Saturday, September 21, 2013

Settling in as "Mainers!"

Our summer schedule we've bid adieu and welcomed in the settling effect of returning to fall, school and the routine and rhythm to our lives it brings.

I'm happy to report, we've had a very solid start to attending a new school.  The beauty of finding another Waldorf school is continuity.  The curriculum and feel of the school is the seemless.  The kiddos are doing great!  For me, I describe it as being in the Twilight Zone.  I drive up to this campus that has so many similarities, yet most of the people are unknown to me still.  Meeting new people and connecting faces takes time.  It took 4 years for me to feel as at ease as I did in A2.  So time is what I will give.

We've had some great weekends.  Things are starting to look somewhat familiar here and there and as we explore, we are connecting a few dots.  Things aren't feeling so foreign.  Venturing into Portland to soak in a glorious evening, we walked through Old Port to see where Harbor Fish Company is located.  The sun had set and there was mention of crepes sounding good.  I had read about a creperie in Portland, discovered we were less than a half mile and it was enroute to our car.  We discovered Wharf Street.  OH MY GOODNESS!  It's the Portland I want to show friends who come to visit.  It's a little cobblestone street nestled between larger streets.  It's magical.  There, we discovered eateries of all sorts and it was alive!  I think I felt the soul of the city.  The reason people tout Portland as a foodie's paradise, where the term local was being done before it was hip and had a label.   The Merry Table Creperie beckoned us into it's cozy space.  We had a lovely family evening.  Everyone was able to find something to satisfy their tastes and the space held us in its comfort and security, we strangers in a strange (but wonderful) new land.

 Scoping out date night locations!
 Crepes!
 French onion soup!

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Another M state, another adventure!

I thought I'd try my hand at blogging...again.  Seems I get this inspiration when a major life change occurs, ie. moving!  Dental school has come and gone.  What a wonderful adventure it was making life in Ann Arbor, our beloved A2.  We met lifelong friends, surprised ourselves by how much we enjoyed living in a more urban setting and made a very difficult decision to leave the comfort of it all.  Kevin took a "dream job" in Portland at The Center for Laser and Digital Restorative Dentistry...seriously, what a mouthful.  Won't be typing that one out often!  The kiddos will be attending another Waldorf school, Merriconeag Waldorf School in Freeport, Maine.  Just up the road from LL Bean.  Weird.  With all of things seeming to fall into place, we decided why not continue the adventure and live in yet another "M" state with Canada as a neighbor.  So here we are, trying to slowly learn our way around and challenge ourselves without GPS to see if places are familiar enough yet to guide us to our rental house. 

As with any change, there have been very difficult days of thinking "What did we do?" and there are days where we meet someone kind, we make a connection, we have an amazing experience that brings us the comforts of home right here in Maine and we then think, "We're going to be ok here."  It feels almost more of an adjustment moving from Ann Arbor than it did from my 'native land' of Minnesota.  There, we left my childhood surroundings, family, friends I've had since 1st grade and a town we felt so at home.  Ann Arbor was a place we saw as a 4 year stepping stone to a life envisioned, but we were surprised when we all felt very much at home, making it in some ways even more difficult to leave there than was to leave Minnesota.  Perhaps it was the experience of already having left a place we loved, or perhaps it was the ages of the kiddos and their connections that made it so difficult, or perhaps it was that it was the first place we knew no one and we made it, we survived, we thrived.  A combination, I'm sure.  And now here we are, at square one...again.  I know we will survive, I just wonder to what extent we will thrive.

Little discoveries.  That's our goal as went rent a house outside of Portland.  Little discoveries that will lead us to a decision of where to settle next in Maine.  We are still getting used to the fact that we can be at the ocean whenever we want.  Walking outside, it looks like we haven't left, the trees are the same, the birds...then we hear the accent of the Mainers.  And we see all this "lobstah" in everything and we are jolted into grasping our new reality.  We are 'from away' but we now live in Maine, even though our license plates still say Minnesota.

