… and if you ask me right now about my weekend, I would say that I was working! This would be at least partially true, but I do not feel miserable about it. This impression comes mostly because I was working for the past nine hours, more or less nonstop. There are two reasons why this does not make me miserable: first, I had many meaningful activities before these nine hours, and second, I had been extremely nervous for the past two weeks about not finding time to do all this work. So now that a big chunk of it is done, I feel much better :), and feel like this weekend was well spent.
One of my old friends from Palatine visited me for the first time since I moved to Rogers Park, and we had an amazing time together! She liked my house, the neighborhood, and the beach. The weather was not especially beach-friendly, so most likely, if I were by myself, I wouldn’t even go, but since she already went that long way, we went, and the rain retreated :). While we were sitting chatting at the beach, a lady approached us and said that she was advertising a chess tournament, and how there were not enough women in chess, and maybe we could give it a try. I had no time and no desire, but I loved her enthusiasm, so I took the information from her. It was so “Rogers Park-like” that I could not explain better what I love here!
We visited my mom, then went to Charmers, got some coffee, and ate the buns that my friend had brought from a Polish bakery.
She loved our courtyard and wanted to take a picture of it, and then she said she wanted me in the middle because my clothes matched our beautification color scheme.
After she left, I changed from the beach outfit to the nice one and went to a coworker’s 50th birthday party. I really admire and respect this person, and he might be the only person for whom I would go all the way to Berwyn! An over-an-hour one-way Uber trip, plus staying there for an hour and a half, and a trip back, and 50+ people in the bar from whom I knew maybe five or seven… I am telling you, I would not do it for anyone else!
Hettie's Reflections 