Frozen Precipitation

We are on Day 21 in a row of frozen precipitation. It isn't so much that there is lots of snow on the ground, as much as continuous flurrying, and a little melting, and lots of "slyakhot", which is Russian for slush, and very fun to say out loud. I didn't really notice the long stretch of weather, until the sun came out for a few hours last week, and we all ran to the windows in amazement. "Look, light!" This is the Kyiv winter I was promised! And the temperatures always sound so much colder in Celsius, so I think I feel colder. With windchill today it's -17 degrees C. That's really 5 F, which is cold, but not as frightening as -17. I eschew fashion and wear my snowboots everywhere, since the ground is slushy and icy, since the slush freezes nightly. Thank the Lord for our indoor parking space!


On a separate note, the photo below is from a Lawyer's Day Event I attended in October. (Lawyer's Day is a Ukrainian holiday on October 8 - but you don't get work off.) Anyway, the woman third in from the left is Olena, who works for me. And the man in the center is Ambassador William Taylor, who is absolutely fantastic. I am really unimpressed with the suit that I am wearing here, but it's part of my overall problem that after the baby I lost around 25 pounds from my original weight, and none of my clothes that I have worn for years fit anymore. The pants here are literally about to fall off, and look like MC Hammer pants from the '90s. And I am so used to wearing a badge on a laniard that I don't wear necklaces, which I may reconsider here. But enough "What Not To Wear - Kyiv edition." The event was short and focused, and the Minister of Justice made a lot of points that directly corresponded with the directions that the US Government is trying to help the Gov't of Ukraine go in. So enjoy the old photo.