When I first joined Facebook I had about 40 friends and family within the first few days. I thought that was pretty cool. But now that I have been on FB for about 6 months, my friends list has grown a lot. I have to admit that I have not even met some of the FB friends in real life. They are friends of friends and I consider them an important part of my entire network of friends.

Today I added my 500th friend. I cannot believe that I have so many friends on FB that I can reach out to and communicate with on a daily basis. How cool is that!?!?

I guess like most people, I never gave much thought to Multiple Sclerosis because I didn’t think anyone I know is affected by this particular disease. But now I have met someone who has this awful disease and I find myself wanting to learn all that I can about Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms and how it is diagnosed and what are the effective treatments for it.

I was at a neighbors house last night just visiting for a few minutes and her daughter came into the living room to ask for help with something. I didn’t realize that my neighbors daughter was in a wheelchair until I saw her come into the room last night. I was surprised, because her daughter is only in her late twenties and I don’t remember hearing anything about her being in an accident or disabled.

Turns out that her daughter was recently diagnosed as having MS, and that she sometimes has to be in a wheelchair for several days at a time. I feel just terrible that I didn’t know about the daughter but also that I know so little about MS.

So I’m trying to find information on Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms, Diet & Exercise. Maybe I can’t help my neighbor and her daughter – and not that they even asked for any help. But I feel a responsibility to my friends and community to at least get educated and be ready to offer assistance in any small way that I can.

For as long as I can remember, my mom’s best friend has been Miss Donna. They grew up together and stayed friends all through college, husbands, kids and even moves across country.

Today is Miss Donna’s birthday, and although I won’t have the chance to visit with her today, I’ve sent her a Hallmark birthday card and am wishing her the happiest of days today and those to come.

This morning I was driving to work and my cell phone rang. It was a surprise call from an old friend, Jenny Corbett. She had a baby a few months ago and is very busy this summer chasing her kids and baby around the house. She told me that they bought a plastic inflatable pool for the kids to splash around in the back yard. That sounds like a great idea! If we had a pool in the back yard we would probably use it every day. It has been very hot this year and the kids get so hot and sweaty when they play outside. It would be great to have a little pool right here for them to jump in and cool off every day this summer.

Blog post written by my buddy Tim Boadler.

Getting my masters degree has always been one of my goals. Since I graduated college, I knew that I wanted to go on and get my masters, seeing as no one else in my family had achieved this. Unfortunately, with student loans to pay off, it was virtually impossible for me to start taking graduate classes right after I received my bachelor’s degree. Instead, I got a full time job and started paying down my student debt. I decided last year to look into getting my masters degree through an online program. The first step was to find out how to get hughes internet in New York. Once I did that, I could proceed with my plans. I had minored in finance and knew that I wanted to get masters in accounting. I looked into programs using my satellite internet and decided to go ahead with the process.

The internet has helped me greatly in achieving my goal of getting my masters degree. So far, I have taken courses on cost accounting, auditing, reporting procedures and business information systems. The practices that online courses use are easy to grasp. I was somewhat worried about the level of communication I would have with my instructors, but have been pleasantly surprised to find that communication is open and responses are quick. If it wasn’t for wireless satellite internet, I do not see how I would have been able to go back to school to finish my schooling.

This morning I ended up giving a friend a ride to work. I was in a different part of town and wanted to get something to eat before going into the office. I found a Hardees just down the street from her office, so I pulled in and ordered breakfast. They have a special menu item called a loaded breakfast biscuit.Wow! it sure tasted good.I can’t do that very often because it has got to be bad for the diet. But once in a while it is good to try something totally different. And this was really good!

Tonight I have been on the phone with 3 different friends and have not gotten any work done at home at all. I fed the kids and did the bedtime routine with the phone on one ear!

My neighbor, Jane and I talked about home security systems this morning, and the different types of protection for homeowners. I still feel that our neighborhood is relatively safe, and that a basic alarm system would probably scare off any kids that were out looking to do mischief.

The last incident that I recall was a few weeks ago, someone had driven through the neighborhood and shot paintball pellets at all the cars that were parked on the street. Nothing was broken, but it was a nuisance for several of my older neighbors to have to deal with removing paintball splatters from their car windows and car doors or trunks.

That’s not to dismiss her concerns for home security lightly. These days you must take some precautions and be smart about your personal safety. For example, I would never leave my car running without me inside the car, and I lock the car doors when I leave it at night in the driveway. I close all my windows and lock all my doors when I leave the house. If Jane feels the need for more protection than that, I suggested she call about an ADT security system and have someone come explain how their alarm systems and monitoring services work.

Sometimes the peace of mind is well worth a small monthly fee to feel more safe and secure in your home.

I am just now starting to appreciate Facebook andd am learning how to use it properly. It is a different concept to have something you write be broadcast to all the people who have signed up as your “friends.”

To be totally honest, there are several Facebook friends on my list that I’ve never met. But I was “introduced” to them via other FB friends and I’m getting to know them all by reading their profiles and their wall posts. Now my list of friends has really grown. I’m having fun with it and I see that some of my friends have even come ove rto my blog here and commented on some of my blog posts.

So if you are new to my blog and coming here from Facbook, welcome!

Today we are on alert for practical jokes being played. I know that the kids will have fun with some pranks at school. I hope I don’t have to deal with a lot of silliness at the office. But then again, it is always good to share a good laugh with your coworkers – it breaks the tension and builds a sense of camaraderie that really helps everyone bond and work together better.