I just got home on Saturday from California. My husband, youngest daughter and I went down there for spring break to visit a college she is interested in. Since we were there, we also went to Disneyland and Universal Studios.

It was a successful trip as trips go; also seeing as how the whole idea of the trip was to look at a college in another state. I’m not super excited by the thought of my baby moving away, but I understand kids grow up and must go where the wind takes them. She has another year of high school, so if that’s where she ends up, I have a year to get used to the notion.

All that being said, it’s not the part of our vacation I want to write about. The most standout part for me was that I didn’t take my computer. Sure, I had my cell phone, but I had no computer; so no convenient way to write. Paper and pen come to mind, but I haven’t used those primitive methods of writing since high school, nor did I have paper with me. I’m not even sure I could write fast enough by hand to get out all the thoughts that come to me before I forget them.

That means all last week I did not write my daily blog or my newspaper column. Leaving my laptop behind was not an agonizing issue for me. Although I’m attached to it in general, being the lifeline to my writing career, I didn’t miss it. That may have been because I was too busy to notice, but was also nice not to have the task of coming up with something witty to write every day.

However, when I got home, the gravity of what I may have missed kind of descended upon me. I have to say, I had bit of a panic attack just thinking of what awaited me. It wasn’t even a matter of “missing” some aspect of life, it was more of the thought that I would have a lot to take care of that felt overwhelming.

Although we got home by noon on Saturday, I was reluctant to face my demons, so I didn’t. I spent the rest of that day unpacking and playing Words with Friends on my cell phone.

Sunday dawned and I decided I couldn’t put it off any longer. I opened my personal emails first. It wasn’t too bad; there were only around five that had anything of importance in them; the rest were junk and I deleted them. Then I tackled my business email – nothing; meaning no one was jumping on the bandwagon to publish my book. Sigh.

Next up, phone messages, blinking away on my answering machine like an annoying child calling my name (“Mom, mom, mom”). We are one of those families who like people to leave messages on our land line when we’re away and not track us down like dirty dogs by calling our cell phones. Not too bad – Five messages, only one junk (political, I think, same thing), an appointment reminder, the ones that needed a response were businesses, so I had to wait until Monday morning to deal with them anyway.

All in all it really wasn’t worth the energy I spent fretting over what I may have missed. I have to admit, it kind of deflated me thinking no one needed my attention as much as I thought they would. It’s a lesson on the importance we place on our electronic devices; life goes on whether we check email or not.

I guess I wasn’t missing anything after all.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can also read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.” Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.