Oink from Austin

It's kind of funny that this post is following the one where I talk about our CSA subscription and all the healthy non-processed food we are going to eat. To celebrate Chris's birthday we drove 45 minutes to the small town of Austin, home of Hormel and the Spam Museum. (See, I told you we were doing something you can only do in the midwest!)

We started the day with balloons and presents because Penny was a crazy jumping bean about both.

This morning I told Penny the letters and she wrote it on the card. I know this is normal for a 3-year-old, but it still amazes me to see her do it.

And the inside of the card with her name. So here's the funny story about writing words. Over a month ago we got an email from my sister-in-law with a photo of my nephew Dylan. He had written his name. I said "that's so cool!! Wait! Oh my gosh. Penny is nowhere near writing her name. I'm failing as a mom. Pennnnnnyyyy....come here! We have to write your name" yeah. great parenting moment, huh? We've been tracing letters, and she has been doing "P" for a while. Thankfully they've also started working on it at school. Her teachers said she has been so excited to practice writing her name. This week was when it really became legible and in the right order. She does have an issue  with putting a lot of lines on the E. She says it needs more than 3 lines.  It is amazing to look at the scribble from a month ago and see all the words she can write now.

Our Grandpa DiNanno glasses! Penny and I got a few fun toys for Daddy.

Here we are at the Spam museum! I've never eaten Spam so I was a little unsure of what we were getting into. It is a free museum so at least that was a positive. Kind of like living in DC and being able to go to all the free Smithsonian museums...okay, not really at all like that.

Penny and the farmer. 

Some kids get to meet Mickey Mouse...ours meets the spam can.

Ewwww...Spam pizza! Okay, so here's the thing with spam. I don't really understand it, even after going to the museum. Today I learned there is actually a short list of ingredients: pork from the shoulder, ham, salt, water and sodium nitrate. It's weird that they list ham separate from pork. Isn't ham pork too? I guess it is to let us know that they've added an already processed meat into this processed canned meat product. Even after going through the museum I still don't get how they make it safe, but penny was pulling on my arm when I was trying to read about the canning process so I didn't get to read all of it. Did you know Americans eat a can of Spam every 3 seconds? In Hawaii, their consumption equals 4 cans of spam per person. What is their blood pressure like?!

Here's what surprised me...the museum was really well done. There was a ton of history to focus around Spam and the  last 100 years. They had great exhibits about every decade and a good film. You won't believe this, but Tom Brokaw spoke at the Spam museum. There's a big section about the GIs and the amount of Spam they ate during WWII so it fits right in with his "The Greatest Generation" book. He came to unveil the memorial to all the Hormel workers who went to war. 

Cafe from a Monty Python skit about spam. Unfortunately besides Chris's best efforts I have never watched more than 15 minutes of Monty Python. I don't get it. 

I do appreciate a good cafe and an oversized coffee mug though. 

The Spam museum did not give out free samples so I'm still Spam-free. But that didn't mean we didn't indulge on meat today. After the Spam museum we headed over to Piggy Blues Bar-B-Que. (And to think I was a strict vegetarian for 7 years!) They did have a spam burger on the menu. The woman at the Spam gift shop said all the restaurants in town have at least 1 spam menu item. We stuck to the regular BBQ fare. Delicious! 

Then of course, it was the birthday cake! Penny could not wait to see Chris blow out the candles.

And that's a 31st birthday!!
 The Nintendo shirt was one of the birthday presents from me. Now if you've been following our blog for a while you may notice that Chris will wear a t-shirt forever, especially if it is one he thinks is funny. I did wonder "do I think this shirt is funny enough to see him wear it for the next decade?" before I ordered it. Oh, and I do not plan to partake in his Spam purchases.

Honk from rochester

Last weekend we went to the Rochester farmer's market. We signed up for a CSA (community supported agriculture). I'm very excited! The farmer was really nice and has a good selection of crops but nothing too weird. I'm not sure if CSAs are popular all across the US so I'll give you a quick explanation. The idea is that a farm sells shares to his farm in the spring. They then plant vegetables based on the number of shares they've sold. Each week during growing season the family who has bought a share gets a box delivered or picks it up from a drop-off place. You get what it is season and what is growing well so if the farm has a bumper cucumber crop but fungus takes over the tomatoes...guess what....you've got a big box of cucumbers! That would be a pretty drastic example but you get the picture. There were a lot of CSAs in Minneapolis but they sold out fast, were too expensive and had a lot of stuff I wouldn't know what to do with. I had this fear of getting a full box of fiddlehead ferns and kohlrabi. Here in Rochester I've found a good variety of small CSAs that are more affordable. We went with Whitewater Farms. We'll be picking up our first box next Saturday. Very excited! Oh, and they have this cool thing where if we can't pick up our box on Saturday or can't get a friend to pick it up for us, we can request that they donate it to a local food shelter. Makes me feel a little bit better if one weekend we can't pick up our box.

