ELLEN, TED & DAVE

ELLEN: Born - October 1st. Ellen got caught in an ant hill and now has ants permanently stuck to her body. Actually, according to Ellen, while she was in the ant hill, she had tea with their Queen. They dined on other insects and bread crumbs the worker ants had scavenged. The Queen took a liking to Ellen (as most people do) and released her unharmed. They drew a mural of ants on her body so she'd always remember her time in the ant hill and how close to death she was. Good thing Ellen's a comedian or she'd be ant food right now.
TED: Born - October 2nd. So, all I could think of was a surfer dude I once knew named "Ted" when I bought these socks. The design on them is palm trees and surf boards, therefore, they've always been named Ted in my mind. I only met Ted once at a conference I was at. He was one of the speakers and told a story about his previous life as a surfer. I like to think that Ted the Sock Monkey is STILL a surfer and rides the Great Slave Lake waves on a windy day. When he's done, he pins himself up on driftwood to dry out in the wind. Pretty cool if you ask me.
DAVE: Born - October 3rd. Dave is a Libra and true to his sign. He's a slight perfectionist, charitable and has an uncanny attention to detail. He loves intellectual conversations and credit cards (could be his...or yours...). Don't ever pressure him into decisions or rush him out the door...Dave does not respond well to confusion. On the bright side though, he's all about seeking balance and fairness in any situation, a natural negotiator. We love our fair-minded Dave.

SEPTEMBER COLLECTION 2011



SEPTEMBER COLLECTION WITH THEIR MODEL, DUANE.



"EVERYONE LOOK AT ME"...AND THEY DID!

Wow! Here I am at the end of September already - 273 sock monkeys into the year, and that's not including all the extras I make. This month I have two people to thank. One of course is the above model, Duane Mackie. He has been one of my biggest supporters in the sock department and even though I had to beg him to be the model for this month, he was a good sport about it and the monkeys loved him! So, a big THANK YOU to Duane (all the sock monkeys are cheering - I can hear them through their box...).

Secondly, I really want to say thank you to Aubrey Reintjes who I am shipping another 40 monkeys off to this week. She lives in BC and works with the Cowichan people, helping to run their "Boys Road" club. These sock monkeys will find good homes and hopefully make some young kids smile! Thank you Aubrey - you made my month.

And last but not least, THANKS to those who read my blog faithfully (Beverly) and continue to encourage me with this project. Keep reading!

SASHA, POLLY & BLUE

SASHA: Born - September 28th. Sasha eats green pea soup for every meal. You'd think with that much green pea soup in her, she'd be green. Well, she's clearly not green. Not only does she eat green pea soup all the time but,she doesn't eat any normal sock monkey food such as; bananas, banana daiquiris, lice, fruits, vegetables etc....ever. How does she stay healthy AND eat the same thing day in and day out and never get sick of it?? Sasha is a weird little sock monkey....
POLLY: Born - September 29th. Polly doesn't like me very much. I really haven't any idea why. I sing to her every day "Polly Wolly doodle all day" , and ask her if "Polly wants a cracker".  I also tell her facts like; the name Polly has not made the "top 1000 names" list since 1977 OR, Polly is a variant of Mary/Molly so there is no origin to the name Polly. I'm just stating the facts folks, why doesn't she like me? I don't get it.
BLUE: Born - September 30th. Blue has amazing blue eyes, that's why he's called Blue. If you look at him, he's kind of a boring colored sock monkey - you know, just khaki and beige stripes, nothing exciting...just fortunate to have those blue eyes. Blue also only sees things in different shades of blue.From the branches on the trees to the banana he shoves in his mouth at dinner, everything is blue! How cool is that?

SCOUT, RANGER & CUBZ

SCOUT, RANGER & CUBZ: Born - September 25th, 26th & 27th. Well, much as I try to have all my Sock Monkeys have separate bio's, sometimes that can't be avoided - especially when you have similar socks or a theme that you want to use. In this case, not only did these socks come in a three pack, but as their names may indicate, they also have a theme going on. Therefore, a joint bio.
Scout, Ranger and Cubz are all avid boy club members. They started out as participants and have now become the organizers and leaders of the Sock Monkey Boys Clubs in the small town of "Bald Knob" Arkansas (yes, it exists). They meet every day and enjoy hours of fun - sometimes chaotic fun - teaching young Sock Monkeys necessary life skills such as; camping, fishing, boating, banana bunch fetching, chandelier swinging, cooking, cleaning, picking lice, sewing, how to tell a good joke and scratching in inappropriate places.
Once you've managed to pass all the little tests for the above skills, you get patches you can sew on your really cool underwear - which in these clubs are worn as hats. You can also move up in the ranks and become a junior or senior officer within each club. Lots of opportunities and fun for the whole troops! Too bad there's nothing like that available here. I'm sure we could all benefit from learning how to pick lice....

