It's All Good

I was talking with a friend the other night who told me that her son had cracked the screen of his new iPhone 6, and though he had insurance, there was still a $200 deductible to replace it.

That’s ridiculous.  Two Hundred Dollars for a deductible -- not for an automobile.  For a PHONE.

My youngest son has gone through a few (too many) phones as well.  After his last “incident” which destroyed his iPhone 4 -- which, by the way, was the SECOND iPhone 4 he’d had in the last six months, this one being a replacement to his first one to “hold him over” until the iPhone 6 was released -- I told him he’d had to make do with an antique replacement that we bought off one of Zach’s buddies for $30 until he saved enough money to pay for half the cost of his new iPhone 6.  He would be eligible for an upgrade in mid August, but there would still be a hefty cost associated with this new “amazing technological advancement.”

During the waiting, for whatever reason, he could not directly text his dad with this antique phone.  The messages would not deliver, but they’d deliver to my phone, no problems.   He normally would only text me when he needed something -- come get me, pick up X at the store, etc.   Suddenly, I began getting far more texts.  I became the middle man. 

(He's recently begun dabbling in the market.)

He has since gotten his new iPhone 6 and taken pleasure in showing me all its bells and whistles.  I look at my iPhone 4, which has served me rather well.  Yes, it’s smaller than the newer models.  Not as many features.  The camera isn’t as good.  It needs a new screen protector.  But there are far more important things on my gotta-have-it list than an upgrade to new and improved.  

• A knee-length camel wool coat
• A new coffee/cordovan leather purse
• New gym clothes

Besides, this kitchen has put a crimp in our budget for ... well, for quite a while. And those things on my wish list?  Well, they're going to have to wait.  Maybe next year?  My black winter coat will last another winter -- or two.  And my purse doesn't have a wow factor, but it's functional.  And my gym clothes are getting slightly ragged on the edges, but grunge is fashionable, right?

It's good.  It's all so very good.  I'm loving my kitchen.  It's definitely been worth some sacrifices.  A little less spending for a while, a leaner Christmas.  No new iPhones.  

And as I gaze out the window of my new kitchen and feast on the morning light showering my mums, I smile inside.  I think I'm ready for another cup of coffee.