Death by Hot Tub

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (mom2my6pack) or have friended me on Facebook know that I've been traveling a bit this month. Between my 3 short trips and getting everything ready for back-to-school time, Ive kinda been MIA here. But now (WHEW!) the kids are back in school and I'm staying put for a while.

I went to New York for one night to learn about the Smart Choices program, then to Chicago for one night to cook and brainstorm in the Kraft kitchens (more on that to come), then, most recently, to Minneapolis to check out the General Mills kitchens and photo studio (more on that to come too). In other words, I've done nothing but eat for 2 weeks.

It's a little chilly here in Chicago, so I pulled on a pair of jeans today for the first time in months. Actually, let me rephrase that. I attempted to pull on a pair of jeans today. Ohmygosh. I can't breathe, I'm pretty sure I've completely cut off all circulation to my legs, and I'm quite certain I'll need medical assistance, and likely the jaws of life, to get them off, but I refuse to admit defeat (and the fact that I've gained weight my jeans have shrunk).

This is the same reason I refuse to pack a bathing suit when I travel. I know the hotels that I stay in have pools. I love to swim. But, 50 fellow camera-toting bloggers are not going to see me in a suit. So, 2 nights ago, in Minnesota, my awesome, admirable, sweet friend Liz from ThisFullHouse and I decided that the hot tub in the hotel looked really inviting. We decided to sit on the edge of the tub and dangle our feet in the water. After a day of traveling, the warm, swirling water felt wonderful and made us long to hop in. So we did. In capris and t-shirts. What the heck? It was late at night. There were only a couple other awesome bloggers around. No big deal, right? Except I had my phone in my pocket. My newish iPhone. In my pocket. In the hot tub. That's right. It was probably a good ten minutes before I got out and realized what I'd done. (Wine may or may not have been involved.)

Now I know sometimes a phone that's had a little water damage, can dry out. Opening the phone, taking out the battery and card and putting it in a container of rice can sometimes pull the moisture out of it. However, after I steeped my phone in very hot water for 10 minutes, I knew there would be no reviving it. I killed it. It was dead. Not mostly dead. All, 100%, totally dead.

It would be bad enough if I'd killed my phone at home, but killing it when I was in another state made me insane. I couldn't talk to Joe or the kids. I couldn't Twitter. I couldn't check my mail. I couldn't listen to music. I couldn't play solitaire. I couldn't look at my blog. I came to the conclusion that I was addicted to missed my phone. I started crying, shaking, and twitching uncontrollably. This was followed by hyperventilating and mumbling incoherently causing fellow bloggers to slap me repeatedly, "Snap out of it!"

Long story short, Greg from General Mills and Allison from Coyne PR both offered to take me to a nearby mall so I could replace my phone. Now, that's going the extra mile, don't you think? Allison ended up driving me over to the Ridgedale Mall. We found the AT&T store, I walked in and asked if I could get a new iPhone. The guy looked up and said, "We don't sell iPhones here."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I shouted. "Oh, that's unfortunate," I lamented.
"But there's an Apple store in the mall," he offered.
"YES!!!!!!" I shouted. "I mean, thank you, sir."

So, we headed to the Apple store where half the population of Minnesota was. Seriously, where did all the people come from? It was a Thursday afternoon. Didn't anyone work??? Although it was impossibly crowded, the guys there were nice and helpful and sympathetic about my plight. When I told them I was from out of town and had to catch a plane in an hour, they managed to squeeze me in and get me all set up with a new phone just in time for my trip home. Oh yeah, and they suggested I don't take my phone in the hot tub with me again. Gee, ya think?