Midwesterness + other ponderings

2011-11-30T08:44:00.001-08:00

The family had a very interesting visit to New Orleans while I was presenting various papers at the annual National Communication Association conference. Here are some pictures that highlight our adventures. The trip doubled as some research for me as well, as we stayed in Treme and engaged in a bit of television tourism.

Nakobe at the tomb of the unknown slave in Treme.

Very excited for the ride on the St. Charles Street Car Line

Backstreet Cultural Museum, in Treme

Yard Art tour, part of the Fringe Fest, in the Bywater

Second Line Parade, 9 Times 9 Social Aid and Pleasure Club

Overall, we had a great time. Nakobe especially enjoyed the city and now wants to move there. I was glad that he got to see so much of it and understand a bit more what I spend all my time studying.

And on to fall...

2011-09-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've tried my hand at editing in this super cute video of Nakobe's hockey practice (thanks to Mark Martinez for the original filming) set to his favorite musician's rhythms.

This is from last season, and hockey season is once again about to begin in a few weeks. I never thought I would be a "hockey mom," I am certainly no pit bull in lipstick...Nonetheless, I am pretty excited for the baseball field to flood and to practice with B.

We've had a pretty full and fun summer. We've traveled less than other summers, but still managed some great trips.

Here's a photo of Nakobe with his prized fish, a callico bass, on our end of summer trip to my grandparent's, right on the heels of Hurricane Irene. Their power was still out, but that didn't stop us from having a great time.

We also continued our tradition of a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We entered at Isabella Lake, camped there for one night and moved on due to the wind, and stayed on the adjacent Boga Lake. Here is a picture of Boga Lake at dawn.

We also spent a lovely long weekend with old college friends in northern Minnesota, where we also got to visit the Mississippi Headwaters. This was a real excitement, since we live on the Mississippi, and we will be traveling to the end of the river in New Orleans in November.

The summer has come to a close, and we are well into our fall schedule and routine. Nakobe has started 2nd grade! A long way from these pictures below of pre-K graduation.

I'm on fellowship this year, so no teaching for me. I've had visions of long extended days at the library, writing, reading...This has happened a few times, but the beginning of the semester has been a mad rush of meetings, job applications, and catching up with old and new friends over coffee.

Justin's got a busy schedule of teaching and debate practice, but I believe he is very much enjoying it.

Admidst the business and readaptation to fall and from the lazy days of summer, we were lucky to see the Mad Professor at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis last night. You can read about my reflections from the show here.

I'm going to attempt to update the blog more frequently, so check back for more of our daily adventures in the Midwest and beyond!

spring hockey!

2011-04-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

Pre-Kindergarten Graduation

2009-05-29T15:24:00.001-07:00

Nakobe has now officially graduated preschool. The school celebrated with a graduation ceremony and a spring program where the children performed songs. Nakobe received a diploma and a carnation as well as a lovely card signed by all his classmates.

Looking into their futures, the children seemed either awed or confused...They are in good company.

At the spring program, Nakobe's class performed three songs: Simple Gifts, Made By Hand, and Love Grows. Nakobe "hated" all of the songs except Simple Gifts which he "loved" and sang loudly and enthusiastically.

When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up after graduating, Nakobe replied that he would like to be a firefighter...and a police officer. Yikes! Apparently, distinguishing himself from his parents will also be on the agenda. But he certainly looks like a little cutie heartbreaker in his new firefighter costume!

B's Birthday

2009-05-28T12:29:00.001-07:00

Nakobe is now 5 years old which is really unbelievable...time flies by...long days but definitely short years. We celebrated with a big party of about 15 five year olds. It was crazy but the kids had a lot of fun.

My mother decorated a fire engine cake:

And we had a pinata, which is apparently customary in the twin cities (????)

Nakobe seemed to enjoy himself a lot, though he was very excited and did have some moments of overstimulation.

