Another Newbie in Southern California-Plug-in

congrats and welcome! something doesn't sound right. make sure the charge timer is off. you can read about this in the manual. then, when you plug in, the light next to the handle in the plug area of the car should light up, and there should be a click sound from the brick in the cord at the wall plug area.

when it finishes, the light at the car plug area will go off. while it's charging, you can press the power button with your foot on the brake, and scroll through the display, until you come to the screen that shows charging data. it should tell you how much charge you have in kWh and miles, and how much time left to finish charging.

you can unplug at any time in this process, and drive with whatever amount of charge you have.
all the best!

 

Congratulations!
I too am a new ( bought last April 2012 model with 13 K miles ) plug in advanced owner and love the car. As Bisco commented, something is not quite right. Have you tested the charger to make sure it is functioning as designed?
Page 82 of the owners manual tells you how to check the charger.
Hope things work out for you. The advanced trim level is really nice...enjoy!

 

Welcome!