I want to thank all of you for your care and concern over the weekend. I know that daddy tweeted that I wasn’t feeling well. It turns out that it was sleep deprivation. We got in a bad habit of staying up too late around the weekend, and it caught up with me. Thankfully, mommy and daddy have worked hard to get back on schedule, and I’ve been doing much better the past couple of days. 

I think one thing that’s been an issue is that daddy switched work schedules recently. In June and July, he works longer days Monday thru Thursday and has Fridays off. That’s thrown me off and mommy said she noticed that each Friday I seemed a bit more “off.” Daddy’s back to working his regular, 5 day week now. I’m sorry he doesn’t have Fridays off any more, but being back on our normal schedule has helped me. We’re going to have to figure out a way to make that schedule work better for me, Zack and Ollie next summer. We love having our parronts home more, but if our sleep schedule gets disrupted too much then we get snappy. They’re working on making sure we have a more consistent daily schedule now. 

Plus, I lost a few feathers over the weekend. I’m not sure if my fall molt is starting or if that was a side effect of the sleep deprivation. Even though it’s still summer in South Carolina and will be for at least another 6 weeks, I suppose the “nature cycle” is going into the late summer patterns and molting time is upon us. Ollie just finished his molt last week and I guess Zack and I have turns coming soon. That always makes us feel kind of blah too. 

Thanks to all of you for being such great friends! I’m flattered that you were concerned about my well being. You guys are the best. I couldn’t ask for better friends than you. Thank you and God bless you all! I’m sorry that I didn’t blog sooner, but mommy is my typist and she’s been very busy trying to keep things going at  home lately. It seems the chores and errands avalanche on her every now and then, and it happened over the past couple of days. Plus, August is a busy time for the parronts with work, lots of birthdays, family and friend visits, etc. Sometimes, keeping the routine business of day to day living is a job in itself! 

That’s all today. Take care.

Luv,

Chloe

Well folks, mommy and daddy didn't win the PowerBall drawing. And now mommy is complaining because she wants her $2 back. I don't think it works like that, mommy. Good grief, these silly humans. Gambling really doesn't suit her. She should definitely stay away from Vegas, eh? 

The lottery - who came up with that idea? A bunch of people spend money on a ticket for an infinity times infinity chance at winning an impossibly big jackpot. Seriously, it's like five point three seven million to one chance. Who thought that was a good idea? And yet people do it. They all think they're going to be "the one." Silly humans. At least other games have a strategy, like Blackjack and poker. (Although I don't know what it is). The lottery is a bunch of Barbie and Ken dolls drawing ping pong balls with numbers on them. If they mess with that anymore. People have better things to do. They probably use a computer to pick the numbers now. Hmm. It's still silly. 

It's a good thing birds don't believe in luck. We believe in living the best you can and being happy with what you have. It's why we're so cheerful all the time. That, and kind human suckers - I mean, parronts - to take care of us.

I think I'm going to spin my hypno wheel and sing a bit before bedtime.

That's all today. I hope you have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a great weekend!

Luv,

Ollie

Do you humans realize how funny you are sometimes? You're absolutely silly! Like now, the parronts are watching "V for Vendetta" and they're going OMG! That's how things are going now!

Yep, you're right. The government is out to get you. That steak you ate for supper gravely offended them, and mommy's writing has bored them to sleep too many times. They're coming for you. Mommy and daddy say art imitates life. I say it's made by people, so it reflects people. Duh. If I did something, you'd expect it to be particularly birdish, wouldn't you?

They've also been watching Seinfield lately, and those are some people that get into some silly fixes. The problem is, regular people get in fixes too. Mommy seems to be particularly prone to this. Like the time she took the bug zapper to a moth and it blew up. Or the time she got behind the wrong police car in a funeral procession and wound out at Chick-fil-A instead of the graveside service. Or the time she called Pizza Hut and asked for the special that Dominos was running. Or just tonight, when Chloe tried to hide in her hair, but she had conditioner in it so Chloe slid out of it like a Slip-n-Slide, complete with the crash landing.

Silly humans. They amuse me so much. Who says a life of captivity is bad? I love my life. These people pamper me and treat me like royalty. And they're so silly that I'm always cackling at something!

