Off we went into the city for an early court date. Late last night there was a snow warning so when I woke up, I was relieved to see it hadn’t snowed but it was very cold.
Our local lawyer met us there and she was wonderful. Finally someone we could take our hand and navigate us through the process with humour and understanding. When we were called into court, the judge looked over our papers, made a few nice comments (very handsome man by the way) and then congratulated us. As we left, the tears begin to flow down my face. I could have cried some more but there was more paperwork to file, so off we went and eventually made our way to get a picture taken of Baby K. Of course, they wanted his eyes opened and then began a series of ridiculous attempts to get him to open his eyes. Cold water on his feet, cold diaper wipes on his privates (he just peed and squeezed his eyes tighter). Then the photographer had to leave for some reason. Two minutes later, K opened his eyes and stared up at me. A nearby clerk grabbed the camera and tried to get a picture. Then the guy came back and his eyes went shut again but then after I fed him a bit, he relaxed and opened his eyes. Hubby had to leave to go to another government office. Finally, I propped up his head and they got a shot. We took the photos to the passport office and proceeded to wait for an hour. Now the mood at this office was a bit snippier. The first person we spoke to announced that we had to have an appointment. Hubby replied humbly that the judge had said it would be okay but that didn’t satisfy her at all. We were huffily passed on and when we finally got up to the window, no one knew what to make of the papers we were given to specifically give to the passport office. We waited our turn. I fell asleep. And then! Hubby had filled out a sheet and signed it mistakenly. He filled it out again. And somehow signed it AGAIN even though the clerk said not to sign until after we had sworn to its veracity. And then! The photos were deemed unusable. My hand was propping up his newborn head. We had to come back after lunch. We were directed to a Walgreen’s, but it was cold and the wind was freezing and the first place we saw when we left was a photo studio. We’re hauling him around in a sheepskin lined car seat. They said his eyes had to be open, but the supervisors no, no, they had seen him, he could keep his eyes closed. So we go to this supposed photography studio, come back and guess what??!!!! You betcha, the photos were not good – there was too much of his body in the picture. WHAT!!!! But then, WAIT NO, they would work with them. Then they poured over our papers like they were written in Sanskript, omg, it just went on and on. Finally, were we given the okay to pick up a passport tomorrow. We left but we couldn’t find the right freeway entrance, the gas gauge binged empty and no gas station was in sight. BUT WAIT, look, a gas station! 8 hours later, we were back in the hotel.
Oh, and did I tell you I’m on my friggin’ period.
But I’m not complaining and you know why???? Cause I have a son, a beautiful son.
A Woman My Age 