...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 :)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
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 :)
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 :)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
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 :)
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 :)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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.........
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.........
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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 :)
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 :)
Monday, July 7, 2008
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!
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!
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