Coins; you can't live with them and you can't live without them. How do you handle your coins? Do you put them in a jar? Furiously try to 'get rid of them' in every cash register's presence? Leave them as tips in jars? Throw them in fountains?
I tend to do the first; store them in a jar. Then, from time to time, I get the urge to roll then. Like yesterday. Chris stopped at the bank to get more paper rollers for all denominations because like most American families, we ran out. In my spare time (he he), I sprawled out on the bed with my mound of metal. Counting, checking, piling, rolling... very therapeutic actually. When all was said and done, I had $21 in neat bundles. What will I do with those neat bundles? Probably give them to my college son.
But that is not the point of this entry. What surprised me most was my two cents. Out of 600 pennies rolled, two were wheat pennies. Now don't get me wrong, these are not the first wheat pennies I have come across. I have lots of them stored in yet another container. What is somewhat interesting is that the 1940 penny found last night has been circulating for 71 years and has escaped the hand of a collector. It just goes to show you how some people pay no mind to coins. The second penny was a 1957, the year before they stopped making them. Wheat coins were minted from 1909 - 1958.
So, as this year rolls out and the new one seeps in, take time to smell the roses and check the coins. You may be surprised at what you see.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Roku
I used to consider myself rather tech savvy. I have a Masters in Instructional Technology and I even have a Smart Board in my classroom. However it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the speed of the advancements. When I subscribed to Netflix earlier this year, we tried everything to get the streamed movies to play on our big screen TV. But since the TV is 7 years old and still going strong, (thank you Samsung!) the technologies didn't match up. Other than that, the 50-inch high definition plasma screen keeps us very happy, so there was no way we would ditch it to spend money on a new one.
We tried everything with the help of our sons (aka the younger generation of techies): we bought a Blue Ray, various cables, read manuals and online suggestions, but all to no avail. We finally abandoned our quest and resigned ourselves to putting the laptop between our laps when we really wanted to watch a 'stream only' movie that was not also available in DVD. No big deal really.
It's been many years since I have really been surprised with a Christmas gift. So when our boys gave us a Roku for Christmas this year, I tried to act excited even though I had no idea what it was. Come to find out that it is an amazing streaming device that works on our TV and not only gives us Netflix access, but tons more. I didn't know what I was happier about: the fact that we could now stream movies on the TV or the thoughtfulness of the gift. (Actually I do know... it is the latter of course.)
So my final thought is to ask myself if I now have the TV on too much. I don't think so. After all, how else am I going to hear the news in Italian?
We tried everything with the help of our sons (aka the younger generation of techies): we bought a Blue Ray, various cables, read manuals and online suggestions, but all to no avail. We finally abandoned our quest and resigned ourselves to putting the laptop between our laps when we really wanted to watch a 'stream only' movie that was not also available in DVD. No big deal really.
It's been many years since I have really been surprised with a Christmas gift. So when our boys gave us a Roku for Christmas this year, I tried to act excited even though I had no idea what it was. Come to find out that it is an amazing streaming device that works on our TV and not only gives us Netflix access, but tons more. I didn't know what I was happier about: the fact that we could now stream movies on the TV or the thoughtfulness of the gift. (Actually I do know... it is the latter of course.)
So my final thought is to ask myself if I now have the TV on too much. I don't think so. After all, how else am I going to hear the news in Italian?
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Free Time
Like students, teachers count down the days until their next vacation too. This does not mean that we don't love our jobs; it means that like everyone else, we like free time with family and friends. It is true that I lead a crazy hectic life: a full time teaching job with English papers to grade, president of an active non-profit organization, tutoring after school... So why is it that as soon as I have all this free time without a vacation planned, I am lost in an abyss of hours leading into days leading into more days?
Don't get me wrong, I love my free time. However, even though I crave it, it does interrupt the flow of a routine. Sometimes there is a project to work on, but other times there is not more than a mere errand or two that I need to stretch into the day's activity. Now that my husband and I are empty-nesters (that term alone is fuel for a future blog...), my days are not driven by our boys' activities.