We walked around the rest of the farmer's market. It's slightly larger than our neighborhood Minneapolis market. Really busy too!

Penny smelling the flowers

Checking out some cool planter/tables. I'd kill those plants in 2 days, but they'd be a pretty fun accent piece for someone with a green thumb

We then had to play on the rocks. Kids and rocks. It's like they want scabby knees...oh wait, Penny does like owies so she can get a band-aid. What a weird kid.

 This is the view from the SE neighborhood. The Civic Center is the building across the way.

Now here's some trivia for you. Do you know what city has more Canadian geese converge in one area during the winter? Rochester, MN! Yup, 30,000-50,000 geese are here between February and September and more and more are staying year-round. Was your first thought the same as mine? Ewwww...goose poop! Yes, it's a concern for the river and streams. More concerning is the huge population of crows around the Mayo buildings during the winter. Now that poop gets all over the sidewalks and people. It's disgusting and reminds me of the movie The Birds. They have all these strategies to get rid of them. Hopefully it works next winter. But I digress...we are talking about geese right now. As Penny and Chris were playing on the playground, I sat on a hill to watch the geese and their babies. Do you take pictures of animals and then get home and think "what am I going to do with all these animal pictures?" I do it on pretty much every trip to the zoo! Just so my 20 minutes of picture taking wasn't a waste here's some photos of geese.

Love the babies. Don't they look so soft?

Families

Here they come, up the hill! I didn't realize how bright it was. If I cared some I would do some processing on the photos, but geese aren't really worth that.

They were walking right by me on both sides. One baby almost touched my leg. I wanted to cuddle it, but I know I'd have a hissing mom biting me in .2 seconds.

Nap time

We then wandered over to a art street fair a few blocks from the farmer's market. This neighborhood is called Slatterly Park. It reminds me a lot of our neighborhood in Minneapolis. Cute little homes, artsy, areas that are a little rough around the edges, the Y and library are within walking distance. This is the neighborhood where the huge new co-op is being built so it is pretty much the Rochester version of Seward. We had looked at some homes here, and I'll say the rentals in this neighborhood would be categorized as the rough ones.

High school folksy/alternative band playing at the art fair

Penny's favorite part of the art fair. Balloons!

I hope to have another blog post up this weekend. Chris's birthday is going to be grrrreat...in a way that can only be done in the midwest.

At the MC

"I feel like I'm at the medical Disneyworld or something" That was my response 2 weeks into my new job when I was asked about my first impressions. Mayo Clinic is like its own little planet (there's actually a youtube video where a patient enthusiastically talks for over 5 minutes about Planet Mayo). My coworker seemed a little confused by my Disneyworld analogy, but let me explain the similarities.

• Happy employees--even after 3 months of being here I have to say everyone goes out of their way to help and do excellent work. I've seen little negativity, cynicism or slackers. Sure, it isn't perfect. We are in an industry going through a lot of change and change is hard. But there's a reason it is on the top 100 places to work year after year. 
• Brand pride--We've got a lot to live up to. The history of the Mayo brothers is everywhere you look. The Mayo brothers said the need of the patient always comes first. You hear or read this saying multiple times a day. I feel like every employee realizes that we've got to keep the promise of the Mayo brand to all patients.
• Like clockwork--You know when you visit Disney and it seems like everything is running on its own, but when you stop to think about it you realize there are thousands of people behind the scenes making it happen? Same thing. There are 35,000 employees just on the Rochester campus. From the bus system for employees to the amazing coordinated care provided by doctors and nurses to the cutting-edge research to the daily updated employee intranet system to the hundreds of volunteers in blue vests directing people around miles of subway (walking tunnels, not trains) and skyway....it really is its own city. 
• Talent--I'm in awe of the people who work here.  I've gone to a few lectures about the Center for Regenerative Medicine (using the body to heal itself) and the Center for Individualized Medicine (treatments based on genetics). My mouth  is wide open the whole time I listen to the researchers.   Even they admit sometimes it sounds like science fiction, but that's where we are now. I'm raising funds for truly life-changing research projects.  I think the researchers brains should be studied to figure out how they are so smart!
• Things get done--I really love the collaborative process that is required to get projects approved. It does require patience and persistence, but if you have the reasoning and data to show that your project is worthwhile, you will get the go ahead and resources to get it done. 
• Appearance--I'll have to post some pictures of the clinic. It's like walking through a well-designed welcoming art museum. They've had generous donations of Andy Warhol paintings, Chihuly glass sculptures, a Rodin sculpture. And there's a piano and music concerts going on regularly. The chapels and meditation rooms are very healing. It is a beautiful place.
• Patient experience--Most of what I've talked about is what I see on a day to day basis. Two weeks ago I got to go to my first Mayo Clinic doctor visit. It was my yearly check-up. I don't think I've ever had a doctor ask so much about my family history. She also was great about answering my questions regarding the long term plan for my endometriosis. And no paper gowns! A nice cloth one and a small enclosed area in the exam room to change and leave your clothes. 

