Hi there, Blokes and Sheilas. Now seriously. I was just looking at my Google Analytics — the behind the scenes numbers that tell me how many people are visiting this site, how many new visitors, how many returning, native languages, countries of origin, blood type, you know, that sort of thing. And when I looked at the listings for which city I get the most visitors from, I was expecting one of the following:

1) My hometown because I think my Dad reads this website more than anybody else

2) Maybe Edinburgh (Scotland), because it’s a bigger city and I used to live there/have a lot of friends there or…

3) Cape Town — same reason as number 2.

{This was the first time I noticed that you could see top viewers by city on Google Analytics so I was kind of excited to have a look.}

And who, pray tell, topped the list this past month?

I’ll give ya seventeen guesses, and I don’t think you’ll get it.

But go ahead and try.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope that’s not it either.

There was a wee hint at the beginning of the post…

Give up?

Sydney. Mmmhmm, the one down under. Good old Sydney, Australia. The Wonder Pets have been there, but I haven’t yet, sadly. I have… maybe two friends total on the Australian continent at present.

This is perpuzzling to me.

I suppose I assumed a good number of the people who read here do so because they know me personally.

Guess not?

Anyway, thanks to this surprising find, I decided to ask you a wee favor.

Based on the reader to comment ratio, I am pretty certain that a number of you who chillax around here generally don’t pop up and say so much. (Like by leaving a comment, for example.) Which is okay.

But I wondered, if just this once, you’d take a moment to come outta the closet.

I ask with the prettiest of pleases and a cherry on top and criss cross applesauce and anything else you might want to add in. Touch blue make it true.

With hopes that you’ll say yes to that little question above, I created a little survey. With Google’s help.

And hopefully it’s going to show up really nicely below this post. With fourteen glorious questions. Which should be embedded below, so you don’t even have to go anywhere. (Except if you’re reading in a Reader you might need to click over. Preez?)

And just by taking this survey you’ll have a good laugh, feel smarter and drop two dress sizes in six weeks. Okay maybe you’ll just have a good laugh.

I hope.

Seriously, you guys are what it’s about. It would bless me to have a better idea of who you are, and how I can be a blessing to you. So thanks for taking a moment to drop the iron curtain of anonymity.

I promise — you’ll have the curtain back on in seven minutes or less. Unless you’re really wordy. But that’s not my fault.

xCC

Wishing you a day filled with Presence…

from our joyful hearts to yours,

With Love,

xCC

Hey y’all.

My website seems to be doing the funky chicken. Or else it’s imitating some kind of bird that flies South for the winter. There’s supposed to be a sidebar full of useful information right there. –>

But it flew south, and looks like this right now…

And you’ll only find that useful sidebar if you scroll down till you can’t scroll no mo.

And I tell you what, it’s late and I’ve been busy finger knitting and watching Elf because there ain’t a better movie to watch while finger knitting and enjoying the holidays.

I also had another candle-related incident, fortunately this time it didn’t involve me catching my hair on fire. {I’ve had a hair cut, so you won’t even notice that extra layer anymore.}

But all this is just a distraction from the point. My website is doing the funky chicken. And I know it. But I’m not sure yet how to fix it.

And it’s late.

And I’m tired because I drank too much Vanilla Coke from the Hospital Pharmacy last night and dern if it didn’t keep me awake. I’ve told you already how Southern I am when I’m tired, haven’t I? Well now you know, sugar.

But the good news is if you click on a particular page or post and steer away from the home page it seems to be back to normal.

So to review, I’m Southern and tired and it’s late, and my website is doing the funky chicken but I don’t know what to do about it.

So please forgive me till I get it sorted out. Add a Whole Foods recipe to the link-up while you’re at it.

Ooh, I have an idea!

Wait!

I just figured it out and fixed it!

Sigh. Problem solved.

If you were among the three people that may have visited my site while it was looking funky today, sorry about that.

Oughta be fixed now, sugah.

xCC

We’re down to two suitcases. That’s right. I am two suitcases away from being completely unpacked for the first time since June. My words have been few around here because that finish line has been in sight. And it sure does look pretty.

The little tidying elf somewhere inside of me is hollering, hold that paper finish line thingy tight, y’all, I’m about to bust through!

The tidying elf is Southern. Obviously.

And in other news, in case you were wondering, here are a few of the happenings around the Collie household.

The Tank is pulling up to stand and scoot along furniture.

And he doesn’t like to be told “no.” Who does?

He is very interested in getting hold of my Christmas hippopotamus. And you gotta respect a baby who won’t take no for an answer.

I may or may not have set my hair on fire last week.

What?

Why yes, a candle which had been moved from its lovely perch atop the TV was sitting on the window sill behind the TV, unbeknownst to yours truly. And when yours truly leaned behind the TV to see if the DVD player was plugged in correctly, yours truly’s long and flowy dark locks were blocking the view from said candle, and poof! My hair caught on fire.

