Beautiful Earth.....

Baby boy is 3 moths and 7 days old

2011-08-17T12:03:00.005+01:00

So....yesterday, we went for a regular 3 months old check-up to the local health clinic. The baby boy is now 6.270 gr....and 62 cm...Growing well...right on his "curve". Going to be a real viking.

Also...he had his first two shots/vaccines....Poor boy...So after that, he had a fever later in the night...So, we had to give him some paracetamol...now feels better!

Sleeping habits: Usually during the day, the boy is awake for 1,5-2 hours and then needs his sleep - 1 to 2 hours....At night - it still varies...Can be sleeping from 10 pm til 5 am without waking up....or can wake up once... But sometimes he also wakes up at 2 am or 4 am....then sleeps til 6 am...

Tamara is going to kindergarten as usual...Looks like the kindergartens teachers are planning to strike on Monday, August 22nd...so she will probably stay home of course...that would be fun again....

Who we are....

2011-07-26T16:35:00.003+01:00

I have found this through a friend on the Facebook, in Russian, and decided to translate it in English and add to my journal so the English speaking people would be also read this and enjoy/criticize or comment:). Also, I am adding some of my comments as well just to make it more fun…Comments by a Russian residing in Iceland…

(Taken from the Business Journal, here is a link)

A Canadian, a teacher of English language, residing in Moscow, made these interesting observations.

1. Russians do not trust cheap things. True

2. An English word “bargain” cannot be translated adequately into Russian language. True

3. Despite the fact that Russians do not trust cheap things, they still love “free lunch”. Very true to Americans and Icelanders as well!

4. A Russian person, who has acquired a certain level of power, feels that it is his/her responsibility to press those who are below him/her.

5. In Russia, it is common to call for a lazy waitress by referring to her with an aggressive scream “Devushka”!

6. It is necessary to have good skills of working with your elbows while using Moscow subway system.

7. In Russia, you can drink beer seating on a bench in a park without being arrested (probably not anymore due to some new laws on beer…)

8. Russians love to get together in the kitchen and talk late about “life”. Very true

9. Russians usually avoid talking about work.

10. During any meeting or some gathering in Russia, people usually split right away according to the gender.

11. There are lots of policemen in Russia, most of which don’t do anything.

12. Russians don’t throw away anything. Never.

13. However, if a Russian throws half of his things, nobody will notice.

14. A stranger usually refers to you by a “man” or a “woman”.

15. It is not customary to say “thank you” and “please” among Russians. True indeed

16. A Russian saying “Impudence – is a second happiness (in life)” cannot be translated into English adequately.

17. Russians drink lost of vodka. It is not a myth.

18. You don’t have to be afraid for your life while walking in Moscow at night time.

19. Russian men believe that feminism caused the collapse of the West and the historical mission of Russia is to resist.

20. Myth about myth: Russians believe that Americans think that bears walk on streets of Moscow. But that myth is just a pure Russian invention. In reality, Americans think that all bears in Russia are long dead. Very funny

21. Russians completely do not comprehend when a foreigner from the West comes to have a permanent residence in Russia. Very true..cannot understand…

22. Dentists in Russia are surprised when you come just for a routine check-up. The same goes for doctors.

23. Russians drink tea with a whole centimeter of sugar on the bottom of the cup. Very true, have nknown people like that…

24. All Russians, from youth to old, abuse the usage of smiley. J Very true, love using it!

25. Number of parenthesis in email message or in SMS relates to the importance of the message. E.g., “Birthday celebration is tonight)” means simple birthday, but “Birthday celebration is tonight ))))))” – means something fabulous and fantastic. Not sure..

26. Moscow has the best subway system in the world. Probably…

27. Despite the best subway system in the world, there are million of Muscovites that refuse to use it and spend half of their lives in traffic jams.

28. Russians will use any little excuse in order to offer chocolate – “your birthday is in 4 months? Wow….Chocolate for everybody!” Not sure about that..

29. People who speak other language than Russian automatically become suspicious.

30. Don’t be surprised if you are invited to a New Year’s celebration at 11.30 PM. They drink champagne, cognac; eat herring salad, salad “olivje” in the kitchen and then, the celebration lasts for another 3 days. Very true!

31. The only alcohol-free zone in Moscow – McDonald’s.
32. A smile without the reason makes Russians angry. Very true!

33. Borsch, golubtsu and pirogi are actually Ukrainian food.

34. Russians do not put their older parents into homes for elderly and do not send their kids away when they are 18, instead, they all live together in one-room apartment.

35. Despite the fact that the roads are narrow and horrible traffic jams, Russians still buy gigantic jeeps.

36. Sushi is more popular in Russia than in Japan.

37. In fact, Japan is more popular in Russia than in Japan itself.

38. Russians are very friendly, if you only know then for 10 minutes. If you know some Russian for at least a week, then you will get invited to his house and be introduced to his family. Very true

39. Russians are quite emotional and passionate people, even though they do not show emotions in public, they cry, laugh and scream and play more than Italians.

