Les Singes: The Life of Monkey Boy

I Need a Periscope

I'm nosey alright. Normally I can figure out situations/relationships in a timely manner. However, these days I've been confounded by our new neighbors. When our old neighbors moved to San Francisco, they opted to rent their house. It took a couple months, but they did find some renters.

The moving day happened and we met some of the new residents. I think I remembered one name from that eventful day. I do recall the loads of kids I met though. Three older kids and 15 month old girl twins. Family and friends helped with the move and we were excited to meet the new neighbors.

Six weeks later I still don't have a full grasp on the family relationships. I will admit this bugs me more than it should. I know who the mom is. I'm pretty sure she's the parent of the three older kids aged roughly 8-11, two boys and a girl. I'm 100% certain she's also the parents of the 15 month old twins.

That's where my certainty ends. Here are the cast of characters:

Female who drives a Toyota Corolla: The woman is never home when the mom is there. She's roughly in her mid 20s and has some sort of accent. At first I thought she was a babysitter. Then I thought maybe a sibling because she works really long hours. The new theory as of yesterday is au pere.

Older male who drives a Scion: he introduced himself as the mom's boyfriend. This man is easily in his late 40s. I haven't seen a sign of this guy in the past two weeks.

Male with baggy pants who drives a beat up Mercedes: this man is for sure the dad of the 15 month old twins. He visits the house regularly and will dropoff the kids there. On occasion he will stay with the kids there at the house. I can only assume he and the mom have joint custody of the toddler girls. He has stayed overnight a couple times. Age, mid 30s.

Male who pumps bass in his car: this man is about my age, in his mid 30s: I think this guy is the mom's new main squeeze. I think the older Scion guy has been replaced by this guy. He first appeared on the scene about a week ago when he arrived to the house at 12:45am. I would say that's booty call, but one never knows.

Loud guy: this guy drives a Ford minivan and will take the older kids places. I assumed he was the grandfather at first. Lately though, I've had a change of heart. I believe he could be the father of the three older kids. This man wears suspenders and assembled their dining table for them in the wee hours of last weekend. Fun Fact: this man left as soon as the Bass Pumping guy arrived last weekend for his booty call.

Good luck sorting this out. Sadly, this is the exact type of thing which occupies my times far too often. Enjoy your Fourth!

Selling Out

The video above was sent to my father-in-law the same day it was recorded, June 12th. That day just so happens to be Mrs. Lessinges' birthday. Thus the reason our little one chanted the morning of June 12th. I prepped her during the week so should sing the jingle unprovoked, but I didn't realize she wouldn't stop singing Happy Birthday a week later. The good news is she did stop twirling after the cameras were off.

The question is do we contact General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, and pitch this video to them? My father-in-law thinks were crazy not to try. I'm a little more shy about things which is why I continue to blog. Blogging equals low profile. Anyways, what do you think? I'm leaning towards not and simply sharing it with all of you good folks. Happy Monday!

Waiting for Three Dot 0

Why not punch out a post using my BlackBerry as I wait for the much anticipated 3.0 software release from Apple. It seems like the right thing to do. My iPod touch needs pampering.

How are you people? What is up? Is life treating you well these days? I have lost touch with some of you. I won't make excuses about why. I will simply ask you to provide an honest update to your life. Don't even think about bullshitting me because I will call your bluff. Are you good, bad, indifferent? Fretting about relationships, money, jobs, upgrading phones, or some cute capri pants. I want to hear it all.

Moi? I am fine, thanks for asking. Life remains busy, but is manageable... or so I tell myself. I'm happy to be working in the yard again. I'm amazed we haven't had measurable rain in Seattle for 29 consecutive days. That means it hasn't rained since before we left for Chicago last month. Quite remarkable. I say this because I'm watering more than one should in my city this time of year.

My brother and his two boys arrive in town next week. I haven't seen him and the boys in five years or so. It will be fantastic for the cousins to meet. On another family note, my niece who seemed to be born a short while ago during a snowstorn (1990) graduated from high school. She will be the first of her siblings to go to a four year college. I'm proud of her since it hasn't been an easy path for her. It sure does bring back intruing memories to watch someone graduate from college. I remember thinking how weird it was to be officially free from school. For a few months at least until college started and thus a new reality.

Finally, buy a Kindle. Well, only if your credit card can afford it. I got one for Mrs. Lessinges' birthday and she digs the iPod of books. Granted it isn't the most romantic gift, but it has been well received. Heck, I borrowed it and even read some articles "in" the newspaper about technology. This paragraph doesn't fit the spirit of the post, however I felt compelled to brag about the Kindle. It's very nifty and only cost slightly more than one payment towards college.

I'm alright. That's what I'd say. I'm surviving, but not knocking them out of the park. Oh, my download is now complete. Adios!

World in Her Eyes

It's a peculiar how being raised in a large family can impact so much. Some days I think the size of my family has minimal influence. Then there are days where I can't get over how much it does determine who I am.

