Episode 75 🎪: Parenting, True Crime and Choas: Snail Faces, Secret Step-Families & The Marsh King’s Daughter – Chaos, Crime & Book Club Revelations

Hosts: Stefanie Navarro & Meredith Hill
Run Time: ~60 min
Theme: Weird world records, pop culture deep dives, an uninvited stepmom scandal, and a chilling review of The Marsh King’s Daughter.

🎧 In This Episode:

It’s another wild week under the big top, and Stefanie and Meredith are bringing the chaos. From Guinness World Records that make you gag (43 snails on your face?!) to parrots swearing at tourists, the bizarre takes center stage. They also discuss what not to do on a Zoom call (hello, monitor gate), give their takes on the drama-filled wedding AITA post, and dive deep into The Marsh King’s Daughter—a gripping survivalist thriller with serious psychological twists.

💬 Topics Covered:

🖥️ Monitor Gate & Mansplaining Mayhem
– Meredith shares her tech support nightmare and the satisfying moment she proved she wasn’t “just being dramatic.”

🐾 Walking Disasters & Doorbell Cameras
– Rex drags Stefanie across the asphalt mid-walk. Spoiler: it was caught on camera, and her knees are paying the price.

📺 Watch List Picks:
– 1923, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Stolen Girl, and Banshee
– Plus: a new obsession with a baby alpaca named Noodle.

🌍 World’s Weirdest Records:
– Eye-popping feats (literally), most feet sniffed (ew), and the least impressive M&M challenge of all time.

🦟 Flight from Hell:
– 90 minutes trapped on a mosquito-infested plane. We’re still itching.

🧠 AITA: Stepmom Uninvited from the Wedding?!
– A throwaway account with a heartbreaking twist: a groom sides with his bio mom… and tries to gaslight his stepmom out of the wedding.

📚 Book Club – The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne
– Survival in the marsh. A daughter born of abduction. A predator on the run.
– The hosts unpack psychological trauma, moral ambiguity, and whether Helena’s emotional detachment is terrifying… or totally understandable.

📖 Next Week’s Read:
No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall – Sisters, secrets, and a cold case that won’t stay buried.

🧠 Quote of the Week:

“I could eat 22 M&Ms in one handful and call it a Tuesday. Where’s my world record?”
 — Stefanie, unimpressed by snack-based records

📢 Announcements:

• Our VIP Circus Crew is coming soon – get ready for full video episodes, behind-the-scenes chaos, and exclusive content
• Please leave a rating & review if you’re loving the show—it means the world!

💥 Don’t Forget:

• Subscribe to the podcast
• Leave a review wherever you listen
• Follow us on Instagram & TikTok @thisismycircuspodcast
• Send this episode to a friend who loves books, bizarre trivia, and bold opinions

🎪 Until next time, keep the bugs off, the alpacas close, and the kids only mildly feral.

