The Family That Finds Pennies Together...

...is a little weird, sure. But have you ever met a family that was over the moon from finding 57 cents? It's a bit refreshing. Welcome to life with the Steins!

Actually, to be more exact, we found 56 and 3/4 cents. Literally...one of the pennies my mom spied in the gutter was only partially there. Poor Abe got a nose job I'm not sure he wanted...but his misfortune gave us a thrill. (Twisted aren't we?!).

Besides the mangled penny, we scored six other pennies, a nickle, two dimes and a quarter. That's right...a quarter! And as you may know by now...that's a red letter day in the world of penny finding!

So, this is how the Stein Family kicked off our holiday season. A walk to my work's pre-Christmas happy hour full of pennies, nickles, and quarters...oh, my! All in a day's work for a penny collector! And for an entire FAMILY of penny collectors...well...time together is the real prize, but the pennies are so exciting!

A Word on Holiday Shopping...

My friend Elizabeth has a few words on just where you should do your holiday shopping if you're hopping to pick up more than a gift card and some new socks

From Elizabeth:

Ok, this weekend we found 1 quarter and 1 penny in Target and 3 pennies in Wal-Mart. Moral of the story...shop in Target.

I couldn't agree more. Of course if you really want to be in the spirit of finding change...may I suggest J.C. Penney (for obvious reasons!)

I'll Take a Mojito...And All the Change in That Man's Pocket!

This penny project has sharpened my "Spidey Senses" to ridiculous heights. I've always had 20/20 vision and pretty good hearing...but suddenly I can see a penny from 2 blocks away and although I couldn't determine exactly what a pin dropping sounds like, I can hear a penny hit the floor from across a crowded room. Not that this is a good gift, since my desire to add pennies to the spreadsheet combined w/ my new found talent for hearing coins hit the ground causes me to occasionally do something a little crazy. Take the other night for instance.

I was on a business trip to Florida, enjoying a tasty mojito in the lobby bar of Disney's Yacht Club. Two of my friends had taken some time off of work to join me on the trip and we had linked up with some fun conference attendees, including a friend of mine from DC I was pleasantly surprised to see at the opening night reception! So there we were, enjoying a few drinks (number ? of many that evening) when the sound I love to hear hit my ear...change a jinglin' as it hits the floor! I quickly looked around to see where the change had landed and if it was clear for a pick-up.

Now this is where the mojito(s) must've kicked in and overtaken my good sense because I didn't stay in my seat when I saw that the change had fallen out of a man's pocket (a well-dressed, distinguished man, if I recall...although I was so focused on the dime and 3 pennies I can't say for sure) and landed practically under his chair. No, no. I popped up out of my seat and bee-lined for the table where the man and his friends were sitting. I promptly told him my friends and I were collecting change we find on the ground for charity. He scoffed and said, I'll bet...the charity's probably you. I assured him it was not and that there was a spreadsheet involved (I don't know why I think that will assure people instead of scare them). He shrugged his shoulders, told me to help himself...and then scooped another 7 cents out of his pocket onto the floor (which, for those of you questioning whether or not that should count, went in the "donations column" because clearly, at that point the man just wanted to give a little more to the cause!

So there it is...my Disney find such as it was. Oh, and I picked up a nickel in the MGM Studios park too, so I was good for about a quarter in Florida! And I only scared a few bar patrons instead of my usual bus full of people. I consider that a pretty good trip!

The Return of "Tim the Poet"

Ah, more poetry. In a message titled "Tennyson (Sort of)" I got another jewel of poetry from "Tim."

From the daily walks, I do not relent,
On that errand I am daily sent,
When the wind blows, I'm often bent,
A good thing because I found another cent.

Tim

Father. Poet. Inventor of Pizza Rolls. He is "Tim."