Our Time in Russia: Long Time No Blog

Not sure where the time has gone, but it's been a while since I put anything out here. I apologize to my loyal followers.

So, what's been going on over the past three weeks? Let's see. We have had decent weather and a bit more snow (see pics below), but that has again melted. I got my cholesterol checked....I didn't realize that readings actually went that high. I'm on a new, self-imposed, lower-cholesterol diet hoping to keep away from the need for drugs to correct that. I knew I wasn't eating well here, but I even surprised myself. For those of you that know about cholesterol the first digit was a '3' and there were three digits in the number. Suffice it to say that I was not pleased. I'll get a new reading here in the near future.

Upcoming events. We are hosting the Russian side of the family for New Years, which should be quite a treat. The last time I experienced a Russian New Year was back in 2001/2002, which was my first trip to Russia. We started the feast at 7PM and finished eating at 5AM. That's a lot of eating and drinking. And trust me, there was no shortage of vodka! All-in, I believe we will have eight guests, plus Olga and myself.

We also made a quick trip to NYC to get a new visa for me. We arrived on 12/6 and were greeted by a snow squall and extremely cold weather....neither of which we had planned for. We caught up with some friends and participated in something we both miss on Sundays...BRUNCH! Went to a very nice dinner on Monday at one of my favorite restaurants, Nobu. Always like that place. If any of you get to NYC you should try it and make sure you try the Black Cod Miso and the Rock Shrimp Tempura.

Tuesday and Wednesday we did more than our part to keep the economy rolling by hitting as many stores as we could. Unfortunately Olga caught a cold and didn't get to fully enjoy the shopping, but that only means that she had less patience to look (great for me!!!).

We flew back on Thursday and not much is new since then. Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

Outside our building after the snow.

Who is that masked person!? Oh, wait, I know her. That's Olga. C'mon, it's not THAT cold (temperature, approx. 25 F).

Walking into Red Square in early December. That sky looks ominous, right? A large shopping center, ГУМ (pronounced, Goom), is in the background. They put up a skating rink in the Square, how cool!