Pennies from Heaven

For many, many years I have diligently kept a dish for all of the coins I find on the ground. At the first of each year I remove all of the coins and tally up how much I've found. To me it's like pennies from heaven,and sometimes nickles,dimes and quarters dropped down from heaven too. I have seen a slight difference in this latest economy.....fewer coins,especially quarters.

 So this year I added it up and I discovered I have a whooping $1.59. I know, I know.... whatever will I do with all of this money. But it's not about that. It's about the thrill of the find. I can not walk by a coin on the ground and leave it. Well that's not totally true,I will if it's tails up. This all may sound goofy but there are rules to this science.
I just have an odd feeling about picking up a coin that is tails up. It's rather like defying the good luck balance of the whole system. I will however give it a good kick and see if it will flip over. If after two kicks it doesn't flip over I will have to walk away.Rules are rules!

9 cents already this may be a good year after all!

 It's all fair game if it's a nickle or higher is on the ground.I haven't given it much thought as to what the difference is. Maybe bad luck just won't stick to a higher denomination of coin. Oh who am I kidding,It would just be insane to not pick those up,and until just now I hadn't ever wondered if I was insane.The jury may still be out on this issue.

I also have a secret about something I like to do on my birthday( which was in November). Each year I like to write down three birthday wishes on a piece of paper. Then I fold it up and tape it to the under side of a drawer, or in a place out of sight,so it will be forgotten until next year. Since wishes are free you could ask for as many you want. I just prefer the old traditional Jeanie in a bottle set of three wishes.

Last year's wishes and this year's before it was hidden away

 On your next birthday remove the paper and read the three wishes. I have sat there and looked at that paper before with the most perplexed look on my face. Wondering what on earth I was thinking I wanted that particular item for. Sometimes after realizing that item has come and already gone within that year,and it really wasn't all that grand to start with.

It makes you realize how silly some of our desires really are. You know the"I can't live without it" item. Also I have realized that once the item has come into my life and gone,(usually in a yard sale) what the big deal was all about.

As I get older I have started to notice that my usual selfish wishes have turned to more of prayers for family and friends. Things just don't seem to hold the same value or importance it had when I was young, and thought I had forever. So even though it is a silly trivial thing to do, it has opened my eyes to how fleeting desires are. Who knows someday I might even out grow the whole process.....but not until I get an Ipad.Whew! I guess I'm not as insane as I thought.

Oh and for a totally unusual, but fun thing to do pertaining to our US currency. Here is a web site I discovered in Real Simple Magazine. www.wheresgeorge.com. You can put in the serial number of any $1 bill and see where it has been.The process it is rather new so not all bills have been added to be  tracked. Once you put in yours you give them an email address and you will be notified when it is found again and where.
You can also find them on face book. I think this could be a lot of fun in a school class room too. One lady on face book commented that two years ago she put in her $1 bill and it just turned up in Guam. If only these bills took talk what stories they could tell.