Category: everyday life

Saturday In Chicago

Anna and her Family visited me this weekend. They arrived on Friday night. On Saturday morning, we had a little kids’ concert, then we went to the Art Institute and Millennium Park and had dinner at my house.

I think it was one of the best Chicago weekends we had so far. This time, Kira actually sat and listened to the concert and was engaged all the time. Also, it was almost the first time when she wanted to see the exhibits before rushing to Ryan’s center. The projects that they had at Ryan’s center this time were probably the best we ever made: creating your own miniature rooms.

Anna said right away that she wanted to make her own project, too, not just helping the girls, so I ended up helping everyone:). It was a very fun project, indeed. Anna told Nadia that adults rarely do crafts, and Nadia asked why. We had to admit that there are no good reasons not to do them (and, in fact, some adults do quite a bit!).

Here is the music room Anna crafted (with a little bit of my help :))

Some other people’s crafts:

A Timely Message

That was the right message at the right time (office lunch last Wednesday)

*** (the last one)

I said this twice on Friday: I never do what I “have to,” I always do what I want to do. The first time I said it was when Anna was planning to take the train to Chicago, and I realized I would need to go home first and then back to the Loop. A couple hours later, I repeated the same thing to my mom when she said that I was very busy and that I should skip some things, including coming to see her so often. That one was funny because when it happens that I do not stop by her for three days in a row, she says that she hasn’t seen me for such a long time! I told her the same thing: when I can’t, I don’t, but if I stop by, it means I can and I want.

Interestingly, that’s true. I keep repeating it, and I am surprised myself to realize how true it is. And just to prove my point, when on Friday I felt that I was really tired and could not work productively, I packed and left at 3 PM:)

When Nothing Happens

I can’t write about work most of the time, and, in general, most of my professional dramas do not make it to this blog. Yesterday I thought that I had a couple of extremely emotionally loaded days, but “there is nothing to write about.” I still want to find a way to share my emotional experiences, but for now, I can’t think of anything better than this picture of a fortune cookie that I got yesterday as a part of my lunch in the office (we had an external vendor):

Easter

I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday in Milwaukee with my girls. The weather was as almost as bad as it could be, so we didn’t bike together as we originally planned, but we spent a lot of time together, which was very satisfying, especially after the last week as it was.

I packed several egg coloring sets and three boxes of cookies I baked last Sunday and decorated on Thursday.

After my escorting shift, I picked up more pastries from Vanille before heading to Union Station and boarding the Hiawatha train to Milwaukee. The first four days of the week felt like one gigantic workday, and I was more than tired, both physically and emotionally. I literally felt my legs heavy and difficult to move. On Thursday night, I sat on the floor in front of the opened suitcase unable to pack my stuff.

I feel tons better ow, although the to-do list didn’t become shorter. We had a great time in Milwaukee, decorating more cookies, coloring eggs, reading books, and talking. It’s amazing how much you can rechange just by being together with your loved ones.

Nadia had a group violin lesson, so we all went to the conservatory, and this time, I had time to explore this beautiful building.

Continue reading “Easter” →

TIME: Why We Do Not Bring Lunch To Work Anymore

I never thought that it’s a trend; quite contrary, everybody is complaining that ther is not enough “food traffic” in the city centers, and in Chicago Loop in particuler. However, when I read this article, I realized I could relate. At least some of the reasons for “not to” resonate with me. I know very well, that getting to work when you were working from home for a while is time-consuming and “too exhastive,” and all the “extra planning” work, which makes me especially thankful for my firm providing meal as work.:)

Continue reading “TIME: Why We Do Not Bring Lunch To Work Anymore” →

Time Management

I never felt as capable of doing all sorts of things as I am now, and at the same time, I never felt like “I do not have time” as now. My wants and needs as so much more than you can pack in a day, but I am still trying.

For the past several days, I wrote plans for each hour, both workdays, and weekend days, and that was the only way to keep me in some sort of control. At a minimum, I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I could only fit in about 60% of what I “needed” on any given day, so my disappointment was not so grave. And I was able to do everything that I marked as “urgent/important” and put in specific time slots.

Still, there are many things that are important/not urgent but will become urgent very soon, so I need to figure out a way to fit them in. Also, this way of living is completely not sustainable – you can’t schedule each and single hour of your life, at least not for long.

The purpose of this post is just to wave my hand and indicate that I am alive 🙂

Spring Equinox

User Error:)

It took me a while to replace the toilet in the smaller bathroom, even after a plumber told me it was time to stop fixing it and get a new one. A new one required at least some thinking and planning, and I had enough going on. Finally, I went to Lowes, ordered a new one, and the installers came and installed it. Right after that, I went on my European trip.

Then I returned, and after a while, I was sure that something was not right: it was not flushing enough water. Boris told me that he would be able to fix it. I just needed to wait until he came next time, but I decided to call the installers because I thought they messed up and should fix it. As always, it took me a while to make a call, and while Lena visited me, she checked and said that she was not sure why the tank did not fill to the maximum. Finally, I called the installers and scheduled them to come back and take a look. Now, the funny part: when they returned and checked, it appeared that everything was working normally. I simply forgot that in some models, you need to hold the flush to keep the water running. And I completely forgot that this could be the case – I didn’t have such models for a while! So there was no need to suffer for two months. Just a user error 🙂

PG Day Paris 2023

I didn’t post this picture a year ago, after the previous PG Day Paris. That was a picture from an all-female (almost :)) track. This year, I am not there because the conference is on the same day as SCALE, but I just found this picture, which I didn’t post last year, so let it be here! And next year, hopefully, there will be no conflict!