Tag: beach

Life Moments

I felt very bad about never attending Customer Appreciation events at my wealth management company, so when they announced an event at the venue within a ten-minute walk from my office, I felt compelled to RSVP yes.

Except for a couple of amazing shots of Chicago at sunset, it was 100% wasted time, even though I spoke with my portfolio manager and some people in his network.

***

Thursday escort was a complete crisis again. I was a team lead for the early morning shift, and there were just three of us (and one texted that she was running late). That’s already a challenge when there are six antis out, because the moment the second car with a patient stops, you do not have enough bodies to protect patients.

Having nurses being dropped off with the accompaniment of “stop murdering babies,” and wondering why they have to cross the front line every morning…

And then getting a message in the middle of the workday about a new nasty group of antis. And domestic violence. And “horrible people.” And guns. And cops. And “if you can come, come”. Putting the vest back on in the elevator. Running down, and running two blocks south. Cops. Crying woman. Leaving forty minutes later since it looked like they all left, only to receive a message five minutes later that they were still around…

***

My new coworker, whom I texted yesterday with a suggestion to go to the beach after work, responded while I was in the middle of the aforementioned crisis, so I didn’t even see her messages among the others. She accepted my crazy idea, even though she was working from home, and we decided on the meeting time. She came to Jarvis; we stopped at my house so that I could change, and we could grab the beach chairs, and then we walked to Loyola Beach.

She loved it! She said that was the best beach in Chicago she had visited so far! She loved how calm things are here (and you know I love it as well!). We spent an hour and a half at the beach; I never stay at the beach that long on workdays. And then I walked her to the bus stop and made sure she got on, and she said that when her family will be visiting, she will bring them that beach, for sure!

Lena In Chicago

A summer weekend when Lena comes to Chicago is always special. We have some favorite activities that we do each time, and we always try something new. Here is a short summary of all our activities.

Lena arrived on Friday evening. It was not super late, and we tentatively planned to go to Jarvis Beach and even went there, but the wind was cold, and we didn’t feel like getting into the water (and even more so – getting out), so we just sat there and talked, and then went home.

On Saturday, I went for an early bike ride by myself, and Lena just walked to the lake.

Continue reading “Lena In Chicago” →

Girls in Chicago

Nadia and Kira are attending the Drama Camp at the Lifeline Theater this week. Anna is trying to work from home, and I am trying to work whenever the opportunity presents itself 😂

The challenge is that the camp drop-off time is 8:50, and pickup time is at 3 PM, and it’s about a 15-minute walk from my house, so it’s only 5.5 hours of work in between. Yesterday, I worked from home and picked the girls up so that Anna could do more work during the day. Funny story: when I came for a pickup and the counselor asked for the kids’ names, I almost said, “Anna and Vlad” 😂. After the camp, we went to the beach, and when Anna was done, we switched :). I think the beach is the best thing in this whole arrangement! The water is warm, I bought two new bags of beach toys, so even the 90s (which is going to be the case for the whole week) feels manageable 🙂

A Warm Day! Finally!

Finally, I could bike without the warm gloves!

And I bought more flowers, and found my dream hanging basket.

And I went to the beach! For real!

… And One More Splash Of Summer!

Yesterday, before I left for the airport, I walked to the beach and realized that if I wasn’t in a rush and didn’t put away all the beach things, I could still go! It was nice and warm and calm. Several people were walking in the shallow water, likely regretting having put their swimsuits into storage.

I rolled up my jeans and followed their example:).

The Last Week Of Summer?

I think that the last week was truly the last week of summer, and that today was truly the last beach day. I was so nice and warm, all week long, and the weekend was as perfect as it could be.

I went for a long bike ride in the morning and to the beach in the early afternoon.

Each time I am at the beach, I think about how blessed I am to have this treasure so close to home. I am forever thankful for this gift from the universe, and I will never take it for granted!

Marion Mahony Griffin Beach

This beach is not ten, but a five-minute walk from my house, but it always felt like “too small, too crowded,” and not allowing me to enjoy the lake in all its glory.