Here's hoping you have kind humans taking care of you - with the right amount of silly added in!

Luv,

Zack

You’ll have to excuse mommy and daddy these days. They’ve both faced illness and tough situations at work, and as such it’s worn their nerves raw. If you see some odd posts, it’s probably them ranting again. 

Humans – who can figure them? Nothings ever right. They’re either too stressed out or bored. It’s too hard or not hard enough. Not enough time or not enough money (or both!). They can’t seem to get it right. Balance is a real problem with them. 
 
I’m happy to report that healthwise, they’re improving. Their infections have cleared up, and they’re getting better. Now to deal with people. As mommy says, it seems it’s always some (word with asterisks) thing. If that’s the case, then you’d think they’d be used to dealing with the same old problems. But they aren’t. They still get aggravated, or confused, or angry, or sad. I can’t figure it out. 
 
It makes me glad I’m a bird. Life is simple for us. Food, flock and fun. That’s what life’s all about. If only we were all birds. 

That’s all today. I hope you have a great week and a happy 4th of July!


Luv,


Chloe


  
  

Mommy and daddy have had a run of bad luck this week. Mommy got a sinus infection on Monday. On Tuesday, the air conditioning went out and we had some ants visit the kitchen that weren't invited over for dinner. On Wednesday mommy's email got hacked. And today, mommy had complications with side effects of her medication.

The humans are afraid to get out of bed tomorrow. Well really, who can blame them? I'd have been behind a toy or hunkered in my cozy corner days ago!

Hopefully, the bad luck has run out. Mommy and daddy are finally getting better with their sinus infections. Mommy had some medicine left over for the side effects from her last infection, so luckily she didn't have to call the doctor or visit the pharmacy again. The air conditioner was a blown out coil. They said it looked like lightening damage. Goodness! If that coil was all it hurt, then we were lucky! And daddy sprayed for the ants and they haven't been back - but mommy called the exterminator for professional treatment anyway and he's coming tomorrow. As or her email, she's done a massive password change and has set a reminder in her phone to change those passwords on a regular basis. Thankfully, there was no virus on her computer. Her provider realized she had been hacked and shut down outgoing emails in the

What can I say? There are days like that. And I have to admit that I admire how the parronts are forging on, despite it all. They're keeping their chin up. Mommy didn't even get mad at me for pooping all over her bathrobe this morning. Maybe she's worn out - or maybe that was nothing compared with the poop they've been dealing with all week!

Anyway, tomorrow is Friday and thank God it is. For better or worse, the work week will be over, and we'll have time to relax and recover from it all this weekend.

That's all today. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a great weekend.

Luv,

Zack

Hi everybody! Well, it started out as a joke on Twitter one night when I was bored and throwing out amusing tag  lines for stories. Guess what? The sci-fi story stuck and mommy helped me write it. She posted it on Writing.com today to see what kind of reaction this tongue-in-beak story gets.

Mommy's actually written several stories pondering what adventures we have while she and daddy are at work every day. This is the fourth story in what she calls "The Avian Adventures Series." She's considered putting them together into one volume when she has enough stories to do that. Now, pray tell, how many stories would that be? Given that these silly adventures average 3-4 pages a piece, I'd say a lot.

Well, I'm proud of us having worked together on this one and now I proudly bring you an early draft of Avian Aliens!

Luv,

Chloe

Zack gnawed at the wood log toy in his cage, determined to break through it’s core. He didn’t know what secrets lay inside the toy that mommy jokingly called “the monolith,” but he was determined to find out. And if it was just wood, finishing it off was a surefire way to get a brand new toy in here once she and daddy got home from work. 

“Zack, can you keep it down?” Chloe asked from the back of her cage, where she snuggled against her cozy corner. “I’m trying to get in a power nap before mommy and daddy get home from work.”

“I’m almost there!” Zack said, continuing his voracious chewing. “Soon, we shall behold the secrets that lie within the wooden toy.”

 Ollie emitted a series of chirps that sounded like laughter. Zack gave Ollie a warning glare. Ollie squawked and resumed his preening. 

“Have at it, big brother,” Chloe said, resting her head against her back for a midafternoon nap. 

