Another interview that I have in January is going to be held with a US embassy. Matt and I have been waiting for this one for over a year!!! I can't believe that finally I have a date set, it's great :) And needless to say that it's probably the most important interview in my life, because that is where they will decide if I can finally be united with my husband :)
Anyway, I bet altogether in the last year and a half I have had well over 20 interviews :) But I am hoping that in the next year I won't have as many, and if I do, then they will be job interview mostly :) I am super excited for my last few interviews for this year!!! That will the end of one chapter in my life :)

Pounds are a pain...

...and here I am not just talking about the ones that I seem to gain rather easily. I hate that kind, since for some stupid reason I have no problem gaining them, but to get rid of them is painful and hard. However, when I am in Russia I usually shed a couple of pounds off my weight, although I am not sure why it works that way. However, this post is more about the British currency which is a pound sterling. Well, that kind of a pound is pretty hard to get rid of in Russia unless you are in Moscow or St. Petersburg. The reason I have English currency is because I came from England and my hubby gave me English pounds for spending money, but it's not much good for spending if it is in pounds, I will tell you that.

Anyway, after calling around all the banks in Taganrog I found out that I could not exchange pounds for rubles in this city of 300,000 people where I grew up and where my parents live. Apparently I had to go to a nearby city, Rostov on Don, that has a population of 1,000,000 million and about an hour and a half away in order to even have a shot at finding a bank that would help me out. My sister's best friend met me in Rostov today and we walked to 2 banks that were supposed to exchange pounds :) One of them was closed, as a result of the economic crisis in Russia. The other one, well, we did not find it, so either it was closed as well or it was under construction and we passed it. So, finally, my sister's friend offered me to buy the pounds from me and give me roubles for them. It seemed to me like a good idea, so we got to his house, looked up the exchange rates and completed the deal :) He will be traveling to Moscow soon, so he did not mind holding on to pounds :) And I needed cash, so it's all good. Plus if he holds on to pounds he might be able to exchange them at a better rate :) Since pounds is somewhat climbing, actually the rouble is falling is more like it :)

A word of advice....if you are traveling to Russia, bring only Euros or Dollars!!! Anything else and you just might be out of luck if you travel beyond Moscow or St. Petersburg. But I guess most people would not want to travel anywhere else in Russia anyway. See, Russia is one exciting country full of adventures!!!

I must be getting old....

....because now once I am worked up about something, I can't fall asleep. When I was younger, nothing would rattle my ground, I could be in pretty stressed out situation, but I would still not lose sleep over it. Now though, once something comes up and it stresses me out, I would either spend 2-3 hours at night trying to fall asleep but ending up thinking about whatever it is that is stressing me out (that being the best case scenario) or I just can't fall asleep altogether (being not that good of a scenario). Unfortunately, when I don't get enough sleep, the next day I always have a headache and I get very cranky, two things that I can't stand. Tonight will be one of those nights when I just can't seem to be able to fall asleep, it's 3:30 am right now and I am so worked up that as soon as I just put my head on my pillow I just can't lie still, I feel like I need to get up and do some push-ups or something, I can feel my heart beating and I have too many thoughts racing through my head. Now, the fact that it's 3:30 am probably does not help, I have been up for a while, and naturally physically, mentally and emotionally I am tired, so I really am not thinking straight any more....but why is it that I just can't lay down and go to sleep. I think it would be fascinating to see what my body is doing....hmm, I wish I was hooked up to some medical machine to see if my body is acting any different, because I sure do feel like I just can't sit still, let alone lay down and try to go to sleep. Oh, and I get hearburns everytime I get nervous, that is the weirdest part, why of all the things I would get heartburn, the only explanation is that my body is getting older and starting to act up... I wish I could just reboot it and that would fix the glitches.
Well, tomorrow will be interesting, seeing as I have to get up in about 5 hours and I have a full day tomorrow without dealing with a family feud, so add that on top of everything, and I am just going to be a toast by tomorrow evening. And my day is all booked with errands tomorrow, so I can't even take a nap...Oh, well, I guess I will have plenty of rest once I die, so I shouldn't complain that I am living :)

My Family.....

....is as close to my heart as you can get. Sure, sometimes I complain about my parents, sometimes I don't understand their behavior, I disagree with them on many topics (just today Dad and I have argued about the conflict in Georgia and Russian political situation), I can sometimes be judgemental towards my family, that is all true. But you know what, regardless what I say, the right to critize my parents or sister will always remain my right and MY right ONLY.

Yes, I have an uncle and an aunt, and yes they are directly related to my dad, but I will stand for my parents till the end of times, and I will never put anybody other than my sister before them. NEVER. If I hear than anybody is judging my parents or my sister, if I hear or come to know that anybody is insulting them or just plain hurting their feelings, God help those people, because I don't care if they are related to me, but they will NEVER have the same respect or trust from me EVER AGAIN, they will never be able to rely on my help, they will never be treated the same by me. Maybe it's the wrong way to live, maybe God would want me to behave otherwise, but if God wants to punish me for feeling pain for my parents and sister, for having a backbone and standing up for them, for taking it personal and acting upon it so nothing would harm them again, then I guess I will deal with God's punishment when the time is for me to stand before Him. But here, on Earth God gave me a family, who loves me, who will never betray me, my parents and my sister. And I will NEVER let anybody do harm to them and walk away like nothing has happened. No, I won't do anything illegal, but I will not be forgiving, and I am not willing to give people second chances. I am sorry, but most of us have one chance at living this life....The harm that is done by harsh, unfair, insulting words can never be taken back.....

I don't like family feuds, but seeing as I am in the midst of one, I will stand by my parents' side and will put every bit of strength that I have to defend them and protect them. My family is all that I have on this Earth, it's people who will never betray me, I trust my parents and my sister completely, I would trust them with my life, I can't say that about anybody else, not even the closest friends!!! And I think some people can't even say that about their own parents or siblings, so I am blessed and I know it!!! I love my family to death and how I wish that nobody and nothing would ever caused them pain.

Russia and Credit Cards

Oi, this has been my headache for the last couple of days. I found out that my parents have more credit cards that I have ever had and that their credit card loans are bigger than both of my credit cards' limits. Granted, my credit cards don't have very high limits, but still. It's been pretty hard to wrap my mind about how much they owe and trying to figure out a plan of action. The last 2 days I have been doing nothing but talking to my folks, going to what seemed like a dozen of banks, working with Excel trying to figure all the stuff out, and then talking to my folks again. My head hurts, but I am thankful that I am here to help them, I am thankful that they opened up to me regarding their debt, and I am thankful that I have a sister and my husband by my side who are giving me strength and support to deal with this. For those who don't know, I have a very soft spot for my parents, I am the worst person to tell them 'no' and the last couple of days have been tough for me as I have to be pretty hard on my parents. But it also felt good to sit down with my parents, explain to them what the interest rate is...how much money they are just throwing away by paying interest, what minimum payment is and what happens when you pay less than it or even just minimum payment, what happens when you are late paying the credit card bill. Don't take me wrong, they are not stupid, they just grew up during communism and the whole idea of credit cards is very foreign to them, they simply did not know what questions to even begin to ask the banks when they applied for credit cards, and the banks don't volunteer much information. I had to read the contracts with the banks and the fine print to figure out what are the terms, something not all people do even in the states, let alone Russia.

But here is something that just struck me, my parents are far from being the only people who are in the same position. My parents' neighbor just came in to see my mom, they chat quite often during the week, and she started asking my mom all kinds of questions about the credit card that she (the neighbor) has, and my mom just sent the gal into my room. That is when it struck me that the questions she is asking are the same that my parents did not understand: "why is it that I am paying my payments and it never seems to go away" "what is this 28% mean" (annual interest rate), "how can i pay it off" "i think they charge me for something else, but i don't understand what" I mean even the neighbor, who is a woman in her early 40's and owns her own small business did not understand that you can go to the bank and ask them to provide for a detailed list of all the transaction. She did not know that she is paying 28% annually for her debt, she does not understand that she has minimum payment and that she is being charged most likely some ridiculous amount for paying less than minimum payment.

I feel rather sorry for people in Russia, older people in Russia, who grew up during communism, who watch TV and believe everything they hear, because they are vulnerable and are taken advantage of by the banks. They think that credit cards are just an easy money that all of a sudden is available to them, but they don't realize all the hidden agendas of the banks, that aren't all that hidden if you know how to ask the questions and what questions to ask. But I must admit, the situation in Russia reminds me of the situation in the states a few years back, when people were allowed to go into debt beyond their ears. I love my parents, they there is no way they should qualify for any credit above 15,000 and what they have is well beyond that. I wish they only had 15,000 rubles of debt in credit cards.

It makes me feel like I should set up an advisory firm here and advise people on their credit card debt and how to get out of it, because most people are just clueless and really have no clue what to do and how to get out of all the mess they got themselves into. I feel like banks should be punished, they clearly prey on people, the banks don't give full information to people when the latter come to get a loan.

Anyway, it breaks my heart to see my parents in the situation they are in, and it really breaks my hear to be tough with them and tell them what needs to be done and that it's not going to be pretty. I hope that they will understand that I do this because I love them! But I feel for so many other people in this country, who don't have daughters to help them, to dig deep into the debts people got themselves into, to explain what they did, to work on the plan of action, to help them financially to a point to get themselves out of the rut.

