A Russian Christmas Party

Saturday evening, Ryan's company held a New Year's/Christmas Party for employees involved on the project and their family members.  I really do not need to say much, the pictures speak for themselves.  It was a lot of fun and the perfect setting to hang out with everyone.

I did take a couple pictures before we left for the event:

All dressed up and ready to go.

Wait!?!  Who is the woman with Ryan?

Did I forget to mention I changed my hair?

The first bit of entertainment:

Some lovely Santa girls.  I am a dance machine and I would have rocked this routine.  We all know how much I love Christmas music.

A singing group.  

And this group.  Danced to Madonna's Vogue.

The magician was next.  The best part was Brad's (Chevron employee) participation.

Brad tying a rope around the assistant.   Notice Brad's suit coat.

They both are placed in this fabric tube. 

The fabric drops and Brad is trying to figure out where his coat went.  

Brad trying to figure out how the girl stole his coat and put it on. 

The dance floor opened and the random pictures began:

Best hair of the evening. 

Kim, my gym buddy in front of the tree. 

Making moves on the dance floor. 

Everyone was taking pictures in front of the cake.  I thought it was appropraite to have some Chevron expat wives.


Great way to celebrate the holidays and our last weekend in Russia. 

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

This week, I was hit with the incredible urge to bake Christmas cookies.  I decided to turn my baking into gifts.  Recipients included my Russian Instructor Lena and our two drivers, Vitaly and Sergei.  I narrowed my selections down to some of my favorite Christmas cookies, with a mix of Ryan's and a new recipe.

The winners were:
Sugar Cookies (I will discuss these in the next paragraph)
Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, M&M (as if I need to say this, Ryan's favorite)
Chocolate Chip (Mr. Classic)
Snickerdoodle (ultimate Christmas tradition for the Pagels family)
Mint Chocolate (this was the new recipe)

Ok, now for the major topic of discussion.  I am a stubborn, stubborn lady and I refuse to let something beat me in the kitchen (referring to food).  Sugar cookies are the one thing, that time after time give me the most problems.  I can make homemade crusts like it's my job.  Homemade bread, not a problem.  But when it comes to sugar cookies and the poor amputated gingerbread limbs and decapitated snowmen, my patience and stubbornness are tested.  Luckily, my dear friend (Sugar Cookie baking queen) Jenn provided me with her no fail recipe.  I was ready this year, I had the best recipe (not some silly internet recipe), I was in high hopes, I was ready.

First batch of dough landed in the trash with a giant THUD.  It was at this time, I realized that Russian sticks of butter are not the same size as American sticks.  Rather than trying to salvage the hard dough, I decided to start fresh.  This time, I used our scale to weigh the butter after I Googled the amount of grams in American sticks of butter (113, in case you are curious).  With the right butter amounts (no applesauce when fighting with sugar cookies), I had a lovely dough.  I followed Jenn's instructions to a T.  My sugar cookies were a SUCCESS!!!  I only had one slight amputation, but as Jenn says, that is your taste test during the baking.

I did the icing (no Amaretto) and Ryan did the decorating.  

He decided the Gingerbread Men needed hats, gloves and shoes.  :)

You may ask, "Virginia, what did you learn from this experience?"

1. I won the battle against the sugar cookies.
2. I am thankful I only make these cookies during Christmas.
3. Any children Ryan and I may have, if they want to learn how to make sugar cookies, I am buying them the next plane ticket to Aunt Jenn's.

And the finished products:

I added packets of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate (brought from the States).  The little sign in the center says: A big thank you.
Cookies for you and your family.
Happy New Year

The smaller signs are names of each type. 

I loved the reactions I got from each person when I gave them their basket.  It's just something small and inexpensive, but I wanted to make sure I showed them how much I am thankful.
Nothing says thank you like a yummy cookie. 

Final Week Countdown...

I currently sit in our living room, it's getting dark outside and rain is falling.  I have our little Russian fireplace going and our Christmas tree is lit.  My Christmas music is playing and Macy is snuggling next to me (actually she has decided she wants to play and is currently pushing her toy at me).

