memories and more

I don't have any kids of my own... but I've sure met a lot of them... lots and lots. And I do enjoy kids. They're so full of personality and character. One of the most exciting times in the life of me was when my nephews and neices came on the scene. They are super-special, darling (just think superlatives for all positive adjectives you can come up with... except maybe well-behaved 100% of the time, but anyway...)

But before there were nephies and neice-ies, there were other little tykes. Cute. Out-going. Shy. Skinny. Chunky. Tall. Short. You name it, there was someone to fit the bill. Well, this little dude was in my inbox today- and he brought a certain kid vividly to mind. Now this kid is currently something like 15- so I won't embarrass him by naming him- but maybe his mom will recognize him. It was memorable. He had a book called 'Vegetables Gone Bad' or something like that... all about a little boy who didn't like some kind of vegetable and he managed to hide them when he was supposed to be eating them...but these veggies came back in the night to 'haunt' him (or something like that). So one Sunday afternoon, we were having lunch with this little guy's family and his peas were disappearing like nobody's business... Only later did someone discover he'd stuffed them all down into the top of the hollow leg of his metal folding chair! Poor kid- someone mentioned the 'Vegetables Gone Bad' book- and he got really worried. (I always thought he was rather clever!)

This next one's for all the foodies among us... make sure to get a great soup base- any soup'll be good after that!

little people

I skyped with my sis awhile ago. It's always a fun time. For one thing, she has so many interesting kids... here's some of what I saw (via webcam).

- Sis and I chatting; Madi, as always, has to be on Mama's lap- she's always been a cuddler- she used to have to scrunch her nose and mouth into your neck for 30 min before she'd fall asleep. She's the only one of the nephers and neiceys that were remotely cuddly when I was around. Anyway, Mama's lap no longer holds as many kids at once (kids are getting bigger you know) so Miki pressed up against Mama's knees and solemnly looked at the web cam- she's good at solemn looks. JennaMae roars up (that's exactly how it was, too) behind Mi and without any warning whatsoever, ruffles Mi's hair- as in starts at the nape of her neck and totally runs her hand up the back of her head all the way to her forehead and then rocks her head from side to side... I mean, she messed that kid's hair up but good... I was in awe. Of course, Mi wastes no more than about 5.5 seconds before she manages to dissolve into loud angry wails; JM is told to behave. (This may be a good place to say that JM seems absolutely driven to be ornery sometimes- she's got these little twin sisters and it's her mission in life to make sure they know that she's tougher than they are right now... and she's not quite 4 yet... she's cute, adorable, pink... and she won't be pushed around, Thank You.) Meanwhile, big bro Justin comes along holding the new puppy. It's completely clear by the way he cradles her tenderly that Princess Heart (I didn't name her) is his best friend. He holds her just right. He's sweet to her. He pets her nicely. He holds her up to the camera so I can see her. Along comes JM and swipes the dog away... and that's where this comic strip comes into play. The next thing I know, my sister's attention is no longer on me or the webcam or skype- oh no. She's nearly flying out of her chair and her big stern Mom voice says JM, you put that dog down- it's not a doll and you can't sling it around by its neck... and I can see by her face that the dog's lucky to be alive... Poor JM... it's tough being the 'middle child'... (tough being the dog, too)

I also talk to my brother and his family via computer. Owen has been the main talker (as far as kids go) the last couple times. Which is neat because he was this little round toddler who didn't need to talk the last time I saw him. So now, he's got this low, growly voice- it's adorable!

Here he is... I'm so enamored of him, I couldn't decide which pic to use, so I just did 'em both! He was having headphone issues tonight- they kept falling off. (and I was having cell-phone issues... forgot that I could have just used the Print Screen button to get a good copy of the pic... oh well...) I had the longest conversation in history with O when I asked him all about the pirate birthday party he'd been at recently. It was too cute! Thanks for posting those pix, Megan- asked him about walking the plank- he got all animated then!

Forrest kept roaring in and out of the pic- with a plastic chair, with a comb (he likes to comb my other brother's hair)... he was trying to put it into a ponytail...

ok, this is mostly just rambling. Time for bed, I guess.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow's the day! Hope you're all having some time with family... and turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie... Once again- please eat a piece for me!

