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?

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have become so busy with my family and other obligations that I've dropped the ball on my blogging lately. And it seems that the longer I go without blogging, the harder it is to get back into it. So today I am forcing myself on here in hopes that I will become re-dedicated to my blog and sharing the fun and crazy things going on in my life.

Today I share with you two fairly new (within the last month) occurrences in my life.

#1: I have begun to listen to country music. And I like it. I find myself turning to US99.5 more and more often, and only turning back to my traditional pop/ rock channels when they run one of their extremely long commercial breaks. Much to my husband's disdain, I like the themes of the songs, the slower pace, and the often humorous messages in the songs. I have even used some of my birthday iTunes gift card to download two country songs already (Darius Rucker's "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and Rodney Atkins "Watching You")

I have always liked some country. I own lots of Garth Brooks and have Shania Twain's first album and Carrie Underwood's first album. I also love Kenny Rogers and have an album of his greatest hits. So I guess it's no surprise I am liking it more and more now.

My husband will just have to find some way to live with it.

#2: I joined Facebook. Truly addicting. And I feel guilty when I haven't responded to people who send a message to me. I have been trying to find time to sit down and write everyone back, and therefore have neglected this blog in the process.

But it is fun! And I think that after the initial finding of old friends, the time on FB should slow down. Because really, once you catch up with someone you haven't talked to in over 20 years, you probably aren't going to talk everyday.

For anyone who is reluctant to give it a try, I suggest you do it. I have found people I never imagined I could find. For example, I lived in England for five years when I was in elementary school. I have found several old friends from those years, as well as an old music teacher! And seriously, it was so fun finding my fourth grade boyfriend and reminiscing on those days.

On top of that, I've found old college and high school friends and I'm able to quickly keep up with them and see their beautiful children.

And probably one of the most rewarding is finding old students from the four years I taught. They are all in college and graduating soon. The two I've contacted are so sweet and told me how much they loved me as a teacher. If that doesn't make someone feel good, I don't know what could.