Bird rescue

My project is dragging on (now estimated to end mid-July). Too bad I'm not getting paid by the hour. Meanwhile, our house and car have both voiced their demands for very expensive fixes (so it's good to have extra work).

In the middle of the insanity, we had a welcome break. It's little things like this that help regain our focus. Read on...

Mama and Papa had been building our house for a while, they say, before we hatched. They found this land, real cheeeep, in a fancy 'hood. Me and my sibs thought it was a little shaky, 'specially after we had been bouncing around for a while. A few times, we woke up in the morning and found we had moved over a bit...not sure how that happened.

Then one night, there was a big storm...lots of boom-booms and scary light. Our house came crashing down, and it scared the poop out of us. Sadly, one of my sibs didn't make it....we never saw him again.

Then this great big monster came along and scooped us up. He dumped us into this new, trailer-trash house. Mama wasn't real sure about it at first (kept grumbling about FEMA), but then she and Papa said it was okay, and it would have to do. Once in a while, we take a dive off the edge, and the great big monster will scoop us up again. Somehow, we end up back home.


If that wasn't enough, the great big monster came by again with a big shiny thing that made a bright light. Fortunately, I was able to hide.

I wonder when we get outta here?

Coming up for air

My project work is dragging on longer than anticipated, but there's a brief break this week. It should now be done by the middle of June. I miss my blogging--both the reading and writing, and the online community. I hope to catch up with reading, at least, over the next few days.

F is doing well these days...still affectionately known as "Mr. Lumpy Head" but he's generally in good spirits. We're continuing treatment with artemisinin but have eliminated some of the other Chinese herbs for now.

I'm looking forward to June--not for the weather, but for a return to a slightly slower pace of life (I hope).

Easter blessings

As mentioned in my previous post, I won't return to a "normal" blogging routine until the end of April, when my work schedule should ease up a bit. However, I wanted to take a moment today to thank everyone who has been thinking of us and praying for F.

F is still hanging in there; we take two steps forward and one step back. The treatment continues to break down the tumor, but we have to cycle through on and off days, due to the bleeding and other adverse effects. It's a difficult tumor to treat, as the breakdown results in a lot of fluid buildup, which is very uncomfortable for him. We're working with various combinations of Chinese herbal regimens, as well as artemisinin, and standard Western pain relievers. On good days, he's almost his old self, just slower. We hope to have more of the good days and less of the bad.

Once again, thanks for the comments, prayers, and kind thoughts. May your Easter be filled with blessings and peace.

Update

Coming up for air...

Over the past month or so, two events have collided, requiring that I take a break from various "extracurricular" activities, including blogging. No, I'm not giving it up for Lent.

1. One of my consulting clients, with whom I have worked for over 10 years, asked me to work on two editing projects whose timelines happened to overlap considerably. Although my plan for consulting work had been to outsource most of it, there's still a lot I have to do myself on these particular projects. So, after my "day job" shift ends, I've been working nights and weekends to get the consulting work done. I'm very grateful for this work, especially in this economic environment. I feel blessed to have it, when several people I know are without jobs. Also, our expenses have been rising lately, as a result of #2 below, so the extra cash is welcome.
2. F, who was diagnosed with cancer 6 months ago, is hanging in there. I'm pretty sure he would not have been here had we embarked on a conventional therapeutic route of radiation and chemotherapy. However, he has been bleeding out from a lesion a lot more frequently (on bad days, every couple of hours), and copiously. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say this has been somewhat stressful, both for him and for us. Today, we finally decided to get him an E-collar to prevent him rubbing/scratching the lesion. He's not particularly happy about being a conehead, but we hope it will help.

I will probably remain on a break until things calm down. Please keep all of us in your prayers.

Musical Monday: Dreaming

I'm a big fan of Star Trek (especially The Next Generation). There are many aspects of humanity's evolution portrayed on the show that are appealing, such as the elimination of the need to work for a living, a monetary system, and poverty along with it.

Yet there's one human characteristic that hasn't changed: man's need to destroy and kill his own and other species. The Bible paints a pretty grim picture of this too; it seems we are destined to continue fighting each other until the world ends. At the moment, I share this view.

What do you think? Will Simon and Garfunkel's dream be realized, some day far into the future?

Happy 200, Mr. Darwin

I had decided to take a blogging break, due to a consulting project that will be occupying the majority of my nights and weekends. However, this day merits a post. I'm too lazy busy to join in the Blog for Darwin event, but encourage others to do so :)

Today marks 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin. It is also the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Two very different men, yet each had to overcome a great deal of prejudice and opposition to do what he believed was right.

I'd like to think we've evolved over the past 200 years. In some ways, we have. As an opinion column today suggested:

Maybe because Madison is a place less torn by the old divides between religion and science, there is an opportunity here for the kinds of dialogues between these two worlds that will enable religious leaders and scientists to find ways to make common cause on some of the most pressing issues of our time...

Yet, judging by the comments on another article, intolerance and prejudice is alive and well today. The antitheists (not atheists) and Biblical literalists are still battling in this centuries-old war.

We still have a long way to go.