I found this in an article entitled Kids and the Internet - it's a good thing by Laura Matthews in the July 20 edition of The Christian Science Monitor. What a hoot! She obviously hasn't read my blog. . .

My daughter discovered online journals, or "blogs," when she was 16. After a lot of negotiating, she was allowed to start her blog. . . But in keeping an eye on her xanga, I also had access to her friends' xangas. Surprise - this opened me up to a whole new world of insight into today's teenager. These kids can write.
To keep a blog going, you have to have the discipline to write daily. This puts today's young bloggers on the fast track to future Pulitzers. To keep your friends coming back, you have to be interesting, funny, intelligent, relevant. These kids are all that and more. Once I got past the immature spelling and punctuation (along with usual teen slang and vulgarity), I was treated to some of the best poetry I've ever read. All of their blogs together are a veritable anthropological study of high school life. One senior I know has, in four years, transformed from what seemed like functional illiteracy - incomplete sentences, poor spelling - into a blossoming philosopher headed for a major university.
Aside from the keyboard and multitasking skills they've developed, the substance of what they're writing is way beyond what mine was at that age. Sure, their mechanics might be rough at first, but over time that rights itself. What's more important is they've got something to say, and the Internet gives them the means to say it. Don't be surprised if the rising generation of Internet users turn out to be the most articulate and best-informed generation in recent history.

They’re finally here! My Uncle Geoff, Aunt Jet (short for Henriette), and cousins Lonneke, Max and Swenne pulled into the driveway at about 8.30 this morning, only about eight hours behind schedule. (Their train got delayed, and my parents, who left to pick them all up at nine last night, were stuck in Seattle overnight as well while I babysat) But ‘it’s all good,’ because they brought four dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts along. It was Lonneke’s 11th birthday, so we had a huge breakfast to celebrate, and then I don’t really remember what happened, because I took a four-hour nap. (I’m still really tired, I stayed up way to flippin’ late last night and I should be in bed now.)

It’s funny to watch my dad and his twin interact. They’re identical, have almost the same voice and very similar mannerisms. It’s still a little unnerving, because I can’t always tell which one is my father—I mean they even wear the same clothes, that’s just not fair! Geoff is a little smaller than my dad, and his hair is a little curlier, but that’s about it. They even think and talk the same way, carrying on their own conversations about technology and bikes and whatnot that the rest of us can’t understand, and it’s bit like having two of my father around.

I’m looking for a picture of all of us cousins together, because we all look like siblings.

We ate hand-made pasta tonight; we’re practicing for when we make it on Whidbey in a few days. Then we had two birthday cakes for my cousin, ate lots of ice cream and opened gifts. It’s great how laid-back everyone is, especially considering that my parents spend all of last nigh ‘sleepless in Seattle,’ our relatives spent the night on the train, and I and my siblings stayed up way too late cleaning.
I think I’m noticing a trend: when I blog late at night like this, all I can think of is sleep and lack thereof. Maybe I’m trying to tell myself something . . .

I really shouldn’t be typing right now. I should be asleep. So this post probably won't make any sense, but who cares. . . I just got back from camp a few hours ago, and I’m babysitting while my folks pick up next week’s entertainment: our relatives from Holland. It just don’t stop!
Camp was truly amazing. It hosted well over 400 kids from all over Washington there in Wenatchee. We had a blast: sleeping in tents, worshipping under the stars, rock climbing, playing volleyball, taking over a water park, and inner tubing on the Columbia river—once I fell off the tube and my pants floated downstream and had to be rescued :-). And it was really really hot—like 100 degrees the whole time. My hair got bleached blonder, but I was very careful and I didn’t burn myself once!
The speakers were awesome; they spoke about being disciplined and striving to be a leader among your peers and making an example of your life choices so that you may be able to lead others to Christ, which was an encouraging affirmation of the goals I had already set. I also saw the Holy Spirit at work in many ways, and was able to watch God answer my prayers for some of the people in my tent who were really straying from the Lord and needed to be brought back to Him.

I just got a call from my parents. They’re in Seattle, but the flippin’ train my aunt, uncle and cousins are arriving on is four hours (no, really) late. So I guess there’s no use waiting for them at home, I’m going to bed. . .

Finally. After surviving a whole week getting place by foot and by bike, we finally have our van back. (We were having the hood and bumper replaced, thanks to that suicidal deer we bumped into in Monta.) But we got around by bike pretty nicely, and I’m totally fearless when it comes to asking complete strangers for directions now. (Blonde geography. Don’t ask.)

