One Year on Facebook

About a year ago I posted about my new obsession, Facebook. So a slightly belated Happy Facebook anniversary to me.

I do spend way too much time on Facebook. I don’t participate in any of the games (Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc), although my step-mother and I always have a game of Scrabble going which is a lot of fun. But that’s just between the two of us, no prizes or penalties for not watering your plants, or however the other ones work. I log in first thing in the morning, before bed, and usually several times throughout the day, just because I can. I do post a status occasionally, but more often I like to read and comment on other people’s status updates.

But the very best part of Facebook is the friends it’s brought me in touch with. Some of you, my readers, are now my Facebook friends, and it’s been awesome to get to know you in another way (if you’re not already my “friend”, let me know in a comment!). As cool as that is, the most rewarding component is the old friends I’ve been able to bring back into my life.

This past weekend we hosted a get-together at our house for one of my Facebook friends – someone I knew in high school, her husband and their 4 youngest children. Yes, me, the reluctant host, tripled the number of people in my house voluntarily! They came over to watch the Patriots pound the Titans (in the snow! Snow in October!?!?) and we ate and drank and made merry while the younger kids played and it was completely natural and wonderful, despite not seeing each other or even being in touch much since high school! An added bonus is that Krystal and her youngest daughter hit it off immediately.

People can sneer at social media if they want, but when it brings great people into, or back into, your life, I’ll keep using it.

A Day Late Doesn’t Mean a Dollar Short

This has been a rough week for me, technologically speaking.  I lost Internet at home inexplicably sometime while we were out on Sunday afternoon, and didn’t get it back till Monday afternoon. Comcast sent three technicians in three different trucks to my house to deal with it. No, it wasn’t that complicated, but somehow they got their wires crossed which accounted for two of them; I dont’ remember why the third guy was there. Regardless, they did something different than what I have been doing most every day for two years, which is unplug my modem and router to “reset” them. Yes, I do this nearly everyday. But whatever they did – threw salt over their left shoulder beforehand, perhaps, it worked. They concluded the visit by suggesting I replace my now ancient (3+ years) modem and router with newer models, and this I will do.

Then yesterday morning, Tuesday, I got up and fired up my MacBook Pro as usual and…..nothing. It would not boot up. At all. It would do the pretty little Apple chime, show me some gears, and then go to a grey/blue screen. Using my work computer, Google and I got to be very cozy regarding Mac issues, and I finally got to see that Linux underpinning I’ve heard so much about. Unfortunately, I was not able to make any progress using any of the suggestions I found. I asked a co-worker who I know to be Mac-versed (we are a PC shop at work) and he offered a few things, but none of them worked either. I was getting a little stressed out – all my photos are on that thing, my music, not to mention all my bookmarks! I have an external hard drive but it’s been far too long since I’ve used it to back anything up. We have to learn lessons the hard way, don’t we?

I’m going to skip ahead a bit to keep this somewhat cohesive (whoops, too late!). Today I brought the Mac into work so the co-worker could take a look at it. He had no idea what to do, but he and Google are also pretty close and he knows a bit more than I about Linux. About 6 hours after he started (between doing his real job, mind you), he fixed it! Something to with the Cache file in the Library. Whatever. He sent me the article he found the solution in, and I’ll have to read it a few more times before I can make hide nor hair out of it, but bottom line is, I’m writing this on my Mac! And co-worker is getting homemade chocolate chip cookies tomorrow as a thank you.

But this was supposed to be a post about parenting. I just had to explain why I didn’t write about this yesterday. It was because I had no computer. Got that?

Seven years ago, on March 24, 2002, I met my daughter for the first time and became a mom.

Krystal has been more excited than usual about this day this year. She’s been talking about it for weeks, changing her mind about how she wants to celebrate it time and time again. She finally decided on dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town, and she wanted to invite one of her old teachers (who is currently Belle’s teacher, and occasionally babysits for me) along. So that’s what we did. When I picked her up after school she said she’d been the recipient of lots of attention all day, and this would be because she told everyone that it was her anniversary. Really, apparently most of the school knew. I was  pretty amazed at how vocal she was about it, but it also tickled me that she put such an emphasis on the day. At least this year. I am well aware that there may come a day when she wants it to fade into the background. But for now, we’ll shout it loud.