At this time next week, I will be on a plane, most likely over the Atlantic, if not already entering over the United States.  Ryan is currently in Moscow, so it's just Macy and me.  I am constantly thinking about going home, I have so much to look forward to and I know I will be given a joyful welcome at O'Hare.  Allow me to share with you, what I look forward to most:

Family: Nothing beats being home for the holidays.  This is even more true now that I am living in Russia (last year I was in a different state and this year I am in a different country)!!  I am excited for Mother-Daughter shopping excursions and Daddy-Daughter hot cocoa drinking in front of the fireplace.  I am also excited (my parents too) that Chad and Carrie will be home too.  I can't remember the last holiday where Chad and I have been together for a holiday (I believe 2 Christmases ago).  Macy will also be meeting my family for the first time.  

Friends: I will be reuniting with my Indy roomies!  I can't wait to see everyone and catch up.  Hopefully my immunity to jet lag continues, since I will be seeing them the day after I land.

Chicago:  My mother and I will be making a trip before Christmas.  Ryan and I will be joining his family in Chicago after the New Year, before he flies to Scotland (more training) and I remain in the States longer.  

Utah: My inspiration for changing the blog design.  I will be making my first trip out West.  Ryan has a snowboarding trip planned.  I have never snowboarded or skied, but I will make my first attempts (fingers crossed I don't severely hurt myself).  We are leaving a few days before New Years and will spend New Years in Utah.  Brad and Linda (Chevron expats living with us in Russia) have been kind enough to open their home to us.  I will make attempts at snowboarding, but it will most likely turn into Linda and I shopping. :)

Shopping: I definitely, single handedly boosted the retail economy of Northwest Indiana when I was home in July.  I am ready to shop!  

Food: I know I mentioned this before I went home this summer, but as always, I am looking forward to eating.  I have become so excited for American brand foods, restaurants, etc. that I have completely lost my appetite here.  Also, Ryan is gone, so I never cook when he is away.  I sent my mother a "grocery list" which included Kashi cereal and vanilla yogurt.  Two things I cannot find here and desperately miss.  

Driving:  Look out folks, I will be behind the wheel again.  If it is anything like this summer, I will spend the first couple days driving UNDER the speed limit, but that will wear off with time.  I miss driving and the independence you feel when you can drive yourself somewhere.  I will not miss getting dropped off and picked up at the door of every place.  I will especially miss our drivers and that luxury when it is very cold and snowy, or the parking lot is full and I have to hunt for a parking space.   

Snow: I believe winter has settled in here.  The temperatures have been cold and it has been raining the past couple days.  I don't believe they get much snow here, but if it is anything like when we moved here in March, winter means cold, rainy and windy.  Ryan and I both say we would rather have snow than rain.  Now, I only want snow if it is the pretty, white, huge snowflake, fluffy kind (take note Mother Nature).  Macy got a small taste of snow in Moscow when we moved here, but she didn't get to play in it.  I can't wait to see what she does when she can run and play in the snow!!  

English: I talked to EVERYONE this summer.  I struck up conversations with cashiers at every store.  I even had random conversations with people while waiting in checkout lines.  I may be learning Russian (slowly) but I am nowhere near the point of comfort that I can carry on a conversation.  I will talk to Lena, my Russian instructor freely, but she understands my broken Russian.  Other than Lena, the only other person I speak to in Russian is our one driver Vitaly (Sergei is too shy).  I will ramble on like a Chatty Cathy with him.  Luckily he is patient and takes the time to listen.  My Russian isn't always perfect and a few English words sneak their way into the conversation, but all in all, it's a conversation.  Look out general population, I will be out and ready to TALK.

I think this covers the major points.  I am sure there is more, there always is.  I know I will enjoy looking back at this blog in the future and laughing at what random things I missed.  Oh, Russia, you're not awful, but you are no comparison to the United States. 

A Slow Cooker Week...

