You know we have all had it - the dream about being naked. Running around and hiding because we don't have any clothes on. Well that is how I felt today. I felt naked, or exposed, or missing a limb because my trusty security blanket was lost.
It is so funny that I felt so deprived and vulnerable because I hardly use my phone. My calling plan allows 700 minutes for both Chris and I and between us both I think we use an average of 30 minutes a month. Half the time I forget to recharge it so it is not working anyway. But it is always there for me just in case I need it. I mean it would be tragic if Chris couldn't get a hold of me at the grocery store and I forgot to buy his favorite potato chips that are on sell.
Seriously! What if I had not had it the day I picked up Sean from preschool and a couple of my friends were running late and needed me to keep their kids for a few minutes while they arrived to pick them up. :-) The poor kids would have been escorted back into the building and the parents severly reprimanded with dirty looks. Instead I got to host 6 preschool kids in my van while we all sang "Wheels on the Bus," and played musical chairs. It was the funnist moment I had had all day.
My tragic nightmare started as a result of going out to the movies last night. Before the movie started I set my phone on vibrate and then tucked it under my legs. (Just incase the babysitter had an emergency and needed to get a hold of me - I'm always such a positive thinker!) The movie ended and we gathered up our coats and popcorn bucket (very important detail as we had yet to get our free refill). We were also with friends, so my mind was occupied by adult conversation instead of lementing on how my kids and the poor babysitter were doing. Usually the first thing I do after the movie is to put my phone back on regular mode, so I can hear Mozart calling me if there is an emergency, and then put it back in my pocket or purse. But last night I didn't remember my trusty friend at all. Just let the poor phone drop onto the floor as we made a hasty exit from the theater.
I should have known something awful was about to happen. My premonition? Just before entering the theater I visited the little girls room and the zipper on my favorite pair of jeans (you know, the kind your husband says you look really good in) busted and I was left exposed. Thank goodness I was wearing a long shirt!!!!
It wasn't until this morning that I even realized I had abandoned my security blanket. I had a photography class at the church this morning and as I grabbed all my stuff to leave I couldn't find my cell phone anywhere. I searched and searched but to no avail. I knew I had had it at the movies but hadn't remembered seeing it since that point. So I guessed that I must have left it at the movies.
After the class, I asked my friend, who we had gone to the movies with, if she would search her car in case it had fallen out of my pocket on our way home. She looked, but the answer was no. When I returned home I called the theater - and again the answer was no. They had not found a cell phone. I started to panic partly because I didn't know where my phone was and mostly because I just couldn't remember what had happened to it. The thought of old age and loosing my mind just made me even more aggrevated.
I tried to go throughout my day normally but I couldn't. I felt so naked and vulnerable. I didn't even go down to the kids museum, even though I had promised to take my kids to see the tooth fairy who was visiting between 11am and 1pm. I was too stressed and struck with the fear of needing my cell phone but not being able to use it. How could I ever ask anyone else for help if I were in an emergency? You just don't do that now days do you?! (Okay, that and I was also over scheduled and had too many other things going on.)
It was almost time for us to leave for Chad's basketball game. I called the theater again in great hope that it had shown up. But again the answer was no. Then just as we are leaving the phone rings - it is the movie theater and they have found my phone. Hallelujah!!!!!!! I couldn't believe the relief I felt!!! I wasn't so crazy after all - just a little absent minded.
So, after Chad's basketball game, which was at Glover Middle School we swung on over to Northtown Mall. Chris dropped me off in the parking lot and I ran in to retrieve my long lost friend as fast as legs would take me (and also not so fast that I looked too dorky infront of all the smoking teenagers aligning the ramp to the entrance).
My phone was waiting for me and I could feel the electricity flow bewteen us as we touched yet again (okay - way cheesey but all too fun to write). United again at last and hopefully never to be seperated again. I held my precious phone in my hand the whole way home. It is now tucked snuggly and safely into my coat pocket once more. And if I am really good I will remember to give it a little recharging tonight before I go to bed.
Just think, only a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to write this story. I was not yet the proud owner of a cell phone. How quickly we fall into technology addictions! I don't think I could go cold turkey again. 18 hours without my phone fix was quite enough for me. I don't ever want to go through withdrawl symptoms again.
The girls get heart-picture holders and piggybanks.
