Is it a parachute?!

Yesterday my little brother turned 18. Wow! It's a bit hard to believe. I mean it seems only yesterday I was walking him in the little pram in the park and only yesterday he was still shorter. His current 185cm are a bit of a novelty still. I know he's been this tall for the last two years, but I still can't get used to it. Last night we had a bit of a small family celebration. The menu included lasagne (courtesy of your humble writer, who managed to perform it second time around in her life so far) and beer. Mmmmm. Throughout the conversation Mum made a promise to retire as soon as we have kids and look after them... which sounds like a pretty good offer. Another funny thing that happened yesterday - as Gleb was unwrapping his b'day present his first comment was "is it a parachute?!"... 'cos we got him a what-turned-out-to-be a rather sizeable Crumpler bag... when I ordered it, I didn't realise it was quite as big, but Gleb seems to like it, so I guess all's well.

Last Sunday was the 8th of March (International Womens Day, which for some strange reason seems to be international only in Russia). To celebrate it we had a little gathering at home... it included food and drink, and then more food and drink.

Below are some pics from walking around on Monday (as it was a public holiday the streets were fairly empty, but the shops open :) ). The building in the second picture reminded us of something futuristic, perhaps the liar of the Dark Force in Siberia. Now that it's officially spring, the sun is very bright and sometimes it hurts the eyes when looking at the very white snow. The city is so pretty, even though in places (mainly along the roads) the snow is more black than white. The sixth picture is of our old home - the home where I grew up in. It used to be red, but now they painted it grey and installed new windows. Those long window galleries that run along each floor were perfect for throwing water bombs :)

Our evenings at home have included numerous table-hockey matches, which are not really matches, because Dad wins every time - against every one of us. Dad has always been notoriously good at any types of games - whether computer or hockey. The only ones where I have a chance of winning are cards. So naturally Dad prefers table hockey.

Last Friday Mum and I went to the opera theatre to watch Баядерка (The Temple Dancer) - a ballet in three acts. The decorations were amazing and the dancers brilliant. All in all, a very very enjoyable evening.

Last, but certainly not least, it so happens that one of my very good friends Katya (first pic) moved into the same building as my parents, and lives literally one floor above us. So we've been seeing quite a bit of each other, and of course our other good mutual friend Yana. Katya's dog Michelle is very friendly, and although I am not a big fan of dogs, I've been getting more and more used to her.

I will leave you with one of these "little things" that I read yesterday while travelling on a bus. An advert on a billboard - a naked woman smiling appealingly at the spectators, and the writing saying Фотоэпиляция подмышек в подарок! (Fotoepilation of armpits as a present) - now my question is, how successful would a potential suitor be when he gave such a present to his beloved female?! Isn't it the most romantic gesture that says an equivalent of "your armpits are hairy - I'd like you to epilate, so here's a voucher!"