Last night I dreamt that something had happened to my father, and I kept trying to call 911 to get help, but every time I dialed, it went to the wrong place. On like the third or fourth time, I reached my dad's office and instead of hanging up when the answering machine came on, I started babbling a message for my dad, just in case he heard it. It turns out he was there, so he picked up. He told me he had gone to the hospital the day before, and even stayed the night, but now he was just fine. And I was left wondering why nobody told me. That's all I remember.

I watched Tokyo Godfathers today, and it was very good. I kept tearing up while watching it, but not in the places I expected.

January: For New Year's we rented Across the Universe (which we're watching right now), The Duchess, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Hancock.

February: I have no clue why reading the song tropes on TVtropes always creeps me out, or why I only tend to read them late at night, but that's the reason why I'm still up.

March: Because of the snow, work called me to come in early, so I agreed to come in two hours early.

April: Yesterday Mom and I were simultaneously remembering the entire lyrics of This is the House that Jack Built.

May: Also, here's a short film Mel Brooks did in 1963:

June: Getting the job in Hartford would be nice.

July: Since today was my only day off this week, I decided to do a run to Wallingford for a number of things, and Dave decided to come with me, since he didn't really have anything better to do.

August: Good times were had over here this weekend, thanks to Connecticon.

September: It's a good morning.

October: I took my car into Saf-T Autos today since the Check Engine light had come on, and I just got it back a little bit ago.

November: The library lets people sign up to automatically be put on the reserve list for a new book by certain authors, which gives the library an idea of how many copies to pick up in the first place.

December: Final Word Count: 50,367.

A couple of folks have done this, so I'll do it, too:
Name a fandom, and I'll give you the scoop on at least three of my unpopular opinions related to that fandom.

As part of the last stretch of my NaNo, I had my characters make ribs for dinner. And just this morning, Mom called me up inviting me and Dave over for dinner because she's making spareribs. How weird is that?

Final Word Count: 50,367

Dave's folks got to our apartment close to four on Wednesday, and after giving them the tour (and telling them all about the toilet), we all just sat around and talked for a while. I had to go to help at AWANA at six, which was when his folks decided they would take Dave out for dinner after all (they had at first said they didn't want to go out since they were going to be eating out for the rest of the time here) >_< They went to Shangri La (formerly Shangri Lee), but they brought me back a katsudon bowl, which was nice. I didn't actually eat it until today, though, since it was our pastor's birthday on Wednesday, so someone brought a Costco cake to AWANA and we got all the kids to sing to him.

On Thursday, we had to wait for the plumber to come and replace our toilet before we could get down to doing anything with Dave's folks, but he came around 10, and it didn't take him too long to put in the new toilet. Turns out the old one was like a hundred years old, so it's no wonder it cracked. I'm surprised it lasted that long, really. But now we have a nice, shiny new one, so hopefully that'll be the end of that.
We decided to do some shopping, so Dave's parents could buy us some early Christmas presents that would be hard to ship/bring back, like a microwave and vacuum (as I learned when cleaning up the apartment, an electric carpet sweeper just doesn't cut it). So I took them to the Meriden Square, where we mostly just stayed in Best Buy (and Mom Pfaff impulsively got me an external hard drive. Seriously, I was like, "I should get an external hard drive sometime," and she was like, "How about this one?"). The big thing, though, was getting Dave new jeans. He tried pants on in three different stores and got a pair in each one. We didn't end up getting a vacuum, though, as none of us could agree on what exactly to get (Dave didn't want an expensive one, I didn't want a big one, Dad Pfaff wanted one like his daughter Katie got, and Mom Pfaff was leaning toward a bigger one).
We were also eating out with my folks that night, but we got back with a little time, which Dave used to set up the microwave (more than 1100 watts of power, yes!). Anyway, we met Mom and Dad at Vespucci's, an Italian place in town (that used to be a Carvel), and we all had a good time. My aunt even showed up unexpectedly (to everyone but Mom and Dad), right when we were talking about her, how weird is that?

On Friday, we were going to go to the Yankee Candle flagship store in Deerfield, but at the last minute we decided to go to Mystic instead (we were going to go on Saturday originally), since it was supposed to rain all day Saturday, and since half of the Mystic Aquarium is outside, it made sense to go then instead. And since it was 9:30 by the time we finally got going, I was able to grab the pass from the library, although that only got us a discount for two adults. And then it ended up raining before we did the outside stuff anyway, and it rained for the whole rest of the day. Dave's folks had fun anyway, and I got maple sugar and fudge in Olde Mistick Village, so it was all good.
The reason we had been planning on going to Deerfield on Friday was because there was a Harvest Banquet at church that evening, and we had to make sure we were back in time for it. But with how early we started, we had plenty of time (and with all the rain, we didn't really feel like sticking around that long).

