It’s not a mistake – I know that today is Sunday, and pretty late on Sunday! It’s just that looking back to Friday, I am wondering yet again why I think that weekends are inflatable!
Friday was great in some sense, because I had zero meetings at work, and nobody distracted me with anything “urgent,” so I was able to make progress on several tasks that required concentration, and close a whole bunch of tickets! I left work in a rearest state of “I’ve done everything!” Also, a friend who invited me on an art tour canceled, and I decided not to go on my own. I was hoping that this would give me extra time to focus on my conference presentations, which are many, and some are due soon!
However, there were so many other urgent things that had to be completed/resolved/started before Monday, that I did exactly zero for my presentations. Looking back at the weekend, I see that everything I’ve done was necessary and overdue, and I am happy I was able to address some of these, but once again – I need more time!
My mom knew that her SNAP was set to expire at the end of August, and she was nervous about what would happen with the rest of the money she had left there. I told her that SNAP will be renewed, but I knew it was not automatic (not like her Medicaid, which is almost automatic – I just had to confirm online that nothing changed).
As I already mentioned many times, the IDHS site is far from being intuitive, so I could not figure out how to reapply until I received a paper letter explaining that :). Fortunately, when I took my mom to apply for SNAP two years ago, she signed the papers allowing me to be her legal representative, so I receive copies of all communications. I submitted the application, and the system replied that since I indicated I can’t come to the office due to work constraints, they will schedule a phone interview. I worried that I would have to leave the office and sit with mom waiting for this call at the most inconvenient time, but when the letter with the interview date/time arrived, I realized that they don’t need my mom; they can talk with me directly, and that was a relief and a huge time saver.
It turned out that at some point during the submission process, I indicated a preference for oral communications in Russian (leaving paper communications in English). I think that was when I was unsure whether my mom would have to be present. I thought that it would mean they would bring an interpreter on the call, which would make things worse (that’s why I usually do not check this option). But this time, a miracle happened! The person who called me was an actual Russian speaking person; I guess at least partially because of a large number of Ukrainain refugees, this option has become available. And because of that, the renewal took just 5 minutes. She asked: so, you reported no income for your mom? I replied: yes, let me tell you the whole story. My mom used to receive her pension and use it here, but since the war started… I didn’t even have to say another word. She said: Ok, I am putting the notes here. She will receive a renewal in the mail in a couple of weeks. She even explained to me about the cash assistance (my mom can’t get it until we reapply for SSI, so her explanation saved me some time).
It was a long and painful project two years ago, but after a lot of struggle, my balcony lights were up. I was happy since then, until a couple of months ago, the light bulbs started to burn out one after another, and soon, there were three burned-out light bulbs.
It didn’t look pretty, and I didn’t have enough light on the balcony. The reason I couldn’t replace them was the same as why I didn’t put them on in the first place: they are too high, and I am afraid of height, especially when I am on the third-and-a-half floor!
Every day, I was telling myself that I would take the largest ladder out and try, and every day I was like, “let’s do it tomorrow.” I started to think that hanging the lights up was a bad idea, since I will never be able to replace the bulbs myself. I even started to discuss with Boris what could be an alternative: how I can hang up the lights lower, should I buy some poles, or buy some floor lights.
Finally, today, when I came home early enough and didn’t have to run anywhere, I took out my tallest ladder and unfolded it on the balcony. To my surprise, I realized that I can easily reach at least one of the light bulbs. I unscrewed it and went to check whether I might have some replacement bulbs. And voila – I found a box with five replacement bulbs! (I am sure they were left from when this handyman who installed the lights in the first place).
The first bulb was easy. The second was still reachable, and I even had the courage to unscrew the bulb with two hands, and srew in the new one. The other two looked scarier, and I was afraid to let the second hand go off the holder. With the third one, I let the other hand go for just a second, and with the last one, I didn’t dare, so I did everything with the right hand, holding the socket with two fingers and rotating the light bulb with the other two.
And I am proud of myself beyond any imagination!!!
Even when the work is insane, there are two things that bring me joy every summer day; two things that make Chicago the best place to be in the summer: biking early in the morning and going to the beach in the evening. Even half an hour by the lake helps me to recharge and gives me peace of mind like nothing else. Each time I walk into the water, I say: Thank you, Lake!