After a successful "chicken" Thanksgiving dinner and my first entire cooked bird, I decided to try my luck with another form of cooking I have not ventured into much.  The famous Crock Pot dinners.  I believe fall and winter is a popular time for slow cookers.  I have been receiving numerous emails from my fitness websites with a wide variety of slow cooker recipes.  Women have also been featured that used a slow cooker for each meal for an entire year.  I decided to dedicate a week to the slow cooker.  Unfortunately, I did not bring a slow cooker and the slow cookers in Russia are quite odd looking (so much that I cannot convince myself to buy one).  Luckily, my friend, Kim brought a Crock Pot in her shipment.

Slow Cooker....Check
Transformer in order to use Crock Pot....Check
Recipes.....Check (I had recipes, but, of course, I did not follow them)
Hungry Husband.....Check :)

First Dinner: Potato and Ham Soup

Below all the toppings (bacon, chili peppers, cheese and croutons), I promise there is a lovely bowl of ham and potato soup.  This was a low calorie recipe (shocking, I know) so Ryan felt it was only acceptable to add even more toppings.  We had a dinner guest this evening, Graham, one of the gentlemen that joined us for Thanksgiving.  Apparently my dinner was delicious enough for him to return again.

I was officially "pumpkined out" but I wanted to have a dessert to serve.  I found a light carrot cake cupcake recipe.  Rather than the typical cream cheese frosting, I decided to go with a basic sugar glaze.  Oh, but wait, I wanted to take it up a notch, so I added a splash (large splash) of Amaretto to the glaze.  Fantastic addition!!  I have decided to spike all future sugar glaze.

The guys added a scoop of ice cream and topped it with, as Graham refers to as "hundreds and thousands" (the British term for sprinkles).

Second Dinner: Turkey Vegetable Stew

I found small turkey medallions and wanted to make something with turkey.  I pulled a Mama Pagels and basically started throwing random things into the Crock Pot, hoping for a good turnout.  I diced some extra potatoes and carrots I didn't use in the Potato Soup.  Threw them in with the turkey, onion, some diced tomatoes, frozen peas and corn.  It became a throw in whatever you have around that you want to use up.  Upon first taste test, it was very bland.  I decided to start dumping in a variety of seasonings and what do you know, it was delicious.  Hungry Husband went crazy over this culinary creation.

Final Dinner of the Week: Chicken Vegetable Curry

This dinner may have won me "Wife of the Year" if Ryan were the only judge.  Again, I threw the recipe out and started throwing things in.  Why did I even collect recipes?  I wanted to use the can of coconut milk I found, so that started the dinner, add chicken, onion and tons of curry and various spices.  Let simmer all day (very tender chicken) about midday I decided on my vegetables and threw in cauliflower and green beans.  I didn't want to add potatoes or beans since we were going to have this over rice (too many carbs).

The curry was fantastic, but what really earned me wife of the year, was the homemade Naan (I know, I limited carbs in the curry, but then add bread to the dinner).   Ryan went crazy when he walked into the kitchen and saw what I was making.  Again, major thumbs up from Ryan.

The conclusion I have come to is that slow cookers are nice to have.  They are easy to use, but I did not really get a huge feeling of the so called "quick meals."  Maybe it's because I try to use lots of fresh vegetables, so they add time with cleaning and chopping.  Regardless, all dinners were yummy and hungry husband now has lots of frozen containers in the freezer to feed himself when I am still back in the States.  That brings up another point, Crock Pots are great when making large amounts of food.

Feel free to share any Crock Pot recipes, I may not follow them exactly, but they may inspire a dinner idea.

Macy look alike....

I can't believe we are ending our first week in December.  Time seems to be flying in Russia (ironically).  Maybe the countdown I have going until my flight back to the States or the thousand emails I have sent back and forth with my Mother in regards to Christmas gifts have occupied the majority of my time.  I love the holiday season so much.  My Mother and I are all about shopping and finding the perfect gift.  Also, since Macy will be joining my family for the holidays, my Mother has gone into "grand puppy" mode and is preparing everything to make it perfect for Macy's arrival.  You think I spoil Macy?  You have not seen anything yet.  Macy will be a complete diva and spoiled pooch after 10 seconds with my Mother. :)

The other day, I was flipping through my most recent Glamour magazine.  I was turning pages and oooooing over cute clothes and ahhhhing over cute shoes (there was also much fuming in regards to the fact I cannot find these items in Russia!!!).  During all of this page turning, I stumbled upon an ad that caused me to stop.  I found a Macy look alike!  Now, unfortunately the dog in the picture is advertising for Coach (I will keep all of my negative stereotypes of Coach owners silent) and not for an excellent handbag company like Kate Spade.