However, I decided to give it another try for my early mornings, and it turned out that there were just a couple of people at that time of the day, doing the same thing as I – immersing in the calm, warm water, and then walking back home.

I will do it again 🙂

The Morning Lake

Last summer, I discovered the pleasure of going to the beach early in the morning, before going to work, and this summer, I was not going to wait till the end of August.

Today was the first day I did it this season. I was unsure whether the lake is warm enough so that the water in the morning will be warm, and it was!

No picture can express the joy of immersing yourself into the lake facing the rising sun! All my tiredness of the past two weeks was washed away. You can tell that I was not the first person on the beach this morning, but pretty close to the first 🙂

It’s interesting that, apparently, the upcoming Thursday is International Self-Care Day. 🤷🏻‍♀️ My firm hosts multiple related events, but my best possible self-care was this morning! The only thing I need to figure out is how I can get this constantly missing extra half-hour of sleep.

Loyola-Leone Beach On July 4

Documenting my attempt to go to the beach yesterday :). In reality, it was even worse because people were barbecuing on every inch of the grass. Also, lifeguards were unusually vigilant, so there was no way to get into the water higher than the waste level 🙂

The Day Before The Long Weekend

It is believed that the day before the long weekend is always quiet and uneventful, because nobody wants to start a new project, and half of the people are taking a day off, and the other half want to leave earlier. It could not be further from the truth for me!

First, I had my month-after post-op for the Lasik. It was scheduled for 10-30, and since it takes me no more than 30 minutes to get to the Rush Medical Center from my office, I agreed to do “something” for our UK team at 12-30. It took them a while to agree with this “something,” so I was happy we could wrap it up before the holidays, and I thought I would be back in time. Unfortunately, I was waiting and waiting, and nothing happened! I started to suspect that I might be late, but as it often happens in the medical building, my hotspot barely worked. I sent a WhatsApp message to my UK co-worker to tell the team what the situation was, and that very moment, I was called to the exam room. They took all the measurements, and then… dilated my eyes! I screamed that I needed to go to work, but they didn’t listen. That also meant it would be a while before the doctor saw me. My coworker asked whether we should postpone the “something” until 1 PM, and I said – yes, but I became doubtful. Finally, the surgeon dashed into the room, started talking to me, but then slapped his forehead: Sorry – I forgot something! One moment! And he disappeared from the room! When he finally appeared, and we discussed my concerns and next steps, I knew I had a very slim chance of being on time. I practically ran out of the building (as fast as I could, having patients in wheelchairs all over the place), and ran to the Polk station, only to see the train leaving! The next train would be in 11 minutes, so I went down and called Uber. It was the most expensive 10-minute ride of my life (which also ended up being 15 minutes because of the insane lunch hour traffic). In the car, I was able to slack the team that I was on my way, and was at my desk three minutes to 1PM, which also allowed me to grab lunch (they stop service on our floor at 1 PM, and I would have no time to go to another floor).

Anyway, everything was great until after “something” was completed, the team stated that they experienced some problems. It took another 2.5 hours to check that it was a false alarm, and I was tired beyond anything imaginable.

Then, I went to LensCrafters. Although I can go without glasses or contacts most of the time now, I still encounter situations where my eyes do not work well together, and I also do not see the stage in the theater with the precision I would like to. We discussed options, and I ordered new glasses. We then tried several combinations with contacts and agreed on the best one. By that time, it was a perfect pre-holiday traffic situation, so I walked to the Red Line, fearing that bus 147 might take forever. When I was at home, it was almost 7 pm. My CSA order had been sitting downstairs for over three hours, but everything except the strawberries had survived! Still, I needed a moment of tranquility, so I pulled on a new (just-delivered!) swimsuit and headed to the beach. It was one of those days when I was especially thankful for living by the beach, just a ten-minute walk away from the sand, and the sounds of the waves, along with a mild, descending sun.

I can’t say that “that was it,” because earlier in the morning, I promised one of our Singapore team members to get online at 9 PM, which I did!