This is our circus… and these are definitely our monkeys. 🐒

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to, this is my circus, the podcast where we embrace the chaos and keep it real about parenting, pop culture, true crime, and the books we can't put down because let's be honest, life is one big circus and we're just trying to survive with caffeine, sarcasm, and a little true crime obsession. So if you love unfiltered conversation, questionable parenting hacks, and deep dives into the things that keep us up at night, you're in the right place. Buckle up, grab your popcorn, and let's get into the chaos. I'm Stephanie. I'm Meredith. And welcome to, this is my circus. Did you like that? I felt like you're a little dummy and you were the ventriloquist and I was saying it with you. Sorry. Was I moving my lip? No, I was, you were saying it I don't know why I did it. You know, when Dylan was little and I would feed him and I thought you said Beat him. Beat him. I would take the spoon and I would open my mouth. I'd be like, oh, absolutely. And Brandon would laugh at me. He'd be like, why do you do that? I'm like, I don't know. I don't know either. I think it's like trying to mentally tell him to open his mouth. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. A hundred percent. When I'm helping Ashley with the weddings and she tells everybody to smile or whatever, I do it. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. And then she has some where she has people turn around and she's like taking pictures of their backs while they're, looking at each other and stuff. And I'm like, make sure you're smiling. And they're like, we were, yeah. I'm like, yeah, I know. I think it's just, our brains are just wired to do certain things, I think. Yeah. Yep. So have you been I've been Okay. I've been so freaking busy. Yeah. So I've been doing contract work, but they hired me on full time. Oh, congratulations. Yeah. I'm very excited about that. Mm-hmm. Vacation time is, is a huge thing. Yeah so started that this week. Still trying to catch up from being. Off a couple days last week, even though I worked, while I was down at the beach, some I wasn't in my environment. I felt a little off. Right. so just still trying to catch up and do all the things. They sent me two monitors so I don't have to use my old one anymore. Good use there. So just spent time trying to organize that and get that together. But listen to this, uh, oh, listen to, I had to put up straight. Y'all. She like shifted her whole body to like straight Yes. A story. Yes. This is a story. So, they send you all the monitors, nothing's put together, like the cords are just bundled and that's okay. Like I can figure out how to do it. The monitors have like an arm and then a base. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, that base goes on the thing and then it connects to the whatever. You're smart too. You can figure out, right? Yeah. So I got the first one put together. I clicked the little arm in and then I took the screwdriver and I put the screws on the bottom, perfect cord's plugged in, works, it's great. The next one I went same exact monitor and the one side of the base looks the same, but when you actually flip'em over, they're look just enough different that like the screw holes don't align and, and that kind of thing. So I even gave it to Brian, I was like, look, am I, can you just give this a once over and make sure I'm not losing my mind? You know, don't like going through the hassle of calling support for anything. Um, let alone I can't screw this in. He is like, no. He said, I can make it work if we need to, I was like, I'll just call. Yeah, it's their stuff. They should be able to just send me a new one or tell me what to do. Like I don't, whatever. So. I called today, put in a support ticket.'cause you know, that's the process with these things. Mm-hmm. And I got a ping today. Hey Meredith, did you get your monitor figured out? And I said, well, the monitor works.'cause I had plugged in and tested that. I said, but the base does not fit properly. His response was like, huh, that's interesting. And I'm like, yep. And he's like, okay, well can you send me a picture of them? Sure. So I send a picture of. Monitor one that, that works, that's connected and it's got like eight holes around it. Mm-hmm. And, go to send his the second picture. I'm like, this is the one that doesn't work. There's only four holes. That's self explanatory. Yeah. In my mind. So he's like, oh, that's interesting. Are you sure it doesn't fit? I didn't try. Yeah. I, yeah, a hundred, a hundred percent sure. And it didn't fit. Are the arms the same? And I had had the same thoughts, so I was like, yes they are. I looked and he was like, can you send me a picture of the bottoms of'em? And I was like, well, the one already has the, um, base on it. Yeah. And he was like, can you take it off? And those screws are so tiny, like it's just a pain in the butt. So I'm like, yeah, no problem. So I do that. I send'em to him. Obviously different. He's like, okay. And he's like, I've got some right here. And he sends me pictures of the stance in his office in Ohio or wherever he is. And I'm like, cool. Good for you. I'm glad yours work. Yours probably work mine don't attach. And I just felt like he was mansplaining. Yeah. You know? And I was like, dude, I can screw something together. So he kept giving me a hard time and he was like, can you take the two bases, stack them on top of each other and compare and make sure the holes are aligned. So of course I'm like Wsan for every, I was like, I can do that. But the point is that the one base still won't fit on the arm. Something is wrong. He's like, okay, well do that. So while I'm in the process of Wsan and trying to get to this, he pings me back. And he is like, oh, I just learned something new today. He said, basically this, whatever this HP monitor is, there's two different stands that can go up to arms and stands. So how are we fixing it? So then I'm like, okay, cool. So can you send me another one and what do I do with this one? And he was like, yeah, we'll send you another one. Oh, that is so frustrating. It was so frustrating. And I finally ended up saying and I was trying to avoid saying it, but I was finally like, my husband tried to put it together, you know, I had a man help me. Yeah. I had a man with a screwdriver trying to help me. Um, oh man. You brought out the steel. I sure did. I sure did. so anyway, that's kind of been, mm-hmm. I'm in like that. I don't know. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, I was, walking Rex yesterday and I'm probably in somebody's ring doorbell camera. What happened? looking like a complete cuckoo bird. we were walking and there is a girl, um, maybe 10 mm-hmm. Was walking her little white, fluffy, poof ball. Mm-hmm. And the dog started going crazy at Rex. Of course. It's those small do I know. And we were on the opposite side of the road. Mm-hmm. So Rex normally doesn't even like bark in the back. Yeah. Yeah. But he just kept lunging, like on the leash. Mm-hmm. And so Rex started barking and I was like, no. And I put him on the other side of me. so he is on the opposite side mm-hmm. Of like where the other people were being a responsible pet owner. She's stopped walking and I'm like, go. Right. This one's harder to control than how go. Right, right, right. So she stops walking. The dog is like lunging at like across the street, so nowhere near Rex, but like lunging at him. And so he finally had had enough and because of I was facing the other direction, he like spun me around. Mm-hmm. And I tripped while I was spinning into like onto the asphalt and he was still going, so he pulled me like a foot. Oh. So my knee is swollen and like, look how, oh, it is very swollen. You definitely need to ice that. scrape my elbow scraped. I got like, my whole side is bruised, and then the poor girl, after like all of that she finally picks up the dog and she's like, are you okay? I'm like, yes. You couldn't have done that five minutes ago. So, oh my gosh, step. I'm so sorry. It's all good. It happens. Make sure you ice it. Yeah. Though. Yeah, it was, I thought that is very swollen. Yeah. Um, do they have a prom at Dillon School? They do, but he didn't wanna go. He didn't wanna go. Mm-hmm. He's not like a, I know he's already like, mentally, I think, moved on. Mm-hmm. I get it. He said Ruthie wants to go next year, so he'll go'cause Ruthie wants to go. Yeah. So, okay. Gotcha. Hopefully they're still together, you know, as kids. I know. You know, I know. Just never know. But never