The Real Mamma Jamma

I have some exciting new developments that I'd like to share. First my academics are great so far- straight As across the board. Yep that is for:

Anatomy and Physiology II
General Chemistry II
Nutrition
Microbiology

For those of you new to my blog I had severe doubts about school not that long ago! Now that I'm done with more sciences....there's more to take in the future! I'm excited about this and am studying ahead of time for some classes I wish to take in the future. I've decided to stay with Nursing and do that for awhile and switch over to Biochemistry at a later date. The school I want to go to requires me taking all the sciences (physics, chemistry, and biology), calculus w/analytic geometry, and upper-level major oriented courses.

Yes the road for science is broad and wonderful :)

I have 35 new credit hours of college science courses since I made the decision to return to school in Fall 2009.

Things are moving along now that I've joined a national organization dedicated to Native Americans in higher education :) I recently traveled to compete in a science bowl also. We advanced to the second round but lack of strategy hampered our win. Good stuff and great opportunity to travel. Only drawback was I got behind in my classes and worked like a "mad woman" to get back on track.

Ugh I don't want to go through that anytime soon again!

So now I'm enrolled in two summer courses and have started one online already. Hopefully I can get financial aid as one course is from my current school and the other is from another school. It should go through AFAIK...

*keeping me fingers crossed*

OH and one more thing!!! Does anyone have any suggestions for old school papers??!!! I am collecting quite a bit and losing storage space also! Let me know!!!

Have a great day :) :) :)

Spring Time- 2011

YAWN!!!

It's late here and I've got a dental cleaning tomorrow. Got to remember to give some extra attention to my teeth tonight! Just want to let everyone know I'm still in school and am taking the second sequence of Gen Chem (Gen Chem II) and Anatomy & Physiology (A&P II).

Yeah that means I passed the first classes :) :):) Gen Chem is slowly revealing it's secrets to me... but it's a tough nut for me to crack. I'm feeling more confident but it's been SO long since I've dealt with moles and natural logs of initial reactions and the first order equations. I'm feeling the challenge and love it! A&P isn't too bad. I just had the ummm... recklessness to take two other sciences also for a grand total of four science classes w/3 labs.

:Groan:

It's awesome to know that I'm making progress so that makes this temporary torture bearable lol. I'm going to take my Statistics and Human Development this summer. Just need Pathophysiology AFAIK to complete my pre-reqs for BSN school after this summer :)

Now here's the clincher. I'm going to take General Organic I and II if it's available this upcoming academic school year. I'm also going to definitely up the ante on my mathematics. I want to get up to Calc II or Calc w/analytical geometry. Yes this means I have a temporary new interest and that is Biochemistry.

This is going to be a year of tough decisions!!! SO GLAD it's spring break for me right now!!! Just got to keep my spirits up and make that guy I have a crush on fall madly in love with me! Sheesh I know. I'm pretty much an independent woman but I got my needs!!! lol.

I'm out. Good night :)

Next Semester....Por Favor :P

Another semester has gone by so quickly once again. The days of my Blackberry screeching its alarm at 6AM are absent for the time being! It was an interesting experience to live in the school dormitory for a change versus commuting to my classes. The last time I stayed in a dorm was in Job Corps and that was almost over a decade ago!

Grades haven't posted yet but wish me luck!!!

I have a little over a month off of school then it's time to get back to books again. For now I'm just going to chill out and take care of things I could not get to while in school. I really worked my heinee off so if I get a 4.0 then I don't know how I should reward myself.... I've been wanting a smaller laptop but reasonable side of me says the current one will suffice. It's a 14' widescreen laptop and I love it but I've been looking at a 12' widescreen version of what I have and it's definitely appealing. It would also be easier to lug around w/20lbs of Science books!

Here's a tune that I'm going to throw in just because....love it! Have a great night :)

Net Ionic equations....filtering stuffs

They say that "no pain no gain" is a prerequisite to success.

Wonder if that person took 16 credit hours? School has been great so far and the rewards for working hard make for some warm fuzzy feelings. I have a great set of friends whom I never would have thought I'd get along with. It's definitely different this time around as the kids are in a stage of life where they are away from home. I remember those days and it's definitely strange being the adult this time around.

The classes are pretty easy but Chemistry is something that I will have to work at. The concepts are straightforward but wait! I have Anatomy to study for also...oh and a speech to prepare for! You get the picture. I saw my Doc yesterday and he commended me on my workload and how motivated I was. I was thinking just a couple more months and I'll have a degree- and hopefully have time for a much needed break!

I have four more classes left in order to graduate. Those classes are three science classes and a public health class. I also will take my Statistics class in the summer although a classmate basically told me I was crazy for doing that. Apparently it's a difficult class and would be even more so if crammed into a summer session. If...If I can get through this next semester with at least a B average then Statistics will be a piece of cake :)

If anyone reads this send me a word of encouragement sometimes for real! It might seem insignificant but an "out of the blue" message like that just might come at a time I need it!

