Another birthday come and gone...

How in the world did 64 years pass by so quickly?  Not a complaint, mind you, just an observation. I've learned from my 103-yr-old Aunt Dolly not to quibble about every year you're given because each and every year is a blessing. Well, as of yesterday, I've been blessed sixty-four times.

My husband and I went out to lunch yesterday, then went to the local phone store because I had it in my mind to get a new cell phone for my birthday. We were in the store for over an hour, with a very nice girl who explained all the bells and whistles on the new Smart Phones, iPhones, Androids, and what-have-you.  By the time she was done with the explanations, I decided that maybe I'm not smart enough for a Smart Phone. Possibly, my little flip-phone is all I need, even though sending text messages drives me completely nuts because there is no keyboard on the flip-phone and I have to use the number-buttons.

I literally had a headache by the time we walked out of the phone store, and that was due to my inability to grasp all the technology that's available on the new phones. Do I really need a phone to capture my eMails? To sort my photos into galleries? To connect me with Google Maps in case I get lost? To log me into the Food Network if I want a new recipe for brownies? To take videos of Savannah as she plays in the dog park? To pay my bills and check my bank balance?

All I wanted was a slightly newer phone with a simple keyboard so I can type out text messages without having to deal with the number-buttons on the flip-phone, and some sort of phone that would give me access to Pinterest.  Was that too much to ask? Apparently so, because most of the phones out there at the moment aren't that simple. (And what the heck is an Android anyway?)

Well, give me a blessed break. I didn't get a phone. I told the nice girl in the store that I would need to think about the available options, and I told my husband that I didn't want to pay for a phone that would give me all those 'apps' that I probably would never use.  I don't take pictures so I have no photos to put into galleries, and the photos that my cousins send me can just as easily be saved on my lap-top.  I don't need  my phone to be connected to the Food Network, Google Maps, my bank account, someone named Siri, or anyone related to E.T.

I just wanted a simple upgrade on a phone that wasn't a flip-phone. I may go back to the store next week. They had these cute little "Blackberry"-ish looking phones that had a real keyboard. The screen was a little bigger than that on my flip-phone and the Blackberry-ish thing didn't look so intimidating. I really don't want a phone that's smarter than I am. Is that such a bad thing?

For the moment, I still have my flip-phone. You should see the looks I get when I'm in a store and my phone rings (the music is "When You Wish Upon A Star") and I take the phone out of my purse and everyone looks at it as I flip it open and I can see that little smirk at the edges of their lips. They probably think I'm as antiquated as my cute little phone.

Oh well. Happy Birthday to me and my flip-phone.