Thank you for being my friend

I've been meaning to write this post for a few days now but I always seem to have more pressing things to do or the loving husband is on the computer when I have a few moments to myself to actually think and write at the same time (shocking I know). My title actually refers to the --according to all the media outlets-- huge increase in the use of Facebook by people over the age of 25. I'll admit that I'm not the most 21st Century technology person. Yes, I have an iPod (shuffle)but it is only about a year old. I have Internet access and know how to e-mail and blog but that is about as daring as I get. I can use a digital camera but if it wasn't for the loving husband putting the software on the computer then I'd be paying Walgreen's every time I wanted pictures from the camera. As for the cell phone stuff...I can make and receive calls but I have never in my life sent a text message and truthfully I have no idea how to even send one. I'm still trying to figure out why people want to watch TV shows, music videos, or movies on their phones. Isn't a phone something you use to talk to people??? Don't even get me started on the whole Twitter thing--I have much better things to do with my life then spend it typing inane trivial details of my daily actions. Tweet Tweet--I finally went pee and this time the kids didn't bother me the whole 5 minutes I was in there. Anyway, back to the Facebook thing. I was a little leery about using sites like Facebook or MySpace since it is putting information out into the big wide open where anyone and everyone could see it. Of course my overactive imagination conjured up images of creepy criminals hacking into my account and stalking me or draining my bank accounts and living in some exotic country. The fact that tons of stories exist about people posting photos or comments that eventually come back to bite them in the butt also didn't help either. However, after getting an invitation from a friend I decided to live on the edge and said "what the heck" and got an account. I will say those first few days were pretty exciting. I signed up and within a few hours I had friends. I would log on to check the e-mail and there would be a message from Facebook letting me know that I had another friend request or one of my friends had posted a comment on my wall. I decided to keep the e-mail notify option since I check e-mail at least twice a day (except weekends and holidays). As I spent more time on my Facebook page I realized why people were signing up. It was kinda fun. I could log on and in a strange way peek into the lives of people that I normally would not have daily contact with. There are some people on my friend list that I have not seen in years and there are others I see on a regular basis. Reading wall comments and other goofy things gives me a more complete picture of the person. I really like the quick bits of info about how a day went or a shout out, rant, or vent. As the weeks went by more people found me and I had more friend requests. I'm not one of those people who friends tons of individuals so I can have an impressive friends list. I'm the person who adds people I really know as a friend. I want to be able to connect with someone on more than a superficial level. I like to read the comments on the Wall and see the tests and other strange applications that others are using. However, on that note...I'm a mother of three young children who keep me very very busy and I don't have as much time to spend online as I'd like. I average about 10-15 minutes per time when I do go online to check the e-mail and read CNN and blogs. Many times I have at least one child on my lap or nearby "helping" or I've been discovered and the whole herd is now camped out into the computer room demanding my undivided attention. Or lunch or snack depending on the time of day. It is hard enough trying to get a blog post done. Those usually take about an hour or so not counting the 30 or so interruptions that occur between start and finish. Facebook can be a real time stealer. I find that I don't really have the time to do all the fun quizzes or tests or tags that are sent my way. Ditto for the myriad of requests for plants, animals, pokes, and other items that I had no idea even existed. I really do appreciate those things being sent my way but please don't take it personally(or throw things at me) if I accept without sending back or ignore the request. Now if you'll excuse me, all is quiet and I want to get a few hours of sleep. If I'm lucky, I won't have to share the bed with Andrew, get Carolyn a drink or have Matthew whisper "I peed the bed" at 4:30 in the morning.