My two-year contract is expiring for our cell phones, and I have been shopping for new phones and trying to figure out the best deal since I will soon have two texting cell-phone carrying teenagers.

I remember a few years ago when I was shocked to learn 7th graders carry cell phones, but I realize it makes MY life so much easier when I can reach my 9th grader and 10th grader when I want to and need to, and since my 7th grader is staying after school for practice or going away to an away game I won’t be attending, her carrying a cell phone makes sense although I am not yet convinced any of my children need them to be permanent appendages.

But this isn’t really about the kids. It is about me. I have a new toy cell phone, and it is so much more than a phone. In fact, it is so much more than a phone, I do not yet know how to do everything with it.

I am happy to report that the built-in flashlight on my new phone came in very handy the other day when we lost power.

I am not so happy to report that I’m still not sure how to use the internet/email features on the phone, and while they sound great in theory (and cheaper than the $60 a month for the USB internet thingy), I am not yet convinced they will work for what I need. That is, I don’t need them until I do, and when I do, I need them to be easy to use.

I did not get the latest and greatest phone out there because I didn’t need my first phone to have all of the bells and whistles. (That is, I do not have a Droid or an iPhone, and I wouldn’t have an iPhone because I hate AT&T.) I do have a Samsung Omnia.

I must admit I picked this phone because it had one of the best cell phone cameras I’ve seen with 5.0 megapixels and a built-in flash instead of the normal 2 or 3 without a flash. Apparently, I was shopping for cameras instead of phones.

It took me a bit to figure out how to even get the phone features working. The new phone is a touch screen, and I am working on figuring it all out like how to access my voicemail.

I am also trying to figure out how to handle my children calling the home phone from their cell phone to tell me something when they are still in the same house as I am. And why my child feels the need to send me a text that says, “Just waking up” when I actually see her walking around before I see the text message.

My phone has Word and Excel and Power Point on it, but I have not yet used them (interpret this as I have not yet figured out how to use them).

I have figured out the camera features (I have priorities).

And for a while, I have to carry my old phone and my new phone because unlike most people, I could NOT transfer my old number to my new carrier. This involves the FCC and anti-competition laws, and it is way too complicated to explain, but it happens even in this new “take your number with you” environment. And technically, my new carrier owns my old carrier, but eventually my new carrier will sell off my old carrier because of those fair trade laws. And if you understood that, maybe it wasn’t too complicated to explain.

So, right now, I know my phone can do a lot of cool things, but that I don’t know how to do most of them. I do, however, know how to take a picture, video, make a phone call, send a text message, and use the flashlight. The rest should come with time and need.

Later today, I may even attempt to make my first mobile post to Facebook. Or maybe not.