I need to remember to turn off my wireless mouse before I go to bed (and probably before I go to work, too) otherwise the batteries drain too quickly.

So today Mom and I attempted to find undergarments for me to wear under my wedding dress, since I was also going in for a fitting today. We both thought it would be pretty simple, just go to Victoria's Secret in the mall, grab something there, and then head on our way. Well, since we weren't looking for just a bra, things got a little complicated. Mom suggested a bustier, so the saleslady looked in the back, but they were short my size by one, so no luck there. So we went to the Lane Bryant undergarment store whose name starts with a C but I can't remember it right now, but they didn't have any bustiers in stock at all, and they had a spanx in my size, but they wouldn't let me try it on without buying it, so Mom said, "Forget that!" and we went to Sears instead, where I found a slip with a built-in bra, a very nice fitting bra and high-waisted panties. We weren't sure which would look better with the dress, so Mom bought them both so we could ask the folks at the bridal shop. But they were not very helpful, basically saying that it didn't make any difference. So I need to figure out which one to keep so Mom can return the other.
I'm keeping the bra, though.

The driveway got paved today, so it looks really nice (plus they made it bigger), but we can't actually drive on it for another four to five days.

I had a pretty busy day today. I went to the gym this morning, and I had a meeting at work in the afternoon. Basically, the meeting was to inform us that Stop and Shop is reinventing itself, which mostly means that we're getting new shirts (when I'm a cashier, I'll wear yellow, and when I'm on self-scan, I'll wear purple) and have to wear aprons. And the store is getting a new logo. No more stoplight, now it's some sort of tanagram that looks like a beetle on its back, an abstract cornucopia, or a messed up bird in flight, depending on who you ask.

The meeting ended early, so I went to the bank and came home. Mom was planning on making ribs for dinner (an experimental low-carb recipe), but she didn't have any tomato paste, so I ran out and got some. She would have called me at work, but I had made plans to go straight from the meeting to Wallingford before meeting up with Dad at the dealership to get my new car. But I only planned on doing that if the meeting ran for the whole scheduled time, which it didn't.
Later, I called up BestBuy, and they had gotten more of the laptop I wanted, so I hopped over there and got it. I had a hard time finding somebody to help me, so I asked at customer service, and the guy told me they didn't have any more of those laptops, but since it hadn't even been half an hour, I said that couldn't be true, and he checked again, and sure enough, there were still two (the guy I talked to on the phone told me they had gotten five in). After I got it, I didn't have time to go anywhere before meeting up with Dad, so off I went.

But at the dealership, we ended up sitting around because the guy who had to close the sale had a sale before us that came in late. We had to call Mom to let her know we It ended up taking an hour, so I got my laptop and started setting it up. The guy we were waiting with, the one who showed us the cars in the first place had an Acer, too, so we talked about that a little. Of course, once I got the laptop most of the way set up, the other customers were done and we got to finalize the sale. And I drove the car home, but then Dad took it out later to drive it.

A Broadway mix-tape for Wall-E and EVE
See, that's why I love Peter Filichia.

Tomorrow the Sonata is mine ^_^
So, even though my battery arrived yesterday, I've decided to return it and just get a new computer. My Acer's been having problems lately, and since I've been doing some video stuff as of late, I could definitely use a faster processor. I found a couple on the BestBuy website that I liked that weren't too expensive, so I went to the store tonight, but neither one was in. The guy I talked to said that the one I liked better should be in soon, but he couldn't remember if they restock on Tuesdays or Thursdays, and the one that was basically the same except it runs hot and has a noisy fan is actually discontinued (gee, I wonder why), but when he looked it up, I saw that there was one in Trumbull. So I'm going to sit on it for the moment, even though that means I have to keep bumming time off the main computer.

Tomorrow it's my turn to go to the meeting at Stop and Shop where they tell us that we're getting new uniforms, and maybe some other stuff (it's supposed to take two and a half hours, but I don't think it'll run that long).

One month to the big day!!

Car-wise, it looked like we were going to with the Malibu, but then Dad talked to the other guys again, and now we're going with the Sonata, even though it's a little more.
I'm working 5 to 9 tonight on self-scan, not too bad, and tomorrow I'm going out with Mom and Grammie to get fitted for bras, so I'll have good undergarments for trying on my dress next week.