So, since we were going to Deerfield on Saturday, I made sure to get started on my library volunteer work right when the library opened at 9:30. Now, when we parted the night before, I'd told Dave's folks that I would call when I was done and they could come over to the apartment then, but when I got back, Dave's parents were already there, and spent the morning hashing things out with Dave that didn't have too much to do with me. But it took so long that they didn't really want to drive the hour and a half to Deerfield, so instead, we all went out to a late lunch, checked out vacuums at Walmart and actually got one this time, and then went to see "Pirate Radio" (which was awesome). Still, I wish I'd known things were going to turn out like that. I wouldn't have rushed right out to the library in that case.

This morning, Dave's folks went to church with us, but then we went our separate ways, since I had to go to work, and they had to go to the airport. Dave went with them so he could go to some kind of conference in Indy, so I've got the apartment to myself until Wednesday afternoon.

So, I'm cleaning in the bathroom and decide to replace the clorox tablet in the toilet. I take off the top off the tank, but somehow in the process of doing this, I ended up breaking the entire back portion off. So I'm suddenly deluged with toilet water, and luckily I thought to turn the water off before too much extra came out, but still, my entire bathroom floor was covered in water. So I pulled out just about every (dirty) towel I've got and started simultaneously mopping up the floor and calling my landlord to explain the situation. He said he'd call a plumber and he just got back to me. The plumber can't come until tomorrow morning orz We can still use the toilet, just manually.
What really gets me about this is that Dave's parents are coming to visit for a few days (in fact, they're on their way from the airport right now). What a time for this to happen...

I seriously need new headphones.

Today I was working 6 am to 12 pm, which meant that I had to take care of the newspapers when I got in. The last time I actually had to do this was two years ago, strangely enough, although this time I had to deal with the new insert the New Haven Register puts in the Saturday paper. Why they don't just put it in themselves, I have no idea, but since it wasn't exactly busy, I didn't mind. I was actually pretty surprised at how quickly the time went, considering it rained all day. After work I went straight to do my library volunteering, and I was feeling fine, but basically as soon as I got home, I crashed on the couch for like three hours.

Tomorrow there's a NaNoWriMo kick-off party that Dave and I are going to, since I don't have to go to work until later in the afternoon. The drawback of working later, though, is that I miss having dinner at Mom and Dad's, and Mom's making a ham. But Dave'll bring some home for me, so it's not too bad.

So Ponyo is coming to DVD in March.

Since today is my only day off this week, and also a Tuesday, Mom and I are going out to lunch, and then Dave and I are either going to see Zombieland or Where the Wild Things Are, depending on what time I'm done with Mom.

It's snowing! And what's more, it's actually sticking!

I almost always get the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly whenever I have traveling to do, especially if it's by plane. I had a subscription when I was in college, so I always had at least one issue to read whenever I would fly home for breaks and when my parents would drive me to and from in the summer. So now I kind of associate that with traveling.

I took my car into Saf-T Autos today since the Check Engine light had come on, and I just got it back a little bit ago. When the woman called me up to let me know it was ready, I asked what the problem was, but she just told me I needed to read the notes for myself. She also told me that she kept it under two thousand dollars, so I was freaking out a little there (but it turned out to just be about a hundred, so phew). Anyway, I got there and she showed me the write up, and apparently the tubes were full of SPIDERS and SPIDERWEBS. I'm glad it wasn't something more serious, but man, I never would have even though of that as being a problem.

The general consensus on the new self-scan registers is that everyone likes them, except for the height. They're much lower to the ground than the old ones, which I'm assuming is to make them more handicap accessible, but makes me (and I know I'm not the only one) feel like I'm towering over them. And the color is kind of a bland beige, as opposed to the green of the old ones. But they're wider, which means they don't back up as much, and if you get cash back or change, they beep at you until you take the bills. So no more dealing with people who forget to take it, and then are shocked when they come back a half hour later and find someone else (who probably got cash back of their own and didn't bother to count it) took it themselves.

So I was cashiering on express today, and a customer asked me why all the selfscan lanes were closed. I hadn't noticed anything up with selfscan when I came in, but then, I wasn't looking, so I told her I didn't know. Another customer asked a little later, but this time Simone was nearby, so I asked her what was up. Turns out that Stop and Shop is putting in new selfscan registers, and sure enough, by the time I was going home, the old registers were completely gone. I heard they're going to be like the ones in Wallingford, but I don't really remember what those ones were like. Smaller, I think.

A customer ran into a Catch-22 today, since she was writing a check because she forgot her wallet at home. But it was her first time writing a check, so I needed to put in the number on her driver's license, which she didn't have because it was in her wallet. So she couldn't pay with a check because she didn't have her wallet, but if she'd had her wallet, she wouldn't have had to pay with a check.

Going to the Big E tomorrow!

I got the Ponyo Image Song album today ^_^

Corporate Zombies in Japan

Your Birthday is Yellow

You are the trustworthy type. You have a good heart, and you're always concerned with doing the right thing. People turn to you during the best and the worst times of their lives. You make responsible decisions and have a clear head. You believe in yourself. You are a natural leader. You're fair, honest, and the one person that can always be counted on.

