On Russians and logic

April 18, 2008 by Barbara.

I attended a business dinner Thursday night with a delegation of Russian academics and government officials. When I first mentioned it to Reid, she nodded knowingly and said that Dora had been to Russia for Friendship Day. And it’s true, we have a DVD with an episode where Dora travels to France, China and Russia and maybe elsewhere. I don’t always pay attention to the Dora episodes.

Thursday morning, just before Reid left, she turned to me and said, “You should take me to daycare today since you won’t be home tonight.” Quite a logical proposition, when you think of it. I didn’t have a strong reason why that wasn’t possible and I hurried up and made my coffee and climbed into the car with Ken and Reid short minutes later. Ken drove us to daycare and then went on his way to work. I was early and took time to speak with each of the two teachers, remembering a couple things about which I’ve been meaning to ask. When I got to the bus stop at the side of the 4 lane road in front of Reid’s daycare - I have great sympathy for the parents who wait there with their kids - about 7 minutes before the bus was due, according to the telephone number on the sign. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I’d left Reid when she had a smile on her face.

The dinner with the Russian delegation was so interesting! Or, at least, it was once the fellow from the Russian Embassy who was able to translate for us arrived. They had questions about the price of land, what percentage of land was state-owned versus privately held, aboriginal rights and even distinct status for Quebec. There was another Canadian at the table and we did our best to answer while steering clear of politics. One man had a leaflet criticizing the Conservative Party’s election spending. They were VERY interested in that since the theme of the study tour was anti-corruption. Thankfully, I knew only the smallest bit about the subject and was able to give a brief reply. They responded with a comment about the separation of politicians and public servants. I think that means I maintained my impartiality. Maybe they just think I a waffler.

Reid and Ken seem to have had a good evening together. A bike ride and spaghetti were involved, along with a bath that didn’t include hair washing. Reid was asleep when I got home. I snuck in for a kiss before I went to bed but not right away in case she woke up and I lost my chance at grown up time with Ken. She half-woke at 11:00, calling for Ken but settled for me since he was in the basement. This morning Reid chose to watch Ken shave rather than visiting with me while I was in the tub. It stung a bit but went away when I realized I could read a magazine while I soaked with explaining the ads or the articles. Silver lining, eh?

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