A dollar here, a caffeine pill there

In a little more than three weeks, I, along with my family and friends, will stay up and walk all night in an effort to raise money for the American Cancer Society. For my sleep apnea-ridden self, it should be quite interesting to see how awake I manage to stay.

I've never actually pulled an all-nighter, not even in college. I stayed up late many Sunday nights as we tried to meet our deadline for the college newspaper, but I never made it the whole entire night.

So in preparation for Relay for Life, I've got the caffeine pills and Diet Coke all ready to go. I do, however, need something else -- specifically, a few more donations. See I'm not just doing this walk for the free pizza at midnight.

I'm doing this to raise as much money as possible for cancer research. Is this a little selfish of me? Sure. As a two-time cancer survivor, I have a vested interest in making sure that cancer research and other important program are well-financed. But I'm not the only one who will benefit from the fundraising so I suppose I can consider myself slightly benevolent. Slightly.

My team, the Semicolons, has done an awesome job of fundraising so far. As of this moment, we've raised a total of $4,137.40. Pretty impressive, don't you think? But we still have a few weeks left and we might as well raise more money.

So, you want to donate? Great! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Luckily for you, making a donation is incredibly easy. Just click here and enter my name. You can make a donation right there online using your credit card.

If you're not so comfortable with online stuff, you can make a check out to the American Cancer Society and mail it to me. I'll make sure it gets turned in by the May 31 deadline.

To all of you who have already donated, I thank you very much. Your contributions will help those who weren't as lucky as I was.

And now, as I get ready for the night of June 10-11, I think I will go take a nap. I'm going to need all the sleep I can get in preparation for the big all-nighter.

Sign, signs, everywhere signs (but not for long)

My father has always had a lot of causes, but chief among them would be the annoying roadside signs that pop up all over the community. By default, this is one of my pet peeves as well.

These annoying signs started littering the area in the late 80s and early 90s when there was a lot of new home construction. Each developer tried to outdo the next with a larger, more fluorescent sign, leading potential buyers toward its development and promises of a free bonus room.

More recently, it's not the developer signs that have become an issue but rather the "work at home," "meet singles in your area," and "need a mortgage" signs that proliferate every corner. Oh, and of course the "100 signs for $100" sign is all over the place.

Over the years my father has made it his personal mission to remove these signs at any opportunity. They're not just an eyesore, you see, but also a traffic hazard. In addition to making it distracting and difficult to see around busy intersections, the signs also fall into disrepair and cars can pop a tire by accidentally hitting a warped wood post or metal insert laying in the street. (Yes, I've actually done this.)

The signs themselves, located in the public right-of-way, have actually been illegal for quite a while. By county code, each sign is subject to a $500 per day fine. The problem is that the code only allowed a county inspector to remove the signs and as you might have guessed, they didn't exactly do that.

It's this long history of fighting the illegally-placed signs that makes a recent action by the Baltimore County Council all the more sweet. Finally, the council has taken a non-developer oriented stance and will allow citizens to legally remove these illegally placed signs.

So watch out illegal signs: Your days are numbered. And I can see the back of my father's van filling up very quickly these days.

The best five dollars he ever spent

Today my grandparents celebrate 68 years of wedded bliss.

For those of you keeping track, that translates into four children, nine grandchildren, three great grandchildren, a jewelry store, a hardware store, and an optical lab.
And they're still just as much in love today as they were back on their wedding day... probably even moreso.

"There is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for him, and nothing he wouldn't do for me," my grandmother says.

I can listen to the story of how my grandparents met over and over again. My grandmother, on the advice of her sisters, got all dolled up and went to a practice for a local musical arts group where my grandfather, a saxophone player, performed with the orchestra. Despite the warnings of her father to stay away from those musician types, my grandmother thought my grandfather was cute and kept going back to see him.

As the only one of the group with a car, my grandfather got stuck driving everybody else home. At the beginning he would drop off my grandmother first because she lived the farthest from him. But after a few nights, he dropped everyone else off and would take her home last so he could have some time alone with her.

Grandpa jokes that he knew they were getting married when his father bought them a bedroom set. Adorably enough, it's the same bedroom set that they still use, complete with the double bed they've shared for all of these years. (How they managed to sleep in a double bed together all these years is beyond me. My husband and I have a king size bed and if I can even see him over on the other side, he's too close.)

My grandfather often jokes that he got off really easy when it came to paying for the wedding because his only expense was the marriage license. "It was the best five dollars I ever spent," he said.

My grandmother's wedding band, the same one I wore for my wedding, is the very first piece of jewelry my grandfather designed and crafted. (In addition to his talents as a musician, my grandfather is also an amazing artist and jewelry designer.)

So what's the secret to such a long and happy marriage? Grandma says the key is to always be willing to go more than halfway. She claims they've never had a fight in all of these years but Grandpa says she just has bad hearing and a short memory.

While I'm hardly the sentimental type, I can't help but share a few comments that my grandmother made during a visit a few months back. (My brother was smart enough to take notes.) Seriously, how can this not be the cutest thing ever?

"Marriage is forever. When you say I do, you are making that promise for life."

"Everything in a relationship is give and take. Sometimes you give more, and sometimes you get more. In the end it all balances out."

"Love your children equally, but all for different reasons. That way when another child comes into your life, you can love them just as much without taking anything from the others."

"The key to a great marriage is happiness. Strive to make your partner happy, and you will be happy."

Happy Anniversary, Grandma & Grandpa!