Happy Fun Baby has recently become obsessed with making all his toys walk. Makes perfect sense, since he’s such an old hat at the walking thing. It’s pretty cute to see him trying to teach his Totoro (who doesn’t have legs) and his giant Ikea dragon (who…ditto) to take their first steps down the hallway.

The other day we were at the toy store and Happy Fun Baby spied a bunch of baby dolls. To my surprise, he went right over and picked one up.

“You like that baby?” I said (because I’ve been not-so-secretly trying to interest him in baby dolls since, oh, always).

“Baby,” he said. He carefully inspected the doll’s feet. Then he set it on the ground and tried to make it walk.

He also chucks dolls out of the doll stroller on a regular basis. No patience for non-walkers: that’s my kid.

Posting! Today! (It’s still today, right?)

The good news is I’ve finished my finals and written almost 10,000 words.

‘Night!

So I forced myself to leave the house today, mostly because there’s been a check stuck to the fridge for almost a week that really, really wanted to be deposited. We had a perfectly fun time running errands, Happy Fun Baby and me, but the poor kid was worn out after a trip to the bank and the toy store (because, hey, toy store) that I did not drag him to the Fabulous Jackpot Records store and instead brought him home. Where he so did not fall asleep, opting instead to get more and more hyper and frenetic until I finally had to bodily hold him down in order to get him to take a nap. Now I feel like the world’s worst mother, since I was not exactly a bundle of cheer and good humor while convincing the kid to sleep. Another quarter for the therapy jar. Ping!

Most of the reason I’m so cranky is that I’m trying to find a Flash app for a client’s site, and I *think* some of the ones I located will work, only – and hey, minor detail – I don’t know Flash. I don’t even have Flash, exactly, except that the kind people at the Adobe booth at Voices That Matter gave me a CS3 Web Premium trial disk so I could install it on this computer, assuming a) it doesn’t cause my system to explode and b) I can get a real copy by the end of the month. Which c) I have to do anyway since it’s the last time I’ll be able to use my student discount, without which we would be somewhat less able to afford it. But, so, I’m trying to figure out Flash now, and it isn’t exactly a piece of cake. Especially with a frenetic toddler in the background. (Yes, we’re back to the beginning again.)

I’d like to write, because I had the BEST IDEA EVER while waiting for the bus, but unfortunately it was for the book I’m not currently working on. Dilemma: waste precious NaNoWriMo time on the other book, or risk losing inspiration? Or scrap them both for today since I have to figure out how to program in Flash?

How lazy am I, you ask?

I almost just placed an order to have several CDs shipped to me from Fabulous Jackpot Records. Yeah, the one that is located four blocks from my house.

(Note: you could substitute “agoraphobic” for “lazy” and the above sentiment would be the same. But let’s not add new things to my roster of quirks, shall we?)

ZOMG, so after yesterday’s abortive boot-shopping expedition, I managed to find not only the Franco Sarto boots in my size (which, unfortunately, were somewhat more toe-crunching than I had anticipated so I’m especially glad I didn’t just buy them on the internet like the voices in my head were telling me to) but a pair of the cutest, comfiest, most flattering boots EVER at Nordstrom, for – get this – $69. Seriously. Not on sale or anything.

I got a pair, my sister got a pair. We rocked the matching boots. It was glorious.

It’s funny, too, because we totally weren’t going to go into Nordstrom. We’d gone to the downtown Nordstrom last night and found absolutely nothing of any import (except a snotty saleslady who informed me loftily they she didn’t even need to check to know they wouldn’t have anything in my size, while trying to woo my obviously wealthier sister into buying some Josef Seibels that she totally got later that night on eBay) so why bother going into the one at Lloyd Center, right? But we’d exhausted all our other boot possibilities, and I was already feeling grumpy and fatalistic since the one pair I’d been keen on at Macy’s (not the Franco Sartos, but a very riding-bootish pair from Bandolino) would have to be special-ordered and therefore would not qualify for the sale price OR give me anything resembling instant gratification. And really, if I wanted to order boots, wouldn’t I have done so from the comfort of my own home? Would I really have bothered to make my way through a crowded mall?

But we went, and behold! A whole juniors shoe section! Which apparently involved all the shoes that were both cute and affordable! Who would have guessed? We emerged, bootified and victorious, and met up with the boys for a round of ice skating.

As far as days go, this was pretty good.

I’ve had my eye on this pair of Franco Sarto boots from Macy’s since before my trip. They’re incredibly cute, what with the little retro heels and the buttons up the side, and totally impractical, what with the little retro heels and the buttons up the side. But did I mention the cute? Cute totally trumps practical, especially when you’ve been drowning in practical and only just managed to actually paint your nails again, after 3 years of not bothering.

So they’re on sale at Macy’s, the boots are, and they have been since before my trip, but I’ve been so ridiculously busy (and/or enfeebled by migraine) that I haven’t made it out there until today. And today I sat in the Macy’s chair and waited for the incredibly lackadaisical Macy’s employee to bring me a pair so that I could try them on, be dazzled by their cuteness, and purchase them, using my hard-earned dollars. That was my plan, and it was a pretty good one, I though.

Except for one tiny detail: they were sold out of my size. And the size below. The closest size left, I was informed, was an 8.5. Yes. The size my feet USED to be, before I got pregnant.

It’s totally a sign. I will be wearing Danskos and Uggs until I die.

I haven’t written anything for NaNo today, my kid is STILL AWAKE and, literally, kicking, and I am so tired my eyes won’t blink properly. Yet, I post. I AM DOING THIS FOR YOU, INTERNETS.

It’s been one of those days that seem impossible in retrospect. I’ve been cleaning like crazy for Auntie Pep & her husband’s visit (they flew in at 6:30), finishing projects at work, doing finals for school, trying to keep up with the toddler (who has decided that I must be holding him every second of the day, unless he wants to run, in which case I must not hold him back because he has PLACES TO GO) and trying to grocery shop, or something. I actually stopped at Ikea on the way to the airport so that I could get some extra bedding, since we aren’t exactly prepared for visitors. So there I was, schlepping a stroller full of Swedish bedlinens through the airport waiting area, while running after an enthusiastically energetic Happy Fun Baby. For an hour and a half. Because of course with all my time paranoia I managed to be almost two hours early.

I’d say more, but my kid is driving me up the fucking wall right now, with the kicking and the smacking the keyboard and the pulling off of my glasses. It’s time for goodnight, y’all.