Mommy and daddy saw Guardians of the Galaxy today, and came home talking about all the throwback songs in the movie. Seems the main character in the movie was abducted by aliens after his mother died in 1988, and all he had with him was a mix tape she made him of songs she loved from the 70's, which he played over and over. 

Hmm, this doesn't sound like your average Marvel movie. They did say it was different from what we know, but was still good. Anyway ...

It may be nostalgia, but there's also something about looking back and seeing how far we've come (like from cassette tape walkmans to Smartphones). Mommy ran across something about Ghostbusters being back in theaters for their 30 year anniversary and said it's amazing we've gone from ghosts with the comic twist to things like Supernatural and Paranormal Activity with demons. Is it that we've lost our sense of humor, segregated comedy from cross-genre, or advances in the ability to produce special effects have raised the bar to where they have to knock our socks off (for those of you that wear socks)? Then again, you have to admit it's pretty cool. Back in the parronts day, things like Marvel and DC were limited to comics and action figures. They're on the big screen now, and pretty realistic. And you all know how I like Captain America (swoon!). 

I do have to admit that some of the music is good - and some is awful! The parronts seem to be having fun with this. Well, if they're happy then Zack and I can bob along with it. Here's one that I particularly enjoyed. 

That's all today. Take care, and have a great Labor Day weekend. 

Luv,

Chloe

Yea, birdies, it's football time! The college football season kicks off tomorrow when mommy and daddy's alma mater, the University of South Carolina, takes on Texas A&M. Go Gamecocks!

The parronts have been watching the SEC Network in preparation for the game since we got UVerse on Saturday. People in the south get very excited over college football. Mommy still laughs about the meeting she had in San Francisco when they separated into regions on Saturday morning, and everybody in her region had ESPN running on their tablets. Issues from the southeast region: ITS GAME DAY!! Hee hee hee!

Believe it or not, I'm a converted Gamecock. I actually grew up in an aviary in Piegon Forge, Tennessee. That's about an hour away from Knoxville and the University of Tennessee. I do like Carolina, but I have to admit: Rocky top, you'll always be home sweet home to me! Good ol' Rocky Top! Rocky top Tennessee! Go Vols! The parronts say they respect it as long as it's a Southeastern Conference school. 


Most of the world went all out for the World Cup last summer. Not in the southeast US. We've been waiting for right now - college football season. 


I hope you're doing well. Take care, and have a great rest of the week. 

Luv,

Chloe

Mommy believes that energy is all around us and has the potential to affect our moods, so she's been working hard to create "positive energy" in the home. She says that Chloe and I are the ultimate positive energy (and why not? Sun conures are awesome!), but she also tries to keep the house positive. Some ways she does this are opening the window blinds to let the sunlight in and keeping the house neat and tidy. She feels like a clean, sunny, organized home is a "happy energy base" to return to no matter what's happening in the world out there. 

I think this is true. You can tell if a home is happy or not, and one way is by how bright and cheerful it seems. Keeping random noise to a minimum also helps to keep us calm and happy. Good food, good people, and good fun make a good home. 

How's your home? Is it happy and cheerful? It's easy enough to make it that way. Just open the window blinds, get some great snacks, and play with your birdy buddies. That's a sure-fire recipe for success!

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week. 

Luv,

Zack 

First off, I’d like to open this entry by wishing my daddy a very happy birthday today!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Daddy!

Happy birthday to you!

And many more

Please have many more.

Zack and I love you, daddy!

Zack chattered with you last entry about ways our parronts try to relax after a busy day of work. One other way is humor. Mommy isn’t the greatest with jokes, but she does pass along goodies she hears every now. In this entry, I’d like to share a few with you. We’ll call these your Friday Funnies, since tomorrow is Friday. Pass them along!

First is one she saw the other day online. The humor in this one is the unexpected twist:

A man went to an auction where, after a heated bid war, he bought a parrot. He asked the auctioneer “does the parrot talk?”

“He sure does,” the auctioneer said, “he’s been bidding against you for the past thirty minutes.”

Some are puns like this one:

A nun was at an airport waiting on her flight. While sitting there alone, she spotted a machine with a sign that read “Tells your weight and fortune!”

“That’s nonsense,” she said, but she was bored, so she stepped to the machine and plunked in a quarter. A slip of paper came out that read “You are a nun. You weigh 95 pounds. You will play the fiddle.”

“That’s silly!” she said, sitting back down. “I’ve never played an instrument in my life!” But in a few minutes, a man sat next to her with a fiddle. Before she knew what she was doing, she picked up the fiddle and started playing.

“Wow! Who knew that?” Now she was curious about that machine. She went back and plunked in another quarter. A slip of paper came out that read “You are a nun. You weigh 95 pounds. You will pass gas.”

“Now I know that’s wrong because I’ve never done that in public in my life!” she said, but when she sat down, she let out the biggest toot imaginable.

