I don’t know if you ever checked out WhiteHouse.gov… but, um, this one’s kinda different.

Change.gov continues the unprecedented social outreach of the Obama/Biden campaign. It includes a blog, a cell or e-mail sign-up, video discussions and even a “Share Your Vision” section…

They’ve coined it “Open Government”:

It’s your America. Share your ideas. The story of the campaign and this historic moment has been your story. Share your story and your ideas, and be part of bringing positive lasting change to this country.

Now really, after all that…. does Obama really have to give up his BlackBerry??

What that looks like this year:

1) Putting the upstairs bathroom back together again, new walls, new plumbing, new tile, new tub/sink/toilet, new colors! Very exciting, and photos will come soon.

2) Painting the last of the walls that never got painted. That includes the fireplace room, which is now a cream almost-hay color, and one long stretch of dark green down our hallway (see Flickr photos to the right).

3) Starting to tear out the ugly green carpet. The previous homeowners threw in some stairway carpet in an attempt to make the house more sell-able. After trying to make $200 worth of paint colors look right, we concluded that the carpet is just bad. The upstairs hallway will be done in wood before Turkey, and the full set of stairs will follow.

3) Sewing. Huh? Did I say sewing? Yep, that’s right folks… 8th grade patchwork pillow-making served me well. I made two table-runners, six placemats with the leftover material, and finished pillows that had been started long ago. You’ll see from the photo that my table-runners are ready for Thanksgiving on one side and Christmas on the other!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I’ve mentioned before how much we love Portland. We also made a quick jaunt up to Freeport where I found the need to buy two different pairs of slippers. Yes, slippers.

But the highlight might have been our hysterical photo-shoot on the Eastern Promenade of Portland this afternoon, celebrating Emily & Anthony’s engagement. Gary and I are both so honored to take part in their wedding in August! We love you guys!

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The name-dropping was impressive. You’ve got your big politicians, your CEO of Google, and your pity-stories that just happen to come out of swing states.

I almost wish the Obama campaign hadn’t done the whole infomercial thing because he would have won on equal ground anyway.

What would you do if you had the nation’s attention for 30 whole minutes? I thought about this for a while and decided I would dedicate the time to pet adoption and shelter/rescue/rehab operations.

The European way of life, something I took for granted when I lived in Austria at age 15 and 16, is definitely calling my name again. The personalities, landscapes, architecture, food… the intersection of so many languages and cultures… the genuine interest in news stories and views from around the world rather than just one’s own country.

It’s interesting to be back in Europe with a cell phone and to have wireless Internet access anywhere I need it (mainly thanks to BlackBerry). It’s also weird to see a Starbucks on every corner. On British Airways I even had the choice of eating vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free - and the food was really good!

My list remains pretty consistent for must-dos (I hope Gary’s matches up): Greece, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Amsterdam, India…

Following a week and a half of hectic work and minimal sleep, I boarded a plane to Toronto on Wednesday morning. After a day of meetings with our client, my colleague and I then hopped a plane for two days of brainstorm sessions with our London office. Thankfully we were able to get out and explore the city on Saturday, because I’d never been to London outside of Heathrow. What a great city!

I hope this job and career continue to send me around the world, exposing me to new ways of doing things, new languages and new human connections!

The DOWN SIDE is that I’m missing Gary’s first-ever marathon today! I feel horrible. I didn’t help make him a pasta dinner, I didn’t hand him bottles of water for the last few days, and I won’t be there today to ease the driving stress or cheer him on. In fact, I’ll arrive just after he completes the run. So please join me in cheering him on from all parts of the globe this morning! His biggest fan will be sitting on BA Flight 213.

“FYI. By leaving for such an extended period you forfeit your say in any of the trim decisions and paint colorings for the upstairs bathroom. I also cannot be held responsible for any other major decisions made in your absence, such as: buying a new truck, buying a new boat, putting a new roof on the house, putting a farmers porch on the house, etc, etc, etc.”

We visited the Miramar Air Show, sipped cocktails in the Gaslamp district, sunned ourselves on the deck at the Hotel Del Coronado, lounged around the eclectic Ocean Beach community and took part in La Jolla’s Surf Diva camp!

I think we all ended up totally LOVING the surfing, as if I need another uber-expensive sport to love…

San Diego is a very cool place, with access to a variety of chill or trendy beach scenes. I definitely look forward to going back! Our surf coach likened San Diego to Boston - the little sibling to the big city.

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