November 27 - Mark Your Calendars!!

Thanks to some detective work courtesy of my mom, we now know that the Cary location of Trader Joe's will open on Monday, November 27! I could just scream with delight!! Woo hoo! Come to mama! Can't wait to sink my teeth into TJ-exclusive Alaskan halibut rolls, gnocchi sorrentino, chicken lasagna, turkey meatloaf, couscous salad, black bean taquitos, and so much more. Not to mention the items that they have at half the price of other stores...Thai noodle soup bowls for 99 cents, risotto for two bucks, trail mix out the wazoo, oh, and how could I forget-----decent and affordable avocados!!!!!

Okay, so I started with the good news. The bad news for today is a two-fer. First, I got a speeding ticket. My first EVER. Granted, I've been driving for 15 years and I've always had a lead foot, so I totally had this coming, but it still sucks. (In case you're curious--81 in a 65.) Second, and completely unrelated, I took my car to get the tire patched (I'm a magnet for sharp metal objects) and they told me the nail's location made the tire irreparable, so I had to buy two new tires (lest I be struck with the dreaded "treadus unevenus"). And of course my car can't get by with the $50 kind, no, Ginny's a snob, and she requires special tires, something about a V91 rating, and the cheapest ones were $115 each! Boo hoo. So I spent a LOT of money on car-related things today. I don't know how much the ticket will cost because apparently I have to go to court in January, but I've heard you can pay a lawyer an obscene amount of money to take care of it for you and make it "go away." Which ends up being cheaper in the long run, because otherwise, on top of the fine, your insurance goes up. Poo.

But did I mention that Trader Joe's is opening a mere 5 miles from where I live in a mere 13 days? :-)

Oh, I drove seven hours today by the way, about 463 miles round trip. Did a one-hour training in a town called Mineral, VA. Nice setup with plasma screens and such. But everyone was so shy! They didn't want to record practice messages, or even receive a practice call. It was weird. But the system works fantastically now, the calls go through in a heartbeat...it's quite impressive. However we have been getting complaints nonetheless. The answering machine detection technology was updated and it behaves slightly differently...I won't bore you with further explanation...just suffice it to say that we have first-hand experience with the old adage, "You cannot please everyone all of the time."

So I still keep thinking about that ticket and it's just weighing on me. So we need some more happy stuff to push it away. I don't believe I've mentioned here my plans for the second week of January. I'm going on a cruise to the Bahamas!!! Given the time of year, it was tres cheap, but it is going to be so much fun because my dear friend (hi, Nicole!!) is flying out, and we are road tripping down to Miami and back. Our stops will be Savannah and Hilton Head Island. And of course, there are our ports of call:


I can't wait!!

So let's recap:
Speeding ticket - bad
Trader Joe's opening 11/27 - good
Expensive tires - bad
Road trip and cruise to the Bahamas - good

Looks like the universe is in balance. Carry on.