Teaching this old dog new tricks

Since being turned on to blogging by Darling Daughter approximately one month ago, I have taken to this form of personal expression with wild abandon and enthusiasm. I have learned a great deal from others, but have generally remained anonymous on most people's sites. The greatest thing about blogging, I have found, is this ability to either remain a voyeur or to join in the fray and comment at will.

I have also discovered, in addition to "meeting" some extremely interesting people, that I am able to share my most personal thoughts without mentioning names and without fear of retribution. (Writing on others' sites is no guarantee, however, that you won't be flamed in public.) No one really knows who's reading their blog unless the reader participates and leaves their calling card (blog address) or how many are visiting their site (unless they have a counter). You also don't know people's real names or locations unless they reveal this in their personal profile.

So far, in addition to Darling Daughter's and Husband's blogs, I visit sites on a regular basis for an anonymous lawyer who won't tell me if he's for real or not, a childhood friend of Darling Daughter's who is an aspiring author, a current friend of Darling Daughter's who was displaced by Katrina, a fake doctor who I would love for a son (he's a Jewish med student and I'm a Jewish mother so it's a perfect match), and a real doctor from Down Under who I have just met and sounds like my kind of person. I have scanned through numerous other sites, but have only felt like an intruder and quickly left.

This morning finds me on the computer writing in my blog while the family is still asleep. Husband and I received a call for help yesterday at lunch from Darling Daughter. Their furnace was broken and could we please come pick them up. So, off we went, lickety-split, to pick up Darling Daughter, Dancer Girl, and Little Sister so they could spend several days at Grandma and Grandpa's house until their furnace was repaired. The girls have been sick the past two weeks and Hairy Daddy didn't want them in a cold house. Yesterday was visitor's day at Dancer Girl's ballet and acrobatic classes so we were able to see how very talented and graceful our granddaughter is. When we finally left Darling Daughter's town (they live 70 miles from us), we traveled over the river (two) and through the woods until we arrived safely at our house late last night and promptly put the kids to bed. I'm sure they are exhausted from all the excitement yesterday, but we have big plans for today -- making brownies and cookies at Grandma's upon the orders of and with the help of two darling granddaughters. Who said you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks?