Less Important...

Wonderful news!  Aleks is now in the US and we are quickly settling in to our life together, although also trying to finalize wedding plans.  So now we need to blog about more than just me!  This will be the last post on this blog.  I'm now moving over to our new blog:  http://www.aleksandlisa.blogspot.com/

So go there!  And find out what we've been up to!  (Of course, things are still pretty busy so we might not get around to telling you what we're doing until a little bit after!)

~L

Who's that Lady?

So Belka finally got her "summertime" haircut!!!  It started because I wanted to try out the "Self Service Dog Wash", which was pretty nice.  It was only $17 which is much less than having her washed costs.  Only I found out that the only way to get rid of the little fur mats she had around her collar was to shave her fur off!  So we figured she would look silly with a shaved neck, so they shaved all of her!  She looks like she did when she was a puppy again!  But don't worry, her hair will grow back in time for when she'll need it in the winter.  I think this will be much nicer for her lying around for the rest of the summer.  Although now I have to worry about her getting sunburned!
~L

Belka's Birthday Present

For her birthday, Belka got a new doggy bed!  She had one when she first came home with me, but she ate it.  Let's see how long this one lasts!
~L

Belka's 1 Yr Old!

So we had a fun party at the Shirlington Dog Park with Stephanie and Katie and Steve and Ethan and their dogs, George and Gracie.  After running about the dog park, we went to Dogma, the dog bakery in Shirlington.  And then the humans decided to have dinner.  It was a little stressful with 3 dogs and a baby, but after everyone settled down it was fun!   Belka wore a silly dress for her birthday party.  She seemed to like it actually!
~L

A Day in the Life

So I got a new camera today (the old one was dying and I wanted to be prepared for upcoming vacations and trips!) so to test it out I took some pictures of a typical day for Belka! Enjoy!
~L

Running in the field on our walk

Stopping to sniff the flowers

Checking out the Pool

and the BBQ area

Relaxing at home after a long morning

Belka Torture

Well, most ladies love a trip to the beauty salon, but I think Belka was a little annoyed by it! Although she does look pretty now. I was going to have all of her fur cut off, but I guess they just thought she needed a trim. So for now that's ok, we'll see if she gets too hot. But in general she was a good girl and the groomers like her. They want her to come to doggie day care there! So we might check that out. But first she needs to get one shot that she's missing! So first we have to get to the vet! Might as well go while she's pretty and will make a good impression!
~L

Back Stateside!!!

Well, due to various reasons (nothing bad!) I've gotten to return to DC early! I'm done working on my project in Kyiv and back to working in DC (similar to what I was doing before). Being in Kyiv was certainly a cool experience, but really I'm glad to be home! Sortof a shame that no one except my bro got to visit me, but I can show you all the pictures! Plus, soon enough (although hopefully not for at least a year) I'll be headed off to some new part of the world!

My dog Belka got to come with me! She did really well on the plane, and liked staying in the hotel. I think mainly because I always took an extra piece of sausage from the breakfast buffet for her! Now we've moved into a temporary apartment for the summer that is really nice and near the Pentagon City Mall. Don't tell the tenants in my house, but I think it's nicer than my apt! Smaller though which would be more of a problem with 2 people and 2 dogs (and a 3rd person on the way!!!)

It's great to see friends and family again, although things have been so hectic I've only gotten to see a few friends. I'll work on it and see everyone soon!!!

For now, check out my new дом... I mean home!
~L

Pysanka!

I made my first Ukrainian Pysanka! It was pretty fun. We used a traditional looking tool for applying wax that we melted into it's little cup with a candle. Our teacher was a famous Ukrainian Pysanka artist who has made 1000s of eggs and her eggs are in the Pysanka museum! Really very fun. We even learned a little bit about the history and some of the symbolism used on the eggs. Enough for me to at least know that the wikipedia page is fairly decent! Really interesting read... Strangely, my dad had made eggs similar to this (I think) but as Christmas decorations. And I don't think he knew at the time that he was making Ukrainian art!
~L

Flat Stanley in Kyiv!