My return home has been a blessing! Really!!! Truly!!! I am glad I found out now what is going on with my parents' financial situation, and I am glad that I am here for them, and it's nice to have dinner together with them every night! I missed them more than I thought I had, although they still drive me nuts sometimes. But this visit home has been very different from what I have expected it to be. Please say a prayer for me to be strong and tough with them and that God will give me enough brain power to figure out how to fix this whole situation.

Shadowing

That is what people do when they get to a new job...they follow people around and learn new skills, well some jobs that is, not all jobs have shadowing obviously. But even though I am not working, I feel like I am being shadowed.
My mom follows me everywhere, if I go outside, she will come with me, if I get a text, she wants to know who is writing to me and what. If I am online, she will come into the room and sit behind me on the couch and just watch me. Sometimes, she can just follow me without saying anything, other times she likes to let her opinion be known.
I know she really missed me over the last few years, and for awhile what she does is quite amusing, but after about 2 days of that it gets more annoying than anything. I sometimes go into my room and close the door, but don't worry, my mom knows how to open doors, she marches in and starts either talking to me about nothing or just watching me without saying a word. Now, I do get a break from my mom. She does work, but her work schedule actually does not let me have much breathing room, she gets to work at 7 am, but she is back home around 11 am. I spend most of that time sleeping :) But when my mom is cooking or washing dishes I get some time alone, although there is no guarantee that my dad won't come in to socialize with me then.

I am not really complaining, I think it's funny that they do that, and they clearly don't get enough time with me, it's just that I feel like I am being followed everywhere, all my moves are noticed. My mom knows exactly when Matt is online, when my sister is online, she usually knows who I chat with, or who I call. I find it easier just to answer her, and she seems to be pretty happy that I do answer, then she feels involved. But I do hope that they will get fed up with me soon and leave me alone more often ))))

Another Trip

Tomorrow Matt and I are leaving to go to Portugal :) Another new country that we will add to our list!!! I must say that the last year has been great for me, traveling through some Europe. I always dreamt of seeing Europe, but until last year never had a chance to do so. I am very happy to say that yet another dream of mine has come true...I am traveling the Europe!

So, this weekend we have Lisbon, Portugal on our agenda. Actually, Matt was in charge of putting together the schedule and places for us to see, but I am positive that it will be great. Now, I have no douts that Matt has too much on his list and we might not be able to do everything he wants to, and I might end up with some blisters (I have yet to go on a trip with Matt and get away with no blisters), but I am sure it will be great fun!!!

Matt is already packed, but since I am a stay at home wife, I have all morning tomorrow to pack, and me being natural procrastinator I put off packing to the last minute....besides, I haven't decided what it is I want to wear ;)

Bed Hogger

...that would be my husband!!! I must admit that our bed in UK is rather small. Matt used to complain that our queen in Minneapolis wasn't big enough, but that was before he got to UK and encountered the fact that even in hotels the biggest bed you get is full :)

It's rather interesting to watch him sleep in UK, because he is a huge bed hogger and since I get to share the bed with him...well, it's a constant battle, that is for sure. He usually wins the battle and ends up with more room, in fact most nights he is just too close to me and has quite a bit of room on the other side. I mean come on, there is better use for that space, I could use it. But what is the best part is when I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or go get some water or what not. If I am gone more than 2 minutes, he will spread diagonally and will hug MY pillow and put his sleepy head on it. I mean, seriously, I am gone for 2 minutes and he invades the whole bed plus my pillow.

When I return to bed, I have to wake him up a little and tell him to move, I can't move him when he is awake, forget about it when he is asleep. Then he starts mumbling something and moves about 4 inches, you know, just enough for me to barely lay on the bed, half wondering when I will tumble off to the floor. I am pretty sure that he says some not nice words at me when he mumbles, but I can never make out what it is exactly he is saying.

I must say that it is very amusing and he is super funny to watch trying to take over the bed. He is definitely a bed hogger, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh, his excuse for it is: I want to be close to you during the night. Is that why he is taking over the whole bed when I am not in it? Hmm...

I love my hubby...I think I will keep him for awhile. So far he manages to keep me laughing and smiling every day!

Anger Issues

When I was younger whenever I would get angry I used to get over it rather quickly. However, I have been noticing, that older I get longer I stay angry at people and think about the situation that initially angered me in the first place over and over again, which probably does not help in calming down and moving on.

Anyway, Matt used to say that I can't stay angry at him for more than 30 minutes. Sadly, I think I have extended that threshold. I just noticed it today that lately whenever I am angry, it usually affects my entire day now, or the rest of the day at least, and most likely will influence the next day a bit as well. Not a good pattern, if you ask me, but it's reality I guess. At least I know that I am getting worse. Now I just need to figure out if I actually need to stay angry at people that long or if I should work on letting it go sooner rather than later. I don't want people to walk all over me, which makes me think that I should not be all that easy on those who make me anger (I am much harsher when I am angry). On the other side, anger means stress for me, and I don't want to keep that in my system....So, here is dilemma.

when did this turn into a chore?

apparently, I am supposed to write a new blog a couple of times a week. you know why? because I am not working anymore and have plenty of times to myself during the week. hmm, see I thought that since I no longer work and live with my hubby I would not have to write blogs any more, but apparently I was wrong, because my hubby thinks otherwise.

so, here I am, sitting and wondering when did this 'blogging' turn to be one of my chores? huh? isn't blogging supposed to be something fun, something for people to do if they wish so? i don't mind writing blogs sometimes, but most of the time now I prefer to sleep in and watch movies and cook for my husband, with occasional trips to London and shopping mall and to the restaurants.

but my hubby keeps nagging me about new blogs all the time. he tells me what i can write blogs about and how often i should do it. I wish that he could just write them for me since he is so excited about them.

on that note, I might post a couple of entries this or next week, but it just amuses me that he is so particular about the frequency of new blogs appearing on my site.

Cooking...

oh, you don't even know how much cooking I have been doing since I moved to UK. While I was in the states, I tried cooking during the weekends, but since Matt was gone travelling for work most weeks, it was fun to go out during the weekends. And since Matt wanted to catch up and visit some of our friends, most of the weekends we ended up going out.

When I was in Russia I used to cook on occasion for my sister and me, but that happened more so towards the beginning of my stay in russia (fall, winter 2007-2008), back then I cooked fish and lots of time breakfasts. Since my sister and I both ate lunch while at work, and we did not get home at the same time in the evening, I used to skip dinner, so most of the time there was no need to cook. Towards the end I was so tired and not motivated that cooking was on the bottom of my priorities, on top were things like sleeping and working. Although I always enjoyed making pasta during the weekend, so my sister and I could sit down and have a decent meal with some white wine. Like I said that happened rather seldom.

However, since I moved to UK I have picked up cooking quite a bit. Matt and I go out once a week, usually. Matt makes about one meal during the week, but the rest is on me. Of course, I don't cook breakfast. Matt leaves for work when I am still snoozing, and he is nice enough not to wake me up and make me cook breakfast for him. So, dinners are on me most of the time, but I don't really mind that. I am getting quite used to coming up with different things to cook. I enjoy the process of cooking, mixing all the ingredients together and the smell is always good. I have yet to make a meal that we did not like, although I am sure we will stumble upon such experience sooner or later. I get to make a menu ahead of time, figure out what ingredients I need, then it's grocery shoping time. We usually get enough stuff for at least 2 weeks :) which is nice. All in all, I am enjoying cooking (that is quite a shocker, actually), Matt says that I am pretty good at it, but I think he says that so he does not have to cook more than one meal a week :) I must admit, the fact that he comes home to have dinner with me before he goes out drinking with his co-workers at the restaurant is flattering (considering that his co-workers were getting dinner at the restaurant as well). Oh, so far I learned how to make chicken curry (with a spicy rice to go with it), chicken with mustard sauce and sugarsnap peas, salmon, backed rigatoni with ricotta cheese and spinach, beef stew with rosemary (it took me 2 hours, but oh, was it yummy), and a bunch of other stuff....but I am loving it. Of course, I have plenty of time on my hands to cook now, but you know, most of the recipes only take 40 minutes to make, so I am thinking that I will continue cooking when I get back to the states. It's so much healthier to cook from scratch, and it tastes better than pre-cooked stuff. So there, I am quite a housewife now....

Library...back in ancient times :)

Boy, I got spoiled when I was in the states with the library system that I got so used to. Here in England, things are different. I decided to get a library card while I am here, because I don't have the money to buy the books (I am officially unemployed, and books in UK cost a small fortune...ok, not a small fortune, but they are twice as expensive as the same books in US and I would have hard time convincing my hubby to spend twice the money for the same product :)) So, library seemed like a good idea.

When I got to the library first, I got myself a library card, which was not much of a hassle, the same procedure as in the US really. But when I first went to the library I did so to use a computer, because back then I did not have a laptop yet. I was shocked at how old their computers was, because I am used to Eagan and Burnsville libraries, you know the ones situated, let's just say not in the poor neighbourhoods, and those libraries had nice, skinny screen computers that were not as old as I am. In England, at least in Portsmouth, which is a rather small city, but it's a port and is rather expensive to live in, the computers in the library are competing in age with me, no kidding. Oh well, I got over that fact pretty easily then, because honestly, an old computer is still better than no computer.

Next I was surprised by the fact that you are allowed only 30 minutes on the computer. 30 minutes? Seriously? I can't even browse, it would take me that long to check my mail, write to a few people and maybe check if Matt has a new blog. I can't even write a blog in one sitting. Oi. Oh, and if you need more time, you have to go to the front desk after the computer disconnects after 30 minutes (yes, it just disconnects, Matt thought that at the end of 30 minutes the computer would self-destruct as in Mission Impossible, but I waited to see until the very last second of my session, and....oh well, nothing got self-destructed, boring old computers) and ask them for more time, then they approve it and you get to go back for another 30 minutes. So, yeah, I did not like using the computers at the library very much, but I did go there almost every day, but I never stayed for more than 30 minutes, did not want the front desk people think that I am addict or anything.

