It’ll have to do, yeah? Plus, numbered lists please me.
1. I’m typing this on a very old, very slow iBook and it’s a drag. I’m grateful to have this pokey old laptop, a handmedown from a friend’s girlfriend, but I miss my own superfast (even though it, too, was getting on in years) Powerbook. What happened to my Powerbook? The unfortunate combination of an almost-four-year-old, a glass of water, and gravity. Gravity’s a bitch. So is water. (The almost-four-year-old is awesome and it was totally an accident. Could have happened to an adult just as easily.)
2. Also a drag: this laptop is too old to run Netflix streaming. What’s a mama of an infant to do during those long nursing sessions on growth-spurt days? It’s probably just as well. It was scary how into Miami Ink I was getting.
3. The silver lining in the whole drowned laptop saga? Toward the end of the pregnancy and in the first month of juggling the needs of two kids our policy of no more than 30 minutes of screen time a day for Thumper was completely shot to hell. We don’t have TV, but we did have Netflix streaming and dvds and he was getting way too much of both because, well…frankly when I started feeling overwhelmed or just needed a break, plugging him in was the easiest thing to do. Now that we don’t have the streaming, we decided to use that opportunity to limit the dvds too. Rather than go back to the 30 minutes a day, which has proven a slippery slope, Thumper now can watch one full-length movie a week, and we all watch it together on Saturday evening. It’s been two weeks of that so far, and it’s been a wonderful change.
3.5. Another silver lining: With no streaming and slowpoke internet, I’m getting way more reading done now while nursing the babe–at night and when Thumper is in preschool that is. Billy bought me a Kindle for Hannukah, thinking the one-handed-reading aspect would make it easier to use than a paper book while nursing once the baby was born. Luckily he didn’t ask me first, because I was DEAD SET against them and certainly didn’t want one. I like my books to be made of paper. I even love the smell of paper. I can’t give up the fetish of turning the page. Etc etc blah blah blah. Stodgy old Luddite. You know what? I fucking LOVE my Kindle. The one-handed thing is brilliant while nursing. I read a thick hardcover while nursing last week and totally tweaked my wrist trying to keep it open while reading with one hand. The downside is having to buy all the books for it from Amazon when I prefer to support Powells. That’s a huge downside, actually… But still…it’s a handy little device. Especially now that I’ve discovered you can download a ton of classics for free. I’m rereading Anna Karenina now.
What else I’ve been reading (though only one of them on the Kindle, now that I look back over the list):
The Last Life by Claire Messud. It’s quite good. Do check it out. A couple years back I read and absolutely loved her pair of novellas, The Hunters. Then I picked up The Emperor’s Children and didn’t finish it. It didn’t hold my interest at all. So disappointing. I’m very glad I gave her another try. And sometimes when I can’t finish a book, it’s not the fault of the book but of where I’m at at the moment. Since that was last year, and I’ve loved two of her other books, I may give that one another go.
My Happy Life by Lydia Millet. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I want to be Lydia Millet when I grow up. No…more like I want to read everything else she’s ever written and then I want to be her best friend and braid her hair.
I Smile Back. I bought this one accidentally and I can’t say it turned out to be a happy accident. I was downloading a sample chapter (which is another fantastic feature with the Kindle) and at the same time was trying to get the baby to latch back on and I jiggled a button when I should have pressed and then pressed and somehow the Buy button got selected and I didn’t realize it until it was too late to undo the purchase. So I read it, hoping very much to love it, since I’d spent money on it that was NOT in the budget for this month. And…no. I didn’t love it at all. I didn’t even really like it. Not a matter of giving it another go at another time…because, okay…I thought it was truly awful. (Another downside to the eBook thing: I can’t sell the thing to Powells and I can’t throw it across the room.)