Zack resumed his chewing and was soon surprised when a piece of wood broke off, exposing the center of the toy. He peered inside and saw what looked like a lever in the center of the toy. Curious, Zack grabbed the lever and pulled it with all of the power in his mighty conure beak. A pink light erupted in the room followed by a bang. Zack disappeared and a large, pink parrot with blue eyes appeared in the center of the room. 

“Well, I’ll be darn,” Chloe said. “So that’s what happens when you get to the center of the wooden chew toy!”

“Greetings, Earth birds!” the pink bird said, raising his foot in a standard salutation. “My name is Eeagor. I am from the planet Orthea.”

“It sounds like a pesticide,” Ollie said. 

Eeagor turned to stare at Ollie. “Ah, a budgie! And a green and yellow too! Those are the finest specimens. You’ll make a fine addition to our budgie-bot brigade.”

“The budgie-bot brigade? What’s that?” Chloe asked. 

“We assimilate our finest budgies into a cybernetic avian lifeform that serve as our defenders and protectors. The one you call ‘Ollie’ is the best specimen we’ve seen in all the worlds we’ve visited.”

“Thank you,” Ollie said, “it’s good to be best at something. I’m the littlest one here.”

“Young friend, you will soon behold power beyond your wildest dreams,” Eeagor said, lifting his foot. Their cage doors opened and Ollie flew into Eeagor’s foot. A metallic talon ejected from Eeagor’s foot and he poised to poke Ollie with it. 

“No! Leave my brother alone!” Chloe screamed. Chloe leaped from their cages in a coordinated attack. Chloe grabbed Eeagor from behind with her wickedly-sharp beak, drawing green blood from his neck. 

“Ouch! You wicked little hen!” Eeagor yelled, dropping Ollie and turning to Chloe. She stood tall, her beak open and poised for another strike. 
 
“Wow, I haven’t seen her that mad since Zack stepped on her tail!” Ollie said. “Go Chloe! Sock it to him!”

“Come on, pinky! Meet the beak! Say hello to my little friend!” Chloe screamed, her eyes pinpointing and her feathers flaring. Eeagor stared in shock as she charged him, launching across the floor in a blur and jumping headlong into Eeagor. He pounded against the back wall with the force of her hit. They rolled on the floor in a blur of yellow, orange and pink feathers until Chloe pinned Eeagor, pounding him with her beak and breaking open green oozing wounds in his pink feathers. It looked like the battle was won until he emitted a shriek and swung at Chloe with his talon. She knocked against the wall. 

“Nobody hurts my sister!” Ollie shouted. “And I’ll never be a budgie-bot!” He grabbed Eeagor’s foot with his beak and lifted him off the floor, slamming Eeagor against furniture and the floor until the metallic talon broke off. 

“No, stop! I yield!” Eeagor screamed as blood dribbled from where the talon broke out of his leg. 

Chloe ran back to Eeagor, pinning him to the floor with her foot again. “Who do you think you are, coming here and threatening to turn my baby brother into a cyborg bird?”

 “I’m trying to free you from the tyranny of those ugly, wretched bipeds!” Eeagor said, staring at the picture on the wall next to Chloe’s cage. 
 
“Those are our parents,” Chloe growled as Ollie climbed into Zack’s cage, studying the toy for the lever.

Eeagor’s blue eyes widened in shock. “But how? You’re birds. They’re human. That’s impossible!”

“We’re adopted, you idiot,” Ollie said from Zack’s cage. “And your time here is over.” He pulled the lever in Zack’s toy. The pink light erupted again with a flash. Eeagor and his talon were gone, along with the green blood and mess on the floor. Zack reappeared in his cage, looking shocked.  


“Oh, thank goodness!” Chloe said, climbing back into her cage and pulling the door closed. 

“What just happened?” Zack asked. “I was in the strangest place that had pink birds with blue eyes. They had a horde of cybernetic budgies that tied me with something that looked like mommy’s cross stitch yard and carried me through their streets. They said they were taking me to their leader. I was so scared.” 

“Are you alright?” Chloe asked. 

“I’m fine,” Zack said, breathing heavy. “Are you both okay?”

“We’re fine,” Ollie said. "One of their birds got through. He wanted to make me a budgie-bot, but Chloe and I put up a great fight.”

