RUBbette Wives & Housework, si man

[james&olya 1,121]

Her name is probably STILL one of the most misspelled or mispronounced. Still, how cool!

How are you supposed to pronounce 'Street'?

[slim 1,523]

How are you supposed to pronounce 'Street'?

Ooo-leet-sa.

[james&olya 1,121]

Ooo-leet-sa.

She looks good enough to be Russian!

[slim 1,523]

She looks good enough to be Russian!

Picabo? I've never really considered her a looker. Now, if you're talking about Lindsey Vonn......

[james&olya 1,121]

Picabo? I've never really considered her a looker. Now, if you're talking about Lindsey Vonn......

Just being a great downhill skier gets a lot of points in my book. My only real disappointment in how things have worked out for myself is that Olya, like almost all RUB women, does not ski and is not interested in learning. My fantasy is spending the day skiing with a beautiful woman and spending the night .....

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just being a great downhill skier gets a lot of points in my book. My only real disappointment in how things have worked out for myself is that Olya, like almost all RUB women, does not ski and is not interested in learning. My fantasy is spending the day skiing with a beautiful woman and spending the night .....

Really? Alla LOVES to ski. It was at the top of her list of reasons to agree to live in Vermont. (not me...the lake and skiing ) Like everything else she gets started and will not stop. She also loves to ice skate, does your wife ice skate James? It was very popular in the Soviet Union with young children, all the cities made outdoor ice rinks and it was cheap entertainment for the children

Picabo is an attractive woman for 40 but I had the chance to speak to her for a while and she looks older than Alla but is actually younger. My guess is a lot of windburn and sunburn has taken its toll on her. Now this Lindsay Vonn here... Picabo is working as a consultant for the resort (great gig if you can get it) and had a lot of input on the project. She was very nice, but why wouldn't she be? She gets paid a bundle to give her advice and then goes skiing on their dime. If I could just win an Olympic gold medal ...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

How are you supposed to pronounce 'Street'?

I was calling her "Ms. Street" and she said "Just call me 'peek'"

Er, Ms Street....

I did, like 2 million other idiots, no doubt have to ask if it were true that a hospital named a wing after her and called it "Picabo ICU"

Ummmmmm, No.

[james&olya 1,121]

Really? Alla LOVES to ski. It was at the top of her list of reasons to agree to live in Vermont. (not me...the lake and skiing ) Like everything else she gets started and will not stop. She also loves to ice skate, does your wife ice skate James? It was very popular in the Soviet Union with young children, all the cities made outdoor ice rinks and it was cheap entertainment for the children

Picabo is an attractive woman for 40 but I had the chance to speak to her for a while and she looks older than Alla but is actually younger. My guess is a lot of windburn and sunburn has taken its toll on her. Now this Lindsay Vonn here... Picabo is working as a consultant for the resort (great gig if you can get it) and had a lot of input on the project. She was very nice, but why wouldn't she be? She gets paid a bundle to give her advice and then goes skiing on their dime. If I could just win an Olympic gold medal ...

Yeah, she likes skating! We have the 2 year-old in figure skating classes where we get to skate as well. The 14 year-old is quickly learning to snow-board and based on how much the 2 year-old likes sledding and slides I have high hopes she will be a skier or boarder. Olya has bad memories from forced x-country skiing in high school PE during the waning days of the FSU. No winter clothes were available in the stores and her equipment was old and kept coming apart. She had to do 5 km daily and it was miserable for her. I have tried promising the cutest, warmest, modern ski wear and short lessons with lots of lodge time for hot tea or cocoa but she says no. She worries about me skiing at a local area that has only single, double, and triple diamond runs. I tell her that I will stay out of the extreme back-country but she has seen the area and thinks I am going to break something important!

Did Alla already ski in Ukraine? I have heard they have some resorts in the Carpathians. If I was still looking I think I would spend a few days there! I am considering a trip to Sochi for skiing someday.

[slim 1,523]

like almost all RUB women, does not ski and is not interested in learning.

My wife wanted me to take her skiing, skating, hiking, sledding... all the stuff they SHOULD do in a place that's frozen over for the majority of the year. But, I was surprised to find out she knew how to do none of those things. I think she'd been skiing and skating before, but she had to relearn them once she got here.

I figured Russians would automatically know how to do those things, but I guess they don't. Her friends are even worse because they're less athletic. It didn't take me long to figure out the national sport of Russian women is "fitness" and by fitness I mean "walking around a lot and not eating a whole lot of junk."

[TBoneTX 45,089]

"fitness" and by fitness I mean "walking around a lot and not eating a whole lot of junk."

