HO HO HO! Santa Spends Some Time Detailing, and Even Steven Has a Hearty Laugh

Santa has been pushing the elves hard to get ready for his impending breakfast with some preschoolers on Saturday. Here's part of the gifts he will be pulling from his bag. Not the Bacardi and Coca Cola mug in the back, nor the other sad flea market items that go to Hick's BARn to die.

These are just the ones that will appeal to the boy young 'uns. According to Santa, "I also have 13 buckets and shovels, and 10 lighted swords, and 4 star wands. Still got to go get some girl things." As Santa says, at that age, kids don't really care all that much which toy they get. He's not averse to giving these vehicles to the li'l gals if he runs out of what he terms girl things, or if they ask for one of these. He just tries to find toys that are safe for that age group. Santa usually forks out $80-$100 on this event, which goes a long way with those elf salaries, and in the places they obtain their goodies.

Overgrown Head Elf Hick spent a considerable amount of time away from his precious new garage-in-progress to wipe down these future gifts with what he calls "Wet Ones." A term which gives me the willies, but also one used by my mom when she talked about cleaning something up. I'm pretty sure it used to be a brand name, and maybe still is. But at work (when I earned my keep) we just called them "wipes."

For his trouble and his time, Santa sometimes receives a gift card to a restaurant, but always a big THANK YOU, and best of all, the joy of the children.
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I got skunked today on my scratcher tickets. Cashed in four winners and didn't win diddly back on the new ones! I cry shenanigans! Okay, no I don't. I've been doing pretty well on the casino visits, so it only stands to reason that the scratchers have to give. I have a tidy nest egg for my CasinoPalooza 3 bankroll, which has doubled over the past two months.

Anyhoo...I was feeling the urge to stop at Orb K. I'd already cashed in my biggest winner at the gas station chicken store, and bought two tickets. I have a habit of heeding my hunches, so on the way out of town, I pulled into Orb K. So much for that hunch, since I won nothing. BUT...while standing at the counter waiting for the clerk to tear off my selected tickets, I noticed something on the floor under the overhang. I poked it with my toe, thinking it was possibly some petrified gum, or scrap of cardboard. Nope. It was a PENNY, by cracky!

I didn't get a picture in its natural habitat, because there were several people behind me, and I didn't want to look like a weirdo. I bent down and picked up that penny, though, and put it in my shirt pocket. Here's the photo after the fact, from the safety of T-Hoe.

Let the record show that it was laying face down in the store, and the back is kind of tarnished, and it almost blended into the tile. This penny was a 2004. I don't recall any major event in my life during that year. Still, I acted on my hunch. Rather than it netting me a big winner on a scratcher (or any winner at all), it led me to this penny.

You never know. That delay in my trip home might have allowed me to avoid a deer leaping out of the woods, or a distracted driver over the center line. You have to take what The Universe dishes out, and don't look back.
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This was penny #64 for my Future Pennyillionaire collection.
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