Hettie’s Reflections – Blog Posts

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Welcome to Hettie’s Reflections!

Hello! My name is Hettie, I was born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and I emigrated to the United States in October 1996. I live in Palatine, IL and work in Chicago.

I’ve been very active in the Russian blogosphere, and my American friends keep asking me when I am going to tell my story in English. Well, the time has come.

I am going to write my story for my granddaughter Nadia, and for all my American friends, who has been so supportive through all these years, and hope that my children, Igor, Vlad and Anna will help me through this journey.

My Russian blog used to have “a lot of everything”, because first, I just like to write a little something every day, reflecting on everything happening in the world around me, and second – because I believe that people trust me more knowing me as a person. Everything I’ve done in my life so far, and everything I am doing every day, made me – and still making me the person I am.

This being said, although this blog is intended mostly to record our family history, there will be still “a lot of everything” here. However, for those who is interested in the history solely, I will paste all the links to the Hettie’s Timeline page, which will hopefully allow to read all these entries in a chronological order.

The links to my interviews and videos (mostly professional) will be pasted on this page, and also for those who is interested what I am doing in my professional life, feel free to check out my blog The World of Data.

My blog Hettie’s Cooking is hardly a cooking blog, at least I do not update it often. However, some of my legendary recipes, like “Mom’s soup”, can be found there.

Enjoy 🙂

Fort Sheridan And One More Thunderstorm

Since the time I first learned about Fort Sheriday Forest preserve, I try to visit it a couple times a year, and at least once in summer. I didn’t have a chance to go there this summer yet, and I wanted to make sure I sivit it before summer ends. Even in July, I knew I will have very few options, and this Sunday was “one before last one.’ Usually, I listed to my gut feeling very careflly, gaging whether I should or should not do something, but this time, I was not sure. I felt like I am trying to squizz in too many things, and the weather was not ideal, but then I thought that if I would give in and not go, I will regret it, so I decided to go even though I knew it will be a very short visit,

The prairie exceeded my expectations :). Because of so many rains we had this summer, it was in bloom like I never saw it! I walked on the trail with a smile on my face, and was quitely saying hello to all my wild friends.

Continue reading “Fort Sheridan And One More Thunderstorm” →

Kira In Chicago

This weekend, we finally had Kira’s special Chicago adventure. Since February, when she was sick on the day we were supposed to have a pottery class together, I promised her a solo stay with me, but it took us more than six months to schedule. It was the first time that she visited me without anyone else, including Nadia, and we had a great time!

She made a huge developmental leap and is now so mature, so interesting to talk with, such a loving and helpful person, that I can only admire Anna’s parental skills; she is a way better parent than I was! I see her in both girls, and although Nadia and Kira are very different people, I see that they took the best from both parents.

We had breakfast on my balcony, went to the beach early in the morning, visited my mom, and then headed to the Field Museum, where Kira planned to stay until closing :).

She changed her mind only when I suggested getting a gelato flower at Amorino, where, fortunately, the wait was not 45 minutes, but only 20!

Before we headed to the beach, I asked Kira whether she could try to make the guest room look like it was when she came, and she honestly exceeded my expectations!

And another thing which really touched me was how patient and kind she was with my mom. Initially, I thought my mom could meet us at the beach in the morning, but later I realized we would be there before she normally gets out for a walk, so I removed our meeting from her calendar. Then, as Kira and I were already heading out for the Field Museum, I saw an email from my mom asking whether she should wait for my call or head to the beach. I realized that the only option we had was to stop by on our way, so I called her to let her know we were coming.

Then I explained to Kira that my mom wanted to see her very much, and that she often forgets things, but she remembered that I wanted to see her. And I told Kira that if I lived for another thirty years, I might also become very forgetful, and I argued with Kira that she never told me this and that. She laughed at this perspective, didn’t complain that we didn’t go to the museum right away, and was very kind and respectful to my mom. And I was very thankful for that!

Dishwasher Cleaning

I have had this dishwasher for more than two years. At some point, I noticed the cleaning quality had declined, and dishes not placed in the middle had residue. I even purchased an extra year of insurance because I was afraid I would need to call for a major repair. I read the instructions at the time it was installed, and I thought that I had been doing all the cleaning that was necessary, but it turned out I was wrong.

A week ago, I decided to read all of the instructions one more time, and it turned out I never cleaned the parts that could potentially be clogged – and they were, indeed!

I finally took the racks out, turned them upside down, and cleaned all the small holes that were clogged! Why I can’t read instructions – don’t ask 😂

The Notebook Musical

There was a book, and there was a movie, and there was a musical. They met. They fell in love. Life circumstances separated them. They found each other ten years later to stay together forever. Then she developed dementia. And he moved to the nursing home to be close to her, although she couldn’t recognize him anymore and didn’t know who he was. He reads to her “a book” – a notebook with the story of their lives, in hopes that she will remember and return to him.

Most of the Broadway productions are great, and this one was no exception. Also, in addition to great music, a live orchestra, and beautiful voices, the acting was… one of those moments when everything is so real and so recognizable that it’s heartbreaking. Of course, the story touches on the topics that are constantly on my mind, but it’s not like I couldn’t watch it because of some similarities to real life. It just went along with my thinking…

Three pairs of actors play the main characters in three different stages of their lives.

Sunday

My weekend regret: I didn’t go to the beach because of the weather. The wins: 1) the rain stopped mid-Saturday, so I could still go biking; 2)I did a lot of non-work work, primarily working on my open-source projects. Another regret: I am still not where I want to be with almost all of them.