know adults. You never know. Amen. My God. exhibit A, so I met this girl the other day. I went to get my hair cut. Mm-hmm. And I heard, so the lady, one of the salon people, hairstylist was talking to somebody else. I know words are not my friend sometimes. And she was like, well, are you gonna get to go home? And she was like, well, how long of a flight is that? And da da da da. And, and I was likeactually waiting for my roots to be covered up. So I was processing and I was like, I'm sorry. Where, where are you from? Because I heard a little bit of an accent. Mm-hmm. And you know, I was all, she was from Denmark. I've never met anybody from Denmark before, so, you know, so then she was actually getting her hair colored too. So we were both kind of processing at the same time. Mm-hmm. So, of course I know all about Denmark. I follow her on Instagram now. I was like, please don't block me. So she moved here and she was going to Wingett College. Mm-hmm. She's been here for four years. Mm-hmm. Playing soccer. Okay. And, listen to this, her, goal is, so she, got a degree in sports management maybe, but she wants to do more university when she goes home in, um, sports psychology. And I was like, what is that? She was saying that it's too. Be like a mentor to like elite athletes to help them like be placed almost like an agent slash psychologist slash counselor. Like all those things. Isn't that a cool thing though? I didn't know that was a thing. She said it's not really here much, but it's there. But we don't value mental health here. We do not. We do not get out the hair. So anyway, we had huge conversations about everything. She was so kind. Her name is Sophia, she's my BFF in Denmark now. so she's graduating from Wing get and I told her that, I was a podcast person, so I would say hello and send it to her. So, I'll have to send her the link when the show drops so she can start to follow us. Fun. But yeah. Oh, it, it'll be another little country I know. Clicked off the world map. So our friend from Australia, my new friend from Australia listened to one, I think. Mm-hmm. Or something. So yeah, we're, we're trying to get all the nce Let's do this. People, I know they, I know we need, we need Asia. As long as they know how understand English. Yeah. I'm not up to, to learning. No. I need them to understand our English too. Oh God. Yeah. It's a whole nother ball game. It is, it is. It is. Um, have you watched anything new lately? Oh my gosh, yes. So, on one hand I'm yelling about how busy I am, and on the other hand, I'm staying up till 2:00 AM to binge watch a show. What show? So we're both Yellowstone fans? Yes. 1923. I have not watched it. So I had watched the 1883 and I really liked it. Mm-hmm. I had tried to watch 1923 before, was not a fan, couldn't get into it. It's like, can let me give it another go? Oh my gosh. All the feelings, all the emotions, all the things not a feel good show. It's drama mm-hmm. If you like the other ones, one or the other. Yeah. Try it. It's good. Mm-hmm. Um, once you get into it, it is, um. But I did see that the summer I turned pretty. Mm-hmm. There's another season coming out. I still haven't watched that either. My gosh. I love that. Um, how about you? Have you been watching anything? Yeah. So there's a new series on Hulu and there's only two episodes out right now. Okay. So, if you're trying to binge, that's not the show at the start. I obviously need something with a one episode a week because I will just Yeah. Sit there and, yeah. it's called The Stolen Girl. Okay. I really like it. I just took a little blurb. Yeah. from Hulu, a seemingly ordinary decision turns the world of Elisa mom of two young kids upside down when her daughter Lucia asks to go to a sleepover at her new best friend Josie's house. Elisa agrees after meeting Josie's mother, Rebecca. She's put at ease by her charming nature and their impressive house. But when she says goodnight to her daughter, she has no idea she's about to be thrust into every parent's worst nightmare. Which was like, I mean, did Jackson like to sleep over people's houses? Some people, only Jasmine, pretty much. That was like the, on that was it. He never really asked to go to a lot. He would spend the night at his grandparents and then go to the plumbers. Okay. Oh, oh. And the Davidsons. Mm-hmm. But yeah, that was really it. Now, now who he kind of Yeah. Is different. How about Dylan? Did he, Dylan? Oh, he really just like, mostly Tyler's house. Yeah. He still really Right. That's the only other place he lives. Yeah. But yeah, that's about it. But just like random people, Dylan would ask to sleep at a random kid's house. Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. No Uhuh. Mm-hmm. No. Yeah. No. They, they can come here. Absolutely. I don't know. I know, I get it. So this is the show that, enacts all of your fears. Okay. You know, abduction, all the things. Yeah. And then like you get into the backstory of why this woman? Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. So good. Okay. Yeah. Okay. My haircut girl was telling me about another show that's on Netflix and I'll think of the name of it in a minute. Something Canyon. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. She said it's like Yellowstone and something else kind of mixed together. She said it was a good one. Ransom Canyon. Yes. Yeah. Have you watched it? I have not, but it's on my, it's on your, my list. Yeah. Yeah. I have started a new show on Max. Okay. And because I saw a recommendation on social media somewhere. Mm-hmm. Um, for like binge worthy shows. Yeah. It is called Banshee. Okay. And it is almost like a cross between, sunset Anarchy mm-hmm. And Yellowstone. Wow. Okay. it's not like motorcycle gangs, but you got that feel Okay. like the gritty, you know? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. but then you still have like, there's like casinos stuff going on. Okay. And they've got all sorts of Okay. Yeah. It's good. Good. I'll try that one out. Mm-hmm. Oh, I don't have Max. I can do a free trial. Um, so as I was doom scrolling Yes. Because, you know mm-hmm. I know that I don't sleep. I saw this picture of this man and his eyes were literally like bugged out of his head. So I'm like, what the heck is this? And it was a Guinness Book of World Records. Okay. So there was a weird. Yes. Records in that. Yes, oh my gosh, I used to just pour through it and look at it. It's bananas. Mm-hmm. So, the news article, said that he made the, the book because he can pop his eyes out of its socket 0.74 inches gross. Before that, it was a woman who could do like 0.42 inches. I don't even know how you can do that. No. So his name is William Martin Sanchez Lopez, and he legit looks like a human cartoon character when they are surprised. I'm wondering where they measure from, like how much is extended, I would assume. Yeah. So, you know, I have a background in ophthalmology, so eye stuff is fascinating to me and I really do not understand how that No, I, how that works. so I was like, okay, I. This is weird. Mm-hmm. I then went in deeper uhhuh and the longest time somebody held their breath voluntarily. Take a wild guess. Two minutes, 24 minutes and 37 seconds. How are they alive? Tell me how they're alive. And they didn't held their breath. I can't, I can't tell you that because there's no way it was a Croatian, guy. I'm not even gonna try his name. I'm sorry. Try it. Um, bud but mirror. Okay. Sobe. That's, that's perfect. That's exactly right. Yeah. 24 minutes, 20 minutes, 37.36 seconds. How do you not lose consciousness he had to be, he was cheating. Like he was like breathing through. He had to, I wonder how they, they probably put like a mirror underneath. Maybe they tape it, maybe they put a clothes pin on it. That's crazy. Was there, you got another crazy one? Yeah. Most snails on the face. First of all, why? Why was no most snails on the face? No. Guess how many it was a child? oh, Ben Keller, age 11 from Sandy, Utah. Guess how many he had on his face? 143. 