Tag: birthday

Sunday

On Sunday, we had an early celebration of Nadia’s and Kira’s birthdays. Our original plans changed dramatically due to circumstances beyond our control, but the day ended up being so busy that it was probably for good that some things were canceled.

The day included a trip to the Sunday Market, getting the annuals for my balcony, the beach, pizza, presents, and the cake – what could be better!

January 19

I didn’t feel birthday-ly on January 19, but not because I was upset or miserable or whatever. It was just that I met with the family on Sunday, and we talked about my past year, how I feel about it, and what I am looking forward to. And my actual birthday was just a date. There were two goals I had for January 19: to do some things that I love doing and to go to bed at 10:30. The latter one didn’t happen again, but I keep trying.

So the day was just Friday, the way I like it. I worked out in the gym

Went to work, had time to have breakfast in peace and quiet, and talked to Boris before work started.

Continue reading “January 19” →

Family Weekend

This weekend was packed with events. For Christmas, I gave Anna and John the “Hamilton” tickets, and the show was on Saturday evening. Also, I gave a “Penguin Encounter” gift to Nadia, and that experience was on Sunday morning. I planned it in a way that we could fit it all in one trip. In addition, since my mom’s birthday was on January 10, and my birthday is coming next week, we also decided to celebrate both birthdays on Sunday.

Extreme weather (we have had negative temperatures for several days now) altered some details of our plans, but overall, things were great.

Anna and John were really happy with the performance, Kira was cooperative and didn’t throw a tantrum when it was time to go to bed, and we made a bubble bath and read stories. Sunday morning was a little bit hectic because the penguin thing was at 8-30 AM, and we had to be there no later than 8-15, and the weather didn’t call for public transportation.

When John learned what I was giving Nadia for Christmas, he asked whether he could go as well, si we were a party of three. We had to get into the Aquarium through the service entrance because it was before the museum opening, and then we were led to the waiting area. We had to leave all our belongings in the lockers and change into the high rubber boots.

Before we entered the area where we would meet the penguins, we had to step into a disinfection tray. The staff who ran the event told us that we could touch penguins only when the instructor tells us and only the way she shows.

That’s me touching the penguin named Georgia

One of many interesting facts we learned about penguins was that there is no easy way to determine whether it is a male or a female, and the only reliable way is to collect the shell of an egg after the chick hatched and perform a genetic test And if there is not enough material for a genetic test, they have to wait and see whether the penguin would lay an egg. I asked how the pegiguins themselves can figure this out, but apparently the scientists are not sure either.

We all had a great time, and after the experience, we went upstairs to see the exhibits.

The plan was for Anna and Kira to come later and join us at the museum after the show. Since I have a family membership, I didn’t anticipate any problems, the only thing I wanted to double-check was how I could get the extra two people in, when we were already in. And that’s were we found that we had a huge problem.

I didn’t pay attention to the Chicago Free Museum week (because I do not care, I have memberships in most of them), and I should have! It turned out that because of the Free Week, all tickets for Sunday were reserved, and no matter my membership, I couldn’t get more people in! John tried to call Annam but the calls didn’t go through, and we knew that they were already approaching and looking for parking. We decided that I will take Nadia to see more exhibits, and John will keep trying to reach Anna.

Nadia and I went to the Wild Reef, and once again, I forgot that there is no reception downstairs.

After a while, I decided to check on the situation, and then I realised that my messages are not coming through. Meanwhile, an unbelievable thing happened with Anna.

She didn’t know about the ticket situation, so she on crutches, and very cold Kira appeared at the admission, and apparently, the staff didn’t have a heart to send them away. Anna explained that the rest of the family was already in the museum, and that I am a member, and the staff checked with her supervisor and let them in! When Nadia and I emerged from the Wild Reef, we almost immediately ran into the rest of the family!
We spent another two hours in the Aquarium, to everybody’s delight.

In the afternoon, we celebrated my mom’s and my birthday at the Italian restaurant close to my home.

Love their ceiling decorations!

They serve pasta in cones, which was very convenient – we ordered six different kinds and shared. Mom was very pleased with the photo album which Anna and I put together, with a big collection of photos pf different generations.

