Prior to my marriage, I never really put much thought into my loose change, and would try and pay for things when my coin purse got too full. I had a piggy bank that I decided my loonies and twoonies would be saved there, and a Tupperware container in the kitchen for quarters (thanks to my apartment-dwellers laundry requirements).
So when I got married, it was a bit of a surprise to me to see this massive jar of coin in what was to be my new bedroom. Mark eventually spent several nights rolling it, and then proceeded to instruct me of the benefits of saving loose coin.
We were given a beautiful vase as a wedding gift from one of the little old ladies at church that was made by another lady in our church who does gorgeous pottery work. This vase was not water-proof, and my new husband, who had previously lived in the a-typical bachelor mansion, had a hard time understanding why things like this would be pretty decorations - until he started chucking his coin into it.
So there it sits on our dresser, I love the colour of it as well as the style of the piece. It reminds me of this lovely lady who has passed on, as well as the friendships we've developed with the lady that made the vase. And it works as a perfect coin collector! When it gets full, Mark carries it to the basement to empty it into his original massive jug and then returns it to its place of honor on our dresser. We have a similar piece of pottery (made by the same lady) in our kitchen, so I am now a regular contributor to the coin collection.
Preparing for our second baby's arrival that was expected for March 6, 2011 (he arrived 2 weeks early), gave push for the both of us to go through the house again and do antoher "purge" of our precious junk as we made room for another resident. And so for the second time in my marriage, the Coin Jug made it's appearance and my husband spent several nights sorting, stacking and rolling coin. The grand total was quite a shocking figure and I asked Mark what we were going to blow it on ("found" money like this always buys something off our list of things we need to replace or purchase).
And then he told me he was thinking of getting an iPad - I had my opinions about the purchase, really not going one way or another. My biggest hesitation was that our 2.5 yr-old daughter is addicted to our iPod Touches and her Grandmother's iPad, which I don't particularly like for whatever reason. (though it is amusing that she can play "Angry Birds" and get better scores than Mark).
I then proceeded to go into labour and give birth, never really giving it another thought. Fast forward several weeks, the money is in the bank just waiting for that perfect purchase, and Mark says the new iPad's are getting released and he's thinking of hanging out at the mall to get one. I originally thought "yeah my husband, who thought I was crazy for getting up at 5 a.m. for Boxing Day door crasher sales, is going to stand in line for HOURS for the chance to get an iPad 2..." I was a little doubtful.
So the morning of the release arrives, he does all his research for wait times and then decides he's going to do it. Baby Will and I drop him off at the mall with his backpack full of reading material, water and snacks. We kept in touch for the afternoon via text messages and the occaisional phone call - he felt his odds were "pretty good" that he was going to be successful.
He later explained the process to me - the Apple stores received their shipment of iPad's but weren't allowed to open them until 3 p.m. so they had no idea how many they had or the specs of what was shipped to them. He said the store closed at 4 p.m. to get everything ready, and then at one point, a staff person came through the line and started handing out tickets to people - if you got a ticket that meant that you got an iPad. The last time we spoke, the ticket distributors were about 40 people ahead of Mark. As I was driving to pick up Ellie, my phone chirped with a text message "I GOT A TICKET!!"
The kids and I got to the mall and made our way to the Apple store. It was neat to see Mark near the front of the line and then when we arrived, he WAS the front of the line. Ellie did her little cheer "Hi Daddy!" which made her a favourite among the Apple staff who were pumping up the line to keep everyone revved up. We all kissed Mark and waved him off into the store to get his iPad - it was very exciting.
The following morning, this is the sight that graced my living room. At least it was paid for with our loose change!