Our day tomorrow will mostly consist of getting ready for some special company... but no special T-day food. Phyllis is making lasagna, complete with homemade lasagna noodles. I'm collecting them at the airport. Two couples who are hoping to leave with another child each. So, these next days will be interesting indeed!

yawn.... good-night! xo

random pix

Started this post ages ago... just found it in the drafts box.

Someone sent me this pic... I give you....................................................

Cats!for some reason, I felt compelled to show you my recent iGoogle homepage banner. There's a different one each time the page is opened. This one reminded me of a book I read not too long ago. An Eva Ibbotson book. Technically, a children's book- but she's an excellent writer. This could have been taken from one of her books... at least I think so (and this is very important news... did you want to see today's iGoogle banner? No???? Oh, ok... sorreeeee)

this is a shot of a very good friend... a stovetop espresso maker. Oh My. Oh Wow. Thanks very much, V, for leaving it behind when you left Kyiv. I'll be your friend forever. For completely unselfish, un... um, unmaterialistic reasons... yes... (I'm not sure if I'll have the strength to leave it behind ever... is that a bad thing? gulp)

hahaha- this one's dedicated to a friend... not sure if said person even looks at this but if so (or if said person's Better Half does) I think they'll recognize themself...

oh me oh my

really, the things people do. This was on- where else- a google reader feed today. If you've ever read Harry Potter, make sure to check it out... I'm still somewhat in awe... the broomsticks... well wow (You know, Lani- I laughed harder at this than some of your posts this week... although I thoroughly enjoyed them, don't get me wrong)

I wouldn't want to be the snitch

a few other recent pix

(whereas recent is in the last 3 months!)

sometimes you just need a baked potato! with the works! in this case, 'the works' meant: bake potato on low for a long time (that's the best baked potato!); split open and immediately dab some butter on the whole surface. I partitioned this tater into 3 parts. Part 1 got a spoonful of cottage cheese (I LOVE Kyiv partly because we can actually get cottage cheese here! The real stuff! Just like across the seas! Yay!); Part 2 got enough blue cheese to make my eyes cross from sheer delight; Part 3 got feta cheese coated with basil and oregano. (I mashed the cheeses into the potato pronto so they'd melt.) The whole potato got topped off with a healthy dose of sauteed carrots and zucchini and then chopped parsley and basil (I rolled the parsley and basil together and then chopped so that there'd be a nice mix). Salted to taste. And it tasted jaw-droppingly good. I love the punch of flavor from blue and feta cheeses.

Just a shot of some familiar folks (for some of you) this is the scene outside our kitchen window- that small cluster of buildings is a Ukrainian Orthodox chapel- sort of like a 'drive-in' only it's walk-up I guess. It gets a heap of traffic. There's another one about 5 min walk the other direction from the apt.

still on the planet

really. Truly.

Got back from Poland- always a great place to be; always a great place to leave, if you know what I mean. Jean M in northern IN- she's on my list of 'favorite people' (that's a long list, actually)- would say as we went out their front door with our bags and stuff Nice to see you come, Nice to see you go. It's nice to have a break, nice to do some sideline stuff- but then it's really nice to know I have a place and there's stuff for me to do there! Hello Ukraine!

Having said all that, this past week was fairly quiet. This morning's news said that Europe is officially in a recession. I beleive it. Ukr is feeling the pinch, for sure. The exchange rate for the dollar into local currency has been frozen at above market value for the dollar (I don't understand how this works, but apparently it does... or they hope it does); there is a freeze on withdrawals from banks in excess of a certain sum (to keep the banks from tanking... think the 30's and the run on the banks); no bank or currency exchange place can trade anything but US dollars, Euros or the Russian ruble (I don't totally understand this either- except it's supposed to simplify things for banks). There is almost no building going on- cranes are on-site but haven't moved for weeks. Cost of living has gone up, wages have not. People are scared. I know they are other places, too.