43? Cool. Live snails on your face? I do not. Then I'm like, are they like the little snails or the big sna? Like, and how is that measured? Right. So snails come in a lot of different sizes. Yeah. So are they the any bitty tiny little like little teen tiny ones that I find in the backyard or the snails? Like s cargo? Yeah. But I don't know. Snails gross me out. Me too. Like the slimy. Oh, you have all the slime mucus all over your face. Oh my gosh. That's supposed to be good for your face. I know, but I don't wanna Oh, my face. No. Yeah, snails a gross me out though. Yeah. I, no, no, I'm good on that. Mm-hmm. Um, all right. This is a gross one too. And why you would volunteer? why, why would you do this voluntarily, most feet and armpits sniffed? Who would volunteer to do that? Right. Uh, I mean, a hundred. no, Uhuh. Hold on. So this was done by Madeline Arb, who was employed at Hilltop Research Laboratories in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is a testing lab. she has sniffed approximately 5,600 feet and feet, an indeterminate number of armpits. Does she like it? I, I don't know. I didn't ask her. You know, why would you do people like stinky things sometimes. I know. There's a whole market to sell your stuff on there. It little. I know. all right. So this one, I just thought it was funny because you always talk about my height, shortness. I just think you're so precious and adorable. Let's get this. Okay. Longest legs on the person. How long do you think they are? Oh. Six feet, feet. Um, I don't know if that's ridiculous. The longest legs in the world belong to Macy Curran. she's from the USA and they measure at 53.255 inches. I am, I I am 62 inches, 62.5. Her legs are the almost, they come to like your shoulder. They're almost my whole body. Yeah. I'm surprised that's a woman. Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know either. I don't assume anymore. Yeah. Well, yeah, you're right, you're right. that's crazy. How tall is the person if their legs are five feet, almost five feet? Yeah. Well, I said they're, um, they were six feet. Think how ridiculous that would look. Mm-hmm. Nothing but legs and torso or legs in the head. Whatever. Tell me why we do this again, because I can't speak. It's like the monster. Monster, yes. Just legs. Yes. But yes. There you go. There you go. I used to love looking at the Guinness Book of World Records, though. We would That's some weird No. Like in the very front, there would always be like the tallest per, and some of it would have pictures. Mm-hmm. And that what was, so that was so fascinating to me with like the tallest person, the shortest person, and then the longest fingernails when they curled. Oh, oh yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. well, here's one I think that we could probably actually accomplish. Okay. And I'm shocked that it's such a low number. most smarties and m and Ms. Eaten in one minute while blindfolded. Oh my gosh. I don't know what their number is, but we could do more. 22. That doesn't seem that much. And it, I could eat 22 in one handful. That's easy peasy. I don't wanna be in there though. I don't want people knowing me. No, not for that. Would you wanna do that? You'd wanna do the sweethearts with me or m ms? I don't know. Wait, it's not at the same time? No, no, no, no. It's like either or. I think either or. Okay. I think because they're about the same size. Yeah. But the smart are kind of chalky. Yeah. So I think that would make me cough. I try. Yeah. I just fall whole. Yeah. Just chase them. Mm-hmm. Weird. Like I really think I could fit 22 in my hand mm-hmm. And throw'em back. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And just be done. Yep. But again, I'm good. I don't wanna be in the, in the book. Some of the people with some of these things. I don't, I would not wanna be known for these things. Oh, sniffing armpit. Do you armpit sniffer her, her life achievement? Yeah. Like what? That's just crazy to me. Me too. I don't know why this just popped in my head, but did I tell you that before we went to the beach, Brian and I were on a golf cart ride and we went past this little farm near us. Did I tell you this? You sent me the pictures. So there's a street behind us and we always drive by and look. They've got pigs and chickens and some alpacas out there and goats like all the fun things. Well, it's called Happy hooves and Feathers. Mm-hmm. Her son is on the autism spectrum. And so it's trying to help children with, different situations that need some different simulations. Right. so anyway, she was like, do you wanna come and look? And she's like, this I in a 5 0 1 C3. And she was, you know, just talking about that. Baby ia. The cutest thing. It was like, you remember Llama, llama Red Pajama? It looked like that. It did. It was the cutest thing in the world. Its name is Noodle. And I gotta pet him. I pet him. And like she was like, you can pet him. She was like, he likes it. On his neck. And I was like, well his neck is this long. I was like, which part of it? She was like, yep. Kind of nears chest. So I did it and then he like clicked his heels and ran away and I was like, that's adorable. And then he came back, like his face, he doesn't look real. Mm-hmm. He looked like a stuffed animal. Yeah. Um, so. I'm in love. Mm-hmm. And I'll be going back. I'll either be making, some kind of a donation or volunteering my time to help at this farm. I can cuddle noodle. Does Noodle need to cuddle? she mentioned she was getting miniature cows. No, right now. Not the highland cows, but just the little dude. They get the zoomies. Can we do a field trip, right? A hundred percent. Cutest little thing. Yeah. I was like, Stephanie will so love this. Yeah. All of the animal things, it looked like Lama llama red pajama little eyelashes and just looking at me like, and his face was like velvet. Oh my gosh. A good kidnapped Moodle and that name. I know. Gosh. Well, speaking of. Field trips. Yeah. Once we finally make it to New Orleans, yes. I just heard a very good tip from witch talk. Okay. Not witch talk, but I mean, it was like in my feed. it was like New Orleans something. Okay. Um, but don't let anybody, and this is for anybody that is traveling to a high known place of other things, Uhhuh, don't let anybody bump elbows with you or like rub your elbow because there is a belief that the elbow is a hinge and can I guess switch fates or whatever. So is that why they say like, rubbing elbows, Uhhuh. That is wild. If you do,'cause they'll be like trying to get you to buy something or do a good reading for you or something and they'll try to rub their elbows with you. And if they do that, then whatever your fate or your destiny is can transfer to that person and then you'll start having their bad luck or their bad, whatever misconception, whatever. Yeah. And they said doesn't necessarily bam hit you. Right? just things start going not your way yeah. Wow. Mm-hmm. Who would've thought the elbow? I know. I don't know. I was like, oof. You've heard that saying though, the rubbing elbows was important people or whatever. I'm gonna go rub people's cell posts. that is crazy stuff. I know. I hadn't heard that. Yeah, me either. I have had a lot of random things on my feeds. Mm-hmm. Not totally random because animals, tortoises are, are all over. There's like a whole tortoise thing. Well, they're endangered, aren't they? I really don't know as many people that have'em and are on these pages. I don't think they, do you ever see them when they go through a wall? They're huge. This woman had one yesterday and they had to build a retaining wall, like a cinder block wall and then wrought iron. What's the, like the fence around the top of the wall, whatever, iron bars. Okay. Maybe bars was, the word, doesn't matter. Lock focus, lock in. But their tortoise weighed like 80 pounds and she would just like bend it and plow through it. Mm-hmm. But this is adorable. The ones that are small, or if they've got like a big roaming area, they'll put air tags on'em so they don't get lost so they can find them. There's like some kind of adhesive that it is sold that doesn't hurt them. And, and it'll, they'll tell you where to put them. So it's not like on the plates Yeah. Or whatever. And then I saw one with like a, do you remember a Kosh ball? Uhhuh? Like, like a kosh ball somehow on top of it. Like, I dunno. But but the things that I just Yeah. Find myself doing. But I've seen the videos they are in the house and mm-hmm. They built like literally mm-hmm. Go through a wall. They are so big. Yeah. And you don't find out the gender until like, they're like three to five years old until, and they live forever. Yeah. Like, do you will that to somebody? You would have to, it's like a parrot, right. Parents live forever. Did you see, speaking of parrots mm-hmm. There was a zoo that they had, taken in by parrots that they were all together. Because the owner died. But I know what you're gonna say. They swore all the time and they would make fun of people. They had to quarantine them. They, well, they had to separate them so they wouldn't encourage each other. They were like the road ferret day peanut gallery. Yes. And