Snagged from icysnowdrop:
1. Comment to this entry saying 'ICONS!' and I will pick 6 of your icons.

2. Make an entry in your own journal and talk about the icons I picked!

No huge stories behind these, really.


Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura. I've had this one for a while. It was made by firewater_icon, and I liked it.


Altessa from Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime. I made this one using a tutorial, and it actually came out looking pretty good, which doesn't usually happen when I try following a tutorial (either that, or I get the result I want before I get to the end, or I go off on my own after a while). The tutorial is now a locked entry, though, otherwise I would link to it.


Mint from Tokyo Mew Mew. You know, I never use this one. At all. But I like how it looks, so there you go. It was made by dimensionkayt.


Kani from Sushi Pack. Apparently, prototype figures were made at some point. In promotional images, Kani's usually shown with her tongue sticking out irreverently, but that's not really her personality. She's more snarky than sassy. But I guess Rule of Cute makes it work.


These both come from a notebook that came with an issue of Nakayoshi that I picked up at a Japanese bookstore. The notebook featured the main characters from a number of the serialized manga, including Amu from Shugo Chara, and the girl from Ni Hao Pao Pao, whose name I don't remember, but I liked the pose. I kind of wish that I hadn't added the effects at the bottom, but I also don't feel like remaking it, either.

Interview is set for 10 am Friday, so I'll use some time Thursday (my one day off this week) to scope the place out. If I do get this job, it'll be closer than New Canaan (25 minutes vs. 58 minutes), but it'll only be part-time, so I'd have to keep working at Stop and Shop for the benefits. And I'd be in two unions, apparently.

So I was a bagger today, but I mostly took care of returns, which was kind of nice, and it definitely made the time go by faster.

For dinner tonight I made deviled chicken, which came out pretty well, with onion soup potatoes that didn't turn out so well, but tasted all right, and some steam-in-the-microwave vegetables that probably needed more time (our microwave always needs more time to cook things properly, but the trick is figuring out exactly how much). Pretty much right after that, I went out to pick up some things at Walmart, and when I came back, I found a message for me from a library about a job, left approximately 15 minutes after I left, and it was almost a half hour too late to call back tonight (I'm kind of surprised that they were calling so late, but there you go). So I need to remember to call in the morning. I still haven't heard back from New Canaan, so maybe I should give them a call, too.

I had today off, so Dave and I went to see two movies, Ponyo and District 9 (one guess on which of us picked which movie). Ponyo was seriously cute, and the art was gorgeous ^_^ But the showing we were at had a bunch of kids that laughed at everything, which was kind of distracting during the more serious parts. And was it just me or ( end spoilers )
District 9 was really weird, but then again, I went into it knowing next to nothing about it. It took a while to get going, but by the middle, I wanted to know how it ended, which is a good thing. Still, I could have lived without seeing this one in theaters.

As part of the trip, we had lunch out, and so while we were waiting for our food, I mentioned some new initiatives that Stop and Shop is going to be starting next week, including expanding the "Real Deal" promotion (where an item is on sale for a month, only now it'll be three months), which somehow lead to him trying to convince me that people in Indiana don't buy cake and brownie mixes. Sorry, but I just don't buy that (especially since he never worked in a grocery store, and I do). I also found out that Dave never played Professor Layton and the Curious Village (since I mentioned the second game coming out next week), so as soon as we got home, I let him borrow it and my DS, and he's been playing ever since ^_~

I did the childcare for the service yesterday, which was fun. Mostly a lot of the kids just running around, though.

My grandmother had to have major surgery this weekend, so everyone went to see her yesterday, but I was working, so I went today. I was originally just going to go up myself, but while everyone was there yesterday, Mom apparently gave Dave money so we could both go to the Maritime Center up there. Which was a fun idea, but then that meant I had to bring Dave along, which ended up meaning that we didn't get up to see Grandma until 2:30, when we had been trying to aim for noon. But it was good in the long run, since we were then there when her doctors came to talk to her, and so we got a little more information about how she's doing, which we passed on to Mom and Dad later on.

The Maritime Center was fun, but the penguin exhibit was a bit of a letdown. They were hyping up this big "Penguins on the Loose" thing, but it turns out there's just one show at 1 pm or something, otherwise you have to try and look at them through the glass, which didn't reflect very well. I guess if any of the penguins had been in the water, it would have been better, but they were all up on the rocks.

For dinner, we got those pasta breadbowls from Domino's (since we pass one on the way home), and those were pretty good, and the free lava cake was definitely good.

It was so hot today, and it's still hot out now. Bleh.

That Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade is some good stuff.

Did some random shopping in Waterbury today, mostly to get cleaning supplies at Walmart, but I did stop at Barnes and Noble and got the book of Julie and Julia, since I saw the movie on Tuesday and really liked it.