T-Minus one week and counting: By this time next week RG will be on a plane headed to NYC then on to Moscow. So we are down to it. This sucks because as usual I am out of town this week and we have too many plans for the weekend. But that is life and I do get to see her next Friday already since I will be vacationing in Russia. Anyway the good byes are now in full swing. So Sunday night we hosted a picnic at a park a few miles from the house for many of RG’s friends. Most people that RSVPed showed up so we had at least 30 or more people there. I was glad to see everyone come out and show their support for her. I think she was glad too.
It was kinda funny… but the park that we had the party in was very close to my house and I did not even know it existed. It is just north of and part of the same land that makes up the Columbia Golf Course that is adjacent to St. Anthony Parkway. But the address to the park is really for the Columbia Golf Course, so without knowing that you need to drive north on Central and take Columbia Parkway to get there you would never know the park exists. It is a great park too. Large play areas for kids with a ton of slides, zip lines, bridges, monkey bars, digging machines, and other sandbox equipment. There are also a ton of activities for older people as well. There are tennis courts, basketball hoops, and a large field that could be used for soccer, football, bocce, cricket, or any number of games. What really sold the park however was presence of a large shelter, charcoal grills, and lots of picnic tables. Originally though we would have liked to have used a more recognized park but all of the permits were spoken for at Boom Island, Nicollet Island, Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, and Lake Nokomis.
I think the event went off really, really well. I also know that RG was very grateful and touched to see so many people show up for the event. One less I do have to admit to though is that we probably should have started it a little later. The original start time was 4:30 but with a few exceptions no one really started showing up until 5:30. I wonder though if people wouldn’t have showed up until 6:30 if we had started it at 5:30. Every group was well represented. RGs host family came, as did many of the families that she had nannied for, her work friends showed (though they were the latest), my friends, and a few others. It was nice. There was more than enough food and drink for everyone, though everyone seemed to be waiting for the meat to finish cooking; burgers, brats, chicken, or whatever. Our house is now full of chips and left over soda. A few people also got together and brought a cake. That was very thoughtful I thought.
All in all I thought it was a great Sunday evening, though it left me tired for the rest of the week. I just hope the homecoming party can be planned sooner rather than later!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Being the wonderful husband I am
I went ahead and expanded my website to include a blog for my wife. If you look at the menu bar you will see links to this blog and it has its own address http://ruzikpuzik.mattglaeser.org. She didn’t ask me to do this of course. I came up with the idea all on my own. I am good that way. I give her things she doesn’t even ask for. Or a lot of times things she may not even know that she wants. That’s ok I know better! No matter how much she tries to tell me different, I know she really means that’s exactly what I wanted but don’t want to admit it!
My hope is that she will write about Moscow and Russia and how things are different. This will give her friends and family a chance to get a different perspective and keep up with her goings on. Of course so far she is a little reluctant to do this as she tells me, we will talk all the time what will I have to write about. Though I hope this will allow her to keep in touch with everyone, not just me.
I am sure the kids she used to nanny would love to know what she is doing, as would my family, and her school and work friends. So hopefully I can convince her to post and try and write every now and again. Once she does, everyone else can post comments and ask her questions. So if you check out her blog and she has posted something – leave an encouraging comment or her so we can get her to do this. Maybe we can get her to do it. Who knows? I can try, I can try.
My hope is that she will write about Moscow and Russia and how things are different. This will give her friends and family a chance to get a different perspective and keep up with her goings on. Of course so far she is a little reluctant to do this as she tells me, we will talk all the time what will I have to write about. Though I hope this will allow her to keep in touch with everyone, not just me.
