.: Losing Weight in Moscow

My sister-in-law and I started the Aktins diet two weeks ago (actually this is day 16). We are both down about 10 pounds. I have at least 10 pounds to go, but the way this diet works, you are so pleased with the results, you keep it up because you like the thinner look. You are convinced that you will never go back to your old eating habits...until you do. So you make the most of it while you can. (The thought of starting over is just too much to bear!) I make games of it. My latest idea is go window shopping...for chocolates. Imagine how many times you have eaten a delicious piece of chocolate...a little self-talk and you can have a virtual experience. Can you taste it?

The person who had the position of executive secretary before me lost a lot of weight. I had hoped for the same result. I had hoped that all of this walking would keep the weight off, but Russia is just too big on chocolates and sweets of any kind and I think we adopted their habits too quickly. I have found that I am not walking enough (only two miles a day). I have to control the intake!!

It is another glorious day in Moscow. The sun is shinning. It will get to a high of about 44 degrees. When the wind (which is slight) is still, you can feel the warmth of the sun on your face. It is a great feeling. We will be heading out with some of the other senior couples today. We all have Spring Fever so we are ready for sunshine and an excursion!! I will try to post some pictures later today.

The troops are off to General Conference, so we are holding down the fort. Yesterday, we started a couple of projects that will about a week to complete. One is organizing electronic files (Greg and Lidia) and the other is organizing binders of correspondence (Chris and Acia). We made considerable progress on our first day (Friday) and should finish it up by Friday of next week.

Next on my schedule is to organize travel for the new mission presidents and their families. This is a very special, if not anxious time, for many of them. Coming to Russian is quite a challenge with children. So we want to do everything we can to make their transition as comfortable as possible.

Time to get ready to go. I'll be back later.

We are back.

We went, with the Irelands, to see the Peter the great monument today and to the Asian Market. We found an unexpected pleasure, as we were walking from the bridge to the monument, we found an art exhibition. About a 50 or more booths selling orginal art. Some great stuff, reasonable prices, except there is real difficulty getting this stuff out of Russia and the duties are generally as much as the painting!! So we window shopped.

The monumemnt to Peter the Great did not disappoint. It must be bigger than the Statue of Liberty. Next to Peter was an art museum of fallen statues, a lot of old soviet monuments that were removed after the Soviet Era. It was fun and of course as you can see by the pictures it was another beautiful day, about 45 degrees and clear skies.

Next, we ate lunch at Red Square at Sbarros. I had chicken and salad. Chris had a cheese pizza and salad. We then got back on the metro and went out to the Asian Market. It is like the Grand Bazar in Turkey. Hundreds of shops laid out in a maze of sorts. The girls had fun trying on fur coats!!

We got home around 6:00 p.m. I had a nap and then we ate dinner around 7:00. Now it is time to finish the blog, study my lesson for tomorrow (I start teaching a Temple Preparation class), update our missionary expense log.

I will post a few pictures and a few video clips to give you an idea of our experience in the metro.