It's five-forty am. Matt and I've been up since 4. We're getting ready to head out to the grocery stores. The alarm, set for six, won't go off for another 20 minutes.

I don't know why we woke up at 4. We just did. Well, no, amend that. Patch was rattling the bedroom door something fierce to try to get in, so that woke us up, but after that, we were just awake. So, we're going to get a head start on the day. We went through the grocery ads last night, making lists and marking out our route. Seven stores in all, most likely. I don't like price matching. I hated it as a cashier, so I try not to do it as a customer.

I don't think the sun's quite up yet. For some reason, this feels like folly, this early-morning foray into the world. But it must be done.

Okay, so the Briar Creek store had neither the skirt, NOR the belt! I ended up getting two 3/4-sleeve t-shirts, $12.99 each (on sale from $22.50), ad with the $15 coupon, I spent $11.75 after tax. And, Matt let me get a paid LJ account! I've been wanting one for a while; plus, with the storage space for pics, etc, it means he can finally cancel the Earthlink account (another $10 a month we can save).

Plus, I can use a lot more userpics now. (rubs hands together with glee)

Why does online shopping have to be so freaking difficult? I received a coupon from Lane Bryant, $15 off $15 or more (with appropriate uppings the higher the order was). Went online yesterday to find close locations, and get an idea of what I wanted. Found a nice khaki-ish skirt and a brand of slimmers I've heard good things about. So, went to the closest LB. They had neither the skirt nor the slimmers, but the Crabtree store had the slimmers. So, went to Crabtree today--they had the slimmers, but not the skirt, and the coupon doesn't work on the slimmers. So, decided to just order everything online.

Went online. Added the skirt and the slimmer to my cart. Went to checkout, entered the code: and didn't read all the fine print. The $15 offer doesn't work online. Have to spend $75, and get $25 off. Okay, no real big deal, just need to add another $25 to the cart. $50 was my top spending limit, anyway. So, added a belt and two pairs of pantyhose. Went to check out. Still told me I hadn't spent $75. Blinkblink. Uh, total's over...oh crap. Damn Spanx doen't count towards the total. And those are $25. Grumble grumble, remove Spanx and one pair pantyhose from order, substiture Cacique slimmer, $30. Go to checkout. Blinkblink. With tax and shipping, over $65.

Grumblegrumblesweargrumble. Back to the shopping cart. Screw the coupon. Take off everything but the skirt, readd the Spanx (since I'd rather have them than the more expensive Cacique). Back to checkout. Total with tax and shipping, just over $60. Howl, whine, beat head on keyboard.

Matt gets up and checks finances. Okay. No wiggle room. So, this is what we decide: I want to use the freaking coupon. That's what started this whole ordeal. So, I'm going to take the coupon, go to Briar Creek, and get the belt. It's around $20, so will be $5 after coupon. The rest of the $50 I was authorized to spend will go towards a credit card payment, and as soon as it clears, I can go back online and order the Spanx and the skirt.

Why am I so obsessed with this skirt? Because I can wear it to work. That means, the days that Ben forgets what my availability is and schedules me too close to meeting time, I can wear the skirt to work, and just go right to meeting from work. Booyah.

So now I'm in an incredibly cranky mood, the least of which is because I have to go BACK outside today, in the cold and dreary weather, and fight the stupid Sunday traffic and crowds.

Maybe if I'm lucky, the Briar Creek store will have the skirt.

I can always hope.