'Tis the season to argue over stuff

My husband and I have been discussing our upcoming holiday travel. Both of us are originally from Southern California, and all of our relatives live out there, so we fly out for the holidays every year. Well, as you know, the air travel industry has been in the news a lot lately because of the new security measures. Personally, I don't feel all that threatened by the possibility of a full-body patdown. I've given birth, so at this point a lot of random strangers have touched my junk. And about 75% of the times I pee are with my kid watching, so there's no modesty left here. And the full-body scanners? I'm sure the TSA officials are not ogling over my naked body.

But my husband reads the kind of blogs that express a lot of outrage over things the government does, and besides that he won't even let the cat in the bathroom with him, so he is having none of this TSA business. He insisted that we take the train, even though it costs about three times as much and takes approximately eight times as long. (Win-win!)

We were at an impasse. Each day he would send me Facebook messages about another TSA-related outrage. Meanwhile the holidays were drawing closer, and we still didn't have any concrete travel plans.

So I gave in to the train. Transportation Security Administration FTW!

Bill thinks it will be fun. Nathan loves trains, he tells me, he'll have a great time. And I'm sure he will have a great time ... for about half an hour. That only leaves 39.5 hours left to try to keep him entertained.

I decided that, as a consolation prize (?), I would lobby to get an iPad to keep us all entertained while on the train. Because, you know, let's throw more money at this problem.

The thing is, I have wanted an iPad since they came out, but especially since a few weeks ago when Martha Stewart introduced her cookie app. You can scroll through the cookies as they go by on their "cookie runway." A runway of cookies. And then you can sort out recipes by the type of cookie you want, like fruit cookies, nut cookies, and chocolate cookies, all of which are on a big Price is Right-style cookie wheel that you spin.

Now, there are several "but"s you might be thinking right now, such as (1) But you can look up recipes on several websites, cookbooks, magazines, newspapers, from friends, etc., (2) But won't your destructive kid break and iPad?, (3) But won't you break an iPad, (4) Is a cookie app really a good reason to want a $500+ gadget, especially since you have a laptop, iPod, and Android phone?, and (5) But isn't a cookie runway a bad thing to stare at when you're on Weight Watchers?

My answers are (1) Yes, but none of them have a cookie runway, (2) Probably, (3) Definitely, (4) Yes, and (5) Shut up, are you saying I look fat?

Anyhow, I'm still getting the iPad.

So, in conclusion:

Airport runway? No.
Cookie runway? Oh yes.