Gack! Snort! Cough!

The Cold From Hell is now solidly in its second week. It started with a sore throat on December 29, 2008. I have spent the days since trying every over-the-counter concoction sold in Boots, as well as what I had in my Drug Arsenal here at home. Yeah, even vodka. I am in Russia, after all.

Thankfully, the children don't go back to school until tomorrow, so there was no reason to go out and about in the -12C weather today. Today I slept until after 2:00 p.m. and let The Spouse and The Offspring fend for themselves.

The whole week is a holiday here in the Russian Federation. Orthodox Christmas is January 7 (today). I get the impression it is celebrated quietly as it is a religious holiday. The devout go to church. New Year's Eve is party time when the Russians exchange gifts and celebrate with friends and family.

As in all countries, the Russian government determines what are official holidays. This New Year's/Christmas holiday extends from Wednesday, December 31, 2008 until Thursday, January 8, 2009. (I don't know why the French school resumes on Thursday . . . I expect there will be a lot of empty seats in school this week.) That makes Friday, January 9 a work day. But no one is going to want to work on Friday, so the Russians have swapped Friday for Sunday, January 11.

That's right.

Sunday, January 11 is officially a work day here in the Russian Federation.

This happens a few times a year. Usually people use the work day as a chance to clean up their desks or other low-key tasks. But it definitely feels strange to us.

The Spouse is using a vacation day for Sunday, so he doesn't have to go back to the office until Monday, January 12.

Odd, isn't it?

Odder still is that on Friday, January 9, The Spouse and I will have been married 21 years. That's longer than just about anyone we know.