New Metro Observations

Went to Metro again and because I'm getting to be slightly more comfortable shopping there, I noticed a few new things!

1) Sooo much sour cream! This is actually next to the infamous wall of mayonnaise and it's a wall of sour cream!

2) Tons of unidentifiable fresh fish. Just sitting out, for anyone to help themselves:

3) Whatever the orange stuff is that's in the back and to the right, it's not cheap (~$55/kg!):

4) Some long slimy looking things. Maybe some big eel? They're all from Russia is really all I can read on the little signs:

5) Live sharks, crayfish, and others, all in large tanks:

6) There's also a ton of different types of SALMON:

7) And we must not forget the caviar. The pricey stuff is in the locked fridge 

-within-the-fridge on the far right:

Just all stuff I hadn't really noticed before - probably because I don't use a lot of sour cream nor do I feel comfortable buying fish here. :) I must remember to take some photos of my "usual" grocery store for comparison.

A typical day with Beau

Eating (not very happy with the menu)...

Pushing up on all fours...

More eating...

Waving "privyet" ("hello")! And note fancy Russian furniture leg in background! :)

Hard work being 8 months old.

In and out

37 weeks in and 37 weeks out. My, how life has changed!

This Dog

a haiku for my Siena

rebellious red dog

stolen pacis need rinsing

Moscow is still cold

Siena sunbathing in our Moscow kitchen.

Does this look like a dog who feverishly gobbles up a pile of cat poop during her morning potty break?

Does this look like a dog who leaps up onto the guest bed in order to reach into her human baby brother's crib and snatch his favorite pacifier?

Does this look like a dog who howls at her mama in defiance and frustration when she's not getting enough attention?

Sigh.

Lightbulb Handcuffs

There are 5 lightbulbs in our apartment that need to be changed and I can't do it.

This is one of the things about my experience here that gets under my skin and really, really bugs me. Simple, non-intellectual, normally easy household tasks that normally wouldn't be a big deal become a Huge Project.

And while I sort out the complex details of the situation (kidding), I see the dead bulbs every day and it feels like they're taunting me, "Nyah, nyah, you can't fix me…"

So the reasons why I can't change them (I actually have spare bulbs so that's not even a factor):

1. First, I don't have a tall enough ladder to reach;
2. When I asked one of the guys from the building to borrow their ladder, he brought it but insisted on climbing up for me (how gentlemanly!). Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out how to get the casing that covers the bulb unscrewed from the ceiling. He said a "specialist" must do it (WhAT?!);
3. The building guy left and asked The Specialist to come up, but HE said the landlady needs to request it first (WhATTTTT?! Okay, maybe I understand that - we're in a rental after all.); 
4. And finally, our landlady doesn't speak English so things like this I need to ask Scott's Admin to call her, explain in Russian what is happening and then the landlady will make the request.

OMG. OMG. OMG.

We're talking about lightbulbs!!!!

Still the Pill

Siena strikes again

Earlier this week we had a bang-up day for Siena and stealing food. She is SO darn fast and SO quiet!

She gobbled up the following:
1) a partially eaten sliced pear right off the kitchen table. To be fair, I had left the room;
2) the top slice of bread from my uneaten sandwich. This one, I was nearby but apparently not close enough!

All within a couple hours time. Afterwards, she didn't even look remotely repentant. Cute, yes; remorse, no!

Later the same day, after she'd already been served HER dinner, she proceeded to make a grab for our dinner while Scott was feeding Beau a bottle and I was washing my hands.

You'd think we never feed the animal!