Over the weekend I made one heck of a road trip. Brooke and I left out of my hometown and drove to Dallas on Friday evening (about a two hour drive) to spend the night with my husband's grandmother, "Nanny" then we all three got up bright and early Saturday morning and drove down to Houston to visit my sister in law, Jennifer, who is ill and in the hospital. After spending the day visiting we made the half hour trip to my brother in law, Mark's apartment in Baytown, but not before stopping in to visit a family member (one that I had never met of course) in Pasadena. Needless to say when we got to the apartment to settle in for the night I was more than a little tired! To spite the frazzled nerves from Dallas AND Houston traffic in one day, and my body's desire to lay down and sleep, Nanny and I had planned to clean Mark and Jennifer's apartment for them. So we went into the apartment and set about our tasks of folding laundry, vacuuming and mopping floors, putting away dishes and other household chores that had gone unnoticed in the two weeks since Jennifer had been in the hospital. About an hour into my task I noticed that my phone was not in my pocket. I thought it must be in the car and casually walked out to check. Panic didn't really set in until about ten minutes and three trips to the car later when I finally decided it was a safe bet that it was not in fact in the car after all. I then proceeded to retrace my steps and flip the halfway clean house upside in search of my missing link to the outside world. Now to truly understand my dilemma you have to understand my obsession with phones! Some people love shoes, some love clothes, some love cars, some even love furniture and home decor.... I LOVE cell phones. I had a "Smartphone" and was actually contemplating trading it in on the latest and greatest iPhone when my contract came up for renewal in the next few months. However I was beginning to have a whole new appreciation for the one that I had now that the likelihood that I would ever see it again was fading like the wind. I used Nanny's phone and called my phone number incessantly walking around the apartment and parking lot looking for any sign of the bright screen or blinking indicator light on my lost friend. An hour later, still nothing. I called Mark and had him look up the number to my phone company so that I could call and report it missing, then it hit me. I had recently downloaded an app on my phone that promised to give me the precise location of my phone if a special text was sent to it. So I gave the code to Mark and he texted my number and sure enough a response a few minutes later. It was a link to a google map with a little red pin icon in the spot where my phone was supposed to be. He did this several times, the phone seemed to literally have taken legs. it was supposedly in the parking lot, then in the grass, then against a tree, then near the air conditioning unit. Each time I would go outside, full of hope, and search the latest map location, but again and again I was disappointed to find nothing. Now I don't know if the app just didn't work, or if there was some sort of little leprechaun man who was running around outside with my phone, but something did not work!
So I admitted to myself the cold hard truth that my phone was not coming back and I needed to move forward. I called the phone company and had them put a temporary hold on the phone.
The next day I headed back to Dallas to take Nanny home, then drove home, sans my Smartphone. That was the weirdest feeling. I went for years driving across town and halfway across the country with no cell phone, however, now I felt somehow incomplete without it now. I kept thinking, what if I break down, what if I have a flat tire, what if I get lost.... well I did have the GPS, I didn't loose that! (although anyone who knows me knows that is not always a guarantee that I won't get lost!)
Well needless to say, I did get home safe and sound. When I got there my sweet husband had just gotten back from my sweet friends house and she had given him her old Blackberry for me to borrow until I got another one. I couldn't get the number dialed fast enough to get that phone activated. Although, I quickly realized that I had a grand total of two phone numbers memorized. Mine and my husbands! Thankfully my friend had left our mutual friend's phone numbers programmed in her phone for me and I was able to go through my husband's phone and get several phone numbers from his phone as well.
I called the next day and filed an insurance claim on my phone to get a replacement. It was processed immediately and shipped next day air to be received the next day. You would think that would make me happy right..... not so much! I whined and complained that her Blackberry didn't have the capabilities that my Droid had and that I couldn't access my COUPONS and print them with this phone (yes we are primitive we don't have Internet service at home.... for that matter we don't have cable TV either; but that's another blog post!)
When my replacement phone was scheduled to arrive I was like a kid who woke up too early on Christmas morning. I watched out the door, I called every five minutes to check the status attached to my tracking number. I called to speak with a representative at UPS to make sure they had correct directions to my house, and then I looked out the door some more. I heard a truck outside and I looked out the door just in time to see that big brown truck go sailing past my house WITHOUT STOPPING! I immediately called my friend who lives up the street from me and asked her to flag down the truck as he drove by her house (yes I'm crazy like that... don't judge me!) Of course the driver didn't see her and kept on his route out of my neighborhood so I proceeded to call UPS again. I told the representative that the driver had not left the package and had the nerve to move on with his route when he didn't find my house on the first try. So the ever so sweet lady looked up my address and proceeded to tell me that the status showed to be "delivered" and there was a note that said "left at side door". Well that was all fine and great except I didn't have a side door, and I knew he didn't leave it at my house because my driveway is about a quarter mile long and the only place to turn around is in my back yard and he had certainly NOT been there! So I decided that I would walk to my neighbor's house to see if it had been left there and sure enough, at their side door on the porch, there it was. That cardboard box was shining at me like it was made of pure gold. I don't know that I would have been happier if Ed McMahon had showed up on my front door (if he could find it that is... don't ask the UPS man for directions!) I quickly told the UPS lady that I found the package and thanked her for her time.
Well, a couple of phone calls later and a quick drive down the street to get a good enough signal to properly activate my phone I'm back in business.
So, are there any lessons to learn from this experience? I realized that my happiness for those two days seemed to be wrapped up in my phone. OUCH! Without it I was moody, and miserable. Even when I got a loaner I was not happy because it was not what I wanted. OUCH again! Can you say spoiled? Well my husband did, and he was right.
Not only that, but am I as dependant on Jesus as I am on my phone? When I don't have my daily time with Him do I feel lost and out of place? OUCH AGAIN!!!
So what have I learned? One, quit being such a BRAT! Be happy with what I have and realize how completely and totally, undeservedly blessed I am. Two, keep up with things!!!
Be blessed friends!
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