I'm done with my summer session. I get 2 1/2 weeks off which I plan to spend doing minimal things!

I'm hoping that I have a degree by next summer... depends on how much I bust ass this fall and spring! It's a familiar yet old experience that I feel upon returning to the main campus this fall. I had attended this school way way way back... i'm not going to say when b/c I'm sensitive about my age these days >_< Anyhow I've changed... hopefully for the better. I did not take school seriously back then and dropped out with bad grades. Now I have good grades and have pretty much done a 180. I'm pleased with that and believe me when I say it wasn't easy! Just unbelievable amounts of reading, researching, writing, and studying. I was saying school is my full-time job and I stand by that saying! I've gone through some very traumatic things in the past and have been dealing the best way I can with those memories. Sometimes they render me powerless. Sometimes I'm okay. I'm just hoping that these memories don't interfere when I move to University and start a new experience with a different type of academic environment. I know for sure it'll be tough and people will look at this small-town girl and think I'm a Clampett :P This evening and some other evenings I miss the old days. I remember how I used to feel before all the events that changed my life happened to me. I was pretty much fearless. I didn't get scared. I wasn't so indecisive and worried about what other people thought about me. I almost feel like I'm lucky to count how many people I would consider friends on one hand. I feel alone. When I was out partying and hanging out I had guy friends who meant a lot to me over time. One guy in particular would stand up for me and helped me out once in a while. He's gone now due to violence. I sometimes will think of him and remember the time he showed up out of nowhere and saved me from an unsavory situation. I always feel such a tremendous amount of love for him and regret not being there when he was taken. I know it's not my fault but that what if... comes into my mind and I feel like if I had been in the area maybe he would have been with my friends and I instead of that place where he was taken. I can't even say the word k****d because it hurts to even think about it.

I don't know. I think of how my life was back then and how it is now. I just thank my lucky stars I made it out of there alive.

Kinda a venting blog. Rambling too. I just feel I need to do it sometimes. Anyhoo I'm out. I'm going to finish checking on my favorite sites and then finish watching a bit of a potty humor kind of movie to take my mind off things. Have a good night or day wherever you are. I miss you B!

Freebies? Gratis? Why not??!!!

Being a kid on the reservation for me was a funny time when potty humor and Atari was all the rage! Growing up on the reservation, of course, is a little different.... well a lot different than other areas. I remember going off the reservation with my mom to the University in Flagstaff and having friends of other races and loving it! I loved it because the white kids seemed to have rich parents and had all the latest games and computers (Commodore 64 games). Other kids I met talked different and were "wild in the streets!"



It was just a fun time :-)

By the time I was getting a roller-coaster routine down my mom was done with summer courses and it was school time. Around this time everyone needed new clothes!!! Luckily for us poor Dine kids there was a Tribal Government Ration Santa!

Tribal Clothing!!!

There was something about those days when the words Tribal Clothing floated around school. Getting tribal clothing could be used to make fun of people and their disadvantaged economic backgrounds (having material things and rich parents were all the rage back then; sad but true). Tribal Clothing were donations of clothing that were dispersed throughout the various school districts on Dine-land. They were then handed out to students with the economic demographics that warranted assistance- which was almost everyone!

Come on now! Anytime you get free clothing is cool!!! However tribal clothing time could also be a time you would cross your fingers and pray that you didn't get anything "uncool." The plastic bags the clothes came in were the clear 30 gallon size janitor specials! There were the occasional teasings because someone had underwear visible from the bags!

"Ewww. Her panties are showing!!!"

"Look she got hamburger shoes!!! Ha ha ha" Of course no one was immune from the teasings because it was a mixed-bag of luck when it came to what you got! Hamburger shoes were generic brown dress shoes. They were cheap and lo and behold this is what I found while cleaning out the house this past weekend!

Sometimes you would get lucky and get the now "fucking awesome" Converses and the (anyone member these???) Kangaroos. The Kangaroos were nifty and groundbreaking cuz' they had a pocket with a zipper on em'! I loved those shoes!!!

Tribal Clothing was a godsend to parents in the early days of the Navajo Nation. The Seventies, when I was a little girl, were rough times for a lot of folks. My parents were young thirty-somethings who were in university during the summers and working at entry-level positions at the local boarding school the rest of the year. We had a two bedroom trailer that we called home at the time. Horribly hot summers when the air-conditioning was on the fritz and a horrible cockroach infestation were the nightmares associated with that trailer. My dad and mom may have been making just above minimum-wage at the time while supporting the three of us rugrats (the other two came later).

