Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Monkey's Last Day

Today is Monkey's last day with us, so I thought I would make the day special. I told Monkey that there would be a surprise for him at the office. He tried so hard to guess what it was.

At first Monkey thought that he would get to work at the reception desk. I had to remind him that most people do not like to hear "knock-knock" jokes when they are trying to conduct business.
Then Monkey spotted this King Cake. He actually thought that he was going to get to eat an entire cake. I have to say that Monkey was a tad bit disappointed when he found out that the cake wasn't today's surprise. Soon the waiting was over and it was time to reveal Monkey's surprise for today...
Friends!!! Yes, a very nice couple, Mr. and Mrs. Monkey came by the office to play with Monkey. He was so surprised. At first he was a bit intimidated by this nice couple. They seemed so refined. They were so nicely dressed and had very good manners.
It only took a couple of minutes before they became great friends.
Monkey soon found out that even though Mr. and Mrs. Monkey were nicely dressed, they were loads of fun. Monkey also learned that you cannot judge a book by its cover.
I tried to get another serious picture of them, but every time I told them to "smile", they quickly flopped into goofy positions. They really did get a kick out of taking funny pictures.
When they got tired of playing, they settled down for a nice picnic lunch, courtesy of Monkey.
Soon it was time for a little more sightseeing. I looked all over for them (just like I had to look for Monkey yesterday -- you don't have to tell me who planned this little escapade) and finally found them. They were more than willing to climb out of the plant when I told them that I was going to take them across the street to MacDill Park.
They all seemed very excited to go outside to the park. You should have heard the oohs and aahs (yes, oohs and aahs -- not ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, aaah, aaah, aaah, aaahs, just oohs and aahs) when they saw the red sculpture (which I am powerless to explain -- I guess it's some sort of modern art or maybe it's just a recycling project -- who knows?) because they thought it might be nice to climb. I had to explain to them that (a) the sculpture is in the grass and if I walked in the grass, my heels would sink into the dirt, which would make me very unhappy and (b) it was just too darned windy. We would have had flying monkeys and not in a Wizard of Oz way.
The ground rules having been explained, we crossed the street to the park. Everyone got a kick out of this bird. It was so loud!
Monkey insisted on another picture of the news media building.
I tell you, he couldn't keep his eyes off of the bird.
Here's a candid shot I got of the three of them longingly looking at the red beams and discussing who could climb higher.
DIGRESSION: The park is a tribune to the men and women of the Armed Forces. For those of you who don't know, MacDill refers to MacDill Air Force Base here in town. It is a relatively new park along the Hillsborough River with benches placed so you can look out over the water. The trees are immature, but I really think the park will be nice once the trees mature enough to provide shade. All around the park are tributes to the military. It is one of my favorite places downtown.
Monkey also asked me to take a picture of him and his friends with the water in the background. Monkey was very excited to see the water since Brandon is landlocked.

It certainly does bring a smile to my face to see new friends having a good time just hanging out. While we were waiting for the wind to subside enough to take this picture, we all started to sing "I get by with a little help from my friends".

But alas, all good things must come to and end, and it was time to go back inside. One of us, you see, had to return to work. Before we went into the building, Monkey asked me to take one more picture. He really liked the palm trees in the background.
It was really hard for Monkey to say goodbye to his new friends today. We walked them into Christina's office, she was kind enough to take a short break so we could have one more group picture. Monkey remembered his manners that Lisagh taught him and thanked Christina for bringing Mr. and Mrs. Monkey to the office to play with him.
After a group hug, we were on our way back to Brandon.
Monkey was exhausted when we got home. It had been a very exciting day. But I had one more surprise for him. Sock Monkey fabric!! Monkey was amazed to see a fabric with his picture on it. He asked if it was for him and I told him yes and no. Yes, it was for him in a way, but no not really for him. The fabric is actually for his mom, Lisagh. So Monkey, while you are on your way to St. Petersburg, the fabric will be making it's way to your house along with the Tampa souvenirs that we picked out yesterday.
Of course, once Monkey found out that the fabric wasn't actually for him, he was a little disappointed. But not to fear, I had a few more surprises up my sleeve. I finally let Monkey ride on the iRobot vacuum (he had been asking for days) AND
I let him use my foot bath.
All in all, I think that Monkey had a good time with us. I know we had a blast and really enjoyed his company. And Monkey, with everything that is going on in the world today, it really was a pleasure to take the time to play with you. It reminded me of a very important lesson: every now and then you really have to stop and smell the roses. (Real roses, not the "pull my finger" kind of roses -- just so we're clear).

As you can see from this picture, Monkey is already asleep. It has been a very busy 4 days and he's exhausted. I have no doubt that he is dreaming of his next adventure in St. Pete!
Thanks for the memories Monkey!! Everyone (but Bootsy) will miss you!!

6 comments:

KathleenKMM said...

Monkey on the roomba is PRECIOUS!

lisagh said...

Wow! Christy, you showed him an awesome time. I'm so grateful for all the fun and adventure you shared.
xoL

Allison said...

I love the picture of monkey with the footbath :)

Miss to Mrs said...

I have loved your posts! I can't wait for Monkey to make it the midwest.

Bridget said...

love it! I'm jealous of the roomba!

jillskict said...

I think this was my favorite yet, I laughed pretty much non-stop. HYSTERICAL!