Dad and I went out looking at cars yesterday, since he's getting me one as a wedding present, so Beck can take the Cruiser to school with her. We only had time to look at two places, but we've essentially narrowed it down to two cars, one at each place.
At the first place we checked out a Cobalt, but it was the basic model (as in, no power anything), and I couldn't adjust the side mirrors to where I wanted them, so that one got ruled out pretty quickly. We also looked at a Malibu, and it was pretty cool, with a lot of features, including an info feature that tells you your average speed and how far you'll be able to go on the gas you have left (approximately), among other things.
At the second place I drove a Sonata, which was really nice. The guy helping us out wasn't as big on showing off the features as the guy at the first place, so I'm not sure what all the features it has are, but what I saw looked really nice. We also checked out a couple of 07 Cruisers. One was super-yellow, but had a sign on top saying "Extra Clean" (the guy told me what that meant, but I don't remember any more). I played around with the other one, which was a purple-blue kind of color, and it was a lot of fun, with a motorized seat adjuster and all that, but I wasn't really looking for another Cruiser. Besides, after driving the Sonata, the Cruiser felt kind of rough.
The guy also wanted to show us a Sable, but it had way more mileage than we wanted, so that was right out.

So we narrowed it down to the Malibu and the Sonata. I'm leaning more toward the Sonata, personally, but either one would be nice.

I saw WALL-E tonight, and I really enjoyed it. It didn't blow me away, but it was very cute and heartwarming.
Just a tidbit: that's a young Michael Crawford in the Hello Dolly movie WALL-E watches ^_~


Twice today packages arrived, and both times they were not my new laptop battery. According to the Staples order tracker, my order is still being processed -_-

So, last night I dreamt that I was in Staples and I needed a part for my computer, but I thought it was too expensive, because I'd had to replace that part before and it was cheaper then. But later in my dream I realized that the first price had been without tax, so I was actually getting a better deal.
Then, when I turned on my computer this morning, it said it was running on battery power, even though I had the AC Adapter plugged in. I fiddled around with the adapter, tried plugging it in a different socket in a different room, but no charge. So I'm all "Whoa, prophetic dream!" although I really hoped not, because the only part I've gotten for my computer before was the AC Adapter, and I didn't want to do that again. Besides, the adapter was definitely getting power, it just wasn't sending it to the laptop.
So I took my laptop to the computer place in town that fixed my fan last January, and the guy figured out that my battery was dead. He said he would call his manager and find out how much it would cost to order a battery and call me later, but recommending checking at Staples. Which and did, and went ahead and ordered a new battery from them for $99. Which turned out to be a good move, since the guys from the computer place called later with one for $150.
Until I get my new battery, I can apparently still use my laptop as long as the dead battery is removed. Makes it a little lopsided, but with any luck I'll have my new battery by Monday.

I was on Express at work tonight (the random evening shift for me), and the time just flew by, seriously, even for being on Express. Tomorrow, however, I'm working 6 and a half hours on Self Scan, in the morning, on a Saturday, which is just about the worst shift they can give a person, seriously. That's just one half hour shy of getting two breaks >_

While looking at bouquets online...
Mom: This bride chose pink tulips to reflect her Dutch heritage. *turns to me* Do you want to reflect your Dutch heritage? [We have the tiniest bit of Dutch in our family lineage]
Me: Um, no.
Stacy: Dave could reflect his Dutch heritage.
Mom: He's Scottish, so he should have heather.
Stacy & Me: But he's marrying Joanna/me!
Mom: *doesn't get it* Well, then, Joanna can carry heather.
Me: But how heavy is she?
Mom: *finally gets it*
Stacy & Me: *crack up*

My bridal shower was yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. We had planned to have it outside, but there was threats of weather coming through, so we just stayed inside. It was a little cozy, but it worked. Stacy planned a bunch of games that were fun, like a Purse Scavenger Hunt. There was also a game where we had to figure out scrambled words relating to weddings and engagements, and one where we had to feel items in a sock and figure out what it was. I was the only one to get all seven right (they were all items relating to my honeymoon, and almost everyone thought the boat/ship was something else). And finally there was a memory game where we got to look at a number of items for a couple of minutes and then see how many we could remember.

