Overload

Every once in awhile I rebel against technology. That doesn't mean that I boycott it totally, because HOW WOULD I LIVE if I did, so instead I direct all my techy frustration toward one particular thing. I'll decide for awhile that I'm not interested in checking email, or I'm not going to carry my cell phone, or I'm not going to surf the internet. Or, in the case of the last couple of weeks, that I'm not going to check my voicemail.

Voicemail is really, really on my nerves.

Because I feel pulled in about 65 different directions right now, voicemail is something that I feel like I can control. I can look at the blinking red light on our phone at home - AND IGNORE IT. I can pull out my cell phone, see the words "New voice mail" - AND IGNORE IT. I'm not saying that it's a practical solution. I'm not even saying that it makes sense. But it makes me feel better.

Now please don't misunderstand - I don't know many people who love techy things more than I do. I can spend hours tweaking my blog template, answering emails, writing blog posts, talking on my cell phone, clicking through the TiVo. I like things that beep. I love pushing buttons (literally - not so much figuratively). But every once in awhile I start to feel so "connected" that I have to pull the plug on something. And for the last couple of weeks, that something has been voicemail. (I am returning people's calls, though, because thanks to caller ID, I know who called even when I don't listen to messages. Lesson: there's no escaping the phone.)

David and I had a little, um, discussion (read: argument) this morning because he feels like it's irresponsible of me to not listen to messages. He says that there could be a message that someone died and we wouldn't know - and while I think that's probably a little extreme, I see his point.. And maybe it IS irresponsible of me. However, I think we can pretty conclusively deduce that, whether it's a result of irresponsibility or, you know, STRESS, I'm feeling a little overloaded right now. OTHERWISE I WOULDN'T BE IGNORING THE VOICEMAIL.

All that to say: I'm going to unplug for a few days. From everything. Except for my family.

And in the irony department, this morning I pulled my cell phone out of my purse - and I had six (!) missed calls and three new messages. One message was from Bubba, with whom I've been engaged in a record-setting round of phone tag, and two messages were from Emma Kate, who was concerned that 1) I hadn't answered her email from earlier in the afternoon and 2) she hadn't talked to me all day and was wondering if everything was okay. I couldn't help but laugh.

So yes, I'm okay. And yes, I'm unplugging. I'm sure I'll make some phone calls; I'm sure I'll do some writing; but I'm taking the fact that my husband and I had AN ARGUMENT ABOUT VOICEMAIL to mean that things may be a little too tech-heavy in our house right now. I'm thinking that maybe voicemail won't stress me out so much if I take care of some of the things in my house that do not beep and ring. Like furniture that needs to be dusted and magazines that need to be read and food that needs to be cooked. You know, Ye Olden Hobbies.

And in the meantime, if you're looking for something to do around here, the archives over there in the sidebar are chock-full-o-posts. I'll even recommend a few:

The One That Reflects My Current State Of Mind
The One That I Need To Read Right Now
The One That Reminds Me That Blog-Wise, I'm Fit As A Fiddle
The One That Reminds Me What Really Matters
...and, finally, the one that has changed how I feel about the word "Vlasic" forever...
The One With The Misunderstanding

See y'all in a few.