8013

That’s the current count for Pennies for Debra.

$80!  🙂

ouch… it’s been a while

So. the streak of life being busy, blogging being non-existent continues.

I needed to check in to say “Pennies for Debra” is still going strong. The current count is 7450. So yep, nearly $75 of ‘free money.’

What else is going on beside that… The Mariners are playing horrible. I’m utterly disappointed. Before the year began I really thought that with their pitching they would be winning more games. I’m sad Cliff Lee had to be traded, and to the Rangers of all teams!?!?!

It’s hot here. My car said 111 degrees yesterday.

I’m currently reading a new Dorothy L. Sayers book. (a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery of course)

I’ve been eating a lot of BBQ. though I haven’t been grilling as much as I wish I were. I did make more beef jerky in the dehydrator (oh yeah! and tomatoes.)

I’ve just finished my annual cardiology check up. All good results. Little to no change over the last three years. So my ‘future heart surgery’ (which is expected, just not on the calendar) is still probably years and years away. All very encouraging news from the doctor.

I’ve been spending more time with people, friends, those important to me. Thus the drop off in blogging.

I’ve been to San Antonio twice since May. Went to Sea World both times. In fact, on the 3rd of July, that’s where we watched fireworks. The wind was blowing in our direction, so at first it was the smoke, then bits of cardboard, then bits of gritty sand/gun powder residue. We held our own for a time, while all of the families with little kids made a mass exodus of our area. Then we too, moved on.

I think those are the things to share from the last two months. It’s been a really great couple of months and as far as I can tell, it will be this way (only growing better) for the next many more. Thanks for stopping by!

Advertisement

My car, the gigantic piggy bank.

Have you ever left the sun roof on your car open? Have you ever left it open in an uncovered area and it rains?

After a lovely drive Saturday afternoon, I parked my car in its spot (on the street) rolled up the windows, battened down the hatch, and went in for the night.

Late that evening I thought “oh! Did I close the sunroof completely? Yep, I know I closed it. I remember turning the dial.”

The evening came to a close and I went to bed.  At about four in the morning, I woke up to rain. Not just any rain, but extremely boisterous rain. A beautiful, yet treacherous melody.

Sunday morning, my car, the window, and the rain must have been on my mind because the first thing I did when my alarm went off was look out the window. To my despair, I saw my car, sitting in the rain, sunroof cracked open slightly. I just stood. And stared in silence. After a minute or so, I got dressed, grabbed a stack of towels and went out to inspect the damage.

Expecting the worst, I discovered no evidence of water in the vehicle. Shocked and also very relieved, I turned the car on and moved the dial from the last setting to the closed setting. Operator error as I must have not turned the dial all the way.  I also noticed a very shiny penny sitting on the passenger seat. Odd. I guess it could have fallen out of my purse the day before. Funny I didn’t see it Saturday afternoon…

As regular readers know, I collect pennies for “Pennies for Debra” – a fund that takes unwanted, homeless pennies and gives them a new purpose, paying off my loans…

As I drove to church, I heard what sounded like coins sliding around. I discovered another penny. Hum…a suspicion grew in my mind. Did ‘someone’ decide to take advantage of the open sunroof and pretend that my car was a giant piggy bank?

I relayed the story to my roommate and we both agreed that it would not be an action all too surprising from our friends who happen to live next door. I didn’t say anything to them about it, as I didn’t want to look foolish if I was wrong, nor was I ready to acknowledge the brilliance of such an idea if my suspicions were correct.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon, I finished work and got in the car to drive home. It was a gorgeous day, so I attempted to open the sunroof. It would only tilt up in the back, but it was stuck and would not slide open at all. I was, at first, discouraged with the thought that perhaps the rain did do some damage after all.

I got out of the car, looked around at the top, tried to find if something (such as a leaf) was preventing the roof from sliding. As I reached up on the interior, my fingers came across a Penny. A penny jammed in the space between the glass and the metal. Pulled it out – no luck, still stuck.

I texted my neighbors letting them know I was onto their scheme, but both denied involvement.  As I drove home, each red light, taking a moment to trace the window track above my head, fingers getting grimier with each attempt, I found two more pennies. Removed each, retested the window. No luck.

