Moscow 1 Million : Abby 0

Monday I skipped ballet to run some errands.  I am sure you are wondering why I have to skip something that is an hour long to run errands.  It takes at least 30 minutes to get to ballet and then to get back, so that is an additional hour.  Also, for me to run my errands it takes at least 30 minutes to get to my destination and then home, so that is also an hour.  Not to mention that you are exhausted by the time you are done, the metro and the rude people are enough to make you feel the need to relax when you get home.  

We are going to a Halloween party on Saturday.  I was in hopes to find Owen a Halloween costume other than the horse that was handed down to him.  No such luck.  I am not sure if he will be the horse (with a broken neigher) or if he will go as a Hog fan (lots of Hog gear).  I obviously didn't put much thought into Halloween in July when I left the US.  The only thing I found in his size was a neon orange fox.  I will leave you to ponder that one.  I had very little hope to find anything so this did not get me down.  So maybe instead of Moscow 1 we will give her 1/2.  

What did defeat me those was the fact that I was not able to find any of the goods I wanted to make Halloween appropriate treats to take.  There are so many fun ideas out there; mummy dogs, voodoo cookie, eye of newt.  But NO I live in a country where it is hard to find the ingredients that I need.  I really wanted to make mummy dogs.  Hot dogs, check!  crescent rolls, no check!  So plan B:  pumpkin dip, out of pumpkin, no cool whip, no vanilla pudding mix, no nilla wafers.  Okay so plan C:  eye of newt, eggs, yep!  mayonnaise, of course, sweet pickle relish, NOPE!!!  Sweet pickles yes but not relish.  (and no I am not making it).  At the same note there is no food coloring for anything.  So I left Stockman's very defeated.  I will be making apple smiles.  Cute yes but not what I wanted to bring.  I will be stopping at the bakery on the way to bring something in addition.  So after this visit I feel that Moscow was at probably 5 billion.  Okay maybe just 3 but still.  

Now on to the Metro.  After riding the Metro you always feel like you have hit bottom.  Okay not always but a good portion of the time.  And yes I keep submitting myself to it, but compared to the traffic here I will gladly take the metro with a few complaints.  Walking into the metro station this woman was in front of me.  She held the door open just long enough to let it slam in my face.  And with the wind here it is a true slam.  So I then think let me move quickly to push her out of my way.  Of course I am thwarted at every turn.  She cuts me off to get on the escalator then to get on the train.  Then a woman gets up I move to sit and there she is again stealing my seat.  I am a bit frustrated at this point but I wait and a seat opens up so I sit for the next two stops.  At this point vengeance, sweet vengeance came along.  A man that was too large for the non existent spot came along and crammed his way into sitting by the woman.  Ohhh!!! She gave him a bad look!  The Lord kept telling me:  Abby do not retaliate!  :)  

So all in all I felt depleted.  Moscow has won again! I have a feeling this is not the last battle either!

Ballet

The opportunity became available for me to take private ballet lessons from a professional ballerina that performed at the Bolshoi Theatre.  I loved dance when I was growing up and this is an opportunity that not everybody gets, so I thought sure why not.  I do believe I am a in a bit over my head.  She teaches in her apartment and it is a small wooden floor space with a bar.  This small space is more than enough to do the techniques that she went over.  If only I was a good dancer to learn these techniques.  Even though I can say I took lessons for 13 years DOES NOT mean a thing.  She is way more advanced than this girl that learned ballet in little ole Conway, Arkansas.  I will be sure to tell you that I was not in shape growing up and taking dance after 10 years of not dancing and having a baby, I am surely not in shape now.  She would show me where my grande battement should be.  Let me tell you my grande battement didn't go there when I was younger.  I will do this a bit more but will actively look for group class.  I am a bit sore in places I did not know I could be sore in.  Great lesson and will always remember, but boy I am out of my league.

Oh the toys!

I love Fridays.  No longer because it is the end of the work week but because I get to take Owen to baby playgroup.  Most of the kiddos in there are around the 2 year mark but that doesn't stop Owen from having fun.  One he gets to play with new toys and lots of them.  We have not bought a lot of toys here for the shear fact that you need to take out a loan to buy them.  Okay not that bad but they are still much pricier than in the US.  For example, we bought a bag of 100 play balls for Owen.  In the US it is $9.99 at Toys R Us here it cost 1300 rubles which is roughly $40.  Don't worry Owen is not deprived on toys!

So on Friday we arrive at Mommy Renee's and sweet baby girl Arianna's (14 mths) house.  She has toys that Owen is in love with.  He played with basketball hoop set to make his daddy proud.  Then he moved onto the tunnel and tent set.  He wouldn't get out of it.  So I do believe this will be our next purchase.  He loved a pull along Brio duck, and a Mickey Mouse that moves and dances.  Mickey did attack him a bit so he is not so sure about him.  Owen will play with some of the kids and then just does his own thing too.  He is such a good boy.  Of course while we are there he is the only kid that decides to venture to an outlet instead of the mass amount of toys nearby.  Hmmpfh boys!!!

I love baby playgroup too.  There are a great group of women there.  It is nice to talk to them each week and get ideas and advice on raising your baby in a foreign country.  Some of their kiddos are getting older.  I will hate to see them go when it is time for them to go to school.  Maybe we can convince them to have more :)

Monday Monday

Mondays are easy days easing into a busy week.  owen and I play all morning and then he naps for a while and then plays some more.  The most difficult thing on Mondays is my Russian lesson.  It is an hour and a half long.  That is about an hour and a half too long.  It does not take long for my brain to be taxed.  I am picking up conversation but I can tell you that unless somebody asks me my name I will not be able to answer them.  This is a very tough language.  Not to mention my brain is apparently against learning.  And I sure don't have any discipline to actually do the homework and study.  I am glad I am not taking a test in Russian.  I think Owen will pick it up way before I do.  I am working on numbers and hello and goodbye with him.  But did I mention I am also teaching him the basics with Spanish.  You know start them early.  :)  Of course maybe I should give him a little bit of a break, he is only 9 months old.  

He is becoming very independent.  Feeding himself the bottle and finger foods.  He loves to grab the computer and do everything he is not supposed to do.  

I guess I will go ahead and write about today, Tuesday.  I am not sure which days to write about since everybody reads this much earlier than me.  Today I went to Bible Study.  We are studying 1 Peter.  A great book.  I am amazed at Bible Study to see all the nationalities together to study the Lord's word.  It is quite a trek to the apartment that it is held at.  You take the metro and switch colors and then walk for about 15 minutes.  Metro green line (where I live) is fine it is the red line that I switch to that is not so great.  There are way too many people on it.  You are crammed in so much that you sway together as the tram moves.  Not to mention a woman stepped on my foot today with her spiky boots.  And then she gave me a bad look when I bumped into her.  Because I can control that!  Walking 15 minutes is not bad it is the fact that soon I know this will be the artic tundra and then the walk will be bad.   I remind myself that Bible Study is worth any obstacles to get there.  And today I met a friend that lives near me so we will be able to hold each other accountable.  

After Bible Study I come home and play with Owen.  It is some more play hard and nap hard time.  More him crawling away and me chasing after him.  We are both getting a good workout.  He is now getting into dancing.  It is quite a fun site to watch.  It is amazing that no matter how you feel, who you miss, or what you have done in the day one look at him and your heart is elated.  Oh how I love him!  Even when he keeps trying to help me type this post :)

Lazy Days

I have really come to love Sundays here.  Besides being the Lord's day it is a great day to spend with my family.  While football season is going on we choose to be lazy on Sunday.  David doesn't get out of bed until 1 pm and we all stay in our pajamas all day long.  Of course, Sundays are better when the Hogs win.  If they do not I have a very grouchy husband.  Though Owen is so happy to be with the both of us.  His face just lights up.  He would never no that the Hogs lost.

I get so tickled watching David and Owen play.  David says he going to get him and Owen lets out a squeal from anticipation.  Then he starts moving fast from David.  It is one of my favorite things to watch.  Owen is getting so big and I wonder where my little baby went.  I love to sit back and watch him play and explore.  Yesterday David had chased him out of the corner with one of the sockets and told him no.  We both watched Owen take a different route under two chairs (quite the obstacle because the chairs have a bar that he has to go over) to get back to that corner.  It is funny how he thinks that if he goes a different way that we won't pick up on it that he is going over there.  He is such a turkey.   He looks at you and smiles big.  Oh to be a kid again and care free.  His only worries are where is my milk and my pacifier.

So it was a lazy happy day.