Dragging My Ass into 2011

Some of you may have noticed that I now have these cute little buttons over to the right.

That’s because I’ve been tinkering. I am not particularly tech-savvy. Pretty much a Bambi in the forest when it comes to the whole, entire internet. But people are always telling me that I’m supposed to be better at this whole social media thing. So, I ignore them for as long as I possibly can, and then I grudgingly comply.

I started tweeting, gosh, almost 3 weeks ago now. It took me a while to get around to figuring out how to put the little buttons on my blog, which is why I didn’t mention it before.  I’d been immune to Twitter’s charms all this time–really, it seemed pretty stupid. But I like it more than I expected. I like how direct it is, and how uninhibited people can be, and how witty and clever. It feels a bit like a cocktail party, if you could enjoy a cocktail party while in your pajamas. And I truly appreciate the 140-character limit. I really like editing, so it’s sort of fun. Although, I have to admit, if we were to take the metaphor further, I’m currently like the quiet girl standing against the wall in a boring dress who, at least, can tell you where to find the yummiest appetizers.

Of course as soon as I started tweeting people told me I had to do Google +, too. Jeez! I finally managed to sign up, but I haven’t figured out how to get a cute little button yet. Maybe next year.

Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering, I’m going through a Stages of Vacation Planning that’s rather similar to the Stages of a Kid’s Birthday Party that I recently described. At noon I was feeling great about getting so much Kids Out and About work done, but by 3 pm I was wishing I’d done more actual packing–so much more tangible! Then around 6 pm I was feeling super-awesome because I’d buzzed through an entire small Frommer’s guide while J was a gymnastics. But on the way home from gymnastics I did my CSA pick up and had a daunting load of vegetables, again. I managed to “process” a bunch of kale, a bunch of dirty, dirty leeks, and some other items, but I still had this many peppers.

In despair I made a decision, which was basically: “Katie, you simply cannot handle anymore work. You need to get these out of the house. Put them on the back porch where they’ll stay cool without taking over your entire fridge and insist that Cute W distribute them at work.”

I agreed with myself: it was the only sensible solution. So, exhausted, I went to the back porch and got the scare of my life:

Hell, NO.

We have NOT just been booed.

If you’re not familiar with “Boo-ing,” it’s basically like a Halloween-Secret Santa-Chain Letter. For a better description, you can check out Albany Kid’s post.

While I like the idea of neighborly giving in theory, I now have to decide if I’m adding this to the pre-vacation to-do list, or if I can wait until after vacation, when, granted, by the time I get to it, it will be so late that it’s practically too rude to even pass along. Oh, jeez. I have to do it, don’t I? I curse suburbia! Or, no, I don’t curse suburbia. This is a pretty good life, isn’t it? I’m going to Disney and random people leave us treats out of the goodness of their hearts.

Well, in any case, if any of you local friends and neighbors would like  some apples, beets, or peppers in the next two days, please comment ASAP. But you’ll have to pick them up from my screened porch. Because I’m too busy packing and, apparently, shopping for Halloween crap.

UPDATE:  I woke up this morning and it occurred to me that whoever “booed” us could very well read the blog, and boy, that was not gracious, was it? The girls were thrilled. And, as an added bonus, we can give some CSA apples as part of our boo gift. So I’ve successfully navigated the panic stage once again. And I thank you.