2 years ago on Christmas eve there was a little box waiting under the tree for me.  It was rectangular and a little heavy and I was very excited as I gazed at the little box.

Mine mine mine.

I was watching K open her Christmas eve present when suddenly the little box that had been under the tree was placed in my hands and Mike told me to open it.

“No, I’ll wait til tomorrow honey”

He insisted that I open it.  I shook my head.  He insisted more.  I giggled expectantly because I had a pretty good idea what was in the box.  I really wanted to wait until the next morning but I could tell Mike needed me to accept the gift then and there so I opened the box to find my brand new pretty pretty iPhone.  It was love at first touch.

Although my little phone buddy and I have had a few issues here and there (the speaker shutting down for a whole day only to right itself when I violently shoved the headphone jack in a few times) or the several times that it went on a buzz spree and had to be shut down entirely.  Then there’s the new halfhearted sputtering buzz feature.  Mike blames that on the invention of push notification and playing games with my friends.  And getting emails.  And using my phone too much.

If his grandmother was still alive she would tell me that I’ve worn it out.

There was also the matter of it getting so hot on Sunday morning that it burned my wee little hand.  Burned may have been a bit of an exaggeration but it was really hot.  Unpleasantly so.  It was all fixed by turning the phone off and back on.

And then there was this morning when my iPhone informed me that it didn’t contain a sim card.

Allow me a moment of geek embarrassment:  I never contemplated that my iPhone had a sim card in it because unlike my old phones I didn’t have to put one in and I couldn’t take one out.  I’m not a crack open the iPhone and peek inside kind of girl.

“GAH!” I shouted at my phone as I was rushing to get out the door this morning.  While still in the rubberized case I oh so gently (lie) tapped it on the table…  I shut it off, turned it back on and all is once again well in the world of my iPhone.

For now.

I was really miffed about all the problems I’ve encountered with my phone in the last few months, but when I really gave it some thought…  why am I so surprised?

Nope, this isn’t where I say anything bad about apple products…  It’s when I tell you a truth about me:  I’m notoriously tough on gadgets, particularly phones.  My last several phones lasted less than a year.  I take my phone everywhere with me, stick it in the back pocket of tight jeans, zip it into my boots for easy access or throw it in my purse.  I check my email and tweet from it just as frequently as I do on my laptop. I play games on it, listen to podcasts on it, tuck it into the waistband of my yoga pants and listen to music while I work out.  I read blogs, keep track of my schedule, use it as an alarm clock, and even let my kid play games and watch videos to keep her entertained while we’re out and about.

I’ve dropped it more times than I can count.  It once fell out of a friend’s car and was left in a wet leaf strewn gutter for hours before I went out to check the car for it and stepped on it as I opened the passenger door.  I’ve left it in bathrooms, on the edge of sinks, used it to keep me entertained on long nights when I just couldn’t sleep and eventually fell asleep with it in hand only to recover it from my tangle of sheets and limbs in the morning.

Instead of being irritated that the dear thing seems to be on its last legs, shouldn’t I be in awe of it’s stamina and durability?  Really, after 2 years of heavy use my phone is still working and in one solid unscathed piece.

When my dear darling little phone finally gives up the ghost, I’ll have no qualms about getting a brand new shiny iPhone.  Yes there are so many more comparable phones available than there were when I first got my phone, but I think this one is still the phone for me.

Now if only it can survive a little bit longer, I’m a too busy to go around replacing devices right now.