Here is Nakobe and Calvin playing in the "goo"

And a few of the kids waiting for the water balloon race and toss:

So, for comparisons, here is Nakobe one year ago at his 4th birthday party with a couple of his buddies from Vermont:

Nakobe and I both enjoyed having his grandparents here to visit during the party:

While they were visiting, Nakobe also had a horseback riding lesson:

And we went to a Twins/Red Sox game but of course forgot to bring a camera...

In other news, I am officially finished with my first year of PhD school! I only have 6 more classes to complete before being done with coursework FOREVER (hopefully). Kinda sad when I think about it, but I do have to say that I will not miss the end of semester scramble to finish three seminar papers at once.

colorado trip

2009-03-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

Cold weather, holidays, and travels

2009-01-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

It's been cold in Minnesota...like really cold. While Vermont does indeed get this cold, there is usually a reprieve. There is no reprieve in the twin cities. It is just cold...all the time. Today I believe the temperature is -7, yesterday, -12. Good times. But it keeps snowing and we are generally amidst a winter wonderland on a weekly basis. We've been enjoying ice skating at the local park and skiing on the highway...well, almost skiing, anyway. Since my last post, our family has done a bunch of fun stuff.

We did some holiday baking:

And Nakobe had a holiday program at his school where he and his class sang "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" and "The 12 Days of Christmas in the North Woods." In the latter, Nakobe was 4 Sleepy Bears. It was very cute. My camera didn't take such great pics there, but here they are anyway:

We had a school wide potluck following the program.

We celebrated Chanukah at home, lighting the candles and singing "Oh Chanukah." Nakobe was super excited about all the presents he received from his family, especially his rocket ship and Spiderman jacket.

For Christmas we travelled back east, which is pretty strange to say...back east...since I've never really lived anywhere but east. We went to Rhode Island to visit my sister, brother in law, and niece and nephew. My parents met us there too. We also saw my grandparents and aunt and uncle in Connecticut. Here are some pictures from the trip.

One of his favorite presents was his Darth Vadar costume:

Following our trip to visit family, we headed further north to Vermont to ski and visit with friends. Unfortunately, 60 mph winds kept us from skiing one day, but we did get out there one day for some good runs. It was pretty cold, but not too cold for us hard core Minnesotans. Nakobe had a chance to visit with some of his old friends too, which was really wonderful to see. They all seemed to have a great time together, and it was great to see my friends too :)

Thanks so much to Gillian and Becky for hosting us!!! We also had a wonderful dinner at A Single Pebble, where the staff was unbelievably accommodating to our gluten-free dietary needs. We weren't sure that a 12 person dinner with 5 kids would work out too well, but the kids were amazing and I think we all had a great time.

On our return home we had some adventures as well. I got food poisoning from some bad food in the Boston airport and got really sick on the connecting flight from Boston to Atlanta. I was so sick by the time I got off the plane in Atlanta that there was no way we could make our connection (or that I could sit on a plane for another 3 hours) that we had to stay in a cheap Atlanta airport for the night. After throwing up for 7 hours, I finally got some sleep and we took a flight out in the morning. It was pretty horrible, but I suppose made for an adventure nonetheless.

Now we have been home for a little over a week and the big excitement is that we bought a car. We have never bought a car together before; in fact, I have never actually bought a car (though my parents bought me one when I was in college). Our previous 2 cars had both been Justin's grandfathers'. So, it was a pretty big deal for us. We bought a used Subaru outback wagon and it is fantastic! No pictures, yet, sorry, but it is a pretty standard outback, color: maroon/red. Nakobe is pretty much refusing to ride in the other car now.

School starts on Tuesday for me, so I tried to include a bunch of pics in this post and info in case I don't have the opportunity to update in a while. We are maddeningly also trying to figure out kindergarten for Nakobe--St. Paul works on a lottery system, so you can go to any school in the city if you go to public school, which is great, but also a huge pain in the ass. If anyone has any suggestions, please send them our way!

It's getting better all the time...

2008-12-15T14:02:00.001-08:00

especially now that the semester is coming to a close. It was a long, difficult end to the semester, but I believe that I will be done quite soon. Thanks to all of you who were sending smart thoughts my way...

