Blog Post #3. My Busy Calendar

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No secret that I’m a social butterfly. I love talking to people, asking about families, and remembering their kids’ and dogs’ names. I enjoy listening to their stories, opinions, and shared feelings. And I thrive on being involved. Neighborhood street party, church BBQ, volunteering for community or work event – I go 100% and don’t look back.

I checked my busy October calendar and smiled at the pictures I took during the past month. What did I lose or gain, learn or teach and will remember or try to forget? Below is my short dairy with reflections on the October events and learned life wisdom.

October 1-2, 2021. Trip to Las Vegas. The Titanic Exhibit. I learned that this is the saddest page in human history. We learned our lesson about sea travel boats being better equipped. Titanic last passenger died in 2009.

October 3, 2021. Home. LDS conference. Numerous superior speeches. The one that impressed me the most was the “One percent better” by Michael A. Dunn about the astounding success of the UK cycling team by doing everything in life at 1% better than before.

October 7, 2021. Hale Theater. The Secret Garden musical. The famous lyrics of the closing reprise:

Stay there in the garden,
Where love grows free and wild.
Come to my garden.
Come, sweet child.

October 13, 2021. Silicon Slopes Summit at the Salt Palace. Volunteering for the “Meal for Million” event with hundreds of other people from all over the USA. The Hunger Fight’s organization motto was, “We believe every child should be well fed and well read!” brought tears to my eyes. I support this statement in every speck of my heart.

October 20, 2021: Blue Quill Chapter meeting. Sofia Pasternack’s presentation on Mental Illnesses. My first book discussion was on the chapter level, using PowerPoint and a quiz.

October 21-24, 2021. The Infinite Monkeys Chapter writers’ retreat. Incredible weekend with my fellow writers. Yoga, meditation, hiking, movies, discussions, goals setting and goals checking it, and lots and lots of writing. I want to do it every week. Bonus: I found an agency and a mentor.

October 26, 2021. Trunk-or-Treat Ward party. So many great costumes and food. Paul and I were in charge of the party. You gotta love that back-breaking labor or enroll the younger crowd for help. The chiropractor’s visit followed.

October 27, 2021. Online. I found an illustrator on Fiverr for my future middle-grade book. She is an awesome artist. Stay tuned for the story updates and digital artwork.

Books read during October: Trailer Park Trickster by David Slayton, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb, Find Your Why by Simon Sinek, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Борис Акунин “Русский в Англии”.

My most popular post on social media collected 72 views and 12 comments. I posted a picture and a story about the young deer living under our patio. That was my social media blast post of the month. Not only did I get the most responses but also every other person stopped (my FB and Instagram friends from work and church) and asked how the deer is doing today. Too bad I don’t have any updates. Lettuce leaves and apple slices stayed untouched since Monday, October 25th. Where you are deer?

The calendar pages for November keep being marked with more events and activities. I won’t want it any other way. Until my hands and mind don’t work, I will be there sharing the whirlpool of events that touched my life.

 

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Blog Post #2. Октябрь уж на дворе

Октябрь 2021

Ну как не вспомнить знаменитые строки из стихотворения А.С. Пушкина: “Унылая пора, очей очарованье…” Вот и до нас добралась осень не только по календарю, но и по настроению.
Сегодня на улице моросит, и такая погода навеяла мне осеннее, печальное. Но я решила не поддаваться осенней хандре и написать на тему «Осень» чтонибудь веселенькое.

Неотложные дела на осень:

1. Уйти в меланхолию по поводу сезонности в жизни и природе. Печально полистать летние фотографии в телефоне.
2. Найти на улице кучку листьев, упасть в нее, больно ударившись копчиком. Подгрести еще листьев для второй попытки. Поиграть в догонялки с дворником.
3. Наколбасить себе кастрюльку глинтвейна. На 4й кружке вдруг обнаружить, что соотношение чая и вина заметно изменилось в пользу последнего.
4. Обнимать батарею и начать приносить ей дары в надежде на своевременную подачу тепла.
5. Убрать летнюю обувь и одежду. Достать зимнюю обувь и одежду. Озадачиться по поводу новых сапог и пальтишка. Перемерив все шапки, решить в пользу нового берета.
6. Сделать себе марафонпросмотр осенних печальных фильмов. Нарыдаться и решить переехать туда, где красивая осень. Вытереть слезы подвернувшимся котом.
7. Озадачиться новым хоббинаучиться вязать, чтобы подарить всем к Новому году самодельные носки или шарфики. Потом забросить дурацкие спицы и пряжу к чертовой бабушке и пойти на Ozon искатьдешевые подарки”.
8. В любимой пижамке удобно устроиться с книгой, котом, пледом и кружкой чая. Пойти сушить книгу, кота, плед и собрать осколки от кружки.
9. Радоваться возможности носить свитера, шарфы и перчатки. Пойти погуглитьэффективные средства от моли”.
10. Вернуться из меланхолии по поводу сезонности в жизни и природе. Начать планировать летний отпуск.

Ну а если серьезно, то осень приносит мне ощущение законченности какогото насыщенного периода летних отпусков и забот и дарит предвкушение грядущих осенних праздников и долгих вечеров с книгой и, желательно, сухим котом.

Ваша Инна.

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Blog post #1. A letter to the English Language.

  Dear English,

I have battled with you since I was eleven years old. When I was in fifth grade at a public school in Russia, our class was divided into two groups for studying a foreign language – half class to study English and half class to study German. My hard-to-pronounce last name, Ogorodneva, set right in the middle of the class roster and our teacher left a big decision about choosing the language for studying up to me. I chose you, the English language.

Have I had regrets since? Of course, I have many times, more than I remember and dare to count. Your grammar is as far away from my native Russian one as New York is from Moscow. I still lose “the” and “a” all the time, use many weird phrases like “turn left” instead of “take a left turn”, and twist my tongue every time I get ready to fathom hard words like “thaw” and “three”. I dream in English now, and as smart people say – you embrace the foreign language after you start dreaming in it.

After studying you in public school, college, university, with private tutors and endless grammar manuals, I’m proud to say that I believe we are friends now. Last month, on the memorable day of August 14, 2021, I received two (2!) awards for the Olive Woolley Burt 2021 Writing Contest. First Place in Flash Fiction and First Honorable Mention in Creative Non-Fiction Genre. I was speechless, breathless, and on the verge of crying when I learned about my modest victory in the endless battle on the English grammar field.

Love-hate relationships are still on the table. I won’t lie that it is easy for me to write a story or even come up with sentences in English. I will choose Russian every time over English. But I do write in English every day and love it. I am fascinated by your spoken word and see the beauty of your written word more often now. I still have much to learn, but I’m not going to give up. Thank you for being so patient with me.

So long. I will hear from you soon again.

With all my love,

Inna.

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