I do realize the one white eye is different, but you have to admit, it's a pretty close match!  

This picture is simply because I am reminiscing about how tiny she was when we first got her.  It was around this time last year.  

A Russian Thanksgiving

As many American families gathered for Thanksgiving Dinner, our Russian Thanksgiving dinner was coming to a close (don't forget the 9-10 hour time difference).

Our Thanksgiving Dinner was a very memorable one.  This Thanksgiving was my first time preparing all foods solo and I had to go about the preparations with what is available in Russia.  I enjoy cooking and I enjoy making things from scratch, but I would have loved to have a few American conveniences (French's Onions and my mother's multiple ovens come to mind).  As much as I enjoy cooking, there is one food I hate to cook and until this Thanksgiving, I had never attempted.  A whole (entire?) bird.  In this case, it was a chicken (a turkey would not have fit in our oven, plus I didn't want to have a massive amount of leftovers).

After much deliberation at the store, I chose my chicken.  I did a fair amount of Internet research, finding various recipes for our Thanksgiving side dishes.  I ventured to multiple stores collecting ingredients.  I was set for Thanksgiving Dinner preparation.  I developed a "schedule" for the oven.  You may giggle at this, but with only one oven and Fischer Price size too, it is crucial to plan ahead.  I began my preparations after Ryan left for work Thursday morning (about 8:00 a.m.), took a 2 hour break about 10 a.m. for my daily trip to the gym and returned to the kitchen, working until dinner was served at 7:00 p.m.  I will not try and sugar coat this next sentence; making a Thanksgiving Dinner is TIME CONSUMING!!  The time issue may have been a result of working alone or making everything from scratch (most likely a mix of both).

Our Thanksgiving menu:

chicken
roasted vegetables
stuffing
green bean casserole
cornbread
cranberry sauce (cheat on my part, I brought a can back from the States this summer)
pumpkin pie

Sweet Potatoes were sadly missed.  I could not find them anywhere.

Guests included two men (one gentleman is from the U.K.) from Ryan's team.  Both of the guys were bachelors (wives were traveling) for Thanksgiving.  The dinner received excellent reviews and thankfully the guys ate a lot.  I did not want a ton of leftovers.

Food waiting for the dinner table.

I wanted to show the cramped oven.  Chicken with vegetables on bottom and stuffing on top.

Mini pumpkin pies.  I spiked the pie with Amaretto.  The white is a sugared almond crumble. 

Green Bean Casserole.  I would have loved to have French's Onions but this caramelized onion breadcrumb topping was a decent substitute.  I was pretty excited I made the homemade cream of mushroom soup. 

Mini cornbread muffins.

Out of the oven, stuffing and chicken.  Thank you Mom for sending me back with Reynolds Oven Bags.  

I wanted to take a picture with all the guys around the table, but they thought it was more appropriate for me to be in the picture. 

Check this one off the list.  Russian Thanksgiving was a delicious success.

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Our last and final destination in Egypt was in the lovely, relaxing and oh, so sunny Sharm El Sheikh.  I would compare Sharm El Sheikh to the Caribbean.  Just as North Americans frequently visit the Caribbean for a warm, sunny getaway, Europeans and Russians visit Sharm El Sheikh.  I am very glad Ryan chose this destination to be our last stop prior to our return to Russia.

