Fan Money

I am sure you have heard of "sock money" right? You know, the habit of stashing money away for a rainy day in your sock drawer? My mother in law has a different definition of sock money. Her's means she gives us socks for Christmas that have money already in them. Well, she took that a step further over Mother's Day weekend when we went to visit them. Have you ever heard of fan money?

Trent's parents gave me and Trent a lovely fan and K'Lee and James the same fan as well, for our anniversaries, which are 11 days apart (plus a year difference). Ta-da, very nice:

We weren't going to open them then because there was a picture on the box so we could tell what they looked like and because usually things like this are packed very strategically into styrofoam packaging that never, ever goes back in the same way once it has been pulled out. But Trent's mom urged us to open them anyway. So we did. Then we looked closer:

There was money in our fans! We asked her how we were supposed to get it out and she just looked at us and said "I don't know. Happy anniversaries!" We had a good haha over it and managed to get them back in the boxes more or less how they were before.

So we brought it home and it sat in our den in the box for a week until this past Saturday when I decided to tackle it and get that money out. I got out my toolbox (yes, I have my own toolbox, complete with tools) and tried to decide the best way to get it out. I thought I might have to unscrew the front part of the fan but decided to try needlenose pliers first and see if they would reach in far enough and do the trick.

Success! Apart from the money being somewhat crumpled from being yanked through the fan cage (there is probably a better name for it), it was a win. Crumpled money is still money. So that ended up a lot easier than taking out a bunch of little screws, making sure not to lose them and then getting it all put back together. I guess I don't have to add fan surgery to my list of accomplishments. I was a little sad though that I didn't get to use my handy dandy, 8-in-1 ADORABLE screwdriver:

So that is the story of my mother in law's latest silliness and how she took her sock money concept to the next level. I guess we have to work for our gift money now. But hey, we got a fan and twenty bucks out of it!