Today’s Fortune: Wealth is a state of mind.

That is an interesting fortune for today. I let Calvin Klein open the cookie, so we are sharing this fortune. I think he did a good job of cookie choosing.

I spent a lot of the day hanging out with Calvin Klein.  I introduced him to everyone.  Even Valentina.  I did not find out anything about his gang yet.  He doesn’t seem to want to talk about it much.  We played with the new sock monkey Jack-in-the-box that Dad got for Mom a few weeks ago, and then Dad spent all afternoon taking good pictures of all of the new monkeys in our family (including me!)  I will have to show them later.  Dad has a good camera, with lots of backdrops and flashy things called “strobes”, but sometimes it takes him a while to do stuff with the pictures.

I have decided I need to collect something good.  Mom and Dad collect all kinds of stuff.  Dad collects cameras, slide rules, and old stuff that pilots like.  He calls that “aviation memorabilia.”   He has all kinds of cool flying gadgets and airplanes and stuff in his office.

Mom collects sock monkeys, cats, dishes, and yarn.  She has all kinds of hobbies, but she mostly knits and crochets.  The house is full of yarn.  There is yarn everywhere.

I am trying to decide what I should collect.    It will have to be something small, because there is not much room for another collection.  I cannot collect John Deere tractors.  They take up too much room.

I think I will collect cows.  I have the very good wiggly cow pen that my Dad got me for Valentine’s day, and Mom and Dad also got me a really good cow key chain yesterday.  My new cow has a button on the top of his head, and when you mash it, he moos, and light shines out of his nose.    He is too happy not to be from California.  I have two cows now, so I have started my collection.

Mom and Dad also bought me some things called “pezzes”.  They are cool toys that you fill with yummy candy.  I got a Nemo and an Easter bunny.  Mom gave me the Sylvester she had in her office, so now I have three pezzes.  Three pezzes definitely make a collection.

Mom and Dad have decided that I need something called an “allowance”.  That is where you get money every week, just for being you.  Mom said she would give me three dollars a week.  It sounded good to me, but Calvin Klein told me I should “negotiate” with her.  Calvin Klein says negotiating is where you talk to somebody and convince them to give you a better deal.   I talked to Mom about my allowance, and it worked great!  Instead of just getting three dollars a week, she agreed to give me twelve quarters!!  That Calvin Klein really knows how to deal!

I have my very own monkey bank to keep my quarters in.  You can’t get them out without a screwdriver, so Mom will have to get my quarters out when I need them.  I am going to save them to buy more pezzes.  And maybe some cows.

Today’s fortune said that wealth is a state of mind.  I think that means that I am very rich.  My bank is not full of quarters yet, but I have really good friends, two new collections, and a Mom and Dad who love me very much.  And Valentina will be leaving for California on Friday!!

Life is good.  And getting better every day.

Today’s Vocabulary Words: Strobes, aviation memorabilia, pezzes, allowance, negotiate