40. Russians are much more concerned about the philosophical side of life than the material side. They have songs for any life situation. True indeed.

41. Most of Russians are quite superstitious, and superstition is in fashion among the young. True indeed..I am one of them…

42. Russians are passionate lovers, in public places they argue like bitter enemies and kiss and hug as porno stars.

43. Russians love to criticize its own country, but are awfully offended when a foreigner does that.

44. If a cashier did not break anything during scanning of your groceries, then you got a good service.

45. Russians love McDonald’s, KFC, Subway and Burger King more than Americans.

46. Russians spoil their children and then hope that when the kids are 18 they magically start behaving accordingly.

47. Even if Russians eat more fast food than people in the West, Russians are still healthier.

48. Russians cannot maneuver while backing up. An average Russian driver may take up to 10 minutes in order to make a parallel parking. True, it took me time to learn how to do it well in the States…

49. Winter in Russian is indeed beautiful and Russians fantastically drive cars in the winter conditions. True indeed
50. In reality, Russians are freer than people in the West; there are less laws here and social limitations, and still, the crime level is lower than in the USA or the UK. Not sure now…

An update…

2009-05-08T22:40:00.008+01:00

Spring is here in Iceland…well..it is supposed to be summer already since we did have the first day of summer already on April 21st…it was warm last week but this week it is cold and feels like winter, anyways…

Last week Raggi and I went to Akureyri – with the choir to sing in the church for an orthodox special service – Easter…It went well…We left our daughter with my Mom, since we did not want to ride with her for about 400 km each way; it was the first time to leave her for two days .

Here is the choir signing:

Here is the most of our group in front of the van that we rented to drive to Akureyri and Raggi was driving it since he has license to drive 12 passengers.

A husband of one girl from the choir works for the ice cream company, so he invited us to visit the warehouse and offered us ice cream..it was great!

Then, more updates with pictures...

We went to the wedding of a friend in April, here are some photos:

Tamara was behaving all right in the church...for the reception we left her home with the baby-sitter.

The party is starting...

With the bride at the reception.

A choir retreat to a summer house

2009-04-08T22:01:00.003+01:00

So...finally, we did something together again with our international choir "Manasija". We have been rehearsing for two times a week now for about two months already, we are preparing for the Palm Sunday service and the Orthodox Easter service....Just to boost ourselves, we decided to get away from the metropolitan city of Reykjavik and go to the country/summer house...

It was a great idea - to get everyone together, relax, sing, eat and socialize....A little bit hard when you have 2 girls of almost 22 months old and a boy who is almost 9 months old...But as usual, mothers take care of the kids and fathers are having fun...But anyways, it was nice to get away, enjoy the scenery and the nature....We rented two summer houses on the lake, right on the lake, there were some green trees around our house and it reminded me of "Twilight", so it made my day :)

Here we are having fun with Tamara (there is a lake in the background):

It was mostly raining all the time, only once we had a chance to be outside for half an hour...then it started to snow and rain at the same time :)

And here is a cute picture of Tamara...

As you can see, snow is gone but the green grass is yet to come...so, things are kind of gray for now...but it is light and still Spring is in the air!

Snow and horses

2009-02-11T19:09:00.005Z

We went for a walk during last weekend, checked out horses that stay close to our area...

Last day of January

2009-01-31T09:25:00.005Z

So, we have snow..lots of snow. It is snowing right now. But it is fun for kids, all ages...So, yesterday in spite of my sore throat and headache, I went outside with our girl and enjoyed some vitamin D, that does not come often during winter time in Iceland. She enojyed it as well, she was riding in a snow sledge that we got from Raggi's parents. She was singing and quite happy.

Then we went to some playground and I took some pictures.

Here you can see a little bit of the city of Kopavogur, the Tower, some other buildings.
And here is a short video of her palying in the snow.

Last week of January

2009-01-26T13:07:00.004Z

So, the New Year has arrived, was a great celebration.

Now, the month of January is almost over. Time goes fast. Financial crisis is still on in Iceland, people are protesting and I hope it brings some change to the politics of Iceland.

We are doing fine, girl is growing, learning some new words. We have got her a new bed that will last her for at least 5 year, I hope and she has been sleeping there for two nights. Well, she does not sleep in her new bed through the whole night yet, but we hope soon she will :)

Yesterday we had a visit form Raggi's aunt and his brother. It happened that Raggi and his brother Ingvar were wearing the sweaters that their Mom got them, so they almost looked like twins :)

Here is the photo of them:

Int he background, there is a painting by my Mom.
And here is a fresh picture of Tamara Lind, Jon Aron, her older brother put her in his sweatshirt, and she enjoyed it a lot:

Christmases are over for some time :)

2009-01-11T14:16:00.004Z

So....the new year has started, the Russian Christmas is over. We can embrace the New Year with all of our open hearts.

