Life as we know it in Packrat

At present I’m in waiting mode. My niece turns one year old tomorrow, and I ordered her a pretty butterfly cake, bought a butterfly balloon, and went overboard on other gifts- seven new outfits, two little animals she can hold in her hand, a stuffed bear, a stuffed owl that plays music when hugged, a set of keys, and a camera with pictures of animals and that makes animal noises. She likes things that make noises, but she likes things she can hold. I said I had to get her a camera because her father and her aunt were photographers, and it seems that a pre-requisite to being in the legal field is to be a journalist first. (There are those in my field who worked on our tribal newspapers first. A sign in town said, “News is the first draft of history.”)

I can’t imagine life without her. She’s changed my world; my whole perspective on everything has changed. I’m aware of behaviors or attitudes I don’t want her to learn from me, although I’ve already said when she can talk, I’ll teach her how to swear.

While I don’t want to force my opinions on her, I do add on to my reading of The Three Bears, pointing out that Goldilocks was trespassing, which is against the law, although she would have been in juvenile court because of her age, and destruction of property could have been added; Goldilocks’s parents could have faced child endangerment for her being allowed to wander unsupervised and ending up in a house of bears.

Seriously. I did that. I thought for fun I should look at stories like that and see what lawsuits could be made from them, not to force them on my niece but just for fun, because I’m a nerd like that.

…My mom is one of her babysitters and likes to watch news programs. My brother was afraid Baby would start talking like Al Sharpton and screaming about injustice in the first grade. I think he’s relieved that we found the Baby First channel!

…Free Spirit paid a brief visit for our clan’s ceremony but plans to return soon. He had to hurry back for an audit of businesses that he contracts with, to make sure all reports were filed in case the auditors wanted to check out the contractors. We didn’t get to really sit and visit this time, but his presence filled the house, and while it was lonely when he left, his presence lingered so that I expected him to walk in.

…San Francisco, here I come! Well, close by. Those of us involved in The Important Case will be heading to Stanford at the end of May. Included, tentatively, is a ghost tour; one of our attorneys and I take them wherever we go, and we both took the same tour in SF at different times; he’s looking up a tour we can take because we’ll be so close to SF.

…I had planned to be in Wisconsin around that time since I missed a meeting there, needing to be here for our ceremony. The Wordsmith wanted to know when I could come, because, he said, “I want you here.” Woo hoo!

…In early June at a conference the chief and I will be on a panel about NAGPRA with a performance of the play about the Important Case following that evening. Just like we did in Philadelphia, but we get to stay home.

…One of the playwrights is an Icon, an Indian activist who won one of the recent Presidential Medals of Freedom. Her tribe held a dance in her honor. We went. It’s about a two-hour drive from home, and we arrived for a dance that started at 7 p.m. and that we expected to end at midnight (like ours do). We got there around 8:45 p.m. It ended at 9 p.m.!!!!!!

At least, we said, we got there in time to say hi and give her a hug.

…The Language Department is moving into my building. The building, although I always claim it’s mine, was constructed to give them a home, too, but they were outgrowing it even in the early talks. I’ll miss the solitude, because I’m of a hermit mindset, but I’ll enjoy the company, because I’m social, too. I told my cousin, the language director, that now I can just holler down the hall when I need him and bang on the doors when he doesn’t answer.

…So concludes my entry.