Tag: neighbors

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Yesterday, I was busy finishing baking cookies, packing, and preparing them for shipping. I was very cold, but sunny, and I felt happy staying inside in my beautifully decorated home, surrounded by the smells of baked cookies. I was thinking that overall life is good, and my crazy time at work is about to be over, and how lucky and fortunate I am.

Then I saw a message onmy phone. It was from onw of our condominium board members, and he asked me to call him back.

When I dialed, he said: I have some sad news for you. Then he told me, that one of our neigbors – an absolutely lovely couple in their 40s with no kids and two beautiful dogs were in the car crash. The husband passed away and the wife was in critical condition in the hospital.

And that was it.

I still can’t process these news. Can’t conprehend them. We were not close friends, but we saw each other several times a week, and their “Hi Hettie” was one of these things which are “always here,” and make our community the way it is.

Matter Does Not Disappear

Last Saturday, my neighbor R. asked me whether I saw her Amazon package: she saw a deliver photo, but when she came home, the package was not there. I didn’t see anything, so I couldn’t help her, but then, a similar thing happened to me: I received notification about delivery, but when I came back home, there was nothing. I even walked to the adjacent building to check their lobby, because sometimes, we receive their items and vise versa, but I saw through the glass door that their mailroom floor was empty.

Mine was rather expensive delivery (from Apple), and in addition, the item was personalized, so naturally, I was rather upset, and blamed myself for not texting R. and not asking her to pick up the package, and for being so careless, etc. Next, since the photo showed multiple parcels, I decided to email our condominium mailing list. I rarely do that, but I felt like that was a good reason.

My neighbor R., who’s package was missing two days earlier, followed up with her email, and about 10 minutes later, one of the adjacent building residents responded: there was a pile of packages in our mailroom today! Even though I already checked them, I went back one more time, and this time, entered the building. There was nothing on the floor, but when I looked up, I saw to packages on the first landing up, and guess what – those were my and my neighbor’s packages. I picked them up, returned to our building, and emailed a thank-you note, saying that it would never occur to me to go one flight up. The person, who pointed me originally to the right direction, replied:

We always walk them up.  Till they make their way home.  I saw a bunch and wasn’t sure who was who.  Glad you got them!

Having that both myself and R. are on the third floor, it would take a while until people would realize it was the wrong building!

The First Beach Day Of The Season.

Yesterday, when I realized that it was after 10 PM and I was not packed yet, I scolded myself for going to the beach after work. But as it turned out, that was the right thing to do! Yes, I worked from home today, but it was raining all night, and after a little bit of the sunshine in the late morning, it started to rain again, and then the rain turned into a heavy thunderstorm, so no beach today!

It was my first and only beach day this season so far, and I can’t believe we are already in the second half of June! The lake was cold! No wonder, since the whole spring was very cold, and there was no chance for the water to warm up even a little bit. I plunged, jumped out, and plunged again, just because :), but I don’t know how all these kids could stay in the water for so long!

There were so many people on the beach! So many kids who should have been loud, but I was surprised by what a quiet scene it was! As if everyone were quietly taking in this first warm evening.

A ice cream vendor


What I Liked About Yestreday

It’s not necessarily that I managed to squeeze in so many activities in one day. It’s not about numbers. It’s about the fact that throughout the whole day, I did what I wanted, things that were important to me and that I didn’t want to miss.

And also – I had many people’s interactions. I talked to the people in my neighborhood, and that’s what I didn’t do enough recently, especially because the winter was long and the spring was cold.

I talked to the florist from whom I bought the annuals for my balcony, I talked to many vendors at the crafts fair, I talked to the artists in the Greenleaf Center, and to the people at Grant Park.

Funny thing. I felt like I spent tons of money during the day because I bought from so many vendors. But when I sat down in the evening to record all my spendings I realized that it was way less than I thought. I believe it’s because all the interactions, whether I purchased something or not, were meaningful.

The Weather Change

The change was dramatic and sudden. My plans A, B, and C for Thursday afternoon dissolved on the spot. I think that most places closed preemptively, just in case, because, in the end, the snow on Thursday was not terrible. The windchill, though, was probably the worst I had ever experienced during my life in Chicago.

I got on the train earlier than planned. and then I didn’t leave the house for a day and a half, except to take the garbage out and boxes to the storage. On Friday, I thought that everybody’s plans were canceled, and since I know some neighbors very well, they might be up to the impromptu party – and we had it, and we had fun!

