OK, so some people have said that the Lake Harriet photos were a bit over the top, but I didn’t take them, so cut me some slack 
They are a bit dramatic, but hey, it’s beautiful up there, what can I say..
Anyhow, just so you don’t think I’m totally under the influence of the Minnesota Koolaid, here’s some of the ‘other side’….again, not mine, but borrowed from Flickr….
OK, make sure Dawn doesn’t see these, cool?
To all the Moms!
Oscar, as you can see, is getting ready to roll on up to Minnesota.
We are very excited about our new digs and great neighborhood! Of course, we’re sad to leave Chicago after 10 years. We’ll try to get in as much catching up with friends as we can, but it’s all going so fast.
For those of you not familiar with Minneapolis, here’s a little background:
It has kind of a funny name…it’s a combination of the Dakota Souix word for water, “mni”, and the greek word for city, “polis”.
This is the neighborhood we’re moving to, it’s in an area known as “southwest” (yes, quite literal were the folks who first named it). The house is located at 50th and Russel. Technically, according to the City, the area is called “Fulton“, although I couldn’t tell you if people actually refer to it that way. The reason we like the location so much is that it’s in a little pocket between Lake Harriet and Minnehaha Creek.
Here’s some pics other people have of:
Lake Harriet
Lake Harriet is connected to Lake Calhoun…
Which is connected to Lake of the Isles…
Which is why, as you can start to see, that Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. In typical Minnesota fashion, they are understating the fact that there are actually over 12,000 lakes.
Some people will try to tell you it’s very cold up in Minnesota. Some of these people are from Chicago, in which I’ve lived enough winters to tell you that you’d be splitting hairs with that comparison. Anyway, in Minnesota we like to say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.
What will we miss about Chicago? A lot! Besides our friends, we will miss:
The Confounding Conundrum of the Chicago Cubs (I will do my best to afflict Oscar with the lifelong lesson in patience supplied by this organization)
The Bulls
The Bears
Healthy Food
Trains
And the King of All Lakes
And in no particular order, some honorable mentions:
Lucille’s
Tuscany
Lange’s
Wrigley Dog
Weiner Circle
Boston Blackies
Redmonds
Twisted Spoke
The Burwood Tap
Northwoods Tap
Mayor Daley and Clout
The alley and all the people who shop in our garbage
Thai Oscar
The Cab Driver who Sings
The Cab Driver who hit us with a taser
The Cab Driver with Strawberry Shortcake stickers
Montrose Beach
The Air Show
Belmont Harbor
I could go on and on, we’ll have to add more to the list later on. For a lot of years, Chicago has been our kind of town.
Drop us a line when you’re up Nort’!
This post has been in my saved drafts for 5 months…so I’ll just throw it out there as is…
I’ve been trying to come up with a term that actually describes what happens with your Dog once you add a child to your household. More accurately, what happens to your feelings for your Dog once your child is born and the dog becomes pure 100% nuisance (if any of Cleo’s friends are reading this I sincerely apologize, please don’t tell Cleo) (Cleo, if you are reading this, we love you, just get off my couch once in a while when I want to sit down).
Anyway, that term is:
Doggie Depreciation ™
Actually, I will go farther and say that dogs have negative amortization once said child is born. The initial depreciation is steep and swift, flattening out after 12 months.
I know a few people who will back me up on this concept, and many more who will think I’m a narcissistic dog hater.
Really, I’m not, I swear.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Fight over sidewalks
Some suburban residents don’t want them.
“Who knows what you’d be encouraging to come through,” says Northbrook’s Hubert Frank
Apparently Hubert Frank doesn’t like other humans.
I’m not saying anything about the suburbs, but I’m just saying…
Ok, I’ll say it…
What is wrong with you people?