The sixth day of the 47th loop

The morning began with inflating a huge number of balloons. Somewhere Masha found a balloon pump, and now we could easily open a balloon shop :) The balloons inflated instantly and occasionally burst with a loud juicy pop—scary. I noticed that I have developed a persistent fear of loud bangs—damn nerves.

We filled Sonya’s room with balloons, laid out the gifts in bags, and went in to wake her. She woke up happy and in a good mood. Nice. Not all the gifts arrived on time; for example, one of the main ones—beautiful headphones—would arrive only tomorrow. No matter, we’ll extend the celebration. The workday passed preparing for the Belgorod trip with Oleg. I had a strange conversation with colleagues; apparently I should joke less in shared workspaces about work topics, and perhaps stop using humor in the work environment altogether. Not everyone understands humor. Lesson learned.

In the evening I picked Leah up from daycare, bought drinks, a huge melon, and vegetables for the table at the store. I ordered sushi. We waited for guests. Sonya is a summer child, and for a city kid, birthdays in childhood are usually boring—everyone’s friends have scattered off to grandparents’ villages, pioneer camps, dachas, and seaside vacations. Getting people together for a celebration, especially on a weekday, is difficult. Masha came up with an excellent solution: she invited Leah’s nanny Katya and Sonya’s piano tutor Dasha. These are two young, pleasant women who treat Sonya very well and have long been welcome in our home. Sonya was more than satisfied with that arrangement.

Sonya had her lesson with Dasha, then we set the table and started celebrating. Closer to 9 p.m. Sasha arrived with berries. We had a wonderful time—warm, homey, heartfelt, and cheerful. Dasha left around 10, Katya closer to midnight, and Sasha not until almost 12:30 a.m.