I did not get to check out the books till this week. I decided that I want something interesting to read. Usually I read some chick lit, something easy and fluffy. So, I went to the library, found 1 computer with catalogue (yes, just one). Tried to look for the authors I like to see what books were available. Most of the books were checked out, so I just decided to walk through the fiction section and see what jumps at me. I looked at a couple of books, but nothing really seemed like something I wanted to read. Their fiction was just organized in alphabetical way according to the author. Finally, I wandered to the front of the library where I saw shelves that had books by theme "Crime", "Horror", "Sci Fi" Now, how hard would it be to just put "Chick (not romantic) Novels" shelf there, apparently too hard. I was getting tired of browsing through books and authors that I have never heard of before, and looked on the "Crime" shelf in hopes that they would have Agatha Christie, because that is classic Crime if you ask me and I love her. And they did. They had a whopping 7 Agatha Christie's books. Now, maybe some were checked out, but people that lady wrote over 80 books, come on, everybody who loves "Crime" have got to love her, besides it's just Classic. Anyway, I picked up 2 books, and went to check out.

Here comes the last surprise, they don't have self checkout, you know those cool things, where you just bring the book to the machine that scans the bar code of the book and print a receipt for you that tells you when the book is due. Nope, you get to bring the book to the front desk, then they send you to go around the corner to another desk. Once you get there, the woman opens the cover of the book, and there are some sheets of small paper glued to the cover of the book. The lady takes the date stamper and stamps the date on the small piece of paper inside the book cover that tells me that my book is due back on November 5, 2008 (28 days for me to read the book). Wow, that is some old-school checking out procedure. Strange, strange if you ask me. They have a bar-code reading machine, obviously. They must register in the computer which books I checked out. How hard is it to have a program that just adds 28 days to the date of check out and then send the info to the printer with the name of the book and the date of when it's due. Well, apparently it's hard. I mean, I guess one plus of this system is that unless I lose the book I will never lose the date of when I am supposed to return it, I mean, it's right there on the cover (I have lost receipts from the library before stating when my book is due, and ended up paying late fee), but it just seems like a waste of time for the library worker, and let's face it the library could generate some late fees income from forgetful library users :)

Anyway, I am glad that there is a library within 10 minute walk from our apartment, and it's pretty decent size, I mean it's not called Central Library for nothing :) it's just that I was brought back in time when I went there and went through using the Internet there and checking out books. It was interesting, that is for sure.

Rain in England...you must be nuts

I have heard it over and over and over again from many people that it always rains in England. Are you serious people? This is the best weather I have experienced in quite some time. Matt and I live in an apartment in southern England, Portsmouth to be exact. We are very lucky, because we live right by the ocean, I love the view, and the air is awesome. The fact that we are so far south could have something to do with the weather, I don't know, but seriously, in the last month that I have been here I think it rained like 4 times. Sure, it drizzled once in awhile, but then sunshine followed, and I don't count that.

Sunshine...that is another topic all together. For the last year that I lived in Moscow I haven't seen much of sun. Moscow is the greyest city I have ever lived in. No, during the entire winter, which lasts about 4-5 months there, there could be 4-5 days of sun, I am not exaggerating, ask my sister, she will confirm. So, after a year of that, I came to England and it's mid-fall here and there is sun every day. It's beautiful, really. The sky is blue and it's sunny, who cares that it's windy a little, the sun is out. Oh, and it's pretty warm. Mid-october and it's 65F outside. Insane. I even went to Starbucks without a jacket on today, just a light sweater (yes, there is Starbucks here and it's only 4 minutes away from our apartment if that, and no, I don't go there very often, that is my second time since I have moved here).

Anyway, the point is I love weather in England, I could live with this weather, I could live with the scenery, I simply just could live here. I never thought that weather affects me, because I don't get depressed or anything, but it does affect me, because I certainly am more motivated and cheerful when it's nice out. And I am more prone to go out let's say to the library or even the grocery store, just because it's nice out and what the heck, why not take a stroll. Well, you get the picture, I am pretty happy with the fact that while I was expecting it to be grey and rainy and cold England, instead I got sunny, dry and rather warm England. Somebody up there must love me :)

Laptop

I haven't ever had a laptop in my life. Not ever!!! During my high school and college in the states I either use the Clarks' computer, the Blands' computer and on occation the Roesners' and the Leiners' computers to have my homework done. Of course I have use Normandale and CSOM computers countless number of times in order to finish and submit my homework assignments. However, I never owned a computer before.
When I was at Graco, I had my own work laptop, I used to take it home quite often, sometimes to work from home, but mostly just because I like having a laptop handy.
When I lived in Russia, I had my sister's Apple computer with 17" screen, named Karlusha, to stay in touch with my friends abroad and my friends and family in Russia. On occasion I used Matt's computer (work laptop) to send a few emails and catch up on some news, but that happened rather rarely since it's Matt's computer and it's his work computer, its availability to me was rather limited.
But this year has changed, for my 25th birthday my husband gave me a rather nice present, my own first laptop. He gave it to me a week before my actual present, and I think it's because he likes getting emails from me during the day and suspected that I would be rather bored in England without a computer by me all the time. So, he gave me Sony Vaio as a gift for my birthday.

Well, so far, the only thing that I have to say is that I love it. I love my new laptop. Even though it took me over 2.5 hours on the phone with the Internet tech guys to figure out why my wireless was not working properly, I still love the fact that I have Internet and can stay in touch with people. I can listen to iTunes and watch movies now without much hassle.
Anyway, Matt says that I spend a lot of time by my computer, but I don't think so. I certainly don't spend as much time as he does at his, so we are all good :)
I guess what I am trying to say is that I love my birthday present this year, it sure rocks!!! Thanks Matt, nice one (although that Karen Millen dress would be a great addition to the laptop :))

Opportunity

It's great to know that you are good enough to be given a nice opportunity. Ok, maybe I am not good enough, but that is how I feel, so there. I am leaving my company in just 2 days, and my boss was a bit sad to see me go, but told me a bunch of very nice things when I quit my job.

So, today she called me into her office and told me that there is an opening in Germany working for the same company I have worked in Russia for, and that she would like to recommend me for that openning if I wanted to move to Dusseldorf and work there. The job would be a bit of a promotion for me, it would be a great opportunity.

Even though I am going to pass up on the offer, because I would have to commit to at least a year of work in Germany, and my husband is just not going to put up with long distance relationships any more. And Matt is the bread winner in the family, so I would not want to risk his career in order for me to get a better job for the time being, and I am certainly not very happy about the fact that if we were to move to Germany we would have to sell our house in Minneapolis. So, weighing all pros and cons, we came up to the conclusion that it's better for me to pass up the Germany opportunity and go to UK and stay with my hubby (without a job) and take care of him for awhile until I get my green card. I just hope that I will be able to get my green card before the end of the year, so I can leave UK with my hubby to go to US.

Anyway, I guess I am happy that I was appreciated at my last work and it gave a boost to my confidence to hear my boss offer me a transfer to Germany, although I won't be able to take her up on it. It was still a very pleasant surprise.

Roman sights

...are all the same and are pretty boring. Ok, maybe not all of them are boring, but in UK there is like a gazillion of them all over the country. Matt really likes them, but all the sights are just ruins, actually most of them just show the foundation of Roman buildings. I guess I don't have a very good imagination, because I don't like looking at the foundation of the buildings, it's all just a bunch of stone squares all over the field and I don't find it all that fascinating. Now, if there was an actual building built from stone, I must admit that I like those and am pretty amazed at them, but I can't see the actual buildings, just see a few stones at the foundation. Matt has vivid imagination, he must, because he loves looking at the sights and he can picture it in his mind what it was like back then.

Matt is really fascinated with Roman sights, I think that during the last 2 weeks of me being in UK, we got to go to like 4 or 5 Roman sights. If you ask me, it's a little excessive, especially since they are all the SAME. Apparently, Matt's parents really like them too, so it's either genetic, or it's just me who does not like the foundation of the destroyed Roman buildings. All I can say for now is, please no more Roman sights to see in the near future, I think I have filled my quota for those for the upcoming 5 years :)

Life in UK

is going to be just great. I know that because the last 2 weeks I spent in UK, and I did not have to work and I was not bored once. Although, I have to admit that during those 2 weeks Matt took me to Wales and Scotland and my in-laws were visiting, so I guess I have a lot going on.

But there were 2 days where I did not have to do much. One of those days I spent doign laundry and watching TV. I think I spent like 5 hours watching TV, it was great. It's the first time in a long time (well, since 1999) when I was able to just do nothing but watch shows. First of all, Matt's apartment has like a gazillion channels, so trust me there is no shortage of things to watch. Secondly, I finally had time to actually spend on doing such a silly thing as watching TV for as long as I wanted to. It felt great. Really, I was sitting watching TV and thinking "this rocks, I can't believe I can just sit here and watch TV" In the last 9 years I either was too busy working, or too busy studying to watch TV, but when I did have some time to myself (after graduation before starting job or in the evenings after my job) I did not have the luxury of cable TV, all I had were 5 channels to choose from, so needless to say that I found other things to do around the house besides watch TV.

