DresselDragons

There is no greater thrill than pulling a mystery geocoin out of a cache. Finding a geocoin fairy v1 coin in a cache is still one of my most precious geocaching memories.

Yesterday, Heather received a replacement mission from CSRA Cruisers, and all I can say is WOW. You really went overboard to make it up to her! Her absolute favorite part of it was the ice cream sundae set (4 bowls, 3 toppings, scoop) plus $5 gift card to buy ice cream...and the little purple monkey (she informed me that she has ALWAYS wanted one). Thank-you CSRA Cruisers...you really did not have to do that...but Heather really appreciates that you did (and me too).

There was a day when I bought anything and everything, and every version, but, that was also a time when selection was not as wide and there are not 20 different versions of one design (okay, I might be exaggerating here, but you get my drift). The market became flooded with numerous designs and way too many versions of the same coin. That is when my coin buying slowed down. I had decided that I did not want every design, and did not need every versions of the coins that I liked. Maybe it took a little longer for others to reach the same point as me. My most prized coins are the personals that I traded face-to-face. I guess that is because of the memories associated with them, not so much because of the design. So, like AG, I prefer to trade for personals, or drop my coin in caches for others to keep. I pretty much stopped trading our personal for commercial coins a long time ago...just did not see the point of trading for something that I could buy myself. I miss the more vocal folks from the forums...where are they? I just do not see them posting like they used to. There has been a shift to newer collectors, with names I do not always recognize and posts that are not as colorful as back in the glory days of trading. Maybe there is just not that much to get folks riled up as there used to be. I dunno. I kind-of miss the heated discussions and the coins that sold out in minutes. I also miss the days were geocoin designs were discussed in the forums...now, it seems, I only know if new designs if I am so-and-so's newsletter list...and like I said...I am not so much into the commercial coins anymore. Is interest in geocoins gone...I don't think so. I just think that the market has shifted a bit. Maybe the days of 20 different versions and remints are gone. Maybe there are new, more discriminating collectors out there. Just my thoughts.

Here is Heather and her goodies...the Webkinz was snatched out of the box and in her room in the blink of an eye (which is why you do not see it in the picture with her and all the goodies). Thanks HH!

You've been talking about Pax for a long time. I would be very disappointed if he was not minted.

I gave the hubby the gold relief geocoin for Christmas...he has already put in a request for next year's version!

We just got home tonight from a trip to visit the Hubby's family in Michigan. After spending 8 hours riding in the car, Heather was THRILLED to open a package from Hanukah Harry (although I am not sure how/why it got delivered, since we had our mail held at the post office while we were away, and it not due to be deivered until Monday). She received an assortment of Christmas goodies (including candy, Santa hat and soaps), a Webkinz (the only one she got this year), and 3 coins (Kathy's coin...it is BEAUTIFUL, a geosnowball, and a "joy" Christmas geocoin tag). All I can say is...WOW. I will post pictures when I am more awake...LOL. We also received an email that Chip from CSRA_Cruisers also sent a package out. I am sure it will be in the pile of mail delivered on Monday. You guys all rock...I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the folks on these boards!

Our neighbors are fine...and no return visits were made by the firemen. Merry Christmas all!

First 2 missions will be on there way this morning, or as soon as Harry can schlep them over to the post office...oye ve! The other 4 missions should be in the mail Saturday. He also told me to say thanks for those who have offered to help with these missions (that's what this season is supposed to be about!) but prefers to think of this as a gift he can give his wife. He's hoping no other missions go unanswered, but if they do, he's certain other forum members will take over for him. Please be aware that a younger forum member offered to donate some of her stuffed animals...perhaps there was a hidden gift in the cruisers mission, the awakening of a true holiday spirit within our ranks, I am touched by the folks in this forum...the extras are so not necessary. I have it on good authority that Santa will be good to Heather tomorrow. My intent when I posted in the forums was not so that Heather would receive more...it was just a way for me to vent my frustration with folks who would understand. Thank-you paganfrog for sending an adoption request to Heather...DJJ Rocks for telling paganfrog that Heather would probably appreciate that offer more than his baby girl...and drneal for pulling strings with Harry. You guys really did not need to do all this!

Last night, we saw these special Christmas lights out our window... Not really what you want to see. They were here visiting our neighbor's house. They had a small electrical fire. We'll add some pictures of the tree later.

Santa!

And it is people like you and your dad that make me want to do missions. Last year, my older daughter was a beneficiary of your generosity. I am sorry if I came across as a selfish scrooge in my last post. I was okay with Heather being the only one to receive such a package, but to hear that 5 other people received the same is just disappointing. Plus, the more that I thought about it, the advertising of proxy selling in the letter just really rubbed me the wrong way. That was totally NOT in the spirit of the missions. I do enjoy reading when the missions are received...I am hopeful that the ones that we sent arrive soon...they were mailed out last Tuesday, but we still have not heard of any of them arriving yet. Guess the mail IS slower during the holiday season!

