Blogmonkey

Gratitude

2009-05-12T22:04:00-06:00

Today I am a Happy Monkey because… The sun is shining. My dog is back home. A Robin built her nest right outside my window, and I get to wake up each morning and watch her feed her babies. and if that isn’t enough, check out Yiruma playing River Flows in You and Kiss the Rain on YouTube. What makes you happy today?

A Day in History

2009-01-21T03:06:00-06:00

I decided to post on my other blogs… Panties for Peace and TawandaBee. Then I decided to share it here. I have had one of those “this is so cool I can hardly stand it” kind of days! I must add that Aretha Franklin is the Diva of all Divas, and I WANT that HAT!!!

Happy Monkey loves Election Day

2008-11-03T12:34:00-06:00

Today is the day before election day, and I have already voted, yet the anticipation and excitement is in the air. My daughter gets to go to Washington and sit in with Dan Rather’s live broadcast, and I am so very excited for her. Elections are historic events no matter what the outcome, so be sure and vote! As a student of history - yeah, I really did major in history- I have a keen sense of the power of our vote. I think it would be so cool to have huge turnouts - historic turnouts - so we can really know that the candidate elected is there because a majority of the population pushed the button with his/her name on it. I believe in the power of the people. I believe that if we use our voices and make our desires known, then the opportunities for success are limitless. I believe. Yes we can.

SUPER Happy Monkey

2008-10-06T15:43:00-06:00

When little Mavis Blue needed to get dressed for a costumer party, she donned her Happy Monkey shirt and was instantly transformed into SUPER HAPPY MONKEY, Goddess of all Cuteness!

Art and other Goodies

2008-09-03T20:03:01-06:00

Happy Monkey is adding art and other Goodies… When BEBO called to say he was making the folk art pieces exclusively for Happy Monkey, I jumped up and down. I have quite a collection of his art in my home, so I thought I would show you a few… All of his art is painted with tractor paint on old pieces of wood. I am partial to the signs, because I love the power of words. I think there is something in every room of my house… this is propped in the window of my dining room! The Peace Signs we are offering are 12 x 12 square wood signs, and all are signed by BEBO! You can see more of his art on his website.

Living the Question

2008-08-21T18:13:00-06:00

by David Kimble, Executive Director of Trees for Life I lived my life as a statement, until I met someone whose life asked a question. Back when my life was a statement, I appeared to “have it made.” I had a successful career, family, financial security… all that I had been told would bring true happiness. So why wasn’t I truly happy? ... I had learned that we possessed the ability to feed everyone in the world, but simply lacked the willpower to make it happen. A popular song that year tugged at my heart: We are the world, We are the children, We are the ones who make a brighter day… This song touched me very deeply…so deeply that my question changed from “What would I do?” to “What can I do?” It was that year that I met a friend of a friend named Balbir Mathur, who spoke about something called “Trees for Life.” A few days after our meeting I received a call from Balbir, asking if I knew someone who could stitch together some green aprons for a St. Patrick’s Day parade. That “someone” turned out to be me, and thus began my enduring relationship with Trees for Life. Over time, I saw that Balbir lived his life as a question. My life as a statement ended, and I began to ask the same question: “How may I serve?” This just dang makes me smile and cry at the same time. My favorite line… There’s a choice we’re makin’ We’re saving our own lives...

Spam and Losers

2008-08-12T19:12:00-06:00

Get a life and go away… That is what I would like to say to all of those hacker-spammer types who keep messing with my email and posting inappropriate comments on my blog. Instead I sit here and feel sad… sad that they have nothing better to do with their time; sad that they get a charge out of messing with the lives of other people; sad that they ... who is they anyway? Do you know a hacker, or at least a spammer?

Panties for Peace Blog

2008-08-03T16:14:00-06:00

More stories from Happy Monkey can be found on this blog… Check it out...

Jump into Life

2008-07-22T14:39:00-06:00

Go ahead and take a leap of faith… So many times I hear people talking about what they are going to do when ... the reasons are endless. I know, because I have used them all myself. Not anymore! Life is lived one moment at a time, and each moment is unique and priceless. Enjoy your moments. Go ahead ... Jump in!

Letterboxing

2008-07-21T16:32:00-06:00

Another day ... another new adventure As I have said so many times, our children can be out best teachers. Today we decided to let my 20 year old lead the way on an adventure called letterboxing. She learned about it from a friend who learned about it from a friend… you get the idea. You can check it out on many sites, but this one seems to be very complete (http://www.letterboxing.org). After she explained it all to us, we decided what to use for our personal stamp. If you like the adventure and decide to keep going, the stamp you choose becomes your identity… and keeping your identity secret can add to the mystery. I almost used my Happy Monkey stamp, but decided that was too obvious. My daughter had researched the letterboxes in our area and chose two that were nearby. We printed the directions, some are like puzzles and some are straighforward using landmarks and natural markers. Ours were the straight-forward variety. We set off to find the box with anticipation… From the split in the road, we counted off 70 paces. There we saw the multi trunked tree on the left side of the road. Dan and Sarah climbed the bank to the back of the tree. Dan reached into the middle, lifted the rock, and there was the container. We all smiled ... Mission Accomplished… almost. Opening the container, we found a notebook that had been stamped by many other adventurers, so we sat and took our time reading the other names and admiring their stamps. We stamped our notebooks with the stamp found in the container, and added our stamps to the notebook for future adventurers to see. Above you can see a page from the notebook dated 3-2-08 and stamped by someone from McEwen, TN. There were stamps from people as far away as California. Letterboxing takes you to places you would otherwise never see. This particular place is right in my neighborhood, but I have never taken the time to go there… and on the way back to the car, I saw something else I would never have seen… The Letterboxing Trio Wow… You can go Letterboxing all over the world. Check out their website for a city near you… I have already printed clues for my upcoming trip to Chicago. Have fun!