I gave her a book she’d been asking for, and the teacher surprised her with 7 roses, one for each year we’ve been a family. Is it any wonder Krystal wanted to include her in our special day?

This is the two of us at dinner last night, and this photo would have more impact if I could post the one in a similar pose that was taken the night we met. That will take a bit more doing, as I have some computer issues in the way (and I’m sure you don’t want me to bore you with that story!), so for now you’ll have to content yourself with present day.

Krystal – I am blessed every day to be your mom and I’m so happy we are a family.

Off the Hook!

The phone I use for work, an old Blackberry, died last weekend. I first noticed it wasn’t acting quite right when the emails stopped coming in. That’s happened from time to time in the 3+ years I’ve owned this phone, so I did what I always did, and popped the battery out and then back in to “reset” it, or whatever. No change. Also, the battery was draining in hours versus days. Oh, and the worst of all was that I was unable to make or receive calls on it. Pretty much renders any phone useless.

So Monday morning at work I ordered a new one – I had my choice of three models, and finally settled on the Blackberry World Edition (Red).

Pretty, no?

I worked all week without a cell phone, and I learned that even though I don’t use my phone all that  much, I missed it terribly. I have a daily 9 am meeting which I am sometimes still in the car for, so I was accustomed to calling in from the road when necessary. Au contraire this week! I also stopped wearing a watch years ago when I began carrying a pager, and then cell phone, and I missed not having the correct time on me. I was also used to looking at it after hours to deal with any critical emails (it’s hooked up to my work email) and my schedule to remind myself of upcoming meetings. Additionally I also felt a teensy bit panicked along the lines of “But what if something happens to me on the way to pick up the kids?” and having no way to get in touch with anyone (of course it’s not like we don’t live in a pretty populated area, and for sure someone would see me and call it in if anything were to happen).

So the new phone arrived yesterday and when I picked the girls up they were so very excited. Krystal insisted on showing the other kids at the after school program and declared it “Sick!” and “Off the hook!” (gee, I hope not!) (also, when did I get so old?)  And while it does look cool, my employer blocks most of the fun features, so it’s really pretty utilitarian in the end. Not that I am complaining, since I don’t pay for it and am allowed to use it for personal use.

Now to start incorporating these new hip phrases into conversation!

Tweet! Tweet!

OK, I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon today.

I’m not sure why, except that everywhere I turn I’m reading or hearing about people on it. So I set up an account and am looking for interesting people and organizations to follow. And drawing blanks on the specifics of all the Twitter-ific stuff I keep hearing about. I’m following a whopping 9 people at the moment.

I don’t think I plan to tweet much myself, but I’ll use it to follow others. Unless a bunch of you are big tweeters and I should follow you, and you’d like to follow me. But that’s sort of what I see Facebook being for. Sort of.

Do you follow anyone interesting you think I ought to follow? Share yourself, or your favorite Twitter users, in the comments – I’m anxious to get some entertainment out of this!

Anyway, I’m on board!

A taste of honey is worse than none at all….

First, an update on my self-imposed Internet free day, which was yesterday. At least most of yesterday was. I made it till about 6:30 pm, which was after dinner, and the girls were watching a show before bed. I gave in and fired up the Mac, and didn’t feel guilty about it. I had a productive day “off the grid” where I went through a lot of outgrown clothes of the girls, as well as culling out a few of my own clothes, most of which are dreadfully out of style, as opposed to outgrown. The girls and I took Tessie for a walk and enjoyed the very spring-like, sunny, warm day we had.

And then we woke up to this:

It is not obvious, but the snow is still coming down in those photos. Can I just say how done I am with the snow?? It hurts all the more because of the delicious taste of spring we had the previous two days.

Well, it can’t stay winter forever……right?

Internet Silence

When I first got on the Internet at home, it was through a dial-up connection. I think my modem was a whopping 28.8, which at the time was screaming fast. How barbaric. I lived in a condo that didn’t have cable or DSL availability so a lot of my Internet work was done, well, at work.

