The Story Behind "Monkey Pants" and our move to AZ
I thought I'd share this story for those that are wondering, but also for that time in my life where I will look back at this blog and wonder what the heck is Monkey Pants and why would I choose such a silly name for my blog. It's also the story of our move from NM to AZ.
In September 2007, Scott and I were shopping at Wal-Mart and were casually walking down the aisles when he said to me, "Arizona is hiring". (Scott has worked for Intel Corp. for 15 years now.) I didn't think much of it because Scott had said before that AZ is too hot for him and he could never survive, but he kept talking about AZ hiring. I started to become confused.
Scott's boss at that time was a horrible, micro-managing boss that no one got along with. Scott had been looking to change groups to get out of that situation for a while. I thought he'd end up with another group in Fab 11x (NM). When he started talking about AZ so much I finally asked, "Are you serious?" - he said he was. I said, "what about the heat?" and he replied, "there's air conditioning in AZ - I'm not working outside!" - wow.
So he makes a phone call to a friend he had in AZ already right there in Wal-Mart. All his questions are answered and about 15 minutes after he first said "AZ is hiring" he had all but decided to go. My personal philosophy is to "go where the money is" so I didn't have much of a problem. Besides, NM had never felt like home to me so why not try AZ?
Scott sent in his request and he got his second choice and the first weekend in October we were in AZ house hunting. The only person I knew of (at that time) that lived in AZ were some old friends from BYU. I sent her an email and she offered for us to stay with her in Queen Creek. While there we found a house in their neighborhood (after looking at about a dozen houses) to rent for 6 months while our house in NM is selling and then us looking for a house to buy.
The kids and I left Scott in NM and drove out on December 13, 2006. Scott stayed behind to finish work and finish getting the house ready to put on the market. It wasn't a wise choice as there was sooooo much to do and Scott wasn't able to do it by himself. Scott left NM to join us in AZ for Christmas. We did want to be together for Christmas. The next day we left together as a family to go back to NM to finish up the house and bring Scott's truck back with us.
On the trip back to AZ we were caravaning with our 2 vehicles. Me in the van with the kids and Scott in the truck with a last load (of crap) from NM. We had our radio/walkie-talkies in each car so we could communicate. There was only one problem with the radios. You had to push the button, wait a second or two then start talking. If you didn't wait then the first couple of words you said were cut off. Scott finally said, "you need to come up with a word or phrase that you say before you start talking so that those are the words that are cut off." I thought that was a good idea so the first thing that came to my mind (I have no idea why) was Monkey Pants. "Monkey Pants, where do you want to stop for dinner?", "Monkey Pants, are you low on gas?", "Monkey Pants, Carson is singing a song for you." - It worked! All the important words I said were heard. The kids laughed so hard at my choice of words! It was such a fun way of starting our new lives here in AZ. We laughed so hard that our laughing was what got cut off and Monkey Pants came through every time and made us laugh even harder!
So, Monkey Pants represents to our family a new life in Arizona. I started this blog in Arizona and most of it is about us in Arizona so I thought that naming it Monkey Pants would be fitting.
In September 2007, Scott and I were shopping at Wal-Mart and were casually walking down the aisles when he said to me, "Arizona is hiring". (Scott has worked for Intel Corp. for 15 years now.) I didn't think much of it because Scott had said before that AZ is too hot for him and he could never survive, but he kept talking about AZ hiring. I started to become confused.
Scott's boss at that time was a horrible, micro-managing boss that no one got along with. Scott had been looking to change groups to get out of that situation for a while. I thought he'd end up with another group in Fab 11x (NM). When he started talking about AZ so much I finally asked, "Are you serious?" - he said he was. I said, "what about the heat?" and he replied, "there's air conditioning in AZ - I'm not working outside!" - wow.
So he makes a phone call to a friend he had in AZ already right there in Wal-Mart. All his questions are answered and about 15 minutes after he first said "AZ is hiring" he had all but decided to go. My personal philosophy is to "go where the money is" so I didn't have much of a problem. Besides, NM had never felt like home to me so why not try AZ?
Scott sent in his request and he got his second choice and the first weekend in October we were in AZ house hunting. The only person I knew of (at that time) that lived in AZ were some old friends from BYU. I sent her an email and she offered for us to stay with her in Queen Creek. While there we found a house in their neighborhood (after looking at about a dozen houses) to rent for 6 months while our house in NM is selling and then us looking for a house to buy.
The kids and I left Scott in NM and drove out on December 13, 2006. Scott stayed behind to finish work and finish getting the house ready to put on the market. It wasn't a wise choice as there was sooooo much to do and Scott wasn't able to do it by himself. Scott left NM to join us in AZ for Christmas. We did want to be together for Christmas. The next day we left together as a family to go back to NM to finish up the house and bring Scott's truck back with us.
On the trip back to AZ we were caravaning with our 2 vehicles. Me in the van with the kids and Scott in the truck with a last load (of crap) from NM. We had our radio/walkie-talkies in each car so we could communicate. There was only one problem with the radios. You had to push the button, wait a second or two then start talking. If you didn't wait then the first couple of words you said were cut off. Scott finally said, "you need to come up with a word or phrase that you say before you start talking so that those are the words that are cut off." I thought that was a good idea so the first thing that came to my mind (I have no idea why) was Monkey Pants. "Monkey Pants, where do you want to stop for dinner?", "Monkey Pants, are you low on gas?", "Monkey Pants, Carson is singing a song for you." - It worked! All the important words I said were heard. The kids laughed so hard at my choice of words! It was such a fun way of starting our new lives here in AZ. We laughed so hard that our laughing was what got cut off and Monkey Pants came through every time and made us laugh even harder!
So, Monkey Pants represents to our family a new life in Arizona. I started this blog in Arizona and most of it is about us in Arizona so I thought that naming it Monkey Pants would be fitting.
It's not a new term by any means. I've tried to get a new email address with it, nothing available. I couldn't find it for my blog without adding "jorg" to the end. I found there is a bar in Tempe, AZ named Monkey Pants Bar and Grill, and many, many websites named that too.
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