Life goes on

So it’s been a while, I just realized. I guess not much has been happening…the usual day to day stuff. We did celebrate our one year anniversary in Kyiv last weekend. Well, not so much celebrate as look at each other over the dog sleeping on the couch between us and say, “Well, we’ve survived a year.” Then turned back to watch Bear on Man vs. Wild eat a scorpion. We’re not ones for fanfare.

Today is such a rainy day. Even Laika doesn’t want to leave the house. Every time we get to the bottom of the stairs and I throw the door open, she just looks up at me as if I’ve asked her to jump into a pit of hot lava. And then I’m forced to remind her that she’s the one that has to do her business outside and I’m the one that should be angry. At least she’s been calmer since Shawn decided to start her on a new diet. Throwing half a chicken down on the balcony and watching her chomp on it isn’t the most pleasant thing, but I feel like we’re already seeing some benefits. Most importantly, some calm time in the afternoon. There were days in the past she would literally be running circles around me while I stood screaming for her to please, for the love of god, just lay down. These were not good days. So the fact that she just went into the living room and laid herself down for a nap is pretty great.

I had a Ukrainian Life realization earlier this afternoon. I was working on cutting out a pattern for a summer dress, and our housekeeper came in and asked if it was from Burda. After I finally understood what she was saying (trust me, “Burda” with a Ukrainian accent is not easy to understand), I showed her the pattern envelope and said I bought it online. She looked confused and asked if the pattern pieces came out of the envelope as well. I suddenly realized that I have never seen individual sewing patterns here. So I asked her and she verified that the only patterns available are in Burda and one other magazine. How sad is that? To only have access to whatever patterns are printed in those two magazines each month? So then I pulled out my big box of patterns to show her how it works in America. She seemed to think our system was much better until I mentioned the difference in price. Burda magazine costs about $3 here and comes with about 30 patterns each month; my Amy Butler pattern was $11.95. Again life comes down to economics. But who can put a price on the memories I have of sitting in the fabric store thumbing through pattern books with my mom searching for my next great 4-H project? I’ll stick with the American way.