I am especially excited about my new video which is smaller than my digicam and has a built in plug to my computer (which is really the impetus for my blogging in the first place today).

Helen speaks in the third person

2008-10-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

Helen hardly has enough time to post to her blog.

Helen is peripherally listening to the presidential debate.

Helen is irritated that both candidates are still on their talking points except for this strange and awkward reference to the fictional "joe the plumber." who is this joe the plumber? is he one of those undecided voters out there? who are these undecideds anyway? what planet do they live on?

helen wonders if john mccain keeps sighing because he is irrated or because he is about to keel over? or is his acid reflux acting up?

helen enjoys speaking in the third person...still...

helen wonders: did john mccain really just say that we don't need to spread the wealth around?

helen did not intend to live blog the debate.

helen is now going to read the live blog of her secret (not anymore) crush, rachel maddow and her fake uncle pat buchanan.

Updating the blog...

2008-09-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

has become more difficult. A lot has happened since I last wrote. Yes, Nakobe has grown up more, but mostly, our time since the last post has been characterized by more changes and exciting adventures. Here are some of the highlights...

We went for an amazing trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, which is in northern minnesota just a bit north of Lake Superior. It was by far one of the most beautiful places we had ever been. We canoed into a remote campsite where we camped for two nights. We pretty much had an entire lake to ourselves. We saw loons, snakes, and some other wildlife, but we were a bit disappointed not to see a moose. However, it was one of the most fun and amazing trips we'd ever had. Here is a picture of the lake we camped on:

Nakobe was great, although he sometimes tired of being in the canoe all day.

In other exciting news, Nakobe has started horseback riding. He is so crazily cute, and he loves it. Here he is on Maisy. He even trotted on her all by himself.

We also attended the Minnesota State Fair, which is a BIG deal around here. It was your typical state fair stuff--fried food on a stick (the most exciting of which here in Minnesota, for me anyway, was fried cheese curds), animals and strange farming practices, rides, shows, etc. Here is Nakobe about to jump on the crazy trampoline thing:

Since then, school has started for me and our adventures have become much less exciting. I have, however, decided that parenting is significantly harder than being a student (sorry to anyone that this offends, but I mean, come on, I get to sit and read all day, whoa...) We did go to the Rennaisance Fair to celebrate Justin's birthday, and that was quite fun and exciting. We even saw a guy eat a bunch of mud and some knights joust each other. Nakobe has since been quite excited about playing jousting in his knight costume.

Today we planted some mums and bought some bulbs to plant next weekend. Fall has not quite set in as the weather is fairly hot, but we are looking forward to apple and pumpkin picking soon.

Yes, kids grow up awfully fast...

2008-08-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Moving has really put into perspective just how fast Nakobe is growing. We put up a Spiderman growth chart on his wall in his new room, and he is already almost too tall for the measurements. This made me take stock of all of the amazing changes he has gone through lately, even just since we moved.

For starters, he no longer uses a little potty. He is all about the big potty all the time, no matter where we are. Now, this might seem incredulous to some of you--"A 4 year old still using a little potty, gasp!" And, I admit, times when we had to clean it out, I wished he'd hurried it along a little bit. But since he potty trained pretty early and quickly, I figured it wasn't too bad for him to go in the little potty. Now it is great, don't get me wrong, but it is one of those milestones...He is really no longer my little baby or my little toddler...he is a total kid.

Additionally, he's pretty much decided to be a boy. He was a little gender confused for a while--he kept telling us that when he grew up he would be a girl and would often refer to himself as a girl and be upset when other people would tell him he was a boy. But recently, he has declared, "I do NOT like princesses, I like superheroes." And so that was the defining moment--he has since started to identify himself as a boy and take offense when other people demand that he is a girl (apparently do to his long hair). He still wants long hair, but he is now sure that he is a boy. Sigh...welcome to the world of pink and blue, Nakobe.

