Sock Monkeys in my life...I am pretty sure I had a sock monkey when I was little - but given the fact that my mother chronicled every facet of our lives, I'm not so sure. There are no sock monkey photos! (I have 110 3-ring binders full of 60 years of mom's snapshots). No matter... Sock Monkeys are a part of my life NOW!
I started making Sock Monkeys when I was in my mid-20's. I was working at an insurance company at the time. My husband worked nights, I worked days. I'd spend my nights sewing and stuffing and "giving birth" to these little bundles of joy - and sell them at the office for $5 each!
Once we had children, production slowed down - and only the most special of friends would get a sock monkey from me.
Fast forward to more recent times...
I made some wonderful friends online. I made monkeys and sent them off to two of them. This online group of friends rallied around photos of them and begged for a monkey of their very own. The idea of a traveling Sock Monkey named T-T was born.
T-T was packed up in his sock monkey sleeping bag, with his journal in hand! He flew off to New York and stayed awhile there... from that first trip, T-T has traveled around the country. He has even been on a cruise! He did return home for a visit. I loved reading his travel journal and spending time with him. I made him a little vest and sent him back out on another adventure.
It's been 19 months and I haven't heard a peep from T-T! He doesn't phone, doesn't write, doesn't email me. :(
Now I have had word that he's been found and will be traveling home to me soon. I can't wait! I don't think T-T will venture out again... I've missed him way too much!
.............now the rest of the story!
Timing is everything. And strange things happen...
A friend of mine wanted to celebrate my 60th birthday in a special way. She collected names and addresses of family and friends - and created (from paper) and mailed out a FLAT MONKEY to them all. They were instructed to take photos with FLAT MONKEY and send them back to her with a comment about me. She turned all of this into a beautiful scrapbook for me!
The whole book is SOCK MONKEYS... background paper, litte stickers, brads and photos!
FLAT MONKEY traveled with this friend, my sister and another good friend to Door County for a girl's weekend away. The scrapbook friend also made the four of us matching red t-shirts with a sock monkey face on the front. We were quite the attention-getters on our weekend!
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In a parallel universe - WORK! Sock Monkeys also became the theme of my birthday. When I got to work - there were Sock Monkeys EVERYWHERE! Streamers hung from doorways with sock monkeys taped to them. Cut out pictures taped to every wall, cabinet door, actually to any flat surface. There were foam sock monkey stickers hiding in every nook and cranny! They were in my cd player, taped under my mouse, hiding in cabinets, copiers, printers, drawers... It was great fun to stumble upon them for several days! I'm guessing I've collected 250 of these colorful little stickers! One co-worker even gave me a mum plant she chose because she thought it was "sock monkey colors."
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Work didn't know what my family and friends were up to... and friends and family didn't know what work was up to! How coincidental is that! And now I hear that T-T is coming home to me. This is truly the year of Sock Monkey blessings for me! I can't think of a way to make me happier or to feel more loved.
