Of pennies and pianos

My baby grand (which I love) had been annoying me for about a week, and I decided to fix it last night. Pookie and Miss Muffet know far too much about money and LOVE to appropriate any change they find lying around or even NOT lying around!

When we moved (last December!) I emptied the change out of their piggy banks into ziploc bags and never got around to either rolling the coins or returning the money to the piggy banks. Apparently my darling girls found the bags because they have been playing with loads of money. I keep taking it away, and they keep coming up with new stores from which to pull.

When I picked up Baby Bear and Miss Muffet from the nursery last Wednesday night, the nursery workers were laughing at Miss Muffet. Come to find out, she had gone to church with money in her (little) pocket. No one, including me, knew anything about it until she started pulling it out of her pocket one coin at a time and gave it to the nursery workers to hold. They laughed so hard because they said it was like the widow's oil - it just kept coming. In the end, she gave them over $14 in change!!!! I think I'll apply to the girls for a loan if I am ever in need of money! [All this really does have a point; just be patient a little longer ;)]

Well, back to the piano. Like I said, it had been annoying me. Two crucial keys were sticking, and I knew the reason - I could hear the coins jingling every time I tried to play those keys. I knew that because of where the coins were stuck I would need to take apart the piano so I procrastinated as long as possible. (I'm great at procrastinating.) Last night I couldn't take it any longer, and, besides, I have a student today. I removed the top and fallboard, baring the keys. Upon lifting up the stuck keys, I removed some change as expected. I decided I had better check nearby keys before replacing the lid, etc. I found more change that had not yet created a problem. Like the money from the pocket, it just kept coming! When I had gotten it all out, I had one quarter, six dimes, a nickel, and two pennies - $.92! Never a dull moment! Oh, and my piano works great now; thanks for asking.