Signs of the times

It is true that I am not that old yet, they even say 30's are some of the best years of your life and I completely agree, although I am still 29 thus preparing for those glorious 30's still. I do remember however, stories my grandparents would tell me about candy being a nickel or their first t.v., black and white and we all know what the picture looked like, not clear at all, something we would not dream about watching now! And it is interesting thinking about the stories and being amazed at how things have changed so much. Now my oldest child is 16 and I do not have grandchildren yet, but the stories I am already able to tell signify a different kind of change, maybe not so much of my age because things are changing so rapidly, but of technology. That makes me feel a different kind of ageing. People look at you funny if you say you do not have a cell phone or do not know how to text. These things seem to be so much a part of life. And so here are my stories that may shock my children about the way things "used" to be. When I was a child computers were large,there were no such things as lap tops yet not even flat screens. They did not have color screens, they were black with white writing. E-mail, Facebook, chat was non existent! Spell check not likely. A man would come to the door selling over priced dictionary's because we did not have access to un-limited information on the computer, making school reports a lot harder. To talk to people we had to call or write them a letter. The phone was most lightly attached to the wall with a cord, therefore you even had to talk in front of your family, drastic for a teenager! Long distance was expensive therefore if you did not live close to someone you would not talk to them regularly. I lived in American Falls and was not allowed to call long distance in Pocatello, 30 miles away. When we went on vacation we really went on vacation, no cell phones. It was interesting when Hailey went to Disneyland a couple weeks ago and I could call her 10 times a day whenever I wanted and got all the updates I wanted leaving nothing to worry about. I though how would it be to just have her gone and to not hear from her until she returned home! Sometime in my teens there were the first cell phones, about as big as a size 5 shoe, hey thats how I remember it! Now if only I still had one I would put it on display for a good laugh now and then. And we thought they were pretty darn cool. Not like today where they are smaller than your hand, where you life never stops because you can text, and update your Facebook status instantly. If you want to know how grandma is doing you do not even have to call her, just check her Facebook status to see, well that is if she knows how to use it, ha ha. Watch a movie in the car (hey they even come installed!) But, If I had to endure a family vacations 8 hour car ride being bored out of my mind then shouldn't any one! Actually I really appreciate telling my kids to pack up their ds or telling them we will be there when the movie is over. We now have any kind of fast food you can think of, home made meals just don't happen as often. A lot of foods are coming pre-packaged in convenient "to go" packages. VCR, tape player. Wow it seems like so long ago...yet like I said I'm only 29.

And to think of all the other things that have changed or things that we cannot even imagine changing. Im sure you all have a few things that maybe you can laugh about, so share and well all have a good laugh, but be careful because if you say you remember when you could throw your kids in the car without a car seat we will know how old you are!

Books, na Ill just grab my iPad where I have all my favorite books downloaded, Ill show you all my favorite pictures of my kids, maybe we can watch a movie. Gee-sh I really need one of those!

Go shopping at Christmas time in the over crowded mall, na Ill just shop online to get the best deal without driving all over town and get it shipped free to my house!

Write a check, now we all know how long that would take and the people rolling their eyes behind you in line at the grocery store, never ever worth it. Debit is the way to go!

Self check out. Makes it feel more comfortable when buying certain things, do I really have to make a list, you all know what I'm talking about! Though we all know everyone's probably bought it anyway.

Digital cameras are the best! Only keeping and printing the pictures you want and taking a million just because you can. We used to have rolls of film in a drawer when I was a kid and it was like, "I wonder whats on that roll." And finally getting it developed and it was pictures from a year ago and half of them are crappy because someone had snuck the camera and took pictures of the wall and half of someones head.