And just one more, to let you know that this is my 25th wedding anniversary:

Max and I were having a quiet dinner when we heard noises coming from the second floor.

Max: Mom, who is walking up there , I thought everybody left already.

Me: Nobody is up there, stop panicking. (Even though Max is as tall as his father, he is still only 13 years old and depends on me to fight burglars and intruders when his father is away.)

Max: Mom, do you hear that? Someone is still walking upstairs. Did you put alarm on?

Me: You’re right. I hear something too. I am going to check it out.

I grabbed the largest kitchen knife and went upstairs. By the way, Max did not follow me; I was on my own to fight whoever was disturbing our dinner.

Now picture this: The floor is completely stripped in my bathroom and there are huge holes in the walls. Apparently Peaches, the most important member of our family, at least he thinks so, got into one of the hole in the wall and while trying to wiggle out of it fell and got stuck between the floor and the ceiling, making all this noise.

BAD, BAD CAT!

Mystery is solved – we finished our dinner in peace.

Major renovation! Day 1:

You know what this means?

This means that it is really happening and there is no way back!

This means discomfort, arguments  and occasional b/o ( not from me silly – I leave with boys),  but at the end of all this madness I will be rewarded with a brand new walk – in closet and a new bathroom.  …..and what girl wouldn’t sacrifice few weeks of her life and a life of her love ones for an organized shelves of shoes, shoes and more shoes.

Reblogged from Pearl's twirl:

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I am writing a post about my father-in-law and I am having the hardest time, not because I have nothing to say, but because no matter what I say about him it will never be enough words to describe his life or my feelings .

He was 13 years old when the World War II started. His family did not have a chance to evacuate and for 3 agonizing years he and his mom lived in Balta Getto where his older brother got killed by a Nazi officer, right before their eyes.

Read more… 383 more words

...... I started this morning on FB apologizing in advance for being rude for the next few weeks and this is why: major renovation! Day 1:

You know what this means? This means that it is really happening and there is no way back, this means discomfort, arguing and occasional b/o ( not from me silly - I leave with boys) But at the end of all this madness I will be rewarded with a brand new walk- in closet and a bathroom and what girl wouldn't sacrifice few weeks for perfect, neat shelves of shoes, shoes and more shoes.

First is my Russian version and second is my lose English translation of the Russian version.

Я оставлю этот мрачный, серый край, 
Где сырость, снег, туман гуляет постоянно,
Я уезжаю в южный и волшебный Рай
Где солнце светит, океан бушует неустанно.

Tuesday, 2 days before Thanksgiving around 4:30 p.m:

Johnny: OK, good night everyone, I will see you tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning and finish my work then.

Everyone: Thank you Johnny, have a good night.

Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving around 9:00 a.m.

Boss: Did anyone hear from Johnny? Do you know if he called and said that he will be late or if he is coming at all?

Everyone: No, nobody has talked to him.

Boss: Hmmm, let’s wait, maybe he is running late.

Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving around noon.

Boss: Ok, let’s call Johnny and make sure nothing happened to him, I am getting worried.

Johnny did not answer his phone. We wished him Happy Thanksgiving and told him to come to work on Friday.

Friday, the day after Thanksgiving around 9:00 a.m. no sign of Johnny, phone disconnected. Hopefully nothing bad happened to Johnny, he probably just took the long weekend off to spend with his family and forgot to tell us.

Monday, 3 days after Thanksgiving – Johnny did not show up to work, phone disconnected.

We are all in panic mode, calling Johnny every hour, phone disconnected. Oh!! A breakthrough – he changed his phone number. Let’s call this number, for sure he will answer – NO HE DID NOT!

We left him a message making sure nothing bad happened to him or his family and we are all here waiting for him and his work is waiting for him too, actually since last Tuesday – lots of work is waiting to be finished.

Tuesday, a week since Johnny has last been seen at work. His new phone goes directly to his voice mail.

Let’s call his family, maybe they will be able to tell us what’s going on?

Johnny’ sister Jonnie: ” What do you mean you are looking for him, when he left last Tuesday he left you a note, did you read it?”

Johnny’s note:

I think Johnny is still laughing at us – we felt beyond stupid.

….but my mood is very grey right now and instead of telling you how great my life was for the past few months, that my older son got his fist job, that I went to the most beautiful place called Thousand Island, Canada and saw the most amazing houses/islands…,

(every island has one or two houses on it – truly beautiful)

that recently we drove for 3 hours to see these talented guys :

They are great musicians who love classical music and humor and combine them together in the most entertaining way – if they are ever in your neck of the woods they are a must see.  I follow them on FB and they even answer my post – don’t believe me, here you go:

Yes, instead of telling all the good things that happened to me, every time I turn on the TV or radio on I only hear negative news and they make me feel blue, grey and green at the same time. (There was a saying back in Soviet Union – if you don’t want to spoil your mood stop reading Soviet NewsPaper in the morning - I think it’s perfect for now times.)