Sharm El Sheikh contained no historical value, no Egyptian architecture and definitely no Egyptian hustlers.  It was strictly planned as a warm, sunny, relaxing stop.  We did enjoy the warmth, we did soak up much of the sunny rays and we did find much time to relax.  We also took part in one of my "bucket list" items, riding a camel.  Let's just say, riding a camel is nowhere near as glamorous as the Sex and the City movie portrays.  Camel rides are comparable to a wooden roller coaster (you may relate if you have ever ridden a wooden roller coaster).  They are a bumpy ride, very high up and you are just waiting for the moment you fall off.  When the camel stands up, it is like ascending to the highest peak of the coaster, when the camel sits down, image the steep angle and fear associated with a giant drop.  The ride also became much more interesting (scary) when Ryan dismounted his camel and prior to me dismounting my camel, his camel decided to turn around and try to BITE my camel.  My camel was not having any of it, he shot up (I had already braced myself for the sitting and was no longer holding on for dear life) and a large amount of high pitched screaming spewed from my mouth.  Do not get me wrong, I am happy that we rode camels and I am thankful I can check it off my bucket list, but I could have done without the "kicking the bucket" feelings during the ride.

Ryan was able to participate in an activity that he has been talking about for quite some time, scuba diving. He signed up to take an introductory course through a company affiliated with our hotel.  He did some research prior to our trip and discovered the Ritz Carlton of Sharm El Sheik is known for their diving company and they have a private (actually very nice) coral reef off their hotel (the hotel is on the shores of the Red Sea).  Originally, he planned to become certified during our stay, but there is a time restriction between a deep water dive and plane flight (something about decompression sickness).  He decided on the introductory course and convinced me to join him.  I was willing to give scuba diving a try.  Sure, why not, how bad could it be?  The sitting, learning the facts, book portion of the class was a breeze for me.  I knew every signal, knew how to hook up the equipment, I was a pro.  Then things started to go downhill or more realistically, I was in over my head.  Our instructor had us "suit up" wet suit (check), vest (check), weight belt!?!?!(check, but was really questioning this addition), respirator and oxygen tank (check, but goodness, gracious, this thing is heavy), face mask (check), and flippers (check).

After much slow and awkward penguin walking, I finally made it to the edge of the pool.  I was ready for the next portion of the class, pool instruction.  I should have known things were not looking good for me when the instructor simply walked off the edge, into the pool, then turned around and motioned for me to "walk in."  Let me fill you in on Ryan, up to this point he is like a scuba diving master.  He dominated the knowledge portion and walked into the water like he was going for a Sunday stroll.  I, on the other hand, finally found the courage to walk in.  To shorten the story and give you the main stand out moments, I spent the entire time (approximately 10 minutes underwater) with one hand cemented to my respirator, making sure it did not come out, shaking my head no and pumping air back into my vest every time our instructor released air.  Do not try to visualize this too much, it was not a pleasant sight.  Again, Ryan was a fish, master of the water.  I finally clawed my way up the pool side, to the water surface and clung for my dear life.  Ryan finally told the instructor that his efforts were great, but there was no way I was going to proceed to the third portion of the class, open water dive.

As soon as the instructor unsnapped my weight belt, removed my oxygen tank and I ripped off my flippers, I felt like a human again and no longer a handicap frog.  Ryan proceeded to the open water portion and I made a straight shot to the beach.  I poured my heart out to the beach attendant as he prepped my towel and beach chair.  I told him of my failures with scuba diving and he simply shook his head and responded with, "if you want to look at fish, you don't need to scuba dive, I'll bring the fish to the pool for you."  After the beach attendant's kind words and the glorious warmth of the sunshine, my breathing finally returned to normal rather than the short, gasping breaths I experienced in the pool.  Come to think of it, the lovely, fresh, oxygen filled air surrounding me may have been the primary cause for my normal breathing.  Ryan found me after his open water dive and filled me in on all the fantastic underwater sights.

Prior to the scuba diving class, we had signed up for a snorkeling boat trip the following day.  Even after my scuba experience, I was still ready for snorkeling.  The snorkeling was beautiful, I have never seen such impressive corals, giant fish and we found Nemo!  Again, Ryan was a fish.  He spent every possible second in the water, free diving and exploring.  We even had some lovely dolphin tour guides join our boat and guide our path through the water!!

Enjoy the photo album.  Sharm El Sheikh, the place for many first (and last) experiences.

Sharm El Sheikh

Luxor, Egypt

*Large sigh of relief*

I have finally finished uploading all pictures, writing captions and making final additions to the Luxor Photo Album.  The album contains over 150 pictures (consider yourself warned).  Luxor was filled with so many photo opportunities.  I wanted to capture all the tombs, torches and temples.

