Rejuvenation Ramblings

Dear Friends,

Miracles happen. Today I spent the day almost medication free and, as reward, Mother Nature decided to give me a dose of her best medicine: blue skies and SUNSHINE! I think those who recommended I get a little more Vitamin D in my life (thank you to ALL for the sympathy and recommendations!) were right on target, because my outlook on life was transformed by those golden yet ever-so-frigid rays.

In celebration of my nearly-healthy status, I spent the evening sanitizing my cabin. I'm pushing the restart button next week and revamping my existence in an effort to live as healthily and disease-proof as possible. Sanitizing was just the beginning. Vitamins, exercise, and a consistent sleep routine are being added to the check list. I actually swallowed the ridiculous cost and joined a Moscow gym this week. People, this city is expensive. I will never complain about San Francisco or New York again. But back to topic: my running routine has been severely limited by the winter weather...I'm just not that hard core...and this girl needs to get her cardio ON.

As far as the sleep routine goes, I'm having difficulty. Why? I've been reading War and Peace this week. Amazing. Be prepared for a post completely dedicated to the genius that is Tolstoy in the near future. The major drawback to being completely drawn into his Russia of 200 years ago is the serious lack of sleep that has ensued. And during a week when I'm trying to get healthy!!! You see, my normal solution when I get completely drawn into a book is to just make a night of it, sacrifice sleep, and plow through until it's finished. (Patience is not my greatest virtue). This has been a long-standing tradition since my childhood...I read under the covers, in the bathroom and in the closet by both flashlight and candlelight, as necessary. Every night I had to come up with a new strategy to keep my mom from glimpsing the light that might give me away. Meet my early rebellious tendencies. ANYWAY, I'm reading War and Peace via the convenience of Kindle and, while there is much to be said for electronic reading, I will say it's major drawback is the lack of a physical book. Profound, right? While my Kindle can tell me that I'm 83% finished with a book, I have a hard time grasping what that translates to in actual book-held-in-my-hand land. W&P isn't exactly a quick read, but on Wednesday night I decided I must be somewhere in the vicinity of the end, and opted to just "plow through it." It was suddenly 6 am. And I hadn't finished. So the sleep routine is forthcoming. As soon as I finish the book...

In other news, we still have snow. And a lot of the beautiful, fresh kind this week. It's made some of the Christmas decor all the more beautiful. Yes, we're still all done up for the holidays over here.

And in the continuing holiday spirit, I broke into another one of my Christmas presents. I had intended to save these for a seriously rainy day a month or two down the road (the beauty of preservatives), but the past two weeks demanded dipping. Who am I to intervene?

While I don't enjoy being confined at home with no will to do anything but sleep, the few days I spent in bed did make for some convenient vacation planning time. June feels impossibly distant given the current winter conditions, but I'm already looking forward to family adventures in London, Paris, Italy, and Switzerland. I'll be asking all of my travel-savvy friends and fellow expats for recommendations and advice, so be prepared! But the real icing on this particular vacation cake? It ends in Russia with my SISTER! For all I might complain, I love this place and I'm thrilled that I'll actually get to show it off to someone I love!

Consider these my rejuvenated random ramblings. Happy Weekend!