It was a great time, lots of good food, relaxation time and singing in the Russian church as well. I want to say thank you to all of my friends who are so nice and always send us their greetings and nice Christmas cards.

A Serbian bishop who resides in Stockholm, came to present a special service on the 6th of January, at 19.00, so we took Tamara Lind to church with us since kids were supposed to get some presents...I was a little bit worried about her behaviour but it turned out - I was worried for nothing. She behaved so well...quite a nice surprise to her parents. She even was singing a little bit when our choir was performing. I was holding her and I admit, was a little bit difficult to hold her and to sing, but I managed...So, it was great.

Here I have some photos from the Christmas celebration at my Mom's house. Here is Raggi and Tamara Lind, then myself and her again :)

Then, a picture of a sweet couple, who got engaged over Christmas time.

And that was Tamara trying to play the Russian dudochka :)

Christmas is all around us...

2008-12-14T14:30:00.006Z

So..we had a great Christmas dinner with my coworkers. It was at the nice place with some great traditional Icelandic/Scandinavian Christmas food. Here are some pictures, so , here it goes:

First, is the picture of myself...the beautiful Marina :)

Here is the picture of all our staff...we are very few, only 7 people at the moment, 3 of us were working for the company more than 7 years already...such a long time...

This is just a picture of Helga, myself and Magnús.

And here is a great picture of the food...

It is the second hot/cold appetizers course. Includes nicely baked beef tongue, reindeer pate, chicken salad, swedish meatballs, beef carpaccio, pork and smoked lamb.

And then - here is the picture of the main hot course.
It included - turkey, salted baked cod, baked pork with the glaze, and beef. Plus some gratin potato, red cabbage and salad.
And then was some dessert but I was too full and almost was not able to move any more... :) So, it was a great dinner party, put me in a very nice holiday spirit.

Month of December

2008-12-14T14:25:00.002Z

So..as I promised..I am making a new post each month! Wow...such an achievement...

Anyways...December is here, snow has arrived to Iceland and the cold weather as well...So..real Christmas weather outside, makes you not want to go outside but sit home in front of the computer and waste the time on Facebook.com...And I was doing it for some time now :) Not too proud of myself.

A year is almost over..time flies so fast...And there are still so many things to do before Christmas - finish buying all those gifts, sending the cards...But it only makes things better - I already baked some cookies - called "the mother's cookies" and a great thing is that I am a mother now, so it really suits me!!!!

So..next to another post..this one is finished. new topic new post :)

The 4 things

2008-11-25T11:58:00.003Z

4 Random Things About Me:

I was born in the country that doesn’t exist any more– Soviet Union.
Lived, studied and worked in the United States for 5 years.
Took driving tests and exams and - passed in three countries - Russia, the USA and Iceland.
Had a 12-hour stay on the nice island of Cyprus.

4 Guilty Pleasures:

Chocolate fountain!
Swiss chocolate.
Hot Icelandic drinking chocolate.
Grilled Icelandic lamb.

4 Things I Am Drawn To Buy Even When I Don't Need Them:

Nice boots/shoes for myself
All types of clothes for my girl :)
Clothes for myself
Accessories.

4 Challenges I Face On A Daily/ Weekly Basis:

Patience with the little child and the big one called my man.
Keeping up my friends' busy lives.
Keeping up with house cleaning.
Not knowing what to cook for the little child and the big one as well :).

4 Books That Have Helped/Inspired Me This Year:

Harry Potter 1
Harry Potter 2
Harry Potter 3
and so on…all seven of them.
Ok, it was not that inspiring maybe, but I was quite impressed and entertained.

A girl is 17 months old...

2008-11-20T10:06:00.005Z

So, time is flying..people are being born, some are getting older....There is this woman in the west part of Iceland that just turned 100 years old...she had a friend visiting her who is 104 years old..man..some people are living it all....

Anyways, our girl just turned 17 months 2 days ago...I bet the time will go fast and soon she will be 17 years old :) We are very proud of her...

Here are some new pictures, taking just this last weekend. She is wearing a Russian costume that her grandma brought from Russia.:

SO, next month she will be already 1,5 years old..wow..and it will be Christmas too...looking forward to some nice meal sharing and celebrations...

Iceland in crisis

2008-10-16T16:54:00.003+01:00

Just a little update to the world - we are still surviving...

Nowadays..it's all about the financial crisis...In Russia, in the US, and of course, in the little country of Iceland.

It is weird how bad news always travel the fastest...I have friends from all over the world, from some far away places like Kamchatka :) asking me if I am planning to leave Iceland, since the situation is not good any more...

But luckily, I am taking it well and try to not take it too closely. We are surviving, we did not have any shares in those banks that almost went bankrupt...I do though have a savings pension fund there but it is insured by the government, so no big worries...

