The fifth of May came and went without a party at our house this year. While there were a few Friday afternoon threats of popping over tomorrow from neighbors, no one actually showed on the day itself. It probably didn’t hurt that at party time, it was pouring down rain. As I sat in my bathrobe watching the rain come down, talking on the phone to Betty, cancelling our plans to drink margaritas that afternoon due to a very sore throat and under the weather feeling on my part, she remarked that the party would have been a disaster this year had we gone through with it and that the sore throat and rain were just a message from the universe confirming this.
I thought so too.
All my productive weekend plans were thrown aside by the weather and whatever bug I happen to have. Instead of gardening and working on the chicken house, I curled up in bed, watching movies with the mini-me when she wasn’t building a LEGO garden in the den. It’s incredibly easy when not feeling 100%, the weather outside being crummy and being a single parent, to give in to the digital boxes like computers and television for entertainment. Heck, being home all day, even with my husband working from home, draws me in at the prospect of a conversation of sorts, even if it’s virtual. It’s even worse when he’s gone, as he was this weekend.
Last week, both online and in person, I’ve seen and heard others talking about various aspects of this. Jenny over Frecklewonder wrote this really inspiring and thoughtful post this past week that got me thinking about the long list of blogs I have either bookmarked under a folder in my favorites (I’m old school that way) or that I follow in my reader. I went through and started cleaning out the ones that I realize don’t do it for me. Thank you for the inspiration Jenny. I had been thinking maybe it was time to purge, but you got me to do it.
As I’ve pondered Jenny’s post all week, I had a moment Friday, where I realized my entire morning, while being spent off-line, was being spent with friends I had either made or gotten to know better on-line. I went for a walk with Jen. As I came home, I saw Vikki heading into the park, so I ran over and had a visit with her. I came home to find a package from my Send Something Good secret pal. I realized that I had yet to go through the entire list of blogs participating in the swap – there are something like 160 of them and while I’ve made it through part of the list and I do intend to sit down and make it through all of them at some point, that’s alot of time in front of a screen. And I’m having trouble committing to that. I think if it were the dregs of winter and I didn’t have a neglected garden calling my name it would be easier.
Like everything in life, online life is about balance. Knowing when enough is enough. Sitting here, home alone in my jammies, it’s easy to lose track of time as I surf the web, seeing the latest and greatest things I could be doing. I also realize that if the internet weren’t here to distract me, something else would. Something else always seems to distract me. There are pluses and minuses to the internet and putting yourself out there on it. Mostly, I’m grateful for the relationships I’ve gotten out of it. I love comments and emails, love hearing how I’ve inspired someone, love hearing how my babble here has touched them in some way, but most of all, I love when someone is moved enough by what I have written here to call me, or to say, let’s get together. Because no matter how much time you spend staring at a screen, real time spent with real people can’t be replaced or replicated.
Which brings me to the title of this post. It’s a quote from a friend, a reminder of a good time, as well as a reminder of what’s important. You can make new friends, get inspiration, ideas and how-to’s from the internet, but what’s most important are the real things you do. Like spending time with friends, your family and yes, burying the cat.
Chicken Wire & Paper Flowers 
Ah, this is such a sweet post. And I'm so glad it rained on party day and gave you a legitimate rest.
Hope you're feeling better! By the way, something else always distracts me too. Often getting dreadfully or dutifully in the way of what I think I would like to do. Sigh…
Yes, I hear you! We can easily get sucked in by the internet. I've cut back my usage so that I can enjoy “real life” a bit more fully. I've not only cut back my blogging time but also my Facebook time. I mostly dropped television a while back in favor of my computer…now I'm learning to balance all the joys of living.