I really don’t care about General Petraeus other woman, and another woman who blew a whistle and had an affair with another General, I don’t care about the naked guy. By the way, I have no idea what is his role in all this scandal quite frankly it looks more and more like a good Brazilian soap opera that my mom watches on her Russian TV station.
What I do care about is his report on Benghazi and why Americans were killed there, what I do care is about current situation in Israel , my half family is there every day living under attack of terrorists.

What I do care about is the fact that little kids in a small town in Denmark north of  Copenhagen will not have their annual Christmas tree due to that fact that the board of this town has a Muslim majority, and they voted not to pay the 5,000 to 7,000 kroner the buy the tree and lights during December, even though three days prior they spent 60,000 kroner on a party celebrating the Muslim holiday Eid.
Yes, yes you are reading this right: the country who was built on christian traditions no longer have a say in its holidays!

But Thanksgiving is coming up – my favorite holiday – and I don’t want to seem ungrateful – I still thank G-d every day that we came here to America, where anyone can say anything they want and celebrate any holiday they want .

Here are some actual excuses grown ups – not kids come up with when they are running late for work, or decided not to show up at all:

1. I have a skunk in my garage and I will wait for it to go away, because I am afraid it will SPRAY ME.

The first thing we asked when she walked in to work about an hour later – what’s that smell?

2. I had a no – panties kind of weekend, and I am not sure I want to put any panties back on.

We were all speechless, when she finally decided to show up.

3. Jonnie why you did not come to work yesterday ? What do you mean why – it was Columbus day – the post office was closed too. Our shop does not close for Columbus day and so is the rest of the Nation. Well, I am not sure about the rest of the Nation but I expect to be paid for this day….

4. I am sorry I am not able to get out of my bed today due to heavy drinking during my past weekend and the only way I can cure my health is to drink more today, so hopefully you will see me on Tuesday or Wednesday.

5. Once, a guy decided to go for a walk during his lunch time – he never came back, in fact he came back 2 years later to claim the jacket he left behind. It turns out that he had 2 families – one here and one in the Caribbean. He felt home sick and decided to visit his Caribbean family, the only problem was he forgot to tell his employer or his family in the US….

And my favorite one:

My dog ate my car keys.

Now let me assure you it was not a senior citizen cruise, NO. IT. WAS. NOT! There were 2 couples getting married, plenty of kids were running around, but of course 60% of population were senior citizens – after all Alaska is a bucket list destination for most people.

Anyway, where was I.

Imagine an older gentleman probably in his late 70s – early 80s about 5’3 and close to 200 lbs, wearing a toupée as part of his accessories, also wearing red, almost brick color pants and a sand color jacket. The guy literally looks like a cube from any side you decide to look at him. He’s got thick eye glasses and a hearing aid. Let’s call him Herold. I’m not sure why but he either looks like Herold or Marty .

He approaches a table, where an older, very attractive lady (I would call her Ellen, because she looks like Ellen to me) maybe in her early 70s is sitting in the company of another lady. They are both enjoying themselves, chatting away, listening to the live music. Herold or Marty came up to them speaking very, very loudly probably because he needs a battery change in his hearing aid. He is looking directly to Ellen, ignoring her companion – a little older lady on the wheel chair.

Here is their conversation:

Herold/Marty -Hi

Ellen – Hello, Would you like to sit down with us and listen to the music?

Herold/ Marty – Where are you from?, completely ignoring Ellen’s invitation to join her.

Ellen – Florida.

Herold/ Marty – Do you dance? ( From what I saw he could barely stand on his two feet, he needed a wheelchair) Once again, don’t want to make fun…..

Silence from Ellen….

Herold/ Marty – Do you cook?

Ellen – Not much these days – openly in disbelieve of what she is hearing….

He walks off without giving her a second glance, he was looking for his next prey, until he laid his eyes on me….. I got up and left the room.

Later I found out that Ellen is an honorable guest on Princess cruise line, she sailed total of 784 days around the world. No wonder Herold was interested – Ellen is loaded….

But I would like to end with this:

image is a courtesy of my friend, who traveled with us.

Happily ever after exists , this couple were celebrating 53 years together and as you can see they still HOT for each other!