The train has officially been derailed

Well.... at least I can still say "I lived in Russia for 2 and 1/2 weeks". Not many can, so I'm thankful for the experience, but we are headed back to Czech this Friday, October 2.

Rumors (which, in fact turned out to be true) were leaked to the internet before we even knew anything for certain, but the Lokomotivs wanted out of R's contract. We didn't have the final word and no one official from the team had even spoken to R about it until yesterday!! I guess "contracts" here work like this; We (Russia) have the right to keep you because of the signed "contract", but We also have the right to void your contract whenever We feel like it. What kind of contract is that?...well, maybe like those we sign, as teachers, in Tennessee; the teacher has the right to leave anytime during the school year, but can also be fired at any point in the school year.

Other insights about Russian hockey; they take it VERY seriously here
In the NHL it's more about the players having a good time doing what they do well and entertaining the fans. It's a lot of pressure here and under-the-radar dealings.
R's ready to leave.

What does that mean for us? J and the kids and I will go back and live in Czech. R will shop around for another team, hopefully in Czech (...possibly... NHL). The closest is still two or three hours away from Krnov, so with daily practices (or sometimes twice daily), he will still have to have a separate apartment wherever the team is, but this means he can visit much more often. It's a much better situation for this family, I think, especially as we near the twins' arrival (two more months).

Jill mentions wanting to return to Nashville, but R. wants to keep playing. (That's where she would MOST like to have the twins.)

So we are wrapping things up here. We expect to get in very late Friday night to Krnov.

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Last night we went to the Texas restaurant. I did not have a stitch of makeup on and as we pulled in we saw other players were also there to eat, so we ended up sitting with them. (Fortunately, I guess, they are all taken, so I didn't have to be too embarrassed).