Happy New Year

It's that time of the year again where we as a society come together to ponder the past, imagine the future and worship Ryan Seacrest. I don't know, but as people, I can't help but think that maybe - just maybe we are going wrong.

Great Grandma Lucht

Gallery can be found here.

Great Grandpa Nelson

Gallery can be found here.

Homemaker of Tomorrow

Maya is learning about her White Grandma’s decorated past. Having grown up in the home of the former Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow I can only say that Homemaker of Tomorrow must mean feeding your children frozen pot pies, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and the occasional t.v. dinner on “special occasions.” Maybe it is this kind of upbringing that is responsible for my (unlike my mother) never having passed an “attitude test.”

Back to Barnes and Noble

We went for another walk this morning for another book at Barnes and Noble (Maya really got a lot of gift cards this year). Today's selection was The Curse of the Campfire Weenies. Guess Maya's got a lot of reading to do.

Speed Stacker

For Christmas Maya got a Speed Stacker game, and it just so happens she is an exceptionally speedy Speed Stacker.

Nelson Girls

Here are some old pictures we scanned over the past couple days of Maya's Grandma and Aunt. The photo gallery can be found here.

Second Grade Picture

Maya found this picture on the school's website from when she was in second grade in Ms. Schwartz's class. Oh, how she misses Ms. Schwartz.

Snowy Morning

Maya took this picture this morning.

Shopping Cart

This afternoon we were at Sam’s doing shopping for the Christmas get together and Maya was - how can I say? ---- being difficult. She kept insisting on pushing the cart even though I kept repeatedly trying to do so myself. So after about ten minutes and lots of party supplies the cart started getting very heavy at which point pushing the cart was no longer fun but rather a difficult proposition. It was at this point I refused to push the cart and made her do so all by herself.

Now being a parent in the modern age I’m not a big believer in hitting children, even when they deserve it; however, I’m not above torturing them with the law of physics. Newtons First Law of Motion states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force and an object in motion will continue in motion until acted upon by an external force. How this relates to heavy shopping carts is, it’s tough to get ‘em going and it’s tough to get ‘em to stop. So I made a point of stopping and looking at every item in every aisle because --- well, little punk kids bug me.

Walk for a Book

One of the daycare moms gave Maya a Barnes and Noble gift certificate for Christmas so we decided we’d walk there tonight and see if we could find anything good. After walking a couple blocks a city bus pulled up to the curb and the driver asked us if we wanted a free ride. Well that seemed like an offer we couldn’t pass up. This was the first time Maya has ridden the bus and really got a kick out of it, the bus driver even told her how to pull the cord to let him know when to stop.


When we got to the bookstore Maya decided (with a little guidance from her father) on buying Neil Gaiman’s book M Is for Magic. Neil Gaiman is a famous science fiction, fantasy, and childrens author originally from England who now lives in Minnesota - in fact he keeps a very interesting blog at neilgaiman.com


After getting the book we walked home, or rather I walked home and Maya ran all over making snowballs, throwing snowballs, etc.

Other pics from the walk can be found here.

Christmas Rhyme Time

New Rhyme Time is up, you can hear it here.

Maya's Class

Ignore the dunce caps, they mean nothing. Really.

New Mylynn Kren Picture

More pictures can be found here.

Checkup

Zaheeda has a checkup this afternoon for the baby and then we have to do a bunch of grocery shopping for the Christmas weekend. When we get home Maya needs to record the podcast (it’s going to be a Christmas poem), study her spelling words and practice her violin. So we have a busy day.

Monk

Last night Maya was watching a DVD from the library of one of her favorite shows, Monk. For those not familiar with the show, it is about an obsessive compulsive detective who is great at solving crimes just not very good at functioning in the world due to his condition. As Maya watched the show she made a list of all the things that Monk finds disturbing - she came up with a list of thirty-five things. I don't know you, but making a running list of Monk's idiosyncrasies seems obsessive compulsive as well.

MayaMac Site Traffic

Interesting look at who has been visiting the site over the last month. The bigger the dot, the more times someone from that geographical are has visited. Obviously the most hits are coming from the MN, WI area. We also have a pretty big dot in Southern CA which is from Sonja. Thanks to everyone for taking time to visit.