“This is unbelievable!” she said. She went back the machine and plunked in another quarter. A slip of paper came out that read “You are a nun. You weigh 95 pounds. You fiddled and farted and missed your flight.”

Hee hee hee!

And now, here is mommy’s favorite joke. This one is based on the classic misunderstanding:

A preacher got his first assignment in a small community far from his home. Soon after starting, a homeless man that many people recognized passed away. Many in the small town thought it was a shame that this homeless man had no family, so they pooled their resources and asked the preacher to do a brief funeral service. The man was to be buried in a new cemetery on the outskirts of town. The preacher, thinking this would be a great time to prove his worth, agreed.

On the appointed day, he got lost. He hated to ask for directions, so he drove around until he hit the outskirts of town, where he saw a crew out in a field with heavy digging equipment. He rushed to the crew, shouting for them to stop. “I’m here! I’m sorry I’m late!” he shouted. The crew stood by silently with hats in hands and heads bowed as the preacher gave the best sermon of his life, extolling faith from Genesis to Revelation. As he finished, the crew silently returned their hats to their heads.

“Thank you for waiting on me gentlemen,” he said. “You can finish your job now.”

As he was walking away, he heard one of the men say softly “that’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been installing septic systems for twenty years.”

Now that’s just silly!

I hope you enjoyed your Friday Funnies! Take care, and have a great weekend.

Luv,

Chloe

The beginning of the school year is always the most stressful time of year for daddy. There's so much technology in schools now, and it seems that everybody forgets things like maintenance, basic care, and effective planning right when you need it most. I think it's that way with every job. What's interesting is to see how the parronts deal with stress and their relaxation techniques for when the work day is done. 

Daddy likes games and puzzles. Right now, I'm watching him play a game where he unlocks puzzles on his tablet. He gets one done and it's like "yay! here's another" and they give him another one. Chloe said she'd just eat that puzzle and be done with it. I don't think she gets it. 

Mommy likes writing and reading (of course), but she also likes to work off her stress by taking walks on breaks at work, or getting on the exercise bicycle here at home. She has a desk job, so she's stuck behind a computer and telephone all day (daddy is too, but he has to go around the school a lot to check on things). So she works off the excess energy with exercise, and then the excess mental energy through her writing and reading. 

I think it's good that they seem to have healthy ways to relax. Some people get stuck in bad habits, and I'm grateful that they've found good ways to unwind. And on weekends, we like our movies (and college football during the fall). You could say they're pretty well balanced people. We're proud of them for that. 

And of course, we're glad to help them any way we can, whether it's dancing to silly songs with mommy or throwing stray feathers on daddy's tablet while he unlocks yet another puzzle. 

Ok folks, in closing I want to give you a hint: the parronts both have birthdays coming up! Daddy's is on Thursday and mommy's is next Tuesday. 

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week. 

Luv,

Zack

Sometimes, mommy poses questions to me and Zack to “tickle our brains.” Often these questions have absolutely no relevance whatsoever to anything that matters – it’s just to work our brains. “Your brain is a muscle like everything else,” she says, “so use your noodle frequently and you’ll be both smart AND pretty birds.” That’s just it; we’re birds. We don’t think about the same things that humans do. For example, here are some recent riddles she posed to us:

·         What if Mars was actually the Garden of Eden, and Earth is humanity’s true banishment?

·         What if the alien invasion has already happened in the past, and what we call “evolution” is actually a merger of human and alien DNA?

·         How do probes have enough light to take pictures of the outer planets, like the recent pictures of a storm on Uranus?

Zack and I talked about it, and we decided that more relevant questions are:

·         Are you going to buy us new toys this weekend?

·         Are you going to give us tasty snacks soon?

·         Are you going to stop asking us questions soon?

We love mommy, but even daddy agrees: she overthinks things. She says that’s the peril of being an artist. Maybe. I just wonder if all writers ask their pets questions like this while they’re planning a new book (or, in her case, a trilogy). Zack and I are glad to be her muse and watch her stories develop from her shoulder. It’s interesting and fun. But these are questions for Google, not sun conures.

Humans, what can you do? They’re so silly. But one thing’s for sure – we can always count on mommy to amuse us.

That’s all today. I hope you have a Happy Friday and a great weekend.

Luv,

Chloe

I’ve been working overtime on snuggle duty! Consoling grieving humans is a big job, but I’m up to the challenge. Human companionship is, after all, my specialty. Along with being clever, cute, funny, and adorable!

It’s what companion parrots are for. We’re here for you through, through triumph and trials. Daddy has been taking advantages of my services this past week, and I’m glad I can be there for him. Chloe has been here for him too, but we decided that her primary objective is to keep an eye on mommy. We need to make sure the balance is maintained in the home, and she’s doing a great job of helping mommy to keep things moving and getting  back into our normal routine. The hens in our home are really good at running a tight ship here. Thank you, mommy! Chloe and I know you’ve struggled through this too, and yet you still keep your head on and keep it going. We’re here for you and we love you too!