He is beginning to ride his bike without training wheels. He hasn't quite mastered it yet, but he is really determined and practices just about everyday. He is currently riding on one training wheel. He is now one step closer to independent mobility...I can feel my anxiety building already.

He frequently talks about what he might want to be when he gets older (of course, to him, getting older means like 8 or 10). So far, he appears to yearn most to be an astronaut (this is a new one since we went into 2 cool rocket ship exhibits at 2 different museums), a paleontologist (he has recently become really into dinos), and a worker that works with big trucks (preferably a backhoe). He also wants to have a woodshop, but he already has one that he works in with Justin (it is so cute seeing them hammering nails together, sanding, using the drill...), so he says this doesn't really count as something he wants to do when he's big.

The big kicker is that he has started school. He is only going part time for the rest of August, to get adjusted. When September comes, though, he is going full time. This seems altogether crazy to me since we have spent so much time together. He is definitely in a transitional phase, but all in all, the transition is going really well. Sometimes he still wants to stay when I pick him up from school, and when I ask him what his favorite thing was at school, he says "everything." (This is actually one of the cutest things about him that he still hasn't grown out of...to just about any question you might ask "what was your favorite part of..." he replies "everything. Imagine if we could all feel that way...). It is great that he likes school because I endured an immense anxiety when we were picking out a school for him. The only public preschool they have here is 1/2 day, and it is by a lottery system. So, if I was to send him to a St. Paul public preschool, he'd only go from 9-11:30 and he would have had to go about 25-30 minutes drive away from our house (since the closest ones to us were already all filled up). Then, we'd still have to contend with some kind of daycare since my classes are in the afternoon. So, it was really tricky trying to figure out preschools to send him to while we were still in Vermont and we didn't know where we'd be living. We ended up deciding between a Montessori program and a Waldorf program, since with each they have pretty clear philosophies so you basically at least know what you are getting into. Well, once we visited both, I tore my hair out a few nights doing as much research as I could on both of the schools and on both philosophies. As it turns out, there are things that I like about each, things I dislike about each, and things that I think are pretty crazy about each. I finally decided that Rudolf Steiner seemed more of a wackjob than Maria Montessori (although it was possibly close) and chose the Montessori. Thankfully, it seems to be working out. His teachers are super nice, the classroom is set up really well, and they really value the children getting to run around and play outside. I am sure that's more than anybody wanted to know about this decision-making process, but if anyone reading this wants to know more about what I think about the 2 philosophies, I'd be happy to dish as I know that ultimately where you send your kid to preschool doesn't matter so much in the long run, but that it doesn't stop many of us from driving ourselves crazy anyway.

So...my baby is growing up. It is inevitable. It is beautiful. It is tragic. It is...life...

Busy busy

2008-08-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we will have been living in Minnesota for a month and a half. It is definitely beginning to feel like home. I feel as though we've done more activities in the past month than we might have done all summer in Vermont. Of course, these activities are somewhat different than those we would have done in VT, but we are appreciating what city life has to offer. We've been to multiple museums, canoeing, swimming at lakes and pools, shopping, the theatre, parades, festivals, amongst a host of other activities.

One particularly enlightening trip Nakobe and I took recently was a visit to the Minnesota Museum of History. This is a museum filled with a wealth of information about, you guessed, it the history of Minnesota. I thought initially that it would be quite boring for Nakobe, but it was a lovely museum with lots of hands on stuff, and he turned out to love it. I found it quite interesting as well and learned a number of interesting facts about Minnesota, including:

1. Billboards were invented in Minnesota--as part of an advertising campaign for a Minnesota based company that I believe produced shaving cream, but now I am not sure. This was quite astounding to me, given that the existence of billboards in our new home has been quite a difference form billboard-free Vermont. Daily, we drive by huge signs selling everything from Cruzan rum to transmissions ("You had me at transmission..." not sure I get it) to babies ("your baby had a heart beat one week from conception...") to car donation ("donate your car, its tax deductible and will change someone's life!") . These last two are interesting to me becaues they represent social marketing--the former for pro-lifers the latter for a good-news-garage-esque organization--which Justin will be embarking on in his new job with Stop it Now! Minnesota!!!!
Well, in any case, we can owe these monstrous signs and marketing campaigns to the brains and brawn of fellow Minnesotans. Thanks!

