I love my phone! I hate my phone!

I often say these same sentences many, many times in a day, and I think you can all agree. I have a love/hate relationship with this little monster and I thought I’d take you through my thoughts over the last couple of days.

I LOVE MY PHONE!
I just got an email alerting me of an awesome sale at Old Navy. I got a shirt for my son for $2! Are you kidding me? Never would have known about that sale without that email.

I HATE MY PHONE!
I’m trying to enjoy dinner with my family and I made the mistake of checking my emails. I just got three that were work-related. Now I’m scarfing down my burger because I can’t relax when I know things need done.

I LOVE MY PHONE!
Just had a text party with my bff. It was just back and forth ridiculousness, complete with photos. Love staying connected and acting goofy, even if it can’t always be in the physical sense.

I HATE MY PHONE!
Some weird number called and upon Googling it, I can’t find out who it is. I hate this! Who was it? Wrong number? Telemarketer? Ellen DeGeneres? Should have just answered.

I LOVE MY PHONE!
Just took the cutest pics of my son and sent them via email and text in seconds. No plugging in cords and uploading. Easy and fast.

I HATE MY PHONE!
Unrecognized number came up, but thought it was the doctors confirming an appointment since it was a 412 number. Fail. Just spent 15 minutes on the phone with a rep from a magazine trying to get me to buy an ad.

I LOVE MY PHONE!
Left the doctors, had never been to this office before, and made a wrong turn. Pulled over in a parking lot, put on my Google Maps and within seconds, I was back on track.

I HATE MY PHONE!
I just went on Twitter and saw something about a show I still had on the DVR. Damn! If you don’t watch things live, you have a slim chance of not hearing about it within 24 hours. Geez, give me a minute!

I LOVE MY PHONE!
Just compared our weather to Atlantic City, checked my blog stats, put a few appointments in the calendar, and told a couple of people Happy Birthday on Facebook, all while sitting on my couch watching the show I should have watched live.

I HATE MY PHONE!
I keep putting my pass code in wrong because I’m doing it too fast and now I’m locked out. Why is a minute SOOOOOO  long?

I LOVE MY PHONE!
Hopped in the car, put on the Bluetooth and streamed *N Sync Christmas album from iTunes, then answered a call from my mom while driving, never taking my hands off the wheel.

I HATE MY PHONE!
My wireless Internet isn’t working and I’m so overdue for a phone, I’m still rocking 3G. Internet is going slower than the last day of work before Christmas vacation.

As much as I love technology and I try to embrace it, part of me will always hate it. I hate being ON all the time. And it’s a lie when people say, “Oh just turn your phone off.”

Are you kidding me? And have a heart attack? We all know we can’t function without our phones. We feel lost, naked.

Who checks their phones at least once during a movie in the theater to make sure nothings going on. Who wakes up in the middle of the night and scrolls through Facebook or checks emails to make sure they didn’t miss anything. I know I do.

When our phone is off, or breaks, we feel like we have to find another way to tell people how to contact us, via email or Facebook, because we are that afraid of them not being able to get a hold of us.

In the old times, people waited weeks for a letter. There was no instant updating. Dinner time was dinner time. Family time was family time. You would get the news when it got to you, and if you didn’t get it, it didn’t really matter. Life was so much simpler.

I got a Christmas letter from a dear friends’ wife this year, and it was my favorite card. With these picture cards, which I myself send, we don’t even write a message anymore. I wish I would have taken the time to let everyone know how much I appreciate them in my life.

Tonight, hot cocoa with whipped cream, and a Christmas movie with my boys. I’m leaving the iPhone off…at least off to the side, for tonight. 🙂