Thank you all for your kind words and condolences over daddy’s loss of his own daddy. I think Chloe said it best in her last entry: you guys are always there for us, and you’re awesome. Friends online are just as real as friends in person. You’ve proven that, over and over again.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.

Luv,

Zack 

Dear Friends, 

Daddy, mommy, Zack and I want to thank you for your prayers, condolences, kind words and support over the loss of our Grandpa. He had dementia and his struggle, especially over the past few months, has been difficult to bear witness too. It wasn't an unexpected loss, but the struggle that went with it was overwhelming. 

You guys have been wonderfully supportive. One reason why mommy wrote "Invasion on Anipal Land" was as a way to thank you for your kindness and support when Ollie died. It's terrible that Grandpa followed him a little over 5 months later. And yet, you guys have been here, the whole way. You've been absolutely wonderful. Mommy and daddy have been overwhelmed by your outpouring of support. Words seem to small, but it's all we have. So thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. Anybody that says social media is rude and heartless doesn't know you guys. You've been a Godsend both when Ollie passed and now. 

We aren't usually "boy band" fans, but mommy ran across this today and felt like it expressed our sentiments to you perfectly:

Every time we're down, you can make it right
And that makes you larger than life.

You guys are larger than life. Thanks. Enjoy and have fun. The dancing robots and space battle is kind of neat, too. 


Take care and we hope you have a great weekend. 


Luv,

Chloe

“The friends of Anipal Land accept your surrender and suit for peace,” Zack said, standing on the dias with Jeff Musk on his left and the recently knighted Ser Jinx on his right. “You are welcome to live where you please in our lands so long as you hold to our mission to live in joy, harmony and peace. You will identify and hone your specialty skills under our tutelage and care and use them for the advancement, comfort, and support of our community.”

“As recompense for the damage done in the crops and subsequent battle, you will assist us in harvesting these crops and planting new ones for future growing seasons,” Jeff Musk said. “You will also help to clean up the fields and castle.”

“Additionally, you will be trained in proper battle technique, just in case we need it in the future,” Ser Jinx said. “You fought well, and with honor.” He turned to Benny. “And now, I ask that Benny read the casualty list.”

Benny stepped forward. “There were no causalities, Ser Jinx. The nurse birds have already healed the members of the invading army that suffered frostbite and burns from the cans of whoop up. There were minor scratches and scrapes from the battle and a few got tangled up when they tried to attack yarn birds on the perimeter. And then, um,” he gulped, glancing at Chloe, “other various bruises from the castle breech and ensuing melee.”

Chloe cackled. “They needed a bath, too, after sneaking in through the sewer pipes!”

Jinx joined in the cackling. “Maybe Chloe should help with your training. The ladies held up just as well as we did in the field!”

“We live in an open community that welcomes and defends all anipals,” Zack said. “I was wondering, why did you attack us? All you had to do was ask and we would have been glad to help you.”

Queen Beak stepped forward. “Our aviary closed and they were going to sell us to a zoo. We didn’t know what to do or how to survive. All we knew is that we were scared that we’d go extinct if we were mixed in a strange place with all of those big animals. We’re sorry.”

“All is forgiven,” Chloe said, putting a wing around Queen Beak, “and we welcome you to your new home.”

“And now the celebration feast!” Jeff Musk announced. “Everybody outside to begin the festivities!”

All of the anipals stepped outside in the sun to see tables set up with fruits and vegetables. The farmer birds had managed to salvage most of the crops so far, despite the weeds. Lola shyly pulled on Zack’s feathers as he took his place at the table. “Sir Zack? I heard you were worried about me and the other babies.”

“It turned out to be a fruitless worry. You did an excellent job defending us and the castle. Thank you, Lola. I didn’t mean to underestimate you just because you’re young.”

“No sir, that’s not it. Actually, I’m flattered by your concern.” She turned motioned to Seamus and Rain, who rolled a wheelbarrow of peanuts forward. “This is a gesture from me and the young birds to thank you for your protection and care.”

Zack’s eyes widened. “Oh boy!”

“We have another gift, too,” Sassy and Morty said, rolling up four barrels of popcorn with Nena and Mesha. “Jiffy Pop for your gallant capture of Queen Beak and bringing the peace.”

“Wow!” Zack said.

“We helped too, you know,” Chloe said. “And thanks for helping to heal the ones I taught you to whoop up on in the castle, too.”

“Oh, you’re so brave, Zack!” the girls gushed, crowding around and snuggling him. Zack’s cheeks flushed a deeper orange.

“I had an army out there too, you know,” Jinx said.

