Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

Yesterday I celebrated my 30th birthday.  That was a blast!  I received congratulations and best wishes from more people (and bots) than I ever did.  In fact, there were so many that I can publish some statistics (numbers are approximated):

• Automated greeting messages from forums and social services: 35
• Phone calls: 15
• SMS messages: 10
• Paper postcards: 1
• E-cards: 1
• Emails: 4
• IM chats: 15
• Social networks contacts (Odnoklassniki.ru, Facebook, etc): 70
• In person: 20

Some of these overlap, but not that much.  Messages started coming in from Monday afternoon and they are still pouring  in. Needless to say, I am overwhelmed.   A huge thank you to all of you!  You made my day.

(For those of you who don’t know, my mother came to Cyprus last Friday for just a few days to celebrate her birthday.  She is back to Moscow today.)

It was one of the shortest visits so far.  The longest one was when Maxim was born.  Ma stayed with us for a month or so.  There were a few two-weeks and 10-days stays.  There were some 1 week stays.  Those felt short, but we had enough time to pack all the fun in.  With 3 days at hand and all the preparations that had to be done for the actual celebration, we still managed to enjoy plenty of time together.

The celebrations were cool too.  A whole bunch of people, up in the hills with plenty of drinks, food, free time, and good mood - that’s a heck of a combination for great time.  It’s a bit sad that it’s over, but  I’m glad we didn’t spoil a second of it.  It was all fun.

Happy birthday mom.  Hope to see you again soon!

Today is yet another Olga’s birthday. She refuses to celebrate it. Again. Saying that it’s not a holiday and that there’s nothing to celebrate. Oh, well. That only means that all of you guys are out of luck. I’m still having my wife’s birthday and nothing can stop me.

Happy birthday, babe! All the best wishes, and some extra stuff that I won’t post here.

Album location: /photos/2006/2006-03-14_Olga_Birthday

Today is my brother’s 21st birthday. Congratulations bro!

You have become an adult by all standards now. Even by those way outrageous American ones. You’ve achived much, but don’t stop yet. There are so many wonderful things in life beyond of where you’re now.

I wish that you have enough energy to climb the highest hill around to see beyond the horizons. And then I wish that you have enough will to travel there (that is beyond the horizons, if you haven’t been listening).

There is a huge world out there with plenty of interesting and amazing stuff going on. There are plenty of interesting people. There is much to learn. There is much to find. There is much to gain.

Now that you’ve become totally adult, I hope you’ll explore the possibilities and push the opportunities even further. Good luck to you and welcome to adults!

P.S.: Being partially childish is a good thing too, by the way.

P.P.S.: Happy Birthday!

Today, yet more of our friends passed by to congratulate Maxim (and us) on reaching the important milestone - the age of 1 year. Plenty of presents, kisses, and hugs were mixed with lots of food and drinks. The result - excellent time. Kids are fun!

Album location: /photos/2006/2006-02-25_Maxim_birthday