A few weeks ago I heard a lecture by Ian Morrison. He's a pretty well-known forecaster and analyst of the healthcare industry. He mentioned an article he wrote a few years ago about Mayo Clinic that I looked up where he wrote his own list of things he observed http://ianmorrison.com/with-mayo/ My favorite is when he points out that Mayo Clinic doesn't hire jerks. I'd say I agree. Here's the end to his essay: 

We all deserve the Mayo Clinic. We all need truly integrated care, where the patient is put first; where the care is done right the first time; where the payer pays for value and outcomes, not low-cost units of service; and where staff are proud and happy to work, on behalf of patients. If that doesn’t sound like the frenetic zoo where you work, or where you get health care, then maybe you should get your care with Mayo.

Mother's Day weekend

Ahh, the first weekend without rain in a long time...we took advantage of it!

On Saturday Jackie Lee and Libbi came for a visit. Remember Penelope earns stars to go to Libbi's house so I didn't think I was breaking the rules of the reward chart when Jackie Lee said she could come down this weekend...okay, maybe a little, but it was great to see them! We headed over to Oxbow park in Byron to see the animals.

 Penny is in the "I want to wear a pretty dress with tights every day" phase. (I've learned this is due to a little dressed up girl at school named maggie who critiques all the little girls clothing every morning. She only approves of pretty dresses...hmmm) Libbi was sporting a vintage shirt of Jackie Lee and her mom at the state fair circa 1984. 

awww...best friends

Who doesn't love having the windows rolled down and yelling at the top of your lungs?

Playing dress up

The girls

Then on Mother's Day we headed out to Red Wing, MN. Chris isn't in  love with quaint little towns like I am, but he went along with it for Mother's Day.

mmm...Chris made eggs benedict and bloody mary for breakfast

 This great car was the first thing we saw in Red Wing. Yes, I dressed up for our mother's day outing. I had a cute dress and nowhere to wear it. 

In front of the Mississippi. Even though we had eaten an hour ago Penelope was saying "can we eat? I'm hungry. Are we done now?" I forgot to pack snacks in my bag so we had to find something for Penny's tummy. 

Chris was a little perturbed that we were at a restaurant an hour after he made breakfast. He and I had pie while Penny had pancakes and fruit.

Mmm...blueberry. This great little diner called Bev's gave mugs with chocolate to all the moms who walked in. Cute!

The next group of photos is Penelope after getting some food in her tummy. Hello personality! She is in love with winking and doing a thumbs up at the same time. It's the most exaggerated winking I've ever seen.

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There are lots of  shoes in Red Wing since it is home of the Red Wing work boots. Chris  was shocked that I didn't want to go to the shoe museum or gift shop. Really? A work boot museum? This proves I don't do every touristy thing.

Penelope really wanted the book this statue was reading.

I love using my camera's timer. And yes, Chris wore a matching shirt on purpose. We agreed if you can't be cheesy on Mother's Day, when can you?

Using my artsy camera settings and the timer

After some rambling around the cute little shops, we had pretty much seen everything Red Wing could offer a 3 year old. I was sad to see their local bookstore and a few restaurants had shut down. I'd like to go back and take their eagle watching boat tour, but at 90 minutes I didn't think Penelope's attention span could handle it. Red Wing would be beautiful in the fall because it is set between bluffs overlooking the Mississippi.

On the way back we stopped in the little town of Zumbrota.

Covered bridge park of Zumbrota

Great playground. I got to kick off my shoes and finish my book while Penelope and Chris ran around.

We left right after this. Penelope learned first hand the dangers of dresses and hot plastic slides.  It wasn't that hot but she had red marks and big tears from sliding down this one. Better than those metal ones when we were kids I guess.

All in all a very good Mother's Day. I'll take a photo of the gift Chris made for me. As he said when he gave it to me "I really love you. I actually shopped at Joann fabrics to make this"