Family Fun in Portland!

This past week taught me two things:
1. Lots of toys in the back seat are more fun than mommy.
2. Opening your netbook to a moldy spitup/formula spill is not the worst thing ever, in fact, it could be freaking awesome!

So, my grammy, who lives in So.Cal hadn't met the baby yet. AMAZING RIGHT?! The wedding of Jer's cousin and Grammy's arrival happened in consecutive weekends,and my kid is in swimming class and I don't want him to miss every class because of family obligations in the city 3hours south. (I love and hate our 3 hour buffer.)So, I drove down with Jack on the second weekend alone and stayed til tuesday. Friday morning Jer helped me load the car, and we went to the gym and I did laps and then we went to Baby Splash. It is so difficult to get showered and changed at the gym by myself. The locker room while very nice and clean ( I KNEW there was a reason to pay the big bucks!) But not everyone wants a 10 month old crawling up to them in various states of semi-dress.

After achieving a shower and dryish hair, I fed Jack a bottle in the lobby (Also very comfy)and proceeded to head to Portland. WEll, I live east of the city which requires an interchange to get to the big interstate. so...I was in the carpool lane rocking to my GLEE playlist, and...got shoved into the northbound Carpool lane by a nasty woman who wouldn't let me over, in a hurry but not you know...like less than 1/2 mile to the exit. SO I had to figure out how to get turned around in Tuckwila, a very nice city but one I'd never really been to from that particular direction...luckily it was only a half hour's worth of instinctive/googlemaps ap on my iphone out of the way.

Well then, traffic was light (LE GASP) and it looked like I'd make it through the Joint Base Lewis-McChord with out a slow down for the first time in three years when Jack Pitched a ROYAL FIT. He was hungry. (Did I mention he was wearing swimming trunks? Dry ones with a huge t-shirt, and I was wearing sweats and my hair was...dryish? Are you getting the W.T. look in your mind? Oh please, go there with me.) The only food I could see was the combo KFC/A&W, so that's where we went. I think about eight soldiers/airmen called me "Ma'm" nothing like looking like a freak show when there are handsome men in uniform around. Jack now loves fried chicken and their mashed potatoes, which heretofore had been spat out with a dirty look. KFC potatoes are the bomb though.

Anyway we get through lunch (have I mentioned it has now taken us an hour and a half to go about 20 miles? Seriously!) SO, I get back on the freeway, and LIG. Thankfully. All clear with nice big spaces between the cars, resume Gleeking.

Then there it is, the construction. I knew it was there, and when I saw a familiar blue toyota prius with a familliar licenceplate and bumper sticker, (Seriously bamafan with Obama/Biden sticker, if you didn't want me to remember your hippy ass (another peace/tiedied bumpersticker)or want me to stereotype you, don't label yourself!)) I felt the universe delivering me a gift. Yes. I was petty. I made a b line for the left lane and didn't let her in, she had to wait three cars to get into the open lane. I know. I know. Vengence is the Lords. I've prayed and asked forgiveness, but come on! SO, I looked like my stereo type too. MS. middle class mama with her bigsunglasses and suv. But I really didn't care. She'd messed with my schedule and perhaps gotten my baby addicted to the Colonel's special recipe.

I did eventually make up that time in the 70mph zone that is the straightaway in rural WA. where if you are actually going 70 in the slow lane you will get into trouble with the truckers, as they have to go 60 and stay to the right. (and they do stay to the right, but they do not go 60, it may as well be the autobahn!

And we met Grammy. Jack was extremely friendly, and loved her, and even got Uncle Stanley to smile, which is a trick, he used to chase my cousin and I down the hall "YOU KIDS GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!) Yep. We did it on purpose. But seemingly U.S. has gotten mellower in his old age. Later in the weekend, he even made sure Jack didn't get the sun in his eyes in the car by holding his hat up to block the sun. (Totally sweet, and I almost passed out from shock.)

Saturday I was going to blog about the trip to VOODOO Doughnuts in Portland, and couldn't figure out why my netbook was stuckshut. BTW this is never a GOOD sign.

It finally peeled open to reveal a fuzzy mess. the whole right hand side of the keyboard was molded and sticky and the screen as well. I washed off the screen with a damp cloth and the keyboard with rubbing alcohol and a q tip. well...after all that swabbing, the thing boots up and runs fine...except the keyboard is not working. At all.

SO, after a day of wavering between buying myself an ipad that I really didn't want to buy, (I wanted to but it's 500 bucks, and I don't part with 500 bucks lightly.) I had an epiphany.
My TV has a PC input. My netbook has a monitor output! I went to "Buymore" and got a cable, costco had a wireless keyboard and mouse for 40 bucks, and for a grand total of 65 dollars I have a whole new set up. Seriously, I use my iphone for most things, and when in a real pinch for a computer I can use a family member's or god forbid a net cafe/business center. I even have another laptop that I lent to a friend a while ago. Seriously, this works awesomely and I can watch HULU on the big screen. I think I may end up getting a mac mini for the tv and see what we can do about this cable bill. It's stupid to pay for a land line phone now that my cell works from home.

Oh the fun we could have!!

Oh and on the way home Jer's grandma gave jack a huge back of stuffed toys she got for $.25 each. And he was content the whole way home, only one scheduled stop for lunch in Centrailia at the Country Cousin!

Comming soon:
Cute pics of Jack with Grammy
VooDoo Doughnuts, are they worth waiting an hour in line for, and are they as good as TOP POT?