After work on Friday I went to the gym since I have not really exercised this whole week. It felt good to get back into it!

On Friday evening, my husband and I went out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant and saw “Michael” afterwards.

My octopus

I have enjoyed MJ’s music since I was a little kid. Especially his album called “Dangerous.” I remember watching Oprah interview him in his compound (Neverland?). I remember him coming to Moscow in 1993 (I could not attend, since I’m not from Moscow and was too little at the time). I think he also gave a second concert there in 96?…

The actor who played young Michael is Jaafar Jackson, his nephew, and overall I think he did a good job. I cannot imagine someone saying to me: “sooo we know you’ve never acted before but you will play a role of your uncle who was the biggest star, the king of pop and loved / hated by millions of people.” This young man had to work very hard… I mean, the voice, the mannerisms, the dancing. None of the controversy surrounding child abuse was brought up in this film. But there was a quite graphic scene of Michael being abused.

Lastly, Colman Domingo played Joseph Jackson and he was excellent. The boy who played 10 year old Michael was adorable.

We found a new sitter that we will definitely hire again – she was great with the kids. She has two kids herself!

On Saturday morning I did weights and a yoga class, then quickly tidied up the house because… puzzle party from 12 to 4!

The party (if you can call it that) was exactly what I wanted. It was chill, relaxing, and people loved doing the puzzle. The puzzle was a Jane Austin puzzle and my friend K was an expert. You see, the pieces fit so well with so many other pieces that you actually needed to know a little about Jane Austin’s writing.

Ultimately, we finished the puzzle but turned out one pieces is missing, and one piece is extra. ??????

A missing piece
The extra piece

What do I do? Do I write to NYPL and explain? I can’t believe I got a defective puzzle (we looked everywhere on the floor, too) the piece is definitely missing.

For food, we catered sandwiches and bbq wings. As gifts I received a felt board that holds the puzzle together, a few additional *cat* puzzles, books, a journal, an art sticker book, gift cards, flowers and wine. Oh and this t-shirt:

A French kitty

After we cleaned up after the party, I went to bed at 7:30 🤣 I am one year older, after all.

Sunday was as relaxing as one can have it. In the morning I had my cycling class, and then- nothing! I spent practically the whole afternoon reading and listening to my audio book. Which by the way is no longer sad but rather tragic.

I do have to get ready for the upcoming week some time today. Plan my week, put laundry away… Read some more. Start another puzzle?…

Sister-friends

The upcoming week looks okay for now. My husband does NOT have a trip so it’s always easier when he is around.

I have our penultimate faculty meeting, some of my students are taking AP tests, and the curriculum continues. I also have my summative meeting (think end-of-year review).

For self, I want to get some outside time every day, even if it’s a five minute walk. Also, exercise twice.

The kids have their usual stuff: school, aftercare, jiu jitsu and piano lessons.

Oh, and it’s teacher appreciation week! Sending love to all the teachers out there!


11 responses to “My Birthday Weekend”

  1. J Avatar

    Happy Birthday! Kind of disappointing to have a piece missing from your puzzle, but it is a great one, and fun to have people come over and help out. We had a birthday party yesterday too, it is my husband’s birthday today (Sunday). We’re having a lazy day today, which is perfect because yesterday was so busy. We took tomorrow off from work, I think we’ll go see a movie. 🙂

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  2. NGS Avatar
    NGS

    Happy birthday! I love that cat tshirt. It looks great on you, too.

    I am so mixed about Michael Jackson. He was a child abuser and people still listen to his music and sympathize with him. I don’t get it.

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  3. Lisa’s Yarns Avatar

    Happy birthday! Your puzzle party sounded awesome. I am impressed that you finished it! We just barely made a dent in the puzzle I got for my party! And I haven’t touched it since! It’s rolled up and stowed away.

    Your weekend sounded great overall! And I am glad you found a great sitter! And no travel for T! Hooray!

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  4. San Avatar

    Happy birthday, Daria. It sounds like a lovely weekend. A puzzle party – what a great idea! Just strange that a puzzle piece was missing and there was an extra (was it a duplicate?).

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  5. Elisabeth Avatar

    Happy Birthday. What a fun party; bummer about the missing/extra piece. I would definitely write in about it!! It’s one thing if that happens with a second-hand puzzle, but it’s not cool for a brand new one. Plus, if you dismantle it and want to remake it or donate it, the missing piece is a glaring issue.

    I have zero desire to see the Michael movie but everyone is RAVING about it, so I’m getting more and more curious.

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  6. Nicole MacPherson Avatar

    HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARIA!!!

    How weird about the puzzle! So strange!!

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  7. kimhastheruns Avatar

    Happy birthday! A puzzle party sounds so fun. I love that idea! So strange with the missing piece! I was wondering if there was a piece in the wrong spot (I have done that before!) but it really doesn’t look like it. Let us know what you do LOL!

    I love the shirt!

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  8. Kari Avatar

    Happy Birthday, Daria!! I want to see the Michael Jackson movie too—I might wait for it to come to streaming though. It sounds like you had an amazing weekend! 💜

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  9. Natka Avatar

    Happy Birthday!!!!

    I loved reading the description of your weekend. Puzzle party – that’s a great idea.

    Have a fantastic week!

    And yay for teacher appreciation.

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  10. jennystancampiano Avatar
    jennystancampiano

    Happy Birthday!!! I loved everything about this except for the missing puzzle piece. I think you should get your money back! A puzzle with a missing piece was not really the experience you wanted. plus, what if you wanted to frame the puzzle and save it, to remember this birthday??? Anyway… other than that, the puzzle party sounds really fun.

    Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

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  11. Melissa Avatar

    Happy birthday. It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend. As yuo can imagine, I love your puzzle party. We get a lot of our puzzles second-hand so a few have missing pieces although we also had a brand new puzzle that had a missing piece which was annoying. We’ve never had an extra piece though.

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