Attached

Vacation is still going well. Today my niece woke me up at seven to put on makeup. I got her a really cheap makeup set from Wal-Mart (next to the Barbie’s in the toy aisle, $4) for her birthday, and she really likes to put it on other people, but she has a tough time finding willing victims. She looked so wanting, though, that I simply couldn’t refuse. I then had a really long shower to remove two eyeshadow induced black eyes. Quite the sight, I assure you.  Maintaining the theme of humoring the children, we then went to a local park, where Niece showed Nephew that she could hang upside down from the monkey bars and he couldn’t. We then went home for a game of Monopoly, which is Niece’s favorite, even though she has trouble counting money. She’s just six. Her brother completely bankrupted her in the end. To avoid the tears of losing, she usually gets to be on someone else’s ‘team’ after that. It was a good game. We had fun. After that came several rousing games of Yahtzee, another favorite. Then I told the kids I needed a nap, when really I just wanted to sneak up to my room to check email and Facebook and such. But alas. I had forgotten. We suffer from a lack of internet.

Since moving away, I had forgotten the wonder that is not having internet 24/7. The house that my parents live in is so old (early-mid 1800s, like much of PEI) that the walls are about a foot thick. This causes the wireless internet to be contained to about three rooms, which are both home office spaces and the living room. My bedroom from high school is now one of the offices, where conveniently there is internet but no bed. The guestroom is the opposite. Sumptuous mattress, no Wi-Fi. And forget about cell service! My poor smartphone just can’t get a signal in the house at all. For a moment, I was annoyed, but then, I was almost relieved. Back in the city, I’ve become so accustomed to falling asleep by the glow of the laptop. It’s comforting to be able to really unplug. I can go out for coffee and leave my phone behind, because who really needs to get in touch with me? Simply lovely. I didn’t think I’d ever be one of those uber plugged-in people, and I’m not, but I’m farther on my way than I would like.  Best turn back now before I get too far down that road.

After that it was time for school supply shopping, and my phone was left safely in my room.

Are you guys a little too attached to the network? Could you leave your phone or laptop behind for a few hours? A few days?