I am sure the kids she used to nanny would love to know what she is doing, as would my family, and her school and work friends. So hopefully I can convince her to post and try and write every now and again. Once she does, everyone else can post comments and ask her questions. So if you check out her blog and she has posted something – leave an encouraging comment or her so we can get her to do this. Maybe we can get her to do it. Who knows? I can try, I can try.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Get to it already I have better things to worry about
Warning – Venting ahead – Warning
So as I mentioned before, the city came around and wrote up a bunch of people in my neighborhood for code violations. Such as holes in the siding, loose or missing paint, and other general up-keep issues. I was one of the lucky people to get one of these notices. Where the deadline has come and gone already. I was supposed to repair the loose paint and bar wood on the house and garage. I decided to hire siders and get the big job done. I made that decision at the beginning of the summer. I hired a guy a week before the deadline and that was maybe 6 weeks ago. At the time they told me it would be 3 weeks before they could get to it. Ok I thought, they are half the price, I can handle a little delay and maybe a fine. That is if it was a little delay. We are now into twice the expected wait and still no work. Nothing, no supplies have been ordered, no dumpster is at the house, no tools have shown up, etc. It seems that every week there is a new excuse for them to not show up.
It really wouldn’t be that bad if it was a normal summer, where I don’t have other things to worry about. But because of the arrangements I made I have to pay suppliers and deal with the house inspector. That means I have to be around. Well in two weeks I will be gone for three so if they don’t start this week I don’t know what will happen. Not to mention it would just be nice to have one thing off of the list as I have to worry about finding a new project at work, getting signed up for some training, weekly travel as always, a new roommate moving in, and oh yeah… a wife that is leaving the country. So it is fun to have something that should have been simple becoming more of a concern for me every day. At this point hiring my number 2 choice would cost me another 3-5 weeks so I don’t know if it is better to wait it out or make the call.
I did get a little news last Friday where my contractor asked me to order the foil wrap for the house and that he would start this week. But here Monday is and no one showed up. Nor did he drop equipment off last Saturday like he said he would. I haven’t had this kind of trouble with a contractor yet. I was going to pass this guys number along but I don’t think that is going to happen after this frustration. I understand things happen but it seems like they just don’t want the work. He could have told me he didn’t want it. Or said he would be backed up with work for a month and a half. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with the job being left incomplete. My roofers did that a 1 and ½ years ago. That wasn’t fun either, but at least the whole process was completed inside of a month. My heating guy was even better he was done with in 3 weeks of hiring them. I guess at this point I will just hope that something happens this week otherwise I don’t know how it can get completed before October.
OK OK OK.. New update. After writing but not posting this blog yesterday. My sider finally called and asked fro a check to purchase supplies. He had dropped off materials and was planning to work tomorrow (now today). Also when talking to the wife I found out that the dumpster finally arrived also. This morning they were even on site at 7:30 making noise!!! So the good news is they started, much to my relief. The bad news is some of the materials were special order and won’t arrive for a week and a half. So I don’t think they will be able to finish before I leave for Russia. But I have a back up plan for that. All I know is that my house is finally getting its new skin.
So as I mentioned before, the city came around and wrote up a bunch of people in my neighborhood for code violations. Such as holes in the siding, loose or missing paint, and other general up-keep issues. I was one of the lucky people to get one of these notices. Where the deadline has come and gone already. I was supposed to repair the loose paint and bar wood on the house and garage. I decided to hire siders and get the big job done. I made that decision at the beginning of the summer. I hired a guy a week before the deadline and that was maybe 6 weeks ago. At the time they told me it would be 3 weeks before they could get to it. Ok I thought, they are half the price, I can handle a little delay and maybe a fine. That is if it was a little delay. We are now into twice the expected wait and still no work. Nothing, no supplies have been ordered, no dumpster is at the house, no tools have shown up, etc. It seems that every week there is a new excuse for them to not show up.
It really wouldn’t be that bad if it was a normal summer, where I don’t have other things to worry about. But because of the arrangements I made I have to pay suppliers and deal with the house inspector. That means I have to be around. Well in two weeks I will be gone for three so if they don’t start this week I don’t know what will happen. Not to mention it would just be nice to have one thing off of the list as I have to worry about finding a new project at work, getting signed up for some training, weekly travel as always, a new roommate moving in, and oh yeah… a wife that is leaving the country. So it is fun to have something that should have been simple becoming more of a concern for me every day. At this point hiring my number 2 choice would cost me another 3-5 weeks so I don’t know if it is better to wait it out or make the call.
