Computer geek = BFFs

I remember my first computer well. It would have been around 1985/86 and my dad came home with a box that had an apple on it. An Apple IIC! Remember that one? It had the graphics of the Atari and compared to today's standards in computers, it was just a fancy calculator/typewriter.

Flash Forward about 10 years and I am now married with another box, another new computer and.....drumroll please....internet! Yes it was 1996 and I, Heather, met the internet. It was still archaic to today's standards. It was dial up. I remember listening to the dial tone and the swooshy swoosh sound while my computer tried to connect, and hit or miss, trying to find a connection to the world wide web.

Flash forward another few years. It is the year 2000. I have left my teaching job for a much more important job. I became a mother in July 1999. I was staying home and was trying my hardest to be the perfect stay at home Mommy I could be. And here is where my life took a twist. I joined an online Mom's group at Baby Center. I had no idea at the time that these women who I was comparing poop, puke, sleep and post baby body horror stories with would become like family to me. The first mom I ever met from online was Kristi. I invited her to my house with her 6 month old baby. Ah the horror. Both of our families thought that we were completely insane and that we would both surely be killed and our babies taken from us to never be seen again. My mom and dad actually came over and camped out to meet her with me LOL! As time passed I met other moms. I traveled to Dallas with Kristi to a meetup of around 10 moms from our group and our 4 year olds. I also planned and executed an unforgettable ladies Colorado trip for eight of us. I have traveled to New Mexico, South Carolina, Dallas, St. Louis, Vegas, Tennessee and I am sure someplace I am forgetting. I became so close to a small group of these women. There is Krist, who lives about 10 minutes from me, There is Sharri who I will never forget a Mommy gift exchange that she and I had from our mommy board and a certain x-ray machine that she had to go through in order to send it ;). She and and I have shared some crazy times. She spent my last birthday here with me. She was my birthday present. Probably the last nice/heartfelt thing that "he" did for me. There is Heather who is my twin. We were separated at birth I am pretty sure. She has all the crazy in her that I have as well. Her husband booked her a flight out here last fall to visit me right after my ex left. She did this right in the middle of the busiest time in her life as she was opening a new business(her Cupcakery...Cupcrazed). There is Carly who I slept with the first night I met her ;) And spent a great weekend at her house for her annual crawfish boil a few years ago. I have a chipped tooth as a permanent memory of that weekend.

And then in 2005 I joined another Mom's group because I was expecting my third baby and it had been 5 years since I had done this pregnancy thing. And I found another loving family in the Sapphire Sweeties; The September 2006 baby group. I bonded with these women over our little Virgos. And once again I started to meet the Sweeties on trips around the country. The first one I met was Kelly. I was in San Diego and I had C with me. She was around 5 months old. We met them at this gorgeous Italian restaurant right on the coast(it was where Kelly and her dh(computer speak for dear hubby or damn hubby depending on what story is being told)had their wedding reception). We sat and talked with our babies in our arms and instantly connected. Since that time Kelly and I have seen each other in Vegas and also in Santa Barbara. The next Sweetie I met was Kirsta. She lives in Colorado, a state near and dear to my heart. I have seen Kirsta the most out of all the sweeties. Someday I hope for my C and her B to marry and we are going to live next door to each other in our perfect little lives ;). The list goes on, Marje and Susan came to my house on Memorial Day weekend 2008. Christy met me in Charlotte on one of my visits there and then came here this past fall to hold me and take care of me while my heart was breaking. There is Steph who I feel like connected with me instantly when I met her as well in Santa Barbara and we hung out on the beach. There is Lori who with her little L and E, met Kirsta and I at a park in Boulder to eat and play. This Sweetie list doesn't include the mommies that I haven't met, but want to and will meet as life moves on.

I can honestly say that my best friends are from online. I have great friends in real life as well, some who I would also label best friends. But how lucky am I to have been given this gift of online friendship and support. I know people think I am crazy when I tell them how I know so many people from all around the country. Let them think I am crazy. They will never be able to go to any airport in the country and KNOW that they have a friend in that city if by chance something happened and they needed a place to crash for the night. I can say that. Because while I listed a few of the amazing people here who I have had the honor of meeting, there are many many more that would take me in, in a heartbeat.

So today to all of my friends out there, in all your varied time zones, I dedicate this song to you: