puttin on the ritz.

Hi! I am still here.

My camera broke so no more pictures. There are 3 culprits, but I havent been able to pin one down. The screen cracked so I can take pictures, just cant see what of! ha!

Thats ok. Kids and I are going to the states in June so I will either pick up a new cheap-o one, spend some cash on a nice one- or get an iphone and use that as my camera. I am sort of leaning toward the iphone idea, but I need to find out how I can get it unlocked here.

hmm. So May 9th was Victory Day. We walked to the end of our block and watched the tanks roll by - I would have liked to see the American Troops march but I think that was only in Red Square. I wanted to cheer when they walked by. Oh well.

This year was the 65th anniversary. There was some controversy as to whether Stalin should be represented in billboards and such. Interesting question - How much credit do give the ruler of a country for military accomplishments, especially if said ruler was responsible for 25 million deaths. hmmm.

Didnt see any Stalin posters, so I guess protests worked.

After the parade we headed to Tverskaya - which was closed to traffic and open to pedestrians. Kids had fun walking in the middle of a usually very busy street. Had some dinner, then watched the fireworks as we walked back to our apartment. All in all a good day.

We have our tickets to the US. Kids and I are going end of June through mid august. Leo will join us for a week at some point. Should be fun. We are all looking forward to it, and this time the flight is only 15 hours instead of the 25 hrs it took in December.

I have been trying to get all our appointments lined up - kids need teeth cleaned, P has 2 fillings need to be taken care of (yikes!), immunizations for everyone, etc. I also need to plan my purchases (which means trying to calculate weight and space everything will take up. I need to get Natash winter clothes, boots and snow suit, P and M each need 2 pairs of shoes (they need 1 pair each to keep at school which also are PE shoes and 1 pair "outside shoes") I think their snowpants/coats/boots will last another year, but I need to have a final try on before we leave.

I dont know what else. Nothing exciting, just life going on. Last weekend was
Night at the Museum night - museums are free and open late at night. I wanted to take M and Natasha to the Zoological museum Leo was with P on an overnight trip) but the sign on the museum door said they were opening at 23:00! thats 11! yeah, sorry, too late for us! BUT - we go to the toy store, see a zombie parade (yeah - it was creepy) and have a nice pizza dinner - girls night out! :-)

The other day we went to a friends birthday lunch, it was at the restaurant on the roof of the Ritz, we had sushi and champaign. How glamorous is that?! Fabulous view of the city. We sat outside overlooking Red Square. Nice way to spend a Monday afternoon.

Then Tues was Tex Mex potluck! again fabulous! So much fun! My only chance this week to get out of the house sans the little one. My nanny has a new job with another family and she is on a weird rotating schedule with another nanny so I get her on her days off, if she isnt going to her dacha - which pretty much means she will come watch natasha for a few hours once a week. There goes my going to the gym plans. Oh well, I have high hopes for running this summer. Until then Natasha is my buddy, tagging along wherever I go. Which honestly, aside from not being able to go to the gym is ok with me. She is good company, doesnt tell any of my secrets, is happy to share a meal with me if we go out, and pretty much falls asleep in the stroller anyway.

Thats all, sorry nothing more interesting. I have been taking the metro quite a bit and pretty much know my way around - I feel like if I took the worng train or got off at the wrong stop I could make my way home, which is pretty much the important thing, right? (although dont ask me the best exit from my station - I just go out the first one I see and orient myself once I am above ground - I get so turned around underground!)

By the way the moscow Metro is 75! There are signs all over. pretty cool.