One thing that I don't mind changing in my routine though, is sleeping in. Fortunately I am still one of those lucky individuals who can sleep like a teenager, when given a room without a set alarm clock. So after my long hours of slumber, leisurely cup of tea, and catching up on news and emails, now what?
I can't help it; I am a creature of a schedule. If you know me, you know I do well with schedules. They are predictable and comforting, although of course depending on the schedule of events, they can of course be annoying too. But a schedule leads you through the day and when finished, you get to enjoy a small amount of free time. That I can handle. A little dinner, TV, social time...
So here I am facing days of free time with no trips or large projects planned. My photo albums are organized and up to date. Bills paid. Papers graded. If I were my mother, I would clean all day, but that will never happen. I would love to go to a movie or to lunch with a friend, but ironically, because I was so busy leading up to vacation, I didn't make any plans. Maybe I will luck out with a spontaneous date with a friend for one of the former mentioned ideas. Until then, here I sit in my comfy jammies sipping my tea, finding comfort in my new free time activity...my blog!
Let me know if you want to do lunch or a movie...
Don't get me wrong, I love my free time. However, even though I crave it, it does interrupt the flow of a routine. Sometimes there is a project to work on, but other times there is not more than a mere errand or two that I need to stretch into the day's activity. Now that my husband and I are empty-nesters (that term alone is fuel for a future blog...), my days are not driven by our boys' activities.
One thing that I don't mind changing in my routine though, is sleeping in. Fortunately I am still one of those lucky individuals who can sleep like a teenager, when given a room without a set alarm clock. So after my long hours of slumber, leisurely cup of tea, and catching up on news and emails, now what?
I can't help it; I am a creature of a schedule. If you know me, you know I do well with schedules. They are predictable and comforting, although of course depending on the schedule of events, they can of course be annoying too. But a schedule leads you through the day and when finished, you get to enjoy a small amount of free time. That I can handle. A little dinner, TV, social time...
So here I am facing days of free time with no trips or large projects planned. My photo albums are organized and up to date. Bills paid. Papers graded. If I were my mother, I would clean all day, but that will never happen. I would love to go to a movie or to lunch with a friend, but ironically, because I was so busy leading up to vacation, I didn't make any plans. Maybe I will luck out with a spontaneous date with a friend for one of the former mentioned ideas. Until then, here I sit in my comfy jammies sipping my tea, finding comfort in my new free time activity...my blog!
Let me know if you want to do lunch or a movie...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
T'was the Day after Christmas...
One thing about the kids getting older, is that I get complacent with shopping for the holidays. I know I'll be contributing some $$ to this or that big endeavor or purchase, so the shopping urgency is not there. However, as the clock ticked away, I finally asked my husband what he would like for Christmss.
The fact that there were only six shopping days left did not have me a bit worried since we live 5 minutes from the largest shopping mall in the Northeast. However after Macy's and Lord & Taylor came up empty for a nice men's leather jacket, we tried The Cow's Outside in Norwark. They had a few possibilities but not much choice. With time running out, we agreed to continue our quest after Christmas.
So, 'twas the day after Christmas when we thought, why not try the Woodbury Commons Outlet? They MUST have a great selection. Since it was later in the day, we would likely arrive as people were getting tired and heading home for dinner. So without much more thought than that, we rounded up a full car (my older son and my mother joined in) and headed west. A car accident at the outlet exit did not seem like a big deal at the time, but the detour south and then north through Harriman State Park took us 45 minutes. When we were 1/2 mile from the outlet's entrance, we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 45 more minutes just to enter the parking lot.
We finally 'landed' at 5:00 pm and not only were people NOT clearning out for dinner, but they were actually cued up to enter some of the stores. With the absence of life-size characters I assured myself that I was indeed NOT at Disney but in the cold outside of a shopping outlet. Many people arrived with rolling suitcases to carry their purchases. This was beyond my realm of understanding; remember I usually just write checks out at this stage of my shopping responsibilities. How much could people really want to buy the day after Christmas (myself excluded of course). There were tour buses filled with people from NYC, Quebec, and everywhere in between. OK, so by now we realized that you do NOT go to the outlets the day after Christmas...