they had to put up signs, telling people, caution. If you have small children, the parrots will swear at you. I did not see that much detail about it. I just saw like the picture and it was like parrots were swearing and had to be whatever. Yeah. oh my gosh. That is crazy. Yeah. What were they like roasting people? That's a feel I got from the article. It didn't have specifics, but, somebody in the comment section said that they had gone to that zoo and they said it was hysterical and they, legit knew every swear word ever. Oh my gosh. Gosh. That is so funny. That is hilarious. I'll, I'll take one. So this is kind of funny. China, is on the petty Betty level. Uhhuh, did you see that They made with all this tariff stuff going on, Uhhuh the, Donald Trump toilet bowl brush? No. they made his hair, the bristles mm-hmm. Of the T pole brush. And then he, he's in all different poses. Mm-hmm. And you can either get it in a black suit or a blue suit. That is funny. They're gonna sell a lot of those. I thought it was hysterical. You know, if it's petty right? Oh gosh. Yeah. I'm, I'm here for it. Yeah. Yeah. So that is funny. I thought so too. Um, this would be pure torture. Torture for me. When you go outside, do you get bit by bugs? A lot. Oh yeah. So I can walk outside mm-hmm. For 30 seconds and I'll have butt bites. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever blood I have, they love it. I was gonna say, they said it's blood type. I'm own negative, which is like, not. Very common. I am too. Are you? I'm the one that can give to Everybody. And I Yeah, me too. And I can only get Oh, a negative. Oh, oh girl. I got you. I got you. Wow. well that makes sense then we both get Yeah. Well that was the end of that story but I do get bit by a lot of bugs. It's awful. Brandon never got bit by bugs. Mm-hmm. And I get welts, mm-hmm. I'm like, well that's because I'm sweet in your sour mean. all right. Imagine you're on a flight. Mm-hmm. And this flight was going, from one place to another in India. Mm-hmm. And it was the day after Easter. Okay. It was invaded by mosquitoes and the people on that flight had to sit for 90 minutes getting bit by mosquitoes. that just makes me want to cry. And the flight staff couldn't do anything other than like, offer lemongrass, like an oil or something to the term. Yeah. I wonder how it got invested the article said that there was like an open, like window. They got in. Oh, that would be miserable. Right. So they didn't look like they were little tiny, like, like the little mosquitoes. They were like big mosquitoes. Yeah. when I was in elementary school, there was a field trip that some of the Smarty Pants kids we got to go on that would not have been invited. And it was a few days. it was overnight thing we went to. The coast, and I don't remember much about it, obviously. I was like barely on the cusp of making it into the smaller classes. That's not true. so, but you did all, all the things like you found out about the history and natural resources and whatever. Well, one of the things is they told you bring bug spray. Mosquitoes are terrible. Yeah. I did, but I didn't think I needed it. I mean, I was like a nine or 10-year-old girl. I came back and my legs were I mean just, yeah. Yeah. I got bit by a spider mm-hmm. While I was like sitting in the grass, um, at Dylan's lacrosse practice. And I had wrecks with me so I wasn't sitting on the bleachers mm-hmm. In the grass with him. And I got bit on my butt by a spider Brandon was like, I don't know if it's like the flesh eating spider because it was, it wouldn't go away. It was, it was like a good four or five months that it was like a knot. Yeah. Do you want me to check it and see if it's gone? It's gone out. This is like, are you sure? Let me check. I'm just kidding. You can see the bruise that's on the other cheek. I saw that one. Yeah. Yeah. They're crazy. You know what else? And this is my own fault because I don't pay attention like I should. Surprise, surprise. Mm-hmm. I always get fire ants. And our property. We've got'em.'cause it's like, it's a field. we've got them everywhere we'll put some stuff out on'em. But it's, I mean, there's so much space that we're in. It's hard to. Do you ever get the cow killers in your yard? I had before. Those are freaking scary. They're kind of pretty though. They're No, they are not. I think they're, I see them. I run You're they're you're talking about like the red velvet? Yeah, the black stripe uhhuh. Oh. I mean, I run too and I kill them, but it'll take down a cow. I will die. Yeah. Yeah. But I read that it's like wingless hornets yeah. No, thank you. I wonder why there's so many different types of bugs in this world. Why are they all on South Girls? Why, what? The first year we were here, in our yard, was one of those like horned beetles. Mm-hmm. And I didn't think that those were real. I thought it was just like the, and I thought it was just like the bugs life. Know, like I would anyone in the wild and they shed, oh, I don't wanna know about that. Okay. I saw it and I was like, that's a real thing as you ran the other way. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Don't bug me. Well, you know, I don't do creepy griess. Yeah. And I don't do like frogs and lizards and all the things. Frog's gross. You know, I used to play with them and do hold'em when I was little, like, but they're so gross to me now. Well, we were playing in Dylan's Sandbox when he was like four. Mm-hmm. Whatever. It was like a scene at a toy story at the end, like the toy's, like coming outta the sand and it was a, a, a frog. Just like started, like coming out from under the sand. Oh, that would creep me. Well, I first thought it was a snake, and I grabbed Dylan Uhhuh and jumped out of the sandbox. and then I realized it was a frog and I still didn't wanna get back in, but I wasn't asking scared. I mean, they're not gonna bite you, but that's gross. Awful. Disgusting when they like clinging to your windows. Yeah. Ooh. Yeah. They're just like looking in at you. We do have some of those bright green tree frogs. Is that what you're talking about? Mm-hmm. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm good. No, thank you. No thanks. I'm fine. No Uhuh. We're good. um, we talked about, Disney. Oh yeah. Um, mental health. That was last week. Yeah. Evaluation. Yeah. Well, I don't know how I get signed up to these things and I'm sure I probably put my email somewhere, but I don't know how I get these emails every day. This one is like weird but true stuff it always has lists on it. Uhhuh. today I open it up and it was Disney villain fan theories, and I love villains. I've heard that before. So I was like, Ooh, I am intrigued. I love these lists that they have. See until I start reading them and then all of a sudden I get towards the end and it's like all the popups and I'm like, ah, forget it. Yeah. Or you have to click through. Oh yes. Those annoy me too. A hundred percent. Do you wanna hear some? Oh, absolutely. I only grabbed a couple of them. Okay. so Lady Tremaine from Cinderella. Mm-hmm. The theory is she's a black widow. Oh yeah. So it says, when the movie Cinderella began, the young girl's dad seemed perfectly healthy. Shortly after he married Lady Jermaine, he drops dead. This seems a bit too convenient for a single mother of two girls. So it stands to reason the death wasn't as sudden and unexpected as it appeared and what happened to their father. It makes more and more sense when you think about it. Where was Anastasia and Elle's father? He must have died sometime in the past, but maybe just, maybe he was the first victim. I never knew her name Germane. I've heard it, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you. Like when you said the girl's names, I was like, oh yeah, that's, that makes sense. But yeah, never heard that. But that I follow a hundred percent. I have a black widow in my family. No, I will find all that documentation and get it together and we'll talk about it. What I know, I can't believe I've never told you this. