I wish my wallet was heavy because it was filled with cash.  That’s not the case.  I don’t even have a single dollar bill in there at the moment.  I do have tons of quarters though.

When my grandfather passed away I took over the ownership of his state quarter map.  We bought him this map for Christmas several years ago.  I am down to needing 3 of the quarters currently in circulation.  I have everything from the Philadelphia mint; those are pretty easy to find here in B-more.  The Denver mint quarters however are more elusive.  If you aren’t aware if you look at the front of a US coin in the lower right hand corner there is a small letter P or a letter D or sometimes a letter A indicating what mint the coin was pressed at.  Thanks to my Anaheim trip earlier this month I was able to acquire 5 more Denver coins, but I have 3 more that are remaining more elusive: Wisconsin, Nebraska and Idaho. 

One of my techniques for getting quarters is to use only cash at the work vending machine for my $1.25 sodas.  That has helped me find many a quarter, but it has liquidated most of my cash in my wallet and turned it into several dozen Philadelphia Mint quarters floating around in the change compartment.  It is making it rather heavy to lug around.  :P  I will have to start wearing my Heart Rate Monitor when I am carrying my purse to see if the quarters are causing any additional calorie burn.  Ha!

June 28th is both a sad and happy day in our family.  It is my grandfather’s birthday.  Last year on this day my brother had a strange experience.  You can see his blog about it on his myspace.  Well this year it was Mom’s turn for a strange experience. 

When Pop moved in with us 20 years ago he brought with him this old, large, pirate clock.  The clock never worked when he was living in our house and didn’t work for several years before.  He still had it hanging on his wall though, right above his recliner in his living room.  After he passed my father decided he wanted the clock because it reminded him of his father so much.  When they moved into their condo the clock went with him and it has actually become the piece that his entire bedroom has been decorated around.  Pirate stuff everywhere.  Mom just called me a few minutes ago and said that suddenly the clock is working.  In fact she said she first noticed it because it chimed and now it is keeping accurate time.  She is a little flipped out and I don’t blame her.  Maybe Pop really is trying to let us know that he is ok.  Love you too Pop! 

Told you I wouldn’t be able to not post for a while. I just have to share this story though. I was getting ready to leave work yesterday, so I made my usual trip to Traffic.com to check my route home. I notice a red yield sign that looks pretty close to where I usually travel. I clock on the sign and a box pops up saying that a fire off of Fitch Avenue has it closed between Rossville and Ridge. Anyone that knows where my parents live knows that my parents house is just about right in the middle of that closed area. My heart skipped a beat. I tried calling Pop and got his answering machine. I called Dad to tell him that I was driving home and to try to get a hold of Pop. I of course forgot my cell phone, so off I got to try to get home as fast as I can. I turn down our street and at this point the closed area has shrunk to just past my parents street on up to Rossville. I was able to pull right down to my parent’s house without an issue. It was then that I saw my parent’s neighbor’s house was on fire. I know the family in this house becaus I babysat the little girl that lives there several times. When I drove past this morning you could see straight into the top floor and tell that it was gutted. The first floor was all boarded up. I don’t yet know if anyone is hurt, but my heart does go out to Jordan, Joshua and their Mom because it looks like they have lost everything.