What is happening to my relationship with Caffeine? It may be coming to the bitter end. For the past four years I have had a very nice deal with Caffeine, I don’t drink it everyday, maybe every second or third day, but when I do I get a very wonderful kick from it.

Lately I have been starting to notice some things happening in my body and as much I don’t want to consider that caffeine may be the cause I have to take it into serious consideration. I have been noticing that the day after I drink caffeine that I have problem waking up in the morning, that no matter how much I sleep I feel groggy and grumpy. I am short with my reactions to other people and in general I do not feel like myself. The only solution that I can think of in order to cure myself of my suffering is to have a coffee or a tea in order to get my day started. This pattern sounds even unhealthier as I am typing.

I am also noticing that I after I drink my precious cup of coffee that I am feeling short tempered and lacking tolerance and compassion for the people I interact with. What does caffeine do, it accelerates my heart flushes blood to my skin as well as doing a number on my liver as it tries to process all of the toxins. I am a firm believer that diet has a major effect on overall health. I know that wheat and diary products are not the best things for me to eat and that I should avoid them, however when I began training hard for freediving I made a choice to allow myself to eat whatever I what, as a reward for the innate suffering accompanied with holding my breath for a long time or over large distances.

Since my time in Russia I have been indulging in all of the wonderful breads, cheeses and other diary dishes that I usually avoid in my regular diet. I have been drinking milk by the glass, I have not done this since I was a teenager, taking second helpings on delicious dishes of baked cottage cheese and devouring particular sweet bread baked with poppy seeds. I have not been drinking my regular amount of water and in the middle of the night I have been waking up and eating fruit. Ha ha my secrets are out in the open now.

I try and stay very present in my body and listen. I have been hearing a thought that maybe it is time to give up caffeine, at least in the liquid form of coffee or black tea. I certainly am not ready to give of chocolate; a lady must keep her boundaries in such a serious matter. Recently I have been noticing my lack of enjoyment while eating processed sugar and very sweet desserts, I prefer fruit, but once I start eating sweets like most people I want more.

For the past two years I have been trying to convince my mother to give up caffeine and sodas. There have been multiple studies about the negative effects that caffeine causes on women going through menopause. Just the other day I was having this discussion with her, suggesting she only have caffeine every other day like myself, and she was appalled pleading what if she just has one cup in the morning. Okay, I said, but one cup is not one travel mug.

One final argument, Caffeine is my final vise, ha ha I guess not because I have wheat and diary. Okay it has come to that time. I have given up many things in my life before and I certainly do not anticipate this being any harder then quitting cigarettes. I often use coffee as my reward for doing a static session. It seems my reward will have to simply be a nice and/or challenging training session.

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.