Flat Stanley at St Sofia's

Flat Stanley at St. Andrew's

Flat Stanley shopping at the Spusk for Ukrainian souvenirs

Flat Stanley at the weird park

My niece Malaina mailed me a Flat Stanley. He travelled all the way from Indiana to Kyiv and got to see some of the sights! I'm going to mail him back, but here's a sneak preview of his travels! He was lucky that Belka did not eat him, but he did accidentally fall between the cracks of a bench / sculpture. Luckily we were able to fish him out with a stick! Now he's going to head back to Indiana, although it might take a while!
~L

Stupid Dog Whisperer... (says Belka)

Just thought this is a funny picture. I have been catching up on the Dog Whisperer and I think maybe it's starting to help me be calm and assertive towards Belka. But I don't think she likes the show...
~L

Нет много собакы!

Well, I've done my part to not create any more wild dogs in Kyiv. Belka has gotten spayed. I think it went ok, but now she seems kindof sleepy. She had to stay over night at the vet so she probably didn't sleep very well. But now she's back home and relaxing on the couch. A pretty good life. And the best part is now I don't have to worry about the wild dogs wanting to mate with her! She looks like a dork though because she has to wear this silly shirt to keep her from eating her stitches. Poor Belotchka! :) (Honestly, I don't think she has any idea what happened, just that she was in a weird place for a night.) I actually think it looks like she's ready to star in an 80's aerobics video...
~L

How cold is that in Fahrenheit?

Wow. So it's definitely cold here now. Tomorrow's forecast is for minus 30 C!!! One of our favorite jokes is to ask "How cold is that in Fahrenheit". The answer is always "frikkin' cold!" We're still doing work, although the workers do get to take coffee and tea breaks to try and warm up a little bit. Belka still does not seem to mind the cold, but it's now even harder to go for long walks because the sidewalks are still icy and snowy and now it's also freezing. Even my house is a little cold but that's what blankets and sweaters are for. It really makes me nostalgic for those too hot summer days! I'm going to make some hot chocolate.
~L
p.s. the -30 includes windchill at least. and the equivalent is -16 F

Happy Holidays from Kyiv!

Well, I've missed Hannukah and "Roman" Christmas, but there's still New Year's and Orthodox Christmas, and then Old New Year! So Happy Holidays!
~L (and Mike and Belka!)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This weekend my bro arrived in Kyiv! He got to see some of the sites (like the grocery store, and the mall...), but most importantly, we bought and decorated our (fake) Christmas tree!! Belka was a big help too (not). Actually, she seems disinterested in the tree thankfully and has not even tried to really sniff it yet!
Tomorrow it might even snow!
~L

More Belka!

So Belka is feeling mainly better. I think she was also just stressed, but now I think she's learning that even though I leave, I always come back. So that must be comforting. And she's started playing with some of her toys. Right now she's gnawing away on a tooth brush bone. (But not the green kind because someone told me those were bad.) She seems pretty content in our apartment. And we almost have a good routine down. Sadly, right now the routine involves me waking up at 3:30 am to take her out, but I think she's slowly working up to longer intervals. Tonight I'm hoping for an 11:30 walk and then sleep until 5:30! That would actually be perfect. Fingers crossed! She's been here for a week now. It seems already like she's been here forever, but we're still figuring things out about each other every day. I think she thinks I'm weird. She's a smart dog! :) I taught her that she can sit on the "icky" couch. But not the "nice" "gold" ones!
~L

Belka on the town

Today it didn't rain! Very exciting. Belka and I walked to the "weird" park and had a nice day. She is finally feeling mainly better which helps. Everyone thinks she's cute and they call her "собачка" (sobachka) which means little dog. I can't quite understand the rest of what they say, but I get that the gist is that she's cute! She even met some other dogs, although she didn't really seem to enjoy that much. But it was a great day to be a dog. Sadly, our morning and evening walks are always in the dark, and it's getting a little cold, but she doesn't seem to mind, and I have a warm coat and a hat! The funniest part is that I already feel like she's always been here. Although maybe that's just because I've been so sleep deprived that my sense of time is off... But I have high hopes for getting a full night's sleep tonight! well, from 11 to 5 at least! Maybe even 6 if i'm lucky...
~L

Raining cats and dogs! plus, a dog!