3.75. Which reminds me of my production editorial days. You know what young production editors do when they’re having a really, really shitty day? Or at least what I and my friend Lucas used to do? We’d pluck a book we really hated off the Free shelf, close our office doors, and rip the fucker to shreds. Yes, author of Cat Mystery Cosies, we mean you. Yes, toupeed Pop Business Self Help author, we mean you, too. Yes, sweet Southern romance author, honey. I’m sorry. You too. (But thanks for that popcorn bucket at Christmas.) And Medical Thriller Man? Especially you. We ripped your (paperback) books apart. And then we felt much better and got back to work, making your manuscripts neat and clean and error free.
4. The eleventybillion ultrasounds I had during the little girl’s pregnancy apparently had an unexpected side effect: She LOVES to have her photo taken. Smiles and coos for the camera. Seriously. Check out this two-month-old goodness:
5. Water also killed my cell phone this weekend, but I don’t know when it got wet and if it was the boy’s fault or rain. Luckily I always get the cheapo phone so it was no big deal to replace it.
6. Speaking of water… I know it’s kind of ridiculous to leave NYC for Portland, Oregon, and then complain about the rain. And usually I don’t. I love the rain. But…shit. It’s not supposed to rain THIS much in the late spring/summer…whatever season we’re supposedly in now. This past Saturday aside (which was glorious and desperately needed) we have not had a day without rain in something like three weeks. Come ON. Everyone’s tomato plants are going yellow from overwatering. It may be a craptastic year for tomatoes west of the Cascades. Everything else in the garden is pretty damn happy with the wet, though. Especially the peas and spinach, since it’s been quite cool. And the radishes are fat and gorgeous because they like a lot of water. Not happy? The beets. Fucking leaf miners decimated them again. I love beets, but I have yet to have a successful crop. I think we’re giving up on growing them.
7. I’ve been calling the baby Ladybug. I think we’ll call her that here, too. Agreed?
8. The baby, Ms. Ladybug, has been consistently rolling over from belly to back since Saturday. At nine weeks old. I have a feeling this one is going to keep us on our toes.
You can tell she is going to be a hand full from that last picture!
What a doll. And I love Ladybug as a moniker.
You might also be able to dl books from your library too. I know the NYPL does that and I keep waiting for our local library to get on the ball.
Ladybug is adorable. She looks just as sweet as her brother.
Oh goody, new pictures!
Although it doesn’t help you now, you can “return” a Kindle book if you accidentally hit the wrong button:
Cancelling Accidental Purchases
You have the option to cancel a purchase from your Kindle immediately after it was completed in case you change your mind or make a mistake. After you click “Buy” you will see a thank you page that gives you the option to either return to the store or cancel the order. Use the select wheel to cancel the order, if desired. If the option to cancel the order is no longer available, you can also contact Amazon Customer Service via e-mail or phone by clicking one of the Contact Us buttons on any Kindle Support Help page on Amazon.com. After a purchase is canceled, the item is removed from your Kindle and a refund will be issued to the payment method used for the original purchase.
Cari, your little ladybug is PRECIOUS!!!
Two quickies:
1. Don’t give up on your Powerbook yet. In college I was trying to eat won ton soup with chopsticks (duh!) while writing a paper, and sent a typhoon of broth sloshing all over the keyboard when I (predictably) dropped a won ton into the bowl of broth. Granted, technology has changed a bit in the last, um, decade or so, but after about a week that Macintosh dried out and worked as good as new again. Maybe your Powerbook will recover, too.
2. Kindle content is returnable within a limited timeframe. Contact Kindle support and you may be able to get that a refund (they suck the content right back off the device). I had a kindle for all of a week last summer; I was going to let my boys use it, but the lack of parental controls (or even a password requirement for purchasing) was a deal-breaker for me. I can’t have them downloading whatever they want and charging it all to me. Requiring a password confirmation to purchase would also prevent accidental purchases like yours. But I didn’t even want my kids to be able to download sample chapters without supervision, because the would search for something like “Batman” and get some violent adult graphic novel.