I did get a little news last Friday where my contractor asked me to order the foil wrap for the house and that he would start this week. But here Monday is and no one showed up. Nor did he drop equipment off last Saturday like he said he would. I haven’t had this kind of trouble with a contractor yet. I was going to pass this guys number along but I don’t think that is going to happen after this frustration. I understand things happen but it seems like they just don’t want the work. He could have told me he didn’t want it. Or said he would be backed up with work for a month and a half. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with the job being left incomplete. My roofers did that a 1 and ½ years ago. That wasn’t fun either, but at least the whole process was completed inside of a month. My heating guy was even better he was done with in 3 weeks of hiring them. I guess at this point I will just hope that something happens this week otherwise I don’t know how it can get completed before October.
OK OK OK.. New update. After writing but not posting this blog yesterday. My sider finally called and asked fro a check to purchase supplies. He had dropped off materials and was planning to work tomorrow (now today). Also when talking to the wife I found out that the dumpster finally arrived also. This morning they were even on site at 7:30 making noise!!! So the good news is they started, much to my relief. The bad news is some of the materials were special order and won’t arrive for a week and a half. So I don’t think they will be able to finish before I leave for Russia. But I have a back up plan for that. All I know is that my house is finally getting its new skin.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
I think there are too many holidays and Events
Well this is a post I’ve been meaning to get to all summer. I think it is going to be a reoccurring theme for a long while. As anyone can attest when you are newly wed everyone seems to want you around. This is nice, but it is also exhausting. Over the entire summer I can only count maybe 3 weekends where we did not have a holiday, a reunion, a kid’s play, a special gathering, or some other can not miss event. I don’t really think there are more of these events in general. I just think that we go to more of them and feel obligated to go to more of them. And since we now get hit up from both sides (both RG and myself have family and friends to deal with) the number of invites is increased.
So with traveling, trying to get a siding contractor (this is turning out to be a huge pain in @$$), and getting ready for RG to return to Moscow time is moving faster than I have ever experienced. I know my folks always talked about years flying by but, sheesh. Who knew? It is nice to see every one from time to time and to do all of these things, but I find myself longing for a month of weekends to just hang out and chill. I mean I got RG Roller Blades for her birthday and a Bike for X-mas and I think we have only gotten to take 1 or 2 bike rides and have yet to go rollerblading.
So basically I think there are too many things to do. In the next three weeks it isn’t any different and looking into September I have maybe 1 weekend free and all ready October is filling up!! Oh-well I guess it IS nice to be wanted. LOL.
So with traveling, trying to get a siding contractor (this is turning out to be a huge pain in @$$), and getting ready for RG to return to Moscow time is moving faster than I have ever experienced. I know my folks always talked about years flying by but, sheesh. Who knew? It is nice to see every one from time to time and to do all of these things, but I find myself longing for a month of weekends to just hang out and chill. I mean I got RG Roller Blades for her birthday and a Bike for X-mas and I think we have only gotten to take 1 or 2 bike rides and have yet to go rollerblading.
So basically I think there are too many things to do. In the next three weeks it isn’t any different and looking into September I have maybe 1 weekend free and all ready October is filling up!! Oh-well I guess it IS nice to be wanted. LOL.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
D-Day has been set
Well it is unavoidable now. D-Day is has been chosen and the troops are already moving. September 4th my lovely wife will be disembarking to her home land, the country of the Tsars. So the long term relationship will begin soon and we can only hope that it will end before the eighteen month period that may be required. Not everything about this situation is horrible, and by many accounts we are in a unique position to deal with these events. But still I have to say that my mood over the whole deal is a little bit sour. It really is too bad the world is so divided and there are the barriers that there are; even though it is probably the best atmosphere globally to travel for normal people that has ever existed. I will be testing this in the coming years and finding out how easy it actually is.
In fact I have already made progress. We think my first visa to Russia has been processes and expect it to arrive by the end of the week. Now that we have gone through this process once it should be much easier this fall to apply for the longer visa. Currently I am applying for a 3 month visa, next I will apply for a 12 month visa. The reason it has been a bit of an arduous ordeal is because I want to be able to come and go as I please. This requires a business visa which requires a sponsoring organization, and HIV test, and plenty of paperwork. I have done so many searches on the internet I also think I have found the best ways to travel. None of them are that easy; the best routes only have 1 connection most have 2 or more. The price tag to fly actually isn’t that far off from Minneapolis right now, though I’m sure I will fly out of Chicago a lot as many times during the year it is $300+ cheaper for each ticket. The one place I have not made any progress is in learning Russian. I know a few words but I don’t think telling people they are beautiful (like I tell my wife) is going to get me very far when I travel. I do have so language guides that may help though.
