My phone had a very trying weekend. I don’t know if that is an apt description. I think it was more like an extremely trying weekend. Let’s back up to Friday.
Friday afternoon, I had the good sense to pull my photos off my phone. I’m not sure what made me decide to do it, but I did. I tend to take a lot of photos of Kiera, my dogs, cat and husband. Truth be told, the amount of pictures are taken in that order. Not that I don’t love taking pictures of Aaron, but he doesn’t do a lot of “cute” things. Like for example, dressing as a beautiful ballerina for Halloween or sitting in a too small box. Hmm… Now that I read that last sentence over, I’m grateful that he doesn’t do those things. So, we will just move right along with the rest of the story before I make things more awkward.
As we were leaving from picking up Kiera from her grandparents’ house on Friday night, we were met with a downpour of rain. We huddled in the garage for a minute deciding the best course of action, considering we were parked on the street. Aaron picked Kiera up and opened the umbrella that we had brought with us. I stood behind him and we all huddled under the umbrella and began to slowly make our way out of the garage. The first step out of the garage, I was instantly hit with a cold wave of water pouring down my back. The rain was flowing off the umbrella and hitting the only place I was not covered by the umbrella. I managed another five to seven steps and another eight to ten gallons of cold rain down my back before I yelled, “Love you” and took off at a dead run to the truck, leaving Aaron and Kiera to stay dry under the umbrella.Thankfully, my husband had the keys in his hand and hit the unlock button before I reached the truck. I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket and slid into the truck. A couple of minutes later, Aaron and Kiera climbed in and we headed home.
A short while later, I went to plug my phone in and let it charge. It would not charge. I tried a couple of different chargers before I started to get irritated. I finally resorted to restarting it and that is when I almost panicked. Ok. There was a little panic. When my phone turned back on, it had code words that only a tech person would understand. I understood just enough to know that I was probably fixing to lose everything on my phone. The part that terrified me the most was losing ALL my phone numbers. Years of Brownwood Reunion volunteers, customers, family… numbers that I am not even sure who they belong to… I was fixing to lose all those numbers.
After refraining from throwing the phone, Aaron took it, looked it over and suggested I take the battery out. I pulled the phone apart and discovered water inside. I dried it off and let it set a while. Amazingly enough, after an hour drying, it worked.
Saturday, we started out relaxing a little around the house. We made a quick run around town after lunch and came home. On the car ride home, Kiera asked if she could play some games on my phone. I handed it over and she began to read her Bible. We came in the house and Aaron and I started putting up groceries, Kiera still playing on my phone.
A few minutes later, Kiera came in the kitchen. She was clutching my phone to her chest. “Mama.” She said quietly.
“What’s up, baby girl?” I asked turning to face her.
“I need to tell you something and I think I should whisper it in your ear.” She said, still clutching my phone.
I leaned down and pushed my hair out of the way as she whispered. “I dropped your phone in the toilet.”
Abruptly standing up, I took my phone and began to take the case off as fast as I could to determine the damage. Pulling the back off the phone, I saw a little water inside. I grabbed a bag of rice and after pulling the phone all the way apart, I shoved it in the bag of rice.
I assured Kiera that it was ok and that I knew it was an accident. We decided that my phone would be better off not visiting the bathroom again and we went to take a nap.
After nap, I took my phone out of the rice and put it back together while holding my breath. Once again, it started up and was perfectly fine. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. My phone numbers were once again safe.
Now, let’s fast forward to that evening. Things had settled down around the house. I was taking care of laundry and Aaron was in Kiera’s room putting her to bed.
I laid my phone down on the dryer as I switched the laundry over from the washer to the dryer. I pulled the lint filter out of the top of the dryer. As I pulled, I bumped a shoe that was sitting on top of the dryer and then I heard a splash… Seriously, people, I can’t make this stuff up.
I quickly looked down to see my phone at the bottom of the full dog water bowl. For the third time in 24 hours, I pulled my case off and took my phone apart. I wiped the water from the inside and stuffed my phone in the invaluable bag of rice. Just as I finished sealing the bag, Kiera walked into the kitchen.
“Daddy needs you.” She softly said, rubbing her eyes.
I walked into Kiera’s room and Aaron said with just a hint of aggravation. “Kiera needs her medicine. I texted you, do you not have your phone?”
Beyond frustrated at this point, I crossly replied, “Why no. I do not have my phone! It is in a bag of rice after it fell in the dogs’ water bowl!”
His face reflected sheer disbelief. I would have reacted the same way. I gave Kiera her medicine and helped her back in bed by her Daddy to finish their bedtime story.
I left her room, washed my face and climbed in bed. At this point, I was done worrying about the possible loss of phone numbers.
Amazingly enough, Sunday morning after I picked rice out of my phone, it started up and has had no problems at all. I was surprised and relieved by the time Sunday night rolled around that my phone had no other incidents.
For now, the bag of rice is back in its container marked “for phone” and everything is well with my phone. I am starting a list of places that my phone is not allowed to be near. After the weekend my phone and I had, I might be better off with a landline.