ZIG & ZAG

ZIG & ZAG: Born - September 23rd & 24th. These two Sock Monkeys are identical right down to the stuffing.Given to me by my good friend and co-worker/boss lady, I decided they should have a story line relatively close to the Brenda & Jessica story line that follows us when we travel for work. So, without further delay, here is their story.
Zig is taller (in her mind) while Zag is smaller. Zag can be a little "short" tempered and Zig loses her breath from the higher altitude. While Zag loves to drive, Zig attempts to throw gum out the car window and inevitably rolls the window up on her thumb...
Once in awhile Zag joins in the somewhat "absentmindedness" (for lack of a better word) and will be wondering why the Ipod is not working in the vehicles stereo, at which point, after many cuss words and freakin' hours of frustration, they both look down and realize they had the wrong plug in... 
Zig and Zag tend to arrive late in town and head to the local theatre where they eat their nutritious supper of hot dogs, popcorn and slurpies. Maybe they'll catch a movie or perhaps they'll just load up on extreme buttered popcorn and stay in for the night. Their day is all about shopping and make no mistake, these two can shop. Up at the crack of dawn (that lines just funny no matter how many times I say it) and done when the last store closes at 10pm. Sounds fun but it's exhausting.
After the many hours of shopping or attending workshops or running conferences, these two Sock Monkeys find their way home - be it by ground or air - and collapse exhausted in their homes ready for a good nights sleep.
Author's note: Due to the subject matter of some of the crap that happens to Brenda and I on the road, I could only let you in on a small part of it. HOWEVER, once I have all our "adventures" logged, you can expect a book - it will have stick figures and maybe some pop-ups BUT, rest assured it will be....ummmm...entertaining.

EMMA, DORIE, BLOSSOM & FAITH

EMMA, DORIE, BLOSSOM & FAITH: Born - September 19th, 20th, 21st & 22nd respectively. This quartet of sisters just happen to be the backup singers to a Sock Monkey Band called "Orange Peel in the Ditch". Their ability to sing in perfect unison or four part harmony is uncanny and they are known all over the world. The sisters didn't always sing, they each had individual jobs at one point. Emma was a door sales monkey, Dorie raised goldfish for Pet stores, Blossom was a chandelier light bulb changer and Faith actually worked as a guard at the local sanatorium. One day, they were visiting each other and a cool song came on the radio. They started singing along and before they knew it, had a groove all their own going on and decided to give singing a chance. I'm really glad they did and so is the band - especially the lead singer Stripes Magee who appreciates the distraction the lovely girls bring to the audience. No more lost kilts for Stripes Magee....
Author's note: You can read about Stripes Magee if you go back o March 3rd of this year. You'll understand why Stripes appreciates the distraction...

CHARLOTTE & SANDERSON

CHARLOTTE & SANDERSON: Born - September 17th & 18th respectively. So Charlotte and Sanderson are not a couple and not related. They just happen to be two very good friends who connected over their passion for their jobs. Both these amazing Sock Monkeys are "Gumbusters".
There you are, on a lovely night out with your better half, sitting at a fancy restaurant and your knee accidentally bumps the underside of your table. You pull your knee away but wait....there's something stuck to it. GUM!! Or, you and your date are in the very last row at the theatre, holding hands, getting ready to share popcorn and enjoy a movie, when you shift in your chair and realize....there's something stuck to your butt. GUM!! Or, you're on public transit and you bend down to pick up the book you have just dropped and your hair touches the back of the chair in front of you and BAM! Fricken GUM!! We've all been there and it isn't pleasant.
Here's where Charlotte and Sanderson come in. They are the ones who go around and remove gum from all these hidden places - hence, Gumbusters. The world is alot less "gummier" with these two around. Thank you Charlotte and Sanderson for working diligently at your job. We humans appreciate it!
Author's note: We humans would appreciate it a ton more if stupid humans would NOT put there GUM in places it doesn't belong. Just saying...