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I need details. Yeah. Well, until we get that. Yeah. Sorry for that little bomb drop. Where was I? Maleficent assisted Aurora's mother to birth her and says, there's clearly a problem between the people in the palace and Maleficent. When the sorcerers appears at the celebration of Aurora's birth in sleeping beauty, it's apparent by the way, everyone stares at her in horror. Everyone except the queen, the queen had a more nervous expression. And this theory attempts to explain why she alone reacted that way. Maleficent may not have been invited, but she had a lot to do with the child's birth. And there are a few reasons why this is plausible. It states at the movie's intro that the king and queen had difficulty getting pregnant. Mm-hmm. So it stands to reason that the queen might have turned to magic for help. She turned to Maleficent and promised to acknowledge her in the court once the child was born. But in the end she went back on her word and that's why Maleficent was so angry. Yeah. These are fascinating. I know, and it makes sense. Uhhuh, yeah, those are cool. Guest on is a representation of what the beast would've been if he had not never gotten turned into a beast, which I could see, you know, okay, this is gonna sound really weird, but I feel like subconsciously I kind of knew that, like I don't think anybody ever told me that, but I feel like I. Nevermind. I'm trying to pretend like I'm really intuitive and I'm not. When I watch a movie like I watch it like at Face Value, I don't think that deep hundred percent. A hundred percent. That's why I'm like, everyone knows guest Don is a jerk that's made clear the minute he's introduced in Beauty in the Beast. But what if there is more than that? This theory suggests that guest on is more than a village jerk. He's a representation of what the beast would've become had he never been turned into the Harrier version of himself. Unfortunately, we have to call the beast. The beast, whether it's the human version or otherwise, as he has no other name in the movie. Despite this, he was once a man and he was a callous jerk. Just like guest on the theory offers four points to this fact. They both have blue eyes. They can both afford as many eggs as they want. They're narcissists. Whoa. In this day and age, that's crazy. They're narcissists who, are all about their physical appearance. And when guest on died, a part of the beast died as well. Huh, interesting. This one I've heard before. Okay. That Sid from Toy Story became the garbage van. you've never heard this? I, no. I feel like I have. cause he had the toy strap to the front of the truck. yeah. It took me a minute to think I was thinking, Sid, this loft. So it took me a minute to put all my eggs in a row. so it says, Sid may have been the villain of Toy Story, but by the third film in the franchise, he'd grown up to become a garbage man working in his neighborhood. In the first film, he's shown that all the toys he'd been tearing apart for years were alive and he freaked out 15 years later. He's a logical local garbage man, and he picks out anything he finds of value for Sid. It's toys. That is cool. Yeah. this one like blew my mind. Captain Hook killed Ariel's mother. Oh, I've seen that one. I've never seen this before. Like many Disney princesses. Ariel's mother is long pass, but Right. Like, why are they always killing the mom? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But suppose it wasn't due to natural causes. Many contend that Ariel's mother was one of the mermaids shown in Neverland before she married Triton. Sadly, she ran a foul of Captain Hook who took her out. The fact that Little Mermaid two mentions Ariel's mom was killed by a pirate, seems to prove this. Wait, there's a little mermaid too. Yeah. I've never seen it, but yes. There's a bunch of Little Mermaid movies. I've just realized I never saw the, like the Live Action Little Mermaid. That was neither did I. Mm-hmm. I love the Beating the Beast one though. Mufasa is on Disney Plus right now. I need to sleep. Whatcha doing to me? oh. All right. And then this one is guest Dawn Shot Bambi's mother. It's dark, but it makes perfect sense. Gean is shown to be a master hunter who loves bragging over his trophies. In one journey, he sees a deer running and without a second thought, takes it down with a shot. The deer leaves behind a child named Bambi. Yep. Gean is the one behind one of the darkest Disney moments ever. Wow. That's heavy dude. Gu on bad guy. He is. But I mean hunting, I have mixed emotions about it. I do too. Obviously would never be able to do it myself. Right. I get it. Right. If you're doing it for food. Right. if you're doing it just because you're a psychopath. Right. It's hard pass. Right. Yeah. Obviously doing it for food and I mean, I mean, I eat meat. Like it is not like I'm opposed to it. It's just, yeah. I couldn't do it personally. No. I would cry. No. Oh, a hundred percent. I wouldn't do it. There is no way in this world and I'm so thankful for all the, the people that raise the animals so that that's a piece. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't either. I could not either. No thank you. All those chickens, I'd have a million chickens'cause I would never be able to, they'd be named Noodle. Scrambled. Yeah. Yeah. Upside down egg. It's not a thing. Is it over easy? Yeah. Maybe that's what, what is wrong with here? A lot of things. Um, do you wanna do, am I the a? Mm-hmm. Am I the, a-hole for laughing at my stepson and ruining his wedding? It's a throwaway account. Um, for context, I've been married to my husband for just over 20 years. We started dating when my step kids were five and three. Our kids are, Adam, 28, step kid, number one, Ben, 26. Step kid number two, Charles 20. David 17, and Ellie 13. Adam's getting married at the end of the summer to his fiance Alice. 27. They're named A, B, C, D, and E. I didn't even know. okay, so Adam's getting married to Alice. I wonder if they have to marry somebody with the same. I'm sure it's not required. I'm sorry. I'm sure it's not like written in their soul contract. I'm thinking I did not take my meds today. That's so just starting to click into place now. we've all been very excited for them. All of the kids have roles for the wedding. Charles is the best man. The other two boys are grumen. Ellie is a junior bridesmaid. Last weekend we had a dinner for my husband's birthday. All the kids attended along with Alice. The topic of the wedding came up again, and this is where it started to go downhill. Ellie brought up that she was so excited to go dress shopping and that we planned to go to a bigger city in a few weeks to get her address and me a stepmom of the groom dress. At that, Alice looked at Adam sideways and responded that we only needed to worry about one dress. Ellie's laugh said, what are you expecting mom to wear a suit? Alice responded with my name, so. Stepmom isn't going. You know, we're keeping our guest list very limited to only family and a few close friends. What? She's been in this kid's life for 20 years. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Adam and Alice have been to our house numerous times for holidays, dinners, and just to say hi. Since they've been engaged, this has never been brought up Pretty quickly, things escalated. The Cliff Notes version is that Charles asked them to clarify if they were choosing to uninvite me now, or if I was never invited. Alice confirmed the latter why Adam said, it's because I'm not his mom, Charles, David and Ellie argued with Adam and Alice that none of them were going, if I wasn't invited, that it was cruel to leave me out, given I've been his parent for a majority of his life and loved him like my own. My husband and I admittedly sat there for a minute, just effing shocked. Adam finally turned to my husband and said, well, my husband told him he wouldn't be going either. Adam then turned to me and asked if I was really going to let everyone ruin his wedding day on my behalf. Here's where I might be the a-hole. I just laughed. I don't know what came over me, but the entire thing was just so ridiculous that laughing was the only thing I could get out. I told my husband I'd be waiting in the car and left and then promptly bawled my eyes out. Anyways, Charles, David and Ellie are not talking to Adam. Adam called my husband yesterday to try to smooth things over. He was still adamant I'm not invited, and it's their wedding. He also requested that, I apologize for laughing at him. Oh, my husband told him tough shit. It's their wedding day and they can invite whoever they want, but they can't control who I actually go. He said they owe me an apology and that Adam should be ashamed of himself. I'm getting texts now asking WTF did I did and why I'm being a step monster and ruining the wedding. Am I the A-hole? No. No. Okay. I need, okay, so is it Adam's mom? Saying she doesn't want, or is it the girlfriend that, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, well, all they said is that they're keeping the guest list small. She's one person. Yeah. And, and it's the plus one. Right. And the