Anyway, I am sure that I will grow tired of TV pretty quickly, therefore I signed up for the library in Portsmouth. It was pretty painless. I now can check out books, although I don't know how good their selection of books is since I haven't looked at it yet. But I do know that the library has free internet (oh, and computers) which is great. I don't have my own computer and my cell phone in UK was roaming like crazy, so I felt a bit awkward being in the apartment and not being able to email anybody or call. So, it was really nice to go and sing into my email and email a few people. I have got to tell you that I am going to miss having a computer available to me during the day. It's so nice to be able to read news and stay in touch with my friends via Internet, it will be a pain to live without a computer, but I am sure I will get used to it.

So, overall, I am ready to live in England, in a peaceful town of Portsmouth, where scenery is beautiful, people are kind and pleasant. I will lead a very calm life over there, where my only priority will be my husband, which is in itself can be a full-time job (i like it when laundry is done, the apartment is clean, dishes are washed and dinner is ready for my hubby). It will be great to take walks with Matt along the ocean, and go on dates to movie theaters and just have quiet dinner talks. I can't wait to move, although I will miss my sister a lot, I will not miss Russia one tiny bit! I am counting days until I move.

Wow, it's been a long time

...since I wrote my last blog. In fact it's been over a month since then. Holy moly. Well, there certainly have been a few interesting changes in my life. First of all, my mom turned 50 at the end of July. My sister and I made travel plans a long time ago to go and see my mom on her birthday party. However, we also decided that Matt will come with us. My mom was not aware of the fact that her favorite son-in-law was going to visit her. She thought that Matt was flying into Russia after her birthday. So, my dad met my sister, Matt and me at the airport and then when we got to my home in Taganrog, my sister and I went in to greet my mom and Matt with dad followed after us in a couple of minutes. My mom literally jumped when she saw Matt. She did not see it coming and was very happy to see Matt. She loves him a lot, sometimes I wonder who she loves more :) She always tells me to be nice to him and always protects Matt and defends him any time I am mean to him (even if I am just joking and giving him hard time). So, my mom was very happy and our surprise worked :) About other changes, in other blogs....

I call it...

...being productive. Last weekend was just that for me. Even though I did not do much on Saturday besides purchasing "Spiderwick Chronicles" that I did not get to watch yet and getting a new Michael Buble "Call Me Irresponsible" that I have listened through a few times already, and watching August Rush with my roommate, it was a pretty mellow and uneventful day.

Sunday on the other hand started off on a very different note. As you have read before my morning started off with cleaning the fridge, well, that was not the only thing that I have accomplished that day. Around 4 pm Inna (my roommate) and I decided to make it to Ikea. First of all, we were hungry and thought we deserved a little outing for food, I love Ikea's swedesh meatballs, it's nothing to the ones that I used to get at Pop! (the little restaurant about 10 minutes away from my home in Minneapolis), but it's the closest thing to an American food besides Papa Johns (which I am getting a little tired of) or Hard Rock Cafe (which is too expensive here to enjoy very often). Second of all, I wanted to get a few things so I can organize some of the clutter that we have in our kitchen. So, after a few hours spent at the mall and shopping at Ikea, I was able to come home and organize a few things that have been bugging me for awhile.

Overall, I feel rather good about last weekend, although now I want to keep going and get a few more things put away in proper way and place, but maybe during the next weekend, because I have absolutely no time or desire during the week :)

Cleaning the Fridge

Well, those who have been to my apartment in Moscow would know that my fridge needed some serious cleaning, it was in a pretty pathetic shape. Not because it was all smelly and gross inside (although there was a bit of that present also), but mainly because we have an old fridge and it's Russian (by old I mean made in like 60's) So, it does not have that kind of cool freezer that never collects ice like we have in the states. So, half of our freezer was taken by the ice that formed, and in the last couple of weeks my sister, our roommate and I have discovered that we can no longer open the freezer because it was frozen solid.

So, on Friday night my roommate and I decided to unplug the fridge, took everything out (except the stuff in the freezer of course) and just waiting till it started to defrost.

Saturday night, well, we could finally open the freezer, but the fridge was still far from being all the way defrosted. My roommate wanted to plug it in since it was somewhat defrosted and we needed to refrigerate our food, but I insisted that we leave it overnight. I wanted all the ice from the freezer gone, so we would not have to defrost it for awhile.

Sunday around 1 pm, I finally woke up and decided that I should start cleaning the fridge. The freezer was almost ready to be wiped clean. My roommate helped with chipping away a few last pieces of ice, I washed the fridge and freezer and just when I was ready to say that we did it, I saw a huge chunk of ice underneath the freezer in a little compartment that was covered. Long story short, we opened the compartment and found that underneath the whole freezer area there was a chunk of ice that was about 2 inches thick. We spent over an hour working on getting that ice out, we used hair dryer, knife and other utensils that we thought would help us accomplish such a challenging task.

So, at 3 pm we finally got all the ice out, assembled the fridge back, put all the food back in and plugged it in. Man, this is the most work I have done when it comes to cleaning a fridge in about, well, EVER. I am telling you one thing, I sure love my fridge in Minneapolis. Even though it seems to be made from the same era as my fridge in Russia, my fridge in the US never collects ice and is so nice and quiet and I miss it :)

Oh, well, I just hope that we won't have to defrost this stupid fridge in the near 3 months, preferably longer. Ok, now I gotta go take a shower, because while I was cleaning the fridge and working on getting all the ice chunks out, a bunch of water from the fridge dripped all over me, so it's kind of gross. Just thought that I had to share my experience with you, because I doubt anybody else had nearly as exciting or adventurous this weekend :)

August Rush

Pure. Innocent. Gentle. Loving. Touching. Hopeful.

I love this movie, especially at 2:30 am after a day of loneliness and sadness, it's great movie to end a day on, or to begin one for that matter.

It's when you think that your life sucks, you watch that movie and realize that it's not all bad and there is hope after all. The movie is a bit romantic, full of hope, a bit sad and still brings joy (at least it did to me).

I did not really think yesterday that my life sucked, but I was a bit sad, because Matt was all the way in Seattle at the family reunion and I was not there, not even close. He called me from his parents house, but I could hear everybody having fun and his dad wanted me to talk to a few people, which I did not like. Not because I don't want to talk to anybody, but because right after I talk to anybody from home except my husband, I start feeling very sad, so I try to avoid that as much as I can. I don't mind talking to Matt's parents when I am with Matt though, but that almost never happens.

Anyway, so last night after I got off the phone with Matt (we talked for over an hour) I thought I would get some wine to cheer me up (3 glasses of wine had accomplished just that) and watch August Rush. Overall, the mission was accomplished. I wasn't as upset any more that I was all the way in Russia, or that my extended family had fun without me, rather I was just content to be at home and at peace with everything going on around me.

I bet I would watch August Rush over and over again, but I must say that I won't watch it when I am in a happy mood, that is when I get to watch Fool's Gold, 27 Dresses or some other chick flick. But I loved August Rush, for those who did not get that yet :)

Dirty Sexy Money

...is the name of my new favorite show.

I was first introduced to this show in Portsmouth, UK, when I was visiting my husband. We were sitting on the couch, flipping through channels, when Matt drew my attention to a brand new show that came out in the states and was broadcasted in UK as well. It was "Dirty Sexy Money", I saw the first episode of the show and right there and then wanted to see more, but they just showed one episode at that time on TV.

I kept thinking about that show for months and just recently it came to my mind that most seasons are over in the states so I should really look into if this show has been released to DVD. And I found it on iTunes. I bought the whole season and guess what? I watched the whole season in one day, although there were only 10 episodes, not like House that usually has 22.

I like that show now, probably just as much as House or CSI. It's weird really, because all three of my favorite shows are rather different from each other, but they are all great :)

I would recommend "Dirty Sexy Money" to everybody, it's fun and interesting and there are plenty of good looking people in it :) I can't wait for the second season to come.........

Cranky old man...

...that would be my husband. Oh, he can be cranky. And although he is not really old, I like calling him old, because he is in the whole other decade than me and he gets all uppety when I call him "old" so it's kind of fun to watch.

Why do I say that my husband is cranky, well, because he always finds reasons for him to complain about something. For example, when he came to Russia I booked a taxi for us to get to and from the airport, because the last time he was here I was silly enough to think that he could handle a ride on a Russian bus. I thought he was open minded to new extreme experiences, but I guess I was wrong, he had that bus ride against me for quite sometime. So, this past weekend I went for the taxi.

One would think that you can't complain about a nice taxi ride, right? Well, my husband can find reasons to complain about anything if he is in the right mood. He gets to England and then he calls me and says "you did not tell me that there was an express train from the subway to the airport and it only costs $10.00" Oi, I did not see that coming, I mean how can you find reasons to fuss over when you had a great taxi ride to and from the airport. I did not tell him that the express just started running and the first week it was up and running not one train was on time, and a few times it got even stuck in the middle of the way and they had to use another train to get back to get fixed. Besides the fact that it's unreliable, it only runs once an hour and half of the time it would not work for us because Matt's flights were both early in the morning. But still I got to listen that there was a better cheaper option of transportation that I did not offer to my husband. He was not happy about that.

I almost felt like reminding him about the bus ride we took awhile back just to show that cheaper options can be a bit unbearable for Matt but decided against it, after all, he will read this blog eventually, so he will find out anyway :) But next time I am taking him on a cheaper transportation option and boy, he better not complain about those, because I have just had enough of this complaining about transportation in Russia....

