Walker, Texas Ranger

Holy crap, my baby is walking.

Walking.

Which, I guess, means I can't technically call her a baby any more, she's a toddler now.  A toddler who demands to be put down in Costco, and doesn't understand when she hears the word no.

"No, JG, there is no way I am letting you walk around - people will run over you and I will have to clean your brains off the concrete."

Because, with me, everything is about JG's brains.

Unfortunately, for me, she did not understand this logic and spiraled into a screaming fit.  In which she screamed the entire time we were in Costco.  

What is my approach when it comes to my child throwing a fit in a public area?  Unfortunately, for the other customers, I just let her.

Look, when it comes to tantrums the first rule is to let them know that their "approach" will not get them what they want.  

Sometimes I will laugh at her (which doesn't improve the situation).  But, mostly I just endure the dagger eyes others throw our way - today it was more along the lines of "please shut your child up so I don't have to listen to what sounds like a goat being gutted."

Anyway, back to my first point.

My child is freaking WALKING.  I really need to get some video, but as you may have deduced, I am not the best mother and have yet to do it.

Mainly because my chin is still dragging on the floor.

Let them eat cake!

Ladies and Gentleman, the joy of joys has occurred in my home today.

Wait for it.

I baked a friggin' cake.

Milk free.

Full of delicious.  Little tasty blueberries floating gaily through the fluffy sponge of vanilla goodness.  Covered in frosting.  So much happiness generated on my tongue in one sitting.

Seriously, folks, I am a cake person and it has been killing me to go without.  Chocolate is one thing, it gives me heartburn anyway, so I can forgo that without much of a problem.  But cake?  No.

No.  No. No.

The best part is that I found the mix at Albertson's.  I kept thinking I was going to have to go on some long journey full of adventure and intrigue to find a milk-free cake mix, since that is what the internet kept implying.  Stupid, sly internet, full of the $7 cake mixes that are "guaranteed allergen free" (meaning no eggs, milk, sometimes wheat or gluten).  Implying it's impossible to find elsewhere.

Lucky for me I was on the phone with Mindy (hey Min!) and decided to take the time to check every box of cake mix.  (Seriously, every box.)  And, lo and behold!  Duncan Heines is milk free.  The only allergen in it is "wheat."  I swear they know there are people like me, dying for cake and too damned lazy to make one myself.

(Side note:  I love baking.  Cookies.  Cakes.  Stuff.  But the thought of blaspheming... attempting to make a milk free cake on my own sounded fruitless and aggravating.  I'm an angry person anyway, but to go through the trouble of pouring ingredients in a bowl, mixing them together, and baking it only to have it come out tasting like vomit could send me over the edge... to giving up on cake.)

Cake!  Much deserved after a day when JG only wanted to nap an hour total.  I can't hold it against her though, she's teething or something.

Cake!  (currently digesting in my belly)

PT Cruisers are AWESOME!

So,whilst in Oregon we had to rent a car to get ourselves around (and away). We paid EXTRA to get this electric (what Alex calls "make me puke") blue PT Cruiser. Yup. Okay, no, that's what Abbey said we should tell people when they asked us why we were driving around in something the Baby Boom generation considers awesome, but everybody else doesn't. Well, it's mostly the color of the car -- which I chose by the way. Alex wanted the white one, and I had to go for the "make me puke" blue.

It was a good car to drive around in at least. The sound system wasn't great, it only got 21 MPG, and made us look like morons, but it got us where we needed to be. These pictures were taken in Newport, which is kind of a... um... dank and crowded little place. I guess? It is where we caught the video of the crabs eating each other (see below), so that was sweet. But later in this same day I took a four hour nap and missed the logging festival. We did get to see Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Wax Museum, and Undersea adventure (crabs). They were all strange. But at least I got my picture taken with a celebrity:
His face seemed a little squished, and I didn't understand the bandanna wrapped around his wrist, but I guess that's Johnny Depp for you.

I have that presentation today, oh man it's so bad. Oh, well, cognitively I can't come up with anything better than a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of my cats. Oh man.