Highlights of Luxor included Valley of the Kings, Karnak Temple, and Luxor Temple.

Karnak Temple

Luxor Temple

The highlight of the trip (for me, I can't speak for Ryan) was our sunrise hot air balloon ride.  A very large portion of the photo album contains pictures from the ride.  It was a very cold and early morning, but it was worth every minute.

Enjoy the photo album.  Our last stop, Sharm El-Sheik will be posted in the near future.

Luxor, Egypt

Tis the Season...

for mental turbulence.  I'm not talking violent turbulence, just simple mental disturbance.  Wait, disturbance sounds wrong, really bad.  I am not having mental issues, I am simply very distracted lately.

So, if the introduction to this post isn't enough proof of my current mental instability (again, sounds worse once you read the word aloud).  I would like to share with you all the items that are currently distracting me.

*Going home for the holidays.  I mentioned this before, but December 15th, I and Macy will board a plane bound for Chicago.  Maybe the fact that Macy is going to meet my parents for the first time, or the fact that my parents are so "stinkin' excited" to have Macy visit, but either way, this little lady (me) is super excited to fly home.  Fly was another poor word choice.  I dread the long flight home, (luckily I have discovered the perfect long flight solution) and I worry about Macy.

*Christmas.  Everything involved with this season makes me overwhelmingly happy.  Last weekend, Ryan and I put the tree up.  I can't help but smile every time I turn the lights on, or when I walk into the living room and see it shining.

It may be small but it is mighty. 

 Continuing with the Christmas topic, my next pleasant distraction is CHRISTMAS MUSIC.  Will not try to even tame this joy, I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC.  If I were not able to get Pandora radio through our computer VPN, I would not be able to continue living here.  I singing is awful, my dance moves are erratic, but I do not let either hinder my Christmas music celebration.  If I am in the apartment, then Christmas music is playing.  I turn it off during sleep and my Russian lessons (definitely don't need any extra distractions during the task of learning Russian).  Macy has danced with me to countless songs and she has endured my singing (I do not think deafness has set in).  The sad truth, the VPN slows our Internet, which makes blog posting or doing anything else on the Internet annoying.  Problem solved, I use Ryan's iPad for the Pandora radio.

*Macy is a year round distraction, but is escalated during the holiday season.  Please see following pictures.

Her only fitting sweater and that was only after I cut the leg openings.  Luckily it is Christmas red and is oh, so perfect for this time of year.  Look out States, upon my arrival, Macy will be outfitted in new, fitting sweaters. 

This is just sad, but come on, what do you expect from me? It was in one of the local supermarkets and I couldn't pass the opportunity.   I can't explain the braids, must be a Russian thing.

People have said if you dress up your dog you are either crazy or need to have kids.  I am not crazy and I do not need children anytime soon.  My only justification: leave family and friends, move to Russia and have a husband with an extensive work travel schedule.  Once you meet all 3, then you may judge my excessive love for Macy.

*Latest addition.  I have finally succeeded in locating a fireplace!!!  A few weeks ago, my friend Rose and I planned a simple, relaxing chili dinner.  The night progressed with a power outage, candlelit dinner, lots of wine and tears in front of a fireplace.  This dinner coincided with my bout of homesickness and the fireplace was the perfect addition to the evening.  The next day, I spent hours, literally hours searching this city for the fireplace.  The store Rose found her's no longer had any, nor did any other store, except for a final floor display.  I bought it, brought it home and shocker, it was broken.  I sadly took it back.  Well, have no fear, last weekend, Ryan and I were out and found the fireplace!  

Macy spends pretty much her entire day in near proximity to the lovely source of comfort and heat.  Picture this scene, turn on the Christmas tree, put a cup of hot tea in one hand, my Kindle in the other, park me on the chair pictured behind Macy, and slightly angle the fireplace and I could not ask for more. This fireplace does not compare with my parent's, but it is lovely and I am so thankful to have this little addition to our apartment.

