Okay, that isn’t a for sure statement.  Except, I really think it may be true.  (That wasn’t wishy washy at all, was it?)

I have been living at home since the middle of May.  I haven’t been home this long since leaving at the beginning of August 2006.  The time of my life I wish I could go back to?  The summer I lived in Indianapolis with my boyfriend Kenny and forever roommate Ed.

And I’m beginning to think it was because of my lack of internet.

Evidence A
The first bit of evidence here is in that time in my life I recall being perfectly content with my sleeping habits.  I have years of journals on how awful my sleeping habits are.  For a time in high school, I kept track of the time I would go to sleep and it was just embarrassing.  I still have this problem.  Currently, it is 3:26 AM.

Kenny is a morning person.  When he’s working out on a regular basis, he’s ready to pass out at 9 PM.  When he’s not working out on a regular basis, 11 PM is his latest “awake” time.  Once he’s tired, there’s no bouncing back.  I have given up on talking to him after this point as it’s like talking to a brick wall.  It’s very effective in defusing my energy after I have gotten over the tired hump and am in hyper mode.  Without the internet to keep me occupied, when he went to bed, I went to bed.  Plus there’s that whole cuddle factor, so it’s much more fun to go to sleep at the same time then after he’s passed out.

Evidence B
The other bit of evidence is the amount of free time I had.  I remember having a life outside of work.  In fact, what I remember more about that summer is my time outside of work, despite spending more hours at work.  There was biking (to work, from work, to the grocery, random distances), grilling, making dinner dates once a week with Kenny, time spent window shopping, time doing actual necessary shopping, time at the laundry mat, and occasional weekend visits home.

This summer, I felt like my time was packed and that I didn’t have time to leisurely do things like that outside of a good chunk of weekend lake trips.

Okay, I’ve been sitting on that sentence for a bit, and I believe family had more to do with this difference than internet.  In Indy, Kenny and I had no family; in Fort Wayne, our entire family is around and we were both living with our parents.  The lack of free time was because we were splitting it up between our houses and families.

However, I still feel that when Kenny and I are outside of Fort Wayne, I still would waste much time on the internet as I too often did when Kenny and I were hanging out by ourselves this summer.  I’d waste time and waste time, and then Kenny would be ready to sleep.  Then I would be mad at myself, because what I really wanted to do was hang and converse with him.  Plus, there’s that whole lack of sleep thing again since many times I’d ask him to stay up a bit longer after shutting my laptop.

Evidence C
Finally, I think I was at least a bit more productive having to plan my uses of the internet.  Having to rely on Panera and the library, I used the internet minimally.  Ed and I had some planning times at Panera for WiCS, there was the booking and registering for our first GHC (exciting times!), ordering books, and catching up on email.  Getting lost in my feeds?  Not really an option, since I hate spending a lot of money on minimal amounts of food, so I felt guilt about using Panera internet on the times where Ed just got a drink.

Verdict
So, when Kenny and I move out on our own together (which won’t occur until summer of 2011 at the earliest), I’m thinking about forgoing internet.  The only thing is (1) video chats with my family and (2) whether or not to get a smart phone with a data plan.  If I get a smart phone, I’m going to go all out and get an iPhone, Pre, Droid, or the like.  (Maybe. I did like the internet on my LG Dare.)  However, I can’t decide if that’ll be just as much of a time suck.  Pure lack of internet seems unwise with online bills and emergencies such as me not having my bosses phone number, but knowing her email and me being sick-o and needing to let her know that no way was I coming in.  (Ed’s phone saved me that night.)

Maybe just getting internet on my LG Dare or similar level of phone would do it.  Just a browser; no games or applications to suck up my time/isolate me when in a room with others.

PS – Ed was around these summers.  We spent many a weekend devoted to decompressing and marathon watching movies.  She also went salsa dancing.  A lot.  Which I still haven’t seen her do for real.  Someday.  Someday.