Life without internet...

Whew... its been one of those weeks!

On Monday our computer started acting up and shortly after crashed! After an entire week of being at the computer shop having what the computer guy said were tens of thousands of viruses cleaned out and $135 later, I have my computer back and up and running. Being without my computer this week was so much harder than I thought it would be and made me realize that I rely entirely too much on it!
I couldn't check facebook! Meaning I wouldn't know what was going on in other peoples lives! Surprisingly, this was annoying for the first day and then the need for a fb fix was gone.
I couldn't check my email, my etsy shop, my google checkout status or my pay pal account to see if I was getting any new orders in (I didn't).
Most importantly I had bills to pay and without Internet I was at a loss of how to pay them! I had to actually get in the car, drive to the places and pay the bills, with 2 small kids!
And of course there was the issue of what am I going to do with free time now? I mean a day without computer is fine... but a week?
The first few days I kept thinking how did my mom do this? But then I started to realize that while the internet has made my life much easier, my dependency on it has had some negative effects.
-I rely entirely too much on the internet, keeping all of my bills, important business files, pictures, videos, tax info and much more in my computer and while I try to back everything up I'm sure there are things I miss.
-My social life has stopped being as personal as I could like and has become more about status updates. I think fb is great for keeping in touch with friends and it has done wonders for advertising my business, but I miss the personal real feeling of relationships that are more than being tagged in someones post or writing on someones wall! I am thankful for the friends I have that never use fb to "update" our friendship but would rather pick up the phone for a personal connection.
-Ive allowed the excuse of handling all bill paying and business advertising etc.. online to interfere with face to face to connections and good old fashioned networking which is necessary when starting a small business. Its also a great excuse to leave my house and usually results in a trip to the park or a memorable experience with my kids.
- I have let time with my kids suffer so I can get online! When Carson walked in the living room after the computer was gone and saw the desk with no computer on it she gasped and said "Oh no! Mommy's computer is gone, she is gonna be so sad! That is her life!"
Wow... something like that can change your life! I had so much fun this week not being distracted by the upkeep of my business website, trying to advertise on various websites and blogs and looking for new ways to improve. I enjoyed an entire week of playing in the floor with the kids for more than 15 minutes cuddling with them on the couch watching movies, and actually watching the movies.
My goal is to spend less time worrying about my business and social networking and more time enjoying every moment with my family!
Meaning I need to STOP writing now and go enjoy this Sunday afternoon with my wonderful family :)