Just like 2009 has flown out of our lives and launched us into a new year. Today as you are leaping into 23, trying to hit me with a snowball, know that when you land, I'll be there to ...

Contained deep inside the red walls of Kremlin, locked tightly between many layer of security lays the World’s largest collection of precious gems. a museum that does not make me tired… the Diamond Vault at Kremlin. Even though the room is quite dark the sparkle of precious jewels contained inside make me feel very alert.

Within the diamond vault there are twelve show cases containing the largest collection of precious jewels that I have ever seen. In one show case alone there is over 30 000 carats of diamonds. Another case I counted 191 cut diamonds ranging in size from 2 to 20 carats, surrounded by countless smaller diamonds.

A few of the famous pieces I had the pleasure of glancing at were:
The world's second largest "Orlov" brilliant diamond. The legendary Orloff Diamond weighs 189.62 carats. It was purchased by Catherine the Great at a cost of $400 000 rubles in 1770. At that time a person’s average salary was 3.5 rubles per month. It was made to look like one of Catherine’s lovers had purchased it for her in order to gain her attention, although I learned in the vault that Catherine herself made the purchase.

There were many pieces and matching sets from the first Emperor of Russia Peter. The prize piece was his crown that only contained 5000 diamonds, displayed along side are all of the other diamond encrusted items he wore at the same time.
Seriously you should come to Russia just to see this. Like most of Russian rulers traditional excess, this collection follows suit.

My morning began early again, because our car was still being repaired. I saw my last Russian movie for some time, Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Usually sitting towards the middle or back of the Imax are the better seats, however I find that with 3D it is best to sit right in the front row. I feel much more engaged in the action that way. In Moscow when the movie is listed as starting at 11:40, it actually begins playing at that time, not the previews. A nice change however with Moscow traffic, we were 20 minutes late. Oh well a good excuse to see the movie again in English!

My afternoon could not have been better. Irina met me at lunch and we relaxed for a while and chatted. We chose to skip going to another museum and instead decided to go to the Russian Spa. Fortunately I have had the opportunity to go to many spas in my life, when I am in Los Angeles, I love a visit to the Korean Spa with a traditional body scrub and massage. I was in a Russian spa before in New York, and I enjoyed that very much.

The main difference between this spa and any other I have been in the world is the temperature. I have never in my life been in a sauna this hot. When the staff members were adding water to the rocks it was so hot that no one was allowed to sit. Anyone who chose to stay for this had to lay on the floor of the sauna, on a towel with a towel or sheet wrapped around your head and shoulders, possibly even covering the entire body. It felt like I was in blazing hot sun with a sun, like my skin was melting. Unfortunately I do not think they could have something like this in North America, especially the USA because of risk of lawsuits.

After baking in the sauna I went immediately into a pool of cold water were I remained still for about 5 minutes and enjoyed the sensation of my body cooling and my heart rate slowing. I think this was very good training for my fat cells because when I exited the cold pool my skin looked like a red leopard chicken. I had goose bumps all over and I was bright red with white spots. This routine went on for 3 hours then I went and had a massage.

I missed the training in the pool today, but I didn’t care I was long over due for a spa session.

Two happy women below.

Do you ever wonder what to give to someone who has everything and provides so many wonderful things to your life? I do. Man’s day in Russia just passed and with my Partner’s birthday approaching soon I feel a pressing desire to buy something. I am certainly the product of good indoctrination from advertising. When I was young, I used to think that material gifts were a good gage of how important I was to a particular person and how well they knew me.

After many years of hard work and making a lot of money, I bought for myself every thing I wanted. I was sure that if I had the perfect home, with the perfect interior, the perfect car, the perfect pet and I had the wardrobe to look perfect all of the time, that I would feel the same inside. When that day came that I was surrounded with perfection, I knew that this life was not the perfect life for me, I was not happy.

What I longed for could not be wrapped in a box or explored in two years per year. I had an awakening to what my true desires were and I could no longer live this lie. I left my perfect life to explore the unknown, it has been very hard at times but I am way happier now then I have ever been because I chose to take a chance.

All my philosophizing today was brought on by something that unpredictably happened to my surprise. Today Alexey went to explore the possibility of a career move and I slept in to catch up on missing rest. When I woke up I did breath holds and rewarded my effort with some nice English tea.

For the duration of my stay in Russia, one month, we are staying north of Moscow in a home with a good friend of Alexey and his family. They have an adorable small child, Ivan, who has the cutest chubby cheeks and a laugh that makes my heart smile. There is always food on the stove and since we came I think I have prepared food for myself maybe 4 times. This to me is such an honor since my favorite food is food someone else prepared for me. ☺

Maybe the caffeine motivated me today but I decided to clean the entire kitchen. I always try and clean up after myself, plus do a little more when I am a guest in someone’s home. There is nothing missing in this home it is full of love, fun, great food and any material item my heart could desire. I thought a nice way to give back would be to be of service without desire of reward, whether or not they know who cleaned up the kitchen it does not matter, but I knew that a clean kitchen was something they all could enjoy.

A little story from the past: When I was initially dating Alexey I noticed that he, his Mom and most of their close friends all wear this specific kind of necklace a Q link. What is a Q link?