We went to the Stop and Shop florist department to see about the flowers for the wedding the other day, and today the lady we talked to called with the estimated price, and it was pretty decent. After looking at all the bouquets and their prices today, Mom says that that's why people aren't going to actually florists shops any more. I don't know how true that is, but it makes sense. Why pay those prices when you can get the whole thing covered for a fraction of the price at Stop and Shop?

Since Beck and I were both free today, we went down to Mystic. As usual when I try driving around New Haven, I ended up going the wrong way, and didn't realize it for about ten miles, which wasn't too bad, considering I was supposed to be on that stretch of the trip for a little over fifty. It was supposed to rain all day, but we hardly got dripped on on the way up. But we went to Old Mystic Village first anyway, just in case it did start raining later on.
We got there right at lunch time, so the first thing we did was eat. And then we shopped, but neither one of us got much of anything. I discovered a crane machine in Silk Road, and I got something on my second try, just like that.
By the time we got to the Aquarium, a lot of the school groups were leaving, so that was pretty good for us. We still ran into a couple, but for the most part, it was a pretty good day. We did all the outdoor stuff first, again, in case it rained, and then we went to do the XD Theater ride, which was fun, as always. And by the time we were done with the main aquarium, it still hadn't rained. In fact, as we drove home, we encountered blue skies. And we were home just in time for dinner, which we totally didn't plan. It just worked out that way.

Of course, right around 7 pm, it did start to rain, and even stormed pretty hard for a while. But we would have been home by then, no matter what, so there you go.

We took Stacy's friend Chris to Lake Compounce today, since he'd never been to an amusement park in his entire life, and we all had a good time, even though it was an Education Day, meaning there were swarms of kids all over the place.
We hit the Ghost Hunt first, and the whole thing had been revamped, from new cars (four seaters instead of two) with new guns, to updated effects in the ride itself, plus it somehow doesn't run on a track now.
We also rode the Enterprise, Thunder & Lightning, Thunder Rapids (it took most of the day to fully dry off), Skyride, the train, Wildcat (his first coaster ever), Zoomers (the little cars), Zoomerang (repainted this season), Twister, Boulderdash, the Trolley, and then Skyride again before we decided to call it a day.
And we got ice cream from Sweet Claude's on the way home. Good stuff.

Since Dad's on a business trip this week, I had to put out all the trash cans for tomorrow.

I saw Kung Fu Panda today, and I really liked it. There is a scene after the credits, so stick around. But the credits are really great, too, so you'll want to stay anyway.
I almost lost my card case in the bathroom after the movie, though, so it was a good thing I went shopping right after or I might not have noticed until tomorrow. Thankfully it was still there when I realized I didn't have my cards, but I was really worried for a while.

( Now, the spoilers, lots of 'em )

When I checked the weather this morning, Weather Underground had a thunder cloud with a question mark on it. I didn't really register that until this afternoon, when really dark clouds rolled in while I was at work. Pretty soon it started to thunder and rain, and apparently there was hail, but I didn't see that for myself. The whole time, I was just waiting for the power to go out, although I don't know why. I mean, there have been plenty of storms where the power hasn't gone out. But sure enough, at four on the dot (I know because the clocks in the store stopped), the power flickered a few times before finally going out. We have a generator for some of the lights and most of the registers, so people could still shop and we could ring them out, but the belts didn't work, so there was lots of reaching and pushing by cashiers, baggers, and customers alike.
And then just two minutes after six, when I had just finished cleaning up my register and was heading up to clock out, the power came back. How odd.