While I am not looking forward to spend 6-12 weeks apart from the Mrs. there are going to be some things to pile on the in benefits column. First of all this is going to be a great excuse to travel to more exotic locations. Traveling around Russia will of course be spectacular and something very few people get to experience. Beyond that we will most likely meet in several countries in Europe as it is possible for me to alternate travel there cheaper and she can get very reasonable flights from Moscow. So it may be cheaper to meet in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, or Germany than for me to travel to Moscow. On top of that this will give me a chance to do some major remodels in the house. Gutting and fixing up the kitten won’t be much of a hassle if it is just me living in the house over the weekends. If this goes well I may also try to get a bathroom in before RG returns home. Less hassle for those two project going this route. Finally RG gets to see her family a lot more. Since she has been in the states she has only been able to see her family 4 or 5 times, less than once per year by far and in some case more than 2 years. This will give her an opportunity to reconnect with everyone and catch up.
So now that we know that when she is going we have started to get things ready. In the last week we have purchased new luggage for RG to pack her extensive wardrobe in. I found a cheap ticket from New York on Price line and purchased it for her. Then I used miles to get a ticket to New York to get RG that far! She has turned in her letter of resignation at work and started to prepare her resume for a job search in Russia. We are beginning to plan the trips we would like to take to get together for the next year. Right now we can’t really see past New Year’s but we’re working on it. As soon as I get my visa this week I will probably by my ticket to Moscow as well. So it is all happening and starting soon…. I guess all I can say is LOOK OUT RUSSIA here we come!
In fact I have already made progress. We think my first visa to Russia has been processes and expect it to arrive by the end of the week. Now that we have gone through this process once it should be much easier this fall to apply for the longer visa. Currently I am applying for a 3 month visa, next I will apply for a 12 month visa. The reason it has been a bit of an arduous ordeal is because I want to be able to come and go as I please. This requires a business visa which requires a sponsoring organization, and HIV test, and plenty of paperwork. I have done so many searches on the internet I also think I have found the best ways to travel. None of them are that easy; the best routes only have 1 connection most have 2 or more. The price tag to fly actually isn’t that far off from Minneapolis right now, though I’m sure I will fly out of Chicago a lot as many times during the year it is $300+ cheaper for each ticket. The one place I have not made any progress is in learning Russian. I know a few words but I don’t think telling people they are beautiful (like I tell my wife) is going to get me very far when I travel. I do have so language guides that may help though.
While I am not looking forward to spend 6-12 weeks apart from the Mrs. there are going to be some things to pile on the in benefits column. First of all this is going to be a great excuse to travel to more exotic locations. Traveling around Russia will of course be spectacular and something very few people get to experience. Beyond that we will most likely meet in several countries in Europe as it is possible for me to alternate travel there cheaper and she can get very reasonable flights from Moscow. So it may be cheaper to meet in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, or Germany than for me to travel to Moscow. On top of that this will give me a chance to do some major remodels in the house. Gutting and fixing up the kitten won’t be much of a hassle if it is just me living in the house over the weekends. If this goes well I may also try to get a bathroom in before RG returns home. Less hassle for those two project going this route. Finally RG gets to see her family a lot more. Since she has been in the states she has only been able to see her family 4 or 5 times, less than once per year by far and in some case more than 2 years. This will give her an opportunity to reconnect with everyone and catch up.
So now that we know that when she is going we have started to get things ready. In the last week we have purchased new luggage for RG to pack her extensive wardrobe in. I found a cheap ticket from New York on Price line and purchased it for her. Then I used miles to get a ticket to New York to get RG that far! She has turned in her letter of resignation at work and started to prepare her resume for a job search in Russia. We are beginning to plan the trips we would like to take to get together for the next year. Right now we can’t really see past New Year’s but we’re working on it. As soon as I get my visa this week I will probably by my ticket to Moscow as well. So it is all happening and starting soon…. I guess all I can say is LOOK OUT RUSSIA here we come!
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