MURPHY im very sorry to see this,, If im not mistaken this dosent even follow the minuim mission guidelines... have have to agree that this would upset me as well, the mission should include a christmassy gift... but after some reaserch,, i see Zariah has a small box from them as well.... my 2yr old girl... i decided to sneek a peek at her mission , i must say hers is a tiny bit better by one item..... , they did not put any effort into this mission what so ever!!!! and i think they should have put more effort into gifting to others.. wayyyy uncool peeps!!! after thinking a few more mins, Me and Zariah BOTH worked really hard on her outgoing mission, and this is just not right. My 7 year old daughter received her mission from the same folks as you...she also had an inflatable pool toy (which will sit in the closet until summer) with her baggies, proxies, 1 geocoin and 1 pathtag (and a letter that said that there were 2 coins in the package - I did email the sender and was told that they forgot to edit that sentence out of the letter). The letter also made reference to them selling "goecoin proxies". That did not sit well with me for 2 reasons: 1) we do not believe in sending out proxies (but understand why folks do), and 2) I did not sign up my daughter for to receive an advertisement...I signed her up to receive a Christmas mission. We took a 1 year break from missions because we had too many bad experiences (ones that never showed up - 3 missions in a row), and it is very disappointing to return to the mission scene and receive something like this. I think I would feel less disappointed about it if the package was for me and not my daughter. I received a very generous mission, and she received ziploc baggies. I think we're done with missions...again. It is not worth the disappointed looks on my kids faces.

Here's my mission... and Heather's... Thanks Secret Santas!

Heather's mission came today...but we have not opened it yet. Brenda did open hers (finally), and the coins are now in the abyss that is her room (so no pictures). She received two coins and a Christmas card...a GCC cache hunters coin (she commented that it was funny to receive a coin with a picture of her back on it - plus her dad and sister), and a Beijing Observatory geocoin. I'll post pictures of Heather and my missions later. When I find the camera.

I finally got our missions mailed out today...my laptop died last week, so I was a little slower that I planned (sorry), but they are all on their way. We received 2 missions so far, but have resisited opening them yet. We'll post thank-you's (and pictures) when we do. Heather's mission: 1. Participating: yup 2. Received Name: yup 3. Mission Complete: yup 4. Package Received Brenda's mission: 1. Participating: yup 2. Received Name: yup 3. Mission Complete: yup 4. Package Received: yup Mom's mission: 1. Participating: yup 2. Received Name: yup 3. Mission Complete: yup 4. Package Received: yup

Oooo...very nice!

Anyone else have Steve Martin's King Tut song stuck in their head? Cool coin!

you are wise beyond the time, flat stanley was the name of the cache and it would appear that this is a wooden nicklel stamped with a multicolored midnight fearie and the dated when she began geocaching. as it has no tracking numbers on it.. but its still a really cool looking coin and definitely the first of many in my collection of caching items.. im addicted... have done 6 caches in 2 days... but how did you know the midnight fearie left a wooden nickel? thanks again for the reply.. carry on superslueth Although I would love to claim to be a geocaching psychic, all it took was a brief look at the Flat Stanley logs. You only had a few finds so far (welcome to the addiction), so finding out that Flat Stanley was a cache was easy. There were no trackables listed as in the cache, so I viewed the older logs on the cache page. There was one for Midnight Faerie that said that she dropped a wooden nickel in the cache.

Based on the caches you've found...It looks like "Flat Stanley" was the name of a cache that you found. There are no coins logged into that cache, so I am guessing that you picked up a signature item. It appears that Midnight Faerie (a cacher) left a wooden nickel in the cache...is the "coin" that you picked up a wooden nickel? If so, it is a swag item and is not trackable.

Once the events are published, there will be a bookmark list of them. However, don't expect that anytime soon...you cannot list an event more than 3 months before the event (unless it is a mega event).

Cool...gotta love the Lorax!

Snagged a BN green RE...would love to trade for one of the glow versions, if anyone has any extra.

May I have an invite please? That sounds really good What Tsun said...that brie sounds AWESOME! Recipe please! It is a quiet turkey day for us...just the 4 of us plus my mom this year. It is a prety basic menu... turkey w/gravy cheddar mashed potatoes sweet potato praline casserole cranberry & apple stuffing fresh bread cranberry sauce pumpkin pie

Is the text for the black and gold one white? It doesn't seem to show up that well (at least on my monitor).