You Won't Find Ada on Facebook

I want to give a public shout out to one of my son's friends, Ada.

She's a cute girl, eighth-grade, pretty smile. But you won't find that smile on facebook -- anymore, anyways.

I noticed her final post as I was scanning my son's wall. "I'm deleting my facebook account. Call me."

Seems like a monumental decision in a young teen's life...

So when she came by after school today, I decided to bring it up, in that cool and casual way I try to have while talking with my son's friends...

"Ada, I have to ask, how did you decide to leave the world of facebook?"

Luckily, as she was sucking on her otter pop, she felt comfortable enough to answer: "A few reasons... first, there's just too much drama on facebook. People can't tell when you're being sarcastic or whatever.

"Also, my dad was telling me about how facebook is changing its privacy policy at the end of this month, and I just don't wanna have all my photos and whatever available to the public.

"I used to sort of need facebook for my friends to be able to get hold of me, but now they all have phones and we can just text.

"So, this decision for less drama and more privacy, is basically about following my inner hippie." (She does, in fact, wear dreadlocks).

Wow!

I have to say: Yay for you, Ada! Yay for your "inner hippie" and the peace it is leading you towards! Makes me wanna go back to the post and click that ubiquitous "Like" button!

I'm not at the point where I feel the necessity to delete my facebook account. But her example has gotten me a step closer to being willing to take that seemingly drastic action.

Weird, isn't it, that, before the entity of facebook is even ten years old, leaving facebook would seem so crazy?!? It's really infiltrated our lifestyles. Weird, indeed. Luckily, Ada's not worried about being weird.

Yay for Ada!

Another Book Report

I have a criminal past.

I stood before a judge about 9 1/2 years ago, when I was young and dumb. I'm embarrassed to tell you why, because it was definitely a Clueless Mama thing to do. Promise you'll still love me?!?! I promise that I'm not a repeat offender...

Here it is:

I left my toddler asleep in the car while I ran in an office supply store and made copies out of a book I was borrowing.

The book was entitled "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" -- and I thought I was following its principles by making copies instead of buying my own.

Well, I should have been arrested for MORE than child abandonment -- I should have also served time for copyright infringement!

For the record, I didn't actually serve time. I paid a fine and then, for personal penance, I bought the book.

It's so worth every penny to own! 

The author, Amy Dacyczyn has lived such a thrifty life, and has such a wealth of information to share! And she has fun sharing it -- her writing is witty and inviting.

Sometimes the subject of saving (not spending) can come across as depressing, and requiring rigorous self-discipline.

In Amy's book, which is actually a compilation of six years of newsletters, economizing is an adventure, pursuing creative, ingenious ways to combat how expensive life is. We feel like celebrating every time she helps us figure out how to pinch those pennies.

She is also primarily a mom! So it definitely feels like everything applies to my current profession. There are birthday party ideas! There are insights on how to grocery shop effectively and go garage sale-ing. She covers fixing up the house, from decor to repairs.

There are recipes, and even instructions on how to make up your own recipes! There are even ideas on how to diet for cheap.

Traveling often seems out of the question for those of us on a strict budget, but she even addresses this topic in a way that makes the world wide open!

She even teaches us how to save time, since, after all, time is money.

AND it made me decide to follow ALL the laws, even copyright ones, and buy this book!