IRL, my DH and DS are my BFF

Some people say that cyber friends are not "real" friends. You can't see them, you can't call them on the phone and you don't know if they are really who they say they are. I suppose that's true. I remember back to the time B. E. (Before Erik) when I dabbled in online dating (don't tell me you haven't perused the personals at least once). Now that was a great lesson in private investigation because you never knew if the person was really tall, dark and handsome. I even googled Erik when we were dating so I could see if he appeared on any wanted lists. Fortunately he didn't, but I was able to find out that his favorite novel was "Great Expectations" -- I promptly purchased the Cliff's Notes so I could talk intelligently on our next date.

Some time ago I started to surf message boards for women with infertility. Since few of my friends in real life understood what I was going through, it was nice to message women who "got it" and were sympathetic to my daily regime of shots, mood swings and hot flashes. Thus began my entrance into "online communities."

After some lurking on boards with names like "Fertility Friends" and "iVillage" I established an identity and made some "friends." I quickly became entwined in al things girly like "blinkies" and "smileys" and "siggys." I wanted a glitter name, too. And why wouldn't my blinkie blink? And could someone make me a "my baby is bilingual" blinkie, please? Erik would laugh at my use of board acronyms like DH (darling husband) and IRL (in real life) and CM (cervical mucus).

So I hung around on the boards for a while until I came across one called "Connected Moms." It's by far the best board I have found and I have made some great cyber friends. I even asked my mother-in-law (MIL), Susan, to knit a hat in support of "Hats for Grace." Grace is the daughter of a gal on the board and Grace is in the midst of chemo to treat cancer. Grace is 4 and has lost all her hair. Heck, Susan's hat is even a board member favorite! But I have also gotten advice on how to make chewy chocolate chip cookies, which digital SLR camera to buy, and why Tom Cruise is a nutjob.

For everyone who thinks cyber friends are goofy and I should stick to my friends IRL.....phooey! How else would I have learned that you should always...well I can't say. But you could find out if you visit Connected Moms' "Naughty Room!"