Zack cackled. “I’ve taught both of you well. Thanks for pulling that lever and bringing me back. Zack gave the toy a punch, sending it swinging. The bottom portion of the toy broke off, severing the switch. “Remind me not to pull any switches inside my toys anymore!”

"I don’t think we’ll have that problem anymore,” Ollie said, climbing out of Zack’s cage and returning to his own.

They were silent as the garage door lifted, signaling that mommy and daddy had returned home from work. “Hi guys! Did you have a good day?” mommy asked, pulling them from their cage. 

“Oh, it looks like Zack finished another toy,” daddy said, reaching in to take out the broken wood chew toy. “Goodness, you destroyed that thing! Are you ready for a new toy now, buddy?”

 Zack cackled and winked at Chloe and Ollie, who cackled in return. Yes, they were ready for him to have a new toy. One with more fun and fewer surprises this time!

It's been a bad week here! It started with Ollie molting. Poor fellow lost so many green feathers that we're surprised he has any on his body! Mommy put some molting treatment in his food and that seemed to help him feel better. The molt is slowing down now, and we hope our baby brother is feeling much better.

Then tropical storm Andrea came through, triggering a migraine that plagued mommy on and off for 3 days. Not only that, but it caused mommy and daddy to have sinus problems from blowing in all of that tropical mess and then the grass pollen shot up once the storm passed. And then, to top it all off, mommy and daddy got a virus that just made them feel beat and busted after stressful weeks at work. Mommy had 2 meetings and it was the last week of school for daddy, which was pandemonium.

So Zack and I were the only ones that came out unscathed this week. We've tried to comfort Ollie, mommy and daddy the best we can. They so appreciate our support. We try. We try really hard to be super sweet and comfort them, especially at times like this. That's our job, after all - to love and comfort each other and our human companions. What can I say? We do our best. We must have done alright, because mommy and daddy went by the grocery store earlier and brought home Jiffy Pop. There are no holidays or celebrations, so we must have been good!

That's all today. Thanks goodness it's the weekend. We need it! I hope you have a good one, and that we recover from this week that best us up.

Luv,

Chloe

Yea, birdy buddies, we sure are ready for the long weekend here! Of course, you know  me. Any reason to celebrate is a good one. I'm a party bird. I think I enjoyed Chloe's birthday more than she did. I love to celebrate!

And why not? When you're a pet bird, life is good. We've got it made. And now mommy and daddy are going to be home with us for 3 whole days. Yippee! Let the free play fun time begin! Sleeping in, followed by preening, playing, hanging out on daddy's shoulder and listening to Ollie sing, showing Chloe how to properly destroy her toys - these are a few of MY favorite things!

I'm excited. Life is good and now it's a long weekend and summertime. Hooray!

I hope you've all had a happy Friday and that you have a good weekend planned. Be safe and have fun if you're traveling. If you aren't (like us), then enjoy the extra time to rest and do some things you want to do.

Have a great weekend.

Luv,

Zack

Our house is full of celebrations these days! Mommy and daddy celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on Thursday, May 16. We decided to call it "flock formation day" so we could all join in the fun. They took a couple of days off work, and it was so nice to have them at home. We're getting spoiled! It's going to be tough when they go back to work tomorrow (maybe).

Then on Friday our friend, Disco the Parakeet, was on The Today Show. We all sat in front of the TV and watched. It was so exciting to see him on TV, and to see his fine flock too! He has a lovely family, he performed superbly, and best of all, he said on Twitter and Facebook that he had a lot of fun doing it - which is the most important thing.

Mommy and daddy went to see Star Trek Into Darkness on Friday. They liked it so much that they took some friends from out of town to the theater to see it Saturday. They won't shut up about that movie. Really, they were impressed. It must be good. I can't wait to see it when we can get it on our Apple TV. Mommy said she'd buy it on iTunes just as soon as it comes out. But her walking around the house saying "shall we begin?" is a bit creepy. That must be one heck of a villain they have in that movie. She said there's another scene that will make it obvious who in the theater was a Trekkie and who wasn't. But I can't say which one it is because I don't want to throw out any spoilers for those that haven't seen it yet.

