I recently discovered a blog written by a woman who, without fail always makes me laugh. Loudly. Sometimes for a long time. And usually sporadically throughout the day when something she wrote pops into my head.

I have been wishing that she lived next door so that we could become the kind of friends who drop by for no reason other than to tell each other funny stories about the other neighbors. It’s obvious in her writing that she’s quirky, irreverent, a laugh a minute…and Mormon. So here is where any Mormons that may be reading this are either perplexed as to why I’m surprised OR insulted and consequently vowing not to read another word of my offensive post (let alone anything else that someone as ignorant as me might have to say). But truly, I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just admitting to having had some vague preconceptions about Mormons being so focused on their religion that they might tend to take themselves a little too seriously to be SO DAMN FUNNY. Okay – so here is one of my favorite posts from Every Day I Write the Book:

This Is How I Really Feel About Our Hamster

Hamster, I look forward to the day that I casually walk past your cage and you are dead. I would never kill you outright; neither will I suffer when you inevitably, irrevocably pass away from neglect. To be sure, we have provided life’s necessities to you: food, water, a clean cage. I don’t hate you–what do you think I am, some kind of monster? No, but I don’t love you either. No one really loves you and that’s your fault. Here are all the things you have failed to do when we brought you home and entered into the two-way promise of pet ownership:

Be charming

Learn tricks

Endear yourself to us in any way

Show any signs of sentience

Have any redeeming qualities whatsoever

Not stink

What gives, Hamster? I refuse to get into some co-dependent hate/hate relationship with you. Your self-defeating behavior sickens me. You have no sense of delayed gratification or appreciation for normal bio-rhythms–stuffing your face with all your food immediately and running incessantly on your tread mill in the middle of the night. If you could purge after you binge, would you? Stop right there–I can’t do this with you.

Sometimes I imagine simply flicking you out into my backyard to be swooped up by a passing bird of prey. But frankly, to die in the noble clutches of a soaring hawk is too good for you. This is how I really feel.

Even my husband was cracking up when he read this. And his usual reaction to my request that he read a good blog post involves heavy sighs and put upon expressions. But this is one funny Mormon.

Chris (my husband) says that she is probably a “Jack Mormon” which according to him means that she drinks on the sly. I think that Mormons would find this more offensive than my ignorance of their talent for comedy. But Chris grew up in an area of Phoenix, AZ where he was one of the few non-Mormon kids in his class, at least until high school when they moved to a different neighborhood. And he feels that this makes him fairly knowledgeable about the Mormon culture (for lack of a better word). He said they are generally very friendly and kind, almost unbelievably wholesome in their sense of family and community, and incredibly close knit (making sure that even the least athletic Mormon kid was picked for a team before choosing a really good non-Mormon player). And apparently there are some who do break the rules and drink – they are called Jack Mormons.

My guess is that Kacy is just naturally funny and doesn’t need a cocktail to make people laugh. My only complaint about her blog is that she doesn’t post often enough (only about once a week). But this may be due to the fact that she has ANOTHER blog with a group of other mostly very funny Mormons. It’s called Light Refreshments Served (I think one of them is actually a professional actress/comedian, and it looks like she has her own blog, Oh Judy!). Not all posts are supposed to be funny – and okay, I’ll admit that most of the Mormon references like “mission”, “Ensign“, “gospel doctrine class” and “Young Women” go over my head. But just like in any other blog – the writers are telling stories – stories about their lives, their families and friends, the things that are important to them. And yes – many if not most of those stories happen to be totally hilarious (I especially love “Kacy’s Neighborhood Watch” installments).

If there are in fact, any Mormons reading this – I hope that you’ve stuck with me this far and appreciate the fact that I’m really just poking fun at myself and basically recognizing that I need to take my head out of my ass. I don’t like it when people make assumptions about me – so this is just another reminder to myself to “do unto others.” (Do Mormon’s use that one? I only have significant religious experience with Catholics – and that sentiment big with the Catholics.)

So this is my shout out to the funny Mormon ladies. Check them out when you need a good laugh. It’s my new preconceived notion about the Mormons – they’re all about the jokes.