I got home. Got out of the car and started my search.  One more penny stuck, this time in the actual tracking of the window. Successful removal of the penny. Successful reinstatement of working sliding window. And all was right with the world. Plus, I had a total of 6 more pennies to put toward the fund.

As far as the ‘culprits,’ I did have the one who thought up the idea, acknowledge that fact. He also explained how they stopped due to getting some stuck in the window, though I have yet to discover who his accomplice was.

And the number of pennies, that is unknown. I found one more, so there were at least 7, though he couldn’t give me a definitive number. I’m betting there are at least a couple more Pennies lost, sitting kittyWampus, somewhere in the interior of my car, er…I mean gigantic piggy bank.

Here we go…

Today is the first anniversary of Pennies for Debra. I was going to count up the numbers today, but I got sidetracked. A good portion of my lunch was used up by the Shamrock Shake Revolution.

1080 KRLD’s morning Host Mike Rogers called today and chatted with me about the movement. I don’t know when the story will air, but I’m betting it will be an “other side of the news” story – which is great because then there will be an online archive. I’ll keep everyone posted.

**Breaking NEWS**

‘Pennies for Debra’ Tops 6,000 21 days early, reaching 6K before it’s 1st anniversary: 6021. Every Penny Counts.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed one penny.  Can’t wait to see what the next year holds… Can we double the count? 12K in Year 2? Bringing the total to 18K?  Together, we can!

Why hello Saturday. You look lovely today.

Wow… I feel like it’s been forever since I posted. Just 12 days.

Quick Updates: The Shamrock Shake Revolution has 48 fans on facebook and about 30 follower on Twitter.  Thanks for the support and keep spreading the word.

Pennies for Debra hasn’t been counted for a while. Pretty sure it’s close to 6000, but now that the pennies are in a glass jar, it’s harder to keep an exact count.

Also – this weekend is the Seattle Mariners FanFest. I’m missing it, but wearing my m’s hat to show support. Only 18 days until pitchers and catcher report.  If the M’s go to the world series… I WILL do everything possible in my power to at least be in WA state for the series.  I’d love to catch a game.. but that would be more up in the air.  I HAVE to be home to watch the games with others who also love the Mariners.

What else… well, I cleaned my room today. It looks good. I created a “Saturday Cleaning” playlist. It’s a pretty good play list and I am basically sitting here listening waiting for it to finish. It’s so good, I don’t want to skip any songs and it’s been so long since I just sat and listened to music. *sigh* That. is what makes for a great Saturday afternoon.

Anonymous Contribution

This morning at work, I discovered a 500 penny contribution. I’m not sure who contributed to Pennies for Debra, but I am very thankful for the gift.

And to make it even better… The 500 pennies are already rolled. 🙂 I think that this was not a case of “homeless pennies” but rather someone who was feeling especially generous.

The new count: 5807

christmas for pennies

In the last few days, Pennies for Debra has made a few additions.

With a handful of pennies from my mom, my dad, and the three that PJ sent along with my folks (all the way from WA State) – the year is winding down with a count very close to 5300.

In addition to helping nearly 5300 once homeless, unloved, purposeless pennies find a new home, the end of 2009 brings two other new things.

A brand new glass jug for the pennies to sit in (thanks to Promiseland Chocolate milk and the entire Quart I drank) and a new domain name: www.penniesfordebra.com. For the time being, www.penniesfordebra.com simply redirects to an archive of all “Life & Love & Why” posts that are labeled as such, but I’m hoping to eventually roll out something specifically dedicated to the finding of new homes for pennies sometime in 2010.

Here’s to a wonderful 2009 and an exciting start to 2010.  Pennies for Debra – Finding Purpose for Pennies.

Moving forward in 2010

Pennies for Debra took a step forward today: www.penniesfordebra.com

I think that 2009 is going to end pretty close to 5300, so I’m aiming pretty high in the new year.

5100 and up!

Stopped off at the bank today – turned in another $14.00 for “Pennies for Debra”  every cent was rolled. Those plus the 32 still sitting on my desk brings the grand total to 5132.
Every cent going to pay off loans.

Thankfully, today the bank did not get mad at me. I had everything rolled, deposit slip filled out and it all went without a hitch.

Thank you to all who have contributed and Keep the Pennies coming!

It’s Christmas time. Can you think of a more terrible time to be a homeless penny? Give a Penny a home today!