“You saved us all with your clever planning and ingenuity!” the girls said, surrounding Zack in a massive snuggle.

“But Chloe and Jeff and Killer worked with him, too,” Jinx said.

“You’re the best, Zack!” the girls cheered as Zack turned brighter orange.

“You know, we all worked together,” Chloe said. “Even you ladies helped too.”

“And he’s so handsome!”

“Aw, shucks. Anything for my friends!” Zack said, his voice muffled in the snuggle.

“Oh, forget it,” Benny said.

“Hey, where did Jeff go?” Chloe asked, looking around.

They heard a horn honk from the road nearby. “Hey guys!” Jeff Musk shouted from the driver’s seat of the bus. “Guess what day it is?”

“It’s hump day!” the camel shouted, jumping in front of the bus. Unfortunately, Jeff didn’t see the camel’s sudden appearance and hit him, knocking Camel into a nearby field. Jeff stopped the bus.

“No, it’s French Fry Friday!”

The camel looked up from where he landed, unharmed and smiling. “Oh yea, I guess it is Friday.”

All of the birds cheered and rushed to line up as Jeff handed out prizes from the French Fry express. Chatter broke out as the animals mingled to enjoy the fruits of the land and the treats they created from them.

“It’s such a beautiful day, and wonderful to welcome so many new anipals,” Chloe said, looking at the Queen of Bavaria’s, raccoons, and squirrels shyly mixing with the anipals that kept handing them food and treats.

“It certainly is. It’s always wonderful to welcome new friends, don’t you think?” Zack asked, coming out of the snuggle with mussed feathers.

“Muuuh,” said Un Buey.

Everybody laughed, peeling open French Fries in the sun and enjoying a perfect day filled with friends, food, fun, peace, joy and happiness.

THE END.

Zack, Killer, and Jinx were marching the prisoners into the castle when they were stopped by Frankie, Seamus, and Goofus. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” Goofus said.

“Why not?” Killer asked. They paused when they heard glass break inside the social room. “Aren’t the girls in there? What’s happening?”

“A squadron of Queen of Bavaria’s broke through the ranks and got in the castle.”

“What happened?” Jinx asked.

“We don’t know,” Seamus said. “We think they snuck in through some pipe or something. We heard a rucus in there and, well, here you have it.”

“It’s actually for your own protection that I suggest you let them, um,” Goofus said.

“Work it out,” Frankie finished.

“Work what out?” Zack asked, opening the door. He ducked as a Queen of Bavaria flipped over his head.

“Whoops!” Sweet Pea said. “Sorry, Zack. I didn’t expect the door to open,” she turned to grab another Queen of Bavaria and flipped it expertly through the air.

“What is this?” Killer asked, watching as Chloe, Sweet Pea, Lola, Sassy, Morty, and all the hens grabbed Queen of Bavaria’s splattered in muck, flipping them over and throwing them against walls. One Queen of Bavaria whined from where they hung in the chandelier, stuck in the fancy crystal beads. Killer’s feathers drooped. “And what’s that foul smell?”

“Everybody is Kung-Fu fighting!” Jinx said.

“Wait,” the Queen of Bavaria chained to Zack said, pointing to Chloe. “Is that who I think it is?”

Zack bobbed his head. “It is.”

“Oh no,” the Queen of Bavaria hung her head. “If I knew she was here, we would have never attacked. No wonder we were defeated so quickly!”

“What do you mean?” Goofus asked.

“Certainly, you can see. Chloe Conure is legendary in the conure community. She holds multiple black belts and was the most deadly bird in the aviary. Nobody wanted to be in a cage match with her!”

“I can see why nobody would want to be in a cage with her,” Killer said, watching wide eyed as Chloe grabbed a Queen of Bavaria by the tail and put her in a whirling spin before releasing her into the chandelier with her friend. Stinky muck dripped off both birds stuck in the chandelier, leaving splotches on the floor.

Zack cackled. “Chloe wanted to keep it a secret. She’s a mixed martial arts master and world champion.  She trained all of the girls here. She believes it’s good for self discipline and building confidence. She says beauty starts from within and a confident bird is a beautiful bird.”

“Is that what they really do in her beauty parlor all morning?” Jinx ducking as Sassy and Morty flung a Queen of Bavaria over his head .

“Sorry, Jinx!” Sassy said, blushing.

Jinx fluffed. “It’s alright. Carry on, ladies!”

“No, don’t!” the Queen of Bavaria chained to Zack shouted. “Stop! We surrendered! No more fighting.” She hung her head. “Goodness knows, we can’t afford to get beat up anymore.”

Chloe pecking the Queen of Bavaria she had pinned under her foot, looking up at the voice. “Queen Beak, is that you?”

“It’s me, Chloe. We surrender. We ask for your mercy.”

The girls cheered as the boys released a sigh of relief.