that's a lot of batteries.

Thing 1: I told you so.
I went shopping with Rob again last week, and I specifically remember saying as we were getting out of his car, "C'mon, so we can go into popular, mainstream stores where we can listen to remixes of cool indie music and get pissed off about it." He shook his head at me, because he apparently thought that was a silly thing to be pissed off about. It's not. Stores where you pay mostly for the brand name are the antithesis of independent music, and people who solely shop at those places should not get to hear it. Also, he probably thought that mine was a ridiculous prediction to make. Of course, I wouldn't bother mentioning the statement had it not come true. We were in the Gap (or is it The Gap?) when I found that I knew the lyrics of a song I'd never heard before. Then I realized, to my absolute and sheer horror, that it was a mellow, techno remake of The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night." Blasphemy. I remarked something about the audacity of it to Rob, who characteristically responded with something about the shirts he was looking at. He tunes me out so well. Ah, but then, we were in American Eagle, and the Postal Service was playing. I don't care much for the Postal Service (the band, not the mail service), but they are one of Rob's favorite bands. I went up to him and said, "Listen." He said, "Yeah, I know. And it's really pissing me off."

Thing 2: I am one step closer to grown-up-hood.
Because I joined Costco. I'd been toying with the idea, but wasn't sure if the savings would pay for the membership fee. Everyone I knew was in favor of it, mostly because they all wanted me to take them to Costco. Casey made the valid point of asking what percentage of my annual salary did a membership cost. Apparently, the boy knows the way my mind works. One of my coworkers practically lives there. He says he pays for his membership in milk savings alone, as he goes through 2 gallons of milk a week (at $2.15 a gallon at Costco). I figured I would probably join, especially after I found out that they have a Costco gas station. But then there was a booth in the mall that giving away $10 gift cards with new memberships. Okay, fine, sign me up. I went for the first time Sunday and bought 48 batteries. I bought other stuff, too, but I just think it's funny to say that I bought 48 batteries.

Thing 3: Six extra batteries.
Actually, I bought 54 batteries, but six of them were fancy-schmancy rechargeable ones for my pretty new camera, which arrived last Friday, despite Dell.com's estimated ship date of May 4. I cannot describe to you my love affair with this camera. I had it delivered to me at work, and directly after work, you could have found me lying down in the parking lot adjacent to my office building, taking pictures of dogwood blooms. I came up with flowers in my pants and a big smile (though the two were unrelated). I also spent an afternoon at Old Salem taking pictures after I found myself there for a rummage sale. My camera can do a lot of things that I do not yet understand, but I aim to conquer every button on there. I am very glad that I splurged and got the quality camera with the tilty LCD screen, as I find that I can twist it so as to avoid lying down all over the ground (though I sometimes like to do that just for fun).