Zaiki turn 3, or how did we get here?

I was going to write a post about life, changes, children growing up and other sappy stuff, but I am too tired and don't feel nostalgic/romantic/sensitive enough. Instead, I present you with a photo gallery that can only be titled
 "How did we get from this":

 To this:

 To this:

 To finally, this:

Training time!!!

I'm mulling an idea in my head to sign up for another race - half-marathon this time, something to soothe my bruised ego after doing worse then hoped for in a St.Patty's Day 5K. Also to lose some weight before the summer.

Recent trip to the doctor forced me to face my nemesis - the scale, and of course showed some unwanted poundage. Not much, but enough to send me into the spiral of self-hatitude. Too many damn super-tasty oatmeal cookies over the winter. I guess it's obvious that if you eat half of the cookie dough BEFORE you bake it, some of the butter-brown sugar-chocolate chip-oatmeal goodness will inevitably end up on your hips and butt. DUH!

So I've begun my training. It's hard this time, I don't bounce back as quickly as I did. But I'm doing ok so far. Keeping it nice and slow, but consistent, doing some hill work, doing some long runs. :)

I like long runs - it's great thinking time, and with Gogol Bordello in my iPod, I can run forever. I love their music. My iPod has an eclectic mix of Queen, Beatles, Dropkick Murphies, Flogging Molly and Gogol Bordello with occasional cropping of Adele, Mika, and other rather obscure pop stars. Oh, and LMFAO (oh however you spell it).

But Eugene Hutz is my man. I LOVE LOVE him. If Kevin and I never met I'd marry Hutz. Seriously. Of course there's a small creepy fact that he looks a lot like my brother, but we won't go there. :) I've logged so many miles with him whispering (well, screaming really) in my ear, seen him in concert and think he is a wonderful creative being, abet self-destructive. Zaiki like his music too. How can you not?

Kupi slona or how to annoy your toddlers

Parents of toddlers know how annoying the constant whining is. Anything said in a tiny voice over and over and over and over starts to wear on anybody, and I don't care what kind of happy meds you are on. Maya whines and meows constantly. Her newest thing is to say "what did you say?" to anything I ask her to do.

So in despair I opened the dark damp room in my head that are my childhood memories. You see, my brother is 8 years younger than me and we had some interesting times together. When we were growing up, we used to play this game: you start out with asking someone to buy an elephant, "kupi slona" in mother-tongue. When your victim innocently asks you "why?" (zachem?), you say "everyone asks why, but you buy an elephant" or  "все говорят зачем, а ты купи слона?". The beauty of this is that you can countersay just about ANYTHING with "kupi slona". It's awesome and endless. My brother and I did it for hours until someone got tired or voices got coarse.

So, when Maya started with "what did you say?" I was ready. I replied "kupi slona". She got confused and said "what?". Then I had my revenge. And it was glorious. Now nothing stops whining and complaining faster than "kupi slona". I love it.

Here to bring you holiday cheer (no, really, no sarcasm this time)

All right, as much as I don' like holidays, the presence of zaiki in my life means that I have to change the way I think. Christmas is time to be grateful, and the end of the year lends itself to summing things up and all that stuff...It would have been much easier for me to write about the things I find annoying about it, but, to put myself in the appropriate holiday mood, I've been thinking about all the things I'm grateful for. So here you go, Lida's 12 things to appreciate at the end of 2011:

1. New pumpkin cookie recipe: love, love baking those! They come out gooey, mushy and sweet. :)
2. Dexter - the best TV show ever!!!!
3. Wine - without it, my life will be unbearable. I love just having a wine glass on the table next to my plate, it instantly soothes me
4. For walking away from my car accident  without serious complications. Also finding a car we like and can afford relatively quickly
5. For my creative ability. Even though I haven't painted in AGES (which I miss so much!), I've been able to find ways to be creative, even if it's making a silly holiday card or making coal candy
6. For running and foot alcohol injections: I'm sosososo happy that I my foot problem can be solved relatively easy and will not cause permanent damage. And for medical geniuses who came up with injecting alcohol into your foot to kill your uppity uncooperative nerve. I love running. It keeps me balanced, and my body just feels right when it runs. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't run (probably drink much much more)
7. For having a job: even though I don't like what I do, and my job is boring.  It's a paycheck. A small one, but still. It also gets me out of the house and keeps me out of stay-at-home-mom-hell. I like (with a very few exceptions) people I work with, so going there is not a torture. The hours are great, people are understanding, and it's really close to our house. And they pay for my graduate school.
8. For my babysitters: girls love them, and we can afford them :) I was complaining about the kids' sleep issues, and Liz came over to put them to bed the other night. That's super super nice in my book, and I'm lucky that my kids have people other than family who care about them
9. For my mother and my brother - even though they are far away and I don't see them most of the time, we've managed to stay close and talk all the time. And the girls know baba Anya and dyadya Masik
10. For my friends, old and new
11. For my husband: I'm really lucky to have him! He gets me. He is a good father, patient husband and I love and get his sense of humor. He is a wonderful father for my kids, and I love seeing them together.  Plus, he cooks (which I hate doing)
12. For my kids, that they are healthy and growing so well!!! They annoy me, they test me to the limit (and beyond), they took over my life, but how boring would my life be without them? It's great to see them grow, and there is a satisfaction in knowing I'm doing right by them, that they are happy and safe.

That pretty much sums it up. Now off to buy a Christmas-themed sweater and maybe do some caroling? LOL...