The only big problem is that if someone wants to take some currency out of the bank, US dollars or Euros, it is not possible at the moment...banks just don't have it....

Of course, I could never have imagined that after surviving the crisis in Soviet Union, and then Russia...I would witness something similar...well....Economy is bringing us some unpleasant surprises...

Some people say that it might get worse, so we just wait and see....meanwhile, we will try to live and be happy with only just what we have at the moment.

An update of a girl's well being

2008-09-16T16:51:00.005+01:00

Time is flying fast as always and our girl will be 15 months in 2 days and her Mom will be 34 years old after 4 days....Wow...life is taking it's turn....

So, the girl is walking, running, not jumping yet though :), dancing, singing, playing piano in her own way and talking her own way too...plus some words in Icelandic, very few though yet.

While I am typing on the computer and listening to the Icelandic singer Bubbi, she is hanging around me, checking the cables:

Her teeth are coming out all the time almost now, with some small intervals. She had some bad days, when 4 teeth were coming out at the same time...it was not a fun time. Now it is all right for a moment.

The other day we had bought her some cool winter boots. All children clothes here in Iceland are so outrageously expensive and the boots were not exception either.

So, here is the picture of the cool expensive boots:

While I was taking a picture of her boots, she was happy that she could sneak out and take something while I was not watching her, so she stole a mouse pad and was eating it:

I speak Russian to her and she understands everything, and when Raggi asks her the same things in Icelandic, she understand them too..it is amazing...

So...from now on I will try to update the blog at least once a week and see how it goes:)

Vacation is over

2008-09-16T16:43:00.004+01:00

So, our vacation has finished for a moment...we will have some more of course...at least a Christmas one...will be coming soon...hehe

So, time on Crete was great. WE enjoyed it, the girl took some time to adopt to a rather high temperature but then it was fine. We swam in the sea, sunbathed and ate lots of fruits...so, Marina's program for the vacation was fulfilled :)

Here are some cute pictures of us...

Tamara Lind's posing for Daddy:

An evening in Xania:

So..for now, we are enjoying the time in Iceland, our home and looking forward to a new vacation...thought have not decided yet where :)

Vacation is here

2008-08-12T10:00:00.006+01:00

So, finally the days for my vacation arrive..I am on my holidays now....

And tomorrow, we will be flying to Crete, the beautiful Greek island. So, lots of packing today and thinking and planning. We will spend there two weeks without any computers or Internet connection...I feel so free already...no Facebook for awhile :)

Here are some latest photos of the girl and her cute mother....

So, enjoy the summer while it is here...

A record temperature for Iceland

2008-08-01T21:57:00.006+01:00

We are having an amazingly great weather in Iceland.....indeed globalization can be good!

I have changed the main picture - so people can see the human-made beach in the city of Reykjavik...it was +26 degrees....water was about 15...but still, people were swimming...it was great indeed...lots of fun.

So, it looked like the entire Reykjavik was on the beach....

It was a great day to prepare ourselves for the weather on Crete :)

Girl is 13 months already

2008-07-26T23:14:00.003+01:00

Wow...time flies fast...

I have not been updating yet.....I mean, I am on the Internet every day for hours...but not on the blog..Facebook is really eddicting..That is where I spend my time..But fun to read other people blogs....

Anyways...girl is growing...so cute..Always enjoying meeting new people, especially women...Men are not her favorite yet :)

here is the latest picture of her..in a cute dress...

can't wait until we are going on vacation...will get some sun and the beach with great sand...counting the days...here we go.....

Girl's walking

2008-06-07T11:35:00.004+01:00

So, in less than two weeks our girl is turning 1 year old..Unbelievable...how fast the time is flying...Mommy is trying to prepare the party, guest list, etc. Fun fun....lots to do for a mother as always.

Our girl has started to walk, more and more..she started standing first when she was about 10 months, first steps came when she was 11 months and now, she is walking better and better.

It is so much joy to see her walk, move those cute legs of hers...

She is quite a character, always knows what she wants and gets it...otherwise...beware :)

Trip to Blue Lagoon

2008-05-18T14:42:00.011+01:00

So,
Finally...yesterday we had a chance to enjoy once again one of the prettiest and fun place in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon.
Last year, Raggi has won a gift certificate for the restaurant in the Blue Lagoon, so we finally decided to use it. Our girl is still too small to enjoy the Blue Lagoon but is big enough to stay with the trusted babysitter, so we were lucky and used the time to have some "couple time".

It was not a great outdoor day but still, was good to go away for a while and do something different...So, here are some photos...

Then, after we were done bathing there, we went to a restaurant to enjoy the wonderful meal.

The background looks cool - almost like the snow...but it is actully water and part of the Blue Lagoon itself...It was a little bit foggy and rainy.

