(*Information may appear in this journal that is news to some of you. My sympathies if I surprise anyone, particularly my in-laws... and apologies to my parents, who probably still shake their head in disgust when they think of it.)


I went to Costco yesterday to stock up on life's essentials - batteries and film. While I was walking around a little thought kept niggling in my head - "I'm going to Russia!" And the thought occurred to me that people passing by, they don't know. It's like my little secret. I look like an ordinary person, but if they stopped to ask, I could tell them "I'm going to meet my son! I'm flying to Russia! RUSSIA!"

It's the same feeling I had in the days following when I got my tattoo. I was walking around Best Buy at one point, thinking of how I have this tattoo, and no one knows! And no one would think it to look at me!

Not the same as my engagement, which people could tell by looking at my hand. No, this feeling is exhilerating - I am special, I have a secret, and it's something not everyone gets to experience. I am going to the Land of the Czars to see my boy!