Conclusion: even though I adore my husband and he can be great fun, you can always count on one thing--he will always be cranky and will always find time and issues at which he can be cranky at. I can't imagine what he is going to be like when he is actually old. I better get some patience, does patience come with aging? I don't think so, but I will be praying for it :)

Moscow

Matt flew into Moscow on Friday, July 4 at 5:20 am. I had to go and meet him at the airport that early in the morning. I took a taxi, so that was good, I got to nap until we got to the airport. It was sure nice to see Matt, since it's been over a month since the last time we saw each other. We were able to get back to my apartment without much traffic, which was nice, but we could not fall asleep due to the fact that it gets really bright in my room during the day (lack of dark blinds). We talked until 10 am or so and then we just passed out until 3 pm (well, Matt at least):) which was nice. I was quite surprised to see Matt sleeping that much during the day, he never does that, but he got to fly over night, so I guess that is understandable. It was the first time in my life when Matt was sleeping and I was counting minutes until he woke up. The thing is, I slept just fine that night, I only slept 4.5 hours, but still it's much more than Matt got. I was ready to get up around 12pm, but I did not mind laying next to my hubby for 3 more hours until he was done snoozing :)

Friday night we got to go to a Georgian restaurant "Genatsvale", it is located on Old Arbat street, rather known street to meet many tourists. We stopped at my sister's work, picked her up and headed to the restaurant. We got seated in a rather private area and just enjoyed our food and each other's company for about 2.5 hours. I liked the restaurant, but next time I already scouted another one that I would like to take Matt to :)

Saturday was rather uneventful during the day, we slept in (again, I was surprised to see that Matt did not get till around noon), lounged for the most part of the day (oh, and snuggled a lot :)) and then at night Matt and I got all dressed up and went to see Russian ballet. Swan Lake was great. After 3 hours of watching ballet, enjoying some champagne and ice cream during intermissions, we finally headed home around 11 pm. But it was a no ordinary walk home. We walked out of the theater to discover a huge downpour. We both had umbrellas but those did not help much, rain was a bit outrageous. I was wearing summer shoes, so I really should have just walked barefoot in what seemed to be a river instead of pavement. We got to the subway, both rather wet, but pretty happy. On the way home Matt got to witness how some older Russian had fun in the train dancing Russian dances and singing Russian songs. It was amusing, Matt even took a video. We got home after another 10 minutes of walking under the rain and were happy to get out of our pretty (by then very wet) clothes and get some wine to warm up. Overall, a rather successful day.

Sunday I had only one activity planned, but Matt had something else in mind. He wanted to go to a Russian souvenir market to get a gift for his grandma. So, our first stop was exactly that. We got to spend about an hour at the souvenir market, we finally did find a gift for Matt grandma's 80th birthday. Although before we continued onto our next stop, I was told by Matt that my bargaining skills are not very good and I should take a class. Now, mind you I got the price of the gift down by 12%, and we got a rather nice gift to begin with, but I guess it was not enough for Matt.
So, next I decided to take Matt to a mountain (not really a mountain though, but it's called a mountain in Moscow) that was dedicated to WWII soldiers and battles. It's a huge park and we got to see quite a few tanks, helicopters, figter planes and tranches that were used during WWII and not only by Russians :) Matt really enjoyed that part. I got to climb on a couple of tanks and Matt climbed on one, and again we got drenched, because it was raining the entire time. We stopped at a little chuch on the mountain that was dedicated to WWII victory, but we were not able to hide there from rain for too long, because after about 3 minutes of us being there the mass started. We did not want to intrude, so we left. My jeans were drenched from my knees down (the disadvantage of being short, half of my legs were wet from rain). We made our way home to a nice supper of American pizza from Papa John's. Matt got to drink Russian beer and I had a bottle of German one :) We both were pretty happy and in great moods, even though we spent a substantual amount of time in the rain that day and got rather wet and cold.

Monday morning was bitter sweet, really. We got to the airport a little earlier than we had to be there at, so we got us some breakfast and even though it was nice to spend that time together, I hated that Matt was flying away from me. He got through customs ok, which was great.

So, our 3 day weekend together was happy and amazing, I just wish it could last a little longer, but oh well. It was great while it lasted!

Dead tired

Yesterday I experienced a new feeling...being dead tired. I was so exhausted from work and lack of sleep that by the time I got home I literally just wanted to lay down and die.

Things that contributed to my exhaustion yesterday:
Sleep: Lack of sleep was unexpected. I went to bed at 12:00 am thinking that since it was so late I would have no issues falling asleep and staying asleep till 6:30 when I get up to go to work. Well, falling asleep was without any issues, but at 2:00 am I woke up because I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos in the room. After that I woke up every hour because of mosquitos and because the bites were itching. At 5:00 am I finally fell sound asleep just to be awaken at 6:30 by my alarm clock.

Subway: I usually close my eyes and drift away while in subway, but not yesterday, I decided that it's time for me to finish the novel that I have started, and even though I am rather far away from being done with it, at least I am getting closer.

Work: yesterday was just chaos. I had so many things that had to get done urgently, that I had to put everything I was planning on doing aside and do what was needed for upper management first. It was draining, because it required a lot of tidious work that had to be done quickly yet accurately and because it had to be done in a very short time period. Anyway, lots of things to do, plus very tight deadlines made my day quite a bit stressful and tired me out.

So, all together yesterday when I got home at 7:30 pm I was so tired that I sat on the couch and just could not physically get up for awhile. After washing dishes, I finally decided that my day ought to be over and went to bed around 10:30 pm.

I guess I should say that I haven't experienced this exhaustion for the first time, it's just that the last time has been awhile ago, and I guess I forgot how it feels. The last time I felt that tired was when I was going to school full-time, had 2 full-time jobs (1 was part-time, but the other was was full-time with overtime, so really i consider it 2 full-time jobs) and on top of that I was dating Matt. That is the last time I remember myself being so physically exhausted. Back then I used to live in the state I was in yesterday. I would go day after day being so tired and running on only 4 hours of sleep, 6 hours was a luxury for me back then. But it's been about a year and a half since the last time I felt this tired and now I can't imagine that I lived in that state for years. I don't know how I survived back then, because yesterday after just one day of extremely little sleep and a lot of work, I just wanted to come home and die so nobody would touch me and I would sleep forever :)

Today I am a bit more rested and when I get home I have laundry to put away, and maybe I will watch a movie, but I am still planning on going to bed early, because this whole week my work has been crazy busy and I need some rest.

Whas is the point?

I sometimes wonder what is the point of all of this. I mean, I come to work, have a gazillion of things to do and you know what? When I leave at 6 pm every day and sometimes later I have another gazillion things to accomplish. My work is never done. And sometimes I feel like, what is the point of all this, I can't handle it all anyway and does anybody really care what the hell we are all doing here?

Anyway, lots of work, it's been draining in the last couple of weeks. My moods are rather unpredictable lately. I can go from extremely happy to unbelievably aggitated.

Oi, life can be challenging at times....

Pros and Cons....

....of Matt's job
I know, I am not Matt, but I have some pros and cons to his job and I am a bit frustrated today and was yesterday so I have full right to write out pros and cons to his job, because honestly I do need to sit down and think about all the pros in order to get over yesterday's disappointment.
So, let's start with cons because I want to finish this on a good note, so let's start with things that annoy me.
Cons:
1. He travels a ton...leaving only weekends to dedicate his attention to me and even then sometimes he checks or does some work
2. I hate his computer, the guy seems to be married to it at some points. I mean, why is it so hard to put that stupid thing down when I want some attention. Work computer is almost never turned off, he does not always spend time on it, but it's almost in the eyesight and it's annoying at times.
3. Meetings...he always seems to be in meetings when I need to talk to him, nothing important about, but just to talk when I am frustrated that there are so many idiots in the world. Usually, it's when I really want to talk to him to make myself feel better he is in stupid meetings and can't answer the stupid phone.
4. Vacation...needs to be planned 6 months ahead of time. Oh, and this is the main reason why I am so frustrated. Matt just got his visa to come to Russia and he was going to come and visit me in 2 weeks and stay for a whole week. I was so excited that I planned a whole trip to St. Petersburg, took into the account all the working hours of all the sights we wanted to visit, all the costs, checked airline tickets availability, even planned to surprise Matt and buy tickets to Russian ballet or opera in St. Petersburg, just to find out that he could not take that week off after all anyway. Now, we are thinking of him coming to visit me for a week in August, but that too can get cancelled the last minute. Mind you, I want to go to Spain and Portugal, but the project has many milestones and deadlines and really the team can't let Matt go for vacation until after November. I mean, what kind of bull-shit is that? I want to go on vacation with my husband for just one freaking week before the end of stupid November.

Pros:
1. His travels...yeah, I know it's in cons too, but because of his travels we are able to go places using his NWA miles or Marriott points, thus avoiding airplane tickets and hotel costs.
2. His travels...I am not crazy, this is a whole different point all together about his travels. It keeps him away from me for most of the time, so when we do see each other it's always a treat. It's nice to know that you don't have time to get tired with each other, it always feels like we are still in dating moods :)
3. International role...his work allowed him to go to UK and Germany for work, and because of my situation it's been a blessing for him to work in Europe, because we definitely see more of each other and it hasn't put much strain on our relationship (even though, I don't mind not seeing Matt every day, the idea of not seeing him for over a month used to upset me, because I was afraid we would drift apart).
4. Good pay, good opportunity. Matt seems to like the job itself and the fact that he gets to work with different clients. Plus, he gets paid pretty well, so I can't complain.
5. Parties...they have great parties, from Christmas dress-up parties to just frequent summer picnics, they have great people to talk to and you don't have to work at the company to feel welcomed at the event by everybody there.
6. Keeps Matt happy...most of the time.