Years later my dad finished University and bought us a brand new spanking home! Nothing fancy just a three-bedroom, one bath, and no fence home. These homes are part of the housing development agency here on the reservation which is another blog in itself! It was a step-up from the trailer believe me!

These days with all the high gas prices and need for more "things"- I'm thankful this program is still ongoing. My niece, who has absolutely no shame in social settings, proudly proclaims, "I'm getting tribal clothing!!! Yay!"

Gee. I wish I was still eligible for that program!!!

On a totally unrelated note!

Ahem. Ladies!

Go Team USA!!!

;-)

Pics of School :-)

Here are two pics of Ironworking School.

Here we are in downtown Chicago! This was taken near the NBC studios. It was a nice day because we got away from boring classroom work and got to check downtown out! The first couple of weeks was very classroom oriented and BORING!!! Almost everyone struggled to stay awake for the eight hours we were in class! Doing "hands-on" stuff is WAY better than sitting on your keester for the whole day!

Here is part of my group, The Blue Hats, putting together stairs. For those of you unfamiliar with Ironworking it is a profession divided into specialty areas. Putting together stairs falls into Ornamental work. I'm not too crazy about the hard physical work (and getting all bacon face and sweaty!!!) but am growing to appreciate the benefits. Increased strength, agility, and stamina! So in other words it keeps one in shape!

I am going to post a link here for people who read this and am interested in the program. It's a great stepping stone for Native Americans like myself who are in desperate need of money and just can't afford higher education yet! This is the link Ironworking School for Native Americans The site has changed from the last time I looked at it. So if you have any questions please ask me. I have other info but am sorta in a rush right now. Have a great day guys!

Oh! I really would love to work on a blog about Natives in the Iron Working field this summer when I get the time so keep an eye out for that one!!!

Bye :-)

Staying in Shape for Werk :-P

So here I am back home and done with class. I'm really enjoying the freedom of not having to wake up at 5 in the morning and spend all day with "Snout!"

I'll elaborate on that one later :-)

I have my letter of completion and an order to report to the Union at which I am designated soon!!! I'm very happy that I'm finished and am going to start finally making some money! For those of you who do not know the conditions on the reservation it's like living on Mars with dial-up internet!

lol. No! It's not that bad but the job opportunities here are deplorable. Anyway I'm straying from my title- ever since I got worked over by steel at school I lost some weight where I needed to! I gained muscle instead and lost the "pouch." The "pouch" is that stubborn little area of fat that lay on my abdomen.

I really want to keep that off!!!

So in an attempt to stay in shape I've asked my relatives if they need any kind of help to ask me. Seriously I could barely cut through one length of wire with a wire cutter when I first started tying rebar. By the end of school I could cut through three with one hand!

Hell yeah :-)

So my dad has a ceremony going on this week and I was asked to help with patching up the ceremonial hogan (which was in bad bad shape) so he could have it there. Of course now that my relatives know that I finished school and am heading to Union they asked me! It's all good considering for it's my Dad and family. I did it, with some help, from my two brothers. I know absolutely nothing about Masonry but learned quickly! Believe me hauling containers of cement and sand is hard. I did hear something by a female Ironworker about how "it doesn't always have to be about muscle." She said "you have to be smart about your work!"

She was right. So my "gray matter" helped me beat a sprained back and much pain. Well I still was sore but it felt good but not in a twisted way lol. I don't play that stuff!

Now I have to hunt for money for "start up." "Start up" is the money I'll need to secure a place to stay, traveling expenses, and my Union dues. The school I was in will pay $175 towards the dues but I need at least 100 dollars more. This will secure my payments for the rest of the year. I basically have to hunt for resources now that, God willing, will help me get to where I need to go and begin work. I am secured a job but the thing is "starting up" funds as I am at twenty dollars right now!

So I'm going to log off now and enjoy some of the spare time I have. I have to make a phone call to the guy who helped get me into the school and see if he has any ideas. I may add some pictures of the work I did soon. I also took major pictures in Chicago but I have not taken the film out yet from ***-Mart! Sorry ***-Mart your name does not get mentioned here unless you help me out with "start up" funds :-P

Have an awesome day guys :-)

Finally Graduated :-)

I once caught a glimpse of a tough girl- she stood resplendent in her hardhat and a spudwrench in her hand. No fear in her at all she stared at me from the mirror as I got ready for the day. I wasn't the least bit shocked it just seemed like another day. It happened in a dream I had as the day drew near for my foray into Ironworking School. It was a far stretch from anything I've done and almost seemed like a death wish.

Go ahead and laugh :-P

I was always the kind of girl who was the epitome of a bookworm. She constantly read when she could get her dainty little hands on the latest Archie comic. All through school I got decent grades but nothing spectacular. I almost had a rebellion of types going through my formative years because I just wanted to fit in so! Being a nerd was nothing to feel so good about! Up until this point nothing seemed terribly exciting as far as a career went.