Today, Mrs. T-B. looked at me with those big brown puppy-dog eyes and said, "I want Cheetos." I later went out and got her some (the store brand) in a 9-oz. bag or whatever. She immediately brightened, said "I was hoping that you would get me some!", ate about a third of the bag, set it down for a while, then said (not accusingly, but sadly): "I'm on a diet. How will I ever lose weight if you keep buying me Cheetos?"

I said, "I also bought some ice cream, because you said that you wanted some." I sat and watched the late news while eating the ice cream. She said (with the puppy-dog eyes) "Can I have some ice cream?" I said, "I thought you said that you were on a diet." She said, "I am, so give me just a little, in a small cup -- half, half!"

I brought Mrs. T-B. a full small cup of ice cream, because I know her, si man. Had I not, she would have asked for seconds after she finished the lesser portion that she had asked for.

She ate 99.44% of it and handed the cup back to me, saying, "I don't want the rest -- I'm on a diet. You eat it, please." I did so, because I was about to begin washing dishes and I wanted to get her cup & spoon into the process, si man.

In other (original-topic) news thanks to the clever segue just above, I do not regret to report that, upon the departure of Mama-Mrs.-T-B. on Wednesday, we are now back down to 19 spoons to wash since the last dishwasherful on Thursday night. After 6 weeks of nearly twice that number, usually daily, I consider myself to be in the Twilight Zone, even though it's not twilight but the middle of the night here at this writing, si man.

[james&olya 1,121]

like almost all RUB women, does not ski and is not interested in learning.

I suppose I should have clarified and referred to 'downhill' skiing. (or as they refer to it, mountain skiing!)

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Yeah, she likes skating! We have the 2 year-old in figure skating classes where we get to skate as well. The 14 year-old is quickly learning to snow-board and based on how much the 2 year-old likes sledding and slides I have high hopes she will be a skier or boarder. Olya has bad memories from forced x-country skiing in high school PE during the waning days of the FSU. No winter clothes were available in the stores and her equipment was old and kept coming apart. She had to do 5 km daily and it was miserable for her. I have tried promising the cutest, warmest, modern ski wear and short lessons with lots of lodge time for hot tea or cocoa but she says no. She worries about me skiing at a local area that has only single, double, and triple diamond runs. I tell her that I will stay out of the extreme back-country but she has seen the area and thinks I am going to break something important!

Did Alla already ski in Ukraine? I have heard they have some resorts in the Carpathians. If I was still looking I think I would spend a few days there! I am considering a trip to Sochi for skiing someday.

One of the benefits of her former position was getting taken to nice business meetings in nice places. She skiied in the Pyrenes Mtns in Andorra and in the Carpathains in Poland. But other than that she had no chance. Moving to Vermont was her chance to actually ski a lot. She arrived in September here and one of our projects was to get her outfitted with skis, both downhill and x-country. SHE likes x-country skis, I hate them. We live on what is called the "Burlington bike path" it literally passes on the back boundary of our property and is many miles long and a popular x-country route in winter...if we have snow. We have none this year. The mountains have plenty but we have little here and we do not load up the car and drive 30 minutes to x-country ski

She loves to skate and there are tons of opportunities for that here, her favorite though is an indoor rink. It has limited public hours (hockey is popular here also and pee wee hockey comsumes most of the rink's time)the only time we get to go is Friday evenings for like 2 hours...but she also likes to dance and Friday and Saturday are the best "dance nights" at the clubs. I know, such problems. Plus shooting Thursday evening and Saturday and Wednesday when the skeet league starts. Sunday is usually for skiing, Pasha skis on Friday with his school group and usually goes with us on Sunday and brings a friend or two and quickly loses us when we get there.

Alla had a "live modeling" gig once where they wanted an "Attractive Russian woman who spoke English with an accent" to serve Russian Vodka in a walk in freezer at a Doctors convention in Boston. The pervs! She got the gig and was paid for the 3 hour job PLUS (and this is why she went) a knock out ski outfit and Russian white fur hat! She went for the clothes! She is still the best looking skier a on the slopes and THAT is what is important. I am surprised Olya is refusing your offer. Jim, she would SO have a good time if she did. Alla got a bit worried at first because Pasha would disappear, as kids will do, they do NOT want to hold hands with Mom and Dad. She got over that.

As for being cold, yes she is a cold blooded person and hates the cold, but as long as you SKI you are never cold! Once she skis for a while and then comes into the lodge, it is usually all over, if we go out again she gets cold and then that is the end. Our ski sessions are usually short because she gets cold and, um, we are old. 4 hours is plenty for us, more than plenty. And the ski resort is but a half hour drive so it is not like a mission to the moon to go skiing. The skis stay in the van all winter. We do not do balck diomond runs, green and blue for us. The resort I met Picabo Street at is mostly single and double black diamond runs. She is probably a better skier than me We prefer nice runs, glades, etc. We are not there to bash ourselves to death on moguls. Alla skis like she walks in heels. Gracefully, back and forth, looking good. I have enough bad parts already! I had my heart surgery Dec 7 2009 and we were back at skiing New Years Eve (not me, I stayed by the fire with a book) and spent all that season in the lodge while Alla and Pasha skiied. I was not supposed to lift anything heavy for 3 months, early March. So I asked the doctor if I could ski in March...holy Schnikees! He said NO!. Wait one year.

