The Things We Do

I just paid $6.11 for a HotWheel. That's right everyone, I bought a hotwheel for more than 99 cents. But for very good reason. Last July, when we went on our little family vacation to Ft Lauderdale and Miami we did what we ALWAYS do when we go anywhere new. We hit the Antique Stores! I have been blessed with a hubby who LOVES (and not just because he knows it makes me happy either!) to go antiquing. We collect Wedgwood, and for those of you don't know what that is, go here. We have quite a few pieces by now, but we love the hunt and really want to expand our collection. So anyway, we went into this little shop in Ft Lauderdale that was PACKED with Wedgwood. We bought a Wedgwood Lighter there, and something else, can't remember what. But while I was negotiating with dealer, hubby was in the back with the boys while they played with a box of old hotwheels.
Now I have to insert here a short story about my dad. He is an OFFICIAL HOTWHEEL COLLECTOR. Yep, they are real, and they do exist. When, and I am sincerely hoping this is a long time in the future for obvious reasons, but when my father meets his Savior, my sister and I will inherit a MASSIVE, and I do mean MASSIVE Hotwheels collections, worth probably Thousands of $$$. Hotwheels, are in fact, worth money. More in package, mint condition, redlines, etc. He has books on values and how to trade, he goes to shows, and sells them in, yes, you guessed it, Antique Stores!!
And after I spent what some would consider too much for a lighter I have no intentions of ever filling with lighter fluid and using for something other than display, the man was "kind" enough to say the boys could each pick something from the hotwheel box. In true form, my 3 yr old Thomas Freak proceeded to find the only TRAIN in the box. By Hotwheels. Now I thought, hotwheels only made cars, trucks, hotrods, and monster trucks. So we took it home and this little black train was added to the collection. Going back and forth between bottom of the toy bin to my favorite I have to sleep with the black train tonight, find it Mommy! status.
When my MIL came to town about 2 and a half months or so, she decided a fantastic place to take the boys would be Ollie Koalas, an Australian cousin apparently to Chuck E Cheese. The black train came with us, and no matter how much I tried to persuade him to let me hold tight to it, he just HAD to take it with him to run around like a madman. And then he laid it down. And forgot about it.
And that was the left time we ever saw it. I asked, I looked, and I even called back a day or two later. No luck. Everyone thought, its just a small black train, its not Thomas, he will forget about it.
Well, all I have heard about for the past 2 days is the BLACK TRAIN. Can I help him find it, where is it? Is it in my purse? Please MOMMY!!! I NEED MY BLACK TRAIN!!!!

SO I did what any mom would do who knew the train was long gone, and I simply couldn't just pop on over to Target and pick up another one. I turned to Ebay. And lo and behold, I found the silly train. After 45 minutes of searching, I found it. And since there was a buy it immediately option, for $1.99 plus shipping ($4 something) I bought it. And it should be here by the end of next week! And then the constant barrage of where is my BLACKTRAIN MOMMY!!!! will cease and desist, until the next time he loses it and I kick myself for not buying the lot of 5 identical trains.