Today, the little discovery was the Portland Farmer's Market.  Having just read a beautiful memoir of the daughter http://www.melissacoleman.com/books/index.htm (thank you for the book, Sonya!) of one of the main forces in the organic food movement in Maine, I saw the acronym MOFGA http://www.mofga.org/ (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association) everywhere.  The market is held twice a week, Wednesdays downtown and on Saturdays in Deering Oaks Park- a green gem in the midst of Portland.  We discovered many people with dogs, which to me really seem to be a sign of contentment.  People with dogs are happy people, content people.  Anyway...there were artists on the side with their various wares, entertainers, and the market vendors themselves with beautifully grown food that enhanced the landscape with bright colors and what I imagine to be unbelievable taste.  Kevin kept picking up tomatoes to smell the stem.  That is one amazing smell, even if you are not a big fan of the tomato.  It's like fresh-cut grass, or spring rain, or fall leaves.  It invokes memories, takes us to a certain place in time.  For now, that place in time will be Maine, for us.  I know we'll be ok and we have two amazing other "M states" that will call us home from time to time and recapture the memories, just as the tomato does.





Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Snow Day!

At 4:30 pm yesterday my phone rang, as I reached to answer it, I heard Kevin say, "Hello" from his office.  I thought he was so steeped in concentration with his studies that he didn't realize the phone ringing was mine.  However, the "school reach" called our phones at the same time to let us know school would be canceled the following day.  Being a native Minnesotan (sometimes I am borderline obnoxious in my Minnesota pride), I am familiar with weather and hype, but we both in total amazement had never experienced a school cancellation in anticipation of a storm!  This was too good!  The snow did come - sideways and I realized my plan to make soup on our snow day would be foiled because I had forgotten a key ingredient.  With the hype, I found myself a bit gun-shy of taking an AWD vehicle out in the "blizzard" warning weather, but finally realized it would be better to do it in the early part of the storm than after when the projected 12" was on the ground and drag 2 kids out with me.  Out I went, finding myself purely giddy as I cruised along Stadium, wind blowing snow as I imagined giant drifts.  This is what it took, imagination that this was a blizzard or would turn to one.  This was nothing...I felt like I was in Minnesota again and owned the snowy roads! 

I sauntered about the grocery store, enjoying the fact there were few people who had ventured out...and the quiet (as most mothers I know do when they find themselves w/o kids steering the cart or directing what items should be placed in said cart).  In all, I was perhaps gone 45 minutes and came home all beaming.  Kevin at that point smiled and said, "We are Northern people."  Since it's nearly Valentine's Day, I would gush:  This is one of the reasons (besides his shared love of walks and trees) why I love him!  He gets why snow makes me happy, why driving along snow-covered, drifting roads brought an adrenaline rush and endorphin release!  And to allow him to truly share in our 'northern people' bliss, today I left him half the driveway to shovel.  I couldn't have all the fun to myself!  Sadly, I didn't get any pics - was having too much fun to go back in to get the camera!  So I'll post one of my favorites from earlier in the winter season.

p.s. The blizzard warning was demoted to a winter storm in the middle of the night.  Snowfall total at wake up (after sleeping in, because of the snow day) was 6"; additional snow fell giving us another 1-2".  It's beautiful!  I'm happy. 

A Look Back at Summer 2010



What a great summer break we had- truly, it was a much welcomed break and a summer of making memories.  With the nontraditional lifestyle of being a student in one's thirties, Kevin was given an 8 week summer break between Years 1 & 2 of dental school.  It was an amazing opportunity for the 4 of us to enjoy one another.  When else will we get this gift of time to give to our children while they are still young and willing to go along with whatever crazy plans their parents generate?!  And so we did!  For those of you who know Kevin, the options man, well...you can imagine our planning!


The trip began with a visit to California to spend time with Kevin's brother, Jason and his lovely wife, Danae.  We had a great week soaking in their environs where I fell in love with the Davis Farmer's Market and awaited any and every opportunity to visit their local food co-op!  We planned a short getaway with them and ventured along the northern coast of California in northern Sonoma County.  The views were spectacular and the roads were fun (for those who don't experience motion sickness)...this was the first time Kevin has experienced being car sick WHILE driving!  The stay in a great rental house, the hikes along the beach and seeing tons of jellies washed up on shore, the cooler weather and hot tub time more than made up for it.  


