Day 121: Sleep 15 hours and find the monkey

I decided to make catching up on sleep a challenge for the Novice Du Jour and slept a total of 15 hours today. After the ball dropped last night we went to bed at 2:00 a.m. and I didn’t get out of bed until 2 p.m. After a few hours of unpacking suitcases, I then took a nap with the heated blanket Steph got for her birthday for another three hours. I think this challenge was definitely a success.

While unpacking my suitcase, I found this:

His name is Rodney, he is a stuffed monkey and he is the subject of a war. For my 21st birthday, Stephanie’s then 9-year-old brother, Kevin, took me to the mall for a Jamba Juice. We went into the mall’s arcade to play a few games, where I put 50 cents into a crane game and let Kevin play. He won Rodney. I insisted that it was his because he won it, but he protested that it was mine because I was the benefactor. We never reached an agreement and the monkey war was born.

Since then we have passed the monkey back and forth, hiding it in each others bedrooms and belongings. Kevin seemed to think he had won the battle back in August when he surreptitiously shoved him into my suitcase just as we were leaving on our cross-country road trip for Chicago. When I found him a few hours outside of Boise, I decided I would document Rodney’s travels.

Rodney as navigator in Idaho

Rodney on a hike in Salt Lake City

Rodney skiing in Utah

Rodney at the Colorado state capital

Rodney at the Denver Art Museum

Rodney and me at my old house in Kansas

Rodney staring out at the Mississippi River

Rodney looking out of our apartment window in Evanston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I compiled these pictures into a photo book and FedEx-ed them to Kevin, along with Rodney himself. He was so upset that his plan backfired and Rodney was back in his possession that he decided to kill him. He sent me the following photo and snuff film.

I was under the impression that the stuffed monkey was dead, until I found him shoved in Stephanie’s suitcase today with a note certifying that Steph had no part in bringing him back here. Which is definitely a lie.

Make no mistake Kevin, revenge will be had.