only reason I could see her not being involved is if that relationship with them was, bad. Right. But it wasn't. Okay. Update, update five days later. This is very new. April 23rd. Yeah. So last week I read it, friends, thank you to everyone who responded to my post. Most of you were kind and offered good advice. I appreciate it. Before I give an update, I just wanna answer a few FAQs. Number one, I'm not an affair partner. My husband did not cheat on his ex-wife with me. We met a year after they divorced. She was already engaged, not to current stepdad, not that that really matters. Number two, Ben was at the dinner. He is autistic. Okay. I went into it more in some of my comments, but he was very upset. He doesn't understand what the argument was exactly about. but he was mostly upset at Adam for saying I'm not their parent. And then all the siblings were fighting with each other. Update the short is, if you guessed it was related to bio mom, you are correct. Oh. I didn't want this to be the case. So Adam rescheduled with Charles for Monday citing Easter weekend. Fair enough. He also texted my husband to let him know that he and Alice would be doing Easter with her parents. We expected that at some point on Sunday, Ellie texted Alice. I'm not sure what exactly was said, but prompted Alice to spill everything that was gone on with her parents. I've met them a few times, but they live a few hours away. They encouraged her and Adam to reach out to us to clear everything up. Monday we dropped Ben off to buy moms. He stayed an extra night for Easter fun. A few hours later, she began to blow up my husband's phone. As Ben mentioned the fight, my husband answered one call in which she was screaming and properly hung up. He texted her that the siblings argued. Everything's fine. And then if Ben has any further questions, we'll talk about it when he is back with us. from some of the things she texted, we knew she was the root of all this Monday, Adam also met with Charles and he did come clean. Charles texted us to see if it was okay if they came over after, and we said, yes, I'm not gonna lie. Adam looked a mess. He immediately began crying and apologizing. The short and sweet is that he's been trying to mend bridges with bio mom. Their wedding isn't 60 people. It's blown up to about double and they have been struggling to figure out how to pay for it. At one of their visits, a let Alice let it slip and bio mom jumped to help pay for things. It slowly snowballed from there, from small request to big request. I'm not sure what the final nail in the coffin was, but it ended with by a mom requesting I not be there. Adam said it was easier to hurt me and risk World War III with his mom. Oof. Alice's parents were less than pleased to find out how they've. Been with the wedding slash budget and even less so at Bio Mom's antics. They're trying to figure out how to start covering the payments Bio Mom has made. We've decided to help with some of this. Adam also asked if we could meet again in a few days. With Alison, we've said yes, there's still a lot of ground to cover for this to be close to mended. I'm still hurt, but mostly I'm angry on behalf of my son. I'm angry on behalf of everybody. Yeah, that's hard. It is really hard. I, um, glad that her parents. Saw reason and was like, you, you guys need to talk to it. Mm-hmm. Let's talk it out. Let's, you know, we're adults. Let's, let's be adults. Let's get to the bottom of what this is and, just come clean with what's going on. Yeah. Um, so I'm happy for that, but that is just talk about manipulation. That, but like the fact that they would buy into that mm-hmm. Call me crazy, but I know, I don't know if I could do that. Yeah. It's, yeah. I think that I would've had a conversation with the stepmom and the dad if I was the son and say like, Hey, this is what mom's doing. Mm-hmm. I'm in this really weird situation. Yeah. I'm sure. It just, because to me it came off like his fiance was like a total be about it at the restaurant. Mm-hmm. Was like, well, you're just not invited. Yeah. It sounds like it just escalated and got outta control and turned into this thing that was just spiraling I'm glad there's some conversations. Hopefully there can be some resolution there and everybody will be okay. Mm. I don't like that. You are not the a-hole lady. No, you are not. All right. well, if you're not our bookies, this is your time to leave. We love you. tell a friend to listen to us and you can listen to us next week. Yep. Bye. That made no sense, but go ahead. Okay. Bye. Non bookies bookies. this week we read the Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dion. And I've got the blurb over the blurb. Mm-hmm. Let's go. Helena Peltier seems to live a perfect life, but she hides a dark past. She was born in captivity after her mother was abducted by her father, the infamous Marsh King. When he escapes from prison decades later, Helena knows she's the only one who can track him through the wild terrain. He once trained her to survive in. Now she must confront the man she once loved and feared to protect her family and and his legacy. I had read it before. Oh, had you? well, not too long ago when I was trying to like, catch up on some of our books. what did you think? I liked it. I think I was expecting more twisty, suspense. Mm-hmm. that I don't think was there, but I don't think that was the intention of mm-hmm. The author, how she wrote it. Mm-hmm. so it wasn't like she missed the mark on that. I was just thinking that's how it was gonna go. I think that there was a lot of room for her to have to do that. Mm-hmm. To put so many of those, things in there. There's so much more I wanted from this book. Mm-hmm. I want more details. All right. And obviously we're gonna do spoilers. Yep. If you didn't read the book and you want to read the book. You can exit so you don't get it spoiled. Or if you don't care about spoilers, stay, stay with us. this is on two different timelines. Yes. present and then her childhood. Mm-hmm. and it was all told from her perspective Correct. The child's perspective. Us. Yep. So I think this was very accurate in that a child, if there's discourse, whoever, you know, she was daddy's girl, so she mm-hmm. Was treating the mom just like the dad. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And she thought that the mom was below her. Mm-hmm. Well, the dad was fun to her. Right. He taught her things and he did things with her mom. I mean, obviously because she had been an abducted child. Was withdrawn and terrified and miserable, so. Helena didn't know this, she just thought her mom was just blah. Yeah. So she identified more with her dad because he was engaging and charming to her. Was nothing he couldn't do. Yeah. But, and kids are so impressionable, and I think that's like a good take from this is that kids are so impressionable. Yeah. And it's definitely in this dynamic, it was mm-hmm. Way different than your normal. Right. But it is still very relevant in how your kids see the interactions between their parents. and I think it goes one way or the other. Like, I don't think necessarily all the time the kid will act the same way of how that parent's being treated. Mm-hmm. I think. If your kid is very sensitive or empathetic, they, I think tend to then try to make up for that. Mm-hmm. Um, mm-hmm. Treatment. Yeah. So not necessarily that they'll go like, oh, like psycho, like, right. Yeah. There's so many variables in what that it definitely affects, I mean, it's definitely a factor in how they, how they treat other people and their other parent Yeah. Or siblings. Helena had no empathy whatsoever. Mm-hmm. And you think that these are like core things that you're, you just have, but obviously I think it's something that you learn Yeah. If you go by this book. Yeah. because she had absolutely no empathy even after she knew the whole situation. Mm-hmm. She still hadn't. None. Yeah, it was, it was a little bit, I know. Scary. I was like, oh, this chick's gonna psych up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right though. I was waiting for her to become like a serial killer or something. Like, I'm like, where is the twist? You know where, where's it gonna come from? She, um, but even as a child, like, I'm thinking about to the scenario where the mom made the cake mm-hmm. And had the, um, made the baby doll for her, and she wanted nothing to do with that. And not just like, oh, no interest, but like, she started shooting it Yeah. With the, was it knife or an arrow, but arrow, I think Yeah. Going along with that mm-hmm. She was so nonchalant about