Life sure does change, doesn't it?  One day you are a medical transcription and the next, you're a monkey technician.

I can't believe it has been a month since I last updated, but then again, I can because it's been just a really busy time.  I am looking forward to some quieter days and longer nights to enjoy before the kiddies are out of school for the summer in a couple of months.

That school year just blistered right on by, didn't it?

So I quit my medical transcription job.  I was warring a good bit with whether or not to give it up.  It was great security ad a wonderful company to work for and all, but it was hard to spend time with my family the way I want to when I was having to lock up in a room for 4 hours a night to work.  It got us through a fairly challenging time and I'm really grateful for what it did in my life.  It showed me that I still have a marketable skill and a value in the world after being out of the official work force for 10 years. 

My last night to work was Monday night and even though Tuesday and Wednesday are typically my "weekend," I felt the absence of the job tonight.  I'm very, very tired, but my brain is wired up to be all cerebral and intellectual until 10pm (when I was off shift) and I can't seem to shut it down tonight.

Having completed that phase of my life, I'm moving on to my next job, which I can't believe I actually have and never really thought I'd be.  I guess I'm a monkey technician and bear fashionista.  Through a series of interesting events, I was led to a course in life where I now design sock monkeys and get them all gussied up.  I am also going to be dressing up some Grizzly Flats teddy bears. 

What's a bit curious about this is that this is what my mother did for about the last half of her life.  She also dressed Barbie dolls, but I'm not going to be messing with those things, I can tell you that much.  I have never been a very artsy craftsy person, but here I am up to my elbows in bear glasses (instead of beer glasses) and monkey socks and formal wear for monkeys and burger night aprons for bears and all sorts of other stuff.

Anyway, y'all will have to come up to the craft fair on April 19th (see the front page, beybee) to see what else is up because I can tell you there's just a whole lot up.  A few of my friends and I are going to be getting together to host this craft fair every other Saturday so that all the cool things the people in this town are making are available in one place for your delicate perusal.  We'll also give you some coffee.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I might as well tell you how I got into the monkey business.  (Ha ha.. "Monkey Business").  It went something like this:

A couple of weeks ago, my little boys were invited to a birthday party and it was one of those "drop your kids off" parties where you pick them up 3 hours later and they're all sated from playing with their buddies and wired up on sweets and such.  In other words, "Free Babysitting."  We took advantage of the time to do something we're never able to do.  We took Delena out to eat.  She's usually the babysitter, so we can't ever get out alone with her.

We stopped into Placerville Hardware for something, I don't even remember what.  As I went into the store, I saw in their display window, a sock monkey.  It was a well made, kinda cute sock monkey, but not exactly the Raquel Welch of sock monkeys.  It's just a sock monkey.  It has a tag around its neck that says DeeDee and that is significant because DeeDee and Dee are our nicknames for Delena.  Delena also happens to be a monkey fanatic.  I like pigs (with character - not just any old pig) and Delena likes monkeys.  So I asked the guy behind the counter if the monkey was for sale and he excitedly told me that it was.  The rest of the conversation went like this:

Me:  Excellent.  How much for the monkey?

Hardware boy:  It's $79.

Me:  *blink*  Did you just say $79, like $1 less than $80?

HB:  Yes.

Me:  *stare*

HB:  It's wearing a Tommy Hilfliger outfit.  *shifts uncomfortably*

Me:  *stare*  Are you really standing there telling me with a straight face that the little sock monkey in the window costs $79?

HB:  I could probably let it go for $50.

Me:  Are you out of your ever lovin' mind?  How do monkey makers sleep at night?

HB:  It's wearing a Tommy Hilfliger outfit.

Me:  Do you realize you are in Placerville, not Beverly Hills?  I could see Paris Hilton buying a Tommy Hilfliger monkey for $79...

HB:  I can let it go for $50.

Me:  ...but in Placerville, I think you are going to end up with one very old, dusty monkey in a Tommy Hilfliger outfit.

HB:  Do you want the monkey?

Me:  No, I want to get some damned monkey socks and go into the monkey making business.

HB:  We don't sell the socks.

Me:  There are other worlds than these, gunslinger.

So I found a source for some monkey socks and that's how I became a monkey designer.  It's like God spoke to me, but instead of a burning bush (which is fortunate, with Eric being on the Fire Safe Council and all), it was through a stuffed monkey.  God said, "Katrina, I want you to go forth and make some monkeys.  Get thee hence into the world and bring forth monkeys in My name."  And who am I to argue with a divine monkey dictate?

That's how I became a purveyor of monkeys as well as bears (I'd already decided on the bears).  My monkeys, however, will not cost $79.  If I ever try to sell you a monkey for $79, that bitch had better be able to wash your dishes and do your taxes.  That's just highway monkey robbery and I don't care WHAT the thing is wearing.  It could be the one-of-a-kind Valentino wearing Princess Diana Commemorative Monkey from Franklin Mint and I'm not paying $79 for it.

And that's all there is to it.