I was very fortunate that it proceeded to dip into the wax, which put the fire out before I realized what had happened. But like four days dead Lazarus coming out of the tomb, one might have said, Lord, it stinketh.

I am rather thankful I didn’t have to stop, drop and roll, and singe the new carpet in the process.

Shew.

Afterwards HH came to the rescue and put some ice in a washcloth to freeze the wax, and then he got it out of my hair for me.

So if you notice an extra “layer” cut into my hair on one side, pretend you don’t know anything about it.

K Thanks.

And in other news, I may or may not have used a one-legged gingerbread man to talk about accepting people who are different this week.

It’s also possible that I found a treasured baby reindeer butt onesie in a box that I am certain I already looked in three times. Have I told you reindeer butts drive me nuts?

ha!

I may also still have about 50-some Christmas cards left to write. Among other things.

Perhaps one more piece of information to add to this {un}important monologue, a couple more Whole Foods posts are coming your way — apologies I got sidetracked — and I’m planning to post a linky to one of them so that if you have some good recipes or ideas of your own to share, already published on these here internets elsewhere, you can link up!

Be on the lookout early next week. Unless I catch my hair on fire again. Then it might have to wait till Thursday.

Why does burnt hair smell SO bad? Anybody wanna google that for me?

xCC

Just thought you’d like to know…

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

We went with #1.

And I’m excited.

And confident that they’re good looking, because I had so much help.

Love ya.

xCC

Trying to decide on a Christmas card and my brain is slowing down this evening.

Will you leave a comment with your favorite?

#1

#2

#3

#4

I’m not doing that square one I shared a few weeks ago because it’s square and takes extra postage.

If you’ve got a second, I’d love a second opinion!

xCC

It’s Hero Hubs’ birthday. And this post is also a new page on my website, which folks can access by clicking the new button right up there that looks like this:

You like my button? Well thanks, I made it myself.

I thought I’d share this page here today in addition to adding it to the site, instead of just going on and on about how great the Hubs is (ya know, like I did on our anniversary). Because this still talks a little about how delightful he is. And you probably don’t have all day. So here ya go:

Every once in a while, I take a picture and think to myself Dern. I think that was purty good. {My time abroad has relaxed my southern accent, but it’s still pretty strong when I’m thinking.}

But that doesn’t happen particularly often.

And I like to have a nice and at least seemingly relevant photo for each post around here.

Which creates a problem.

Because do you really want to see the same 12 photos over and over again?

So that’s where the Hubs comes in.

Because he takes pretty pictures like this

and this

and this

{hello, tiny sea shell, I love you.}

and this

{those are rhinos, in case you’re not sure}

and this

And he does so on a regular basis.

Which means I have lots more than twelve photos to choose from, with which to make the little posts around these parts more attractive than if it were just wordswordswordswords without a break, or 12 photos overandoverandoverandover again.

So I’d like to make sure the record shows that Señor Mark Collie (whose señorita I am proud to be), the mastermind behind Quiver Tree Photography, father and Hero Hubs extraordinaire, is the skilled artisan behind about 98.5% of the photos that you’ll see on this site.

And the occasional other 1.5%, well, you already know which ones they are, and we’lll call them my lucky shots.

If you see a photo you like, good news, you’ve got options. If you would like the story behind the photo, leave a comment to say so. HH regularly posts at Quiver Tree Photography, sharing a special shot and its backstory.

And if you’d like the photo to hang on a wall in your home, to beautify your computer’s desktop, to use in an ecard, or to share with a friend, there are links below each photo at Quiver Tree which will allow you to do all of the above!

So please mosey on over to Quiver Tree Photo soon. And buy a photo. Or send an ecard (that’s free!) Or just click “like” and leave a comment saying “Thanks for sharing your photos with Caroline. I’m glad she has more than 12 photos to choose from.”

You’ll make the Hubs’ day. And by the way, if you need a photog, he’s available for weddings, special events, family shoots and bar mitzvahs. But he doesn’t do funerals.

xCC

Dear Hero Hubs, thank you for sharing your talent with all of us. The world, and my website, are better places because you’re in them. Love you. {and….Happy Birthday!!}

These days are like lyrics from the 2005 Madonna hit with some ABBA sampling… Time goes by. So slowly. I suppose it’s because I’m 39 weeks pregnant, not feeling up to getting out much more than is absolutely necessary, tinkling so often I’m concerned there will soon be a world shortage on toilet paper, and glancing at the clock throughout the day, saying “Is that it?”

We’re still keeping busy with baking (and enjoying the fruits of that labour), of course, most recently brownies and chocolate chip muffins, and everything seems to be ready for baby’s arrival except, well, baby.

I’ve been reading lots and enjoying a very calm period before what will most likely be a very busy period. And we folks at the Collie household have been doing a lot of sitting still, enjoying some diverting conversation to pass the time.

