If it's not one thing it's another.

I find the time and the energy to try and image some new coins, and, after setting up my camera, I find that the rechargable battery is dead, and I don't have any other batteries, and I can't find the charger... That really just doesn't seem particularly fair. I really need to find that battery charger...

Everyone has hopefully had great holidays. December was a wild ride over here as some of you are already partially aware. December 10th was the registry deadline. 4 Days after that I took my last final. 5 days after that I graduated. 6 days after that it was Christmas. 6 days after that it was New Years Eve! Yesterday I finally got some "thank you" notes written for graduation presents but I still need to make out address labels. I can't wait for my diploma to come back from framing (another week or two to wait on that front I think). Now that all of that is over it's time to get back to work! (Yay?) A new year; A new decade; No rest for the wicked, right? I can't complain much though. I got to see a lot of my brother and my two year old niece.

I'll probably be making my next coin purchase(s) in about 2 weeks. I'm waiting on a few things to happen before I buy anything else. It looks like I may end up taking classes at the local community college this Spring while I'm waiting to see if I can start grad school. I'm going to try and use the opportunity to earn an Associates of the Arts in Visual Arts. I've always enjoyed art, which is probably why I like coins so much. I know I'm not good enough to make a decent living off of it, but it does make me very qualified to critique designs and layout decisions. I'm hoping that a minor degree could grant some formal recognition to the non-technically minded side of my personality. Looking at artwork, even a coin, from the perspective of an artist can change how you see and appreciate the piece.

I'm eagerly awaiting the announcement of the registry awards in 6 days. A 1932 mint set that my step father and I built in 2008 is going to be the finest set in its category for 2 years running. If we can make it another year we'll match the 3 year run of the set that we took the #1 spot from. The competition in that category has gotten a bit tougher though so we may have to consider 1 or 2 possible upgrades to stay in the lead. It stayed in the lead all through 2009 without a single modification though. I'm really hoping that that set in particular will remain a #1 set for several years, in part because of what it is and why it was made. That is one of the very few places where being #1 does matter to me.

Maybe in a few months I'll have the money, time and opportunity come together to let me renew my membership and send off some coins for grading. But that will be quite a ways down the road.