Category: everyday life

Merry Merry Chicago One More Time

When I realized that I wouldn’t be able to take Nadia to the Christmas concert on December 20, I offered an alternative plan: I took December 23 off, purchased the ticket for matinee performance on that day, and suggested to pick up Nadia on the evening of December 22, and then come back with her on December 23 and stay to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, there were no Amtrak tickets available for me for “swapping a suitcase for a child” (the only acceptable train was sold out), so Anna had to drive to Kenosha, and I took Metra there (and took another Metra back 20 minutes later). I packed a gigantic luggage with presents and all the things I needed in Milwaukee so that the next day, Nadia and I could travel light.

The trip back was very long, but Nadia entertained herself by reading all the names of the stops and keeping track of them – for some reason, stops had not been announced on this trip!

The next morning, we went to Common Cup for breakfast (I am so glad Nadia likes Common Cup as much as I do – yay!).

Then Nadia decorated all of the remaining cookies, and I was impressed by her skills! I told her that next Christmas, I will request her help in my cookies’ operation!

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Chicago Union Station Decorated For Christmas

My Christmas celebration has not been going exactly as planned, but there were lots of happy moments and things to admire, including the Union Station Great Hall Christmas display.

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Pre-Christmas Activities

I had a couple of days when I was not 100% absorbed by work crises and mailing cookies, which gave me some chances to enjoy Christmas activities.

I went to Harold Washington Library to listen to a midday Brass Christmas Concert (the quality was rather low, but I wanted to support a community event.

I went to the Christkindle Market “with purpose” and had a hot cider in a souvenir mug, bought more roasted nuts, spiced teas, some small gifts, and some sweets just for myself (nobody except for Boris likes marzipans the way I do!)

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New Ornaments

I have a lot of new ornaments this season, mostly brought from different places I visited this year. To my embarrassment, now I have so many that I do not always remember where some of the ornaments are from!

This year’s Christkindle Market
Helsinki
A present from my friends from Dublin
From Helsinki
From Ann Arbor’s Artisan Market

Mice Everywhere!

First, my mom complained about mice (she said she saw a mouse running from her kitchen to the bedroom), and just after I brought two last mouse traps to her apartment and ordered new ones “just in case,” I saw mice droppings and ripped bags in my pantry!

I am surprised mice didn’t figure out my pantry for so long – before that, they were only in the kitchen. This whole thing happened right before Thanksgiving, and I could not find a day when I could stay home, so I didn’t call for an appointment. But as the cookie-baking process progressed, I couldn’t put it away any further, so finally, I called exterminators, and the first available appointment was on December 16, the day I took off to finish the cookie shipping (you see where it goes).

An exterminator came and sealed several potential points of entry and also put out the poison along the walls. It has been six days, and I see fewer signs of mice activity, although they are not completely gone. He said to give it about two weeks, and then he will come on January 17 for a checkup.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but then my mom said she saw a mouse at her place again. Today, I checked everywhere in her kitchen and indeed found droppings under the fridge. Going to call the same exterminator and ask to treat my mom’s unit because, apparently, nowadays, mice are too smart to be caught in simple traps.

Mom’s Caregivers

It took almost four months, but my mom finally had all the services she could have. Setting up the homemaker service took five visits from different social workers and coordinators from different organizational levels, but finally, everything is in place, and the woman who comes to her is really nice! She has been there only once to do some cleaning, and it looks like I will need to tell her what she can do to help my mom because my mom can’t realize what she needs help with. I have a long list, however!

On Wednesday, a technician came, and her wearable device was set up, although she is complaining and does not want to wear it. Learning something new, including the simple thing of pushing a button and an overall concept of wearable, is challenging for her, so I am unsure how effective this device will be. I just hope for the best.

Another thing I was planning to do but am unsure about is setting up her paratransit. They need us to show up for an interview where they will determine whether my mom needs paratransit, and that’s a whole project on its own. However, since one of my friends uses paratransit, I know it entails long waits and possible delays, so I am not sure it will be worth using it instead of Uber. Still thinking about it.

Everyone who interacted with my mom through these months was either just nice or exceptionally nice, and I am surprised and happy to see so many dedicated people working in elderly care.

Cookie-Packing And Shipping

Although I managed to bake and decorate (with Igor’s help) enough cookies to send all my international packages and most domestic ones, I didn’t have enough time to pack them and print the labels. Knowing too well the speed with which they are (not) moving during the holiday season, I had no option other than to keep packing until done. Originally, I wanted to take Monday, December 9, off, but our remote manager was visiting Chicago that week, so I had to be in the office every day except for Friday (which I also took off). I ended up with several sleepless nights, but the mission was accomplished.

Unfortunately, none of the days which I took off to finish my Christmas stuff was spend on that – things kept piling up, and I kept doing everything except for Christmas (more on that to come).

After last year’s stolen packages disaster, I decided not to schedule a pickup anymore and brought all parcels to the post office in four separate trips, plus two Igor’s trips. The most frustrating part was (and still is) that most of the international packages didn’t leave Chicago yet, ten days after I deposited them at the post office. Overall, I did much better this year. I finally figured out how to create batches, and also, most of my recipients are in my USPS address book. So it not for the traffic jam at Chicago International Distribution Center, things would be perfect!

This year’s counts:

  • 1101 cookies
  • 29 parcels
  • 14 gifted in-person boxes
  • Gigantic box for the office
  • Still something left!

Several domestic packages made it to their recepients, but none of the international. Also, I received a package from my friends from Ireland:

I love this ornament! It’s already on my Christmas tree, and I need to take pictures of all my new ornaments!

Classic Encounter At The CSO

Still filling in the blanks for last week :). On Thursday, my neighbor and I went to the CSO. The program featured four pieces related to the sea: Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest, and Korngold’s Suite from The Sea Hawk. A real gift, each piece is a gem.

That was also the only time this season when we had tickets for a pre-concert Classic Encounter with Terry Hemmert.

As usual, it was a great discussion, this time with Clarinet John Yen, and they played the sciences from the Sea Hawk on the screen. A side note – as a part of the cost cuts, I guess, they stopped serving food and only served wine and cookies (and they gave you a drink token at the entrance). Just to know for the future to eat before going there 🙂

Together

Vlad is in Chicago this week, and since it does not happen very often, everybody adjusted their plans. Anna, John, and the girls arrived on Saturday morning, and we all met with Vlad for brunch at Revival in Andersonville.

It was great to be together – it was at least a year since last time. Also, it was great to be in Andersonville. I realized that I have almost never been there since Vlad has not worked there for years, and I missed its vibe and being able to walk and stop at different shops and meet people.

Christmas On My Balcony