My Esty Shop

Hey Everyone!


After 10 years of making jewelry for fun and selling here and there, I have decided to start up an Etsy online store featuring some of my favorite creations.

www.seemonkeybead.etsy.com

Check it out! I will be uploading new products so stop by often.

Ninja Monkey vs Cute Kids

I am probably biased but I think that my sisters have made some pretty cute kidlets(my word for cute kid types) Lately, I have been hearing some really funny stories about my nephew, Atticus Finch, and his brother, Harper Lee, and their cousin, Celeste. Yes, my little sister really likes To Kill A Mockingbird.

Last week my mom was driving around town with the kids when Atticus said something mean to Celeste. After overhearing that he hurt Celeste's feelings grandma stepped in and told him to kiss and make up. Atticus leans over, gives Celeste a kiss, and then says "I'm sorry Celeste, and I will put on your make-up later"

A few days later they are out driving with my aunt, Kelli, and one of her grand kids, Corbin, who had a cold. He sneezed and Atticus says "Uh Kelli, you should do something, its disgusting back here." She laughs and wipes the nose of her grandchild. Then Atticus declares "Its OK though, because it is our disgusting" So I guess blood is thicker than snot in the eyes of my nephew.

Over the weekend my mom who the kids call Nanu (as in Mork's greeting) took all Celeste, Atticus and Harper all to see their great-grandma. They were there for a while visiting when my older sister, January, came to pick up Celeste. She walked in and said hello to everyone and gave Atticus a hug. Atticus stared at her and slowly backed away to my mom and whispered "Nanu, who is that?" My mom laughed and told him it was his Aunt Jan. He didn't recognize her because she was wearing her glasses.


My friend Melissa has two sons, Bryan and Lucas. After not seeing me for a while, Bryan asked his mom who I was. She said that's your Aunt Brandi. To which he replied "Oh yeah! I thought I recognized those freckles!" I laughed for like ten minutes.


I have come to the conclusion that kids are hilarious!

Ninja Monkey vs Travel Plans

Ninja Monkey looks at long long list of travel goals and sighs...

I do think I have traveled more that a lot of people and it seems that I am still not satisfied. I did check off a few of my must visit places last fall when I went to France, England, Ireland and Scotland. I've done Canada and Mexico and various spots around the US of A but I still have many many places left that I want to visit.

-Australia
-Japan
-China
-New Zealand
-Egypt
-Greece
-Italy
-Easter Island
-Hawaii
-Russia
-Germany

Really I would like to go everywhere I possibly can. I also have this problem of wanting to keep going back to certain places. I fell in love with Chicago when I was 16 and have been there many, many times and plan to keep going back as much as possible. San Francisco has also captured my heart and I long to go back and explore more of California. I really like NYC, there is always something new to see and do. I also go to Carolina in my mind a few times a week. One day I would like to move down to the Raleigh area.

This summer I have plans to visit Seattle and do a road trip through PA, NY and Maine. Stopping in a few various places to visit friends and catch some shows. I do not anticipate getting out of the country this year since I am still paying for my trip to Europe last year. C'est la vie.

I will make my way around the world spreading the great ninja monkey spirit.

Smoking Typewriter Award

Momma Bear gave me the Smoking Typewriter Award...Thanks Beth!

So to truly claim my award I must follow the rules of the Smoking Typewriter...
Google your name and then post a few of the more interesting or amusing things that pop up. So lets see what ye olde Google has in store for me!

Brandi You're A Fine Girl video by Looking Glass the funny thing is the song is actually spelled Brandy. I personally think that Brandi is a much better way to spell what is probably the greatest name of all time, but I might be biased. Also, I never knew that there was a Brandy song until I was around 20. I never understood why people would randomly say things to me like "What a good wife you would be" or "You're a fine girl". I always just thought that people were weird and creepy. Once I was at a county fair and a dude on stage asked me my name and he started singing those same words. I was like man why does everyone always say these weird things to me. When I did finally hear the song I thought ahh, people were trying to be funny not creepy, silly Brandi!

Brandi Jackson a professional golfer who from the looks of things enjoys golfing in sundresses. Hopefully its not too windy when she hits up the links.

Brandi Carlile a singer/songwriter from Washington who does rock/folk/pop/country. I think she wins the "Slashy" award.

A Cat Lady Blog by a woman named Brandi who is writing from the perspective of her cat. Enough said...

A cakemaker with a really cute website who is named Brandi and makes sugar free desserts! I think she should be my new friend! :)

Well I guess that is probably enough Brandi information picked up from the internet machine. I hope you have enjoyed these random Brandis.

I would like to give Orion and Cara the Smoking Typewriter Award! I look forward to hearing more from you guys :)

Oh I am in the process of setting up an etsy shop. I will keep you posted with the status. For now here is my latest creation. I call it the Foxy Lady. Let me know what you think!

Ninja Monkey vs. Bass Shopping

This lil monkey has a dream....E-I-E-I-O!

And in this dream I have a band....E-I-E-I-O!

And in this band I rock out on an awesome bass....