Here is one of the latest picture of our girl who is exactly 11 months old today. She did three steps on her own yesterday, a miracle...great...she will be running soon...

Singing with Vladimir Milller

2008-05-18T14:28:00.004+01:00

So..last Sunday on May 11th, I had a great experience of singing the Liturgy church service with one of the great professional Russian singers - Vladimir Miller, you can find all the info about him here.

He came to Iceland to sing with the Icelandic choir, he wanted to check out the service in our church, so I picked him up and we went to the service. I was hoping that there would be more people from our choir "Manasija" (Choir Manasjia) but unfortunately only one person showed up later during the service...

So, it was Vladimir and I singing, I was singing alto voice and he was singing basso profondo...it was fun, as he described it later to me :). I was a little bit nervous while singing but then it was a great experience for me as well. He was surprised to meet so many Russian people here and was happy to have a chance to participate in the Russian church service.

Russian Easter

2008-04-30T19:28:00.003+01:00

So, this last Sunday as you know it..was a Russian Easter...
I did not go the the service since usually - it starts at 23.59 and goes on for 2-3 hours until 3 in the morning...Since we now have a little girl, so it is a good excuse to stay at home :)

But, I did manage to paint some eggs on Saturday and take them to the church for a special ceremony to make them holly...Though nobody wanted to eat the eggs afterwards except myself :)

Here is a picture that was taken by a reporter from a local newspaper...I am the second person from the right..

People at work all recongnized me and were happy to see me there I guess.

So..Easter season for us is over and the choir season is over for some time...we were lucky that we did not sing for the Easter service this year, there was another choir from Moscow...But we did sing for a Palm Sunday and it was very nice.

Jón Aron's Confirmation

2008-04-30T19:05:00.007+01:00

So..here in Iceland, all the kids are baptized when they are babies...then comes the time, when they are 14 years old - then can choose to have a confirmation of their faith...Some kids do it, some don't and there is even an option to have some kind of confirmation but not a religious one...

Anyways, Raggi's son, Jón Aron, has turned 14 on April 7th and he wanted to have a confirmation. He had to take a special course at his local church for that...Raggi and Jón's Mom planned and organized the big celebration. Usually, the whole family, relatives and friends are invited...Mostly people give money instead of presents or open some saving account for the kid...Jón's party had about 90 guests...It was great...

There were some other kids that had confirmation that day - total 3 boys and 3 girls, so some images from the church:

I was not at the ceremony myself, so I can only guess how it goes...Here we can see Jón's parents on his sides - I guess the family participates as well...
It was a first summer day, some small church in the little town on the East...

And here is another photo - you can see the church and the priest (not sure how they call them at Lutheran churches...)

So.

Then, Last Sunday, we went to another confirmation (ferming - in Icelandic) to Jón's cousin. It was great too..but not a religious one...But we didn't go to the ceremony but enjoyed the great party and the food.

A ten-month old anniversary!

2008-04-18T18:35:00.006+01:00

So..the day has arrived..our girl is 10 months old...Just only after 2 more months we will be celebrating a big 1-year old birthday...
This is how she looks when she is sleeping: very cute:

Then, when she is awake, she is looking pretty cute too...playing with the tape :)
She is taking that task very seriously...

Then, the most recent picture that was taken today - I tried to make her stand up but she was so involved in trying to get some cable out of the computer...

So, then finally she just sat down a little bit and I managed to take a better picture...But there is something wrong with the server at the moment so I cannot upload it..just be patient and I will set it later tonight I hope...

Weekend

2008-04-07T21:43:00.005+01:00

So..last weekend we had a nice sunny weather...almost the Spring weather....

We have decided to go for a nice walk on our Icelandic beach in the city of Reykjavik - Nautholsvik. It was great....We walked, enjoyed the view of the waterfront and hoped for the warmer weather so we can go swimming there in the hot pot. There is a special hot pot, where people can swim a little. It is possible to find some info here for people who are interested.. I personally have not tried it yet, but plan to this coming summer with my young family.

On Sunday, we had a small celebration for Jon Aron, Raggi's son - his birthday is today, on Monday, April the 7th...So, everybody went to the movies and then I joined them at Pizza Hut while Tamara Lind was at her granny's.

So, it was a nice family relaxing weekend....

New Internet Obsession, girl's standing, 8th of March...

2008-03-06T17:09:00.003Z

Well..
I have not been updating my blog lately since I got into a rather new social network for me, the FACEBOOK....yes, I have finally discovered it and am now spending a lot of time there...

First, I was just into the Russian social network - which is a complete copycat of Facebook, but the Russian version - Вконтакте (Vkontakte)....So, I joined in but was rather passive..Then I decided to try FACEBOOK...and let me tell you..it is much better than the Russian version....Well, as they say, the original is always much better....

So..of course, I am trying to compete and see how many friends I can get..but I am in the low profile...Some of my friends already hit the limit of 100 friends....!!! So. there is always room for improvement...

