Then there is Facebook, the ultimate time vampire. How does so much time get lost on Facebook? For me it is in bits and pieces and there is a direct correlation to Piper's attention span. Facebook can allow me to escape for brief moments, whereas I feel like I need some good quality time to really write a "good" post (there's my idea of perfection again).
Piper has become a bit more demanding for attention since we returned from vacation. All of the vacation stimulation has upped her demand for stimulation at home. She's also turned into a seriously inquisitive little girl, even if she doesn't listen to the answer. Just to give you an idea of what I mean, here is a transcript of our trip to Target yesterday.
While shopping for finger nail polish:
Piper: Is that red? Is that red, mom? Is that red? Is that red?
(referring to the neon light above us on the wall)
Me: Yes, that is red, Piper.
Piper: Is that red? Is that red? Is that red? Is that red, mom? (probably a few more times, but you get the point)
While debating whether or not to buy white cheddar rosemary popcorn (and I did):
Piper: Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin?
Me: I am trying to buy us a snack.
Piper: Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin?
Me: The same thing I was doing the last time I answered you.
Piper: Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin?
Me: Slowly going crazy, Piper, what are you doing?
Piper: Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin? Whadaya doin, ma? Whadaya doin?
(At this point, I hear a chuckle coming from the next aisle.)
Then while shopping for cornbread crackers (very delish I might add):
Piper: Is that green? Is that green? Is that green? Is that green? Is that green? (referring to the green neon light above us on the wall?
Me: Yes, Piper, that is green.
(as I type now, I can hear "doing ma? you doing? doing ma? you doing?"
coming from the livingroom)
Piper: Is that green? Is that green, mom? Is that green?
Me: Yes, it is still green. It's the same color as the last time you asked me.
This doesn't even begin to touch on all of the "what's dat?" I get in a day or "is that the train?" or "is that a plane?". I live near railroad tracks and a couple of miles from the airport so you can imagine how many times a day I get asked those questions.
Piper even got out of bed last night to ask me "is that the train?" She stayed up a few minutes and then put herself back to bed. When I went to check on her, she was all covered up by her Dora sleeping bag (despite the fact that it got up to 95 yesterday). Piper then said "door, mom" meaning she wanted me to close her door. She didn't stay in bed for long, but the fact that she put herself back to bed was pretty cool.
And right now she is speaking her geegeleese to me. I call it that because she babbles "geegle geegle geegly geegle-ah?" and it sounds just like a question even though it is jibberish. She used to do it more, but between learning more words and Mike telling her to "use your words" (much like Bessie Higgenbottem tells her brother), she is using it less and less. Sometimes she uses it if she doesn't have words to use. We don't know what she is saying but she will occaisionally banter back and forth with me as I make up my own geegeleese.
But back to Facebook.
I have now had 4 face-to-face Facebook reunions that wouldn't have happened without Facebook (except maybe Becky). Virginia was the first. She wasn't a close friend in school, but we were peripherally friends and had lots of mutual friends. Amy came next. Amy and I were basically the same sort of friends that Virginia and I were, but have become much better friends through Facebook. It's amazing how much we have in common now and we give each other a lot to think about through sharing perspectives.
Becky came next just a couple of weeks ago. It was really great to see Becky and al of her kids. I hadn't seen Grace since she was a baby. Seeing all of the kids in person was really fun. I don't know how you handle 4 kids, but you seem to be doing it well. Seeing how independent Maggie was at the park is helping me let Piper be more independent. When you don't have older kids, I don't think you realize how much your baby has really grown up and is capable of because you don't have anything to compare it to. We didn't get any pictures, didn't think about it until we were driving away. Oh well, I am sure there will be another time. Now that I realize how close Spokane is, I might think about checking into art and craft shows there, but that means I would have to start making lots of jewelry again.Not a bad things to do, but like the blog, there hasn't been much jewelry action around here of late.
The last reunion was with Jeremy. Another peripheral friend from high school, but still very good to see. I saw him on my last night (childfree night, I might add) in Portland. He's only been there a year and a half. Up until then, he was in Pocatello working as a DJ. He now works as a DJ for Oregon Public Radio. He is working his dream job playing good music and interviewing tons of up and coming, some soon-to-be-famous bands. We caught up on all kinds of things, but one thing we had in common was our reason why Facebook has been so interesting. We all grew up in a sheltered, small, and relatively poor environment. We all basically started life out of school with the same tools to go off into the world to start our grown-up lives. With that common upbringing, it has been fun to see what choices people made and where they ended up. Some people are exactly the same, some are totally different in both good and bad ways, but everyone has a story to tell.
Somehow my reasons for not posting have become a post and a rather long post at that. Go figure.
Until next time. Hopefully next time comes a bit sooner than a month.