The one snag is that I have to save up for this new rockin bass. While I will always love my upright bass and the beautiful sound she makes, I am not able to haul old Georgie around very easily anymore. My rotator cuff surgery and the smallness of my car are both working against me. The new bass fund is at about 40% I am hoping that my birthday in April will put me over the top. I am yearning for this sexy little Ibanez beauty.
I happened to meet a cool dude that runs the Colonial Music in Worthingon that is going to give me a break on the price. When he was ringing up my purchase he gave me the pro musician *wink wink* discount on my new bass rosin. I looked up and noticed an Ibanez Artcore guitar hanging on the wall behind the counter. I asked if they also carried the basses from that line, since I have been eying them for a few months in various on-line stores. He said they do not stock them but can get any bass my heart desires. Then he told me print out the lowest price I can find online and he will beat it. He also said that if I purchase my new bass from his store that he would string it, tune it and give me a discount on the case. I told him that I would be back in a couple months once I had saved up a little more dough.

I highly recommend shopping in the smaller locally owned businesses around town. The customer service and knowledge is excellent and they really value your business. I ran in to buy a $15 chunk of bass rosin but thanks to his quality of service I will be back in April to buy my new bass, some super slinky strings, a case, and a new amp.

Stay tuned for awesome tunes by Monkey & Pig! We will rock your socks....uh...on (we have really cold feet).
Oh yeah I also noticed these composer action figures while browsing the music store and I plan on collecting them all!!!

Ninja Monkey vs Hot Coffee

Wake up feeling kind of sleepy but get out of bed and get ready. Put on your favorite mango body butter. Go down to the laundry room and get the biggest, warmest pair of socks you can find. Grab the sweater that will keep you warm and cozy all day in your cold office. Realize you forgot to program your coffee maker to brew your morning coffee. Look at your shoe options, you select running shoes for maximum comfort. It hasn't been snowing that much you don't need to bust out the waterproof boots.

Get in your car and rock out to some Lonely Island. Sit in traffic for 45 minutes annoyed and expecting to see a huge wreck or something. Eventually you realize that nothing is happening to cause the slow down, people are just opting not to drive their cars. Ignore the annoying commute and go get yourself a huge americano made just the way you like it. Get to work and step out of your car. While reaching for your laptop you drop your enormous coffee and it dumps all over you and the inside of your car. Decide the day can't get worse. You realize that you don't have to come back out to your car for that giant box of supplies now that you aren't carrying a coffee. Grab the box and head inside the building.

Walk in the lower level and wait for the elevator. It never comes. The elevator is out of order so you must carry your soggy self, the giant box of stuff, and your laptop up to your office on the top floor. Realize that the waterproof shoes would have been a better choice for today as the coffee creeps down through your warm socks to your feet. Shiver as you take of your cozy sweater because the sleeves are soaked with coffee. Sit down and start working and planning your day when you realize that your purse has also been filled with coffee. Your wallet, camera, passport and all the random things inside have been soaked in coffee. You think this is awesome and start drying and cleaning each item. You realize your phone is not in your purse, you are happy it isn't ruined by the coffee nightmare but sad because now you are without your phone for the day. Take a deep breath and think coffee and mango is not the best combination of smells.

Realize that you are lucky because the day can only get better.

Ninja Moneky vs Sinus Infections

I saw my ENT doctor today who has been treating me off and on for ear nose and throat issues for the last five years. He saw me a couple weeks ago and looked in my nose and said well it looks pretty open and clear but you say there are signs of infection so lets try an antibiotic and get a CT scan so I can see the actual sinuses. I was forced to delay my follow up appointment by almost two weeks because of the snow storm. I finished my most recent course of antibiotics (I have been on several over the last seven months) and went in for my scan.

I sat in the room waiting and my doctor comes in to see me and says "well have the symptoms changed at all after the antibiotics?" I say, well some have improved but overall I still feel like I have a lot of congestion and an infection. We walk over to his office to view the CD that contains my scans and he tells me how excited he is to see what is on the disk. Whenever he sees me he says things like "oh this is interesting" or "I am excited to see this" or "wow that is intriguing". I would prefer to be less interesting as a patient but that is just not how I roll.

We sit down and he starts showing my the images of the inside of my head. Then he looks at it and says "Yes there is an infection. You were right, look at that". My right lower sinus cavity is full of infected tissue. I begin thinking about what happened the last time my sinuses were constantly infected. I remembered the various failed attempts to treat me. They tried allergy tests and medicines, pumping me full of antibiotics and the famous 6 month steroid treatment (none of these were the decision of my current ENT) I decided to see him after 23 years of being misdiagnosed and mistreated by my other doctors and after extensive research on the ENT doctors in my area. He tried a few more treatments but the state of my sinuses really only left one option. I had to have three sinus procedures preformed. Once I recovered from the surgery I had no recurrence for almost four years.

I asked what we were going to do this time. For now, we are trying a back to back course of antibiotics and steroids for the next six weeks. I also got a new gadget, Sinus Rinse. I get to use this bad boy twice a day for the rest of my life. We shall see how it all shakes out, I am hoping that I do not require another surgery. I would also like to avoid the over treatment approach that some of my past doctors have taken. There was a two year period when I was 19-20 that I was so sick that I could not get out of bed most of the time. I had to quit school, work, and having a social life. It was the absolute worst time of my life and I will do anything to keep it from happening again.

So for now I am hopeful that my doctor will help me and keep my wacky sinuses under control. I trust him to make the right decisions regarding my sinus care.

If anyone has any sinus tips please send them my way.