My Love of Facebook

I’ve mentioned before and I’ll say it again, I am a Facebook fanatic and have it up on my computer nearly all the time. It’s not even that I’m looking at it, but it’s there as “background noise.” I can pop on and see what’s new, play a game of Bejeweled, whatever. Since I started this blog, I don’t post nearly as much as I used to. I also came to the realization that animals on Farmville could be sold and I finally quit that stupid game after way too long. My heart felt good knowing I didn’t just abandon all those animals. Yes, I know they weren’t real animals, but I can’t even abandon fake ones. I’m a sucker for animals, what can I say?

Given that I’ve lived in a few different parts of the world, Facebook has allowed me to get back in touch with people I hadn’t spoken to in years. These aren’t people I “kind of” like or even “kind of” know, they are people that I enjoyed when we were friends. Anyone will tell you it’s hard to keep in touch with people when you move halfway across the country at 15. I have not friended anyone whose name is vaguely familiar because they sat behind me in Geometry in 10^th grade… There’s none of that for me. The people on my friend list are mostly people I care about and want to see what they’re doing on a day-to-day basis.

I have also gotten to make new friends on Facebook. EN became reacquainted with some old high school pals. One girl in particular struck me as really funny. She said something rotten to EN when he was whining and I sent her a private message and told her I thought she was hysterical, she sent me a friend request and the rest is history. We’ve gotten together many times since then. She is a huge supporter of my Christmas shipments to Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. and even reads this blog. I could also mention that today is her 29^th (snort!!!) birthday and that she is totally the girl version of Fabulous Hair. Happy Birthday Michelle!!! xoxo

EN started receiving private emails from an old girlfriend from when he was in the Air Force. He got all goofy about it and I told him to just answer her already! Here again, this is a funny chick, though I think she may have gone for a few too many rides on the CRAZY train… I commented back on something she said a post of his and before long added another friend to my list.

I’ve gotten to know people that touch my life daily, but wouldn’t normally have the time to make a real connection. Sugar’s second and third grade teachers are my friends, as is the woman that watches her in after-school care. Spice’s preschool teacher is on the list too (turns out some of these chicks even know each other!). I’ve become quite friendly with some truly wonderful people who may not have stayed in my life nearly as long if we didn’t have Facebook!

I love being back in touch with so many and seeing pictures and hearing about their day-to-day activities. Sometimes a bit too much and there’s a level of TMI that I don’t like (like the coworker talking about breast feeding and her VBAC delivery). For the most part, I enjoy Facebook tremendously.

But we all know I just can’t be completely happy with anything. I dislike the obligatory friend request. Oh yes, we all have “those people” on our list. I got on Facebook a long time ago and enjoyed myself for months, then came a friend request from EN’s oldest sister, then one from his mother. I don’t consider these people my friends, so I ignored their requests. I didn’t officially click ignore and not accept the requests, I just pretended like I didn’t see them sitting there. Then came the phone call. Oh yes, his mother called to follow up on her request. Why didn’t I accept her invitation and can I please go on Facebook immediately and accept? I’ll admit it, I’m a pansy and did her bidding. I really wanted to say “You are not my friend and therefore not my friend on Facebook!!”  

I found both the mother’s and sister’s posts to be annoying so I did the greatest passive-aggressive thing in the history of the world: I blocked their posts from showing up on my wall! Is that not the most tremendous thing you can do? So, they got their way and I am their friend, however, I don’t have to read the stupid shit they feel like posting.

Then there’s the whole unfriending/defriending madness that goes on. Someone needs to tell me which term is proper. I’ve heard both so I’m not sure. I have never defriended anyone because it just strikes me as mean. I’ve been defriended by a number of people and it hurts my feelings every single time. I’ve never been defriended by anyone after a fight or nastiness, so I’m not sure what leads them to write me off. I can’t think about that too long or I’ll need therapy.

And now today, another Facebook annoyance. EN's mother is a pain in the ass and she calls and texts him with a frequency that would make even the greatest stalker stand back in awe. He's become annoyed with it, so now he blows her off on a regular basis. This leaves her to take drastic measures. Sometimes she will call me which means I then have to text EN to "CALL YOUR FUCKING MOTHER NOW." If a text from me to EN has The F Word in it, it's either very, very good or very, very bad, but an immediate reaction is guaranteed. And today she used Facebook to attempt to show her mighty powers. He posted something about the snow and she said: "I have been trying to reach you. Please call me OR have Ice Princess have Sugar call me later." Oh yes, lets show the world how hard we work at our relationship with our son and his family! Ugh. 

xoxo

Ice Princess