Which brought to mind 2 pix from Pol. We visited a family- Baby is 15 mos old, Dad has been working in Northern EU country for months- was home briefly about a month ago; hasn't seen Baby much since he was about 6 mos old, I'm guessing. Mom has a video of Dad on her cell phone, talking to Baby... he says Can you give Daddy a kiss? And that's when Baby eats the phone. Darling. Poignant. This is not an unusual scenario at all; Ukr and Pol are full of families just like them. Sometimes the 'away' parent gets home weekends (depending on distance); sometimes, like this case, every 6 mos or so. (pix taken with my cell phone, so have that certain grainy charm!)

pessimism pays

My dad has been known to say that Pessimists are never disappointed... and sometimes they're pleasantly surprised. Well, I'm considering becoming a pessimist.

After all the ups and downs with this visa, I finally have all my documents, all worded just exactly like the lady says... BUT tomorrow is Happy Birthday Poland Day... Polish Independence Day... something fairly major in the holiday-way and no business will be open and most are closed today already. AND the embassy I've been frequenting is never open on Wednesdays. I was having visions of being here until Thurs. In fact, I was pretty muchly Doom and Gloom this am, as I tried to quietly get up and around and ready to catch the 7 am train into Warsaw without disturbing others. Damaris practically had to smile for me... in fact, I think she did do that.



Well, at 7.50, I'm standing outside the embassy and the first thing I notice is, If these guys are going to disappoint me by not being open, then the 6 of us here in the cold can have a small pity party together. This is somehow comforting. And then, CLICK CLACK SCRAPE CLICK- Really, I think that's the sound of a door being unlocked. And sure enough- promptly at 8, they begin buzzing people in.


Well this is excitement for sure. Sunshine.


At 8.13 I'm in and the lady is smiling and saying All you need to do now is go to The Bank and pay your fee and bring your receipt back...but I'm pretty sure The Bank is closed today. (This is the FIRST I'd thought of banks not being open) Oh Joy. Nice Lady looks apologetic and sad and says Of course, we won't be open again until Thurs.


Doom and Gloom


8.15 I'm off to the bank; 8.30 arrive at The Bank and security guard informs me The Bank will be open at 9 am.


9.40 I have my passport in hand with a really gorgeously beautiful amazingly comforting 5 year visa in it... really, I'm agog... and because of how I'm put together, I'm trying not to bawl my eyes out because none of these people would have a clue.


Of course, there's the issue of a last minute ticket- Will there be one available? Will I have to wait? Will I have to sweat it out on a top bunk? minor Doom and Gloom although nothing looks impossible now


And wouldn't you know it? I have a ticket for tonight for a bottom bunk! Oh Joy and Happy Sunshine!


I'm going to try pessimism more...


maybe


Waiting for the train back to the girls' apt, I lost all control and got half a cheesecake... and we had a small party with our after lunch coffee!

special note to T's mom if you read this: See the candle? Well T's been using it! :)

Pretty appropriate Mickey!

the view from where I sat

T got D getting me

oh yes- I forgot I called

sorry to leave you hanging...hope you weren't in the middle of something important and put your life on hold while you waited for me to finish a sentence. Just got a bit distracted.

Oh yes- and I'm still in Poland. Just waiting. I told Phyllis my patience muscles were getting sore and she said Hope is a good liniment for that! Thank goodness for people with their heads on straight! Thank goodness for people in my life who help me keep a measure of balance... on whom I can (and do) lean heavily...

thank you, Phyllis! xo

So, I came across this in my inbox today... alleykat just wrote about a pensieve moment (and if you don't know what that means, well, let's just say you and JK Rowling aren't on a first name basis, for sure); anyhoo- this little guy dropped me into the pensieve of my own memories. I have a very clear picture of being at Menom preps and some of our crew having just finished up filling umpteen jars with prunes for the breakfast tables... and then this certain someone (I'd say his name but... well, let's just say he lives over on the East side now) says: What a terrible thing/indignation (the memory of his actual words isn't all that clear, acutally) it was to those poor plums to turn them into something like a prune. At the end of a long day, it was rolling on the floor funny...

oh yeah- and apparently that 'You're only 29 once' thing from that last post sort of confused some people... sorreeeeeeeeeeeeee. I thought that, if mimisusan were laying down the 'I'm-29' mantle, I'd just as well take it up.

Interestingly enough, I've never had a problem with my age... it just seemed sort of the natural bloggy-thing to do...

