“So what did you do this month?” my aunt asked me on the penultimate day of August.

I thought long and hard about my answer. I could say I worked, which I did for a week on a freelance project (summertime is usually quiet work-wise, so that was a nice surprise). I could say I wrote, which I do every day (you’re welcome). Or I could say went to the beach, which I did once last month and enjoyed, until I dropped my iPhone in the ocean.

(Editor’s Note: I didn’t really drop it, I left it in the pocket of my bathing suit when I took my two-year-old niece swimming. Then, for some reason, it stopped working. And the Apple Store refused to give me a new one, despite my efforts to frame my niece for the crime.)

But I didn’t say any of those things. Instead, I gave…