Then, whooooooosh! I became a parent, got married and moved to a place with cable Internet. Before I became a parent I had oodles of free time and spent a good deal of it reading. I became a mom 5 months before I got married, so I was dealing with a lot of change at once. Dealing with new  parenthood and new wifedom was not easy, though I acclimated much faster to the parenting than the wifing. Hence the reason I am single now. Anyway! When Krystal was little I had absolutely no free time when she was awake and the only time I was online was during working hours (when she was not around).  When she was sleeping I was on wife duty, which primarily meant watching TV with the wusband.

Now Krystal is 8 and doesn’t rely on me as much for entertainment. Even Belle is older than Krystal was when I became single again, and has always been pretty good at entertaining herself. Generally speaking, if we are home and they are watching TV or playing, I am either on the computer (which is in the same room as the TV), or making dinner.

When we get home from an outing, one of the first things I do is hop on the computer.

After putting the girls to bed, even if I am going to watch TV for the evening, I get on the computer first (and sometimes during).

I think I might be a little addicted to the Internet.

I am going to set a date, soon, to be Internet Free for Me. Instead of going online for that day, I will do all the things around the house that I don’t have time to do because every free moment is spent on the Internet. Some of those things are:

• Gather and organize outgrown kids’ clothes for sale or donation
• Write Belle’s Lifebook
• Work on training Tessie (“come” and “stay” are big ones)
• Utilize some of the principles in “It’s All Too Much” to cull out the extraneous crap in our house

The list goes on and on. But I must admit to you, my Internet friends, that going a day without being online sounds a little scary. It shouldn’t. But it does. The sooner, the better, right? Maybe this Sunday.

I’ll let you know on Monday how it went. If it went.

Netflix comes through!

As a Mac user, I sometimes feel like a red-headed step-child. A lot of applications don’t work on my platform and it can be disappointing at best, and frustrating at worst.

When the WGA went on strike last winter, I joined Netflix and absolutely loved discovering new-to-me series: Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, Wonderfalls, and Weeds just to name (a few of) my favorites. The plan I subscribe to includes unlimited “Play Instantly” movies and shows, but due to DRM restrictions (or so they claimed), it was not available on the Mac platform. Major bummer.

Until December 4th, when I got an email announcing this:

	Good news Mac users! Now you can watch movies (some new releases) & TV episodes (including current season) instantly on your Mac. Watch as much as you want, as often as you want. Watching instantly doesn’t affect the number of DVDs you get by mail and is included in your membership for no additional fee. -Your friends at Netflix

I am so excited! This opens up a whole new world to me!

That is all! Tonight I am using the sitter I had lined up for my now cancelled date, and will be having a date with myself.

Blackberry Crackberry

I am a Blackberry owner.

I own it because my job requires it. Require being a very loose term here, but since they bought it for me and pay the monthly bills, who am I to argue? I actually held off on getting one for as long as I could because I was afraid of the “short leash” syndrome, but I have actually only received work calls outside of normal business hours two or three times in the three years I’ve had it. I have no problem with that level of frequency. Also, I’m allowed to use it for occasional personal use so I don’t have to actually pay for a personal cell phone. Bonus!

When the iPhone was released last June, my company sent out a mass e-mail reminding us all that the iPhone was not an approved company device. Bummer. Because I seriously covet one. But I’m not about to fork over that kind of money, and frankly, I’m not wild about the service provider you are roped into using.

Then today, I saw this article, and I’m hoping, hoping, hoping. I would love to see it certified and approved for use at my company. It would take awhile, but one can dream.

My Own Seven Wonders

I must confess this isn’t my own original idea. But I like the concept, and so I’m putting my own spin on it. The following are the 7 man-made wonders of my world – those things I can’t do without, or wouldn’t want to imagine having to try. 