Today at lunch, the subject came up of the royal engagement of the Prince of Monaco. Perhaps this summer will be deemed the Summer of Royal Weddings. Besides Prince William and Kate’s do in late April, Prince Albert and a South African lass named Charlene Wittstock are set to tie the knot with a royal wedding sometime in the summer of 2011.

The funny thing about this particular announcement is that Hero Hubs knows the soon-to-be-princess, Miss Wittstock, as he swam with her during his competitive swimming days a few moons ago. He also did a course in Sports Massage Therapy during his swimming career, and Charlene was one of his patients.

Agnes and I had lots of giggles at the thought of this everyday gal becoming a princess. My immediate response was to ask if she and Mark were friends on Facebook. After a few more laughs Agnes began considering how Charlene would have to change all her documentation to include the title “Princess.” The comment that took the cake (by Agnes):

She could get “Princess” as the title on her bus pass!

Indeed.

Should Charlene Wittstock require a bus pass after her magical royal wedding this summer, she will now have the privilege of visiting the Lothian Bus offices on Waverley Bridge in central Edinburgh and requesting that the title placed before her name be “Princess.”

And these are the types of things we chat about while we wait. Time goes by. So slowly.

xCC

P.S. Charlene, if you’re reading this, Mark Collie says hi. He and his wife would love to come to your wedding.

Forgive me. My brain gets song lyrics stuck in it on a regular basis, and it seems to be even worse during pregnancy. And this super upbeat 90s dance tune that goes Ahhh…yeahhay…wanna be my looover? is playing with the repeat button stuck down right now. Yuck. So please read the title to this post with that song as the background music. Perhaps it’s more appropriately written Wanna Name my Bay-bay? so that you can hear it the way I do.

Ahem. You now have my solemn promise that I won’t use the word lover in this space again for a really long time. I’ve never really liked that word.. It hits my dislike list close to the word packet, which for reasons I’m afraid I can’t explain, other than the way it sounds, is just a word I don’t like at all. So next time you throw a big conference, don’t put guest packets at the reception table. Please. I’m confident I’m not the only packet-disliker…I just haven’t met all the word choice soul mates who can stand with me on this one, yet. Speak up if you’re out there…this is getting awkward.

Okay, seriously.

Being from different cultures, countries, contexts and probably some other C-words I’m too tired to think of, the Hubs and I are struggling with the baby name selecting. And he actually suggested that I ask you, sweet friends and blog readers, for suggestions.

He might kind of look like this.

There’s not going to be a magical decision making reveal moment 24 hours after this post hits the web (we won’t make an official commitment until the baby arrives) and I’m afraid I can’t promise you’ll win a special prize if we choose a name you suggest. (Seeing as we don’t have any special prizes, and I think getting to name the kid is enough.)

We’re taking a couple of days off (leaving tomorrow and coming back Saturday) for one last hurrah as a family of three. (Well, we’re already a family of four, number four’s just still on the inside. You know what I mean.) I’ll tell you where we went and share photos when we get back, of course.

We won’t be accessing the internet, but I have a few posts lined up for you while we’re gone…and don’t worry, they’re much more serious and thought-provoking than this one. But in exchange, I think you sweet guys and gals should make some name suggestions for us to read when we get back. We could seriously use some ideas, if nothing else, just to get our creative juices going. But wouldn’t you feel extra special if we chose a name you suggested? I know I would.

But here are the rules:

1. It has to be a boy name.
2. You have to find out what it means, and put the name and meaning in a comment on this post.
3. You have to think about how it sounds with our last name. For example, Oliver will get called Ollie Collie. And that would just stink.

In return, I have some {hopefully} encouraging words coming up for you over the next few days, even though I’ll be away! I’ve had the chance to do some more thinking and writing about Hosea 6:6, as promised a while ago — and I hope it’s going to bless you like it has blessed me. I can’t wait to read your name suggestions when we get back! YAY!

I’ll miss you guys. And I really mean that.

xCC

Well, there are still a few hiccoughs…a few glitches in the Matrix…a few things I’d like to do to tidy up around here that I’m either a) not sure how to do or b) not sure what to do about yet. But for the most part, this might be the show for a wee while. It’s kind of like a new hair cut — I need to wait a few days before I decide if I like it.

So, I was wondering if you might be desirous of the opportunity to comment (positively or negatively, bold-faced or anonymously), and I would love to hear your thoughts. Especially if there are glitches or things missing or anything else I’m not thinking of. You know I’m pregnant and my brain is in a gabillion places at once, right?

And did you see that I created a wee blog badge? {Scroll down and look on the right for the code.} I think they’re usually that size but now that I look at it, it seems kind of small. What do you think?

Anywho…I’d love to hear your thoughts! Seriously, positive or negative people…just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I can’t take it! And Hero Hubs has great shoulders for crying…

Happy Tuesday, I need to hit the sack!

xCC