Incommunicado

Sorry for the blogging hiatus.  I've been without a cell phone and we have been without internet for about a week now.  To blame?  Apple, AT&T, and our neighbors.  Not necessarily in that order.

It all started when Stuart and I decided to continue our process of leaving and cleaving by switching my cell phone to his plan.  Enter AT&T.  We go over to the store conveniently located by our house and after walking around the store a bit and asking some questions, we decided on the iPhone 4!!  And I must admit, it was a pretty easy job the store lady had in convincing us on our purchase.  Of course, they didn't actually have any phones in the store, so they said they would call us when it came in.

In the meantime, our really nice neighbors with the really loud dog and often-crying toddler moved out!  (This is not the same neighbor, mind you, who rolled around outside in the dirt with his shirt off, body slamming himself on cars.  That story is for another day).  No sooner had they shut their front door, than did we try and get online to check something and, alas, our always trusty borrowed NetGear connection was gone!

Well, that was bad news, but a couple of days later my iPhone arrived!  It was beautiful and shiny and sleek and I had a whole lot of fun one day installing apps and playing with it.  Later that day I decided to put all my music and lectures onto my iPhone to accompany me on my soon-to-occur call nights on pediatrics.  When I plugged the phone into the computer, my phone completely died.  Here's where Apple comes into play.  I had a lovely conversation with one of their representatives where he informed me (after an hour) that the phone must be replaced.  I could either wait 7-10 days for a new one, or have $500 temporarily charged to my credit card for them to overnight me a phone.  Stuart had a small heart attack when he heard that last one, so to sum it all up, I have been living in the 1980's now for a week.  And of course they could not re-activate my no-longer-compatible-with-AT&T Verizon phone.

However, I must say that life without a cell phone isn't all that bad.  I don't get telemarketers calling me to reduce my debt.  I am not constantly checking my phone for messages and emails that I must answer in an OCD-like fashion.  With all that said, I'm hoping to get my new phone tomorrow and I am pretty excited about it.  Hopefully this one won't break.

Since that was kind of a boring story, here are some brief fun  tidbits about life lately:

 1. Stuart and some of our church friends built a large slip 'n slide that ramped sliders into a muddy pond which was probably full of water moccasins and typhoid.  A good time was had by all, and Stuart made a really good splash.

2. Today I drove halfway home from work with a little green lizard on the hood of my car.  The Geico kind.  I have no idea how it got there and also have no idea what happened to it after it decided to jump ship before the tunnel.

3. I started pediatrics and am slowly learning how to interact with children.  It's kind of weird.  Also I am keeping a mental log of how many different germs and viruses I have already come into contact with in a week.  I'll be shocked if I don't get a stomach virus soon!