This past weekend we attended two/deux/dos two year old birthday parties. It was fun to watch the kids interact with each other. Not only was the weekend about birthdays, but apparently it was also about getting naked. We witnessed a Filipino festival complete with traditional dance rituals. It was very cool, no pun intended. We saw lots of skin and discovered our daughter enjoys lumpia. Later in the day at the second party, the young girls decided it made sense to celebrate in their birthday suits. Spontaneous celebrations erupted with little girls running around naked. I was careful to not appear in any of the photos taken of the naked children. Next thing you know my face would be plastered on a website featuring inappropriate gestures men make.

All this naked stuff got me thinking about myself again. Certain life lessons were overlooked when I was a youth. The social interaction as a youngster involve mainly my immediate family. Perhaps this is why I do clip my fingernails in public. Maybe this explains why I rarely left the state of Washington. Travel isn't cheap when you have a heard of children.

Raising a child is a lot of work. I enjoy being part of a big immediate family, yet there's part of me that wishes to have experienced more of life at a younger age. Not only can you not travel so much with a large family, but you're not afforded good quality one-on-one time with your parents or siblings. Everything is done as a group, which is probably why I shun anything group related to this day.

Thank You notes -- think my mom ever had a chance to write those?

Books -- I was fortunate to have books read to me as a child, but there still wasn't enough emphasis on reading. Sports, sports, sports! I so want to be a bookworm, but it's still a struggle for me.

Camping -- discovering the great outdoors didn't happen until I reached my teenaged years. It only happened then because I vowed my dedication to Jesus and went on a church adventure in the Olympic Mountains. Despite the constant mention of how wonderful things are because of Him. I, me, still enjoyed himself immensely.

Singing -- nobody in my family can sing. Maybe it's the sports thing, but maybe it's also because learning music/singing requires patience. Seven kids in a house is chaos.

Wiping -- come on dad, show me the proper way to wipe? Don't make me learn this wiping stuff and the birds & the bees on my own in my mid 30s. So unfair.

If this doesn't paint a romantic picture of who I was and where I'm going, then I don't know what will. In order to look forward, we've got to look back. Our upbringing is who we are today. It sticks with us for the rest of our life, much like the sight of naked in-laws.

I guess my whole point to this post is how parenthood makes me feel like a tourist in my own lifelong hometown. On some level it makes me sad how little of the city I was introduced to as a child, but the good thing is I'm a relatively young buck of 36 years with plenty of time for discovery ahead.

Il y avait cinq mois

The first five months of 2009 have been a blur. I'm pretty sure 2009 isn't technically moving any faster than 2008 or 1973, but things do seem to have accelerated in my life.

January - I learned I had lost my job, found a new job in the same company and therefore my blogging flourished for a couple weeks my fate was uncertain. I smiled, I cried, I LinkedIn, I worried, and finally I was relieved.

February - I began a new role as an Account Manager. It's a much fancier title than my previous four letter abbreviation. I smiled, I fretted, I was uncertain, and I essentially stopped blogging. The days of reading and commenting on vast numbers of blogs felt like a distant memory. Work and life were in the way. The Illinois Inlaws paid us a visit. During their visit I learned more about American Baby dolls than I care to admit. Someone I live with travelled to Mexico for a week of surfing.

March - we drove to Portland, Oregon to visit our friends. We had a splendid time and our daughter pleasantly surprised us with her ability to sleep in a hotel. Work remained busy, the weather remained chilly and cool in Seattle, and I think I commented on about five blogs during the entire month.

April - the sun came out, we rejoiced. My wife and I enjoyed eight years of wedded bliss, dining at a nice establishment with The Florida Inlaws. Took some time off work during the Inlaws visit to show them our fair city. If someone will ever buy their Florida home, they'd consider moving to Seattle. So far they've had no bites on their gated community house. I swam two days in a row with my father-in-law and that was a nice feeling as the pool and I aren't getting along too well recently.

May - we celebrated my 36 birthday. Mother's Day came and went and we took Baby Singe to Chicago for the second time. She was amazing. Not sure what I was truly expecting, but in my head I imagined her fussing during the flight since she was sitting on our laps. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact we got compliments at both ends of the flight regarding how well behaved she was during the voyage. We must be doing something right thus far.

In Chicago we had probably our best visit to the Windy City in recent memory. Baby Singe loved chasing her costumed cousin while saying "Batman" in her version of a deep voice. There were bunnies, birds, and ducks in the grandparents backyard which gave her something to watch every day. Me? I had a grand time enjoying the nice Chicago spring weather and not working. I also enjoyed seeing both of my inlaws naked. Yes, that happened. Let me tell you something, that's not something one ever forgets.

June - month six of 2009 is two days underway and I haven't seen any over the age of 60 naked yet. I consider this to be a success. At the end of the month my brother and his two sons will get to meet Baby Singe for the first time. I'm anxious to see my bro and his family.