Haven’t been posting for several weeks. Not much to tell or talk about, honestly. Now that all of my health issues have dissipated and I’m feeling terrific, it’s been too good to be true and I’ve been doing more things around the house. I’ve also gotten back to baking which makes hubby happy!! I’ve also been able to maintain my lower weight and it’s given me more energy and enthusiasm. That alone is worth everything to me. After being so lazy and lethargic for a long time, feeling perkier is so uplifting and I’m taking advantage of every minute of the day I have.
Michele and I had lunch a couple of weeks back, which was nice. My appetite certainly hasn’t gone anywhere and, in fact, it’s hard for me to control. I have this voracious habit of wanting to nibble on chocolate whenever I have idle hands. Needless to say, I’ve been getting a lot done because if I don’t keep busy, I’ll nibble. After all, idle hands are the devil’s workshop!!
My family was also notified that a friend of the familys’ had passed away a week ago. She was, in fact, the Maid of Honour at our Mother’s wedding and we went to school with some of her children. Gail, Michele and I attended the funeral which was short and sweet, but did not recognize anyone we knew anymore. Her children had grown up with babies of their own and even they were now grown up themselves. With over 50 years having passed between the two families and our memories fading, it was difficult to recognize any friendly faces from our childhood days. The three of us quietly exited the church before the light luncheon was served, and as we had signed the Guest Book, we knew the family would at least see our names and hopefully recognize that we had been there. Another era in our lives is now a footnote in our futures.
During these past couple of weeks, I came across some old public school class pictures. As I had heard about “Memories of Lincoln” being on Facebook, I decided to re-join in order to see if I could get responses from anyone still around and would be able to remind me of those that attended the same Grades 1 and 2 as myself. As much as I hate Facebook I thought I would only become “friends” with anyone from my personal past and leave immediate family out. I was also trying to get in touch with one certain person from my past and who was, in fact, distantly related to the woman whose funeral Gail, Michele and I had attended. Another reason I went to the funeral, but this person was not there. That I would have known!
I posted my Grade School photos and received great reactions but mostly from siblings of those in the pictures. It was great to hear from them and even one or two remembered me, along with some of my siblings. I then began to play around with my main identifying picture and background photos, along with one other memorable event in our family’s life. As time went by – just a few days, in fact, things began to change and I soon realized why I was NOT a fan of Facebook. More and more “Friends” came out of the woodwork and postings were soon popping up on my “Timeline” that meant nothing to me. Some of these “Friends”, were children of “Friends”, unknown to me, and most of these postings were just taking up space, in my opinion. I’m not one for philosophical sayings, love your neighbour and all that, and especially postings of graphic, silly jokes that are completely stupid according to my senseof humour!! I knew it was time I had to leave, yet AGAIN. Once you join Facebook you have lost all privacy you may think you were going to have. You accept to be Friends with one person and suddenly any one of their Friends get notice and things begin to snowball from there. Friends of Friends of Friends, etc. are now seeing you as a “Suggestion” on their Facebook Timelines and a parade from your computer to anybody else remotely known will be lining up until eternity!!!
After thinking of ways to at least say adios to those who had befriended me, I gathered up my thoughts, as politely as I could, posted them to the Facebook box that asks “What’s on your mind, Twila?”, letting them know I appreciated their thoughts and that I would be deleting my account within a couple of days. Thank God. I just can’t cope emotionally with this program. It’s extremely exhausting as you’re on the damn thing for a good part of your day. You have to check your Timeline, respond to any Comments, or Notices that pop up, and Friend Requests, check these “Friends” out if their name is unfamiliar (or even to be nosey) and then decide whether to befriend them or not. Then as you’re going through all of these steps, someone sees you are online and decides to Wave, so you have to click on that button and Wave back so as not to appear rude. Then some other Friend decides to send you a Message via Messenger, so another click onto that button to read and respond to their message. The longer you’re on Facebook the longer it takes to get off. The next thing you know your day is half over and your plans for the rest of the morning or afternoon are shot to hell. The bread you planned to bake wouldn’t have time to rise, the errand you wanted to run was cutting it close to lunch or supper and then dear hubby has been sitting in the living room quietly doing his crossword puzzles wondering where in hell you had gotten to.
I’m hoping you get the picture. Just bloody time consuming and if I were to be completely honest a bit mundane. I really appreciate how Facebook can certainly help you find and keep in touch with loved ones who live far and wide and family is able to keep in touch with those they’ve not seen for a long time. I know I love seeing and hearing from our side of the family in Britain – especially the kids (God, I love those children), but I can also keep in touch through Instagram which is far less time-consuming and the pictures posted are far superior than those on Facebook. You can leave comments, if you want, or quietly “Heart” the picture(s) and move on. I can also get any other news I need through my Twitter account. Another program where I can completely control who I follow and who I don’t. As I’ve gotten so sick of the American news of late, I’ve just unsubscribed to every and all news feeds, kept my feeds coming from Visit Scotland, a couple of other quiet Twitter feeds and even one celebrity- actor/singer in the U.K. whom I adore. So now my mind has stopped racing from all the tense moments I had been readiing in the news, I can relax looking at gorgeous pictures from Scotland and reminisce of our trips, and get a laugh or two from the other Twitter sites I follow. Whew!!!! Quiet at last!!!!
There are other quieter and less stressful ways to keep in touch with friends and family, So much more personal and fun – Skype. Free and easy, give it a try. Then sign on to Instagram for photos and more smiles!!
Lesson learned. If I ever join Facebook again, please smack me in the face, tie my hands up and disconnect any gadgets that can get online. Thank you.