Ahem... If you will turn your attention to Joan...

ACK!

Okay, okay, sorry to start a posting that way. I'm just a little nuts right now.

It's just that Shimmy, my gerbil, just had her babies! FIVE OF THEM! Also, this morning, when Shimmy was just having her babies, my parakeet, Sunny, decided that she would learn how to talk. So, now, hours later, we have five baby gerbils and a talking parakeet. The most annoying thing is WHAT Sunny says. Most of it, she picked up when we were running around crazy. She says the following: "FIVE!?!?! Oh, gosh, gotta go. I'm late! Where did you put. Baby gerbils!"

So, that's about it. Just kind of figured I'd tell about these interesting events.

We Interrupt This Program for an Important News Bulletin!

News flash! No, nothing interesting has come up, particularly. I'm just giving a general update.

School/Activities: I got the lead in the Halloween Play at school. I also have a baton twirling show the day before the play opens. I'm the executive editor for the school newspaper. And I'm still the patrol leader of the Palomino Patrol.

Pets: Blackie is the same as always, Peanut is bigger and more rambunctious, The Cats have become increasingly wary of Peanut, Shimmy and Squeak have learned to ride in a pocket, Mary is at the Farm, Muriel is same as always, The Geese are always trying to "defend" me from Peanut, Shimmer hasn't been looking so good, and Sunny has learned to imitate the song "King of The Golden Hall" from the Lord of The Rings movie in the whole.

"That's All Folks!"

Recent Additions

Yesterday, I was picking berries in the backyard when Mom said there was a phone call for me, from the vet.
Now, sometimes a dog breeder ends up with a few "imperfect" pups. Often they take these to the vet to be put down. However, the vet might say they'll kill them, but, once the breeder has left, they find owners for the puppies. Such was the case yesterday.
Recently a breeder had dropped off a perfectly healthy beagle puppy. For whatever reason, they wanted it put to sleep. So, the vet called me. After seeing me come in with so many pets, they figured I wouldn't mind another one. With the appropriate parental permission, I accepted the offer of a beagle.
Today I picked him up. He's really friendly and very cute. I named him Peanut. Grizabella and Mistoffoles were wary of him, but Blackie took to him at once. She started licking him and sniffing him like a mother dog. Soon, they were snuggled together.
Peanut is an adorable little guy, and I have a feeling we'll have a lot of fun.

My 13th Birthday

It was my 13th birthday recently. I had Sophie and Allie over for dinner and cake (chocolate with chocolate frosting, of course). It was a ton of fun because...
Mom and Dad gave me pet gerbils for my birthday! One's a boy and one's a girl. I named them Shimmy and Squeak. They love their colorful cage, and it can sit many places in the house.
Gerbils have to be the best rodents. They are hyperactive but not terribly nervous. The cage won't need to be cleaned all the time, but they do throw their bedding around a bit. The cage I have it plastic without large openings, so no problem. They don't drink a lot of water, meaning, uh, less ... And they are super cute! Either will sit happily in a shirt pocket.
All in all, a good birthday.

The Wasabi Touch

Oh dear, oh well, oh boy! Some girls started a stupid (very) rumor about me. Not really a rumor, though. Today, on a dare, I put wasabi peas into a half-full bottle of apple juice, shook it up, and drank it (it sounds worse than it is). Well Zoe (read back a bit for a full description) saw me and started this thing called the "Wasabi Touch". According to them, I have it and anyone I touch also has it. Sophie and Allie both took my side and got it. Now we have it, but the only ones who stay away from us are annoying people. We'll see what happens. I might be able to lord over them. On the other hand, I could insure that everybody in the world gets it. Hmm...

Welcome to The Joan Zone!

I would like to call attention to the change in name of this blog. You've entered The Joan Zone. No particular reason, except that I thought it was better. I only intended Me, Joan to be somewhat like the web page. So, I changed it. I like it!

Amish Friendship Bread

Help! We're swimming in Amish Friendship Bread! For those of you not cursed by this parasitic food, I will explain. It all starts when someone gives you a loaf of bread and a plastic bag of starter. The "starter" is yellowish and smells a bit. You squish it and add flour, sugar, and milk. Then you wait. Then you scoop some out, mix it with other stuff, and bake it. You save some, though, so you can go through the whole process again. We got a bag of goop at Christmas, and it has become an obsession. The only strange thing is that you use instant pudding in the bread, so it's not very Amish. However, if you use chocolate pudding mix, you get something that resembles brownies. Yum. But let this be a warning to those who start a bag: DON'T.

My Cousin Rachel

Last you heard of my cousin Rachel, she came to Thanksgiving. Well, now there is some very, very, happy news about her. She's getting married in May. She got engaged on New Year's Day to a really sweet guy. We're all happy, but the immediate family is a little crazy. The family women (note-- I'm not one of them, I'm a girl) are a little caught up in the "planning" frenzy. Rachel is rather laid-back and is not worried. This should be fun. :-)