Football

Maya and I were lying in bed tonight watching Monday Night Football and she asked me what they get for kicking the ball through the yellow upright poles. I told her that the guy who kicks the ball through gets a free pizza. She wasn't sure if she believed me, but every time they kicked one through the kicker seemed so happy, people congratulated him - just the kind of reaction you'd expect from a guy who just got a free pizza.

Huckabee Subliminal Crucifix Ad

Notice the window pane in the background as the camera pans slowly across the room. Maya's Grandma has never liked or trusted the Baptists, primarily due to some unpleasant experiences as a child - apparently Price County, WI sports an enthusiastic hypocritical strain of them that has forever marred her. If only they would just shut up and mind their own damn business like the Lutherans.

Tummy Tub

Came across this new invention out of the UK for bathing babies called the Tummy Tub. I don't know about you but it seems remarkably similar to an invention we have here in the States called 'the bucket.' Oh, those crazy Brits.

Sick Weekend

Maya had to miss group lessons this weekend due to sickness. She wasn't feeling well Saturday morning and threw up in the car on the way to class. So we turned around and brought her home and she slept most of the day. She seems to have bounced right back though and is once again good as new.

Conspiracy

If you should find yourself a little bored with television due to the writer's strike, I highly recommend perusing YouTube and watching conspiracy theory videos. Why not take a break from reality t.v. shows and see what dark unseen forces are guiding the days events - personally I feel it's one of the highest forms of entertainment. Tonight I came across a conspiracy that has to be the most bizarre thing I've ever seen - I'm referring to the Denver Airport Conspiracy.

Face

We think Maya may have entered into her awkward stage.

Aliens

Last night Maya and I were watching UFO videos on youtube which was a mistake on my part because I forgot that Maya is terrified of aliens (to this day she horrified of E.T.) So we had a third person in bed last night.

Bubbles is Dead

Death
by Caitlin Long

Her eyes begin to close as the tears roll to the floor.
She knows death has pranced into the room for the reason of the kiss.
She hears the moon calling as the ocean whispers her name.
She lays there,
Her hand slowly begin to grow cold.
She is torn if she should go with them or not into the deep night sky.
She decides to stop fighting them for she knows they will not leave without her tonight.
Hearing the calling of her over and over again,
She my now rest her head with ease,
As she dances into the calling of the moon,
And the ocean's soft whispers.

Friendly and Caring CIA

You think Maya ought to consider a career with the CIA? According to their website they have, 'analysts, doctors, lawyers, scientists, geographers, and librarians, to name just a few.' Also not listed are careers as a mercenary, drug runner, spy, torturer, sniper, double agent and low level snitch just to name a few. Ah, a fruitful career with the CIA.

Already her skills in manipulation and deception far exceed her years. Perhaps.....

Odd Couple

Rhyme Time with Maya #4

New Rhyme Time is up. Click Here

Pouting

This is the look you can expect from Maya if you say,

"play your violin."
"no you are not playing penguins on the computer."
"go to bed."
"no, we are not having Chipotle for dinner."
"turn off the cartoons and let mom watch the cooking show."
etc., etc., etc.

In this case it was just Davanni's not making her pizza fast enough.?.>? Yeah, she's a real joy at times.

The Great Escape

Bubbles tried making a break for it tonight and crawled out of her dish and hid under a scarf on the table. Oh, this mischievous crustacean, what are we going to do with her?

Listed on iTunes

Rhyme Time is now listed on iTunes. Pretty cool.

Walk

Went for a walk tonight to the bookstore. Lots of people were out and about doing Christmas shopping, Barnes and Noble was packed. Maya's been really enjoying the snow this year - she threw snowballs at me the entire time we were walking.

Bubbles

This afternoon we added a new member to the family, Bubbles Rodriguez the crayfish, (B-Rod for short). Bubbles spends most of her time sitting in a tupperware dish on the dining room table - ah the life of a crayfish. I think we got her out of the science room just in time because the science teacher said the crayfish were dying left and right, and judging from his demeanor, this was not a cause of real concern. So Bubbles is home with her loving owner and we’ll be sure to keep you abreast of all the crayfish news. Now when Maya’s grandma starts going on about Gizzy’s latest hijinks she should not be surprised if Maya cuts in with something along the lines of, “well yesterday you wouldn’t believe Bubbles when he....”

