A pandemic pet update, rutabaga, a free pulse oximeter, and more (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

Our baby finches are eight weeks old, and we’ve been wondering whether they were male or female. For a few weeks, I’ve suspected at least one was a boy because he was making a warbling noise that sounded like he was imitating his father’s singing. The male zebra finches sing, while the females make more of a “meep-meep.”

Most recently, the singing baby finch started to get small patches of brown spots on both sides and a grey stripe across his chest. The markings confirm that he’s a boy. His sister seems to be staying white, and she still meep-meep-meeps like her mother, so I pointed out to the boys that we had the confirmation we had been waiting for on their genders.

We were ready to name them, and I left that up to our boys. They settled on “Bart” and “Lisa,” as a tribute to The Simpsons. The names really seem to fit them.

Meanwhile, I love that it looks like God is painting Bart with a delicate brush, adding a little color every day.

~2~

While I was working the other day, our fifth grader popped up next to me and said he had to write something for school. He didn’t know what to write about.

“Why don’t you write about the birds?” I said.

“In third person?”

“Hmm,” I said. “I would do it in first-person.”

He left, and I dove back into my work. But a while later, there was my son again—all full of smiles.

“I just wrote 556 words in an hour!” he said. And he had—the first three chapters of a book called A Bird’s Revenge.

~3~

It’s beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving when you see rutabaga on your kitchen counter. Is that not the case at your house? Thanks to my mother’s parents’ New England roots, we always have mashed rutabaga for Thanksgiving.

We won’t be with my parents for Thanksgiving, but I ordered a few rutabagas during my latest grocery order so I could drop them off on their front porch. I didn’t want to risk a rutabaga-free Thanksgiving. My mother will cook the rutabagas, mash them, and have some ready for my curbside pick-up on Thanksgiving Day. I’ll bring my parents some hot broccoli dip and some cranberry sauce. And my mother will also have her homemade pumpkin pie ready for us.

Yum. Pumpkin pie. I could probably skip the rest of the meal and just go for the pie. What about you?

~4~

I had ordered a pack of greeting cards the other day, and when the package arrived, we found a pulse oximeter inside. I was so confused. I have considered buying a pulse oximeter, but I was fairly sure I hadn’t ordered one—and there wasn’t one in my order history online.

It turned out it was an error—and not mine. So, I was allowed to keep it for free, and the package of cards arrived the next day.

What does it say about me that I was so excited about a free pulse oximeter?

~5~

With our children home all day every day, I am realizing the challenge of ordering their Christmas presents this year. I’ve been thinking of having them delivered to our neighbor’s house or to my parents’ house instead.

But then will we be able to hide them successfully somewhere in our house? There are certainly bigger problems in the world, but this is one I think we can solve. We need a plan if we’re going to have some surprises on Dec. 25.

~6~

We celebrated our older son’s 13^th birthday this week. We started marking his milestone the weekend before, giving him most of his gifts, hanging a “This is your birthday” banner, and blowing up balloons and throwing them around the house.

I can’t believe we have a teenager. I absolutely love this age. But wow, time is going so fast.

~7~

I don’t go anywhere anymore, but the other day I had to go get blood drawn for my health insurance, and I parked in a parking garage.

Immediately, I took out my phone and took pictures so I would be able to find my car again. What did people do before they had a camera everywhere they went?

Did they just magically remember they were on the yellow D level?

Read more quick takes on Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum, and have a wonderful weekend.

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