Well, I know that I'm in the middle of a big ole bloggy break, but Melanie and I have been wanting to record a podcast, and the day before our friend Annie's new book comes out seemed like a fine and wonderful time.

Here's the cover of Annie's book. I love it a lot.

Annie and I have a delightful chat about 10 minutes into the podcast. Melanie was supposed to be part of that, but unfortunately we (and by "we," I mean "I") could not figure out how to record the three of us at once now that I'm using different software than I did back in the days of FryDaddy.

SO - Mel and I talked a little, then Annie and I talked, then Mel and I talked a bunch more. We extensively examined the beach house vs. lake house debate, our favorite summertime foods, the perils of trying to have grown-up conversations when kids are listening, and, of course, our dogs.

Also, please excuse the awkward sound effect transition that I used at the beginning and the end of the part with Annie. Just know that I did the best I could with an impromptu back-up plan and very limited technical skills.

If I can ever finish this book, I may need to consider signing up to take some sort of online podcasting seminar. I feel like that would be good for all of us.

Bless.