Winter in Kyiv is officially here, and it's honestly a little gloomy! Although not as dark as I feared, although we still have another month until the shortest day of the year. We had a little snow already, but I missed it because I was in DC celebrating "Thanks-o-ween" with the family! (well, and working). But I'm hoping we'll have some more soon. It rains almost everyday, which is both gloomy and bad for our construction. But despite my hesitations about the impending bad weather, I finally got a dog!!! One of our local employees helped me find Belka on a website for pets who needed new homes. I went to meet her and she was so sweet that I decided that she would be my first dog. She really is a sweety! I've been taking more pictures and videos that i'll post soon, but here's a first glimpse!
~L

All Work and No Play Makes Lisa a Dull Blog

Yikes! I haven't posted anything since July! I was hoping that I would become less busy as more of our project staff arrived (including my boss) but somehow the work just seems to keep increasing. I have had some small amounts of fun over the past few months, like discovering a big mall above my grocery store. And discovering more restaurants to eat in - although I still haven't made it to the Mexican restaurant. And just today we discovered a pretty good cappucino place! And I got to go to the beach in Italy! It was great, although very very hot. It made me miss my little room air conditioning units! But now that September is here in Kyiv, it's actually already starting to feel chilly. The nights are getting down to the 50s, but the daytime is still in the high 60s or 70s. So it's nice crisp weather. Well, more like October weather back in DC, but it's still nice. We'll see what I think of the weather here in a few months! And when it gets cold, I'll just have to try and remember how I also don't like the heat... Actually, the weather right now is perfect, so I'll do my best to enjoy it while it lasts.



The highlight of the Italy trip (besides seeing I.M. and finally going back to the Baths of Caracalla) was our trip to the "Grotte di Pastena". The signs promised us "emozione in piu" - emotions and more! But the sign also made it look as if the Grotto was a local attraction, perhaps in the next town if not the one we started in. Two hours later.... still no grotto!!! But there were still signs, just when each time we thought we were lost and would never find it. Luckily, we made it in time before it closed and got to go see it. It was pretty cool, but I don't know about "emozione in piu". We think the emotions referenced on the sign referred to the hopelessness and mild distress about driving through the middle of Italy in search for a grotto that may or may not actually exist... But it was neat. There were pipistrelli! (bats) And a few parts made me a little claustrophobic. Especially when they mentioned that we were 50 m underground! :( But we survived. And also realized where we were so that we could make it back to our campsite in just 1 hour instead of the 2 it took to get there. But I will say that the drive there was beautiful. So maybe that was the "emozione in piu". Isn't that saying that life is about the journey not the destination? That should be the Grotto di Pastena's motto also! Hee hee. The website sortof makes it look very dramatic!
~L

(outside the grotto - actually above it technically)

Home is Where You Make Your Bed

My stuff has arrived here in Ukraine! Actually, it's a little odd to have it here now. Until now my place sortof felt like a hotel, but now it's like my apartment in Alexandria with different furniture and in Kyiv! But it's nice to have it here also. I can watch movies on my TV instead of my computer! I haven't figured out the cable yet, but hopefully one day soon I can watch Ukrainian tv also! I found out that I "only" shipped 2000 pounds of stuff, so I'm allowed to purchase about 4000 more pounds of stuff here! (I don't plan on that!) The movers moved all of the boxes inside in about 30 minutes and then we opened everything and threw it on the beds and couches. They did assemble the bed for me which was nice. And convenient to put all of my clothes on. This way they could take all of the boxes away with them. But the end result was that my stuff was thrown everywhere and I had to go back to work because I had some deadlines. But slowly but surely I am getting things put away. I have finished the kitchen and the living room. Now I just have about 25% of my clothes left to put away and all of my sheets and towels and stuff. Oh, and all of my stuff in the den. That's sortof a mess and that room doesn't have a closet so I have to figure out where to put everything. Hopefully it will all fit in the desk and bookcase and the "main" closet too. But it's starting to shape up! I even am working on perfecting my "display" in my china cabinet. I'm not sure I'm happy with it yet but it looks nice! But the rest of my project team is showing up so I should finish soon so I can invite them all over some time!
~L

Things coming together...

I feel like I'm finally settling into a routine and that things are starting to really come together here in Kyiv! The rest of the project team is slowly but surely arriving. My car is now here sitting in the parking lot (waiting for a license plate!). I filled out some papers the other day because my "household effects" are soon entering the country. (Then I'll have some stuff to put in that china cabinet!) And I just finished weaving in all my ends on my "Rachel swing jacket" from Robyn's book! I am about to start on the sleeves. Then just the collar and buttons! So yeah, things are all coming together! Literally in the case of my crocheting... I think my housekeeper likes my crocheting because she always refolds it very nicely after she moves it around to clean or what not! I saw a woman knitting while working in one of the kiosks the other day. Although, I think the Ukrainian craft is more embroidery, but there is certainly some hand knit and crocheted things in the markets!
~L