Hey ya'll! Well, I'm a bit behind in my writing lately, but I've taken a bit of a break since my first OTGS. I was inspired and have definitely given my computer the back seat. We have lots of catching up to do.

First, OTGS was awesome. At the beginning of the day it was a bit strange, but when bed time rolled around I realized that I didn't miss the computer/internet too much. I find myself needing to use it less and "worrying" about it less too, actually. Today I've even been thinking that I don't need these online social media accounts at all! Keeping up is just getting to be a bit much. Wow. Did you ever think I'd say type those words?

The inaugural OTGS was also St. Paddy's Day, and my six year anniversary with Chicago. We spent the day indoors mostly. We relaxed, caught up on some tv, and tried some delicious new beers at home while our corned beef and cabbage cooked in the slow cooker. (Recipe to follow soon. SO easy!)

Since then we've managed to stay busy with a few visitors. First, with Aunt Erica in from New York. She was here on business and was nice to get the opportunity to visit with her. Then over the weekend we spent time with Dave's parents who were in town from Las Vegas. We had a lot of good meals, including our usual, and favorite, corned beef sandwiches. Noelle got lots of love during Nene and Da's time here. No doubt though not enough to last until their next visit in July.

This week I also started crocheting! I'm still very much a beginner, but it's a good outlet for my creative side, really relaxing, and enjoyable. I managed to whip up two headbands for Noelle in about a day.

Finally, I've started reading Lean In, and am so inspired. Seriously, you should probably read this. Man or woman, it doesn't really matter. I'm only part way through the book and it really has some interesting facts and observations that are beneficial to all of us in workforce today. Great food for thought!

So, that's that, really. Did any of you participate in the OTGS challenge? How did it go?

This morning I had to live in the life pre 2000 when I got my first cell phone. You see, I plugged my cell in on my nightstand before bed, and awoke in the morning to hubby's alarm. "Strange" I thought to myself, rolled over and clicked my phone to see what time it was. Nothing. Just a black screen staring back at me. Well, it was long after I should have been awake, so I raced to get ready, and plugged my phone into a different charger and outlet. An hour and a half later, still nothing. So, off the grid I went for the commute to work.

No Facebook. No Instagram. No Gmail. What is one to do on a train for 30 minutes without a smartphone? Read. I pulled out my Nook and opened up my new purchase 'Lean In.' The time went by just as quickly, and I may have gotten a bit smarter by not clicking through social media all morning.

Eventually I made it to Verizon where they jump started my phone, the clouds parted, the sun shined through, and I was back in business. While I called off the carrier pigeons, I thought about what it would do for our lives if we were to go off the grid more often.

As anxious as I was having no phone, it was a kind of nice. Could people still reach me? Yes. Could I still Facebook? Yes. Could I still Google things to my heart's desire? Yes. Do we really need constant access to media? Probably not. What is really all that bad? No.

Going forward, on Sundays, I'm going to try to be off the grid. I will still carry my phone, but only use it as a phone (or to text. I mean, who calls people anymore?) No email. No social media. The hope of "Off the Grid Sunday" is to connect more with my family, and have quality time to do whatever I choose without the distraction that cell phones have become. I can only imagine all of things I can accomplish with the extra time I'll have by not using my cell phone constantly.

Do you think you can join me in OTGS? If so, leave a comment and re-post. Let's see how many of us can do it, and regain all of those hours in our lives that we've been missing.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Update 3.26.2013