I will never forget the first mobile phone I used. It was a bag phone with pieces and parts that looked much like an old-fashioned corded phone like the ones that were tethered to the wall.

Well, this bag phone I used belonged to my dad, and he would let me borrow it when I was on the road by myself. It was his way of making sure that if something happened to my car, I would be only a call away from getting help.

The growth of cell phone technology is amazing, and I have grown up to now own a “smart phone” which can even function as a miniature computer just to name one of several things we could never accomplish with the bag phone!

I appreciate the cool things cell phones do these days because my smart phone has made my life easier on some occasions.  At the same time, I admit that I see problems with these devices, too.

Don’t get me wrong, I have always enjoyed visiting with friends and family on the phone. In fact, it is probably one of my biggest deterrents in getting my chores done because I like talking.  With these incredible devices, there is never a time or a place that some form of communication is not available to me.

I can talk while I am driving down the road, grocery shopping or exercising, I can even pay bills, listen to music, watch movies and keep up with what is going on with my friends and family through Facebook.

Some of you may think that being plugged-in 24/7 is the best thing since sliced bread, and it is for me when it comes to needing to reach one of my children, but honestly there are times I just need a break from being connected.

There are times I choose not to carry my cell phone, not because I am avoiding any particular caller, but just because I need to have some uninterrupted “Terri” time.

My gardening time is sacred. When it is my time to bond with Mother Nature, I do not like being interrupted. For example, say I get engrossed with my outside project, and my husband or daughter interrupt me with my cell phone having answered it for me from inside the house.  Let’s just say I can be a little testy.

I also find cell phones annoying when I see or experience people sitting at a restaurant table more engrossed with their phones than with the company they are keeping.

People!  Eye-to-eye contact with one another is NOT overrated!  But look who is shaking her finger!  I admit that there have been times I should have laid my phone down, too.

When I reach over to my nightstand and grab up the latest novel I am reading and can’t even get through one chapter before my eyes start to close, I know I have looked at Facebook too long.