I just got through breakfast without first checking my phone and email. That is something I haven’t done in a very long time. It seems we’ve gotten to a point that unless we log in, point, click, reply, update, delete, before we’ve even had a cup of coffee, we are behind the rest of the world.

As I write this, my phone is buzzing reminders to me and it’s all I can do to not stop what I’m doing and see what I’m supposed to remember. We don’t really need to remember much anymore. Remember when you had dozens of phone numbers memorized? Now, you’re lucky if you can remember your own phone number let alone any other phone number.

When I was growing up, I remember my parents handing me a road map when we were on a drive somewhere. They would say, “Find where we’re going and the route we’re taking.” That map-reading skill is something else that is going away. Too often, we type in an address to our phone or car GPS and let the animation take us where we’re going. For me, I like the feel of the paper and enjoy folding that map up correctly (Yes, I know that is a nightmare for many people.).

Finally, I miss my film camera. I know digital photography is amazing and I do love my new Canon Rebel T3i. But I am back at square one when it comes to getting the photographs into all of my devices. I have an Eye-Fi card that makes is “easy” to transfer your photos from your camera to your computer, iPad, phone or other device. The learning curve is a lot more complicated than I want it to be. I need time and patience to navigate the new normal. I will have to budget several hours with no interruptions to figure this out. Remember the days when you had to figure out how to install the film into your SLR? Life was simple – and sometimes I miss ‘simple.’