*Thanksgiving Dinner.  I know, I know, I put Christmas before Thanksgiving.  It is sad to not be with my family for Thanksgiving.  Ironically, I would love to join my mother in the kitchen, preparing all the food for Thanksgiving.  My mother is an amazing cook, luckily her culinary skills have magically been passed on.  It really is magical, considering the woman does not use recipes and simply "throws things in."  I have developed a just throw it together attitude and my cooking creations seem to turn out very well.  Tomorrow, I will attempt my first Thanksgiving dinner, solo, in Russia and with Russian bought food.  My quote earlier today, "I either have a very small dead turkey in my refrigerator or a very large dead chicken."  Upon further investigation, it is a chicken and it is still disgusting.  I have never attempted to cook an entire "old dead bird" (dad's words).  Maybe that is why I miss helping my mom, I need her here to help me.  I will report later on my Thanksgiving Dinner success (hopefully).  Speaking of my mother, today is her birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Hopefully this post will help to alleviate my mental turbulence (I can already tell you it hasn't) or maybe it will only prove even further how happy this time of year makes me (very true).  Regardless of how you look at it, I have much to appreciate and much to look forward to.  Oh, and to revisit  the original, true purpose for this post.  I know we have been back from Egypt for over a week and I have only posted for Cairo.  Hold your horses, I will post the rest in the next couple days.  :)  

So many, too many distractions!! :)

"Get away from the computer and come snuggle.  My lack of thumbs prevent me from handing you a cup of tea and your Kindle, but hopefully my charming good looks are enticing enough."

A Peek Inside

We purchase tickets to go inside The Great Pyramid of Giza, Pyramid of Khufu and you're telling me no cameras!?!

No worries, Ryan's Blackberry captured a couple images.

A peek inside...

"I'm in a pyramid!"

"Me too!"

At 5'6", I am not a tall person.  I consider myself to be in decent shape, but place me in a tiny tunnel with an incredible incline, limit air circulation and only provide plywood with small wooden pegs and my limits are tested.  To make it even more interesting, this passage is not one way, as we were ascending, others were descending.  I guess I shouldn't complain, they did provide a handrail.  With knees bent and back hunched, Ryan and I made our way up to the King's Chamber.

No pictures inside the chamber, but we encountered another "hustler" who acted as a mini tour guide within the chamber.  He gave us a "lovely" explanation then preceded to try and extract money from Ryan.  "No thanks pal, you are not part of this tour.  Better luck with the next pair of tourists."

If I thought the climb up was interesting, going down was another challenge.  Face first?... feet first?... doesn't really matter.  Since there were other tourists making their way up and trying to be respectful, I chose feet first, I didn't feel the need to greet upcoming tourists with a face full of my derriere.  Ryan followed behind, taking pictures.

"Are you taking a picture of my butt?"

"Are your legs getting a workout too?"

In order to provide measurements and to support our pictures, I did some highly complicated research, I went to wikipedia. :)  The passage is 3.1 ft high and 3.4 ft wide.  The angle is at 26.

My translation, "super small, super steep."

Cairo, Egypt

Our second R&R for 2011 was spent in Egypt.  Friday, November 4th Ryan and I landed in Cairo.

Cairo was full of impressive architecture, impressive amounts of trash and impressive hustling.

Impressive architecture.  The Pyramids of Giza and The Great Sphinx were both on my "wish list" of things to see in my lifetime.  I feel like every history museum in the United States, or even around the World contains some exhibit on Egyptian history.  The episodes on National Geographic or even the photos do not adequately prepare you for the massive size.  Walking through the tunnels inside takes you back to a previous time.  How were they able to create such massive creations?  How did they accurately plan the placement of each block in order to create tunnels within?  Were they only 3 feet tall, these tunnels are tiny?!?!  Photos from Ryan's phone will help you to understand the "difficulty" we had maneuvering.

Impressive amounts of trash.  Impressive is not the correct term, I simply used it to go with the "impressive" theme.  The amounts of trash around Cairo were like nothing I have ever seen before.  Underpasses were piled high with trash, river embankments were piled with trash, any spare area of grass was piled with trash.  Our tour guide did not try to hide the fact that they have a trash problem.  I did not take pictures of the trash because I did not want to remember Cairo because of its trash, but rather its history.  But consider yourself warned, if you ever travel to Cairo, you will be met with unimaginable amounts of trash.