Good luck, enjoy your Ladybug and your sweet little Thumper, and try not to be so hard on yourself — you’re one of the best moms out there.
That is one scrumptious baby.
I was exactly the same way about the Kindle. Didn’t want it. Got one for Christmas. Love it. Am reading more as a result.
I once drowned a computer in a slight conflict between a Boston Whaler and a large wave in Woods Hole Harbor. (Luggage stayed in boat, but boat was completely full of water.) Computer gave up all of its contents once it dried out. It gave up the ghost, too, but at least I was able to save my manuscript. Hope you’re able to salvage yours in some way. Or that Billy gives you a MacBook Pro.
I was smiling at the 30 minute screen time slippery slope…that is so me (except my babe is not quite two {true confessions}, so I guess that’s worse). It started so innocently — what did a little Curious George ever hurt anybody, and I got dishes and laundry done to boot. Yeah, hahaha. I was the freaking poster-child for “my kid will never watch tv!”. Now I’m trying to figure out how to cut him back to a “reasonable” 30 minutes a day. *sigh*
And you have piqued my interest in the Kindle…My inner Luddite has balked at such a device, but for nursing time reading, that might be sheer genius.
An excellent full, juicy post!
I wish we didn’t have tv. You are so lucky. At least I am lucky enough that my kids ask me to turn it off. Their father lives for his tv. Once upon a time, we lived without it. I wish I could get a do-over for the moment I decided to call Directv.
I would like to make a beet suggestion. We lived in Seattle for 9 years and had a large garden. I do not remember the variety of beets we had, but they survived everything and I pickled and ate tons of them. they were long and skinny. We chose them at first because the fit in the food processor shute, but they tasted great and did well growing. They were similar to the french breakfast radishes we grew for the same reason. Less bug and growth problems.
I agree with the Kindle thing. I didnt want one either but it was rainy and I was depressed…went into Barnes and Noble and bought a Nook. I downloaded a boatload of classics and …. life is good again.
Ladybug is adorable.
Oh, that Ladybug! What a cutie.
And granted, I only know you from your pictures on the blog…but isn’t Ladybug the spit’n’image of you?
(And I have no idea how to type “spittin image…” Uh…”spitting image?” Um…”spit and image?”) Whatever.
Wow, nine weeks old already!? Amazing how time flies. Ladybug is a wonderful nickname; when I was little my Mom called me Grannie Goose.
When I was in Portland last summer for Sock Summit, I discovered Powells and spent many hours browsing books.
Ooo–I love ladybug. I have a habit of calling all little girls ladybugs.
P.S. My evil ex-boyfriend’s entire house got infested with ladybugs last year. I was quite gleeful.
I was going to suggest Buttercup, but Ladybug is even better. Love how she already knows how to strike a pose!
I’m so losing the war on slugs this year. At least there is finally some sun in the forecast.
nice to hear from you and to see that beautiful Ladybug smile.
Yes, I agree. Your Ladybug is a mini Cari. Thanks for your post. I guess you don’t get a lot of screen time with a 9 week old baby, but I’m sure that ‘the blog’ (including myself) is very grateful to hear from you again.
She’s gorgeous!
First, let me start by saying how much she looks like her big brother, lol. And second, it certainly has been my personal experience that the second one will give you a run for your money đŸ™‚ But it’s generally a fun trip.
Re: the rainy wet yuck, I saw a SLUG where I live in central WA about a week ago. I haven’t seen one since I moved here from Seattle 10 years ago.
And re: Kindle. It’s my favorite purchase, ever. I did a product test for Microsoft’s e-reader a million years ago and HATED it. Cannot begin to describe how much. Bought my Kindle with birthday money last year and bought my kid a used one a month later, because I was reading early one morning, hazy, dreamy, and thought, “I wish I’d always had this.”
She’s adorable! And I just stopped debating and bought myself a Kindle. Same problem… wrist tweak from reading hardcover one-handed.
She looks like you!! What a doll!