My Weekend

Friday night I went to a scrapbook crop and my girlfriend came at the last minute so we had a great time working on small chipboard albums we both are making and talked non-stop. Both of us are real talkers so there was not a gap in conversation. I met Diane at the crop 5 1/2 years ago and we have become very good friends.

Saturday my day started very early with a haircut, grocery shopping and errands. I also did several loads of laundry and hung them out as it was a sunny day in the high 30's so they dried and had that nice clean smell. Nothing beats sheets dried outside on the line. I met friends for a late afternoon movie and then we went out for supper after that.

If you haven't seen "The Blind Side", I high recommend it. What an amazing movie and so uplifting.

I worked on my chipboard albums last night and was on a roll so stayed up until 2:00 AM. Liesel and I slept in very late this morning. I was out again in the later afternoon to the sale at Michael's and to print pictures at Walmart so I could start more chipboard albums (which I've been working on tonight).

Tomorrow morning it's back to work for the week.

Adventures of Two Antique Bureaus

Since the early 1900's the two bird's eye maple bureaus lived in their separate bedrooms in a Cape Cod summer house looking out on the ocean in Stonington, CT. They had a good life and enjoyed living through the years with five different generations of an old New England family. Each spring they looked forward to the return of the family, enjoyed them during the warm weather and saw them pack up and close up the house in the fall once it got too cold to be down there.

Their life by the ocean in the seaside community sadly came to an end in the late
1990's when the owner of the house sold it out from under them. They were shipped to Ann Arbor, MI, to live with the youngest generation for 3 years. They watched the husband study while attending law school while the wife was busy as a teacher. During their last year in MI, they were happy to see a little baby girl come into the family. She got a new IKEA bureau for her little pink clothes.

After law school graduation, they were packed up in the big Uhaul truck and moved to Park Slope in Brooklyn, NY. They settled into life in the Big City and were there for almost 3 years. Sadly their family moved to Moscow so they were moved back to CT but to stay with good friends.

Those friends are now selling their house and moving to England so the two antique bureaus came back to the family this past Sunday morning. Enroute to their destination, one of them had an accident as it toppled out of the back of the truck. The bureau's top came off and got pretty scratched up and the bottom of the bottom drawer came off. Fortunately all the pieces were recovered and put back in the truck. The injured bureau can be fixed by by a woodcrafter. Right now the bureaus are living in the cellar.

They think of all those years they lived at the beach and looked out on the big front yard, sandy beach and ocean. They hope they will go back to living with the Moscovites in a nice house when they return to the US in the future.

Weather in CT

In the late afternoon yesterday until early evening, we got about an inch of very wet slush. Then we had light rain in the evening and night. Today when I got to work, I thought I'd be blown away from the car to the building. In the early afternoon, the sun came out in full force and it was a beautiful day. What Mark Twain said about the weather was so true the past 24 hours here in the Constitution state.

Nothing really news worthy to blog about so this is brief.

Liesel the Watchdog

Liesel was at her weekly doggie daycare day today. She just loves going for her day with her two and four legged friends.

When I was waiting in the main room, there was a really nifty looking Wheaton Terrior there with his human mom and her son. The dog looked just perfect as he (or maybe it was a she) had just been groomed and they were picking him up. In comes Liesel on her leash with one of the doggie daycare trainers from another room. She sees me and is excited and I take her leash. She then spots the Wheaton Terrier and is barking like crazy and pulling on her leash to get over there. The trainer gave her a correction and told her to stop. The reason that she did this is that she'd never seen that dog before and was wondering why he was there. She knows all the "regulars" who come to doggie daycare and they all get along and play beautifully.

Isn't it odd how a new dog that is not in their regular routine can set off a dog?

Liesel the watchdog!

She came home, had her supper and followed me around a little before heading to the den couch and curling up there under the down throw. Doggie daycare is very tiring.

Both of us are calling it a night and heading up to bed early.

Sunday Night Means...

Monday morning the alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. YUK! I am one of those people that like to take hours to get up. First I wake, look at the clock on a Sunday and roll over to go back to sleep. This might happen once or twice. Once I am really awake, I prop up and read my book with my furry hot water bottle curled up next to me. Of course she is sleeping under the sheets where it's warm. I love to read in bed for hours if the time allows. Today was one of those days where I stayed in bed FOREVER. I also chatted on the phone with a friend and then took a nap as reading made me sleepy.

I'd planned a lazy day working on Xmas cards so there was no rush to get up. I had planned to put away all the Xmas wrapping stuff, a few decorations and other things that have been collecting since Thanksgiving in my daughter's room. So they will get put away next weekend. What's the rush?