Some other great news...
Our girl has started to stand up...She is using everything which can be used to support herself while standing up..And from that position she can sit herself down..it is so cute and so great...I am proud of her!

We have got a new nanny, she takes care of our girl for the first half of the day...A Russian woman (well, actually, she is from Moldova) of a grandmother's age, but looks like maybe she is 60...But she is very good and our girl seems to enjoy her company...So, we are very lucky to find that nanny and lucky that our girl likes her as well....

So...Easter is coming...but first, as always - the International Woman's Day...The 8th of March...

So...Happy Holidays and a great beginning of a SPRING!!!!!

Just another Sunday

2008-02-03T13:22:00.000Z

Just another day in Iceland wonderland....

Here in Iceland, if people have nothing to talk about, they usually talk about weather...
So, I have really nothing to say today but did feel like I should update and write something, so I will write about the weather and then maybe my thoughts will form in my head for writing something more fun....

Lately we have had some real winter weather....it was cold, -12 C..... But now it warmed up a little bit...But they promise lots of snow again starting next week...So, lots of snow means that when I go out of the house to my car and drive to work, I first has to clean the car, defreeze the windows and be cold...Ahhh...so tired of it at this point and not looking forward to snow.....

But, it is February already and then March - the Easter holidays...yeah..and then close to summer....So....I hope that since the winter is snowy and cold, then summer will be dry and hot :)

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2008-01-17T17:23:00.000Z

SO...
The day that I have been waiting for has arrived and gone already and I have not written about it yet..so..better do it now...

Christmas celebration...I was very excited and happy to celebrate this time of the year - for the first time with our daughter....
It was nice and cheerful, we dressed her in a cute outfit that Daddy got her in Denmark...

We had a dinner on Christmas Eve with my side of the family, so went to my Mom's house in the evening.

Then opened the presents. Most of the presents were given to Tamara Lind, of course....And the lucky mother got to open them all :)

I was lucky as well and got some nice gifts...

Next day - we went for a dinner again and had some more extended family quality time. Tomusik (this is how I call her in Russian) had fun and enjoyed spending time with her aunts and uncles...

But first she enjoyed the nap time sleeping outside in a normal Icelandic weather:

So..
Hope that all of you had a great Christmas and are looking forward to summer now...We are!

Christmas is near us...

2007-12-22T16:50:00.000Z

So..finally...the big holidays are almost here....I wish all the stress would be gone now...need to learn how to relax....

Anyways...

Our girl is 6 months old...That is so great..She is so lively and it is so much fun to show her of... :)

We went to a Christmas Party at Raggi's work...Was great. Tamara Lind was not afraid of an Icelandic Santa Claus...they can be scary, you know...

So, now all we have to do is to buy some food so we will not starve during 5 days of straight holidays....finish packing some gifts and just enjoy the season of holidays and time of sharing the joy with the ones we love...

Elections in Russia. How we did it in Iceland

2007-12-03T13:05:00.000Z

So...
Finally...another elections came and gone while I am still here in Iceland. This time, though I did not get a call from the consulate about the elections...I guess they figured out since I have been here for some time, I need to stay a responsbile Russian citizen and come to vote no matter what..

So, we went to vote, my grandmother and I. Well..my daughter came as well and Raggi as observers.... So...what can I say - grandma was not impressed with the building of the Russian Consulate, too simple...Some people tried to speak to Raggi in Icelandic but he could not understand them... I did show off my cute girl.... :)

Grandma voted for Putin, justifying it by the fact that he rose her pension...Since I did not get any raise from Putin, so I just voted for old Communist party, being once a Komsomol member....Trying to remember the past, how fun it was, for some of us at least :)

But in spite of everything...Putin won (who I wonder doubted that....) so the new period...or the continuation of the previous is ahead of Russia...Does not make a difference to me I guess since I am not there....

Party of Kasparov (Kasparov.ru) was not represented in the elections...so....what can we say?

But, at least it was a nice day here in Iceland...sunny and warm and in a Christmas spirit....

Post in Russian

2007-11-30T12:59:00.000Z

Ну вот, по просьбам трудящихся, пишу по-русски...

Ну хотя бы чтобы просто попрактиковаться и посмотреть как тут он будет светиться этот блог. А ещё у меня картинка новая и новый вид тоже...А еще - нашей дочке уже сегодня 5 месяцев и 12 дней...Во как, растём и хорошеем, едим кашку рисовую и в бассейн ходим.

Прошлый раз правда, я одна с ней плавала, у Рагги была встреча на работе. Но моя мама помогала мне Томусика переодевать, а также своими советами - все говорила, как мне лучше плавать Томусика учить..Ну что поделаешь - бабушки, они такие - считают, что все знают - особенно наша бабушка....Но зато она хорошая!