So, I guess the pros outnumber cons, but still sometimes I get really angry at his work and wish that he would have gone into a different line of work. But those moments do pass and most of the time I like the fact that he has his current job. But yesterday I was pretty darn angry at the stupid company. I have my right to be angry at them for awhile, if you ask me.

He got it :)

This reallys hould be my husband's blog, but since he is a bit slow on writing them and I am a bit excited with the news, I thought that I would let everybody know that Matt got his Russian business visa for a whole year with multiple entries :) That is pretty exciting news, if you ask me :)

So, this time around we are going to make a trip to St. Petersburg. Matt has never been there and it's been about 11 years since my last visit. We are thinking it's about time to visit that city :) My aunt is living there (ok, I guess in English terms she is my second cousin, but in Russia -- she is my aunt), so we will be staying at her apartment (thus saving us some points). I am not sure exactly where I will take Matt, but I can assure you that we will have a busy trip and will visit many places, because it is not like Matt to just take it easy. And St. Petersburg is such a great city with so many sights that I am positive that 4-5 days there won't be enough.

I better get busy looking at the airline tickets from Moscow to St. Petersburg and try to organize the travels in St. Petersburg for my hubby and me to enjoy :)

Papa John's

I did not do much during my vacation. But one day I thought that I needed fresh air :) but was too lazy to actually go out. So, I thought that I would go out on a balcony and get some fresh air :) I went out on our balcony and stood there for quite a while watching people walking to and from places and stuff, and then I notice a russian car driving by with huge "Papa John's" signs all over it :)

It's a rather weird sign to have all over your car just for nothing, so I figured it must have been one of those cars out for delivery. So, I went back inside and on the internet to find out if there is Papa John's in Moscow. Sure enough, there is.

Actually, there are like 4 papa John's in Moscow right now and there are 2 or 3 of them that are still building. There is one within a long walking distance from our house. So, on Sunday my sister, her best friend and his fiancee and I decided to take a long walk and make a trip to Papa John's because I have been craving American pizza for quite awhile.

After getting lost a little bit, actualy just taking a long detour :) we found the place. We were a bit disappointed by the fact that the place was very small, it was definitely designed for delivery or take-out. After we ordered 3 pizzas, cheese bread and some drinks we waited for 20 minutes, got our pizza and decided to stay in that little uncomfortable place to have dinner.

It was so good to have a real pizza, it tasted identical to American Papa John's, which was great. I just think that from now we will have to order it and have it delivered rather than walk there and eat it :) But overall, I am satisfied with the experience, and Matt won't have to go to Pizza Hut with me every time I am in England :) I still have some leftovers that I am going to finish off today :) Yummm!

Death.....

.......scares me. Nobody is dying, i don't know anybody who has died recently who was close or related to me. But for some reason in the past month or so I have been thinking about death quite a bit. I don't mean like suicide or anything, just death as a fact, as part of life. Maybe it's the movies that I watch, I have recently watched "PS I love you" and it's not that great of a movie, but the idea of losing a husband sure gets to me. And now I am reading a book where one person's friend dies in a train accident. Again, it's an easy-going book, but it had a poem in it, "Remember" by Christina Rossetti and I just broke down in tears. The poem is beautiful, but so sad.

I often think what my life will be like after I lose somebody I love, what would I do, how would I proceed. Would I be crying all the time and hating the world or will I just get busy and smile at all my happy memories with that person. Anyway, even though I realize that death is a natural thing and unavoidable, I am scared of it as never before. But not really for me, I am scared that I will lose somebody whom I love. I wonder if everybody thinks about that, or am I just plain weird for having such thoughts. I must admit that it causes me to pray much more than I would have otherwise for all those people in my life that make it so much better.

Anyway, gotta share the poem that I found painfully beautiful, i can't imagine forgetting and smiling, but I guess if I have passed away I would want my friends and family to forget and smile rather than remember and be sad....

Remember

Remember Me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Movies

I am addicted to them. No, really. If I see a movie and I like it, I can rewatch it unlimited number of times. It's no joke, ask Matt :) I usually watch either chick flicks or action, sometimes I find sci-fi movies that I like (The Island and I-Robot), but usually it's just romance/drama/comedy and actions that I stick to. Anyway, Matt always laughs at me when he calls me and finds out that I am watching "Laws of Attraction" AGAIN. I know, it's an old movie, but it's so cute. My sister, Kara, can't understand just why I watch "Live Free or Die Hard" over and over again, it has the same ending every time :)

Well, I don't know why I watch the movies over and over again, I just enjoy them and if there is nothing good on TV, which is most of the time, then I turn to movies. I can't quite afford going out and buying new movies once i have seen the ones I have at home, renting is not practiced in Russia, so I have only one choice - rewatch the movies that i have seen before. (Ok, I have to admit that i have rewatched movies in the states too, even though renting was available, but it did not practice it as often as I do in Russia).

My favorite way to spend an evening after work is on the couch with a glass of wine while watching a movie that I have seen before (i know what to expect, i know i will like it). If only I could do that at home in Minneapolis with my husband by my side then my world would be perfect!

3:03 am

That what time it is right now in Moscow. This is the latest I have been up in a long time. This is what I love about not going to work. I get to stay up. I like staying up. Some people are morning people, some are not. I belong to the group that is not :) I must admit I don't do anything productive :) just watch movies and drink wine, but it's so enjoyable. I think I could do it every day :) I haven't been wasting all my day sleeping either, I have been getting up by 12pm every day (those people who know me will agree that it's pretty good, considering I don't have to be anywhere or get up for any reason by a specific time :). I love vacation. Well, I like not having to get up in the morning and not having to go to work.

You know, I was talking to Matt tonight and we were talking about whether I like working or not. We came to a conclusion that I do like working, it just that I don't like having to work every day :) When I was in MN, I didn't enjoy my job as much as I do now, because it was too easy and always the same. But I liked the fact that as long as my work was done I could go home ;) My job in Russia is more challenging and more fun, but I have to be there from 9 till 6 and I spend 3 hours on commute every day, thus making me not want to go to work some days.

Anyway, this week I am not thinking about work. I know I will have literally hundreds of emails, and I know I will have to work extra hard for the next month trying to catch up for the week off, but I don't care, because this week I get to stay up as late as I want to and just relax during the day. I still haven't picked up my book which is surprising, I usually read when I get some free time. But during this week I have been just watching lots of movies and resting :) Nice.....

Ok, I probably should get ready for bed. Tomorrow I have to call and find out if my passport is in. I dread that call, but I have to make it. I am tired of this whole ordeal, but I guess I can put some effort into one phone call :) Everybody, good night.

My friends and children

I have some old friends in Russia, those that I went to school with and those that I got to know outside of school. And they all have children. I am not talking about all my classmates, some of them are not even married yet, but those kids that I actually was pretty good friends with, well, they all have kids. Granted, some of them are no longer married, which is sad. I had one friend who I went to college in Russia together with, and she was the only one besides me who did not have kids. On May 18 she gave birth to a baby girl, so I am the last one........

Most people in Russia (I am not talking about Moscow or St. Petersburg, they are countries of their own within Russia) have kids by the time they are 25. I would not be surprised to learn that some of my parents friends think that I can't have children or something. I mean, come on, I have been married for over a year and I still don't have a kid. Keep in mind, that about half of the people who do get married in my hometown do so because they are expecting a child.

Anyway, it's a bit weird to think that my friends are no longer free and can't go out with me whenever they want. BTW, I really want a kid, but then I think of the fact that I won't be able to travel and drink whenever I want, and I sometimes wonder if I do want kids, but that usually lasts for only a couple of hours :), a day at the most. But what is really weird is that I don't think I am that old and don't feel like I should have had a kid 5 years ago, but others seem to wonder why is it that I am 25 and still don't have a child, especially since I am married. What can I say? I guess I am more American at this point than Russian. Spent most of my teenage years in the states and I think I grew accustomed to the fact that you just don't have kids when you are 18. My husband is 30 and still has no kids :) and I don't think that is all that weird. Although, I am putting pressure on him, but that is not because of his age, it's because I want a kid. But then can you blame me? Every friend of mine in Russia has one, what can I say.....peer pressure :)

Update on my parents

My parents are still in Spain. I have been talking to them every night. I must say that I thought that they would be at the hotel every night by 8 pm, but Spain must have some influence on them, because I haven't called them before 10 pm. Mind you, they usually are in bed by 9 pm at home, so they must really be partying it up :)

Anyway, I talked to them today and I guess today was the first time they ever swam in the Mediterranean sea :) My parents both loved it, but since my mom does not swim and is basically afraid of water, she could appreciate it as much as my dad did, since he was born and raised on the Black Sea. My folks really liked the sea, and I guess they really like the area. Dad said that he wants to move there (keep in mind that when I first came up with idea of going to Spain on a vacation for them, he said that he does not want to go and wants to go to the Black Sea instead).

My dad spends every summer at the Black Sea, he usually goes there at the end of May, or in the first week of June at the latest, but this year we planned a trip for them to Spain in the second and third week of June, so he was pretty upset about that and made it clear to us that he did not want to go. But since the tickets were purchased and the hotel was booked, he had no way out.

