Pennies from heaven

I was looking back at old posts and realized that I never talked about my plans for my kitchen floor, and how you can help.

Yes, you can help me make my dream kitchen floor a reality. 

I want a penny floor.

A penny saved, a penny earned, right? 

See a penny pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck, right?

I want a penny floor. Damn you, Pinterest! Of course it all started with a pin. I was amazed. Cautiously, I showed Ghon. I didn't think he was going to go for it. He looked, stared, then said, "OK."

SCORE! I get a penny floor!

I have a bank that I save only pennies in. It's Kermit, as in the frog. My mom made it for me for the Christmas before I turned five. Kermit, is stuffed to the top with pennies. I have a head start on the floor.
Now, when I see a penny, I do pick it up. I stick it in my pocket, bring it home, and put it in a new special penny box. When Cindy and I cleaned out the field, if we found a penny, we rejoiced! Finding 6 pennies in a folded, nasty carpet left to rot in the yard - totally worth it.

Just how bad has it gotten? I rarely carry cash. Ghon would always get upset with me when I would pay for something with cash - and use change. He would rather break a single for 6 cents than grab the change. I don't want to carry the change. That's even more weight in my already too heavy purse. But now? Oh, I think about how change will work to my advantage. $5.21 - best believe I am pitching in a quarter so I can get 4 pennies. I will not chip in two dimes and a penny. Hells no. I need that penny. I even consider breaking a single - so I have more change to turn into pennies.

Even worse? Jonathan decided to dump out his bank. I turned it into a learning activity/penny securing activity. He separated all his change and put all the pennies in a pile. We then counted, as high as we could, then Mommy counted even higher. And I traded him, silver coins for his brown ones. Then, I let him put them all in the special penny box. He thought it was awesome. So did I. When the kid gets a chance to count and sort and mommy gets pennies for the floor - it's a win-win situation.

The rough cost of the penny floor will be about $300. I need close to 30,000 pennies. That's more than Kermit holds. That's more than I can find in old carpet in the yard, or in the Wal-mart parking lot. I'd rather not just go to the bank and plunk down 15 twenty dollar bills and say "Pennies, please?" (although, that would be pretty funny.)

I'm trying to save them. Find them. Gather them. But I will buy them from friends. Seriously, if you have a penny collection, don't take them to the nearest Coinstar. I don't charge 6% like the bank. I pay straight up value. You bring me 100 pennies, and I'll give you a dollar. I'll even consider buying you a soda or something. While I will take penny donations, I'm not asking for them. I want to exchange paper for pennies.

So the next time you are about to step over a penny, or suck it up with the vacuum cleaner from you car cup holder, or heaven forbid, you start to just throw it down, remember me. When you see the "need a penny?" cup at the cash register, remember, Kim needs your penny. Hummingbird Farm needs your penny.