(Weazy gave me this Valentine this afternoon. She's so sweet!)Have you met so many people online that you have trouble keeping track of them? Have you ever re-met someone that "knows" you but you don't really "know" them...and then, later, you remember how you "met" them?
Ever since I started blogging waaaaay back in 2003 (I started blogging on an old site called "diary.com" or something like that until I graduated to the big-time blogger haha), I have this problem. I tried to categorize my friends in my "favorites" files but they kept getting all jumbled and sometimes, I would put a "Catholic, Homeschooling Mom" in a "family and friends" file or a priest in a "funny blogs" file. After a while, I just started putting everyone in a "Catholic Blogs" file.
I noticed that not all of the people in that file were Catholic, and that not all of the sites in that file were actually blogs.
I never did get the hang of google reader.
When did you start calling people you learned about through your blog "friend" instead of "blog friend"?
I think it sounds silly to call a blog friend "blog friend".
Isn't a friend a...friend?
My sisters are my best friends. We don't always agree. I'm not "just like them" and they are not "just like me" but we come from the same place, and we understand each other.
It's easy to love someone who loves you back despite your obvious flaws, "issues", baggage, and, all that other stuff that drives away people who don't want to bother or don't have time to deal with your junk.
It's also easy to love someone that you don't have to deal with every day, who lives halfway across the country (or even the world!) and that only has nice things to comment to you every time they check your blog! You don't necessarily have to find out the nitty gritty, everyday junk about them so you find yourself thinking, "Wow, I wish that person lived next to me, she/he would make a great pal!" But there's really no way you could know that unless they actually DID move right next to you and you KNOW the reality is you'd probably have the same good/bad ratio of neighbor relations as you do with your current neighbors!
I guess I'm reflecting on all of this because it's St. Valentine's Day and it's supposed to be all about the love. I get daily doses of love from my hottie hubs. I get tons of drawings and lovies from my babies (even the big, teenager ones). I get weekly reminders that I come from parents who loved me dearly and still do. They say I'm their favorite. I'm pretty sure they tell the other ones that too, but we know the truth, right?
AND:
I get tons of love from my friends. All my friends. I used to not have too many of them. I had some good ones, some fair ones, some occasional ones and some old ones that came/come back once in a while and we just pick up where we left off. I think it's because I had trouble finding the time to dedicate to more than just my family. Now that I have a blog I have some new ones. All of them add something pretty neat to my life and I'm grateful for them. I don't really differentiate "real life" friends from "blog friends" anymore because, well, blogging is part of my "real life". Therefore, blog friends are my REAL FRIENDS. If someone had tons of time and energy, a spiteful heart, and loads of gall, I suppose they could totally fake themselves into my life via the blog...but I sincerely doubt it. I've met some of my friends in person, called some on the phone, but all of them seem to be as genuine on their blogs/in their comments as they are in person. It's so nice to have someone who checks in to see how I'm doing once a week, or month, or emails me to ask what I mean and/or if I'm really okay after reading a post. They take the time to care, bs with me, tell me I'm full of crap, tell me how hilariously funny I am (okay, I might have made that one up), and maybe even critique my grammar or overuse of commas.
I LOVE the comma...almost as much as I love cereal, but not nearly as much as:
I love you.
You know who you are.