2. Waterskis were invented in Minnesota and were first used on Lake Pepin. This was surprising to me, but I guess, hey, it isn't the land of 10,000 lakes for nothing.

3. The first Polaris snowmobile was invented in Minnesota by a brother in law of the guys who founded Polaris. This makes sense.

4. Bob Dylan was enrolled at the University of Minnesota for one year before dropping out and becoming a superstar, recording some of his albums here at, I think, Studio 8??? Anyway, somewhere here in the Twin Cities.

5. The Hmong population is so large in the Twin Cities following their fleeing from Laos (their homeland) to Thailand, where they were housed in temporary refugee camps. The Thai government would not allow them to stay and seek citizenship status, so many of them were brought to the US via UN programs. The story we listened to at the museum indicated that the family thought life in the US would be better, but that it has been difficult and very hard to be so far away from their homes, feeling disconnected from their struggle and families. It was a really interesting story from one family's particular position and perspective. It was a part of this great exhibit that replicated the rooms of one house in St. Paul. The exhibit then told the story of the history of the Twin Cities through the stories that emanated from that particular house. It was, in my opinion, a really powerful exhibit.

Well, we are off to the theatre to see Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood at the Stepping Stone Theatre in St. Paul. We are pretty excited and hope it is not too scary. I am thankful for us to have had so many opportunities of great things to do in our new city. I am not sure if anybody is actually reading this blog (well, I know my grandma is, Hi Grandma! Love you!), but I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it and reflecting on our experiences.

Nothing New to Report

2008-07-24T18:15:00.001-07:00

about midwesterness...so i will just post the finished mural. nakobe is really excited about it, but he wants us to add trees. we had a last minute stroke of genius when we decided that rather than painting skiers and snowboarders, we would paste actual pictures of nakobe skiing to the mural. i think the result is quite good considering our extreme lack of artistic talent.

and here is the picture with the skiers on it...

i'm particularly excited about the picture in the upper right hand corner, where nakobe is carving an amazing turn with the trees in the background that blend into the tree-like background we painted. it is hard to see in the pic but the effect in real life, in my opinion, is awesome.

we also did have a great time canoeing up the st. croix on my birthday. we saw amazing wildlife, especially birds. 2 bald eagles flew about 10 feet from our heads, we saw probably 10 herons, a couple of hawks, and about 30 fish jump out of the water. here is a pic from the trip:

If you can't go to the mountains, you must bring the mountains to you...

2008-07-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

and this is what we did with a mural that we painted in Nakobe's playroom. At least that is what we are attempting to do--we are currently in the process. Here is a picture of how it looks so far:

Hopefully, I will be able to upload the final product by Friday. So, yes, they are the mountains of Vermont--Camel's Hump and Smuggler's Notch (actually the mountains are called Morse, Madonna, and Sterling). But, we are adjusting to living in Minnesota and actually starting to like it. It is beginning to feel like home. Now, we are not artists, but hopefully it will turn out nice anyway.

We have some fun adventures planned for my birthday tomorrow. We are going canoeing on the St. Croix River, then out to dinner at a small Tibetan restaurant, and will possibly end the night at a play called "Cirque de Guerre." Who knows, maybe we'll even go to a bar after. And why do we have so much time to do all of these things you ask...Well, let me remind you of how old Nakobe is getting. He is currently off with his grandmother in an airplane to be landing in Charlotte, NC where he will spend the next three days without his parents at his grandparents with his cousins. It is a little hard for us to believe he has gotten so big that he is already going on airplanes without us. I mean, just in the last month, he's completely abandoned the little potty, moved up from a harnessed carseat to a booster seat, and now he is off without us. I can hardly believe it.