With Uncle J doing the San Fran sites!
Walking the Pier.
Davis Farmer's Market = Love!
  
On our way to Sea Ranch in Gualala, CA!
Peaches from the farmers market- yum!



Walking the trails at Sea Ranch -left 80-90F in Davis to 50's in Gualala!




Sea Ranch Chapel - so beautiful.

Christian admires this work of art.













Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The School Year Begins!

Another school year is upon us!  In our house now lives a 2nd grader and a Kindergartner!   

We awoke to a beautiful day!  As we stepped out to take the traditional first day of school pics, the morning air was crisp and signaled the start of school.  Evelyn was eager to take photos and Kevin was able to snap a few before he headed off to school himself.  On our drive in, Evelyn mention the butterflies in her tummy- but they were good ones.  Christian had one more day to wait- the Kindergarten began a day after the grades.  It was tough for him and his mantra for the day was, "I love my school!  I can't wait  until tomorrow to start!"  His entrance into Kindergarten was certainly a pleasant experience that barred anxiety.  Two happy kiddos eager for school to begin made for a great start to the school year!
Evelyn - 2nd Grade, Age 8
Christian - Yellowbird (Kindergarten), Age 5
I think she's excited to be back!


The "Birds" gather at their morning meeting place.


Monday, September 6, 2010

Labor Day


There are 26 minutes until Labor Day 2010 is part of history.  This also means in 26 minutes + 6 hours my alarm will be sounding its call to beckon me from my slumber.  The kiddos are all tucked in and sleeping soundly.  Just Ev starts school tomorrow - only a half day with popsicles at the end.  A nice way to ease in.  C starts Wednesday as a Yellowbird (Kindergarten), but since he will do 3 half days, he only has 1 day this week.  So he, too, shall be eased in.  Kevin has been in school and is starting week 3.  So our household is kicking into full blown Year 2 in A2 - Y2A2.  Year 1 went by very fast.  This year will probably zip by faster now that we all are into our grooves.

I always loved heading back to school and I see that in our kiddos, too.  As a mom, I get excited for them, but it is truly bittersweet as my lazy mornings of snuggling before we head down to breakfast are now going to be waking earlier enough to avoid rushing.  It's been a great summer.  Today was a great day as well- lots of playtime with the neighbors, and outdoor haircut for Christian (by me) and enjoying an invitation to a school friend of Evelyn's to celebrate moving into a new home in a very lovely, peaceful setting.  Seeing new as of a year ago, but now familiar faces, makes me ready to take on tomorrow and reconnect.  Many projects lie ahead for me with those few mornings a week where I have 'me time' and I look forward to ringing in the new school year and the smell of autumn days.

Until tomorrow...when I hope to post the first day of school pics!  Good night-  T minus 6 hours 18 minutes.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Groundhog's Day

It's been some time since I've blogged.  We've all been busy and the holidays buzzed by like the speed of light.  (I'm exaggerating a bit, but they went fast!).  Kevin is in what is being told to him as the hardest semester of dental school.  He has tests each Monday in IMS (Integrated Medical Sciences) and other tests during the week.  So far, he's managing well.  I think we're both just so happy to be here and we both attack each day with what we need to do.  We've become very efficient in conversation as our time to do so is minimal.  Looking forward to mid-winter break!

Today is Groundhog's Day.  Apparently we are in for another 6 weeks of winter.  I say, "What winter?" to some extent as this is very mild compared to Minnesota.  I was also imagining a LOT of snow here, but it's been very little.  I believe we had 4" at the most, then it melted.  Just today it finally snowed enough to cover most of the ground.  Huge Charlie Brown flakes drifted down as Christian and I went to pick Evelyn up from school.  The kids played and played outside, even when we got home.  They, like me, were happy with the outcome of GH Day!  Let it snow...we need to get some more sledding in!  I can't complain however, as it's been a very easy winter - kids have been outside tons, very few slippery roads to contend with and not much shoveling. 

Pictures to post soon!  Until then, seriously Michigan...let it snow!!