I'm 38

and 1 week and 1 day

afternoon in the park

this Polish 'vacation' has had its perks, for sure.
Now, it sure didn't start out to be a vacation. It was supposed to be

• in one day
• business done same day
• possibly one more day to finish business
• out the next day

When the train was 4 hours late Mon am and we never even got to the embassy that day (the day that was supposed to do the first 2 bullet items on the above list), maybe we should have been thinking: This Is A Bad Sign.

Ahhh, for the innocence of a younger more carefree time. Like last week. You don't need all the details- they're mostly boring (except to me- they're somewhat life-, energy- and strength-consuming, but that's just... ummm... that's just what I just said it was). BUT- things just didn't go as planned. The best laid plans of mice and men and all that. So, I'm still in Poland. Still 'exploring options'. (that's such a handy and vague phrase.)

Yesterday and today were big holidays here- All Saints' Day and Day of the Dead and I'm not sure what all... but not really practical to try to do something Big and Important... Sort of like trying to have a mtg on the Westside of Indy on Race Day. Or more like having that mtg smack dab on Oh, I don't know- it's just not practical. So, we had a free afternoon. So we 3 (did I mention that we're all 29? Seriously. Damaris is 29 last summer; I'm just 29; T is 29 in Jan... there's only a year and about 6 mos between us... and if that math confuses you- well shame on you.) So- Yes- we 3 went to a park that surrounds an old palace- and roamed and walked and chatted and watched a squirrel and a fisherman and sat on benches and cleared our heads and just generally had some wonderful mental health time.

D & T

bet you don't know who this is...
Even our feet were happy.
I think this is why the embassy didn't work. So we'd have today. It was great. And it's supposed to snow soon. But today was still sunny and crisp. Very Nice.

Good Night, peeps

Agnes

is fast becoming my favorite funny

I can SO relate. I can honestly say that- although I've never heard any smatterings of applause (and I ain't looking for any, neither), my life has been a series of special scenes populated with special people. I'm not sure you could get any more fortunate. I'm not whittling yet, either.

there's nothing like Friday's

Birthdays are such fun... really... they are. And I needed a decent time after all the visa ups and downs and hassles. Believe me, a big juicy medium-rare burger with fries at TGIFriday's was just the thing. But best of all? Are you ready? If you happen to eat there on your bday, they give you a free (yup, you heard it right!) free :) yummy gooey really nice... wow... oh- it was a chocolate cake... did I forget to finish the sentence? Sorry, got distracted. Well, it was good. And it was big enough that we all 3 had a chunk of that 1 piece.

And it was good. (Did I mention that?)

oh look- there we are!

Even the sugar was noteworthy... there's nothing like Friday's

You're only 29 once, right?

:)

For Tammy

who will accept sympathy from all parties who can commiserate...

1 AM Polish Standard Time

Get on train- check
Leave Kyiv- check
Write letters on train while heading for Poland- check
Ukr’n passport control- check
Polish passport control- check
Polish customs- ummmmmmm (definitely not check)

Passport control happened quite awhile ago and The Snorer and I were sleeping once more. I had been aware for awhile of vague bangings and tappings from down towards the other end of the corridor. But then the time came when it became impossible to stubbornly sleep through it all – maybe because our compartment was suddenly flooded with bright light. In a semi-wakeful state, I was aware of people milling around in the corridor. Suddenly there’s a Big Burly Dude outside our door… he growls something and The Snorer (mind you, not far from ‘full-snore-mode’) tumbles out the door. About a minute later Big Burly Boy sticks his head back inside and this time I realize he’s speaking Polish, not growling and what he’s just said is Ma’am, please step into the corridor. Oh groan and yuck.

Let’s look at some (cell-phone) pix. I hope you can see them well enough to get the picture…

Unscrewed the panel that joins the wall to the ceiling- the white there? cartons of cigarettes.

Came out of the ceiling (that's my bed on the left)

I’m pretty sure at 1 am most of these people would rather be somewhere other than hovering in the hallway while border patrol rips their sleeping compartments apart.

The haul from our ceiling- 54 cartons. (that’s the corner of my bed you see in the right hand corner, fyi…I wish I was in it.) Oh- and a similar haul from the compartment next door is visible in the background

This whole scene is repeated every single time this train makes this trip. What a hopeless situation. You’d think they’d get tired of the whole deal. Tired of taking the train apart in Kyiv and stuffing it full of contraband. Tired to taking it apart on the border and hauling it out. Tired of putting it all back together again… Every. Single. Day.