her father being so abusive. Mm-hmm. And even when the dude came at the end mm-hmm. she didn't think twice about the guy being like, hung up in the No, in the shed in handcuffs or whatever, and like being tortured. She had like no second thoughts about it. Mm-hmm. And she was honestly like more curious going out there to see. Mm-hmm. And it didn't even affect her. So again, I know definitely a different situation than the norm. Right. But still, yeah. Yeah. It really makes me think though. It's just, what she was exposed to. Yeah. It was her and she accepted as the norm, right? Yeah. And what she had, just think of the time when she was put in the well with all the sharp things and she couldn't even sit down for three days, right? Mm-hmm. And I mean, she was like, well, yeah, that was terrible. I couldn't even sit down. I tried not to think about when there were rats in there. Yeah. But just like no emotion and maybe a coping, coping mechanism. Mm-hmm. Whatever. But yeah, it was like just very disturbing for me. Mm-hmm. I'm like, oof. Mm-hmm. Agreed. Agreed did it remind you a little bit of like a, a crazy version of where the crawl dancing sink? Oh, I kind of mentioned that, but it was, definitely felt like there was some vibe there that was similar, so I felt so bad for her husband. Could you imagine finding out your, your spouse as a whole ass different person? Like Right. So he didn't know that she was the product of this abduction until the cops show up to tell them that he is in prison. Right, right. And that's how he found out. And I could not imagine one finding out that you married somebody that you didn't, I mean, yeah, her, she changed her entire story, which I understand.'cause she doesn't want that connection. Mm-hmm. but. Oh my God. So even things that were just very obvious. So she had a lot of self-made tattoos that her dad had given. I say that they were Native American. Yes. So she had facial tattoos and, you know, all kinds of of things. So even as an adult, she had these. And she made up these other stories. And again, I get it, girl, I wouldn't have wanted people to know he was, I don't know how I would handle that, but I wouldn't wanna be connected to him either. But she made up these outlandish stories to cover up the tattoo situation and different things like that. She would just leave and go hunt bear. Yeah. And she had her kid and left. She was like, I just need out two weeks. Yeah. I mean, didn't we all wanna do that? No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Those are the sweetest moments and exhausting. Yeah. I think that's also part of her disconnect with her emotions everything I think is tied together with how she was raised. Yeah. Obviously. Yeah. Yeah. But it still like, was like uhhuh, I could not imagine Right. Her husband in that moment. Mm-hmm. When the police came. And he was like, what do you mean? Yeah. Why do we care? This dude's escaped and there was no beating around the bush either. Cop's, like, Hey Helena, different last name. We wanna talk to you about your dad who just escaped from prison and his name is dah, dah, dah. my friends on CSI always like, can we talk to you in private for a minute? That was none of that. No. do you remember in the book when, um, he made a comment that he should have taken the other girl? See, I almost wanna read this again. From like, his perspective. Had he been planning this? I mean, I think he was planning on taking somebody. It, it was just convenient that they were there. And was he just wanting them to, to raise this family or? Well, he kept mentioning that native Americans stole women from other tribes. Mm-hmm. And. So he was manipulating all of these Native American, traditions. Traditions, you know, history Yeah. To suit himself. Yeah. he saw her and he took her. Yeah. there was definitely like a screw loose. Oh yeah And then Helena bought the land of her grandparents. So bad dude's, parents. Right. Uhhuh that is just like. What's it called when you're dependent on your captor Stockholm stock called? Yeah. Like, yeah. Ew. But then, then you had her maternal grandparents who were just trying to make money off of her. Everybody was gross in this book. They were, they, everybody sucked. Everybody sucked. so my takeaways were Helena's pretty much a badass. There's a lot she could do. She could shoot and trap and do all the things I have no desire to do. She just doesn't have them. But for me, but she does not, but she can apparently make good jelly. Going back a little bit. She killed the dude in the shed. Yes. Which she was doing because it was like mercy. Yeah. But still she did it and then she let everybody assume that it was the dad to have that right for the rest of your life. As a huge secret. My thing was is how did she know as a, what was she, 12? Yeah. Something like that. Your old child that had been sheltered and didn't really even understand the concept of police, that she shouldn't tell anybody that you know I think she obviously knew, she knew it was wrong to kill people getting, she knew she didn't wanna kill the wolf. Mm-hmm. And she said that that wouldn't be like the same as killing a person. So she knew killing a person was wrong. Yeah. this was made into a movie? Yes. And I watched the movie after I finished the book. Okay.'cause I wanted to see Yep. How they would, whatever, manipulate it. They changed the entire thing. Really? Oh yeah. Like. It was. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I was Was it decent? It was okay. It was kind of like the same pace, I guess. Mm-hmm. As the book. There wasn't any like excitement. Yeah. It was very, monotone. Mm-hmm. the movie felt that way too. Yeah. So much changed in it. Yeah. I was just like, that's not how that goes. Right. Right. That is not, that's usually why I don't do good with, with watching the movies after. That's kind of a bummer. Yeah. So it's got, it should stay true to kind of what the story's about. If you're wanna name it the same thing, it should be very similar. Yeah. But anyway. What'd you think? Six five. Five six. Okay. I'd say seven or eight. Interesting. To me, I think my expectation was like, I heard the kidnapping and Yeah. That, and I was expecting something like more intense, fast pace, some twisted stuff and it, yeah. Yeah. I don't think I realized that entire book was gonna be from her perspective. Okay. Like, we normally get multiple views and Yeah. Our books usually are a bit more, you hear about all the different twists and turns. Mm-hmm. So the next book, if you're cool with it, is, no One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall. Okay, cool. 14 years ago, the Palmer Sisters, Emma, Juliet, and Daphne left their home in Arden Hills and never returned. But when Emma discovers she's pregnant and her husband loses his job, she has no option but to return to the house that she and her estranged sisters still own, and where their parents were murdered. Emma has never told anyone what she saw that night. Her parents died even when she became the prime suspect. But her presence in the house threatens to uncover secrets that have stayed hidden for years. And the sisters are drawn together once again. As they face their memories of the past. Rivalries, restart. Connections are forged. And for the first time, Emma starts to ask questions about what really happened that night. The more Emma learns, the more riles emerge, and Emma begins to wonder just what her siblings will do to keep the past buried, and whether she did the right thing, staying quiet about what she whispered that night. No one can know. Have you started it? I read it already. I read it. Oh, you read it a couple weeks ago? Okay. Yeah. Cool. It sounds good. Yeah. I liked it. got it on hoopla and downloading it now, so, we're in end. We're halfway through the alphabet. Mm-hmm. For the first round. Yep. Alright. well thank you guys for listening. Thank y'all. We love you. please leave us a review and tell a couple of friends, tell everybody please tell, sing it from the rooftops. We love you. We love you. Bye bye. Alright, that wraps up another episode of, this is My Circus. If you survive this episode and somehow still like us, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, share it with your friends, or just send us caffeine. And don't forget, you can join our VIP circus crew for the full video version of each episode. Also exclusive bonus content, access to merch, and so much more Until next time, keep the drink strong. The book's coming, and the kids only mildly Ferrell because this is our circus and these are our monkeys. Love ya.