This and That

 I love January and February because they tend to be the quietest time of the year: after the holidays, but before things start up again in earnest.

So excited!

Unlike summer, we don't plan a ton of activities since we know we're bound to get sick, and when we do, we can just hunker down and rest.

Near the end of January, Leena and Zorg started up some new college classes including Music Theory, which Leena loves, and Public Speaking, which she does not.

Zorg, meanwhile, has been really enjoying both Philosophy and Business Management.

They are actually also taking a home school economics class from a Catholic U professor of Business Ethics who also happens to be a fantastic and in demand speaker.  He is also my friend Shelli's husband, and Zorg's friend Eli's dad!!

 Can I just say that having an affectionate and clever bird around is more fun than I ever would have guessed.

He sings a wide variety of songs, usually to the person who taught him that particular song.  He also has learned a few words, mostly "hello" and "pretty bird."

I can't whistle, or even sing very well, so he likes to sit on my shoulder and jabber, jabber, jabber, and then laugh!

Just in case I ever wonder what I sound like...

In other news, thanks to all who prayed for my dad, he's doing much better!

With amazing irony, the good news is that he has bone marrow cancer.

We had thought that the Parkinson's he's been fighting for nearly 30 years was finally winning.  Nope, he was actually extremely anemic because his bone marrow had stopped making new cells.

In case that still doesn't sound like good news, the hematologist was able to get his bone marrow working again, and told us that his form of cancer is extremely slow growing and they should be able to manage it comfortably for a decade or two.

My sister, who had come home to help out, just went back to North Dakota last week.

Speaking of which, yes, it's been shockingly cold this past week, down in single digits (-15 C) with wind chills below zero (-25 C), and yes, the people from Northern North Dakota are laughing at the rest of the country.  To them, cold is only worth mentioning when it passes 40 below (mostly because -40 F = -40 C), and only really remarkable at -60.