A Big Blogiversary

One week from today, the blog will be five years old.

That's right -- five years old! Here's a picture from the blog's first day:


And here's the very first post, which appeared at 1:16 p.m. on Saturday, February 5, 2005:

"A new idea

Okay, here's the plan. This will be a family blog, and any Earlville Murphy will be able to post to it once I get you all invited and signed up. Maybe we won't use it, but maybe we will--only time will tell. I am going to start things off by posting some pictures I took this morning while I was out skiing with Panda. I am told that it is easy to post pictures by using Picasa.com (a free download that finds, organizes, and helps you manage the pictures on your computer.) I'll try it now, see if it works, and let you know."

Time told -- we've used it quite a bit. Since that first post, as of today, there have been 1,781 posts, 51,693 visits, and 113,912 page views. Things have slowed down a little recently, but not all that much: since the end of last January, we've put up 261 posts, and as of today, the blog is averaging 17 visits and 26 page views a day. And quantity aside, there's also quality. This is an amazing five-year archive of family history and photographs.

Last time we celebrated a blogiversary, in February 2006, we ran a favorite-posts poll, with the following rules: "There aren't really any rules, so you won't get into trouble for not reading them. Anyone may enter, and you may submit as many entries as you like. If you want to nominate more than one post, go right ahead. You can make up some categories if you like, such as Funniest Post, Best Picture, Most Memorable Occasion, or Comment Section Contains the Most Song Lyrics. Or, if you'd rather just name one post or picture, that's great, too."

Let's do it again. Pick out a few favorites -- one from each year, or random picks, or however you'd like to do it -- and tell me what they are. You can put your picks into the comments right here, or if you want to maintain some suspense, email them to me. Anybody can pick some posts: your last name does not have to be Murphy. Get them to me by next Thursday, and I'll gather them together and post the collection on the Big Day. Okay? Okay! You have one week.

Happy birthday, Caleb!

Have a great day.

Still more congratulations!

This time we're congratulating Laura, who found out earlier this month that her temp contract was finally ending and, within less than two weeks, in the middle of a recession, got herself a new, permanent job for this company, a customs brokerage and freight forwarding firm. She had an interview this morning (after interviewing for a different opening at the same company last week) and, by the end of the day, received the offer. Nice going, honey!

And while I'm at it, I'll add a congratulatory note for Mary Alyce, who recently heard from the first of several law schools she has applied to for the fall -- Hofstra, which accepted her. Good work, Smyrna girls!

Meat-Eater vs. Vegetarian

Happy Birthday mom!

Don't eat too much cake!

Cousin Mike earns some congratulations, too.

As those of you who follow Cousin Deb on Facebook already know, the screenshot for this article in the New York Times on using text messaging to donate for Haiti earthquake relief was taken by Michael Murphy -- who is, for non-family readers, Tom's brother's son.

Congratulations (again)!

Merely getting engaged was not, apparently, sufficient reason to celebrate -- so Caleb and Kate have followed up by passing their veterinary boards -- also known as the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination. They both took the test in December, which was apparently a propitious month for them to accomplish good things. Whoopee! And congratulations to you both.

Hobbes & Penny Save the Blog

Watch until the end for maximum cuteness potential.