Happy Halloween

Babysitting

Sometime I get to watch my friend Juan's cat, Idressi.  Idressi gets to stay at our house when Juan goes out of town or has to have something fixed in his apartment.  I love every moment of it and adore babysitting the 16 pound fur-ball!

Rainin'

A rainy Saturday. Mini rivers and lakes have formed on the walkway and there is a roaring waterfall coming down the porch.  Kind of wishing it would turn to snow...

 

 

 

 

 

Miami

 

Looking out at Miami over the weekend

Blue and Orange

This past Sunday Bobby and I went to the Miami Dolphins/ Denver Bronco game down in Miami.  I had bought Bobby tickets to see his Colorado team for his Birthday last week.  We had a fun time enjoying sun, beer, rowdy fans, and two not so good teams trying their hardest to score a touchdown.  The Broncos were losing by 15 points so 6 minutes before the end of the 4th quarter we decided to leave and try to beat the crowds.  Unfortunately, the Broncos made an unheard of comeback in the last few minutes of the game and won in overtime!  Fortunately people in Miami drive 90 miles/hr so we were able to make it home in time to see the end. 

Bobby turned to me and said, "When I was younger my dad told me to never leave a Bronco's game early!".  I guess for that very reason...

We had a fun time and have the sunburns to prove it!

Beautiful Day

Today was the most perfect fall day!  It was cool and breezy.  The sun was finally out after 4 straight days of rain.  I took a break this afternoon on the porch with my cup of not so perfect "communal work kitchen" coffee and enjoyed the scenery.  There was an unusually cheerful mood at work, everyone was loving the world today!

Life is pretty amazing and the older I get the more I realize this.  I don't believe that life can be perfect for too long.  Something always goes wrong and turns your life upside down.  But we are surrounded by perfection and perfect moments and that makes life a little bit more wonderful.  The sky, the ocean, the mountains.  All perfect.  I believe that God made the world and then kissed his fingers, raising them into the air and then grandly shouted, "Bello Mondo!" (beautiful world!)

Yes.  It is a beautiful world.

West Coast

Ft. Myers, Florida

Sunday Morning

 

27

Happy Birthday Mi Amore!

I have a feeling your 27th year will be magical!

Lazy Day

I spent the morning playing with Cornelius.  We played outside on the patio and then we watched a movie together.  Although the sun was stuck behind the clouds today, it was much cooler and felt a little like fall.  Tomorrow Bobby and I are heading over to the west coast to meet a possible wedding photographer.  Hope it goes well!

 

 

Grrrrr

Ahem...Excuse me while I ascend my soap box

Today we heard the most outrageous thing.  Florida's Governor Rick Scott made the most outlandish statement about Anthropology (see video below).  Of course when an entire office of Anthropology majors see something like this, an eruption occurs (usually in colorful language and lots of yelling).  How could he diminish our field and jobs?  The place that I get up and go to everyday and try and make a difference in understanding our culture and identity.  Why is this so unimportant to people?  Why do the arts always get the boot?  Why is it, when someday all of this is gone, then people will be angry for not saving it?  Why don't people see the value?  

Tell me why business people and computer people are more valued then me?  I'm pretty sure they are the ones ruining our country.  You don't hear about how Ol' Mrs. Smith down at the county museum has just lost billions of dollars of people's money and has had a hand in furthering the corruption in governemnt.  Nope.

I want to punch Rick Scott in the face. But because I can't do that for several reasons, I decided to do what any good citizen should do and write him a letter.  I've gotten very good at sending letters to Senators and Congressman, urging them to stop cutting our budgets.  I usually get some swanky letter back saying how they really appreciate my concern, but (there is always a but) they don't care and they are going to cut the museum budget anyway.  Gee thanks!

So Gov. Scott, tomorrow morning you (who am I kidding?) your secretary will receive my e-mail and will print out one of your pre-written letters and send it on over to Tamarac.  You will tell me in your condescending way that you are super sorry that you were bashing on Anthropologist and that you were just really trying to make the bigger point of budget cuts yadda yadda yadda.  

I will read your letter and stick it with all of the rest and hope that one day those in government will actually care about what we do.  Maybe only when the Declaration of Independence turns to dust because no one was left to care for it.  Or maybe when the Mona Lisa's face cracks off the canvas.  Then, maybe you will care.

Big Cypress Fun Day

A few weeks ago we all got an e-mail about upcoming "Fun Day" on the rez.  This is a time for the entire community and all departments to get together for some relaxation and fun.  Sometimes its a carnival, sometimes its flag football.  This time around it was volleyball.  My office got a team ready and were prepared to be the champions of all departments.  There were matching sweatbands and team spirit and a lot of awkwardness seeing people in shorts that you never see in shorts.

 I was a cheerleader in the bleachers.  I did my part and clapped at the appropriate times.  I'm not much of a team sports enthusiast and I get a little embarrassed when people get all excited about things such as volleyball and winning, but I cheered on my office and supported the THPO Terminators.

Unfortunately they got beat pretty bad (I won't embarass anyone by announcing the score) but they gave it a great effort.  I also won't mention that they got beat by Team Seniors...

Kindness

My whole entire life I've been taught to love others and treat everyone with kindness. The golden rule was the Redente rule.  This is easy to do when you have a choice of who you get to spend your time with out on the playground or Friday nights during college.  But when you become an adult, you are sometimes forced to spend time with people that you would rather not.

I've always been known as "the nice girl" growing up.  I still like to think of myself as a nice person, but for awhile now I'm not sure where this "nice girl" has gone too.  In the past when someone was mean to me or rude to me, I would be nice to them.  When someone talked badly about me, I would be nice to them.  But as the years go on, I'm finding it more and more difficult to do this.  Day after day of rudeness and a sour attitude towards me and it becomes exhausting to smile and be nice.  I won't go into the boring details about how this dislike of this person has occurred, but it has become an overwhelming part of my life. 

I come home feeling disappointed in myself.  For letting unkind thoughts enter my mind and for giving up on being nice.  At church this Sunday we learned about kindness and compassion.  That the world is broken, people are broken.  We don't always know someone's situation, but it doesn't matter.  It doesn't matter that they have been having a bad day for 725 days in a row.  It doesn't matter that they don't like you back.  It doesn't matter that they are unkind.  What matters is our reaction to those people.  That love and compassion conquers all.  That an example of kindness is usually imitated and returned.  That we all have an opportunity to change all the grumpies in the world, one smile at a time. 

I have felt a tug at my heart the past few weeks.  I know that my disappointment in myself is a way to tell me to slap that smile on my face and to genuinely be nice.  I can do this.  We spend so much energy being angry and mean when that energy could be being used for good. 

The other night I pulled out some pajamas from my closet.  This usually consists of my reindeer flannel pants and an old t-shirt.  I found a shirt tucked away at the back of the shelf.  It was my gym shirt from 7th grade P.E.  It's a little worn now, but makes for some excellent sleep wear.  I unfolded it and smiled back at a big giant yellow smiley face.  In big bold black letters it reads "Just Be Nice".

Sunrise

Sunrises on the reservation are beautiful.  The sun is a fire ball of orange.  The mist is rising over the sawgrass and cypress hammocks.  The sky is full of white birds flying over the water.  It is peaceful.