The Boisterous Cardinal

He's back.

We hear a lot of birds at this house, and last year I finally figured out that much of the singing we heard was coming from a cardinal--a bright, red cardinal. So we're definitely dealing with a he. Tonight he was on one of the highest branches of a neighbor's tree, loudly singing away. Even from a distance you can see a flash of red and know that it's him. He's a delight. We should think of a clever name to give him. Any ideas?

I don't know a lot about birds, we never set out birdseed or anything like that. A couple of tiny yellow birds visited our yard last fall to feast on the cornflowers, but now that the cornflowers are gone I'm afraid we won't see them again. We'll see.

Prayers, Please

A friend I mentioned here before, Emilie, has recently learned that her cancer has returned. She just started radiation today and will be starting chemotherapy in the next couple weeks. She has a husband (they married the same month as Edwin and I) and two young sons.

Please pray for her--her prognosis is not good and all of us who know and care for her and her family are hoping and praying for a miracle.

She's Got the Fever, Again

So, Anna's got a fever again. It started on Saturday, took a turn for the worse yesterday (Monday) morning, and we're back to juggling work and wondering when she will be well again. After a lot of debate, we decided to fill the amoxicillan prescription and start her with it today, despite not knowing if she does have some kind of infection. Sigh!

Workwise, these few days are good ones for me to be away, I have a slight lull in the action going on at work. One thing starting to worry me is my ability to take CLEs at work, though. I believe I have to report this year and I have no idea where I stand as far as credits go. If I miss work tomorrow I'll miss the opportunity for a two-credit CLE in the morning, but there are a couple next week I could go to instead.

Happy news is that we got the official word from Step By Step that Anna can begin in July. We've worked it around our vacation so we won't have to pay right away for a week she won't be there. She will indeed be in Miss Brooke's room, and I'm so excited for her. She is going to love it. It'll be another big transition in her life, but one I think she (and I!) are ready for.

Finally today the rear window in Edwin's car has been replaced. A week ago Sunday, he found that the rear window of his car had completely shattered. We're still at a loss over how it could have happened. Unfortunately, it took this amount of time for the replacement glass to be ordered and arrive so that it could be fixed. Crazy. Edwin's been driving around with plexiglass taped in the back, and putting a tarp over it during the numerous rainy/snowy days we've had lately. He's mentioned recently he'd like to get his new car next year (I don't think he has any idea what he wants).

The weird thing about this window replacement? With Anna sick today, we decided I would work this morning, then would leave to go home so that Edwin could work this afternoon. When I was ready to leave work and got to my car in the parking lot, I found a service van blocking my parking space, and then went up to the driver's side window to ask the driver to move so I could get out of my spot. He was on his cell phone, and I noticed "AllState" on his paperwork, made another peek, then saw our names. Turns out, this guy was talking to Edwin!! They were trying to figure out how to coordinate fixing the car, as Edwin had expected his car would be at work and in the parking lot. So we eventually arranged for the glass service guy to follow me home, which he did, and Edwin drove my car right back to work. What are the chances of that?

Anyway, so this is a long enough post and should come to an end. Next time I will write about the very loud birds around our house, in particular a boisterous cardinal. Stay tuned!

Catching Up

Ahh, spring. At least for a day or two. How much better life seems with a sunny day and the promise of green ahead?

The days keep rolling along. About a week ago, a director in my department stopped by my team's work area and gave us the authority to move our current recomp deadline from April to May. I have never had a publication moved in my favor, ever in the ten+ years I've worked in Codes. I just couldn't believe my (good) luck. So, I'm getting caught up in all kinds of tasks at work and it feels great. For once I don't feel behind, or feel as though I'm scrambling to do things that should have been done yesterday. Now I can clean my desk ... actually, I have been doing that, too.

I'm now starting to get excited for our vacation coming up in May--a week in Savannah, GA. It's going to be wonderful. Similar to our trip to Charleston a year ago, we've found a rental on the beach and will have a car to drive around. I haven't done any research yet regarding specific things to do, but I'm not too worried about that. I'm sure it'll all come together. Recently Edwin pointed out to me that through this long Minnesota winter he's traveled to Tucson, New Orleans, and Orlando, and I haven't gone anywhere. Oh well. We've booked a trip to Montreal for July, I think we'll be meeting Edwin's parents there and staying in the city for three days and then driving to a nearby resort for the remainder of the week. With the dollar doing so poorly overseas, we immediately nixed any possible trip to Europe and thankfully my in-laws were open to traveling here (or at least to North America) again. But first it's Savannah, sure to be lovely.

Last Sunday night I went to the first night of a literary series being held at the State Theater downtown. Edwin had seen an ad in Minneapolis/St Paul magazine and wondered if I'd be interested, and when I said yes, bought tickets for the entire series for me to attend. I was pretty surprised and pleased though the first two writers I'd never heard of before--poet Mary Oliver and Armistead Maupin. However, the remaining three in the series are David McCullough, Khaled Hosseini, and David Sedaris!!! Yay! I felt silly attending the night Mary Oliver was there, surrounded in the crowd by people who obviously adored her and giggled and applauded at every joke or opinion she gave on a variety of topics. It was still enjoyable--I almost bought a book of her poetry but then remembered how little satisfaction I get out of attempting to read poetry versus actually listening to someone read it aloud, so I passed. What was I thinking?

At home I've been continuing to work on two of Anna's scrapbooks, getting closer and closer to completing both. I'd make really good progress and then realize I was missing photos from a certain activity or event, then have to stop. Just today I ordered photos from her second birthday dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and pictures taken during my in-laws' visit in July. Those may be the last I need to wrap up the albums. I'm also ordering pictures which I expect to just put in photo albums, which will be another undertaking but far more easier for me to complete.

Recently I bought myself a cheapie digital camera from Herberger's, I still need to read more of the owner's manual to know how to use it properly. My goal is to be up to speed prior to our Georgia trip, so at the very least if the battery pack in Edwin's camera goes dead at a bad time my camera can be a backup.

Otherwise, I've seen no new movies and currently reading A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving). I did watch the second season of The Office on DVD, and am now debating whether to buy any more of those DVDs or just see them through Netflix.

As for Anna, she has been well and enjoys singing along to new songs all the time, the latest being Aint No Mountain High Enough which is on one of the CDs in my car. We haven't heard back from Step by Step yet regarding when she can start, but hopefully sometime this spring we'll be able to finalize our plans for sending her there.