Friday, September 14, 2007

School is for the Birds

Only Kirstin is getting much school done around here right now. She is in the process of finishing up her first college writing class. Since she is considering writing as a potential major, she has wanted to put her best efforts into this class. She expects to be finished in another week or so. With these online classes from Taylor University, she has a very flexible schedule.

Here she is, with her 'writing coaches' standing by in case she should need any assistance:Her paper is a discussion of the ethical dilemmas caused by the ability to diagnose problems (and gender) in an embryo before it is emplanted in the mother. She enjoys researching that medical/scientific advances/ethical stuff. Earlier this year she wrote a paper for another class on cloning.

What you can't see in that picture is that one of our cats kept peering in the window just behind Kirstin's head, and upsetting the 'writing coaches' - they're kind of flighty, you know. ;-)

The rest of the family isn't getting much school done, because so much time is being spent on the construction site. Progress is painfully slow, but so far most of the workers remain enthusiastic! I hope to post some construction update pictures early next week.

I'm sick - again! I'm so tired of being sick. This time it's a sinus infection, so I'm back on antibiotics. I'm hoping that once I get through this one, I can stay well for a while!

This weekend is a holiday in Honduras, the 15th of September . . . similar to the 4th of July in the states. Tomorrow there will be a parade here in Gracias, but I am told that it is not nearly as interesting and creative as the Lempira Day parade. I'll get out with my camera anyway, just in case there is something of interest to photograph.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Trish
Me again! Sorry to hear you are sick again. I'll pray for a quick recovery. Did you ever determine what kind of bird your newest feathered friend is? He looks like he has made a good recovery from the nasty bot fly larvae. : (
Beth

Trish said...

Hi Beth!

No, we still don't know what he is. Most bird identification materials do not have information for juvenile birds, which are often differently colored and patterned.

But, he's doing well. His larvae locations haven't fully healed yet, but we haven't had any new ones for a while. His broken leg seems to be healing well.

I took him outside yesterday, to start getting him interested in the 'wild' and also to see if he would attempt to eat anything on his own. With the very small amount of fluttering ability he currently has, he moved as quickly as possibly to get back to the safety of being attached to me.

So, we may have created a pet.

Bob said...

Kirstin:

I think Taylor U has pretty strict rules about distance learners getting help with their work. Of course, given the topic you've chosen, they may be revealed as bird brains when it comes to medical ethics. I hope you do well on the paper, with or without winged assistance!

Bob Gleason

Gin said...

Your contact link does not work for me. You mentioned being sick again with a sinus infection, I immediately thought of reading about the nasal passages washing that seems to help with chronic sinus problems. Today I rec'd a Mayo newsletter and it has information about this very thing. So here is the site, it may be a strange way to communicate but here goes: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nasal-lavage/MM00552

I hope you can read this without it being published. God Bless, Gin

Daniel said...

It makes me so happy to see the bird doing better...I was wondering if i could trouble you to write up something about that whole ordeal for hondubirding with photos and all(My readers dig those kind of things)

It still looks like an Oriole to me and the parakket looks like an Orange Fronted Parakeet ;)

Trish said...

So, Bob, you're thinking I shouldn't have announced to the whole world, via the WWW, that Kirstin is receiving help with her online classes? :-D


Thanks for the link Gin. I tried it, and it did seem to help.

Daniel,
Sadly, the sweet bird died last night. We are all brokenhearted about it! He was doing so well, then he seemed to get sick, and lost the use of both of his legs. He was eating and drinking right up until the end, so we hadn't given up hope on his recovery.

I'm guessing we were missing some of his nutritional needs, but we don't really know for sure.