My folks saw many yachts today and I guess tomorrow they were planning on visiting the villas of Spain and some other attractions. I am very glad that they are enjoying their time in Spain, and I hope they will bring back many pictures. I wish I was there with them, but I am glad that they are having fun without me :)

Matt is learning

Matt knows a lot, he really does, more than I ever did. He knows a lot about history, almost everything about politics, basically he knows many academic things. He also knows how to make me happy, how to make me angry, how to calm me down and how to start a fight. He knows when to be quiet and when I need some words of encouragement. He knows that I am not very patient unless I am dealing with children. Yet, there is one thing that Matt hasn't mastered yet, but not for long, because he finally decided to buy Rosetta Stone for Russian :)

He tried learning a little bit from me, but I am not that great of a teacher I guess. Whenever he said something wrong, I laughed. Not because he couldn't get it right, or anything, but his accent is so cute, and it just so funny when he says something in Russian with an American accent. Anyway, learning from me some Russian did not last. Eventually, he gave up asking me words, and just stopped at being able to say in Russian "My beautiful wife", "Airhead" (taught by my dad and frequently used when addressing me), "Truck" (a rather limited vocabulary, don't you think)

He has a long way to go before he knows how to speak Russian or being able to understand what people around him are saying (the last one being the main reason why Matt finally made that step and purchased the program). It does not surprise me though that my husband could not go on any longer without knowing what is going on around him when he is in Russia. He always says that I am nosy and too curious, but really he is no better.

So, it will be interesting to see what progress he makes, but I have no doubts that in about 6 months he will be able to converse with my relatives, and might be able to be a part of our conversations without me translating for him all the time. It amazes me though that even though he knows a lot, he still has desire to learn new things in life. I love you, Matt!!! You rock.

Spain

I was supposed to be in Spain this weekend. About 4 months ago I decided that our family hasn't taken any family vacations in the last 10 years or so and I decided that it was about time for my sister, my parents and me to go on a vacation together. Since my parents haven't been to Europe, I thought that to go to the Mediterranean sea would be wonderful. After considering Greece and France, I finally settled on Spain, Palma de Mallorca to be more specific :) So, my sister and I booked tickets for us and our parents, Matt booked a hotel room for us, and I reserved a car. The next step was for all of us to get a visa. Long story short, my parents and my sister got their visas, but I was not able to get it since I am without a foreign passport right now, meaning that I can't leave Russia.

So, after some rearranging, my ticket to Spain was cancelled, the hotel reservation was made under my sister's name and the car was reserved under my dad's name. This morning (4:50 am) my parents and sister left for Spain. The made it safely there. I am not sure if they got to the hotel yet or had any difficulties with getting the rental, but I hope that everything will go smoothly for them. I took vacation at work, since I thought that I would be going to Spain, but even though I could not make it to Spain, I still kept my vacation. While my family is on vacation I have a few things to do: replant flowers for my sister, buy a vacuum cleaner (and clean with it :)), get some soaps and stuff for my dad that he asked me to, and organize some stuff in the bathroom, oh and I have about 6 loads of laundry to take care of :) I don't think I will be bored while my family is gone.

My sister's fiance and his mom are meeting my parents and my sister in Spain and will spend a few days together, so that will be nice :) I just pray that everything will go smoothly for my family in Spain and they will enjoy their vacation and take many pictures. If my parents will enjoy their time in Spain and my sister does not go crazy with entertaining my parents then this trip will be a great success, even though I did not make it. Oh, while they are in Spain, I volunteered to be constantly on call in case something comes up that they will need my assistance, like solving issues with car, hotel, etc, etc

Special thanks to my beloved husband for donating some 120,000 Marriott points to book a hotel room for my family for a week in Spain!!! Matt, you are the best of the best, and never fail to take care of me and my family!!!

My husband....

....oh, he is just simply wonderful. Did you know where he took me for our first year anniversary? PARIS...the city of love and romance. I must say that I agree to that statement. The love was just in the air in Paris :) We got to see many beautiful places in Paris: Jardins de Luxembourg, Tour Eiffel, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triumph, Obelisque, Cathedral of Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, took a river on Siene, spent a day at Versailles and visited its gardens.

The whole visit was just amazing, I loved Paris, and I enjoyed being there with my beloved husband :) Baby, good choice on the place to celebrate our first year anniversary. I must say that the past year of our married life has been great, yet not without challenges (long distance relationships, do I have to say more?). Matt has put up with quite a few of my demands over the past year and some emotional break-downs, and he handled all the situations very impressively. If I didn't know any better, I would say he had some practice and/or training on how to be a great husband, but I think it just comes natural to him :)

In the last year he has traveled to Russia to see me, and I have traveled to UK, Germany and France to spend sometime together with him. We are as happy as could be!!! Overall, our first year of marriage has been wonderful, although it would be nicer to be closer together.

Lazy Bones

I am not sure whether I can call myself Lazy Bones, but I sure feel like being lazy all the time. Maybe it has somethind to do with the fact that I am always tired. Matt keeps telling me to go see a doctor and figure out why I am tired so much, but since I dedicate about 13 hours each day to either working, or getting ready for work or getting there, it's rather hard for me to find any spare time to go see a doctor. I usually sleep at least 12 hours on the weekends, but during the week I just feel exhausted most of the time.

Although, sometime I don't really do much during the week, there are other weeks like this week when I have been pretty active. Well, by active I mean I got accomplished a few things. Well, besides cleaning up a little, washing dishes with no hot water and taking care of the garbage that nobody seems to be taking out but me, I have also decided that we are going to have hot water while the rest of the region where we live in Moscow sits with no hot city water. I purchased a water heater, and then arranged for the plumber to come and install it, as a result Kara took a warm shower yesterday and I had a warm shower this morning. Next on my list is to get a vacuum cleaner, since we don't have one, although we do have hardwood floors, but still it would be easier to use a vacuum cleaner than a broom. And IF the weather ever gets warm in Moscow (it's currently 56F here and rains almost every day) then I will have to get a fan for the apartment, since there is no air conditioning :) I still have to do a few loads of laundry, probably will start that chore tonight, and oh, i watered my sister's flowers too.

So, really, considering that I have only 11 hours in a day to sleep and do anything else in addition to work, I think I am doing pretty good getting all these things accomplished. But I do feel like being lazy bones, so maybe next week when my entire family but me will be in Spain on a family vacation (a different blog to come) I will be able to relax and do nothing but maybe read and eat and listen to the music all day long :)

Mixed Feelings

You know, I have been in Russia since September, and just when I start thinking that I hate this country with passion, something comes along and changes my opinion. Well, why all of a sudden it changes, simply because I have so many friends here who are dear to my heart and I was not able to stay in touch with them as easily when I was in the states. I do cherish my time, I just wish I could spend more of it with my friends and less of it at work.

Yeah, I can't go to a family vacation with my parents and sister because my passport is not ready and there is nobody that I can complain to to speed up the process, which sucks. At these moments I hate Russia, but then I talk to my old friend from my home town and talk to her about her life, her child, her marriage, hear stories about our mutual friends, and I am just so happy that I have restored that connection with her. If I did not come back to Russia, I doubt I would be able to talk to her, we were starting to lose touch when I was in the states. I realize that most of my youthful fun memories are in Russia, because in the states I went after the American dream and worked very hard to get it. Yes, I have succeeded to accomplish many things, with the help of many families that I came to know along the way and could never have made it without them in the states, but still I miss my youthful days in Russia when I just had fun with my friends. Oh, there was drama, there were true friendships and I thought that I had real enemies (some girls, you know), but it was then. Now, I realize that it was all silly, but the days of crazy fun are in my mind and I miss them. I like talking to my friends from the past and it makes me sad that I did not spend more time with them, that I had to work hard and skipped so much more fun, but then I am in a much better place in life than they are and I am grateful for that too.

Anyway, I guess I am happy that I am in Russia, and maybe it's a good thing that I won't get to go to Spain with my parents, because if I don't, then I am going to go down to my hometown and visit my friends, and talk with them, and drink and party and have fun again. Well, there will be no boys involved this time (with me being married and all :) but still it will be a blessing to meet with my long lost friends and catch up with them. I can't wait to make a trip to my hometown for a week or so. I hope it will be everything I am hoping for.

Things I LOVE

Ok, it's often said that word "LOVE" is overused, but in this life I know exactly what i love and I am extremely proud of the fact that I can tell you exactly the things I love and cherish in this life so much:

Talking every evening with my devoted husband (i got the best guy in the entire world, because he is always encouraging, supportive, smart, strong, and have never failed me in anything)

Endless hours of talking with my sister Kara (it's amazing how quickly time flies when we chat :), I am very blessed to have her and be so close to her)

Spending time with my parents, who are so loving it's never stops to amaze me, unconditional love does exist

My job, it's challenging, busy, gives me an opportunity to succeed

Traveling, I am too lucky to have an opportunity to travel so much (again, my husband contributes a lot to this)

Thinking of how many friends I have and how many people really care about me, I pray for most often and can't quite understand what I deserved to have such good friends in life and keep them (many of these friends are the families whose children I watched, those families made a huge impact on my life, and I am forever grateful to them)

My home in Minneapolis that my husband picked and worked on for many hours over the last 7 years or so

These are all the things that I love in my life, without these things I would not be a happy person. With these things I am very happy and really can't wish for anything more (ok, there is one thing I wish for and that is to have healthy kids when I get to have them) Other than that i am the happiest girl on the planet :)

Things I like

Good wine
Warm evening when I could walk outside (or sit on my balcony and drink good wine)
Friday -- because it's right before the weekend
Sleep -- nothing better than have a good 12 hour sleep at night
Talking on the phone -- the more the better, the less serious the conversation is the better too
Sitting at home while it's raining outside
Listening to music
Dreaming (day-dreaming included :))
Remembering (good memories, and bad ones that taught me so much in life)
My mom's food (it's the best in the entire world)

My gift...

