Category: everyday life

All Is Right

And all of a sudden, the rush is over. I can’t stop smiling since last evening.
I had just two and a half workdays this week – we were dismissed at 1 PM yesterday, and since more than half of the company is on vacation, plus we have a code freeze, I was able to do work at work! That felt great – I was able to close all my tickets for the current sprint, the first time in I do not know how long!

Granted, there is still a lot of work with the book, we have ten days to finish, and there is still a substantial amount of writing. However, since I have so many days off, I am confident we will finish on time.

Yesterday, I stopped at the post office to drop off my cookies. Like with my nail spa and physical therapy, I packed small individual boxes rather than one box or a tray. I chose really pretty cookies for them because shipping for many years, I know first-hand how hard they work and how under-appreciated they are.

Their supervisor was on the shift, and I stopped aside, waited for a customer to complete their transactions, and told her: that’s for you guys, thank you!!! She was so happy I can’t even describe it:).

Continue reading “All Is Right” →

About My First Christmas

And for all of us to always remember about our first Christmas – reblogging one more time:)

Hettie D.'s avatarHettie's Reflections

Knowing that I was born in January 1963, you might think that my first Christmas was on December 25, 1953. But in fact, my first Christmas happened only in 1996, keep reading to find out why – this is going to be the longest post you ever read in my journal.

Before the October revolution of 1917, Orthodox Christianity was an official religion of the Russian Empire. The Julian Calendar which is two weeks behind the Julian Calendar, was used both in Church and in civic life.

After the revolution, the Church was separated from the state. Several months later, by a decree of the Revolutionary government, the country was switched to the Julian calendar. Christmas was denounced, along with all religious holidays, and Christmas trees were forbidden. That situation lasted until early 1930 were when the government decided to allow some of the fun to come back. Granted, there…

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The Most Important News Of The Day

I already shred these news with my friends earlier today, but the news are worth to be broadcasted.

You know that Santa Claus does not live in Alaska, right? And you know where he lives? He lives in Lanpland, which is the most Northern part of Finland. And this morning, the Finnish news agencies broadcasted Santa’s departure from his house in Lapland to deliver gifts to the children all over the world!

You can watch it here, and if you are not in the Christmas spirit yet, you definitely should watch it!

Also, the Ministry of Foreign affairs of Finland announced that although the border is closed, the sleigh drawn by reindeers will be allowed to pass through. So all is good, and Christmas is happening 🙂

Still Trying To Do Everything

I have to repeat one more time: our book and Christmas do not go well together. Even wrapping the presents and finishing a relatively small chapter – that’s what I was trying to do today – resulted in not completing either. Twenty other small things were not even started.

However, when I thanked our reviewer for returning the last chapter and added: I should have asked you for your postal address to send you some cookies; well, next year then, he emailed me his address immediately :). That being said, package number 19 is ready to be shipped.

I took Mom to the nail spa, and we both did our nails, and I left a small bag of cookies for each of the staff (these days, you can’t bring a cookie tray to any business).

The weather was nice and sunny, and I biked to the forest preserve on both Saturday and Sunday.

The country (at least, the State of Illinois) is experiencing the Christmas supplies crisis. All stores I visited over the weekend have close to nothing of Christmas decorations, lights, or packaging. I didn’t want to buy any extra wrapping/packaging until I figured out what I needed, and when I figured it out, it was too late. Now, I had to improvise with what I have.

I do not know who does not feel like Christmas – I certainly do 🙂

In Chicago

On Tuesday, I went to Chicago, mostly to deliver cookies for several people in the city. I was surprised and delighted to see that they put up a Christmas tree inside the Palatine train station.

There is way less people n the train that in was in October, but still more than in March and April.

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Christmas Shipping

During the Christmas season, I try to ship my domestic parcels in the USPS kiosk, and I try to do it late at night when there is no line (they are open 24X7).

I planned to do it on Saturday, but since I didn’t have access to my car, I could no do it, and Vlad came only on Sunday afternoon, and after all the other things I had to address, I when to the post office late at night on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the outcome was expected: by that time, there were so many parcels left in the course of the weekend that the loading door won’t open. I thought that I could at least print the labels, but the kiosk screen was also stuck in the “Please wait” mode!

i did not want to stay in the line on Monday, so I finally learned how to use Click&Ship, and printed all the labels at home, and paid online :). I could even arrange a pickup at home, but I didn’t want to wait for another day, so I drove to the post office to drop them off.

Christmas baking – the second installment
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How Many Things Can Go Wrong In One Day?!

It all happened on Saturday. For a start, I knocked off a cup full of coffee when reaching out for my Karl Fazer Advent calendar. I had to change my jeans and clean the kitchen floor.

Next, I reached out to the plant, which I temporarily moved from the stand to the top of the bookshelf. I move it every Christmas season, each time when I put up a Christmas tree, and move one of the plants stands away. And it was never a problem for the past twenty years. But this Saturday, the pot falls, and the wet soil is everywhere. Let me tell you, it’s not that easy to clean the wet soil from the floor and the walls!

Next, the garage door won’t close and was making all these weird noises. I decided to leave it open, and since Vlad was planning to come the next day, I called him and asked whether he will take a look (he installed this garage opener a while ago).

On my way from the garage to my house, I thought that I should text my neighbor because she will worry when she sees my garage door opened. But it turned out that they returned thirty seconds after I left the parking lot, and they saw my door opened and thought I forgot to close it and tried to close… after which, the door got stuck in the middle, so I could not get the car out!
And that was not it! Next, when I was baking my last batch of sugar cookies, I left the last portion in the oven, which was turned off, but still hot, and the cookies were completely burned. Ok, just ten, but still!

And the very last thing: I need to bake another portion of kolacki, and I accidentally set the oven temperature to 400F instead of 350F! They were not completely ruined, but still got some tan 🙂

Can you imagine that it all happened in one day?!

I Have a Christmas Tree!

On Friday, I finally got my Christmas tree. Since I got my new car (it is not new anymore, but anyway), I can’t bring a tree home without external help. And this year, I was hesitant to ask anybody. Actually, I asked Vlad a long time ago, and he said he would come to help, but then it turned out he mixed up the days. I already planned to take a day off, and I also knew that there will be rain in the afternoon and for the whole day on Saturday.
Long story short, my co-worker who lives close to me told me that he could help.
I went to the place where I go every year; there is a family farm in Wisconsin, they come every year, and I am getting trees from them for over twenty years.
Guess what happened this year! By the time I came, then ran out of Fraiser fir! I still can’t believe it!
I got a Canaan fir, a cross between Balsamic and Fraiser, and I didn’t have much choice – there were just four or five left! I guess I should feel lucky 🙂
My co-worker helped me to install the tree, and then I spend a couple of hours decorating. This year, I made sure that all my special ornaments are on the tree, and I left many others in the box. And I nearly forgot to hang the chocolate ornaments, but now everything is in place.

I feel way more content when the tree is up and decorated, and the whole house in decorated, too!

Each ornament has a story!

Listening to “A Promised Land”

I started doing audiobooks instead of real books first because it became difficult for me to read and because I could listen on the go. After all the eye surgeries of this year, I can read the regular books again. However, I already got hooked on the convenience of listening, so more often, I listen. 

As for this particular book, Obama’s “Promised Land,” there is an extra incentive for listening: Barack himself narrates the book. 

Thirty hours of listening to the voice we do not hear that often anymore! Small suppressed laughs here and there. And the ability to travel back in time and relive all these amazing years again! 

I remember it so well – exactly how he describes it in the book! I remember this feeling: now it’s the time! I remember how everybody was saying: it’s too soon, and at the same time the feeling was mounting: now IS the time!

I remember everybody in the City of Chicago building where I was doing my consulting work saying: he is our future president. Before anything happened, before Springfield. I remember Anna happily telling the story of her encounter with Barak on Melissa Bean’s campaign trail: you are still above us, but we appreciate the gesture! She was so happy that she made Barak laugh.

And I remember this cold February night, the night before the announcement. I remember her calling her coach: can I be excused from practice tomorrow? There is somebody who can drive me to Springfield! And I remember the silver bells in her voice: Thank you, coach! 

Continue reading “Listening to “A Promised Land”” →

A Week From Hell

That was quite a week! Tuesday and Wednesday, I was trying to participate in the conference held in the GMT timezone. For Thursday morning, I was invited to participate in the Roundtable for Women Influencers of Chicago (yea, apparently, I am an influencer – who would have known!) It was a virtual business breakfast, so my personal time in the morning was gone for one more day.

Work was all meetings, which meant that I had to spend at least two more hours after work to do some work :). Next is a virtual pile of professional – not work-related messages, which I have to respond to because when people reach out to you, you have to reply with words of support and encouragement.

And only after that – any personal emails, trying to shop for Christmas gifts, trying to put up just one decoration…

And it was all good and important, I didn’t have any meetings, which were useless, it’s just – too much! I need another me!

I took a day off today to catch up with life and to clear a weekend. I hope I can still write a couple of pages for the book because I am behind the way I do not want to be…