To Facebook or Not To Facebook...

that is the question.

I've got friends who are devoted Facebook users, most of them young, socially active and just getting started in the game of life and developing relationships. Having a social network to post pics and gather friends is a must for them, but I thought I was way too old for that playground. I'm pretty well settled, not into weekend trips to the lake or partying until wee hours of the morning anymore. Yep, I'm a stay-at-home nester whose date plans involve renting a movie and ordering in.

Anyway, one of the vets at my office has discovered Facebook and is enthralled with it. She's more my age, married with kids and like me, she's settled. She said she likes it because she can connect with old friends, find out what they're up to now. So that got me to thinking about people I'd long ago lost touch with and wondering how their lives were going, etc. So yesterday, while spending a rainy and cold Saturday in my cozy old house, I decided to see if there was anyone I knew on Facebook. Surprisingly I found a lot! Some friends that I have now, some that I hadn't seen in 10 years or more. I had to sign up in order to search, so I was all ready to email these people and ask them to be my Facebook friend. Sounds lame, I'm aware of this. LOL!

But the more I got to searching and finding people, I started wondering if I should leave well enough alone? I mean, we haven't kept in contact so maybe we weren't such good buddies? Though my experiences with different jobs, co-workers/friends come and go all the time, people who were your best lunch pals and interoffice companions don't often translate into the real world. Without the unifying bond of work, a lot of times the conversation sags and you find there's not that much you really have in common. So I've learned to enjoy people at the time, knowing that not everyone is meant to stay in your lives forever. And the ones that are you don't really lose touch with.

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. While on my Facebook search I found people with kids I never knew they had; old boyfriends with their wives (and sometimes kids); people I used to work with who don't look at all the same and truthfully probably aren't the same as I remember them. I guess I'm debating on whether I should reconnect or if I should let our history together be just that (ok, no debate on the old boyfriends, I'm definitely not going there!) That maybe what I (and they) remember is much sweeter than what could be again and I shouldn't ruin the memory? Or am I overlooking the possibility that we might have a new set of commonalities to share now, life experiences that could forge a new bond? It wouldn't be the first time I've made friends via the internet and at least we'd have the advantage of some type of history beforehand.

I'll have to think on this a while and say thank you to whatever force kept me from sending 40 friend invitations last night during my searches! (and thanks Marls for the cute cartoon - perfect timing!)

Update!

Sadie is doing great so far, she came through the surgery like a champ and seems to be feeling much, much better this morning. She's eating, head-butting and talking to me like she did before. It's amazing to me how they can go through so much (like having their guts cut open) and be perfectly fine less than 24 hours later. I'd be a whining baby for the rest of the week I know!

Thanks for the well-wishes, I really appreciated them!

Say a Prayer for Sadie

Sadie is going in for surgery tomorrow. She has a bladder stone and has been uncomfortable and peeing blood for about six months. I know she's ready to be well again and I trust Dr. G, it's just I always get this nagging worry whenever any of them go under. I help prep animals for surgery all the time and even assisted and watched when my dog Cadia had her tumor removed in December. I'm not sure that I'll be nearly as calm with Sadie. Maybe I'm more protective of my cats cause they seem much more fragile because of their size. Sadie is really small and such a sweetie; my pretty orange girl. I'm thinking positive, that everything will go fine and she'll be up and feeling good in no time!

Keeping Busy

It's been a gorgeous weekend here, the temps are in the high 60s to low 70s. Really beautiful for February. I spent yesterday and today outside, cleaning up the yard and rearranging the shed. The dogs and Skylar kept me company, but Boots worked harder than me. He got a new tennis ball which I realize is enabling his addiction. After about 20 minutes there is no trace of yellow left anywhere on it.




Cadia and Ethan definitely bored with the outside world and ready to go back inside to their comfy beds.


The sanctuary kitties love to watch me work.



Also took an old, scuffed up and stained up carrier and pimped their ride! The only plastic-safe spray paint I had was black and white. After I finished it cracked me up cuz it looks like a Storm Trooper helmet!

Photo Tag

I was tagged by T to post the fifth picture in the fifth folder of my pictures file. Whew! Anyway, here it is:

This is Skylar, one of my adult rescues and the only one that has free roaming rights to the backyard (everyone else is limited to the cat enclosure). She came to me declawed (yuck!), but that means she's not a real climber so she's safe inside the 8-foot wooden fence around our yard. She didn't get along with the other cats in the sanctuary so she was living in the 'airlock' (the entry way to get into the cat house) before I tried her out with the backyard and she loves it. She's my raking the leaves and cleaning up the dog poop helper and follows me like one of the canine pack. I believe she thinks she's a dog; a very superior and better looking dog. LOL! She gets a little upset when it's really cold or rainy and she has to be cooped up, but Skylar's a real sweetheart and has to have her cuddle time before going inside for the night.

New Hope

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."

Snakes Alive!

Well, he is so far.

I found this little guy (girl?) today while working on the yard. Normally I would have just picked him up to look and then sent him on his way. Except this one had an injury (bite wound or abscess) and since we were expecting bad weather tonight I brought him inside. I'll take him to my reptile-crazed friend at work tomorrow and see if she can fix him up until he's ready to go back into the wild. He's a little camera shy (it took about 15 shots to get a half decent one of him), but he's really sweet. He's probably confused, it's almost January and we've had 67-75 degree weather here in Memphis. Unusual, but not rare, we've learned to live with hot spells in the middle of January and snow in May on occasion. I do love the mild winters though!