Blog Freakiness

If any of you happened to stumble across my blog on Friday, you would have seen the aliens that took over my beloved landscape of words. Apparently whomever held the keys to my lovely "Japanese Fleur" template images got caught up in the stock market frenzy and forgot to pay the bills. Allan was not available to save the day, so horror of horrors!, I had to attempt salvation myself. Voila'! Okay, not quite "Voila!", but I did manage to get something started. If I mess it up enough, Allan will be concerned to the point that he will just have to intervene. At least that's my sinister plot. In the meantime, just ignore it if you see things appear and disappear while I try to figure this thing out myself.

Hmmm...I wonder what will happen if I do this? Oops.

Update: It's been three days and his concern has not spurred him to action yet! He had to work almost all weekend, but that's not a good excuse, is it? Oh, my sad, sad blog.

Hello, my name is blog.

A new friend of mine was talking to an old friend of mine about me recently. My old friend was liberal with his generosity as he described his perception of who I am and the friendship we shared (he has selective memory issues). The most interesting point he made, though? He stated that he has gotten to know me best through...you ready for this?...my blog. This weekend when my father-in-law was discussing our blogs with Allan and I, he pointed out how he is often surprised at the level of personal revelation I make. And, just this evening, another friend revealed that his wife is "lurker" of this site, enjoying the opportunity to get to know more about my life.

I find those comments interesting. Is it okay that someone feels like the best way to know me is through their computer? There are many discussions online about this topic. I'm curious what you think. Can you get to know someone through a blog or do you have to have face to face interactions for it to be an authentic relationship? Do you find it easier or more difficult to express yourself in this format? What about it is so appealing to some - the perceived anonymity? the opportunity for a stage without interruption? the ability to make a false front?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Give Money Away!

Feel like donating to a charity today with someone else's money? Check out this cool project by Squidoo - click here.

Survivor: Fiona

I have a new reality t.v. show in the making - Survivor: Fiona. The goal is to see if the contestants and/or Fiona can survive together for one week. In the last twenty-four hours this bundle of cuteness has:
* been pulled out of the road by her big sister
* sprayed herself down with Fabreeze
* colored herself with dry-erase markers
* pulled the fireplace gate on to herself
* shattered a flower vase (& carried the broken vase to me - aagh!)
* flooded our bathroom ("Look, mommy, the water!")
* shimmied down the length of our attic crawl space

...and these are the ones of which we are aware.

Any takers?

When Are You Coming For a Visit?

CNN and Travel & Leisure Magazine received over 600,000 votes on their "America's Favorites" poll. On this day of bright sun and 78 degrees, it's not hard to see that here is what they found:

Quality of Life & Visitor Experience (Overall)

1 Portland, Oregon
2 Charleston
3 Austin
4 Honolulu
5 Minneapolis/St. Paul
6 San Diego
7 Santa Fe
8 Denver
9 Seattle
10 San Francisco
11 San Antonio
12 Nashville
13 Chicago
14 Phoenix/Scottsdale
15 Boston
16 Washington, D.C.
17 Miami
18 Orlando
19 New Orleans
20 New York
21 Philadelphia
22 Las Vegas
23 Dallas/Fort Worth
24 Atlanta
25 Los Angeles

Based on: Noteworthy neighborhoods, Skyline/views, Public parks and access to the outdoors, Cleanliness, Public transportation and pedestrian friendliness, Traffic, Safety, Weather, Peace and quiet, Affordability, People-watching, Environmental awareness

Beach Get-Away

Given our summer of PSP, family visits, the Festival, & FaithQuest, we did absolutely no vacationing as a family this summer. I had a Saturday meeting cancel this last week, opening up our entire weekend. The kids and I did some sneaky planning; then on Friday I packed for five and we kidnapped Allan from work (with his boss's okay). What a great weekend we had! I absolutely love Cannon Beach - the most beautiful and relaxing of the Oregon Coast, in my opinion. We had a cute little hotel, just a close walk to the sand & waves. Best of all was the non-scheduled time with the four people I love and adore most.