This is just how we roll (and you should, too)

This is me unloading groceries. Please note:
(a) the reusable grocery bags with inspirational words;
(b) the just-as-reusable PRODUCE bags (woot, woot!) that my onions and broccoli are in;
(c) my milk from the local Shatto dairy that comes in a reusable glass bottle that I return to the grocery store afterwards; and most importantly
(d) my bananas, WHICH DO NOT REQUIRE ANY PRODUCE BAG AT ALL.

PSA du jour: Since we do not eat banana peels and bananas come in a convenient bunch you can simply carry, YOU DO NOT NEED TO WASTE A BAG ON THEM! The pure idiocy astounds me sometimes. I can't comprehend why anyone would bag their bananas. Can someone please enlighten me?

I just can't help it. Melanie (The Reluctant Housewife) has been telling me that in Canada, customers are charged 5 cents per plastic bag they require at checkout. Personally I think it should be more! But apparently this small amount has motivated almost everyone to begin bringing their own bags shopping. Why can't American stores begin to do the same? We need a swift kick in our lazy ass so we can start doing something right. It may seem like such a small thing, but if everyone did it, the impact would be HUGE.

It burns me up when I am schlepping my kids and my shopping bags, purse, etc. in the pouring rain and as I'm entering the store there are people coming out with tons of plastic bags or even one plastic bag that appears to have just one or two small items in it. It's lazy, it's wasteful, and quite frankly it's just plain sad.

I know we can't do it all, and I'm certainly not perfect. But BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) should become commonplace and mandatory here and everywhere. It's the least we can do. What do you think about this?

My 33rd Birthday---My First From-Scratch Cake

Getting all set up with ingredients, tools, etc.

Working on the batter, adding the vanilla extract.

Fortunately I had a little helper named Abby.

Pulling them out of the oven. I think I overcooked them a tad. Could've been more moist.

Starting the chocolate frosting--damn, have forgotten how to flip/turn the pics.

Frosting the cake with homemade chocolate butter cream, yum yum!

Carefully inverting the second layer

Sadly I do not own a cake stand. Need to add this to my list. Plastic flowered tray instead.

Little helpers like to lick the frosting off the mixer attachments.

Izzy LOVED the cake. It was okay. I honestly felt like the boxed stuff is better. Of course this was just my first attempt, so who knows...I think I screwed up a few things, like using salted butter instead of unsalted, and failing to sift the dry ingredients beforehand. Live and learn, I guess. But it still felt really good to prove to myself that I CAN actually make a REAL cake that doesn't come out of a Betty Crocker box. That's a decent accomplishment for my 33rd year.
Right??