Hello world.  I have about 40 minutes left to complete this post and catch up on my reader from Sunday morning, which means there are probably 235 more entries that I won't get to read before the night is done.  You see, people, I'm visiting family and we're staying with my uncle who is still in the ... ummm ... pre-computer age?  I don't even know which decade to fill in there, but he has no computer, thus no internet. 

 

Do you have any idea how strange and frustrating it is to not have access to the internet?  I had to resort to using a phone book for goodness sakes!  And actually CALLING someone to get directions to their location, find out how much admission is, and so forth.  Wait, I think I may have lost some of you.  We're visiting family, which means we're also in a house that doesn't have anything to keep a 6 and a 3 year old entertained but the TV.  Not to mention the family driving in to visit and bringing twin 4 year old cousins to see Monkey and Little Man.

 

Thank goodness dear ol' mom had a crack-I mean-Blackberry, so that I could sorta google indoor play for children in the city where we are.  I was able to at least get a name and a number of a bounce house, although the number on the webpage wasn't the right one.  Hence, needing the phonebook.  Since I'm not all that familiar with using her blackberry, I just called the location to verify what little info I was able to get from mom's phone and get directions and such.  

 

I decided to go early to the bounce house because it was 9:30 am and I was already being driven crazy by the boy.  I grabbed my laptop on a whim and guess what?  They had Wi-Fi there!  YIPPEE!  Only, I couldn't get it to hook up to the computer right.  I still don't know what happened but it wouldn't work.  Not even on my iTouch.  Bummer.  So after a little while longer we went back to my uncle's to meet Mawmaw and Pawpaw and Aunt Pat (not her real name) who were bringing my nieces. 

 

So after lunch with the family, we went back and stayed until closing.  I'm so glad they were able to make it.  I hadn't seen them since last summer some time and so I was able to talk and catch up with them and Monkey and Little Man had great fun with their cousins and seeing their grandparents and great aunt.  

 

So, it's been more than 24 hours without internet.  Thankfully, the kids, after today's running and jumping, went to bed and I was able to escape to the local library.  I owe Hayden big time for pointing me in the right direction (thanks, girl!!).  So, while I'm able to update on my blog, time is running out and I'm having to divide my time between this, facebook, twitter and homeschool research.  I'm not sure how much time I'll have for any of these things.

 

Isn't it amazing how much we have come to rely on the internet?  Not necessarily for social stuff like social network sites and blogs, but for simple things like finding something to do or getting directions to a certain place.  I was shocked, and a little ashamed, that I was so lost without internet access today when I was trying to think of something to do on a rainy day.  I admit, I'm an internet junky.  This week just goes to show me how much I've come to depend on it.  I follow my friends on social network sites, read status updates and blogs and use it for simple information retrieval.

 

So, could you go without the internet?  And for how long?  Well, I have to go.  They're kicking the library patrons out - it's closing time....  (oh, and Hayden, when I have more time, I'll come back and link to you ;) ).