The first store we entered was Men's Coach. There was no line, but it's sister store, Coach, across the way, had people making four curves of a snake waiting to enter. I wondered what selection could possibly be left, but that thought must not have crossed their minds. Anyway, back to Men's Coach. There were exactly two styles of leather jackets: one brown and one black. If I could have imagined the perfect one for my husband, it was the black one right there on the rack in front of us. Of course, the price was close to my monthly mortgage, but once they factored in the 30% off, then the other 30%... carry the two... it was do-able. Five minutes on line, he wore it out of the store and we were done.
This didn't seem right however. It took us 2 1/2 hours to arrive and we finished our task in 20 minutes. So, to make the trip worthwhile, I went to Chico's to save more money with some grand deals. Another stop to a shoe store for my son (oh yes, I found something grand there too...) and it made the trip feel more worthwhile.
Thankfully the ride home was uneventful and only about an hour long. So the lessons learned were: A) Plan ahead for spouse shopping BEFORE Christmas B) Never, EVER go to a shopping outlet the day after Christmas, and C) If need be, buy something for yourself to make the trip worthwhile.
Happy Holidays!
The fact that there were only six shopping days left did not have me a bit worried since we live 5 minutes from the largest shopping mall in the Northeast. However after Macy's and Lord & Taylor came up empty for a nice men's leather jacket, we tried The Cow's Outside in Norwark. They had a few possibilities but not much choice. With time running out, we agreed to continue our quest after Christmas.
So, 'twas the day after Christmas when we thought, why not try the Woodbury Commons Outlet? They MUST have a great selection. Since it was later in the day, we would likely arrive as people were getting tired and heading home for dinner. So without much more thought than that, we rounded up a full car (my older son and my mother joined in) and headed west. A car accident at the outlet exit did not seem like a big deal at the time, but the detour south and then north through Harriman State Park took us 45 minutes. When we were 1/2 mile from the outlet's entrance, we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 45 more minutes just to enter the parking lot.
We finally 'landed' at 5:00 pm and not only were people NOT clearning out for dinner, but they were actually cued up to enter some of the stores. With the absence of life-size characters I assured myself that I was indeed NOT at Disney but in the cold outside of a shopping outlet. Many people arrived with rolling suitcases to carry their purchases. This was beyond my realm of understanding; remember I usually just write checks out at this stage of my shopping responsibilities. How much could people really want to buy the day after Christmas (myself excluded of course). There were tour buses filled with people from NYC, Quebec, and everywhere in between. OK, so by now we realized that you do NOT go to the outlets the day after Christmas...
The first store we entered was Men's Coach. There was no line, but it's sister store, Coach, across the way, had people making four curves of a snake waiting to enter. I wondered what selection could possibly be left, but that thought must not have crossed their minds. Anyway, back to Men's Coach. There were exactly two styles of leather jackets: one brown and one black. If I could have imagined the perfect one for my husband, it was the black one right there on the rack in front of us. Of course, the price was close to my monthly mortgage, but once they factored in the 30% off, then the other 30%... carry the two... it was do-able. Five minutes on line, he wore it out of the store and we were done.
This didn't seem right however. It took us 2 1/2 hours to arrive and we finished our task in 20 minutes. So, to make the trip worthwhile, I went to Chico's to save more money with some grand deals. Another stop to a shoe store for my son (oh yes, I found something grand there too...) and it made the trip feel more worthwhile.
Thankfully the ride home was uneventful and only about an hour long. So the lessons learned were: A) Plan ahead for spouse shopping BEFORE Christmas B) Never, EVER go to a shopping outlet the day after Christmas, and C) If need be, buy something for yourself to make the trip worthwhile.
Happy Holidays!
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