Rocky Boy!!

I think the pictures kind of speak for themselves! Except for Amayah's shawl getting stolen, this was one awesome pow wow this summer....I can't believe how fast the days have gone by since.

The area was beautiful, we hope to make it back next summer!!

There were some pretty fabulous dancers, which will be included in the next few postings.

It may not be lakes and trees that we Woodlands are accustomed to, but I can't say enough about how beautiful it is ....a different kind of Indian country....none the less....still Indian country!

A few more ricing pics......

A few more pictures from last weekend, when it was still nice out!! I know I said it before, and I kept saying it to Emma that day...I'm so glad we went out ricing. Now here I sit at home, it's cold, rainy and windy with the threat of winter just around the corner......again.

RICING SEPTEMBER 2009

This is it!! Went ricing last weekend, 9/16/09 to be exact. We chose to paddle around and to the back of Plum Island you see in the second picture. The rice in this area was ripe, thick and fell into the canoe easily. It was soooo nice to be on the old ricing lake again, we scared up a few hundred ducks.

My ricing partner was none other than Emma Lee J. We had the most awesome day, we decided we were not going to over do anything...took our time, no rush to the day at all. It was her first time 'polling...or is it poling' ha ha .... however you spell it...once she got the hang of controlling the canoe, she did a very good job. Had a few shakey moments where I half expected to hear her splash into the water, but she was pretty good at stabilizing herself. We also had a lot of laughs!!

At the end of the day, we were very glad and appreciative to have the beautiful lake landing to ourselves!

I am so glad we decided to go ricing that weekend, we replenished our eating rice for the next year or so.

My Baby........

No.....they did not lose him. I know that Gary doesn't read my blog, so I can say what I'm going to say without him getting even more mad at me.

Ma and dad, gram and gramp think they lost him...but there's no way on earth!!! He probably belongs more to them then he does to me, he LOVE'S his gram/gramps.

I just have to be the hard ass and always say the tough words to him and all that. I know I have an awesome son, it's been so hard raising a boy. Dad has always had to deal with the estrogen shit....poor dad.

Well, his grandson probably has it worse than ole grandpa, he is after all the only boy in the family of women...strong women. He's had to grow into his place in life being the only boy, having all girl cousins etc.

At the end of the day and after leaving him home alone for the weekend, I know he's a good kid. This morning he let me hug him up, he just stood there and let me hug him and kiss him. I think that's good!

He'll be twenty....20!....in seven days. If he hasn't fuc*ed up big time by now...I don't think he will.

July 3, 1954.......Happy Anniversary!!

Imagine.......being married to the same person for 55 years. That's more than a life time for someone as old as me!!! I will never know that feeling in life, to spend that many years with the same man. All I can say is wow! That's my mom and dad, the kids' grandma and grandpa, great-grandma and grandpa.....they are the strength of our family.

Heading up there for the weekend to spend some family time, will not be the same without my Emma Lee but I know she'll be thinking about being there and will be home shortly.

Have a happy 4th!!!

4 weeks already!!

It will be 4 weeks this Sunday that she left. I can't believe how this works, at first when I realized she's really going to be gone for 2 months I panicked and thought ....that's a long time. I thought for sure that I would get sick with missing her, and I was for about the first week and a few other days here and there. I do miss her immensely, but not in a sobbing, sad way. I know she's doing great and that's all that matters. We talk everyday, in fact she text messaged me today "ohhhh I'm so hungry, I had such a long hot day". She said they spent the day out in the field in the sun, she's not really appreciating her tan lines... She doesn't have the time she usually does to work on that perfect tan.....I said well that's one of the benefits of being a scientist, getting that perfect farmer's tan....ha ha.

They were out scouting in the kayak's (which she loves), measuring, and doing whatever they do scientifically. She just wanted to get to her room and have a relaxing evening. Once she was relaxed she called and told me she made herself some Thai noodles for dinner. We talked about today's happenings......Michael Jackson died!!!! Sad!! What a musical legacy he leaves...we both were stunned by that devastating news!

On a happier note, she's heading to Chicago on Saturday and has plans to take a city tour, finding a few nice restaurants hoping to get a delicious seafood dinner, do some shopping, etc. Plus, her boyfriend Teochen is flying down to see her over the 4th of July weekend he already bought his ticket and will rent a car when he gets there......so she's happy about that and so am I.

After that, she's on the home stretch and will be home in no time!

The pictures here are of Emma in the green house, this is where she works part of the time, germinating and such. The other, she's out in the field in her hip waders getting ready to take the kayaks out to check the project sites and scout for new sites.

She said she thinks gram/gramps plan on sending her popped wild rice, she was pretty excited about that. And, she finally admitted to me this evening that she misses her family. I am so grateful that we have the family we have, the old fashioned family values that have been (for lack of a better word) incorporated into the fabric of our everyday lives.

I'm hoping she'll have a chance to post more pictures, especially after this weekend when she goes to Chi-Town!!

Cat and Dog...on the deck.....

I forgot to change the date on the camera, these were taken this evening. I thought they looked pretty cute laying there looking at each other. Last night Orville was all spread out on his back looking at the puppy, and the puppy was laying pretty close to him practically face to face. I was wishing I would've taken a picture of it. So this evening I grabbed the camera.

The first picture is a little 'fuzzy', you'll have to double click to see it better.

For someone who's not an animal person, not sure how or why I ended up with a cat and a dog! Here's a picture of Emma's cat Orville and Gary's dog......doesn't have a name yet. He came home one day with him and surprised me in the same way I was surprised with Orville! So far, he seems like a nice mild tempered puppy. He stays by the house and is nice to the cat, and he doesn't cry or bark at night. He's a pretty playful little thing, he seems to be a fast learner and continues to stay a safe distance from me and not lick at my ankles and run under my feet anymore!

And Orville of course is such an affectionate cat, he'll love up to anything. Even a skunk if he could!