We shot up a Macy's!

and a Target, too, with one of these babies: a store registry phaser... um... scanner.

We actually had a great deal of fun, picking out dishes and towels and such. It was also a challenge to try to balance between what we need now (and will match the eggshell walls) and what we'll want later (when we have a home we can paint). We've also got a good bit of research still to do, particularly regarding cookware and vacuum cleaners -- which are not all created equal, but are nonetheless too expensive to replace readily when they are annoying but still functional. Still, we managed to get the bulk of the job done, and you can check out the results by clicking the registry links over on the left sidebar.

Of course, the real fun was the scanner, which was primarily my job. Perhaps it was undignified of me to pad down the aisle with it in the two-hand TV cop grip*, and to demand that Katie hold up the targets to see how accurate I could be from a distance, but I blame the store: if you don't want me to play like it's a gun, don't give it a grip and a trigger. In case anyone wonders, the Target scanners are vastly superior to the Macy's scanners: they're lighter, newer, easier to use, and accurate past eight feet. And the Macy's scanner had a battery life shorter than Katie's phone, compared to which the mayfly is venerable.

* The Palm-Supported Grip, aka the "cup and saucer grip", is what I was using. I recommend it.