We also gave her several books, and Nadia made a birthday card.

And Anna made this day really special 🙂

And since all of us had MLK Day off, we had a little bit more time together on Monday morning 🙂

Igor’s Birthday

Today is Igor’s birthday! My older son survived my first-time parenting, all the mistakes I made, all my backs and forths, and the turmoil of my personal life, and none of that prevented him from becoming the amazing person he is. I admire his honesty, dedication, and persistence in standing for the causes he believes in. Happy Birthday!

We celebrated today by going to Trattoria Gianni’s and the Steppenwolf Theater to see The Sanctuary City – a brilliant production totally worth seeing!

Twenty-Eight Years Ago, I Think

There is no specific reason to make this random photo a birthday photo. I just thought that I needed to post something different from my usual two tiny babies and me. At least, I think Anna can relate :).

Happy birthday, my extraordinary twins!

***

I used to think that Boris was not involved enough in Vlad’s and Anna’s early years, and it might be objectively so, but he often remembers things that I had forgotten.

Last week, he asked me whether I remember Vlad’s “very important question.” He said that Vlad was about eight or nine years old then, but I still can’t recall the episode. Maybe it was during the summer of 2000 when I started my consulting job, and Boris was without any job and didn’t move to Finland yet, and babysat Vlad and Anna.

According to Boris, Vlad walked into the room and announced that he had a very important question, and his whole future depended on the answer. He knew that “grown-ups don’t play with toys,” and he worried what would happen if he still loved playing with his toys when he grew up :).

***

Happy birthday 🙂

Video From My Birthday Party

I just realized this post was sitting in the drafts for two weeks!

My Birthday Celebration

It feels like the whole birthday week with Boris being here since the 14th, with so many birthday wishes and things I’ve done during the week. On Saturday, Vlad and Anna organized a big party for me, and many of my friends came.

There were some dramatic moments with an original venue going out of business and too many people being unable to come due to COVID (either being sick or quarantining or deciding not to risk). Still, it was a great event, and I am very thankful to Vlad and Anna for organizing it!

I think there are more pictures around, and if I finally collect them from everyone taking pictures, I will post more :).

All I Want For My Birthday…

… is still the same – Victory for Ukraine. The last several days didn’t provide any hope here. There is a lot of grief and lots of casualties.

My birthday is technically already here:). I am sixty now. And there will be a birthday party which Vlad and Anna are putting together. I already know that some people I wanted to see won’t be able to make it, but I still hope to see lots of my friends.

And also… I shared a list of my favorite charities on most of my social media, but to be honest, the one that feels the most important now is the defense of Ukraine.

How Crazy A Birthday Can Go

Almost like the year 2021, my birthday turned more eventful than I would like it. I only slept for 3.5 hours the night before because I needed to finish a report (I had to present it to the customer at 10 AM the following day). A coworker told me that he would help me to process the raw data (the program which should be doing it ended with unexplained errors), and then he didn’t. After I realized that I wouldn’t get any help and I would need to process the data manually, I could not get to the task right away. I had two medical appointments to which I had to take my mom, and then I had Chicago PUG. So I started at 8:30 PM, worked till 1 AM, slept until 4:30, and then continued.

On top of it, it turned out that I had a COVID contact over the weekend, and then I had an unexpected day of fatigue on Monday, which under the circumstances could be interpreted as COVID. So it was home testing, frantic talks with Boris about whether I should exchange my ticket, looking for a testing site nearby (and I had zero time for all of that – see the previous paragraph).

I had a great meeting with a client, went to COVID test, got a negative result, shared with Boris, and then instead of going to sleep, when to the EuroAsia restaurant with Igor and Mom to celebrate my birthday.

The only thing I can think of now is sleeping, and wishing that not the whole year will be like that!

My Twins Are 30!

Can you imagine how I feel about this???

They will be all in town on Sunday, and that’s when we will celebrate their Big Birthday. I will hold off with the lengthy post till then – I want to add the most recent pictures. However, I posted about their birthday on the Instagram, because I wanted to mark the actual day, and here is a copy of that post:

There are nine pictures to scroll 🙂