Today was church. It's the first Sunday in Pentecost, which is a celebration of the day the Holy Spirit came to us. Big festival service - mommy and daddy were at church longer than usual. Then it was time for mommy to get back to work to get ready for the week. She bought groceries, cleaned the house, and checked her work email. I'm glad she got groceries early, because we had a nasty storm around 4:00 that dumped 4.5 inches of rain on us in 45 minutes. It just went on and on and on. The driveway flooded, but thankfully we have a gravel driveway, so it's already drained off. I think there's more chances of rain tonight and tomorrow. I sure hope  our friends in the mid-west are safe. We saw some scary things about tornados in there on The Weather Channel earlier! If you don't have a NOAA weather radio, it might be a good idea to get one. You can also set your smartphone to get weather alerts through The Weather Channel app too. As for us, we're fine, and the house is clean too.

Tomorrow is my birthday! Actually, it's a celebration of the day mommy and daddy adopted me. I'm already 10, but we celebrate on May 20 because that was my "gotcha day" in 2010. It's hard to believe it's been 3 years! I love it here. This is a great home and my mommy and daddy are the best.

Speaking of that, mommy did finish the rough draft of her sci-fi novella, Incursion, last Monday. She knew it would be busy for the rest of last week, so she finished it in a big push at the beginning of the week before everything else took off. Good planning on her part, I think.

So that's what's happening in our corner of the world. I hope you're all doing well. Stay safe if you're in the path of the bad weather, and take care. I hope you have a good week.

Luv,

Chloe

Hi everybody, sorry it's been a while since we updated. Reason #1 is that mommy is working on a new writing project. It's a novella - that's basically a very short novel, around 15,000 - 20,000 words. She's calling it her summer project and is really excited about it. It's a sci-fi novel. Check out her blog for more on "the novella project" (she doesn't have a title for the piece yet and it's driving her crazy - hee hee!). She's only written a couple of chapters, and her first excerpt went up tonight. I hope you enjoy it. Of course, all of us birdies are helping. She talks to us about it a lot, running ideas by us and such. Helping mommy write is fun.

It's been busy in other ways too - there's lots to squawk about! Daddy got sick with a virus Thursday. Fortunately, it passed quickly and he was better Friday. They were happy it passed quickly too, because they went to Charleston, SC to see Iron Man 3 in IMAX 3D with some friends on Saturday. I was a little peevish about that because Iron Man is my favorite Avenger and they didn't take me. I had to stay home while the grandparents watched me! Oh well, I guess I'll catch it on streaming video in the fall. And I still get to keep up with my favorite DC Character, Oliver Queen aka The Green Arrow, every Wednesday on Arrow (CW on Wednesdays at 8!). Two more episodes until my namesake wraps up his first season and it's been great!

So they had fun seeing the movie and hanging out in downtown Charleston with their friends, but it's good it was a quick trip. It was rainy Sunday and mommy was cranky because she had to get groceries and while she was out, she started to feel bad. Lo and behold, she got the virus daddy has Thursday. Then once she got home and they unloaded the groceries, the power went out for 2 hours. No explanation for that little mystery, but it caused supper to be late. That meant no evening snack since they ate their meal late, so our Jiffy Pop reward for being good for the grandparents on Saturday has been deferred to tonight.

While the power outage snafu was in place, Chloe slipped and hurt her foot. Thank goodness, it must have been minor. She was gimpy last night but when she woke up this morning she seemed to be all better. Mommy was home sick so she kept an eye on Chloe. So far, so good. Chloe is getting around fine - walking, climbing, and playing without missing a beat. If anything she might be a little sleep deprived. Daddy came downstairs and checked on her at 3:30 a.m. That didn't sit well with any of us, but I guess he was worried.

Mommy did start feeling better around suppertime today, and we're glad. She felt good enough to give Zack a bath. Now he's mad. So I guess we've all had something to squawk about over the past 4 days. Oh well, life's like that sometimes. You keep on living.

So that's what's up in our corner of the world. I hope you're doing well and that you have a good week. Keep up with me on Twitter, as I've taken over the @ChloeConure account for a while. We mutually agreed to it. She wanted a break and I wanted the spotlight, so it all worked out!

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

Luv,

Ollie