Padd Solutions

It is intelligent and destructive.

Your phone begins to assume, and we all know what assuming does.

SENT TEXT: “When I was a child, I wanted to be a Firenze.”

Firenze? Really, iPhone? Not only did you make me look like a complete idiot to the receiver of this text, you’re also trying to correct my childhood ambitions from a reputable character in society (a FIREFIGHTER) into a fictional character from Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone. Half MAN, half HORSE ... two of which I have never wished to be - not even half way. That’s like someone wanting to be a Jedi when they grow up, only 1,000 times worse because chances are nobody remembers the centaur from Harry Potter.

SENT TEXT: “Yeah, I would have added that song, but ‘Scarborough Affair’ gets on my nerves.”

First of all, why did it capitalize affair? Anytime I want my iPhone to capitalize something for me (like an ‘I’) it fails to do so. (Oh, and don’t ever try to type blu-ray on your phone by the way, it becomes a frustrating deletion battle - iPhone thinks it’s blu-Ray, which just looks stupid.) Secondly, Scarborough Affair? Am I going to Scarborough Affair? I think not. Simon and Garfunkel would be ashamed.

That’s another thing, it always tries to insert the worst word imaginable. I’ve seen “anal”, and “rectum” pop up in my correction box and, luckily, I was paying attention. Is Steve Jobs having a bit of fun? I’ve had instances with words such as “sashay” and “thee” because - apparently - there’s still a chance Shakespearian language is used in a world where u cn typ lik dis and get away with it while texting.

“Would thee enjoy a spot of tea?”

“Quite. I shall sashay myself to Starbucks.”

Never you mind, that’s a mixture of Shakespeare and RuPaul. It must be acceptable.

When your phone becomes more “intelligent” as it begins to understand the placement of your fingers ... always check before you send. It will save you loads of embarrassment.

How about the snow last Friday? Exciting, no? Coming from someone who hopes to live up north someday, this is going to sound a little quacky ... I dislike snow. But, somehow, I blame the general dislike for swirling white flakes falling from the sky on one particular item:

Amarillo weather is the most inconsistent aspect of my life. I guess you could say it is inconsistently consistent.

“Oh, but you live in Texas! It’s hot! Go ride your horse! Collect tumbleweeds! Mispronounce every word ending in ‘ing’! Spend a lovely day where the deer and the antelope play.”

The truth is, anyone who believes the stereotype (and believe me, they do) fails to realize our weather actually has a mind of its own. Amarillo, Texas is the UN headquarters for weather. I picture the Sun sitting at the end of a rectangular, wooden table with the Moon on the opposite side and other weather contributors (clouds, rain drops, snow, wind) surrounding the remaining spots. Their purpose?

Wind: Oh, well, I’ve messed with Chicago long enough ...

Rain: Yeah, and don’t forget our date last week with the East Coast and Florida, Windy.

Snow: Who needs Canada, eh?

Moon: I’d fully love to stick around here.

Sun: Okay then, here’s the plan ...

They proceed to orchestrate a week’s worth of Hades for all who inhabit this wonderful city.

You walk to class in the morning wearing winter hats, coats, scarves, and gloves and shed them by the time you reach your car an hour later (and, naturally the steering wheel, seats, and seat buckle are blistering hot). By noon, the wind begins whipping in your face, and people seem to be driving crazier than usual or behaving downright rudely. At the five o’ clock lull --when the sun goes down--a full moon greets you and suddenly the rudeness makes sense. But, then a cloud rolls by and conglomerates into a beautiful, mountainous fluff lighted by lightning, dampened with rain, and sounding with thunder. The night air begins to cool into freezing temperatures and the next morning, yes, that is your neighbor’s roof covered in snow and your car covered in frost.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

To most people, this scenario sounds crazy, but I have experienced every season in one fell swoop and most citizens of Amarillo will agree -- we have a unique ecosystem. I suppose the one thing that keeps me from raising a fist in the air and shaking it to the sky is a lyric from a song by a well known band:

“... When it rains it shines, it’s just a state of mind.”

… it is not that I am not busy enough to make such a suggestion.

In fact, every day I find myself rushing through the morning hours to get a lot done and go over a pretty tight agenda, especially during this fall season. I make everything possible to get to my 5 year old daughter’s school on time to pick her up at 1:30 pm . While I wait for her at the door, my mind is full of things that need to be done (before my son gets out at 3:00 pm and my husband gets home at 6:00 ).

My daughter is in kindergarten, so she is taking very seriously the idea that every minute brings a learning adventure. For example, in the past two months, when I pick her up from school, she has decided to walk through the grass on the way to the car. Very slowly she observes what lay on the ground, and if it is interesting to her, she ends up picking it up and tells me “mommy looook!” excited about her new finding. She loves to witness the leaves falling from the trees and the different colors that they display each day. Also, due to the diversity of trees that her school and our neighborhood have, she has found all kinds of seeds, pinecones, sticks, shiny rocks, small colorful BB’s (go figure) etc, etc. ( take a look at the below picture of her seasonal collection).

My son, who is 9, also has his way to enjoy the fall season, especially the tree in our front yard.. he climbs on it! He often asks me to witness how he can mimic a monkey hanging on his legs. One time, I joined him climbing the tree to take down his sister who got stuck in a branch.

I have been living in the Amarillo area for almost 12 years and believe me, I haven’t notice so many aspects of the fall season until my kids have been old enough to find out and obviously share with me.

We live in a rush-pace world, and I admit that I am an advocate to do a lot in a little time… as a mother, student at AC, worker, etc, etc , I usually feel a constant sense of urgency inside myself. Lately and thanks to my kids, I realize that it is important to enjoy every moment and every gift from God, to not only pass things by, but to observe them, to appreciate life, and simply at least once in a while, "to stop and smell the roses."