Social Not-working Sites
by on March 5th, 2010
filed under Well that's what I think any way...
Just about everyone I know is on some kind of social networking site including both my parents & my mother-in-law. They’re a great way to find long lost friends, reconnect with former coworkers, look up classmates and meet new people.
You can have whole conversations with people you’ve never met (and likely won’t), network, get the latest news or celebrity gossip, and even play DJ blipping your favorite songs. (http://blip.fm)
But as one family discovered the immediacy of these sites can be way too immediate.
Twins Angela & Maryanne woke up on their 20th birthday and signed onto theirFacebook profiles anxious to see who remembered their birthdays. Instead they were greeted with messages of “RIP Bobby” (their brother) and “RIP Chris” (a friend of their brother’s) all over their newsfeeds.
As you can imagine the girls were shocked and confused. Right away they called their brother but he didn’t answer his phone.
Then they called their mother who hadn’t received any notice from the police but she did confirm that Bobby had been with his friend Chris the night before. When their mother phoned the police, she was informed that her son, Bobby, had died in a car accident which also took the life of his friend, Chris and a third teenage passenger.
You can read more about this tragedy here- http://mashable.com/2010/02/08/facebook-brother-death/
I’ve had similar experiences although not to such a tragic degree and it makes me wonder, have these sites changed the way we communicate with each other? Instead of a personal phone call or formal invitation people are delivering their news in 140-character tweets, changing their Facebook status, sending e-vites and answering the innocent question ‘What’s on your mind?’ with bombshell announcements.
Have these sites helped or hindered social communication? And does everybody who friends you really need to know what you had for breakfast? What do you think?
My condolences to the families on the loss of their loved ones. No one should have to hear news like this in such a graphically public way.
Things I've come to appreciate more and more the older I get
by on June 14th, 2009
filed under Undecided
The other night DH and I went out to dinner with the family for Auntie’s birthday. Picture a swanky, dimly lit, leather boothed, steak house with photos of old movie stars and 112 kinds of martinis on the menu. Okay, maybe not 112, but there were an unusually large number of martini choices. You get the idea.
We got to chatting about birthdays and getting older and after much It’s better than the alternative we started naming things we appreciate now that we are ‘of an age’.
Here’s the list-
A good pair of tweezers
Boredom/nothing to do
Spanx (the ladies will get this one)
A comfy chair
The TV remote control
Modern medicine
24 hour TV-for when we can’t sleep
Friends & family
Car navigation systems
A good pair of glasses
Air conditioning
Birthdays
What have you developed an appreciation for?
Happy birthday love!!!
by on June 29th, 2008
filed under Undecided
Today Monkey Boy turns 6.
His birth was one of the greatest surprises of my life. 
We didn’t want to find out if he was a boy or a girl even though everyone wanted us to. DH was especially adamant about not wanting to know. With #1 son I was so sure that he was a boy that when he was born there was no surprise in it. But with Monkey Boy, I really had no idea what he was going to be.
I saw that he was a boy and announced it before the doctor could. I cannot express the sheer joy and pure surprise I felt in that moment. To this day it is the single happiest most amazing moment of my life. And everyday he continues to be a source of fun and joy for our whole family.
So happy birthday my little love. May all your dreams come true (exept the one about the motorcycle, cause my heart just couldn’t take it) and your life be blessed as you have blessed ours.
Happy Birthday Baby!
by on June 22nd, 2008
filed under Undecided
Today is #1 son’t 11th birthday. It truly seems like 
yesterday since he was born. He’s growing into such a handsome young man. Here he is on the last day of school (the 17th) with his fifth grade teacher Miss Jones. That morning the school had a promotion ceremony for the 5th graders who are going on to middle school (6,7 & 8th grade, there’s no Jr High where we live). It was really fun to see all the kids that we’ve known since Kindergarten move on to middle school (including the goofy one behind Miss Jones!).
I was told when he started school that time would fly and before I knew it he would be grown. How true it is. We still know kids he went to Mom’s Club & preschool with and I can’t believe how fast time has flown.
#1 son made honor roll and the LIttle League All Star baseball team. We couldn’t be prouder.
They say that kids change your life and that you don’t know true love until you’ve loved a child… so true. Baby we love you and are proud of your successes and how you pick yourself up and dust yourself off when things don’t go quite your way. We’re blessed to have you. Happy Birthday!
40 is the new 30? (snort) I wish!
by on May 16th, 2008
filed under Undecided
Well it’s here, the big diddley-day! Funny I don’t feel a day over 39.
It’s not so bad really. All my friends exept for one have hit this milestone before me and I made so much fun of them that I’m expecting an avelanche of old age jokes and Depends deliveries.
I share my birthday with some famous and slightly quirky folks… figures.
Tori Spelling 1973
(for Debbie in NY)
Janet Jackson 1966
Rosie Perez 1963
Kevin McDonald 1961
Mare Winningham 1959
Debra Winger 1955
Olga Korbut 1955
Pierce Brosnan 1953
Liberace 1919
Henry Ford 1905
I’m not too old to appreciate a man with a big gun and to want to pop that f@#$ing balloon and get a real birthday surprise. And then there’s the annual blowing out of the candle (it works both ways you know!).
Guess I’m not dead yet!
I want what I haven't got
by on May 13th, 2008
filed under Undecided
Friday is my birthday and it got me to thinking about what I’ve got and what I want. For the most part my life is everything I have ever wanted. I have a great husband, 2 terrific kids, we live in a nice house close to family and we have everything we need.
But there are still a few things that I haven’t got that I want. Some of them make no sense, some of them make perfect sense. Here’s my list.
1. I want long, thick, flowing hair like the women on the covers of romance novels.
2. I want the body I had at 20 to go along with my 40 year old mind and face (cause it still looks pretty good).
3. I want my drink at the coffee house to be made perfectly for me each and every time.
4. I want my kids to do what I tell them, the first time I tell then without any fuss, eye rolling or back-talking.
5. I want to be able to play and read music.
6. I want a car that never runs out of gas.
7. I want my finger and toe nails to stop growing at the perfect length.
8. I want body hair that stays shaved off, plucked out and waxed.
9. I want shoes that don’t pinch, hurt or make me want to chop my feet off.
10. I want a house that stays clean forever.
11. I want dinner to cook itself.
12. I want to be able to walk out the door and know that this day will be the best day ever. Every day.
13. I want weather that changes according to my mood.
14. I want nothing but green lights and no traffic.
15. I want people to stop hurting each other.
16. I want people to accept each other for who and what they are.
17. I want children to laugh and never cry.
18. I want computers to psychically know what I want them to do.
19. I want the world to be fair.
20. I want my children to have long and happy lives.
What do you want?
**post a comment on my blog from now until May 16th (my bday) and be entered to win an assortment of books from my library. 2 chances to win. (I have alot of books!)