I spent the first part of the trip with a very nice lady a bit older than me. She lives in Kazakhstan now but was back to see family and take care of a few things. She’s from Western Ukr and for awhile in the 90’s, she ‘made her living’ smuggling alcohol and cigarettes into Poland- she says it was the only thing to do. Could be. I asked her how much they made each trip: $10.

I’ve been watching these smugglers for a long time and believe me, you’d have to pay me a whole lot more than $10 to go through that stress. They sweat. They swear. They run. They fret and worry and bite their nails. I’m sure they’re making more now, but there’s no way they make what it’s worth. The thing is, I reckon the cigarettes are just the tip of a much meaner iceberg. The amount they haul out- heaps, bags and bags (we’re talking Hefty Hefty Cinch Sack size bags…or bigger)… how can it be worth it? because they’re not taking it all… not all the cigarettes… not all the vodka… and not any of what’s likely nestled down deep in some wall… The Poles make a big show of tearing it apart. Oh They Do. But there are whole sections of wall they never touch. They never looked at 90% of our compartment- just tore into that one part…and believe me, you could take this place apart a whole lot more. But the deal is- there’s other stuff going through that no one touches, no one talks about… we saw it once when 2 rookies accidentally found some. Bags of white powder… in the wall… now what do you think that was? Powdered sugar probably. And it never left the train till after we did…

The border patrol people don't put the place back together again after they've torn it apart. Our neighbor asked Who's going to pick this all up and put the ceiling back up. Oh, Pahn (Sir) here will, they replied, indicating the frustrated conductor. And he did. The junior pip-squeak one. He got to crawl into every compartment and put stuff back together. And when he was doing ours, I noticed that his ragged slippers had been mended my stapling them. Somehow, at 1.30 am, that sight was depressing and sad and made me want to never ride that train again. If I don't see it, It's not happening, Right?

huh?

Tues am: Uncle D had been here, getting ready to leave for a 3 month trip to Australia/N Zealand... time of departure is nearing. From this apt- excluding taxis, which are expensive- the fastest way, generally, to get to the airport is to trot 10 min or so (depending on how fast you trot) to the metro, go 7 stops on the metro (about 30 min, maybe less, I don't pay much attention actually) to the train station, go through the tunnel and exit at the South Station and get on the airport bus. This trip is an hour if there are no major traffic jams- so the deal is, you don't leave for the airport at the last min. So, What was I talking about? Oh- Unc'a D- so, he gets his shirt ironed... this is important because... well, it just is. And, more so because the next thing that happens is the lights are gone- zip... and Elain's ironing comes to a screeching halt as do a few other things. Fine. Unc'a D is nonetheless ironed, starched and ready to leave for the airport... now, we're on the 13th floor, so I'm thinking that I really hope he doesn't want help getting to the airport... I mean, going down 13 flights of steps is one thing...but coming back up them, if by chance the power is off for a long time- well, yikes... Ummm.... Whew- nope, he'll go by himself. Where are the stairs? I'll show you I say... and out the door, down the hall, around the corner, around the corner we go- There, I say. Have a good trip... We'll try not to burn the house down while you're gone.


Coming back, I notice that all the lights in the hallway are on and the elevator is running... ooops. (should I include that in an email to the poor man who hauled a suitcase and carry-on bag down 13 flights of steps?)


Well, this does not bode well for us. We investigate the breaker box. Nothing amiss there... but we do notice that the meters for the neighbors' apts are all whirring away. Yuck. Call the housing people. Call the electrician. He has a voice like an elephant on sandpaper. Where? You gunna be home this afternoon? You gunna be home tonight? Well OK.


And we spent the whole day without power. In the early evening, Phyllis says I hear someone out in the hall- will you just stick your head out and see if it's the electrician? I do. It is. He's got the neighbor's meter all pulled apart. Tell him our dilemna. He grins. 10 min later, the lights come on. We pay him and he leaves (he wanted liquor but we were out...)