... from my lovely husband is the best I have gotten in quite awhile. Matt got me a digital frame :) Along with the frame he got me a 1 GB memory card with all our wedding pictures on it. I haven't had any of the wedding pictures printed, so it was really thoughtful of him to give me such a wonderful gift. I can now see both of us happy on our wedding day every day I come home :)

Just in case you are wondering as to why Matt is giving me such exquisite gifts out of the blue, I would like to clarify that this gift was given for Christmas :) It's just that I was not able to use it until now. See, my sister's computer was broked in the beginning of January and I didn't have any change to move the pictures from my camera and web-sites onto the memory card for the digital frame. Since only this past Monday we got the computer back, now I am getting to the project of downloading all the pictures onto the memory card so I can finally use my lovely gift.

I can't wait to have the photos ready and start using the frame. I miss having pictures around the house, I miss seeing Matt's happy face :) I love looking at the pictures that bring back happy memories. Can't wait to finally start using the frame. Thanks hun for getting it for me, you could not have found a better gift :)

Tomorrow is Friday...

... and I am so happy for it. This week has been exciting and busy to say the least. First of all, Monday I landed at 4:40 am at Moscow airport from Munich. I had to spend about an hour in the airport, because my taxi thought that I was landing from England and that plane was not scheduled to land until 5:30 :) I guess, my sister mixed things up, which happens at times :) Then I got home and guess what I did. No, I did not get into the shower, I did not go to bed right away, I unpacked the treats I brought from Germany (Lindt chocolate) and then decided to read my book. So, I read for about another hour or so and then thought it was time to go to bed. 8 am I finally laid down to get some sleep (since that night I was flying and I only slept tops 2 hours on the plane). That day was a bit dramatic. I got up at 12, can you believe that I only slept 4 hours? Matt would never believe that :) Anyway, it was one of the worst days I have had in Russia, but oh well... Don't realy want to talk about it in details, but let's just say that it was full of accidents and drama.

Tuesday I got to work and realized that I used to like taking a vacation, because at my previous job somebody took care of my problems when I was gone. Now, though, the problems just pile up and by the time I get back I realize that I have a ton of fires to put down. So, Tuesday just flew by. I got home simply exhausted. But no, I didn't get to bed right away. Now, we have a computer at home, so I spent a few hours online, you know, catching up on browsing the internet and answering my mail and stuff. So, the week kept going on like this.

I have been extremely busy at work both Wednesday and Thursday. I had good intentions of going to the cards stores to get a few cards for a few of my friends, but whenever I got done with work, I had no motivation or strength left to go anywhere else but home, again thinking that once i get home I will be able to get to bed right away and again staying up much later than usual :)

However, Friday is a bit different story. Yes, it ended up being that I finish this blog today, so actually the title of the blog should be "Today is Friday..." but since I don't belive in changing what has been written, you will just have to keep that mind. Oh, the reason why I don't believe in change what is written, well the reason is rather strange. You can never take the words back that you speak, so whenever I write a blog I pretend that I am speaking to my friends at that point in time, so there you go, no changes in my blogs :) What has been written is always what I thought at that moment and never go back and change it. Although, I do admit that not everything that I write gets posted :) Some blogs are left forever as a draft...

Anyway, last night (Thursday) I got to bed after 1 am, because my sister is leaving to Germany today, and she had a hard time picking out what to wear. With a little bit of my help and help from my wardrobe she finished packing (late at night) and I was allowed to go to sleep. My alarm went off at 7 am this morning, and I simply just could not get off the bed. I was thinking of skipping work, but my sister suggested that I can just call in and come in late :) Which I did, I slept another 2 hours, and even though my work day is supposed to start at 9 am, today it started at 12 pm :) I texted my co-workers saying that I oversletp (a little white lie :)) and will be in later in the day :) Nobody minded and I feel a bit more rested than I would have been otherwise. Anyway, I know better than planning to go to a card store tonight :) I will just go there during the weekend, tonight I am just going to go home and drink some wine while sitting and watching TV and celebrating the end of a very busy yet successful week :) hoping that my parents will be able to get my passport in time for my interview at the embassy, and that I will be able to move in back with Matt soon in UK :) but that deserves a whole other blog :)

Ciao...

Munich

I love that city. Matt and I spent 3 days there over the last weekend, and I am most definitely in love with Munich. It's beautiful, peaceful, clean, inspiring and very much romantic :) Even though we were there only 3 days, we got to do quite a bit of stuff, we saw: the Olympic Grounds, BMW world, Newschwanstein Castle (very beautiful, truly amazing), English Garden (we saw people surfing in a little creek, literally surfing, and we also go to drink great beer in the beer garden by the Chinese tower, yes, Chinese tower in the English Garden in Munich :)) We also on our last day go to walk through a beautiful garden by Odeonsplatz.
Matt's parents' friends took us to another castle and drove us around the mountains :) It was great, the view was fabulous, the air was magic. Oh, we got to go to beer gardens every day, their beer is so much better that I have ever had :) an I am not a big fan of beer, mind you.
Even though it might seem like we have done quite a bit, the time seemed to pass slow and I did not feel rushed or overwhelmed. It was a nice pace :)
I definitely hope to return to Bavaria, I didn't get enough of it during this trip, but I am sure that my wonderful husband will make sure I make it to Munich a couple more times :)
I love my life....at least when I am traveling with Matt!!!

Seriously people, unite already...

I am confused about European Union. Supposedly they are like one organization that has common foreign and economic policy, yet they can't even agree on one universal form that you have to fill out in order to get a Schengen visa, and they certainly don't have one universal process of obtaining a visa. The process and the set of documents needed to get a Spanish visa is quite a bit different from that for Germany visa. German visa application process is even different from the Austrian one. It's insane really.

Anyway, those of my friends who are American, be grateful that you can just get up and go to any country in Europe. This is certainly a luxury. This whole deal with acquiring visas and prove to every person that you just want to travel and see the world is getting old. Every time you go in you need 2 applications filed (note, all applications are different from each other), pictures of your self (pictures requirements are different for each embassy, some require color, some require black, let alone certain sizes, some need the picture to be surrounded by oval of white paint, some forbit that, etc, etc) all copies of your old and new passports, internation and foreign passport mind you, if you don't have your old passport you have to write where it is located and why, you have to list all the places you have visited in the last 5 years, and so on and so forth, reference letter from work stating how much you earn and how long you have been working, statements from the bank proving you can afford your visit, paid reservation of you airline ticket and paid reservation of the hotel where you will be staying (mind you, you are not even sure you will be granted a visa at that point, so you might lose quite a bit of money on air travel and hotel reservation if you have to cancel them, etc) All this just to obtain a visitors visa.

So, I am really amazed that a European Union, can't just come up with one universal form and way of applying for a visa. I mean, how hard can it be if the countries can agree on their foreign and economic policy, to agree on visa application process can't be that hard, right? Anyway, I am just getting a little fed up with all this paperwork, that is all.

Social Security card

Do you have any idea how hard it is to change your last name on the social security card? Well, you would think that there is not much to it, right? Normally I guess there is not much to it, you just show up at the social security office and ask them politely to do the change. However, I haven't done that easy way when I was in the states, instead I left US with my old social security card with my maiden name on it.

So, after my husband and I filed for our taxes this year, we found out that oops I need to change my last name on my social security card. After doing some research online, we found out that I can bring all my documents into the embassy in Moscow and request a new social security card.

After we found that piece of information out, I went ahead and called American Embassy in Moscow. At that point, I paid 140 rubles just to have them give me a different number to call. They forwarded me to INS services. I called INS the next day and they informed that I should call the embassy for such information. Hmm, I think I have done that already. After a couple of minutes of talking, I called back the embassy, spent another 140 rubles to tell them that they don't provide any services for social security cards, and then the girl said: "oh, maybe you should be calling american citizen services" Hmm, maybe? And Oh? Anyway, after that I called the ACS, and that's where they told me that they only change social security cards for American citizens or green card holders. Here we go again, I am not either of those. At least the girl was nice enough and said that I should go ahead and bring all the documents needed for this and they will try to process it, and the worst case scenario the change will just get denied.

So, in a week or so once I have my passports with me and stuff, I will head over there to give a shot at changing my social security card information from abroad. Of course, she informed me that it's going to take at least a month. Oy. This is getting tiring dealing with all this stuff, I am telling ya. At least I can't complain that my life is ever boring :)

Siberia--part 2

Well, I am back from Siberia. I kind of liked it, but really there is not much to it. The city I visited was Novosibirsk. I did not have a chance to see the city itself much because I was on a business trip, but one of the days I was there I went out and about to look at my company's competitors, so I got to see a bit of a city from the car :) Anyway, I was not too impressed, the city was dusty, dirty and the roads were in horrible condition. But the weather was perfect, it was about 50F, which is pretty good for Siberia even in April.

I was initially supposed to go to 2 cities in Siberia, but my plans had to change because the plane that goes from Novosibirsk to Krasnoyarsk (about 600 km apart, both located in Siberia) was overbooked. Actually, the plane only held about 30 people and it was quite funny, my colleagues said that it had 2 little propellers and they were a little afraid for their lives :) I am glad that my company bought the last 10 tickets to the plane before I actually decided to go :)

Anyway, the trip was good, very successful work-wise, but it just proved to me once more that I am not cut out for traveling for work :) Thank God I am not a consultant :)