Wait... What?

I looked at a calendar today. It was probably work-related, but I looked at a calendar nonetheless. And I noticed something. Christmas is next week. Next week! Holy crap!

So, naturally, I promptly signed on to Amazon.com and bought my dad's Christmas present. I still need to figure out everything else I'm going to buy, but at least I'm one present closer to being done.

Usually, I take a day off a week or so before Christmas to do all my shopping. But, due to the Mexico vacation, I don't really feel like I should take another day off work. This means I need to either do all my shopping online or brave the malls on the weekend. Yikes. If I opt for online, I might have to pay extra to make sure everything gets here on time. If I opt for the mall... well, let's just say I don't do well with crowds.

I've got some thinking to do.

So, let's worry about that later. Let's talk about Mexico some more instead!

You may remember before I left that I couldn't find my watch and forgot to buy a new one. I knew for a fact that the resort was significantly lacking in clocks, and I wasn't about to bring my cell phone and turn it on and subject myself to international charges on my next bill. So I brought my phone with me so I could check in with people at my layovers in Miami, and so I could call my friend to pick me up at the airport when I got home on Sunday.

On my way to Mexico, at the layover in Miami, I spent $15 on a watch. I was able to use it on the plane and keep an eye on the time while waiting for my folks to land in Cancun (we were all sharing a shuttle to the resort from the airport, so I had to wait for their plane to land). Little did I know that when I met up with my parents in Cancun, they told me that they bought me a watch at the airport - it was only $10. And it was slightly more comfortable than the $15 watch I bought, so I donned it and wore it at the resort.

By 11:00 AM the next day, the $10 watch stopped. It was still ticking, but the hands weren't moving. We all thought it would at least last the weekend, but no dice. Thankfully, I had the $15 watch to fall back on. And I knew that once I was back in America I'd be able to use my phone as a watch...

... or so I thought.

I land in Miami on the way home. The first thing I do is turn on my cell phone. And nothing happens. It flashes on, then turns itself off. It doesn't give me any indication that it has a low battery. And even if that were all the trouble, there was no way for me to charge it as I left my charger at home. I didn't think I would need it, since my phone was going to be sitting off the entire time I was in Mexico, and it wasn't on the verge of death before I left. I was confused.

After going through customs and security in Miami, I was wandering around the terminal looking for some kiosk or something that I could use to access the internet so I could get a message to my friend that my phone wasn't working. Nothing. No possible way for me to access the internet without asking a stranger if I can use their laptop. And I wasn't about to do that.

Thankfully, when I got to Minneapolis, there was an internet kiosk right next to the gate. I hopped on, paid my $5 fee, and sent an email to my friend. I tried to look up my phone book online (I backed it up once) so that I could use a pay phone to call my friend (the airport seems to be the only place there are pay phones anymore). Because, naturally, I didn't actually know her phone number. I don't know anyone's phone number. But I couldn't remember the password to access my online phone book. Rats! I just had to hope.

Thankfully, my friend checked her email and was able to pick me up as planned - it was a little bit later than it would have been otherwise, but it wasn't too bad.

By the way - my $15 watch? Still telling time.