“At the heart of all Q-Link® and Equilibrio™ products is Sympathetic Resonance Technology™ (SRT™), which is based on the fundamental scientific discovery that every physical system has fields of energy that permeate and surround that system. Though every wearer's response to Q-Link products is unique, the most commonly reported benefits include heightened energy, more rapid return to centered emotional balance, enhanced physiological (physical, athletic, mental, spiritual) performance and output, increased well-being and quality of life, deeper more restful sleep and greater stamina and vitality.” More information can be found at www.qlinkproducts.com

Natalia had asked me if I liked the pendents and wanted one like hers, silver. There are many different Q link necklaces, most are very sporty looking, but the silver is most more classy. I liked the way it looked however I can not wear silver for prolonged periods of time, otherwise my skin gets red, irritated and itchy. A few weeks ago Alexey gave me a gold Q link. It looks gorgeous. I have been wearing it on the black silk rope that it came with, but I wanted to buy a gold chain to match. Alexey was afraid that the chain may break and that I could lose it, but everyone else except Anna Petrovna agreed that I should have a chain.

Anna Petrovna had lost her Q link that was on a chain, because the chain broke without her knowing. Anna Petrovna is little Ivan’s Grandma who lives in the house I am staying in and is the primary reason why there is always something wonderful to eat. She spoke no English before I came, but she is learning, and even though we talk to each other in languages we neither of us can understand, most of the time we get what the other is trying to say and have a good laugh in the mean time.

So today while I was in the middle of cleaning the kitchen Anna Petrovna came into the kitchen and stood beside me holding a beautiful gold chain open between her hands. I took off my Q link from the silk rope and together we put it on the chain. I will remember this gesture that came from the heart and my journey to Russia every time I look at my neck, since a Q link is meant to be worn 24/7.

During my time of accumulation I bought for myself many different pieces of jewelry, rebelling against the old idea that jewelry should be received as a gift from someone else. This necklace is my favorite and it means so much to me.

My Q link already has a scratch, I am not sure from where, maybe when I was doing push ups, it fell against the wooden floorboards, but I cannot know for sure. I was disappointed that I scratched it so soon after getting it, especially since my Q link is unpolished gold. I am sure that I could get it polished and the small scratch would come out but that would change the look of it completely. For now the scratch is a reminder of precious gifts in general, that sometimes I only get one chance to preserve something and if I am careless it may change forever.

Yes this does apply to the precious medal that I am now where around my neck, but more importantly it applies to the relationships in my life. My journey in life has taught how precious good relationships with friends, family and my partner really are. In all those relationships there are scratches along the way, but when I make it my responsibility to do my best to care for the relationship, be kind, compassionate, tolerant and honest, I get to cherish the people for how precious they are to me. My gratitude for the people in my life only increases the joy of my experience.

Crossing the Trinity Bridge to pass through the giant red walls guarding Kremlin

Another day that started early and ended late. The weather in Moscow is warming up, nice for walking around exploring the city, not so great for snowboarding, but since we are currently without a car I prefer the warmer weather. Maybe I can ever start to wear the wool coat I bought here as a winter coat, but quickly realized that my coat was for southern California winters, not Russian. Russian winters require many layers of clothing to stay warm and since I bought my coat originally to wear with evening gowns, many layers just don’t fit comfortably.

Today we journeyed into Kremlin to explore the breath taking cathedrals that date back to 1474. Unfortunately no pictures were aloud to be taken inside of the cathedrals, but I did get so good shots beside The Tsar Bell, 6.6 M in diameter, weighing 200 tones and The Tsar Cannon, 5.34 M long, 40 tons, both are made of bronze! Kremlin is an amazing sight to see, even from the outside with red brick perimeter standing 5 – 19 M tall, some of the current walls have been standing since 1485.

Okay to be honest there are too many wonderful things to see. I actually often feel this way when I visit any museum. Moving through trying to take as much in as possible that I get tired processing the experience. So far every museum that I have explored in Moscow I would much prefer to spend 3 days going through it slowly to have a chance to read each description and the time to stare at each piece taking in every detail.

Inside most of the Cathedrals are mini museums, but after a visit to the armory it is easy to take a quick glance at these items and move on. My favorite was the Assumption Cathedral. “(1475-79) Was the country’s central place of worship, where the Russian Tsars and Emperors were crowned.” Inside the walls and ceilings are covered with paintings of saints in rich colors.

The views are great everywhere, the out perimeter of the Kremlin Wall is 2235 M. The Southern part faces the Moskva River, the eastern part the red square, and the western side is part of the Alexander Garden.

Afterwards we went to the cinema to relax and eat some junk food before heading to the pool. We watched Shutter Island; well I didn’t because a psychological thriller in a foreign language without subtitles sucks. I will see the film at some point but in English. I put in earplugs and slept, a first for me in a theater.

At the pool I had a chance to do a no fins pyramid before it was time to teach. Why are long dynamics so terrible? How did I ever endure such contractions? Really WTF was my motivation? I am sure I am just a little out of practice and I do feel much stronger then when I first got here, but training depth then coming back to the pool is so uncomfortable.