I did finish the cards while watching DVDs so it was a nice lazy day for a winter Sunday. I also managed to do some laundry and make a crock pot meal for this week.

I hate Sunday nights!

Cold Saturday Night

I keep pushing the thermostat up degree by degree and now am at 70. I almost NEVER have it beyond 67 so you know it's cold out. I dread opening the door to hook the dog out for the last time tonight. Sure wish she would use piddle pads and not want to shred them instead. I keep telling her how much better it would be in the frigid weather but she doesn't "get it".

I had a million errands to do today but when friends called to see if I wanted to meet them at Borders and then go to the movies, I immediately said that I'd love to. We saw "Leap Year" and it's a really great chick flick with gorgeous scenery in Ireland. How can I convince my daughter and SIL to move there from Moscow?

While out, I hit some sales and already have some Xmas gifts for 2010 so I've got a running start.

I thought I'd curl up on the couch with the dog, write notes on Xmas cards and watch a movie on TV. When I turned the TV on in the den, all I got was snow. This is the second time in a week. I called the cable company and the first weekend availability is next Sat. morning so I was NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. I put a DVD in the kitchen TV (that cable box died mid week) and worked on my cards sitting at the kitchen table. Guess that's what I'll be doing this week - watching DVDs in the kitchen.

I am about to put on my down coat to put the dog out for the last time and head up to bed with a great book that I just got from the library. Once I get into it, I'll post about it.

My plans for doing some cooking this weekend have changed since I never got to the grocery store today. I don't plan to venture out tomorrow.

Height

I know I'm short but I actually am taller than Katya. Because of all the snow in the header picture by the troika, we aren't standing on level ground. Give it another year or so and Katya will be my height.

A few people wondered if Katya had gotten a lot taller.

A Week Today

It's been a week today since I flew out of Moscow and arrived back home in CT. It seems like I was in Russia ages ago. Sigh.....

OK, I've been back to work a week and it seems like I never left as I'm back in the groove. We are extremely busy and the work day flies by. I'd rather have it like this than be twiddling my fingers.

It's Friday night and T.G.I.F.

It's going to be very cold here in CT this weekend so I think I'll do some cooking and work on Xmas cards.

My Trip Home

The *#*#*# fireworks went on all night on New Year's Eve so I was wide awake all night on the couch trying to sleep and so didn't sleep a wink. Not a good way to start a long trip home but that's the way it was.

We had finished the packing late the night before I left so we didn't have a lot to do in the morning. I had my last blini fix. We were out the door before 9:00 and had a stop at the grocery store as Tami wanted to get more chocolates for me to bring home for a gift. The roads were deserted and she'd never seen them like that. We got to the airport in record time. After we walked in with all the luggage, we were shocked to find the LONG LINE. She'd never seen it like that before. After we were in line about 5 minutes, she decided to go find a porter. When she came back, he loaded all my luggage on a cart. Tami, the girls and I said goodbye and off I went following him. Having a porter has its perks as we walked right by everyone and went to the front of the line. That's the way it works in Moscow. After I got to the final check-in where I hand over my suitcases, the airline rep said it was $50 for my second suitcase. I told her that I had rubbles but she told me I had to pay at the Delta desk and get a receipt to give her. She kept my 2 suitcases and I had to go back outside the check-in area to where the line started. She assured me that once I paid my $50 and got the receipt, I could walk right past everyone and go back to her counter. It worked.

I took my time going down to the gate as the plane was an hour late and I had lots of time. I found a seat, propped my feet up on my carry-on suitcase and read my book. All of a sudden all the Russians were getting up and leaving the seated area. No announcement had come over the speakers in English so I had no idea why they were doing that. Then I saw a man that looked like he worked for the airport and I asked him why everyone was leaving and he told me that everyone had to leave the gate area. They all formed into 4 lines outside the gate and then airline personnel came and searched the carry-on luggage, pocketbooks, coats, frisked the people and passed a wand around them. A man in line across from me heard me talking to the college kids in front of me and told me about the Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day so we figured that the US had new rules for all flights entering the country. The line moved slowly but I was glad for the extra security.

The flight was full and there were only a hand full of Americans. I read a lot and also had my earplugs in and wore my sleeping mask a few times when I just rested.

I took a limo shuttle back to CT and my friends picked me up. I walked in my house at 9:30 (5:30 AM Russian time the next morning) so I'd been up two whole days. I was so happy to get into my bed an hour later and get comfy in my fleece sheets.

The next morning I met my dog trainer friend at her business and got my little Liesel. She was so excited when she saw me and licked and licked my face when I knelt down. When the car drove in the driveway and she knew she was home, she was so eager to get out of the car. The entire weekend Liesel was my shadow and was always sitting on my feet or between my feet when I was standing at the kitchen counter.