1. DVR Technology. Good lord, what did I do before Tivo and the DVR notion in general? This has truly changed my life. I currently have the DVR service through my cable company, because it allows me to do the HD channels and has a dual tuner, meaning I can record two shows at once, or record one, and watch another. I couldn’t do that with my older Series 2 Tivo (which I still have). I know Tivo has an HD version out now, but last I checked it was still pretty pricey. Anyway, I love being able to watch what I want, when I want to. I keep shows I’ve deemed kid-appropriate on hand for the times my kids are home to watch TV (which is generally NOT when appropriate shows are normally viewing), and I can watch adult shows on my own time. Did I say life-changing?
2. My Mac. Now, I’m a new convert to the Mac. And I must confess I haven’t fully gone over. And I don’t foresee that happening full force anyway, since I must use a PC at work. But I bought myself a Mac PowerBook Pro last Christmas and I love it a lot and hate it a little. Not bad, says I.  I love that I can take it anywhere, that it has everything I need on it, and that it’s wireless. I also love how easy it is to do simple video editing and create DVD’s, which was the main motivator for its purchase. Because it wasn’t cheap. Now if I could just figure out a way to run a satisfactory financial software program on it on the cheap. I love MS Money, but it doesn’t work running on Crossover, and I don’t own a copy of Windows XP, which means both Bootcamp and Parallels are out for me.
3. Memory Foam Mattress. I admit my first memory foam was a Tempupedic, purchased by my ex when I was married. I loved it so much that as soon as we split (and he took the bed), I bought a new one. Mine is a knock-off I got on eBay, but it feels the same (and was a fraction of the price). I love, love, love it, and no, I don’t think it feels hot. Can’t imagine going to back to traditional spring mattresses ever again.
4. The Internet. C’mon, need I say more? Here I am, on the Internet. I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t part of my daily life. It’s how I get my news, how I network with others who are as crazy obsessed as I am about certain things (Red Sox, Patriots, Lost, Disney, etc). It’s how I find restaurants and directions and phone numbers and shop. When I want to know something, I turn to Google. When I’m looking to be entertained, or educated, I turn to many of my favorite blogs and more. I couldn’t have even fathomed something like this 15 years ago – I wonder what the next 15 years hold.
5. Rear Entertainment Systems. No, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about the DVD players built into cars these days. Yes, we have one. It’s not used daily – in fact, my rule is the trip has to be at least an hour long before I’ll allow it, and the kids don’t ask for it at other times. But since we often travel 7+ hours to visit friends out of state, this has been invaluable to me in keeping my sanity as the one doing all that driving.
6. Cell Phone. I have a Blackberry. It actually belongs to my employer, but I am allowed to use it for incidental personal use. I don’t abuse that privilege and am not one of those people who is always on the phone in public places, in my car, etc. I find it comes in most handy when I am out and I need to let someone know I am running late, or ask a question about something I need to know in order to make a purchase, things like that. While I have never had an emergency causing me to need to use it, I like knowing it is there. So, while not a true daily piece of my personal life (other than always being with me), I like having my own little insurance policy/connection attached to my hip.
7. Digital Camera. My kids aren’t changing everyday like they once did, so I’m not taking pictures everyday, like I once did. But I love that I can take it out and snap a photo anytime and not worry about paying to get it developed, or that it didn’t come out right or that I’m wasting film. The nice thing about digital cameras is that you can record everything. The bad thing about digital cameras is that you do. So I have a lot of very similar shots in my iPhoto/Shutterfly/Snapfish albums!

What about you? What are the things you would rather not do without?

Gadget Lust

I have some major gadget lust right now!!

At Christmas-time I treated myself to a new MacBook Pro. As a long time Windows user (mostly due to work), it’s been an adjustment in some ways, but I’m loving it. Mostly I love that I can surf and post anywhere in my house!

So right now I’m majorly lusting over two items that were featured (among many) in the most recent edition of MacWorld magazine. Check ‘em out!

This camera looks amazing. Since my older Sony video camera is on the fritz I’ve been checking out sale flyers, etc trying to decide what to take the plunge on. Even though I have a perfectly acceptable (and fairly new!)  digital still camera, I love that this can do double duty, especially for our trip to Disney this August.  I need to find a store that has them in stock so I can test it out – it’s so tiny I worry the buttons might be a pain.

Then this portable DVD Player is sooooo cool! I love that you can watch movies through your video iPod, as well as a memory card and of course the usual DVD’s. Why this is so appealing to me is a little odd, seeing as how I don’t even own a video iPod. Not yet anyway!! It also has 2 inputs for headphones, meaning my two girls can watch the movie on the plane to Disney. Should I mention we do already own a portable DVD Player? But it can’t do what this can do!! This one also happens to be on sale at Target this week. And maybe I could sell our no-name one on eBay? Or donate it somewhere.

Hmmm……so what do you think? Both? Neither? Or pick one?