Вот, наконец-то Рождество близиться..Радости - много! А дел - ещё больше....

Вчера со своими бывшими МВА студентами встречалась - вот такие мы были когда-то и сидели учились :)

Swimming

2007-11-15T15:56:00.000Z

So..our little girl is growing...she will be 5 months after 3 days...wow...

So, just to add more excitement to her life, we have started the swimming lessons with some other crazy/smart parents...It is great actually...I hope that it will help her development...
She seemed pretty happy to swim and was fun for her to see other babies as well...

Still no snow in Iceland

2007-11-15T15:54:00.000Z

So...
It looks like we are not having any snow this winter..well..there was some...for one day...and of course, everybody got crazy and had to change the tires on a winter ones...including myself..

So, I went and waited for an hour in line, changed the tires and now - there is no snow..there is like +11'C here today....almost like a summer day, just raining....

My favorite game

2007-10-18T12:39:00.000+01:00

So, lately I have been hooked on that online game that I discovered with the help of Raggi's son....Teenagers these days, know everything...

So, the game is a puzzle..very simple...But so far, I have been able to progress two first easy levels..And I am stuck on level "normal"...I got down to 26 figures...if someone overrides that - my respect...

I even got my Mom and her husband hooked on that game... It takes your mind off and trains your visiual memory as well.

So, here is the link to my favorite game

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Another favorite activity - figure skating. We went last weekend. Raggi's work offered its employees to come and have fun, so we came too. Here is the video of my skating. Raggi took it while taking care of the girl. We skated in turns.

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Baptizing ceremony

2007-10-10T14:56:00.000+01:00

So, it is official...Our girl has been christened this last Sunday.

We were so lucky with the weather, it was very beautiful...Sunny and warm...Which is rather unusual for Iceland :)

Girl behaved very well, did not cry at all...Was smiling and observing everything.

So, here we all are - Raggi, myself and the priest..(not sure how they are called in the Lutheran church).

Reception afterwards went well too. Lots of cakes, presents and smiles...Everyone was happy. We have ordered a special cake for the celebration, with our daughter's name on it.

So, now we can relax til Christmas for the special gatherings and other similar activities...

Another week

2007-10-02T12:47:00.000+01:00

Well..

Fall is here in Iceland, in our little country in the middle of the Atlantic...

And with fall, come all the beautiful colours. Here is the picture from a local newspaper....

Also...with fall comes the thought of Christmas - it will be arriving soon..And we all are looking forward to it...Our daughter will be already 6 months by then...

This weekend we will have a christening ceremony for her. Here are some info regarding this tradition in Iceland:

Here in Iceland they do not have baby showers where parents/mother are showered with gifts...but they have a Christening. Sometimes it is done in the church, sometimes right at the hospital - and the baby is given the name. Before that, the name should not be revealed. So, on this Christening ceremony - at the reception afterwards everybody usually brings the gifts.

Then, at the age of 14, the child - or better to say a teenager, can decide himself to have a confirmation of faith or not...That is mostly just another big celebration for your child - getting into another phase and opportunity to get more real gifts - something like computers, laptops, furniture, some other cool gadgets, and some money as well...But we are not at that stage yet...

So, I am looking forward to this weekend, ordering the special cake for our girl, and other things...

I have also updated Tamara Lind's home page..so, start to expore it!

Birthday Celebration

2007-09-21T14:41:00.000+01:00

So, the big B-day is over...Now I can relax and wait until next year. It was nice, small and with a very nice cake that my Mom baked.

Our American friend Matthew was also invited since his birthday is surprisingly on the same date and the year as mine...only three people so far I know that have this date as a birthday.

I was not expecting so many flowers but I got four bouquets. Wonderful. So, they are all so beautiful that I decided to take pictures and let the world see.

Those are different types - some look more summery, others more like a fall...But all of them are pretty.

Birthday girls

2007-09-20T09:30:00.000+01:00

So...this week is all about the number 3....

Our little girl just was 3 months old two days ago...And today, I am 33...so....great numbers....We both feel very happy and content. Our little girl is growing fast...

So, here is just one picture taken on her 3-month birthday.

Night out

2007-09-07T13:09:00.000+01:00

So..finally...today in the evening I went out for dinner with my co-workers. It was the first time out since I gave birth to my little baby girl. One of the co-worker was leaving our company so we had a farewell party for him. Actually we just went to a nice restaurant called "Seafood Cellar" (Sjávakjallarinnn)- one of the best in Reykjavik.

So..of course it was difficult to leave my girl with the Daddy for 3 hours but somehow I managed it...I was thinking about her all the time and was looking on the phone waiting for the call from him saying that there is a big crisis and that I have to come home..But then I managed to relax a little bit. I do know that I need to have time for myself so I need to learn to leave the girl for a little bit.