I have yet to meet a kid that did not like skiing or boarding (Pasha is a boarder and that is what Sergey did) Kids like to be "cool" and snowboard. A friend works for Burton as a designer and he fixed up Pasha with a hot snowboard and gear cheap! They are factory seconds or experimental rejects...one of a kinds...who cares?

Alla is one to be "moving" It explains why no one misses having a TV in this house (we have a TV but only for rented DVDs). Now that she is not a full time student she is starting to enjoy this stuff a lot more.

Tell her it is nothing like FSU skiing. Hi-tech underwear took care of that nonsense. Alla has her own skates now also, real figure skates not the strap on junk they gave her at the neighborhood frozen playground. Alla also likes to "go by rollers" (Roller blade) on the bike path when it is nice out, go walking either downtown or in the mountains, when it is nice. Too rarely in winter.

As for sledding we have a lot of little ski/sled hills here. They are popular with the Park Districts and usually have a rope tow for the skiers, basically a village "bunny hill" Great sledding also and the hills are usually divided with a snow fence for skiers and sledding. Little snow this year in the low elevations though. But when it has snowed the hills are crowded with skiers and sledders. One of the high schools here even has their own ski slope and lift!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Do you get reasonable priced season tickets there James? They have a deal right now, through this week, to buy family season tickets (parents and children under age 18 or 23 if full time students) for $479 for THREE resorts! Bolton, JayPeak and Mad River Glen. We usually buy ours immediately after New Years for about $300 for the whole family. It is called a "half season" pass but actually is much more than half the season. Pasha starts skiing with the school in December but just buys the $14 student night lift pass for a couple weeks and then uses the season pass. If you own your own equipment and have a season pass it is a very reasonably priced activity for a family. One could even say "cheap". We do not stay at the hotel and our eating at the place is limited ($7 for a burger! Seriously? ) I know the UP has some nice places. Are you near Iron Mtn by any chance?

We also usually "splurge" one day and go to one of the fancy resorts for a day...Stowe or Smugglers Notch. It costs us maybe $45-60 each for the day but why not? I was at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire this week for the meeting, super nice place but at $70 for a lift ticket and it is 3 hours drive, I think I will pass. It has a lot of double and even triple black diamond runs for you. Not for me!

We also have the world famous "Whiteface" in Lake Placid, New York where the Olympics were held in 1932 and 1980, clearly visible from Burlington. They also have crazy stuff like bobsled runs, maybe one day we will go over there.

[james&olya 1,121]

I have never skied the North-east but hope to get there someday. I almost wound up in Burlington years ago for education beyond my BS degree but went to California instead. I envy you being so near so many legendary ski areas!

We finally have lots of snow, probably 3 feet deep even though it has settled so much you can walk on top without snowshoes. We have had snow all winter, as usual, courtesy of Lake Superior's natural snow making! This year has been unusually warm so it has not been able to get as deep as usual. I am not near Iron Mt, though that is a good thing, my ex lives there! Our hills are better than theirs anyway. We don't have the sheer vertical you have there and especially not like my favorite places out west but we do have it pretty good for the midwest, 900'! The problem we have here is that the owner of the best place, Mt Bohemia, won't invest in snow-making. He wants everything 'natural'! (Especially the girls when he does his yearly 'mardi-gras' party! ) He won't even groom anything! Early in the season the wind at the top usually keeps blowing the dry snow off the rock bands and you can easily ruin your skis. Yesterday was fantastic though, we had several heavy, wet snow-falls last week to restore the base and then a foot of dry powder fell the night before. I am feeling it today though, not in as good a shape this year.

Season ticket prices for Bohemia are only $99 if you buy on the one day in December they have a promotion. The lines are long with all the kids from the university there! The smaller hill charges $800 for a family season pass for up to 5 people. It's a good deal if you have several people who will actually use it!

I keep hoping I can at least get Olya to give it a try. The experience being out there on a bright sunny day after being inside for months is exhilarating! She wants me to promise I won't ever ask the kids if they want to go to the 'expert only' hill but I won't do it. I am looking forward to skiing with them, at least, in the future. I think Olya might get into skiing next year when I start teaching Lera to ski.

[eekee 182]

Downhill skiing seems too scary to me. Also my sister snapped her femur in half skiing a few years back.