I'm Taking a Much Needed Break From Facebook

Is there life after facebook? I'm not sure but I'm going to attempt to find out. On Friday, March 1st, I am going to deactivate my account. It has been said that your facebook account never goes away (and I find that hella creepy) but you can take a "Facebreak."

Why? For one thing I want to be more productive. I'm hoping to get more reading, writing, and painting done. I think this break time will be a good thing for me and my creativity, or as I'm calling it "Ending the Buzz." It's good to do that once in a while in order to reconnect with yourself and the world around you. I haven't done it in quite a while and I have to say (crossing my fingers), I'm looking forward to it.

I originally -and begrudgingly- got on facebook to stay in touch with my nieces, nephews, and other family members, and to share photos. Isn't that sad! When did we stop sharing photos with each other via email or snail mail, or *gasp* in person? Personal interactions with family members and friends have fallen by the way side because people are too ‘busy’ with work and other stuff, YET, we find time to upload photos to facebook? It just doesn’t make much sense to me anymore.

Facebook has become sort of a substitute for real relationships. It has actually changed my way of thinking because sometimes I've forgetten there are other ways to communicate. I miss the days when family or friends would actually call or we'd sit and have coffee -also known as "Face Time"- to catch up on our lives. Also, the anxiety and stress that I get from being on facebook just isn’t worth it any more. If someone “unfriends” me it's like a major blow to my self-esteem and I'd like to know why, but apparently facebook protocol says "you aren't supposed to ask." Recently, a most beloved niece blocked me from her facebook page because my comments/opinions were too personal and were upsetting to her and her facebook friends. After a week of much high drama, I decided to let it go (aka fuck it) but to be perfectly honest, I'm still feeling quite hurt from it all. Unfortunately, I don't believe our relationship will ever be the same.

I decided that it was time to take a break from the crazy making. When something takes up that much of my time, energy, and emotions in such a negative way, I have to stop doing it. I need to take a step back and work on nurturing and deepening the friendships I have with those who really do want to be my friend.

So dear blog readers (all two of you), I'll most likely be blogging more so check back often and tell me what you think. Ahhh, I'm beginning to feel at peace already.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I made these for you!

Today is Going to be Epic

To borrow a line from the current Quaker Oats commercial "Today is going to be epic," I have to confess that I'm not normally a Polly Anna personality type (more like Eyeore to be perfectly honest) but that little boy riding his bike to the top of the mountain and throwing his fists into the air is how I feel nowadays. Yes indeedy, retirement is good.

I've been keeping busy: lots more time for my volunteer baking for Birthday Cakes 4 Free, taking a watercolor class through my local adult education - here's my first decent picture - and being the youngest in the class by at least 15 years, makes me subject to all kinds of advice about the Golden Years.

We've been RVing more, spent a week camping at the beach recently (hence my ocean watercolor). I've even signed us up for an 8-day RV trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the hot air balloon festival in October. We are staying up a little later at night and sleeping a little longer in the morning - once I get the cats trained to eat later than 4am that is. I get to enjoy my first morning cuppa with my Best Friend and Retirement Partner in Crime, Mr. itsme, instead of gulping it down during the commute to work - poor suckers! We've been planning and cooking wonderful meals together, going places we've always meant to go (we even have a To Go list on the fridge to help us remember). Do you know how liberating it is to shop for groceries during the week? Or doing the laundry on Tuesdays instead of Sunday afternoon? Stupid little things, I know...

So, thanks to a little motivational kick in the butt from our good friend lightly, I'm back. I'll admit to too much time on Facebook lately so I'll try and write more here (how do you find time for both Randy?) More about Birthday Cakes 4 Free next time ... with pictures!