Unplugged

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"Putting your phone away and paying attention to those talking to you? There's an APP for that...it's called RESPECT." ~author Unknown

Our pregnant daughter sat happily devouring the pizza she'd ordered after work. Cheese on one side, sausage on the other, extra sauce. She said, "I like my pizza swimming." I crinkled my nose in disgust. "You are NOT my child," I told her. She just laughed. She said she'd been craving pizza all day and it was clear that she was thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to feed said craving. "That smells really good," her father said, eying her as if she might share (...later I caught him cutting off a small slice before bed). He turned to me, "I wish we'd had pizza now." "Me, too," I agreed. "But not that mess she's eating." The next day he texted me asking if I'd like to pick a pizza place for a date night dinner. Worked for me! No cooking. No dishes. And I'd secretly been craving pizza all week, so it seemed like the perfect win-win. I texted back, "Sure." He replied, "Choose any place you'd like."

"So, where are we going?" my husband asked when he walked in from work that evening. I'd decided to check out the pizza in one of the oldest Italian restaurants in town. It was relatively close and I'd never had their pizza before, so I figured it would be somewhat of a "new" experience. Vincenzo's is a family owned place that has been around our hometown for many years, opening its doors in 1964. In fact, it used to be the only Italian restaurant to speak of. The current owner attended school with me when we were growing up. The atmosphere is quiet and elegant, a perfect place for a birthday celebration (...as was the case at the long table next to ours), a family gathering, and of course date night dining. Or wait staff was wonderful, and the owner came by near the end of our meal to ask how everything was, making the experience all the more warm and hospitable. The pizza? Out of this world! The toppings were very fresh, the crust light and airy. It was a polished setting for good food, conversation, and friendly, efficient service. On the way out, we passed a booth of six...every single person engaged in something on their cell phones! I shook my head, disgusted, thinking, "What a missed opportunity!"

Whatever your weekend has in store, I hope you will all take time to really connect to the people in your lives. In my opinion, that is one of the most important things we can do with one another. We are constantly bombarded with text messages, Facebook games, ipads, notebooks, etc. and completely lose track of the world around us, trading in our humanity by 1's and 0's. I don't know what my weekend plans are yet, but they will NOT include anything technology related. One of my main goals is to have a weekend completely unplugged!