i am facebook friends with three members of the mccormick family–f2fb friend #147 cathy mccormick is a single mom who is going out with my f2fb friend #3 mike castagna who used to go out with f2fb friend #123 heidi bloom. cathy’s daughter maddie is my f2fb friend #174 maddie mccormick who was throwing a surprise party for cathy’s birthday.
it was difficult to host a surprise party in winnetka when the entire family is based in california. i did my part by pretending to be planning a party for saturday night. several times over the course of the last two weeks cathy has been nervous because she thought i was dropping the ball on sending out invitations, buying food and drink, and decorating my house for a nonsurprise party on saturday. cathy flew into town and i took her out on friday afternoon, with her little realizing that a party was in the offing for that very evening that would, in fact, be an utter surprise. congratulations to maddie for pulling it off!
cathy’s son ryan is also my facebook friend (f2fb friend #175), although this came as something of a surprise to him. he’s been friends with me since november of last year. this past month, he spent at a leadership camp in colorado. four weeks in the wildnerness with eleven kids, three of whom had to be airlifted out. and then the last five days the instructors give you a compass and a firm handshake and say “we’re going partying, good luck getting out of here”. as you can imagine, i was relieved to meet him in the backyard of the party instead of in the heart of a colorado desert. i was surprised by what he had to say about being unplugged. . .
matt castagna is a new facebook friend–but i’ve known him for a long time. while i was at the “kid’s table” he told me about how easy it is for someone to prank your facebook account. i sure hope nobody decides to do that to me!
it used to be that facebook was “adults not invited” particularly parents. now, everybody’s parent is on facebook and now you have to think about what your grandparents are going to think about why you were tagged in a picture of someone passed out on the couch with the word “tramp” written in magic marker across their forehead. that can’t possibly be my precious grandchild, could it? luckily, there’s some privacy controls and i got a short tutorial.
sometimes kids defriend their parents or grandparents. but matt’s sister christie castagna explained a situation that was a little different.
later, i met up with f2fb friend #1 which is of course my son eastman who was in town for the pitchfork music festival . . . . and because he missed me so much. his best friend will redmond is my f2fb friend #176 on this strange adventure. the two of them had something to say about people who are compulsive about the site. eastman and will have been friends since nursery school and i hope they are friends forever. just being near them makes me realize how important friends are. sometimes facebook helps keep that going even when they are in two different schools in two different states. . . .
i need to pack for the los angeles san diego trip tomorrow! i will be taking the boy scouts with me. you can read about them at f2fb.net!
arlynnpresser 
Leave a Reply