June 14, 2009

Gary and Jordan. I know people like to tease them about being gay and whatever, but I have to say I think they really have turned out to be very good friends. In times of frustration, I even took my turn in making subtle (low blow) comments to Gary about their friendship.

They do have the commonality that our families have close ties and Gary considers Jordan to be his cousin even though they are not related by blood.

They have bonded as friends over the last 4 years or so. It's understanding in so many ways. They are two young Native guys walking the fine line between trying to stay out of trouble, getting in trouble and going to court, problems in school, becoming a young father, almost becoming a young father and dealing with the heartbreak of losing that possibility (for now anyway), looking for jobs, and still trying to maintain the identity of their own culture.

This is the area that I think Gary has always been very strong, he's been singing and drumming since he was 2! I have it on video and I have the memories of him constantly singing and pounding on anything and everything......singing powwow songs, I think he was born with it.

Gary grew up without his dad in his life, his father figure's have always been his grandpa, grandma and me...but mainly his grandpa. Even though we all think (and get very frustrated) that he's not retaining what we're teaching him and telling him.... over the years, I think that he really has been listening....Gary has always lived life to the beat of his own drum.

Maybe that's why these two make such good friends. Jordan (I think) does have a dad in his life, if not, he has brothers that have taught him some pretty important and interesting life surviving skills.

This is why I've decided that I don't mind if they hang out at my house for now. They have a safe place to stay and they are fed.

I really believe that they will be friends for life, I've also decided not to 'go against the grain' when it comes to this friendship.

I will say without a doubt......No....they are not gay! Ha.

Jordan has court this week, we'll see what the immediate future has in store for him.

Meanwhile, I will continue to hope that Gary stays out of trouble and steps up his efforts in finding a job!

June 9, 2009

So far so good! She's doing really good, adjusting as I expected she would. Of course her days are pretty busy, she spends most of her days in the green house 'planting seeds' and in the lab doing 'lab work'. ha. Today they went shopping for kayaks! They plan on using the kayaks to go to the project sites to transplant the wild rice seeds they are currently germinating in the greenhouse.

She sounds really happy and I know this is an adventure for her.

Yesterday they had a GRE seminar to prepare for the GRE! Today, they listened to students that have gone on for their Ph.D's needless to say....but will say it anyway....they are in the Ph.D program.

I know this sounds pretty simplistic in contrast to what she's really doing on a daily basis. Once she gets settled in maybe she'll have more time to explain in detail some of the more intrinsic details of what she's doing. Her day is pretty full, she's busy from the time she get's to work with her Starbucks to the time she leaves.

I saw one of her BSU mentor's today, probably the professor most involved in the direction her studies have taken her to this point. He wrote the most impressive letter of recommendation to Purdue for the program she's currently involved in, plus he is the professor that recommended her for the scholarship she has received for the last two years.....Dr. Fu-Hsian Chang, Director of Environmental Studies...he has been following her academic pursuits very closely since she decided to major in ES. When he can't get in touch with her, he comes to my office looking for her!

But I will say, the person that influenced her the most is her grandmother. They talked about how Reservation lands are currently being contaminated by so many factors and there is virtually no Native representation when studies are conducted etc. I wasn't in on the entire conversation, but I know it was pretty special.

That's the reason Emma decided to go into ES, her focus is policy and planning. I'm hoping that she continues on with her interests and goes on to graduate school. This is only my hope for her future. It's up to her what she decides to do.

I will say one thing about her being gone this time...it's easier than when she was in South Africa....I could not talk to her, call her for the entire time she was gone unless she called me. At least this time when I need to hear her voice or know she's on the 'other side' I can just call her or text and she answers me immediately. We spend a lot of time on the phone talking. It's still not the same as being able to hug her like I do everyday, but at least I know she's doing good.

One more thing......I'd also be most happy if she decides to settle down and have a family.....that means cute little grandchildren!!

Old dead blog....

I've decided to revive the old dead blog. It's finally summer and I have a lot of time on my hands. Once again, as my family and friends know and I'm sure everyone's tired of hearing me cry about Emma being gone for the summer.

So, that's my big deal at the moment....is dealing and handling with her being gone for 2 months. So far though, it's good. We talk on the phone a lot, and as soon as she gets her new lap top, we'll keep in touch even more. I will say I've never been away from her for this longggggg.

On the other hand, she's happy and doing good. She's such a strong girl, she knows how to make the best of any situation - she's been that way since she was a little girl. Not to say or imply that her situation at the moment is not good, it's very good. She's loving her research and lab work and that's what she's there for. This will be such a life changing experience for her, meeting people from all over the U.S. and other cultures alone will be pretty damn interesting for her!

Hopefully, she'll take a lot of pictures. I want to get Grandma on Facebook so she can connect with the granddaughters and the rest of the family.

Here's the link to the program Emma's involved in for the summer http://www.gradschool.purdue.edu/diversity/srop-marcaim.cfm

The great thing about this experience is she can use it as her internship toward completion of her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies. But even more, Purdue is grooming and preparing her for graduate school if she chooses to do so.

I'm coming to terms with the magnitude of possibilities for her future. I am so proud of her!

Love this song...

I've been working real hard, trying to get my hands clean,
Tonight we'll drive that dusty road from Monroe to Angeline,
To buy you a gold ring and pretty dress of blue, Baby just one kiss will get these things for you,
A kiss to seal our fate tonight,
A kiss to prove it all night.

(Chorus)
Prove it all night,
Girl there's nothing else that we can do,
So prove it all night, prove it all night,
And girl I'll prove it all night for you.

Everybody's got a hunger, a hunger they can't resist,
There's so much that you want, you deserve much more than this,
But if dreams came true, oh, wouldn't that be nice,
But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight,
Girl, you want it, you take it, you pay the price.

(Chorus)
Prove it all night, prove it all night girl and call the bluff,
prove it all night, prove it all night and girl,
I prove it all night for your love.

Baby, tie your hair back in a long white bow,
Meet me in the fields out behind the dynamo,
You hear the voices telling you not to go,
They made their choices and they'll never know,
What it means to steal, to cheat, to lie,
What it's like to live and die.
(Chorus)
To prove it all night...

April 19th already.....

Here I sit back at home already, I can't believe a week and a day went by and a few of the days are a blur. This afternoon at the hospital we were trying to figure out..."where did we stay last Saturday night..." dad had a good idea that one of us should have kept a journal of the past week. A few of the days kind of blur into each other.

I'm so grateful that the place we did stay at offered us extended/hospital stay rates can't beat $33.00 a night at the Fairfield Inn!!

This was the first Easter our family didn't celebrate together, it was kind of a numb Easter. Although I did enjoy a nice lunch at Red Lobster. Considering the circumstances with mom in the hospital, dad by her side, it didn't feel right to even think about Easter. So, we decided to celebrate when the weather is nice, the ground is dry and a nice breeze is coming off the lake onto the deck where we can all gather. I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully, we can do this before May 31st when Emma leaves for two months to study at Purdue University.

Thanks to sis for this pic of ma sitting in one of her favorite places last summer. I think it's on the bridge over either Nett or Lost River. I may be wrong too, all I do know is this river is in a very remote spot on the Bois Forte Rez....way out there.

I always knew she was a tough, strong woman, but one thing I learned about her this past week is she's even tougher than the toughest narcotic!! Wow, she has one..strong..mind!

Tomorrow is Monday already, time sure does fly. One more thing....the cat survived outside for over a week!

Orbs and Brad the bartender......

If you double click on this image, you will see an orb attached to the upper right side of Brad's head...this is for real. We took these pic's after he told us what to look for....there it is.

He shared with us some photo's taken where the orbs are so strikingly dominant.

Check out this website!!

http://www.ghoststudy.com/a_what_are_orbs.html

Time to come back.....

Here I am!!! Standing in front of my recently purchased mansion in St. Paul, MN - - see the purchase agreement in my hand??? Also, me in my wine cellar and standing at the top of my staircase!

Ha...I wish!! Sure is nice to dream though. These were taken a few weeks ago during a little weekend jaunt to the cities, planned on staying one night and ended up staying until Monday! Had a blast with sis, stayed at the Hyatt Regency and the Double Tree.

This old mansion is called Forepaugh's, http://www.forepaughs.com. As she was showing me some of her favorite sites on Sunday, we drove into the circular drive way of this old mansion and decided to check it out. We ended up sitting in a little 'nook' sipping a beverage and chatting with the bartender, he invited us to take a self-guided tour of the haunted mansion, told us where to take pictures where there's spiritual activity. This would have been on the third floor where the cleaning lady committed suicide back in the 1800's and now she haunts the place.

When we finally sat down for another beverage, the bartender shared the story of the haunted mansion. He said not to be surprised if some of our pictures had 'orbs'. And, sure enough they did. The picture of me at the top of the stair case has an orb if you double click it, it's toward the bottom to the right of the staircase. Pretty cool.

The bartender asked if we wanted to see the wine cellar, of course we did. He also treated us to a free dessert called chocolate deluce, it was delicious!!