Dinner was great...However I only had a limited time so I only stayed through the first course - but eve that meal was great...Here you can see the picture of the first course. In the middle of the picture - "toby beef" from Japan - supposedly this meat is from the bulls that are fed with beer and massaged twice a day to make meat very tender :) It was great beef, I have to say.

Then, I had to leave back to my girl since her Daddy was getting a little bit worried....So I ran to my car and drove quickly home just to find Daddy and the girl quite happy together...So, the first Daddy-daughter time turned out well....

My friend who stayed at the party sent me some cool pictures of the desert that was served at the end...So, here is another picture. It almost looks like something out of space :)

Just rain

2007-08-30T14:40:00.000+01:00

It happenned....summer is officially over in Iceland :(

The weather forecast for next seven days is rain, rain, and more rain....The sky will get more darker, nights will become longer...but then the Christmas will be coming...Yes....Since here is Iceland, there is just Summer and then suddenly comes winter...nothing really in between.

But for now - this is how it looks right now outside of our balcony:

But..on the other hand, we were quite lucky with the summer weather this year...Very! And everything is still is green!

10 weeks

2007-08-28T16:03:00.000+01:00

Wow..

Time flies fast...Today...my little girl is 71 days old already..

She can do lots of staff...Smile, speak (in her own baby talk, of course), even fall asleep without Mom help...play with some toys and raise her head..etc.

So..I guess it is all going well and good according to the nurse that we have visited last week. And another good news - I don't have that depression that some women get when they have a child...Well...

Of course I am tired and lacking some sleep but I am so happy and full of joy that it covers that all tiring feelings. Of course, my house in not in the best condition that I would like it to be...but still it is rather good and there it no need for inviting people from the show on "How Clean is your House?"

Seeing people with the new daugther

2007-08-15T17:45:00.001+01:00

We have started to go out to see people with my little girl..

Lately I have been busy with visitors..and it is good, helps you to stay updated with all the gossips, etc. But a visit to a Russian grandmother is a must!

So, here are some fresh pictures - the first one is from the left - Oli´s parents, my Mom and my girl, myself and Raggi..the father...

Four days with Grandma

2007-08-14T12:42:00.000+01:00

So...Here it was..My Mom and her husband went on a trip to the West Fjords for 5 days, my dear man/husband-to-be left to Akureyri (north of the country) for an exciting diving trip for a weekend and I was left alone to take care of the granny and plus my own daugther of 8 weeks old :)

So...I have to say it was a challenge at times but I think I did well...Of course there is a great gap between the generations and plus I had to explain everything to the grandma on how things work in the house - everything is so new to her in this social democracy world of Iceland which for now is represented by the little island of my Mom's house to her...WE have not taken granny to the downtown of Reykjavik yet shameless to say...

Luckily, my Mom has a satellite dish which provides some Russian channels so we can still face the reality of the Russian life - luckily only on television. But the greatest task is to teach grandma how to use the remote control and to change the channels...etc. We have accomplished 50% of it so far.

Grandma comes to Iceland

2007-08-10T16:09:00.000+01:00

So..we did it! We have invited our granny to come and stay in Iceland for some time. She is 82 years old and for her, it was a first trip abroad ever.

Of course we did not send her alone on that journey, we had some trusted people to do that.

So, she is here now, enjoying the land, saying that it is a paradise on earth...

So..we better enjoy our life as it is.
But I guess I always liked it here and will be staying for some time now until our little girl will get a little bit bigger.

It is pretty here...in our land of ice and fire.

6 weeks - that is how old our little girl today

2007-07-30T16:35:00.000+01:00

yes..I am a proud mother!
A great feeling that I cannot even compare to anything....I knew that I always wanted to have a baby..a girl...and I got blessed!

So, now the great task is to bring her up...Another challenge :) But I have strength and faith in myself and my man so we will bring up a great citizen :) to this civilization

On the other not so happy note -

- a crazy thing in Reykjavik happened - a man got shot in the middle of the day on the road while he was changing a tire....It is some kind of jealousy revenge..Since the shooter shot himself afterwards when he drove to Þingvellir....So...even streets of Reyakjvik are not so safe anymore...

2007-07-29T16:30:00.000+01:00

OK..just checking out..how many blog pages I can have... So..it looks like one can have as many as one desires :)

So..maybe from now on I should just try to use that web page...

I like how it looks and how it works..and it is for free and contains no ads..well..at least for now...dont know what will be in the future...

OK..so..here I come..hello the world of Internet..one more time..at last!

P.S. on the picture - myself in person enjoying the ice cream during one of thouse few sunny days that we have on that pittle island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean....

Some photos

2007-05-15T17:39:00.000+01:00

Well..

In May we had some visitors from Denmark - the older son Magnus with his wife and son of my step father Olafur..I was still pregnant and feeling weel..we had some little gathering with the Icelandic family and relatives :)

Just another web journal

2007-02-22T14:05:00.000Z

Just checking how it works...