February Fun!

salted dried fish, the guts are still in it, so my kitchen stunk!

Tony and Robert were not smiling after this photo! Obviously this should only be eaten after several shots of Vodka!

February has been flying by just like all the other months.  Despite the constant -25C (-13F) temperatures we are managing just fine (low of -25F).  In fact it has been so warm lately we are actually sweating in our coats and trying to delayer as we walk (it's been a balmy -10C/14F)!  I know, weird!  Just a quick update, we (the desperate housewives of Slavutich) held a fundraiser for the music school that our children are involved it.  Many children and instructors put a concert on for us ranging from stringed instruments & piano, to dancing & singing.  It was a beautiful concert and even better we raised about $5000 for the school.  Now they can replace instruments, equipment and costumes that are 24 years old (as old as this town)!  Valentine's Day was nice, we managed to have another party for the kids with the French children in town.  We made crafts, frosted heart cookies and exchanged Valentine cards.  The kids were loaded up on sweets which I believe classifies as a huge success!  I made a rissotto that I learned to make in Italy and it was amazing!!  We ended the day with our standard chocolate truffle pudding.  Thanks to Grandma Grall we had all kinds of wonderful Valentine stickers and treats to give our kids!

My Valentine's

I have managed to go to Chernigov twice in less than a week and that's a lot since the last time I went was in September.  As always, it's an adventure.  The first trip started great because my friend and I were in a taxi, unfortuneately there was no Starbucks or even better Wakeup Call to stop at for our early trip, sigh.  Of course the adventure began with getting dropped off at the address, but it was not the right place.  Marina asked some locals for directions to the building and they gave perfectly vague directions which included things like, "go down a ways and then turn".  Pretty helpful, ha!  Once inside the building finding our way around was still a challenge (keep in mind, my friend is from Ukraine).  With people huffing and rolling their eyes and pointing behind them to give us directions we manage to eventually find where we needed to be.  The last event of this trip, besides walking to at least 5 stores trying to find little party bags (with no avail) was the bus trip home.  The seat I was in had a drip of water landing on my arm before departure, I could live with that, as we proceeded to move the drip surprised me and splashed all over my face!  For the first 5 minutes of the trip I opted to put my hood on, after that the water froze on the roof and dripping water was no longer a problem.  Thank goodness I wore my Uggs that day!  The 2nd trip to Chernigov was for a little birthday lunch for Rylie.  We missed the morning train (the 10:18 is only on weekends), waited for 40 minutes and caught a bus which ended up being pretty nice.  Of course the temperatures are always an issue and Ry thought she was going to pass out or throwup from the heat.  I know, we are never happy.  It's because there is no in between here, it's always the extreme's.  We made it to McDonald's even my orderring went without a hitch.  I got a Big Mac for the first time ever (Tony wanted me to see if we were still right about McDonald's burgers, that they are worthless).  Well....they are still worthless, tasted like special mayo sauce, pickles and cheese, I actually took a bite of just the meat to see if it had any flavor, nope not much.  Yuck, what a waste.  I had to drink sugared soda and Ellie couldn't get a 6 piece nugget they only carry 4 piece in the Happy Meal.  The restroom at this place is a disaster, old woman stand in the stall with the sink and mirror primping forever and there is always a line!  I can get in and out with me and Rylie faster the 3 old Ukrainian women.  The tiny stall actually had T.P. this time, but the seat was drenched with I think water, what a disaster!  The laste event on this trip was the train home.  We got our tickets, go seats on the train early and sat enduring the smell (it seemed to be a combination of urine, dead fish and the occassional cigarette while waiting for departure which was 15 minutes late).  Good times.  There are certainly some things I won't miss here, and I have been reminded as to why I don't go to Chernigov very often.

Ry in gymnastics

Look at that face, everything is a game to her!  Always having fun!