Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader must make two public apologies.

The first is to his good friend and co-blogger, the Smallholder. Like the Foreign Minister, your Maximum Leader neglected to call, e-mail, or otherwise make note of the Smallholder’s birthday. There really isn’t any excuse. There were reminders and such, but your Maximum Leader dismissed them and then promptly forgot. Your Maximum Leader will admit that he is horrible about remember birthdays. He rarely remembers his own in fact. The only three that he remembers faithfully are those of his own children. For all others he requires unceasing reminders.

Happy Birthday, Smallholder. Many happy returns to you.

The second apology your Maximum Leader must make is to his friend Gordon the Cranky Neocon of Six Meat Buffet. A little while ago, your Maximum Leader shot Gordon an e-mail indicating that he (your Maximum Leader that is) would be in his (Gordon’s) neck of the woods in late April. Well… Your Maximum Leader, Mrs Villain, and all his villainous progeny, did make the trek to the greater Philadephia area this past weekend. It was your Maximum Leader’s intention to contact Gordon and try to meet him for an adult beverage and conversation. It was Mrs Villain’s intention to have many activities planned for the whole family and to keep a tight schedule. So, unfortunately, your Maximum Leader owes Gordon an adult beverage and conversation at some indetermined point in the future.

By way of further explaination, the whole Villainous family was in the Philly region from Friday to Saturday. It was your Maximum Leader’s original understanding that the family would not return until Sunday. Reality was that we departed Philly Saturday and made our way back to Fredericksburg. During our brief visit, we were able to visit with some family friends of Mrs Villain and her parents in New Jersey. Then your Maximum Leader took his children to see the King Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute. After Tut, he took his villainous progeny through the Franklin Institute, saw one of the IMAX films there, then caught lunch. After that carousing, he had to gather up the family and stick to the plan to return to the Villainschloss.

By the way, if you have a chance to see the Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute, you ought to. It was well worth it. It kept a 9 year old girl and a 7 year old girl captivated for over two hours…

So… In closing… Happy (Belated) Birthday Smallholder; and Gordon, your Maximum Leader owes you one.

Carry on.