Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!

If you have been trying to call me on my cell phone and I haven't returned your call, it's because I lost my cell phone on January 6th. I also lost my prescription sunglasses and my new watch, all in the last 30 days. I have no idea where they are, but I keep thinking I will find all of my lost items in one place. I am giving up on finding my cell phone and replacing it this week, but I am not replacing my watch or my sunglasses for the time being. Way too expensive. I'll just do without!

I remember losing my mind and memory along with my belongings when Katie and Steven were babies. Being a new mom is overwhelming and trying, so perhaps that's what I am experiencing now. I've been Katya's mother for four months now, so I can equate that to what I was like with a four month old baby. Now it all makes sense. Frustration, sleep deprivation, cluelessness and second guessing all parenting decisions...that's what I did then and I am doing now. There are no absolutes for parenting a new baby and no absolutes for parenting a 12-year old, so we are just following our heart and hoping we are doing the right thing!

If you know where my lost items are, please give me a call, on my house phone!

Taking it day by day...

Last weekend was full of drama, mishaps and mistakes! On Friday night, Katya and her friend were playing school in the basement and Katya decided to play on my computer. Somehow, she managed to delete all my photos from half of 2006, all of 2007 and 2008. We still can't figure out how she deleted them and emptied my trash. (I have a Mac) Bottom line, I have spent hours on the phone with the help desk and we've concluded that all are lost. Sunday was another struggle, but we got through it and we all went to bed with smiles. Monday, Katie fell while skiing and tore her meniscus and is now in a knee brace with the possibility of surgery in a month. The bright side to the weekend was a visit from our friends from Poquoson, Virginia.

The work/school week has been fine, but Fred is in Boston until tomorrow. Katya has been enjoying shooting baskets in what to her is nice weather. (It's been in the 30's and 40 's during the day.) "It's not cold Mama, I promise." I am praying for more snow!

"Me no cold Mama, I promise."

It is a ritual. Every morning, the first thing Katya does is walk downstairs, poke her head out the door and say, "No cold Mama, no coat today." It is our one constant battle. This morning, she woke up and announced, "It no snow in America, I promise Mama."
I tried to explain that it does indeed snow in America, in fact it snows a lot in certain parts of America. It was no use, she wasn't buying it. Today, the FIRST thing she said to me when she got off the school bus was, "It no cold Mama, no cold today." She said this as she stepped off the bus into a 4 inch deep snow pile. She said tonight, "You Mama, American, cold. Me Russian, not cold." I think if I have to have this argument another few months I will surely loose my mind. I am trying to teach her fahrenheit vs. celsius, because she isn't buying the fact that 28 degrees fahrenheit is actually pretty nippy. She flat out says she will never be cold in America, period. I think a trip to Minnesota is in order!

Winter Sports

Forget about ice skating, Katya is busy mastering roller skating this winter! She borrowed her friend's roller skates and is already racing up and down our street like she's been skating for years. She even plays basketball in the roller skates! I know it is not safe but she throws the ball into the basket as she races past the hoop! I beg her to slow down but I know she's charging down the street when I'm not looking.

Her basketball team lost in overtime yesterday which was heartbreaking. Katya says, "We loses." There is no telling her she played well, great game, great defense, etc. The fact that the team lost is what she dwells on, regardless. Another thing we have to work on...

Seizing the opportunity!

Katya invited two school friends to our house tomorrow after school to play. Since she was elated that both invitations were accepted, I seized the opportunity and took down one Christmas tree tonight as she danced around the house in a most jubilant mood! She didn't say a word to me or react negatively so I feel she is finally ready for Christmas to be officially over! She has her hopes set on playing basketball with her friends tomorrow but rain is in the forecast. I wish it would snow instead of rain but with our current warm temperatures snow seems like a long-shot! Katya wore capri pants to school yesterday without a jacket! I keep trying to tell her this isn't normal winter weather but what IS normal weather anymore? My Russian friends tell me there is no snow on the ground in Moscow and the temperatures have been in the 30's and 40's. Definitely not normal. Maybe this means we can head to Ocean City in March for spring break week and swim in the Atlantic!

Back in the saddle again...

I returned to work today after a nine month absence. It is great to be back to work! I missed all the wonderful people who make the Washington DC Chapter the greatest place to work!! I love the mission, the MOD culture and of course the babies so I am happy to be back in pantyhose and pearls!! I am now part-time, so my job does not impact Katya at all. I will honestly miss working a full day but I need to be home when Katya gets off the bus. She was nervous this morning when I was getting dressed for work but I assured her over and over that I would be here when she came home. I don't know what I'll do if we have a snow day, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon because our high today was 73 degrees!! Who says global warming isn't real...

The agony of defeat

We had a wonderful time on Saturday at the George Mason University Men's Basketball game. Katya thoroughly enjoyed the game and wants to go back to see more games. Fortunately GMU defeated Towson State, which made it even sweeter! No such luck at Katya's game, although she did score two baskets. They lost yesterday and today too. Oh well, it's a good learning experience but it is still hard. She takes loses so personally, and she's a bear to be around after a defeat! I believe the final score today was 22 - 7, but Katya made four of the seven points! The girls on the opposing team were really aggressive, and I think that took Katya by surprise. She's not used to having elbows in her belly. I almost got up and marched out to the court and told one girl to behave! I hate it that sportsmanship has reached that level in elementary school.

I have one final day left until I go back to work. I wonder if I can get the trees down, do 10 loads of laundry and clean the house, all in a day? We shall see.

Houston....we have a problem

Yesterday was a difficult day. Steven and Sabrina left as Katya was preparing to leave for school and she became very upset. Steven's departure marked the official end of the Christmas season for her, and the fact that I told here we were taking the trees down this weekend didn't help either. She had a meltdown and in the end, we made it to school at 12:30 PM. When Katya gets upset, she shuts down and doesn't want to talk. Her mode of coping is running away; to get as physically far from "the problem" as she possibly can. She has no coping skills whatsoever. This is something that we really must conquer, and as her English skills improve, so will her coping skills. She was very clingy after it was all over, and I hated to send her to school, but I thought it was important to maintain her schedule. Last night she told my friend Vicki she was a "bad girl", but Vicki very eloquently told her, "No Katya, you are not a bad girl, you just had a bad day."

Today we are going to see a basketball game at George Mason University, and Katya has a game tonight at 7:15. I'll let you know how that goes in tomorrow's blog!

School is back in session!

Katya was absolutely exuberant this morning! School is finally back in session! She was so excited to get back to class and see her friends and teachers. I now know that I must schedule her summers with back to back camps, trips and excursions. The busier she is the happier she is. This will be quite a challenge because I will be working this summer. Fred asked that I not spend more than I make just keeping her busy! I found one camp online tonight and it was $1500 per week! My cooking school in Italy wasn't even that expensive! I'm hoping "Camp Aunt Anne" is still up and running; Steven spent many a summer at his aunt's house in California while I was working. Anne is a school librarian so she has the summers off! Well, back to Google to find those camps!!