BLESSED BY FRIENDS

This post is in tribute to my friend Rachel and her family in Southeast Asia. She's always sending me fun monkey stuff, and I just received this monkey fan in the mail...it's awesome!! She said, "It just jumped off the table at the market and said, 'Ginger needs me!'" Yep, I do! I think I'll take it with me when I go camping in a few weeks. I bet no one else there will have a fan like this!

Rachel also often sends me photos she takes of monkeys! I've posted them here before. I just love this one. I don't know what kind of monkey this is, but he's awfully cute...truly unique! Plus a great shot! Thanks, Friend!

If you know Rachel, and even if you don't, this would be a great time to say a prayer for her and her family. I know they would appreciate it!

COOL MAP

So it took me a minute to figure out this map Mr. PoMonkey sent me. But it's pretty cool. It's based on population. The flag on each state represents a country of equal population. So Louisiana is roughly the same population as New Zealand. Can you name all (or any) of the others? Here's help.

THERE TO HERE

I've posted some pics of our road trip from
CHICAGO to SAN DIEGO.
Check 'em out!

I FOUND THEM!

Some of you know that while we were traveling those 3,232 miles, I had trouble finding Chewy SweeTARTS. Mr. PoMonkey snacks on sunflower seeds to keep him alert while he drives, but I use Chewy SweeTARTS. And for most of our journey, I couldn't find them. Crazy! But I finally did. They are ALL in the Southwest (mainly New Mexico and Arizona). So if you want some, you'll have to go there to get them.

WE'RE HERE!!

After 3,232 miles, 12 states, 4 border patrol vehicle inspections, new brakes and actuator, and the world's supply of Diet Coke, sunflower seeds and Sweetarts, we have arrived at our new (temporary) home in San Diego! Thanks for your prayers. Check back here for more updates.

BAILEY'S ROAD TRIP

It's pretty funny to see Bailey's progress during the trip.

She starts like this: laid back...comfortable in the back seat.














Then she innocently inches closer...not moving to the front seat, but just casually resting her chin.














Then she ever so slightly moves a little closer...technically not in the front seat. (You can tell by her eye how sly she is!)










"But the center console is a much better head rest."












And then, "Forget it people...aren't we a pack? I need in the middle!"

FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS EVERYTHING

In case you are still looking for that perfect Christmas gift. I guess there are those out there who would (and have) paid $6,000 for this, but that's just hard for me to imagine!

It's a Shoe Suitcase:
When three or four pairs of shoes just aren't enough, this is the case to travel with. A sturdy, hard-case design with 12 roomy shoe pockets (fits up to men's size 13 reg).


I know. It's Tumi.

But still.

$6,ooo!??!

MONKEY DAY

Some good friends of ours kidnapped me on Saturday morning! Mr. Ginger knew the plan, but managed to not leak the surprise. As we neared our destination, they gave me a Monkey Day card. (They've declared that from this year on, the Saturday before Mother's Day is Monkey Day...sounds good to me!) We then arrived at my surprise.

Now if you've been following PoMonkey since it's inception (October 2005), you'll be familiar with our destination. I finally made it to CHIMP HAVEN!!! My 4th blog post was about this retirement home for chimps. What a great surprise!

Several times a year they have Discovery Days when visitors are allowed to enter the habitat and see the chimps. And it finally happened on a day we were in town. There are 103 chimps, and we probably saw about half of them. And we saw Tracy, the baby that was born even after all the males had vasectomies. Oops! The only thing that separated us from all of the chimps was a moat. Apparently, chimps can't swim...who knew?!?!

Mr. Ginger took this very vocal video of several chimps protecting their bucket of fruit! It was a great morning, and fun to watch all my chimp friends.

BO or BB

I'm not sure which is worse.

When you're trapped on an airplane, smashed on a completely full flight and your seat mate has very strong body odor or bad breath.

But after my flight this morning, I'm convinced it has to be bad breath! It was a very long flight! (And, no, it wasn't Mr. PoMonkey.)

AHHHHHH....

My view all day yesterday.

I'VE CHANGED MY MIND

I love the beach and the ocean...most of you know that. There's nothing better to me than the ocean breeze and crashing waves. Not much else relaxes me more than that. My desk calendar is usually of tropical islands or beaches and with one glance, it makes me relax. (January's beach is Bora Bora lagoon in French Polynesia.) I've always said that I'd go to any beach, any time. However, these pictures made me change my mind. I don't think I want to go here...EVER! It just doesn't seem quite as relaxing!

GOD'S PAINTING

This is one of the many reasons why I love rural Louisiana. This is my view right now. Some of the best sunsets I've ever seen have been from this couch.

AIN'T THE SOUTH GRAND

Being back in the south, I've been reminded of a few things:

• everyone you pass says hello or waves
• a nice majority of teens say yes ma'am and no ma'am
• everyone loves football, especially LSU
• you can wear shorts and flip flops in January
• even 5 year olds can sing the LSU fight song
• strangers know how to pronounce my last name
• chewing tobacco is sometimes on the candy aisle
• hushpuppies are on the school lunch menu

AND WE'RE OFF

What a stud...

Conference Schedule

Thursday:
Hollywood Bioethics
Stem Cells, Cloning, and the Search for the Holy Grail

Friday:
Abortion Myths and Abortion Facts
Transhumanism and the Image of God

They say there will be 3,500 at Thursday's Chapel, so thanks for praying.

YOU DECIDE

I can't decide if this looks exciting or scary. It's a ride we saw this summer when we were at the beach. I was excited to see the monkeys, of course, but then a little frightened by the ride.

LOVIN' IT!

You know you're in Texas/Louisiana when...

1. The hotel doorman greets you with "How y'all doing?"

2. The waitress responds to your "How are you doing?" with "Purdy gooood!"

3. "Hi" is two syllables!

4. You get to have the best chocolate shake in the world, here.

5. This guy is walking around the convention center.

Don't forget to vote on this month's caption contest!!!

LONE STAR STATE

Mr. PoMonkey and I arrived in the land of TEXAS today for a conference. We were thrilled to be welcomed by humidity and 75 degree weather!! And it was only 3 minutes after deplaning that we saw our first cowboy hat!

(An interesting side note: as I was preparing for my trip, I discovered that 4 out of 5 people did NOT know what I meant when I said "I can't wait to get those hot pink ROPERS!" I assumed the term "ropers" was known throughout the U.S. I was wrong! So for those of you who don't know...these are ropers!)

I'll do my best to keep posting throughout the week. Check back soon to vote on the March Caption Contest. (And no, I'm not really getting hot pink ropers!)

HEADIN' OUT

I'm headin' out to our nation's capital again, and won't see you until the end of the week sometime. I'm not sure if I'll get to visit another cool monument, but I'll be sure to share it with you like last time if I do.

I don't have this suitcase to take with me, but it would be fun if I did. Although, I'm sure that everyone would be so jealous of it that it might be stolen!

I hope you can survive on previous PoMonkey posts until I return. Here are some of my favorites if you need some help choosing:

New Song (I love this verse and this photo!)
I Am Loved (My husband is absolutely amazing!)
On the Road Again (Because this photo makes me really laugh!)
Everything Comes Down to Poo (I could watch this video over and over!)