I just about peed my pants...

One of my best lovahs in the whole world, we'll shorten up her fabulous name to "L," lives here in the DC-metro area. I have known her since we were.. umm. three years old-ish. We lived together for part of the year last year when my husband was deployed. She's nothing short of fabulous.

A month or two ago, she emailed me. We hadn't really had a chance to catch up since I had moved up to Drum to be with my husband in January. It was a quick email highlighting several pieces of news/gossip/etc that I needed to know about and also to inform me that when an unplanned package arrived in a week or so -- no, the unabomber had not picked us out for terrorizing -- it was simply a book that she thought I would find hilarious.

Well, folks, it freaking is.

Trust me, there is a reason this guy writes for SNL.

It is a SHORT read. Super dead-pan humor that L and I both love and enjoy. I had a few chances today and this evening at her office in between work items to read not only the first book, but also the follow-up book.

The first book?

Ant Farm by Simon Rich

L mentioned that his stories were almost like cartoons, but in written form for you to imagine. At first I didn't really get it.

But then there was a "story" contrived in letter form, from a teacher to a student's parent. It explained how sorry the teacher was to hear about the 10 different family funerals he had to be absent for and the tragic house explosion that they had endured as well. I could not stop laughing, thinking of this devious fictitious child and all of the notes from "his parents" about why he had missed school. 

Could. Not. Stop. Laughing.

The second book?

Free-Range Chickens

Again, hysterical. I think I loved this one even more than the first.

The seven year old's version of the tooth fairy was hysterical. And then there was his writing about running marathons. I think I might save that for comedic relief on the 31st -- when I was supposed to run my first marathon. 

If you have a dry and dead-pan sense of humor, you MUST check these out.

I highly recommend these two books, but do so with one word of caution -- empty your bladder first. I promise, when you're doubled over in laughter, you'll thank me.