I had jury duty today, so I had to be there at 8:15. It was in Meriden, and even though I'd never been their before, I didn't have any trouble finding the courthouse since it was the building with a crowd of people standing outside it. In the rain. By the time I parked and joined the crowd, the doors still weren't open, and I was worried we'd have to wait until 9 when the courthouse officially opened, but someone came and let us in. Although we all still had to stand in line and use the metal detector and put our stuff through the x-ray machine. I forgot to take out my cellphone and I'd completely forgotten that I had my digital camera in my purse, so the guy confiscated them and gave me a ticket to get them back (I was allowed to keep my nail clipper, though, since it didn't have a file on it). I wasn't the only one who had stuff confiscated, though, so I didn't feel too bad about it. And then we all had to stand around while everyone else continued through the metal detector until Beverly, the lady in charge of keeping an eye on the jury selection process came and told us where to go.
She lead us to a room with a bunch of chairs along the wall and two tables in the center. It had a vending machine, free coffee, a million magazines, puzzles, and even a few paperback and hardcover books, but most of us came with our own things to do (I had two books, my mp3 player, and a book of sudoku puzzles, so I was fine). Once we were all in, she explained about what would happen, and made us all sign in so she could validate our parking. Then we had to watch a video, but I fell asleep during it. And then one of the actual judges came out to talk to us, and then we got a break to go out and get stuff from the snack bar.
After the break, some of the lawyers involved in the case came out and told us the names of the people involved in case we recognized them, but I didn't. And then we watched another video about civics, and then they started the actual selection process. And they got everyone they needed before they even got to me, so there you go. And the rest of us were out of there by 11:30.

Once I was home, I had a message from Mom (who was out to lunch) saying Stop and Shop had called asking me to come in from 2 to 7. So I called them up and they still needed me, so I said I would, since I'd have an hour in between to eat lunch and relax. Except Mom called saying that the receipt for the shoes she was returning wasn't in the box like I said it was. I was 99% sure I'd put the receipt in the box, but I looked all over for it and asked everybody about it. And just when I called Mom to tell her that I couldn't find the receipt and was going to work, what did I see? The box for the shoes with the receipt inside, just as I'd said. Apparently she took the wrong box entirely. Sheesh.

At work I mostly bagged for the first half and then after my break I finished up as a cashier. Later, I was looking for my phone and couldn't find it, and I thought I left it at work, so I started driving out to check, even though I'd called and they said they hadn't found it. But as I was on my way, I heard a beep of a missed call, and lo and behold, there it was in my car, somehow in the back seat (I really have no clue how it got there). At least I found it before I actually got to the store.

I don't know why, but on self-scan, people just can't seem to find the corn. They can go through all the A-C pages, they can stare at the area where the corn icon is, but somehow the images and words just don't connect. So when this happened to one lady today, I commented that no one can ever find the corn, and she said, "That's because we're smart and Stop and Shop is stupid." She also thought that the picture of corn looked like cucumbers, but I don't think that's the problem for everyone.

I have jury duty tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Today I figured out that I had been crocheting the wrong way, and I double crocheted for the first time ^_^ I made two bookmarks.

Amazingly, I had a Saturday off, so I went over to the grand opening of the Southbury Borders, since I had a 30% off coupon for that store, plus a regular 25% off coupon, too. And it was pretty cool, and really big, even bigger than the one near Dave, although the music section was really tiny. There were a lot of drawings, and I entered most of them, so we'll see if anything comes of that.

It was supposed to rain all day, and I did get dripped on a little on my way out, but it got kinda sunny and pretty hot later on. But then in the evening it stormed for like 20 minutes. The sky turned yellow and everything so that was pretty weird.

Snagged from mshepley:
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I made white chocolate chip blondies today for Stop and Shop's bake sale (benefiting the Jimmy Fund), but they came out a little dry. Probably because I used Splenda Brown Sugar, but the only other brown sugar I found was like a rock. Still, it's not a bad dry; it's more like corn bread in texture, really.
Yesterday I made Chicken Paprika, but I didn't think to make sure we actually had paprika until I was already cooking, and there wasn't any. Even if there had been some, there probably wouldn't have been 1/4 of a cup. So I used chili powder instead, and it tasted pretty good.

I was working on making a mood theme last night, and I didn't finish before I had to go to bed, so I left the program open with the images I was planning to use, all cropped and everything, intending to work on it more today. Well, I get my laptop out of sleep mode only to find Windows telling me that it was updated and restarted my computer for me. >_< >_< >_<