For those of you who were concerned how we would survive without Vermont cheddar cheese, you can rest a little bit more at ease now. First, we have purchased some more expensive Wisconsin cheddar cheese that is aged 6 years and have found it to be acceptable, though much too pricey for your everyday sandwich cheese ($22 per pound). Second, given this lack of affordability for decent cheddar cheese, on the suggestion of a friend, we have decided to move beyond cheddar cheese. I know, it's a little bit sad, but we are going to try to find another kind of cheese that we can like and afford. Upon consulting a noted cheese expert at the market, we have come to realize that Vermont cheddar cheese is so unique because of the soil and air conditions in VT that are so different from those in Wisconsin/Minnesota. Not to mention, the issue of yellow cheese (apparently they started dying the cheese after WWII because people wanted to see more "color" on their table...I could think of other ways to do this, but...apparently they choose to dye their cheese instead...another midwestern characteristic to ponder...)

I have written more than I am sure you wanted to read, so here is the end .

So Minnesota IS really beautiful

2008-07-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

2 posts in one day...wow, i need to start working. but i did have to share that this afternoon, we went to this place in west st. paul called the dodge nature center preserve. it reminded me of shelburne farms a little bit in vermont, but smaller and very different ecology. it was unbelievably beautiful. nakobe and i had a great time. here are some pics.

Here a blonde, there a blonde, everywhere a blonde, blonde...

2008-07-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Today Nakobe is wearing one of his Vermont shirts. It says "Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo...vermont." Cuz, yeah, there are lots of cows in VT. Now, I was prepared for there to be a lot of blonde hair, blue eyed folks here in Minnesota given the large percentage of the Nordic population. Nonetheless, it is definitely an interesting peculiarity about our new location that slightly overwhelms me every time we are in public. I guess I have a brunette inferiority complex or something.

In any case, we had a great day today so far. We went to the St. Paul Farmer's market, and I went really out of control buying delicious looking vegetables. We hadn't been in a couple of weeks, and there was SO much stuff there today. Much of the vegetables are grown by the Hmong population here, which is, apparently, quite large. Not many of the vegetables are organic, or at least they are not advertised as such, but I will take big, leafy, fresh, delicious locally grown conventional veggies to organic ones grown in California any day...

So there was this storm...

2008-07-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

And it was different from other storms on the east. It was big and you could see it coming for a long time. It was electrical. The sky was dark, but from the storm it brought light--golden and pink. So much wind. It was amazing. It was definitely very cool.

So I am a little drunk and I was outside playing washers (a great game) and I saw this amazing storm coming in. I am, admittedly, a little homesick for Vermont and the East Coast. But, this blog, I hope, is an attempt to appreciate my wonderous move to the Midwest, to the Twin Cities, to Minnesota...So, the storm is the first post, but there have been a number of other things that have happened since we have moved that I have yet to communicate, so I will now do so...

1. Organic
Means something different here than in Vermont. First, we got some organic compost and soil There was plastic in it and other stuff. Weird. Then, we went to pick strawberries, at a certified organic farm. But, as the woman showed us the strawberry patch, she pointed, about 20 feet away, to the corn patch next to the strawberry patch that belonged to another farm. She said, "we are certified organic, but that farm over there, they spray every morning..." Okay....

2. We keep running into Vermont.
At the farm for instance, where they are selling "high mowing seeds" which are, of course, from Vermont, on a big display at the farm. Then, a billboard, "Vermont Castings." And the kicker, "Vermont Cheddar Cheese--sale!!!" 10.99 per pound. We are really trying to like Wisconsin cheddar cheese--but it's yellow...and soft...I mean, really?

3. Clouds
Like I've never seen. Bubbly. Big and pillowy. Amongst a huge blue sky. Beautiful.

So, it is an adjustment. A culture shock, which is strange. But fun, an adventure. Today we took a long bike ride along the Mississippi River Blvd, or the East River Parkway, it was really nice. a great bike ride. Then we went to a Gluten Free Bakery--Cooqi. They definitely don't have anything like that in VT. The best was probly Shoshanna's or Gillian's kitchens!

that's it for now...