Impressive hustling.  This is a true downside to Cairo.  For an area with such incredible history, it is discouraging to have such aggressive hustlers.  Ryan and I have been fortunate to travel to many areas of the world this year.  Each area we travelled to had a certain pride in their country, their history and their tourism.  Cairo is not included.  We felt that locals did not take pride in the Pyramids but rather used them to exploit tourists.  Each step was met with a new hustler trying to get us to buy something.  Or each time we showed interest in a certain item, the desire to get as much money out of us as possible was overwhelming.  The hustlers did not hinder my enjoyment of the Pyramids, but they did make for a slightly less relaxing experience.

My photo album for Cairo focuses on the impressive architecture with no trash or hustlers representation.

Welcome to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Cairo, Egypt

Breaking tradition...

Each year I anxiously await for the Friday after Thanksgiving.  No, I do not participate in Black Friday Sales.

I force myself to resist the urge to play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.  Christmas is my favorite holiday and time of year.  Christmas music makes me happier than anything else (even ice cream). I have decided that since I am in Russia and will not be participating in a family Thanksgiving dinner, I will break tradition.  Today, November 15th, I started playing my Christmas station on Pandora.  It is unbelievably wonderful!!  Ironically, this is also the one month countdown until I fly back to the States.  December 15th Macy and I will board a plane from Moscow to Chicago.  Ryan will fly a week later.

All the music has inspired me to decorate, but I will wait.  Ryan does not know this yet (he is in Moscow), but this weekend there will be plenty of Christmas music, hot chocolate and we will decorate our mini Christmas tree.  No worries, I will post pictures.

Also, pictures from our recent trip to Egypt will be posted in the coming days.  I don't think I mentioned this previously, but the past 9 or 10 days were spent in Cairo, Luxor and Sharm El Sheik, Egypt.

Macy loves fresh laundry....

I do not know if this is an inherited or learned trait, but Macy is quite fond of fresh laundry.  Dryer sheets have always been her addiction.  If she happened to "stumble upon" a dryer sheet, it was immediately swept away to her kennel and quickly pulverized, not eaten, but ravenously shredded.

After much patience on my part and dedicated discipline, Macy no longer "stumbles upon" aka. "hunts" for dryer sheets.  When I dispose of used dryer sheets in the trash can, they remain in the trash can.  I struggled discipling her for the dryer sheet offenses; who am I to tell her "no" for loving the sweet smell of fresh laundry.  I find myself sniffing dryer sheets before throwing them into the dryer and taking one last sniff of the used dryer sheet before trashing.  My main complaint was that she would shred the dryer sheet, making it very difficult to clean up.  Well, it did not take long, only a few days, and Macy overcame her addiction to dryer sheets.  No need for a 12 step program, just 12 million "no", and "bad Macy"



Macy relapsed.  

I always play Pandora while cleaning, I was being a dance machine thanks to Pandora's amazing song selection and I noticed my dance partner was MIA.  I found her and a dryer sheet not in the trash can. 

"I'm so sorry.  I put myself in time out."

"I know you're not saying anything, but please don't give me the look.  Please take into consideration I did not shred them."

Seriously, how can I discipline this face?  I did my typical, "Oh, no Macy. What did you do?"  Just when I thought I was being the good disciplinary, I broke down laughing.   

The previous relapse occurred Friday while I was washing the sheets for our bed.

The next relapse occurred last night.  I had washed some bathroom towels and had them air drying.  Macy couldn't resist the fresh laundered smell.

The tan towel is one of our bathroom hand towels.
"I know it's not a dryer sheet and I can't deny that I took it off the drying rack.  No worries though, I put myself in time out."

I took this last relapse as a giant HINT that Macy wanted her bedding washed.  Macy got a bath this morning and I washed all her towels.   She jumped for joy as I pulled the clean, warm towels from the dryer.  As soon as I threw them back into her kennel, she quickly pulled them out.  She enjoyed their warmth and fresh laundered smell while completing her daily sunbathing.