Blog counter update

As many of you can see, I added a page counter to the bottom of my page. After some harassment from my brother-in-law Rob about the low number of page views, I had to explain to him that the counter was added on Friday, the day he viewed the blog.

So, like watching your pennies grow a penny at a time, I hope to watch the number of viewers reading my blog grow too-one page view at a time.

Visualization...what would a million pennies look like?

Sometimes, when people talk in terms of millions, billions, trillions, and beyond, it is difficult to visualize just what that looks like. Whether referencing the speed of light or the amount of money in Bill Gate's bank account, sometimes those numbers are just unfathomable. While paroozing the Web searching for pennies, I stumbled upon this fun little site that actually visualizes what various quantities of pennies would look like.

If you are looking for a quick distraction this Friday afternoon, check it out.

http://www.kokogiak.com/megapenny/default.asp

A penny saved...

In more great book news, you can also now find my book at Sam Weller's Bookstore in downtown Salt Lake. I am so excited, because this is just another example of local Utah businesses that are helping support my book. If you are in downtown Salt Lake and are looking for a good read or a great bookstore experience, stop by Sam Weller's bookstore on Main St.

Here is a question for you. Do you know who said, "A penny saved is a penny earned?"

If you said Benjamin Franklin, you are correct!

I am so excited because my oldest son Alex is back from Europe and my nephew Will is coming up to Vernal for the night so I am excited to have a full house again. Have a great weekend and don't forget your sunscreen and to keep your eyes peeled for pennies!

Book update and rainy day play

Hello and I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! Mine was busy, but it was great to spend time with my family. In terms of book news, I have lots of great things to report. My book has been picked up by The Edge magazine, and they are going to do a story and review of the book.

My book is also now available at The Kings English, a great local bookstore in Salt Lake. Thank you to all of you that submitted reviews on Barnesandnoble.com...we have had some technical difficulties the past few days trying to edit the information and getting it re-posted, but it should all be fixed soon.

Want to help? Go to your local book store and request the book, that way it will continue to gain extra exposure!

In penny news, my mom passed along this great little article from The Salt Lake Tribune back on January 9, 2009. The story was titled "Save those pennies for some rainy play" and it gave an ingenious idea to keep your kids busy on a rainy day. This tip, provided by Hilarie O'Connor, a mom of four children under six. Take two rolls of pennies, equalling 100 coins and hide them all over your house. You can designate certain amounts to certain rooms for your smaller children and leave the search open everywhere else for your older ones. Once hidden, let your kids start hunting for the coins. When they can't find any more, have them count their pennies. If it is less than 100, they have to keep searching until they get to the magic number.

What a great idea...I wish I would have thought of that sooner! Have a great week and keep those penny stories coming! You can send them to powerofapenny@gmail.com

Count your pennies

The rain has finally stopped (for now) and it finally feels like summer around here. With this summer heat, it makes me crave some cool summer treats.

My niece sent me her penny story, and her favorite thing to do is to save all of her spare change until she has enough to treat herself to a frozen drink. Her favorites are frozen chai tea and strawberry smoothies. In the winter she saves up to treat herself to some hot chocolate or apple cider.

This is the perfect penny tradition for keeping your cool this summer. You'd be surprised how quickly that change adds up, so count your pennies for a week or so and then treat yourself to a tasty treat!