Here I am, looking very excited that my camera battery charger has finally arrived from the other side of the world:
And here are all the pictures I've been able to take because of how well the charger replenishes the battery:
Not too pleased with the results, I emailed Singapore to tell them I'm returning the charger and expect a refund. I figured I'd just suck it up and pay the extra money for a charger that actually works.
I didn't expect the email they sent back. After addressing me as "dear friend" and making some seriously profuse apologies (I feel so sorry, so sorry for the item .), they said this:
can I give you my opinion for this matter?
in my opinion,I want to resend you a new one.and we will test one for a long time and resend it to you,then you don't have to buy another one.
and also I just don't want you feel dissappointed with us,
so can you give us the second chance?
please contact with us,if you have any good idea.
good day!
Normally, I would be seriously bugged (still kind of am: I've been without a camera now for a few weeks and my baby is growing!). But I can't help but smile about this effusive email's grammar. Almost makes me want to give them "the second chance."
And now for a picture taken by laptop:
oh, singapore
to do
A few things on my list for the summer:
- finally finish reading Moby Dick
- take pictures of baby girl in the grass while picnicking in the park
- come up with a title for the novel I'm writing
- sew a baby-sized dress
- eat watermelon on the back porch while the sun sets
speaking of firsts
Last week, I got my first haircut (a trim) since the baby came. I feel like I should be a grown-up now that I'm a mom, but I found out that I still stink at salon small talk.
In an attempt to make conversation, I often end up asking stylists how long they've been cutting hair--not a question you can repeat at every visit. So, I've had my hair cut at lots of different places.
I really liked this last stylist, though; she cut my hair EXACTLY the way I wanted it done. But she had zero to say, even when I asked her about her kid and her summer plans. I left with questions: Am I not hip enough? Could she smell my conversational fear? And should I have her cut my hair again? Or just go back to cutting my own bangs and shaking my fist at the mirror when I cut them uneven and too short?
everything's new
Baby girl is still new, so everything we do is a first, either for her (first smile, first hike, first trip to Ikea) or for us (first time we've felt okay about another person throwing up her dinner on us). A few highlights:
- First day at church. We dressed her in the gorgeous blessing dress my mother made 16 years ago when my little sister was born. And when baby girl's diaper could not contain her poop, I somehow saved the dress.
- We took baby gummi to her first craft fair to check out pretty pillows and paintings made by two of the loveliest ladies I know. She got a sweet nap in the stroller. And I got a belt made out of ties that makes my post-pregnant self feel skinny (it wraps around me twice!).
- My first Mother's Day. My brother (who just got back from India) gave the best Mother's Day talk I've ever heard. I had little tears in my eyes. And the other speaker? I couldn't tell whether or not he was trying to make women in the congregation feel like maternal failures for not raising ten children on the frontier as second wives.
- First time I've been without a camera for this long. Apparently, ordering a battery charger from Singapore is a bad idea, regardless of how much money it will save you. Ever since our camera battery died for good two weeks ago, we've taken lots of pictures with my laptop. How did I manage to snap a picture of baby girl's smile with Photobooth? Let's just say it's the first time she has ever heard me sound quite so goofy.
magic numbers
More than one veteran mother told me that six is a magic number: six weeks of new baby and then life will start to feel normal again. We must be slow learners at our house because today marks eight weeks since baby girl joined us. But regardless of the exact number, those mothers were right. Today I feel like I'm finally catching my breath. Today I feel more like myself. Today I'm loving this motherhood thing.