Speaking of complete strangers, I’m going to camp in Wenatchee this coming week. I’ve checked the weather; it’s gonna be in the 90s and cloudless the whole time. I am so gonna die. I made it through all of Colorado without a sunburn, and then got fried biking around this week in Bellingham. I’m peeling already. (Bring it on.)

So yeah. . . I’ll be gone all this week and then I come home for one crash-and-burn day, and then our relatives come up. We’ll all be camping on Whidbey again, and we managed to get the same massive site as our church did. My poor back. At the camp I’m going to this we sleep in tents, so between that and both times spent camping on the island, I’ll have spent as many nights this month in my own, soft bed as on the cold, hard ground.

But I'm really excited about meeting new strangers! That's always such a rush. See the rest of you boing people later. .

Peach Out.

(don't even ask)

I rolled out of bed late this morning and my house was like a tomb. We've been running full-throttle since Friday. I got home from a babysitting job and got picked up for an impromptu birthday sleepover for Micaiah (that was a lot of fun--we placed a lit sparkler in her cake and then swam in the pool till 10), and then the next morning Shelley, who is really an amazing person, drove me all the way down to Whidbey Island where my family was camping with our church.
We've had rather dreary weather here in Bellingham, but the weather down there was beautiful! Beautiful, but certainly not warm. We spent a lot of time around a camp-fire. Most of the kids in the church played Mafia—that game where you get to murder people and then execute others after a mock-trial, maybe not your typical church game, but very fun—and they killed me off three (count ‘em, three!) times. I’m trying not to read into this too much.
After another restless night on a hard floor—at least the first one had had a rug!—our family got packed up and headed back to Bellingham. Then I went out with my Decapolis sisses for ice cream and then the 3rd service at Hillcrest. *It was so great to see you gals again! Steph and Katie, we missed you!* Then I promised myself I’d get in bed on time for once this weekend, but I ended up staying awake till 11.30, chatting w/ friends and e-mailing. That’ why I rolled out of bed at 9.45 to an empty house. I honestly don’t know where my family is off too, I just hope I haven’t missed the Rapture or something. :-0

Wow. Doesn't this picture just cry out in need of a caption?

By the way, the freak on the right is my good friend Carla, and I'm the other one. I think we took this in Ohio.

You may be from the Pacific Northwest if you. . .

…feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
…use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.
…know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
…feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
…stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal.
…consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it's not a real mountain.
…know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.
…know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon and Willamette.
…consider swimming an indoor sport.
…can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.
…in winter, go to work in the dark and come home in the dark--while only working eight-hour days.
…never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
…are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain, and tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers."
…can't wait for a day with "showers and sun breaks."
…have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
…know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
…can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you can't see through the cloud cover.
…say, "The Mountain is out" when it's a pretty day and you can actually see it.
…put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
…switch to your sandals when it gets above 60, but keep the socks on.
…have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
…think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.
…knew immediately that the view out "Frasier's" window was fake.
…buy new sunglasses every year, because you can't find the old ones after such a long time.
…switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.
…use a down comforter in the summer.
…your grandparents drive 65 mph through 2 feet of water during raging rainstorm without flinching.
…design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
…know that driving is better in the winter because almost everybody stays home.
…actually understand these comments.

Happy Independence Day!!
I hope y'all are having a great day, we haven't really got any plans--yet. It's kinda nice to not have plans, since the rest of our summer right up to the due date is totally packed. This baby better not come early, and it better really be a boy. I'm kinda excited, I mean, we've only got 7 weeks to wait, but I'm also enjoying the 'quiet' while it lasts. Ok, so it hasn't been quiet at the Albert house for years, but it's only gonna get louder.
I've heard that pregnant ladies get this 'nesting' hormone before the baby comes and start organizing things to get everything ready. Maybe that's what's happening to my mom, or maybe inspiration just fell from heaven and hit her on the head--hard. Anyway, she's totally re-organized the office, and she's pitching a bunch of stuff in the garage right now (which is a great thing!), and she' re-done the school area for summer. But since the office was being worked on, I couldn't use the computer and therefore post. So there, I've found a way to pin it on my mom. :-)

I guess we might watch fireworks with the Miksovskys (lets see the spell-checker freak out over that one!) and my friend Micaiah from the Alabama bridge tonight. That'll be fun. And probably crowded. I went to the Acmenormous yesterday with some church friends, and that was neat. But I woke up at 10 this morning. This is becoming a trend.