After my last post in which I admitted SSBlog may have reached quittin’ time, I received a myriad of emails encouraging me to stay, thanking me for the posts I have contributed and in general just providing a lot of support. I cannot thank the Sloggers out there enough for your kind words, it made me smile and feel like I have brought a touch of happiness in some form to some of you- which has made it entirely worth it.
To answer A LOT of your questions about what life is like after pulling the FaceBook plug, I must admit it is truly wonderful and I am so thankful every day that I broke that habit (addiction). To be honest, I did reactivate it after several day as there were some people who I can only contact with through FaceBook. However, I deleted over 100 “friends” when I reactivated and have only been on for about 5 minutes in over a week now. Simply put, I don’t go on unless I get a message and have asked all friends and family to contact me via email or phone instead of FB if they have that contact info. It has been incredibly freeing. There are no more drama posts to try to filter through, sales gimmicks to try to avoid, political rants to try to ignore, passive aggressive comments directed at me (but pretending like they are not directed at me- yes I saw them miscellaneous family member who I will not name here), etc. I talk to who I need to talk to when I need to talk to them and get the information that is truly important sans the extra baggage. If you’re considering pulling the FB plug, I say JUST DO IT!
To answer your other questions- life going back to school has been quite an adjustment to say the least. While I LOVE classes and learning, it has been difficult sitting next to people much younger than me (who think I’m their age) and fitting school work back into my free time. I’m blessed to have a strong support system around me of people who keep me strong (and shower me with surprises like flowers and ice cream… love my fiancé)!
Despite my new extracurricular activities, I still am finding time to do some things I enjoy, like see David Bromstad speak at Disney’s Flower & Garden Festival! For those HGTV fans out there, you know the Bromanator from his hit show Color Splash (which is returning to TV late summer/early fall). 
Like a good, non-frightening fan, I planned my visit months ago, got to the show an hour early to get a seat, and then totally failed to get into line fast enough to meet him. True story. He was a total sweetheart though, noticing me stalking him from behind the rope and posing for a picture for me anyways. Although we didn’t get to meet, I’m convinced that should we have it would have gone something like this:
David: Hi! Thank you so much for coming today to support me!
Me: I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
David: So you’re a big fan?
Me: Yes! I love Color Splash, HGTV, Florida, Disney, and dogs, just like you!
David: Really? Do you want to be my PA, in a totally professional, non-creepy fan way?
Me: Would looooove to! I’ll move to Miami and even take care of Lady Godiva Bon-Bon and Dozer on the side. They would love my Moo!
David: Perfect! See you tomorrow at 8am then?
Me: Fabulous! (Hug, take picture, part ways until tomorrow at 8am).
Ok, so perhaps none of that happened but it could have, had we met. The Universe apparently didn’t feel like we were ready for each other yet, so I moved along to what was intended for me in my future…
If you haven’t discovered France’s new quick-service restaurant, Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, you are missing out! Talk about heaven in the form of sugary treats! This was a coffee/chocolate flavored concoction that left me pondering if licking the inside of the cup would be worth the social embarrassment risk. (It was…)
And now it’s back to reality, aka studying for tests at the moment!
Cheers,
Stephanie
