Saturday, April 19, 2014

Down the rabbit hole with "monkeys"

So I've decided I don't quite get the whole moderation thing. When I'm "in", I'm all "in" to the the exclusion of most everything else. I fixate and become some what unreachable. I also get overwhelmed by the width of most projects I take on. It was January, it was cold and dreary and I wanted to bring some color into my life. My friend, Patty made sock monkeys for all of her grandkids for Christmas. I have grandkids! They must need monkeys too. And thus began an adventure of stuffing, and random threads that is still taking over my living room. Check it out.
 All sock monkeys start out innocently enough as one pair of furry socks. One sock is the body and the other sock is cannibalized to make the nose, ears, arms and tail.
Here are some sock bodies waiting to be added too.
This is the first monkey I gave away. My co-worker, Amy had just graduated from nursing school so her monkey wears a nursing cap and name tag.
This is when it became apparent that I had a problem that might require a 12 step program to resolve.
These are the monkeys that went to Missouri to live with my grandsons.


These three "girl" monkeys all went to work to celebrate new babies of my co-workers. Mandee is having her first girl after already having 2 sons. The boys were not excited to have a sister. They finally said it would be okay...but "no dolls" mom. So she got a monkey instead.
Since monkeys only went to those having babies, a few of my friends felt left out. These two went home to Morgan for Easter for Angie's kids.
 These will bring smiles to Carolyn's kids. You'll notice all of my monkeys have knots in the the tails. I've been asked why and there is really no reason other than I put it there. These are all Monkey 1.0, I'm thinking if I advance to Monkey 2.0 I may want to give them belly buttons. Again, just because I can.
The monkey on the far right sits atop the fridge of my daughter who lives in Logan so her dog, Flynn can't turn it into a rag. The blue monkey in the middle is in Alaska teasing Cassie. She sits atop the fridge next to the peacock and a moose with only one horn and one eye. Cassie can jump really high. Some addictions are tough to quit, I've lost count of how many monkeys I've stuffed. There appears to be no end in sight as the sock colors keep changing. They are not tough to make, just check out my pinterest board for instructions. 
Shhh! Don't tell anyone but this monkey is going to Georgia's grandson to be born in June. Until next time find something that makes you smile and do it alot.








Saturday, April 12, 2014

The Fortune Cafe

I recently had the opportunity to review "The Fortune Cafe". I know you all have started to think that all I do is read. Not true, it's just the rest of the stuff I pursue is either work related or pretty far down the "rabbit hole". The "rabbit hole" is a place where you get so overwhelmed by what you are researching or what you are doing that it leaves little time for other interests. I have focused on supplements and removing "franken-foods" from my diet and monkeys. I promise to blog soon with pictures so you can see just how far down the "rabbit hole" I went.




The Fortune Café
A Tangerine Street Romance
A Novel in three parts by Julie Wright, Melanie Jacobson and
Heather B. Moore
 Part One; MisFortune
            Reclusive Emma Armstrong has waitressed for four years at The Fortune Café avoiding the magical fortune cookies until in an effort to stop a food fight one is launched at her head and it cracks open. Denying the fortune, “look around, love is trying to catch you”, does Emma no good as she is pursued by Harrison, a friend from her past. Emma has little time or interest in a relationship as she juggles the responsibilities of pursuing her drawing, making ends meet and caring for her mother.
Part Two: Love not Luck
            Lucy Dalton makes a cameo appearance in part one where she shares a lunch date with her parents, fiancé, Blake Sefton and her future in-laws. Lucy has always relied on her “magic” jade necklace and is devastated when it is broken at the Fortune Café. Leaving the necklace in Seashell Beach for repairs has her life spiraling out of control. Leaning on the unluckiest person she knows, Carter, her next door neighbor changes Lucy’s perspective. You will find yourself laughing out loud when you read Carter’s take on the perks of his bad luck. “I meet new people almost every time I leave the house. Granted they’re paramedics.”
Part Three; Take-out
            Stella Novak makes her living as a jeweler in Seashell Beach where she frequently gets take-out from you guessed it, the Fortune Café. When her ex-boyfriend seems intent on rekindling a relationship that Stella is trying to avoid, she kisses Evan Rockham, the new chef at the Mariposa. While that may end one story line it does open up all kinds of new possibilities.
            The beauty of this book lies in the fact that you can find a common thread throughout all of the stories but each one is complete on it’s own. The characters are well written and seem like people you would like getting to know. So get yourself a copy and one for a friend.