Frozen Friday and Facebook

Lately, I've been lacking the creativity to come up with fun titles for my few and far between posts but at least I have some alliteration working for me.

Frozen Friday fits well today; it's quite wintry outside. I really hope we're going to return to fall for a few more weeks before the cold and snow are here to stay. Yes, I said snow. There are a few flakes on the ground right now and if the forecast holds true we have a good chance of seeing more tomorrow. Joy.

I think I prefer to focus on the "Friday" instead of the "frozen" part of that title.
IT'S FRIDAY! WOOHOO! I need a weekend, how about you? This is the first weekend since August that both John and I will be home at the same time. September was rough in that regard. We don't have much planned this weekend. We're all going to freeze our tails off at a high school football game tonight and then tomorrow night Sarah has her Homecoming dance. Other than that I hope to stay in my pjs for as long as I can and watch a lot of football and maybe a movie. I really want to see People Like Us.

Okay, let's talk about Facebook.
I've been tentatively tip-toeing back into Facebook. I reactivated my account in mid-September after a six-week break. Honestly, the only reason I got back on was because I manage a page for work and my admin stuff is linked to my personal account. You may remember that I decided I needed a break in early August after realizing how addicted I'd become. At the time, there were only a few weeks of summer vacation left and I really wanted to be intentional about how I spent the remainder of that time with my children. I can't say that I missed Facebook too much in those six weeks. I have a lot of thoughts about it but I can best sum it up with these two points:

1. Facebook is a ridiculous time waster. I was amazed at how much extra time I found in my day when checking Facebook was no longer a part of my routine. I was also amazed at how much mental focus I had and how uncluttered my brain felt.

2. Facebook is not a life-giving place for me. I hope you caught that the emphasis here is on me, Meredith. I just re-read my Confessions of a Twitter Quitter: Why I Pulled the Plug post and it explains this point in great detail. Just substitute the word Facebook for Twitter as you read.

I will say that I do miss seeing friends' pictures and feeling like I know what's going on in people's lives. During my break, I sat through many a conversation feeling out of the loop because the topic often shifted to something from Facebook. Thankfully, I have understanding and gracious friends who patiently fill me in while keeping the eye-rolling to a minimum.

So, yeah, I'm back on Facebook but it's not a place I visit daily (or hourly, as used to be the case). I deleted the app from my phone and I've pretty much kept my visits to a few times a week, mostly when I get an email saying I've been tagged in a photo or post, or when a friend directs my attention to something I need to see.

The bottom line for me? I want to have control over Facebook and not the other way around.

Happy weekend, friends. Hope it's warmer in your neck of the woods than it is here. Brrrrrrrrrrr.