I know.

Some of you are saying she's a flakey little "Rez Girl." Yes ladies and gents. She's gone through all kinds of jobs- from McDonalds (triple ERK!) to doing her Nursing Assistant work. Those jobs were both good and bad. I truly did love the hospital work but nothing ever did come out of that. I could have went further in my Nursing but became disenchanted by politics and the constant pleas by Nurses who plead me not to become one. Too much politics they'd tell me! Somewhere between here and there my path led me to consider going to this school in Chicago for such "butch" work! OMG no fucking way! I thought to myself as I heard my brother tell me to apply. His thing was "Hey you're not doing anything anyway! Just go!" Thoughts of North Country and the toppling of Porta-Potties went through my head.

Really!

Queenie Tyrene would just not know what to do if that ever happened to her! Granted we didn't have Porta-Potties at my school but I was the only Transgirl there. Oh I almost forgot to mention that I couldn't even wear makeup to school.

Horrors!

What happened was that it would without fail melt off my face due to the stifling humidity and hard work.

Unh unh.

So much sacrifice for a shot at some sort of decent income. It's a little scary but I am almost a member of a union. I did finish that Ironworking school and got my letter of completion. All I have to do now is go to my assigned union, pay my union dues, and start working. I got some last minute things to do before I report for work, say a thousand prayers, and just do it! Right now I'm enjoying the free time I have at home and yet I'm anxious to get my own place and begin something- uh well anything! So that leaves me here with a need to find that tough girl I saw in that mirror and bring that bitch out again. What do you guys do to pump yourself up? I need a few pointers in this department. Are any of my trans readers in a "butch" job? How do you deal with it? I got a whole month to pump myself up and "woman" up for my job. I'll be a makin-a-sure I check my mail real soon!

Ciao :-)

Hey! Fifth week in :-)

Well guys- I've been in the program for five weeks now. It's moving along at a steady pace. We're finally done with a lot of the textbook stuff and will be doing more hands-on-things now. Which is great! Our ultimate goal is to tear down a two story steel framework and erect it later. I'm excited and can't wait for graduation soon! I don't know about doing this for a life career but it's a step-up from minimum wage and doing Certified Nursing Assistant work :-)

Actually it's a big step up!

Not to sound so greedy but I need cash! I got some bills I got to pay and would like to buy new clothes. This Diva is in bag lady mode now. I do get paid for my training but it all goes to rent. Bah @ rent!

Were doing transit work now which is a surveying tool. It's cool. I always wondered how those guys who stood behind that binocular looking thing used it. Now I do :-)

So I got to log off now. I have class in a couple of minutes and someones hounding me for the comp. So take care everyone and I'll post again soon.

Ciao!

Hey people :-)

I was going to originally write out a blog but I'm running out of paper!

I'm now in Chicago and it's snowing and shit! What's up with that??!!!

I love it here and will miss it when I leave in May. Ironworking school is going along just fine :-)Everyone here is gracious and grand in their own way. It's a long stretch from dirty red dusty trails and poetry :-P

I have major headaches from cramming all the time and just had to read sixty pages of stuff last night. Oh! Not to mention I had to do math for class also. It's tough but she's hanging in there! I have to stress that if you do have a MySpace account add me because I spend more time there than here. Sorry for the delay.

So I got to get ready for that quiz and probably tie more knots and mess around with machinery today. It's different but I have a penchant for trying to figure things out. I get homework everyday and have tons of stuff to study for quizzes the next day so I'm always on my feet or trying to be a mathematics genius here :-P

So on that note I gotta study a little and get some liquids in me. Catch you all later and I will post some pictures of me in the Windy City soon.

That's the mode I gotta get into! Definitely :-)

Ciao!

New Journey for me :-)

I was just passing through and saw more readers had come by and visited my page! I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't excited- I WAS!

I am going to be writing a new blog just for these curious people and hope you enjoy it! It'll be about my upcoming move to a curious Midwestern City. I've never been as far east as Dallas so this should be interesting. Don't worry I know many of you are dying to know what it's like for a simple reservation Dine (Navajo) to venture into uncharted territory. I can guarantee you that I will keep a journal and update as much as I can!!!

I am one of those people whose mind works very much like Nuclear Fission- It just goes and goes! I suppose it's just a lot of anticipation and mentality that changes as one matures. Not getting older but wiser ;-)

I should also let you know that I will not have a comp with me when I go. I am just a poor Grande Dame now. I have red shoes to click my heels with but they're ever so tired! Whenever my training pays off I'm going to snag meself a laptop ASAP!!! Feel free to leave a comment and if you absolutely cannot wait go to my MySpace link and send me a message. That's one of the first places I check my messages at. Well peeps wish me luck on the journey I'm about to embark on.

Ciao!!!