It turned out that adults like the idea of chocolate ornaments not less than children, and after I explained how to look for the chocolate ornaments, they asked how many they could take 🙂

On The Positive Side: The Birthday Party

Believe it or not, but the presents arrived at 5-30, Anna and & Family returned from the beach at the same time, and Igor and mom came shortly after. I locked myself in my bedroom to wrap the presents while my mom tried to get in and ask whether the presents arrived :).
I’ve got a dozen plastic cups filled with cherries and made two fruit bowls, and secured the candles “1” and “4” in the respective bowls.

The party turned out amazing. I was just thinking about the water balloons, but the neighbor kids were ahead of me and had a whole bucket of them ready:)

There was a balloon fight, and I told them it’s OK to throw balloons at me (I needed to cool down:)). Igor also offered himself as a target, and John smashed water balloons in his fist and threw them back. Also, one of the party items I bought out of desperation appeared to be the greatest hit: the tiny tubes of sparkling body gels! The girls covered themselves in sparkles, and I let them paint all parts of my body not covered with clothes 🙂

Then, a neighbor who is a mother of three girls observed the battleground covered with tiny colorful pieces of rubber and suggested the contest: who will pick up most of the pieces will get the prize! The girls rushed to all corners of the courtyard, and in a matter of minutes, the courtyard was clean. We decided that the race was tight, and everybody got an extra cupcake 🙂

My Balcony Garden

My amazing neighbors, who helped me to plan my balcony garden, took me to the WIndy City Nursery for flower shopping. I told them that they have to stop me because I am used to a bigger patch, but they laughed and said that this is therapeutic.

This whole project lasted for two weeks. I could not start with the garden when I moved because I was busy fixing the essentials, and then it was already “late in the season.” When I tried to buy the flower baskets, it turned out that most places were sold out. I finally purchased some on Amazon for a way higher price, and then it turned out that the “adjustable” brackets were not adjustable enough to fit my railing!
I tried to shop for different brackets, and then my neighbor who helped me with the bike told me that he could give me a saw to try to cut these brackets.

I spent a half-hour cutting one, and the baskets would still be wobbly. Then he told me that I could use zip tights to secure the baskets. It turned out they work perfectly! I should not have spent time on anything else!

The flower shopping was fantastic! The Windy City is a small family-owned place, but the variety of plants is truly amazing. I could not stop 🙂

Continue reading “My Balcony Garden” →

A Hectic Weekend

I am very unhappy about this weekend because I feel like I accomplished nothing (in contrast to the previous weekend). Yes, I had a lot to do, and I forgot how long the planting takes, but still – I needed to do all the things I didn’t do :).

I had several things to complete for both my current work and for my side job, and I completed less than a half for each of them. So now I have this feeling of “there are not enough hours in the week,” and it does not help.

Yesterday, I spent over an hour figuring out why my function did not work and finally went to bed without any solution. Before going to bed, I emailed Boris that things don’t work, and I panic. He replied that I should get out of panic because panic is not the right place for problem-solving. 

He was right, of course, and when I woke up, I figured out the stupid mistake I made the day before. I do not know how IT people who are married to non-IT people can survive!

Saturday was Boris’s birthday. Last year we still could not travel at that time, and I baked a rhubarb tart, and he bought a rhubarb tart, and we ate them on facetime 🙂

This year, Boris said he does not have time to buy a rhubarb tart and that my apple cake is better anyway. So, yes, I baked the Georgis Apple cake yesterday. I told Boris that I would not tell anybody that it was with him in mind, and it was cool with him.

I brought the Apple cake down to the courtyard and messaged all the neighbors. Not everybody was there, of course, but those who were there loved it! Some people were still thanking me today 🙂

I was really happy that I had a way to say Thank you to my amazing neighbors! And I will definitely bake it again 🙂

I Am Definitely In a Bubble

Last Wednesday, there was another birthday party in the courtyard – one of the girls in our building turned five, and everybody came down to celebrate. Again, there were cupcakes, and kids running around, and games, and conversations. I talked to the neighbors, telling them again how lucky I feel moving to such a welcoming community. They enthusiastically agreed, and one lady said that she feels like she lives in a bubble. I told her that that’s the word I used to describe my current situation to my friends: it feels not real, and I live in a bubble.

We laughed about it, but it’s true! I can’t say enough how grateful I am for all the neighbor’s help, pieces of advice, and for making me feel at home.

The same neighbor who called it a bubble said: you had to travel all the countries and places to find your home finally!

I Learned Something New!

My neighbor not just helped me to fix my bike, but he tough me how to do it myself!

DO=on’t I have the best neighbors ever?!