Oh internet, how I missed you so!

Have you ever wondered how reliant we have become on the internet?  I had to go without it all day yesterday (and a few hours the night before) because we don't have our own internet connection - we share with my dad (he's my neighbor) - and sometimes we just don't have a connection and can do nothing about it!  I have bugged my husband many, many times about getting our very own internet connection, but he always says it's too expensive when we can get our for free - grrr!!  For the most part I don't care that we don't have our own, but it's kind of like air conditioning, you could care less if you have it for 361 days a year, but on those four days that you just can't stand to be in your house you are begging for it!!  A person really doesn't realize how much we rely on having that internet connection until it's gone (but you still have a computer sitting in front of you that just can't connect).  Everytime I walked past my computer yesterday I would check to see if it was working - and it never was.  Finally, when it worked very late last night, I kicked my teenage daughter off the computer so I could "just check Facebook", and guess what?  I had NO new notifications, NO new messages, only 312 updates that I could really care less about (no offense if you posted one of those 312)!  I read about the woman I know who cooked, did laundry and took her kids to their activites all in the same day; I read about the guy who went ice fishing; I read about the woman who's baby had poop all over her pj's; I read about the girl who's boyfriend dumped her.  I COULD CARE LESS...but I keep coming back for more!  I know I am not alone in this, I know that millions of other people feel the same way, but for some reason we can't seem to pull ourselves away from our computers.  I am guilty of putting all my dirty laundry on Facebook for the world to see (or atleast my 64 friends) and am guilty of enjoying the feedback I receive from all those who see it.  We are all a little narcissistic if you ask me.  There are a couple of "friends" who I keep on strictly for entertainment value - they have the most ridiculous status updates, but I can't seem to get rid of them!  I have left Facebook twice and have got sucked back in both times...I have changed accounts and got rid of friends...I just can't leave though; I am hooked - it's nickname "crackbook" was given for a reason!!

I have found another computerized machine (well, two actually) that I am totally addicted to right now!  I got a brand spanking new washing maching and dryer last weekend!!  You may not think that is anything to write home about, but let me tell you how much I love these things!!!  First of all, they are BEAUTIFUL - Midnight Blue - front loaders with pedestals and they look so good in front of my yellow laundry room walls!  Part of the reason I love these so much is because I waited a darn long time to get them!  We built a new house three years ago and I really wanted to leave our old set in the old house, but my husband said we can't afford new machines when we have so much else to pay for (he says this a lot), so I waited with bated breath for the day when I would get my new set - I know many women would tell me that they went their whole lives with the old set I had, but I am just on the edge of "Generation Me", so I will admit to being a little bit selfish with this profound want of mine! I would go into Sears and walk around the appliance department fantasizing about filling these big machines with all my towels and socks and undies - do you have any idea how many towels you can fit into these monstrous machines?!?! - and dreaming that one day I would press buttons instead of cranking knobs to turn them on.  Well, that day finally came, after we decided to forgo one of my closest friends destination wedding, we had enough money to buy the machines (according to Greg we don't actually) and we went down to Sears to look at what was available.  They are all computerized - buttons that play jingles, flashing lights to signal what stage they are at, timers on screens to show the countdown to clean clothes. 

Am I in love with these magnificent machines?  Yes, I am! 

Laundry has become a new hobby of mine thanks to these fantastic machines!

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I am not very good at using computers - besides the basic emailing or Facebook checking!  I can't use Excel to save my life - if you put a gun to my head and told me to make you a spreadsheet, you might as well just pull the trigger!  I don't like it when things go wrong with my computer because I haven't the foggiest idea how to fix it, and I have found that just the slip of a finger can make something go terribly wrong with a computer.  What amazes me though is the young kids who can use these computers with ease by the age of 2...take my youngest child for example, at 3 years old he can start a computer, log on, select a webiste and navigate his way through it like he has been doing this for twenty years!  Can you even imagine what these children are going to be like whent they are adults??  My teenager can type so fast it makes my head spin and of course I am sure she knows things about the computer that I didn't even know existed; There are many, many things on the computer that I hope she doesn't yet know exist!!! 

Well, I should probably get my butt up from this computer and make my kids some lunch so I can nourish their little brains, so they can become brilliant computer programmers when they grow up and make lots of money so they can take of me when I am old!

SJ