How the Internet May Help Us

Gosh, it's been a long time since I posted anything. Lots of drama has ensued over the past few weeks and I just refused to make another negative blog post! So, I decided to wait until I could see bluer skies.
All photos except for the ones in my camera have been lost due to an unfortunate spill on Christmas Eve. So, no pictures.
However, on a positive note: lately the Princess and I have started to get along much better (save for the big blowout yesterday because I voiced my opposition to getting one of Princess' friends a Victoria's Secret gift card for Christmas).
The helpful hint for us has been FaceBook.
Princess joined a few months ago, and like all teenagers and college students, immediately had hundreds of "friends". I've seen other children's pages on My Space and the thought of Princess being "out there", untethered, scared me. A friend of mine is a graduate of/volunteer recruiter for Harvard, and he told me what a mistake these prospective students make when they have provocative picture or email addresses nowadays, due to the college admissions board's standard of Googling its applicants. Teenagers just don't realize how far-reaching their behavior can be.
Anyway, I felt that, if Princess joined FB, then I really didn't have a choice and had to join also. She was required to accept me as a "friend", too. Well, now we have been spending time chatting while she's upstairs and I'm downstairs. It's impossible for us to get in a fight while popping on to chat. Conversations are much more light-hearted and jovial. She jokes with me and calls me "Einstein" and I call her "Sherlock" when we don't have a clue about what the other is talking. This may not be a cure-all for all of our relational ills, but right now, the FaceBook Project seems to be filling in some of the holes that we've both dug over the past few years.
The thing about raising girls is that this process takes YEARS, not months, and sometimes, it is so discouraging.
Oh, the prom-like ball that is happening on Valentine's Day is an event that David and I won't be home for, as we're going to CHARLESTON that day to help me forget about my impending 40th birthday which will occur during the time we're gone. That means my precious baby's first big dance will be supervised by someone else, and I won't even be in town. Talk about major guilt.