I had been wanting Boris to get a better bike for Chicago for a while, and he found a bike shop on the Near North, with a great selection and some discounts. Since he won’t be here until the end of August, I suggested he talk to Anna and delegate her to choose a bike for him from his list of preferences.
It all sounded very reasonable (after all, we had nothing planned for the weekend), but it ended up being a near disaster. I think at least half of the disaster was that the girls were still tired from Friday, but woke up on the inertia of early rising during the week. Boris and I thought that Anna could take the bikes into her van, but the girls said they wanted to take an L-train. There were a couple of minor disasters in the morning, the most significant of which was that Anna realized she had forgotten one part of the equipment to attach Kira’s bike to hers in a tandem manner. While she was figuring this out, I took the girls to the Artisan Market at Jarvis Square. We ended up leaving for the bike shop later than planned, and when we arrived, we found out that they were not allowing us to have an actual test ride; we could only use the mount on the shop floor.
Next thing, when we settled on the models for both me and Boris, the associate told us that they will assemble the new bikes for us (we could not take the bikes we tried), and it will take about an hour. I was ready to go home and come to get the bikes later, but Anna suggested we go for lunch somewhere close by, and then pick up the bikes.
The girls where already tired and acting up, and when we came back to the shop, the bikes were still not ready, and we had to wait for another half-hour. Retrospecitvely, I should have bought both bikes online, and we should have taken a van to pick them up when they were ready. That way, the girls won’t be so tired, and we could have some beach time.
The good part of that day was that later in the evening, Naida and I went for a bike ride. She is doing absolutely amaizing for a eight-year-old, especially for city biking on a Saturday night! My phone reported the 9.1 – 9.3 Mph speed! and she was excellent in following me at all turns and navigating the streets in general.
I rode my new bike on Sunday early morning (all the way to Monroe Harbor)
It is faster than my old one,and less bumpy, but somehow it looks like the seat post is too short. I can adjust the seat to the hight I need, but it goes below the “minimum” line; this is pending me calling the shop.
We walked to the Common Cup for breakfast, and then to the market, and made sure to show Anna new Rogers Park murals (the girls already saw them when they stayed with me earlier this year)
And finally, we had a couple of hours on the beach.
Next time, we should do more beach and more biking!
The Beauty and the Beast show was a part of my subscription. If it won’t be the case, I wouldn’t suggest taking the girls there, but since it was a subscription, and it was running on the week they were here, it was difficult to resist. I changed the tickets from Tuesday to Friday, and got the extra three.
The show was absolutely out of this world! Amazing! Nadia really enjoyed it, although it ended too late, and she was tired. Kira was scared in the beginning, and then fell asleep after the intermission, so it was not a great experience for her. Also, it was a rather long day: the last day of camp, then I took all three of the girls to do nails.
Then we had dinner at Ryo Sushi.
That’s my Mango California roll – so good!
Then we went to Amorino for gelato flower, walked a little bit at the Millennium park, and finally went to see the show.
I believe it was the longest time both my granddaughters stayed in my house. I think, overall, it was a very good experience, although Anna and I have a long “lessons learned” list.
Two things were completely out of our control: the aftermath of the NASCAR race and the buses’ rerouting, and both our work situations – none of us could take any time off or have a shorter workday. When we plan for next summer, we will choose a different week (or a camp closer to my house).
On Friday, I went downstairs to the gym for a workout. I started with the TRX when all of a sudden, I felt something pushing my feet. Increadibly puzzled, I looked down and saw the water coming from the drain! It was not the first time we had water in the gym. In fact, I believe it was the third time after a major remodeling (after areally big flooding!), and all these times, the drain worked properly, and the water would go back almost immediately. It’s just the first time I saw the whole process 🙂
LPI stands for Linux Professional Institute, and that’s yet another not-for-profit I got involved with. Last Thursday, I participated in my first Board meeting, where I was officially installed as new board member. The meeting was scheduled for two hours, and I was wondering why we need two hours for such a small adgenda. But the actual meeting lasted for two and a half hours!
All discussions were very interesting and informative, and I learned a lot (and next time I will know that it might take that long!) but my Thurday feelings were: OMG! How did I end up here, and how I have to do this for three years!
Hettie's Reflections 