A few years ago, I was reading a USA Today article about how anyone who was anyone online, had to be on Twitter.  My original thought was, thank goodness I’m a nobody!  I don’t have time for that nonsense!

The article mentioned that the best practice for web users was to, at the very least, secure a Twitter user name before someone else scooped it up.  I decided to join, but that was the only thing I was going to do…just obtain the name @MomoFali so it wouldn’t get taken.  I signed up the very same day I read that article.

That was 10,000 tweets ago.

I could go on and on about the benefits of Twitter.  Just ask my husband.  Most notably, Twitter got me a job.  Holla! It also got me a freezer full of meat, a mention in Ladies Home Journal, roommates at conferences, product recommendations from trusted professionals, blog traffic, great relationships with sponsors, invaluable friendships, help with 6th grade homework and, more than a few times, it has settled an argument in my house.

Do you want help brainstorming when you need a list of red-headed, literary characters for your daughter because the next day is dress-as-a-red-headed-literary-character-day at school?  Go ask Twitter.  She can help you.  Anne of Green Gables, anyone?

Any time of the day or night, I can log on to Twitter and find one of my friends there.  Friends from all over the world with whom I can have instant conversations.  With Twitter, I even helped to find a lost dog when someone in my neighborhood said he was missing.  Within minutes, word can spread just about anywhere you want it to.  Maybe even where you don’t.  Watch yourself, now.

Of course, there can also be a lot of nonsense on Twitter, as you can see from my Dilaudid tweets and some of these daily updates I sent:

Take THAT, all my friends at #mom2summit! We’re talking about NOUNS on Twitter tonight! Yeah, and sentence diagrams. Booyah!

I got a clove filling. Now I’m craving pumpkin pie.

These women on the #Oscars are beautiful, but I’m eating trail mix. With M&M’s. I win.

My husband just got my daughter to agree to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy by bribing her WITH A NACHO. As in, singular.

How old do I sound when I tell you I’m looking at a catalog of compression stockings?

Among the Christmas Ale, I found a Harvest Moon. This is the equivalent of time travel, no?

Conversation from the other room…Kid #1, “Did you fart?” Kid #2, “No, but my duck did.”

I am wearing the mommy and baby dolphin necklace my son bought me at Santa giftland. Because nothing says, “I love you” like Flipper.

I am not going to buy a book for which the TV ad says it is, “Un-put-down-able.” No offense, but I like real words.

Took the kale chips out of the oven, covered the baking sheet with parchment paper and now am baking cookies. I am an oxymoron.

The best thing about Twitter is that social people, like me, don’t have to stop being social.  Ever.  This is great for me and for my husband, because sometimes I want to talk about gladiator sandals and he just wants to watch SportsCenter.

My BFF once told me that the definition of an introvert or extrovert isn’t how outgoing you are, but whether you seek people or quiet time inside yourself when you want to recharge.  I’m definitely an extrovert.

Sure, downtime is great sometimes, but being able to talk about philosophy, dill pickles or the latest hairstyle, anytime you want, is pretty awesome too.

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I first met Casey at a meetup in Indianapolis, in 2008.  It was April 24, 2008…almost exactly three years ago.  Funny, but it feels like I’ve known her my entire life.

She was just how I had pictured her; kind, intelligent, funny, red-headed and adorable.  She, however, was shocked that the Momo Fali she met that night wasn’t a 300 lb. Samoan.

That trip to Indianapolis turned out to be one I will never forget.  And, not in a good way.  I spent most of the evening in tears, worried sick about my son.  I will never forget getting off the phone with my husband and falling against the wall in a sloppy, sobbing heap then looking up to see Casey standing there.  The hug that she gave me, from one stranger to another, got me through the night.

I came to find out that the hug was indicative of how much Casey gives of herself.  She embodies strength, honesty and friendship and since that first meeting, I have hugged her when she cried, she hugged me when I cried AGAIN, she has seen me in my bathing suit and I have arranged the marriage of my son and her first-born child.  For real.

She has openly shared her battle with depression and has probably saved some people in the process.  I respect Casey for that and for so much more.

As she prepares for the birth of her second child, I want her to know that I’m thinking of her, I’m proud of her and I’m so glad that she’s my friend.  Pregnancy has not been easy for Casey, but she has managed to endure.

But, still…I hate her a little because next to her, I really do look like a 300 lb. Samoan.

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Almost one month ago, I met some friends for dinner.  There was Amy, Christina, Wendy…oh, and ho-hum, Ree Drummond.

Yes, it has taken me nearly a month to tell you that I went to dinner with The Pioneer Woman; the N.Y. Times best-selling author and one of Forbes’ top 25 Web Celebs.  You’re lucky I’m telling you at all, because I am wildly popular and busy.  Okay, just busy.

Ree was in town for a book signing and joined us for a fabulous dinner where we had a lot of wine and I drank Ree under the table.

Or, maybe she was just looking for the lens cap I dropped.

There were also cookies as big as your face.

And, then we went for ice cream.  Splendid ice cream.

We talked, laughed and took a bundle of pictures.  Like more than I took when my kids were born.

This is the one where I told everyone to make a funny face and the only person who heard me, was me.

One of the best things about blogging is how special it is to hang out with the friends you meet online.

But, the wine and cookies as big as your face aren’t so bad either.

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