Not a week without my mom…

It’s not been a week yet that my mom left after an 8-months stay with us, and I already feel slammed with all those major and minor household duties I need to handle myself from now on. Not to mention having to get up 30 mins earlier now to walk the dog! I want my momma back! Not happening till the fall though…sigh.

Loved it!

If someone in a Home Depot store Offers you assistance and they don't work there, You may live in Canada.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, You may live in Canada.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, You may live in Canada.
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Detroit for the weekend, You may live in Canada.
If you measure distance in hours, You may live in Canada.
If you know several people Who have hit a deer more than once, You may live in Canada.
If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, You may live in Canada.
If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, You may live in Canada.
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, You may live in Canada.
If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, You may live in Canada.
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, You may live in Canada.
If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km -- You're going 95 and everybody is passing you, You may live in Canada.
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, You may live in Canada.
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, You may live in Canada. If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, You may live in Canada
If you find -2 degrees 'a little chilly', You may live in Canada.

Putting everything into prospective

In an interview with Suzanne Collins I recently watched she said that the idea for Hunger Games came to her, when she switched channels on her TV. One channel was showing some kind of reality show, where bunch of teenagers were competing for cash. The other channel was providing updates on war in Syria, where people and children were dying.

I am a survivor

I have been reading the Hunger Games Trilogy over the long weekend and among lots of enjoyment I had reading them, they helped me realize something about myself. Like the main character of the books, I am a survivor. No matter what life throws at me, it won’t break me. Unsettle me – maybe, but never damage me beyond repair. And never will I go under without a battle.

It’s probably not the fact to be proud of, but getting to know myself better is an achievement for me – I was never good at reflection.

I believe this very feature makes me very adaptable to whatever changes I face. I am able to alter myself to not feel uncomfortable under the new circumstances. Like when I was a child, I was really sentimental about what home was. I cried for days, when I found out, that we were moving from the apartment where I’ve spent the first thirteen years of my life. I also was really upset when we sold the cottage where I used to spend summers.

But with time I made myself change the attitude – not that it changed on its own, I remember working on it. That’s what made me a good immigrant – I don’t miss many things, because it’s disturbing and I don’t let myself to get upset. Life’s too short for that kind of things and sad feelings don’t add much value to it.

Pick your battles

I used to be really stubborn in trying to prove my solution was the best possible for the situation. The scale of the problem or its significance to me personally did not really matter. Once I got started, I would not abandon the ship until either full victory or complete defeat were achieved.

Now I notice that I am more willing to step back and not escalate the whole situation by trying to get my point to the other party when I realize that the problem is not important to me. I guess I am a way better politician now as I am ready to give up my position in exchange for an ally. I do not surrender with a white flag, I just make the point of how I missed a different prospective in the situation and how this changes the whole approach of mine.

IWD

Today is the payback day for men in Russia – the country celebrates International Women’s Day. What has started in the beginning of the 20st century as celebration of anti-sexist movement and fight for equal rights for women transformed into something completely different. What I actually witnessed back there was women demanding attention (in form of chocolates and flowers) from men for being female. A standard expectation for the day would also include household duties transfer to the man. For that day only!

The most stupid thing I saw though was women congratulating each other on being women! That is still beyond my understanding. It’s not an achievement – being born a woman, is it? I mean, I can get the mother’s or father’s day – where one made a decision to become a parent. I also understand the idea of Valentine’s. But celebrating one’s sex – it’s not anti-sexist at all, is it?

Modern scammers

Today most of my acquaintances and I received an email from our friend. “She” wrote how she got stuck in a hotel in London – the story went on in details how she and her husband were robbed in the street, police wouldn’t do anything to help – told them to wait for three weeks – and the hotel manager was not letting them leave until they paid.

I was wondering, if ANYONE is still buying such crap? Like, really? Could you come up with a more ridiculous story than one of someone suddenly flying over from Canada to London, getting robbed and not being able to leave a hotel?

I feel disappointed –scammers are so uninventive these days. It’s just wrong!