August 23

Tra la la la la. It’s Friday. Thank all the old Gods and the new. There is much planned for this weekend. Much of which we can’t tell you now, but all will become known to you in good time. Isn’t that exciting? What do you suppose it will be? Will jail time be a consideration? A trip to PetSmart? We’re not telling you no matter how nicely you ask. Bribery is a consideration if you really can’t wait. We will promise that extensive blogs will be involved in the coming weeks. Here’s some funny stuff to tide you over.

1. Cancel Vermont. According to the newspaper, there is a goat-manure fire and it’s stinking up the town of Windsor, Vermont. Arson is not suspected. Apparently the pile of manure “spontaneously caught fire.” This is very alarming. Is goat manure the only kind that spontaneously combusts? We’ve been very interested in obtaining ourselves one of those adorable fainting goats, but perhaps we should re-evaluate this. We’re certain our husbands have several reasons why getting goats, fainting or otherwise, is a bad idea. The only one we’re interested in is this fire business. Although, we would like to remind you that Ava is from Jersey and those people are more than a little intrigued by fire. This latest news may not actually work in her husband’s favor.

2. Royal hedgehogs. Three wee albino hedgehogs were born in Russia the same day as Prince George so they aptly named the baby hedgehogs George, Alexander, and Louis. Thank goodness there were only three of them right? Otherwise what would they have named the fourth one? Moe? Hortense? Guadalupe? We don’t know, but we have opinions. It seems the entire world has hedgehogs except us. They gave these little fellows a castle to live in complete with carved windows, dark velvet curtains, and a plush bed. If we promise to give some hedgehogs cutsie

names and a castle to live in can we have one or five? Please?

3. More stuff we’re ABSOLUTELY not eating. The Vietnamese are all in a flurry, running all over Hanoi looking for bird’s nests to eat. We’ve heard of this before, but honesty we didn’t pay attention. We refused to believe it was true. Apparently these nests made from the “congealed saliva of Asian swiftlet” is a hot commodity, a delicacy known as the “cavier of the East.” By the way, cavier’s something else we’re not eating. We know that we’re often hypnotized by expensive stuff but to be fair, that’s usually jewelry. WE don’t care how much this

nest nonsense costs, we’re not going to be enticed to eat this. Ever. Ick.

4. We need boxes. We’re moving. It’s a done deal. We’re sending in the escrow check today. This humble castle has four towers. One for each kid. Excellent planning on our part, don’t you think? There are 16 bedrooms so you can come and visit if you bring a nice housewarming present. The 500 acres of land it’s on also has a tavern. That’s going to be the big selling point for our husbands. There’s also plenty of land far away from the house to keep our cute goats in case #1 happens. We feel that our ownership of this castle makes us eligible for #2. Also, it’s just down the road from Paris. They cook normal stuff there. Stuff with butter. There’s croissants. And chocolate. Even thought those French will try to sneak in the odd frog leg and a snail or two, they’d NEVER try duping you with a bird’s nest.

5. Amazon. Not the river, although we’re sure it’s just super. We’re talking about the worlds fastest bookstore. We do lament the loss of small bookstores, and we surely don’t want to see the brick and mortar stores go. We absolutely adore spending time in bookstores. Still, ordering a book and having it on your doorstep in two days is a beautiful thing. Be-u-t-ful! Besides, that’s where Amylynn’s books can all be bought.