The Big Weenie

Round 2 of "We're Adopting from Russia, Come Help Us Buy a Visa" Garage sale is over. I'm done. We have gotten rid of a lot but still have so much stuff; however, thanks to Craig's List, we're getting rid of the big pieces. I'll be boxing up what's left and donating it to charity just to get it out of our barn. It's really the only adoption thing we've done lately. We've got to get focused on finding an accountant to sign off on our financial statement. I'll put that on Doug's to do list AGAIN.

Our 4th of July ended on a funny I have to share. Doug took the girls to the fireworks stand Sunday to buy a few fireworks. The wind here was terrible, and the punks aren't what they used to be, so they kept burning out. Doug goes into the house and finds a 10 year old cigar stashed somewhere in his bathroom drawer and lights it up to use. As soon as Annsley sees him with it in his mouth, she starts crying as she thinks this is going to cause him to die. (Too long of a story for this blog). I convince her that he is just puffing, and that is not the same as smoking. (And after those words are out of my mouth, I'm thinking, "Good grief, Shelly! You sound like some teenager trying to convince her parents that it's no big deal. Let's just confuse the little 6 year old shall we? The next thought out of my brain is then, "Am I disqualified now for the Mom of the Year Award??") Anyway, Doug used the cigar with good success to light the firecrackers. When it got dark, we headed up north of where we live to this unbelievable private firework show. There are two houses across the road from each other, and I'm not kidding when I say their little "fireworks war" would rival a city's fireworks' display. It was incredible. Afterwards, we're in the car going home to set off the remainder of Annsley's fireworks, and she asks in the car, "Doug, are you going to light your big weenie again?" Really, I couldn't contain myself on that one! (Annsley didn't think it was too funny of me laughing "at" her.)

To fill the time while waiting on "the call," I've decided post several entries on a wealth of information in an effort to enlarge your knowledge about Russia. This will be of great help to anyone who might be called as a phone a friend on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Really, you cannot put a price tag on the education you gain from reading this blog! Hopefully, you will enjoy this as much I will!

Since we've been assigned to Krasnoyarsk, here's some 411 on it. Krasnoyarsk Krai is the region in Siberia and Krasnoyark is the major city within that region.


Krasnoyarsk Krai the largest Krai in Russia. It is 3 1/2 times bigger than Texas. Krasnoyarsk is the largest city in Krasnoyarsk Krai. (That's a little confusing if you ask me. That's like naming a town Oklahoma in Oklahoma.) Do the residents there just refer to Krasnoyarsk Krai as just Krasnoyarsk, or do they go all out and say Krasnoyarsk Krai to avoid confusion? I don't know. Krasnoyarsk Krai has the 2 most powerful hydro electric plants in Russia. 80% of Russia's nickel, 95% of the platinum, and 20% of the timber is mined there. There are several thousand lakes. (A fisherman's dream no less.) The northern part of Krasnoyarsk Krai has average January temps of -36 F and July temps of 50 F whereas the southern part has January average temps of 0 F and July temps of 68 F. 95% of the Krai's cities fall in the South--I wonder why????And for any $50,000 question you might get asked, It is the Trans-Siberian Railroad that is major transportation outlet for the residents there.

I know, a little dab will do you, so I'll continue with our geography/history/senseless trivia lesson next time!