Overheard

"I do wish this potato would dress more modestly." - quote from Andrew

Name Three Things

To curtail the endemic expat complaining about life in Moscow, one of our friends likes to play a game we call "Name 3 Things." Everyone is supposed to name three things they like about Moscow, thereby adjusting their attitudes about the Motherland. I've never actually witnessed a successful round, one where each participant can indeed name three things. It is especially hard since limits are put on the categories. Items that involve leaving Moscow such as "It's so much easier to travel to other places" or "everything seems so much nicer in comparison when we go somewhere else" don't count. Since we're in the heart of winter, and in my least favorite part of the season, where the temperature creeps above freezing and the city is bathed in a perpetual supply of mud (the "Rasputitsa" I think), I thought I'd see if I could come up with three things I like about winter in Moscow:

1. Snow Removal. I've never seen anything like it. The snow falls and it's gone from the streets and sidewalks within an hour. It's like magic. As bad as the weather is here, the roads are never slick or icy. Washington, Utah and New York certainly couldn't beat it. I can even hear workers scraping away with their shovels, removing snow from the secluded alleyway where we park our car long into the night. A private alley/parking lot like that probably wouldn't even get cleared in most cities, but ours is always clear within hours.

2. Cross country skiing. They love it here. There are lots of parks and beautiful wooded areas near the city to ski and the snow is great. I often see people riding the metro and busses with their ski gear. And it just so happens, that I really love cross country skiing. It keeps me from going crazy (until March anyway) here during the winters. It's maybe my favorite thing about the winters here (though there were few competitors in that category). I'm even willing, like today, to drive an hour to meet friends outside of town to ski a measly 5 km. I feel like the 206ers we used to make fun of.

3. The falling ruble. 6 months ago $1 bought you 24 rubles, now it's almost to 35. I know it's not good for those whose salary is paid in rubles, and it may signal bigger problems ahead or even a reduction of our COLA, but for now, for us, since we get paid in dollars, it's great. Finally it's like things are on sale here. Okay, so the prices of most things I buy just go up with the ruble because they're imported, and our main expense, rent, has always been in dollars, but if I want to stock up on cigarettes, vodka or russian handicrafts, now is a good time. But tomorrow it may be even cheaper.

That's very interesting, Christine.

The Last of our Utah Pictures

Here's Ella with some more of her favorites from the Sandgren house 1) Tiffany, 2) Sassy, and 3) Being naked, naturally.
After Christmas Ella and I took Andrew to the mall to help him pick out some new clothes for his wardrobe makeover. Ella was trying to teach him the attitude he needs to wear his new clothes.

Christmas morning Ella was really excited about the presents. However, once she got to her Bitty Baby, she stopped dead and played with her for the rest of the morning. We had to take the rest of her presents home and open them later that night.

Ella Update

I don't think I ever appreciated how quickly a two year old changes and evolves until I had one move in with me. They seem so static from the outside (yep, still small, still walking, still blonde, etc...). So I thought it was time to provide an update of all the exciting things going on in Ella's life, starting with a list of her favorites.

Favorite food-- Cheese
Favorite color-- Purple (pronounced "purpur")
Favorite movie-- Tree Medvedya, Russian cartoon of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Favorite book-- "Pinkalicious" (referred to as "girl")
Favorite number-- 2, easy to count to
Favorite shirt-- Purple My Little Pony shirt from GAP, care of her Aunt Alyson, who really knows how to make little girls happy.
Favorite passtime-- Changing dollies' diapers. Sadly, she's not as keen to have her own diaper changed.
Favorite sentence-- "Ella do." Heard about 25 times a day by parents
Favorite doll-- Bitty Baby from grandma. How does she know it's the nicest doll?
Favorite toy-- My Little Ponies
Favorite activity-- taking baths, especially if there is a washcloth involved so that she can 'clean' the tub thoroughly.
Favorite song-- San Francisco Bay Blues by Eric Clapton (usually accompanied by jumping on the bed)
Favorite New Year's Resolution-- To be like Eliza Calaway in every way.
Mom's favorite time of the day-- right before bed when we read stories and sing a bedtime song. It's the only time of day she holds still, listens (somewhat) attentively, and cuddles.

Christmas Jammies

I'm still posting pictures from Christmas. It's just easier to do it from our home computer and we weren't home until two weeks ago. This is one of Ella, Eliza and Tessa in their Christmas jammies from my mom. Ella is really into matching things, so she was very excited to have matching jammies with two of her favorite people.
Nate, naturally.

Ella with her mentor, Eliza in their twinner jammies. Andrew did Ella's bow for this picture.

The Zion Curtain

When we were in Utah over the holidays there was wide press coverage about a certain state senator who wants to tighten the already stranglesome state liquor laws. As they currently stand, it is illegal for a bartender to pass a drink to a patron over a counter at a restaurant. That would make the establishment a "bar" which are more or less illegal in Utah. Instead, the patron must order his drink through a clear plexiglass barrier, colloquially known as a "Zion Curtain." The bartender then prepares the drink and walks around the barrier and hands the drink to the patron, thus preserving the non-barness of the establishment and presumably the morals (or at least mores)of the desseret state. It also gives rise to a great phrase, "Zion Curtain," that I personally think should be adapted into broader useage to describe any general cultural gaps between Utahns and their fellow Americans. This particular lawmaker is not satisfied with the Zion Curtain and is proposing that the preparation of the drink in plain sight of everyone in the restaurant, including young, impressionably minors, encourages underage drinking (or if we're being honest, any-age drinking). His solution? Have the drinks prepared in a separate dark closed space, a kind of alcohol closet and then stealthily passed to the sinning patron, thus attracting as little attention to the vice as possible. Governor Huntsman opposes the Zion Curtain and certainly opposes the closet preparation approach, leading me to believe he's one of the few Utah lawmakers who has actually spent time outside the state. I for one was shocked and amused to read about the state of the state's liquor laws in general, and impressed with the creativity of some lawmakers in actually coming up with ways to make them more restrictive. As it is, in order to go to a bar-like establishment for the main goal of drinking alcohol, a person must actually join a private club, pay a subscription fee, present a membership card (as well as valid id) and submit personal information such as address, phone number and date of birth into writing. This way, the state officials can run background checks on all the members to ensure that they are in fact over 21, which remarkably is still the legal drinking age in Utah. I guess it doesn't affect me much as I a) do not live in Utah and b) like many residents in Utah, don't drink. But I can't help but wonder if the state's resources, especially in a time of recession, might be better marshalled. Perhaps they could focus on better snow removal instead.

The Night Before Christmas

On Christmas Eve the kids did a little pageant. Ella was an angel but I didn't think to bring a costume for her. Luckily, Eliza had a slip that fit the bill. Ella stayed close by her mentor's side.
After the pageant, we had a variety show. Andrew made his debut performance in a Brinton family variety show. He had to compete with a puppet show, an art exhibit, some capoeira and an impressive display of milk-drinking from the best milk-chugger at Wasatch Elementary School.

Ella performed a somersault for her talent. Here she is looking pleased after a successful execution of the tricky manuever. Ella's first variety show was at the Calaway house when she was just a few weeks old. Ben and Eliza spent a lot of time helping her prepare her trick-- holding a tube of chapstick.