Answers, Part 6

I'm going to combine a few here and go a bit out of order, since these questions don't require too lengthy of answers.

Molly asked: Oooo these are good. I can't wait to hear the responses. It makes me want to think of how I would answer many of these questions too...except the one about naming Anne...since I named mine Mia :)

I'll add one:
On a scale of 1-10, how cool are your neighbors and how does one define cool? :)
I'd say you all have cranked the scale up to 11. All anyone needs to do to define cool is to just look at this photo, and there you have it :)

Anonymous asked: who is annies favorite uncle?

and then, 10 minutes later:
oops, i forgot she has two uncles. you dont have to answer that. sorry jono.

Thanks for the comment, STEVE! The funniest part about this one is that Steve (Ben's brother) forgot about his own sister's husband, Joe, who is also Annie's uncle. Love it. The competition for favorite aunt and uncle is still heavily contested. For the next probably 3 years, you are all winners, and we'll see where it goes from there once Annie can make her own decisions.

Anonymous asked: I thought of a question:

How would you fill your time if the internet ceased to exist?

Sister. :-P

When I told Ben this one, he immediately said "Tell her we don't talk like that in this house". What WOULD I do? Hmmm. It's tough to remember life before the internet. As I recall, we watched a heck of a lot of TV before we got that dial up connection and AOL back in 1995, when I was in 8th grade. I have been SLIGHTLY less glued to the internet since having Annie - we try to be really good about not being on our phones or computers too much when she's awake, and we never have the TV on when she's awake, so we're usually just all hanging out. Lately we've gone to the park almost every night, but when it was still cold we'd just sit on the floor and be with Annie doing whatever it is that she was doing at that moment (or at least one of us would - the other was usually cooking or cleaning up after dinner). I have really enjoyed that bit of unplugged time that forces us to connect with each other. On weekends it seems that most of the time we're on the go to various activities - and if we aren't, I'm bored.

So, to answer your question more directly, I guess I'd watch more TV. Read books. Talk to people in real life or on the phone? Oh, the horror. If there were also no TV, I supposed I'd have to figure out a hobby. Perhaps something artistic or crafty. Maybe I'd have a "mom-approved" clean house (I'm talking about MY mom - she has high standards). I often wonder if I'd have as many friends as I do now without gmail chat, email, blogs, twitter, or facebook. I'm guessing no. I probably would have to put in more effort to maintain relationships with fewer people, and would likely rely on the aforementioned cool neighbors EVEN MORE. I NEED social interaction, so I'd find it in some way! We'll all just have to wonder about this one!