Mondays... sigh

Mondays always make me think about how wonderful it would be to make some changes to my life. My job is getting me down. I cannot see the sun (not much opportunity in SF as is) because there is a cloud of "executives" swarming around my head to get the work done. Get out there and do some work yourselves, you might enjoy it and learn something in the process.

I went to lunch with my hubby, that was a highlight of the day. It is interesting walking down the street with him as we keep constantly encountering people he knows (as if we are not in the financial district in SF, but rather in some village in Iceland.) ... who was the blonde waitress energetically waving at him I wonder?... hmmmm

Coco

Sonechka is just like Coco, the gorilla. When we ask Sonia what her name is, she pounds on her chest in a Tarzan fashion and says "Baby... Baby" It is so cute! She is unbelievably smart and funny, and we enjoy her as I don't think we ever enjoyed anything in our lives. When Anton and Masha were little like that, we were too stressed and too worried. We are a lot more relaxed now and we have fun watching her grow.

By the way, "baby" and "cookie" are the only two words she knows in English.

Horrible Mother

Sonia had a rough night again last night: tossing and turning, crying, sobbing, moving, drinking her milk... and lots of pacifier action. I went to lie down with her while Vadim was still watching TV and tried to comfort her the best I could. She is not terribly cuddly when she is irritated, but I tried my very best. Well, after several sleepless nights my ability to stay alert was gone completely and I fell asleep. I was woken up a couple of times: once by a foot being stuck right into my open mouth, the second time.... from a very loud bang -- that was Sonia hitting the floor (she must have rolled right off the bed in her sleep.) Oh My God! I am in complete shock, this is the first time this ever happened to me. The baby is ok. We had a regular check-up with her doctor and he didn't notice any signs of trauma or anything (how could he notice anything when she was screaming bloody murder from the moment we entered the office until the moment the clinic was out of her sight?) She is fine, but I am still in shock... what a horrible mother I am! To kick the self-torture and guilt up a notch, I shared the incident with my mother-in-law...

Cardiology Appointment

Sonik's cardio appointment went well. I always dread those. Both Sonik and I suffer from anxiety when it comes to doctors! She behaved perfectly though. It is so much easier now that she actually listens to what I say and understands what needs to be done....but ONLY IN RUSSIAN! Echo, EKG, blood pressures... Sonia tolerated everything with utmost patience. I am so proud of my baby! I think we are cardio appointment free for at least 6 months.

Baby Sonik is under the weather

My Sonechka seems a little sick... when she is a little sick, she makes A LOT of trouble especially during the night. It is such a huge difference between my normally agreeable and sweet child and this screaming monster that appears at the first signs of illness. My heart breaks to see her that way... it also breaks for that poor lad that will marry her! This irritable annoyed dissatisfied child is guaranteed to come out at least once a month and torture her mate. Vadim thought that I was bad, but I believe both of my girls, but especially Sonia, will surpass me in bitchiness hands down. Yes, these two angelic looking females are the ones I am talking about!

Husband's socks

My favorite man in the whole world loves leaving his worn (dirty) socks in the most unexpected of places... like his office chair... the bed... the living room sofa... I love how he always nicely puts one on top of the other as if to make sure they are nicely arranged and aesthetically pleasing when someone (I!!!!!) finds them. Like a little surprise! Like an inspiring still life - a tribute to domestication! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Obama for me

Who should you vote for?

Barack Obama				78
John McCain	-84

You expected: Barack Obama
Your recommendation: Barack Obama

Party: Democratic
Born: 1961, Honolulu, Hawaii
Family: wife and two daughters
Career: Business International Corporation; NYPIRG; attorney and constitutional law lecturer
Political career: Member of the Illinois State Senate from the 13th district, 1997-2004. Incumbent Junior Senator from Illinois since 2005
Hot topic: Universal healthcare
Did you know? He is the only African American currently serving in the US Senate
Supported by: Oprah Winfrey, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, George Clooney, Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Michael Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Ed Norton, Jennifer Aniston, Zach Braff, John Cleese, Leonard Nimoy and Brooke Shields

Allergic to Holidays

I am allergic to Holidays. I don't enjoy them one bit. I don't like fireworks, crowds, gifts, cakes with candles, playing dress-up, shopping, stress, staying up until midnight, formal dinners... I like everyday life and spontaneous visits of friends and family, nothing planned, nothing expected. With holiday season just around the corner I am slowly getting irritated. Can I boycott the holidays this year? Will this traumatize my kids? I have to think this through.

Judgemental Post

I am a rather opinionated person and, as such, less tolerant and open-minded than I wished to be. I am judgemental, but I reserve the right to pass any judgement that I want (not publicly, but within the intertwined corridors of my intelligence and my conscience.) I view everything through the prism of my own life, of my expectations towards myself and people around me. In a way that is setting oneself up for some serious disillusionment later on in life. I am almost 33 years old and I am a naive romantic maximalist. I am nauseated by infidelity, by lies, by abuse and cruelty... i fall apart when I hear of unwanted children or animals and weep when I hear happy endings to those stories...

Today it is infidelity of a friend... I cannot even bring myself to look at the woman or say hello to her... I feel sick to my stomach and completely unwilling to understand her. I am also a lot more tolerant of the man in this situation, why? Is it because it is expected? I am so predictable and so childish. I want to lock myself in a bright pink castle of my illusions and stay there. I fear facing these people because I would then have to examine myself and question my life. And I absolutely refuse to do that, judging others is a much easier task.

Weekend notes

My weekends are always overwhelming. I wonder if one of my single friends complaining of loneliness could handle a three day weekend like mine. I doubt it! Not because I am any sort of hero, I am sure I would have a hell of a time if I were "wife-swapped" into a family with 9 kids.

The weather was so beautiful. We have hot days and cool nights, the October weather is wonderful, but I miss my change in seasons. There is no color explosion in the Golden Gate park or anywhere in the city, the leaves just kind of go from green to brown and then fall off onto the city streets making them look unappealing and dirty. I cannot even get my melancholy waves as there is nothing that triggers my emotions, nothing at all that reminds me of Pushkin's "ochei ocharovanie..." I did find one tree and drowned my camera in the branches!



We went to the beach for the afternoon, but we are becoming less and less of an outdoorsy family... I don't see anybody having an incredibly good time. Somehow, we love our house so much that given an opportunity all of us would probably retract back into the safety of our "home shell."


My son is gaining his confidence back and it makes me so happy! He had a hard year last year in terms of his team sports, his health, his friendships, etc. This year is so much better! He loves his hockey team, he fits in, he scored two goals on Saturday, a goal and several assists on Sunday (and overall just picking up speed!) I am so happy. He is very athletic, but he is also a shy boy playing contact sports (a very hard thing to do!) Here is a pic from this weekend - playing tennis with Dad.





My girls had fun, but there was a healthy dose of bickering, tears, screaming, hugging, running around and getting bumps and bruises...







My husband was giving himself a creative haircut-shave combo with random patches of hair left all over his head! Looks very chic, no?