Where I Spend My Time

I have recently decided that I spend way too much time on the computer.  I think this blog is a good use of my time, and the other sites I visit can be useful, if I didn't get sucked in and spend 1/2 an hour (at the minimum) every time I log into one of these sites.  So I thought I'd share with you where I (waste) spend the majority of my computer time.

Facebook.  What a time waster.  I never wanted to get sucked in.  But I did.  Reconnected with my fourth grade boyfriend.  Reconnected with old high school and college friends.  But what I love most is being connected with family.  I am in touch with cousins who I know very little about.  They are so much younger than me, or live many states away, that I don't know them really.  Now, I know them a little bit.  Aunts and uncles.  I no longer see my aunts and uncles on any regular basis.  Occasionally, if I am lucky, I see them once a year.  More likely it is once every two or three years.  On Facebook I can chat on a daily basis.  Makes me feel a little more connected.  Brothers, sisters and nieces and nephews.  These are the people I especially love to see  on FB.  What a great way to stay connected when
living hundreds of miles away.  (Oh, and I love when people ooh and ahh over pictures of cakes and cookies I make are posted there.)

Ravelry.  I'm a new knitter.  Just learned at the beginning of 2011.  I love it.  So, I spend lots of time on Ravelry.com, a website devoted to knitting and crochet projects.  What I really love is that many of the projects are free or available for a small fee.  Also, lots of people post pictures of their projects and I can get a good idea of how something should turn out.  I save so many ideas there.  Have probably made about 28 projects this year.  Hope to make lots more (when I'm not wasting time on the computer!)

Finally, my friend Katie invited me to join Pinterest.  She told me it is a way better time waster than Facebook.  And I think she is right.  Oh the ideas, the beautiful pictures, the links to tasty food recipes.  Basically, if you have not heard of it, it is a website that creates virtual bulletin boards.  Any ideas you like, you "pin" a picture on a theme board of your choosing (say like "Christmas Ideas").  Then the picture is a link to the website where you can get the information about that item, recipe, party idea.  But here's the best part.  You can see other people's pins, and repin them to your bulletin board.  So many fantastic ideas!!!! It is brilliant.

There are other websites that suck me in, too.  Blogs, Allrecipes.com, Etsy, blogs.  But these three are by far the main way I spend my time on the web.  Where do you (waste) find interesting things on the computer?