Anyway, some Sunday positivity:

Monroe Harbor
There was a very strong wind from the North, and I biked rather far South, plus I left a bit late, and ended up being back to Rogers Park later than I thought. Fortunately, the Common Cup is right on my way home. I never tried their oatmeal because I didn’t expect much of it, but last time, my friend ordered it, and I tried it and loved it! This one is with raspberries and almonds!
My weekly summer bouquet from the Glenwood Sunday Market

How Does Your Chicago Summer Look Like?

I received this in one of the WBEZ newsletters, and I couldn’t stop laughing! Yes, that’s how it looks!

Hi Henrietta!

Somewhere between changing the sheets for the third time and making yet another cheese plate, I realized my home has basically become a bed and breakfast. My washer and dryer have been working overtime, as have I.

If your summer has looked anything like mine, you know how it is. Everyone wants to experience summer in Chicago and all the fun that comes with it, yet you’re scrambling to remember what’s even happening this week. Let our calendar do the planning for you and bring your guests our way for a good time, like a free jazz concert featuring Mike Reed’s Common Good Dance Band on August 14 at Navy Pier or Thalia Hall’s Free For All on August 29.

The good news? Fall is coming, and with it, a little breathing room. We’ve already got some great events on the books, so once the guest room empties out (or the air mattress is deflated), it might be time to start filling in your own calendar again. Scroll down for a preview.

Nathalie		Nathalie Kohen

Shakespear In The Park: As You Like It

I only heard about Shakespeare in the Park before, but I never attended their performances. Last weekend, they were right here, and Touhy Park, and also I had a friend visiting, so there was no excuse not to go (except for it was raining until alomost the preformance time!) Fortunately, it stopped raining, and the performance was not cancelled, and there was not a single drop of rain during the whole show.

I loved it!!! It was so authentic, brilliant in each and single detail: no amplification, of course, following the original script to the letter, accentinuating as I imaginge they did in the Globe, so that no one would have any doubt about heroes and villans, the costumes with just enough details, the music, and I can keep going!

After the play was over, I had one very distinct feeling: from now on, I will never be able to watch Shakespear plays any other way! My friend was overjoyed to see so many Black actors, and one lady from the audience told us, that she was an English major, and saw “As You Like It” at least fifteen times, but never-ever…

I know that at most ten persent of my readers click the links I share, but please-please-please, read their mission statement.

Continue reading “Shakespear In The Park: As You Like It” →

Stormy Lake

I want to say it was the worst summer weekend so far: barely 70 both days, pouring rain for half of Saturday, and strong winds both days. My friend from Oak Park visited me on Saturday; she always wants to sit by the lake, but there was no chance of that! At least the rain almost stopped by the time she arrived, and we walked to the lake to watch the waves.

Working Style

I have a new colleague who was transferred to Chicago from our Montreal office. She is on a different team, but I helped her with some projects in the past, and she was ecstatic to see me in the cafeteria on her second day on the job.

Since this first day, she has asked me all things about Chicago, including where to move from her temporary housing, what to see, where to be, and so on. I told her she could come to our beach sometime, and since the forecast for the weekend was hopelessly cold and rainy, I suggested she follow me after work on Thursday. She did, and she loved Loyola Beach (she said it’s her favorite in Chicago so far, which I agree with (and she is also surprised that beaches are free).

She shares many observations with me about our office and how people work there. One thing she mentioned was about people being “too focused on work”, eating lunch at their desks, and in general being “heads down.” She mentioned that at the Montreal office, she would catch up with everyone first thing in the morning before diving into work.

I told her that I do not think it’s normal, and I do not approve of this eating lunch at your desk thing. Later, I thought it wasn’t normal in the US either, and I remember chatting with co-workers at all my jobs, except during my short tenure in trading, and that even in consulting we didn’t count eight hours as “eight hours head down.” And to be honest, I do not think it’s humanly possible to produce a quality outcome with more than seven hours “netto” working time, except in some extreme circumstances. What is true is that, as I mentioned multiple times, the work is very intense, more than anywhere I worked before, and eight hours of work drains me entirely.

I told my new colleague that she can always check with me and come down to my floor for lunch if everyone else eats at their desks 🙂

Mom

On Wednesday, my mom had an appointment at the hearing aid lab. She started to complain that she was hearing worse a couple of weeks ago. Since I suspected that the problem was most likely with the hearing aid, not with her hearing, I started by calling the lab and asking them whether it made sense to see them first before sending her to the audiologist one more time. They agreed that the problem was most likely with the hearing aid, so I scheduled an appointment at the time when her caretaker usually comes. She started to insist that I need to go with her, but I told her I would go if/when we need to go to the doctor. The next day, she told me that the appointment is too early, and she won’t be able to get up and leave the house at that time, or she will faint on the way. I replied that that was her regular time of leaving the house, and that if it were later, she would miss her lunch and faint from hunger. I also scheduled an Uber so that they could leave the house thirty minutes later.

It was indeed a dirty filter, and it is probably on me that I never learned how to change them and left this knowledge with Igor, who used to go to these appointments with her. Now, I googled it! And I ordered replacement filters. I might have thrown the old ones away last time.

The next day, my mom emailed me at 3 PM that she was devastated because she lost one of her hearing aids when she took the garbage out, and he already traced her steps, and the device is nowhere, and all other horrors. I told her to check her clothes or wherever it might fall. In 30 minutes, she emailed me that she swept the floor, didn’t find anything, but then she saw the hearing aid on her bed 🤷🏻‍♀️. Do not ask. Another thing I can’t understand is that, after she had already found it, she said she was so nervous she couldn’t eat or do anything. And this disaster continued into today, because when I came, she yelled at me, saying I didn’t understand how stressful the event was. Once again – 🤷🏻‍♀️