Hettie’s Reflections – Blog Posts

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I told mom about the move and about everything I know so far about the house and the neighborhood. I told her that she would feel better there because there will be sidewalks and people on the streets and parks with benches. However, she kept saying: all that matters is that I will be close to you. It feels really sad. She is saying that she is my fourth child now, and that’s pretty close to reality. I was trying to tell her that all I want for her is to live a happy and peaceful life. But wherever the conversation goes, it comes to the point that she can’t be away from me, just like a small child. The only thing she worried about with our timeline was how long she would have to stay in Palatine after I move.

Nothing I can do about it, but it makes me think that there is a sad irony in this situation. When I was a child, she did everything she could to cultivate my unhealthy attachment to her so that I could not be happy when she was away. And now she feels the same way. And I know that I could even yell at her, and she won’t protest. It does not make me happy. I wish she won’t be such a controlling personality when I was a child and that she would be a happier person now. But it is what it is.

Can You Believe I Found The Right House?

I did! And once again, in many aspects it is not what I planned, but – I liked it. Friends, I will tell you all about it :), just not today.

“Be The Change”

I acted according to this statement multiple times in the past couple of weeks. I posted this photo on the instagram today and steered some discussion. Luckily, i have enough supporters 🙂 I am so tired of all this “but it is impossible to wear mask all the time!”

Yes, it is possible to workout in a mask! I purposely chose the hardest on your breath machine for this photo – the stair-climber.

Spring 1996

I am trying to figure out the exact time these pictures were taken and can’t figure it out. I know that the year is 1966, but as I’ve already mentioned, I could easily wear the same clothes outside for six months in a row, because that was all I had.

In winter 1965/66 I got a fur coat made of black rabbits fur. That was the most common fur for the children’s winter coats. But it looks like I wore it almost until summer.

The pictures with my mom and I following my father to the tram stop with his skies must be taken in March. In March, there was usually a lot of snow to the north of Leningrad. My father is carrying a rucksack, so he must be going for a multi-day ski trip. All sort of “tourism” or rather hiking was very popular in the 1960s in the Soviet Union, and my mom would complain later that my father would always disappear when she needed his help.

Continue reading “Spring 1996” →

One More Activity Is Back: Canvassing

Today, I went canvassing for the first time since sometime in 2019. Or even earlier. Most likely, since the 2018 campaign when I was canvassing for Maggy Trevor.

Last fall, there was no in-person canvassing, only phone banking. I never do phone banking because I am not good at it and because when people do not see me, they react negatively to my accent. But I truly love in-person canvassing. First, I know that it works, and second – when people see me, they do not care about the accent that much.

I was delighted when I read in the Palatine Democrats newsletter that they are doing in-person canvassing again. I waited for the warmer weather and then started to look for signup.

It turned out that these days, all things are done differently, and canvassing is not an exception. I had to submit a form on the website, and then a person in charge of canvassing emailed me, and then we talked. He told me I need to install a MiniVAN application – a special application for canvassing.

loved it. It is so much better than the canvassing I did for years – with a paper turf and a clipboard. You can switch from a map to a list of households and back; you can look up people and leave notes, and you are syncing, so you make sure you didn’t miss the house and didn’t visit a house twice.

The person in charge of canvassing is doing an outstanding organizing job. Everything is planned the night before, the turfs can be loaded into your app well in advance, and you are good to go.A funny thing happened. When I talked with this person on the phone, I told him that I was canvassing for years. Still, since he didn’t know me, he told me he wanted to start the turf with me to see how I am doing it, and then we can canvass separately. I understood that it was a responsible thing to do and didn’t object. He took the furthest turf in Rolling Meadows, and I asked him to drive me there because I could get lost with my geographical disability.

When I saw him in person in the Democratic office, I realized that he was very young. Since he mentioned earlier that he lived in Palatine, I had a suspicion that he might know Vlad and Anna. And as soon as we started walking to his car, he turned to me and asked: Do you know Novikov’s, Anna and Vlad? And I am: yes, I am their mother.

It turned out that not only he knows them well, but he also worked with Anna on Matt Flamm’s campaign when Anna was a campaign manager.

So, we had a lot to talk about on our way to the turf 🙂

First Day Of Spring, And Looking Forward To Summer

In yesterday’s email from our Park District, they mentioned that they are hiring lifeguards and swimming instructors, which means… yes! which means that pools will be open! Yes, most likely, I won’t be there by the time they open but still :). I am happy for Palatine right now.

I am not a sports fan in any sports and any capacity, so I can’t appreciate that they started to sell tickets for some games. But Ravinia… that’s something which makes me smile and anticipate!

I hope, hope, hope one million times that a good portion of the summer things will be back for summer. My mom is keeping asking, “when will we be able to go around without masks,” but as for me, I won’t mind wearing masks for several more months as long as places are open and we can do things.

Move Update

Not precisely the “move,” but I have my mortgage preapproved, so now we are starting to look at the houses for real. this time around, it is way more difficult than it was twenty three years ago when I was looking for my first house. At least, I didn’t need to travel 🙂

We’ll see. It will be interesting.

About People’s Interactions

I liked how my Wednesday’s meetup went. I only regret that I didn’t put enough time into advertising, and there were not many people attending. The talk was brilliant. It was new Bruce’s talk “Democratization of Databases,” where he talks about opensource products and how their development is different from commercial products. 

Our discussion ended up being rather political; that’s why I am not posting it on my professional blog.

But you know, I think it was very appropriate. There are times when you have to be political, times when you can’t enclose yourself in your professional world. And now is that kind of time. 

On another note, I started to assemble my team of volunteers. And now, when I started, I do not know how I lived without any help! I felt so good when people responded to my call. When they started to reach out telling me that they want to help, to give back. One of the people who reached out told me: I want to compensate for all these times when I would just come and sit in the corner, listen to the talks, eat pizza and go back home. 

I can see now how many things we didn’t do to give us more publicity. Interestingly, when I talk to other people about giving their enterprise more publicity, I name all these things I didn’t do myself :). I hope that by the time of the next meetup, things will start to look different.

This week was very intense. I had many things going on at work, and I also had to talk to many people for a very long time :). I can’t recall this level of interactions I was involved in since the pre-pandemic times. I am tired, but I also feel very good. I feel empowered by people’s responses. 

Metra Return To Work Summit

Linking Igor’s article.

Earl Grey Tea And Orange Cake With Dark Chocolate

It was an amazing cake 🙂

Hettie D.'s avatarHealthy Cooking - Hettie's Way

Absolutely amazing recipe from the NYT Cooking. I am not sure whether it’s me or my oven, but it took me 45 min until the cake was ready. Otherwise, it turned out being not as complex as it looks from the first glance:

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE FROSTING:

  • ¾cup/180 milliliters heavy cream
  • 2teaspoons loose Earl Grey tea
  • ¼cup/30 grams confectioners’ sugar
  • ½cup/115 grams mascarpone or softened cream cheese (see Tip)

FOR THE CAKE:

  • ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 ½cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1tablespoon loose Earl Grey tea
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
  • 2teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (from 1 large orange)
  • 2large eggs, at room temperature
  • ½cup/120 milliliters whole milk, at room temperature
  • ¼cup/45 grams chopped dark chocolate

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