Birdy Enjoys Being Sick

Birdy Flaunts Her Stuff (two times a day!)

     A couple of weeks ago, Birdy got bored and decided to get sick again. I'm not sure why that seemed like a good idea, but she's willful. Her jaw got sore, her stomach churned, and the lymph nodes in her armpits swelled to the size of tennis balls. We sent her off to the doctor for another ultrasound and blood test. The results were inconclusive, so the doctor did what the medical profession in Vietnam always does: he prescribed a boat-load of antibiotics. He told her to take them for three days and then come back if she didn't feel better.

Birdy Has Fun With Her Camera

    Well, she felt better. Unfortunately, the real directive behind the flawed translation had been, "Take these for three days. Then, if you're doing better, come back for more." Where could we have gone wrong with that one? She fell sick again Sunday night and woke up Monday with Serena William's moneymakers under her right armpit again. After another visit to the doctor she's back on antibiotics and complaining about wanting to feel better. How selfish.

Godfrey

Amelia

     In other news, we were expecting a severe storm this weekend. Instead of the 100 MPH winds and torrential rains we were anticipating, we got a thick rain, some mild flooding, and strong winds. It only lasted an afternoon instead of the predicted weekend-long event. When the wind started to pick up and the rain began to fall, we headed upstairs to try and move our parrots inside. Their aviary might be nice and spacious, but it isn't conducive to moving with the big plant we put inside for them to use as a perch. As we tried to remove the plant, Godfrey seized the moment and escaped. My last view of him was through the cage bars, me inside the cage, him outside. We worry for him, but being wild I expect he'll be alright. Slaty-headed parrots live in groups, so we're hoping to find Amelia a new partner soon.

From Left To Right:
Sam, Elise, Shirtless Luke, Armando, Maddy, Lawrence, Birdy

The First Grade Teachers
Surprise Elise With A Cake

     My mom celebrated her birthday last month, much to her half-century-old chagrin. Thankfully, both Sam and Armando were present. Armando spent the better part of a month here before returning to Oregon to finalize his studies in Engineering. Sam left a couple days before him, returning to Oregon to continue school and be swag. His words, not mine. It was sad to have them go. A week from now, our house will be down to just four residents (and a lonely parrot).

     We've been doing a lot of reading since we got here. In anticipation of the lack of entertainment resources, I bought a Nook and Birdy loaded her Kindle with books. Neither of us have gotten sufficiently desperate to read the free classics, but I sense we're getting rather close. We went through an intensive movie phase, enjoying all the DVDs we brought with us, but that slowed down when our DVD drive quit on us. Now we're pretty much limited to Hulu and other streaming options. With the internet being so wishy-washy, that's not always a wonderful option.

     Overall we seem to be a bit more emotionally and mentally stable than we were a week/two weeks ago. Things at school are getting interesting, and I'm finding I don't always have time for my mid-day nap anymore. Oh, the injustice of it all.

The High School Signals The End Of Class
By Beating This Large Drum