What if your house was deemed an illegal dumping site? While working at WSIL in Southern Illinois, I covered a story about a lady who collected so much junk, it spilled onto the main road. When the county wanted to expand the road, they had to move her out. She received $64,000 for property that failed to include indoor plumbing (she would use an out house), and to re-locate.

I tried walking around the property. It was difficult and hazardous. On one hand, it was someone’s home. On the other, it’s a dump site– even if it was junk dumped there by one person.

She was a hoarder. At the time, I didn’t know it and I certainly didn’t understand. Today, I watched three episodes of A&E’s program “Hoarders.” The show begins with this definition: “Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous or unsanitary.”

He’s being called “Balloon Boy.” But did 6-year-old Falcon really hide from his parents– or did his parents tell him to hide? Cameras were fixated on a home-made balloon that everyone thought would cause the boy’s death. But he was found hiding in the attic hours later. Then, on the Larry King Show, the little boy mentioned doing it for the show. What show? The family is scheduled to be on the 100th episode of Wife Swap. Could this whole saga be a PR stunt?

Hoax or not, it got me thinking about other well-known stunts. Here’s my top 5:

When I met Patrick six years ago, we both had iPaqs. On that first day, we beamed each other our personal information. Soon, we were sneaking out to lunch together, instant messaging, and talking on the phone. One of our first conversations lasted more than eight hours. We stayed up all night chatting.

Three months into our relationship, I knew he was the one and I was ready to marry him…

I couldn’t believe how easy it was! I ran 17 miles and could have kept going. It felt like I was floating through the run. I’m pretty sure it’s because Patrick asked me to marry him. Any time the run got tough, I looked at my ring.

It took me 3 hours and 6 minutes! Generally, I’m a bit faster but we ran the C & O Canal which is extremely difficult. There are steep– but short– hills (because of the locks on the old canal). And the trail is all rocks. Most are small, but there are quite a few big ones that can easily throw me off.

It seems everyone wants Google Wave– even people who don’t know what it is. It’s like when Apple came out with their iPhone– only Google Wave is free. Still, people were willing to pay for an invite. I saw some listed for $300 on eBay. And on Twitter– well! People begged. Here’s my top 10 Twitter posts from people begging for an invite…

When we first moved to Maryland, Patrick and I watched a movie called “Burn After Reading.” It takes place in DC and includes a line from Brad Pitt– it goes something like this: “Do you have anything other than Maryland swamp water to drink?”

The longer we live here, the more we notice problems with our water. Mainly, it’s smell. We threw away a bunch of towels thinking they rotted. But when we got new ones, we had the same problem. If I use a wash rag more than once, it smells moldy. We realize it’s the water. But we don’t know why.

The Associated Press (AP) has put together an interactive list showing schools with violations for contaminated water. You can click on any state and see which schools have been cited. Most schools have trouble with coliform, followed by lead and copper. This is alarming…