Grocery shopping at -11F

Zhanna has
taken over
a corner
of the
living room!
(The animals
on the
shelf were
here)










Hello all--it is now 6:30pm here, and we are settling in for the night. We went grocery shopping this morning at 10:15am--yes, the temperature really was -11F. That is not as cold as it was before I got here, but cold enough (and then some) for me. Zhanna, who was outside in winter for the second time in her short lifetime (the first was Wednesday to come to the apartment) was not impressed. She was in her snow suit, hat, scarf and hood and really could not move a muscle. (I actually wasn't all that impressed either--cold is not my thing).
We went to the "big" grocery store near the mall, where I held the not-so-happy Zhanna, and Lena had the cart. The carts are very small here, and do not accomodate infants or children. We found the baby food jars with the "meals" in them, and Lena picked out 2 of each of the available flavors (variety is not such a big concept in Kazakhstan). We also got some fresh (?!?) apples to shread into the cream of rice cereal and some cream of wheat. When we got home the cleaning lady was still here, so we stayed in the living room, until she told us we had to go to the bedroom. Apparently she wanted to clean the living room, and the kitchen floor was wet. I'm pretty sure that was what she was telling us. Anyway, after she left I began to put away the groceries, and was astounded to see that this brand (Hipp) also had English labels. (Kind of wish it didn't). The jar I opened for lunch was "potatoes with green beans and rabbit". She actually loved it and ate every mouthful. The other 2 are "fine vegetables with veal" and "tagliatelle with creamy broccoli". What happened to macaroni and cheese and grinded chicken??? Anyway--Dad you better get hunting, because I don't think baby food comes in rabbit in the states--not in the stores I shop anyway--and I'm sure there would not be coupons!
We will have to drink a lot of water today, the cleaning lady threw out Zhanna's favorite water bottle--imagine that--she must have thought it was trash!! She will have to settle for some of her other toys.
That's enough for today--need to save something to write about for the next 12 days of waiting. Can't wait for Gramma to get here--probably some where around the 7th (she leaves on the 4th) of March. Superstar KZ is coming on TV--exactly like American Idol with out Simon, RAndy and the other one. Some songs are in English--with a severe accent. This is really pretty entertaining as KZ TV goes. It will pass an hour anyway! Many of the songs on the radio (in the car) are in English--lots of Elvis and oldies. Okay--I write like I talk--I'm really going now....hope to hear from you soon!!