Crayfish

Today I had to write Maya a note saying it was okay for her to bring home a live crayfish from science class. I have to say that this whole bringing home of a crayfish is very sketchy to me. My confusion stems primarily from the question, “Now, why exactly are you bringing home a live crayfish?” She said it is her science crayfish and that she needs to keep it at home so she can take care of it over Christmas vacation, yet that doesn’t explain to me why she is bringing it home now. I just hope it doesn’t die because, I have no idea where you would go to get a replacement, especially this time of year. Oh it’s always something.

Rhyme Time with Maya #3

New Rhyme Time is up. Click Here

Ryme Time Tonight

We'll be putting up this weeks Rhyme Time tonight. Maya was reading last night in bed and I didn't want to disrupt her by dragging her upstairs to record the podcast (as getting her into her bed is half the battle in getting her to go to go to sleep every night), so tune in tonight. Last night I re-did the intro so it is much simpler and shorter.

Snow

We had out first snow storm this weekend and Maya was out the door bright and early this morning to shovel the snow. Shoveling snow however, like the raking of leaves, is much more enjoyable in theory than it is in practice, and I had to go out with the trusty snow blower and get the job done.

Hmmmm.....

Why No Internet?

The guy from Comcast figured out what caused our loss of internet connection, it turns out I accidentally plugged the router adapter into the modem jack and the modem adapter into the router jack and apparently this is what electricians and communication experts refer to as a bad idea. The modem fried - fortunately it was rental. Now we are renting a brand new one.

The Zaheeda Issue

Though this site is supposed to be for updating friends, family and well wishers on the comings and goings of Maya, I can’t help but take an opportunity to use this forum for the general airing of grievances about Zaheeda. I understand she is pregnant, and that being pregnant brings a certain level of fatigue and discomfort. But it is my opinion she is using this condition to exhort extraordinary concessions, favors and assistance from her immediate family members - more specifically, me. When she was pregnant with Maya she worked eight hours days, standing on her feet at TJ Maxx dealing with obnoxious customers all day, and I don’t remember her being that worn out when she got home. Now it seems after 5:30 PM she’s done for the day and all remaining obligations and commitments fall directly to me. What am I do or say? To say anything would leave me looking like a self-centered jerk. Well, I am not going to bite my tongue any longer. I’m not going to sit back and quietly submit to this familial slavery. It is not a question of do I, or do I not want to do certain tasks... No no - this is about right and wrong. This is about justice. I stand before the world and say, “I am being taken advantage of by a pregnant lady!”

We are down for a couple days

We've been having technical difficulties, our cable modem seems to have died, and we have no internet. The only way we can post this is by getting on through the neighbors wireless signal. Rhyme Time with Maya is being delayed for the week. The Comcast guy is going to be out tomorrow aftrernoon to rectify the problem.

Christmas Tree

Zaheeda is in the process of putting up the Christmas tree. I say in the process, because the tree is in the stand and in the living room and all the ornaments are in boxes around the tree but it is taking awhile to get it all put together. Since Zaheeda's been pregnant things seem to take a little longer than they did before - it will get done eventually though, she may be losing a little speed but remains diligent.

Thanksgiving

We along with millions of other fools will be hitting the road this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday - Zaheeda has the bags packed, the ipod charged and we are ready to go.

Celebration of Cultures

At school today all the kids in Maya's class brought a dish native to their ancestors home country. Maya being the culmination of a whole mixture of cultures decided on Guyanese food and brought plantain chips to share with the class. We figured this was better than paying homage to her Swedish ancestry since nobody in their right mind would want to eat Scandinavian food.

Rhyme Time with Maya #2

Winter Winds, by Robert Frost

Laboratory Tests Conclude

How can you argue with science?

Baking Day

Maya was hard at work in the kitchen today making pizza and bread. Everything turned out pretty good

Here she is eating her pizza. The only toppings we had were cheese and black olives but it seemed to work.

Here she is with the french bread (or liberty bread, as it's referred to in the congressional cafeteria).