About 8.30 pm there's someone at the door. I open it- a man with a voice like an elephant on sandpaper. Tu....8 (our address) apartment 000? umm, yesssss... (me) Well, your lights. huh? (me) YOUR LIGHTS. I'm so sorry, I say. Someone already fixed it; I thought it was you people.


long. deadly. silence.


WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME?


I'm really really sorry... I thought you'd already been here...


he stalked off... I picked my jaw off the floor, went back into the apt and Colin locked the door again. We all just stared at each other and began to laugh. No one knows Who On Earth fixed the electricity that day. I did feel sorry for the poor man still out making house calls...

ps- just kidding about the liquor... he wanted it but we don't pay that way.

dry gulch

I'm pretty sure that's a Louis L'amour book... if it's not, it had outta be. It also sort of describes where my creative juices have gone to... (If I ever had any to begin with...)

I've been saving a few comics, so I'll post a few of them. One of the things I miss the most about America is the Funny Page... well there's a few online sites with 'deliver-them-to-your-inbox' freebie service...yay!

haha- I love Old Baby...

I feel your pain....

Any more questions? (the chick with the tall pointy hair- hmmm, the only chick in the pic- that's me)

some days are just like that

This one last because: When I got back to the States 3 years ago (3 years ago?!) my oldest nephie, Forrest (3 1/2 at the time) had an imaginary friend named Pootie. The amazing thing was F could tell you all the details of P's life, how the day had gone for him, all about his friends, their names and their histories. And if you asked him a week later, he'd tell you the same basic things- it was a real novel going on in his head. I really enjoyed those visits with him. Then convs, special mtgs and more sp mtgs happened and I wasn't around F so much for a bit. Sometime after his 4th birthday, I asked Forrest- how's Pootie? He just looked at me like What ARE you talking about??? It was a sad moment in my life. That whole period of his life had passed so quickly. I was just glad I'd gotten in on a little bit of it. F is in school now and has real friends. I need to talk to him and find out about them!

Answer to riddle

a fgh an (afghan)

mental floss, anyone?

One of my favorite rss feeds is the Mental Floss blog feed... I seldom go to the actual site, but I enjoy skimming through their posts on the feed reader if I have time. Here's today's 'Brain Game':

Indefinite articles on each side

Three alphabetical letters inside

Made of wool, made with pride
What am I?

And a link to a fun-looking puzzle post... I didn't even try it; too tired and time to hit the hay.

Spent most of the day going back and forth between the national university and the apartment. Got a 'backup' invitation from them. Soon, will be exiting stage 'west' to see about getting a visa. In between runs to the Univ (which take 2 hours each), did laundry, ate lunch, started a picture project... if it turns out, I'll post a picture here...

Thanks for all the sweet comments on the anniversary post! :) I want to go through my heaps and heaps of photo files and find more... but that will take some time...

Adios.... zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Answer to riddle: a fgh an (afghan)

Happy Anniversary to me

Eight years ago yesterday, Oct 13, my enormously numerous and heavy 'suitcases' and I first set foot (and eyeballs) on Ukraine. The girls were asking me questions in class last night, including 'How long have you been here?' which sort of jolted me into awareness of the day. It has been a wonderful, seldom dull, amazing 8 years! In honor of the occasion, I'm going to toss up some of my favorite pix from the past 8 years... It will be a long post... get your popcorn and Dew... (pix in no special order)

this was my mental therapy a few years

Mom and Dad had the time of their lives...and the first thing we did was haul them across country on the train...

you want good apples? Come on over!

I loved following the change of seasons out this window (kitchen in Western Ukr)

Taras (a few years ago!) looking at Country magazine

people dear beyond words
ditto
I'll quit saying ditto... you already knew that

this was proly the most fun bday I've had over here

well, the hat... the hat... :)
I love it that you can take walks like this

NW Ukr in late June... poppies are weeds- but, Wow, they're beautiful
I looked out this window, saw window boxes with flowers and said, Wow, that's just like Austria... Karen said, You need to get back to Austria...
:)
can you see the license plate?
the land of fresh produce... oh me oh my...

one of the most beautiful 'Old Towns' in existance
these 3 are a for real loom and spinning operation. I love love love the colors


well, we had good times in this kitchen, eh? But we're glad and thankful the woodburning stove is gone...