pearl's new clothes

new clothes for pearl courtesy of aunt staci. notice the bird theme :-) (also, we haven't come close to naming her yet, pearl is kind of her pre-birth name.)

my big swing list

my dad and two uncles have something they call "the big swing list" or just "the list" for short. whoever irritates them enough, they add to the list. some people on The List include Richard Dreyfus, Bono, and a lot of infomercial stars. They all have to agree to put someone on the list. the other day my dad sees Steve Martin on tv and says, "we really oughta add that guy to the list." my uncle thought about it for a second and then says, "no, he really doesn't bother me that much." i think harrison ford is on the list. i asked my dad recently if there were any women on the list and he said something like, "no. but it's not because we're opposed to that. none of them have annoyed us enough yet i guess. but tyra's getting pretty close."

anyway- i have my own list. not people though. companies. and i would like to share them. these are in order of increasing dislike.

1st- Kinkos: Kinkos has been a nemesis of mine for a while. they are ridiculously overpriced and they make me feel like an idiot every time i go in there. "you mean you don't know how to use the laminating machine? you poor, pitiful, foolish girl."

2nd- Radio Shack: Radio Shack is a horrible place. Any time I go in there no associate can help me. Usually they are on their cell phone talking to a friend and don't care to assist customers. But even when not on the cell phone, they still just DON'T KNOW ANYTHING. Last time I was there, the employee could not help me find a cord to hook my digital camera into my computer. I think that should be a pretty basic request.

3rd- Flying Biscuit: I know I will have to defend this because probably all of you love this place. It went from being my favorite breakfast place to my least favorite. I went there after work recently b/c I am pregnant and was starving and craving a specific food item- a skillet meal. you know, potatoes on the bottom, then meat and veggies, then 2 eggs cracked on top. yum. they do not have a skillet meal there, but they were having one as the special, so i got it. it was awful. when the waitress asked me if it was good, i said, "not really." and she just looked at me, like, oh, i'm sorry. but that was it. Why did you ask me if it was good, if it doesn't matter to you either way? From now on it is OPH, Le Peep and Zada Jane's for me.

4th- HARRIS TEETER: Harris Teeter, I have loved you for a long time, but I have come to realize something in a drastic way. You are RIDICULOUSLY overpriced. Recently they had a great sale on chicken. Buy 1, get 2 free. It came out to $1.66/lb for chicken which is amazing. When I was leaving the store, the cashier says to me, "You saved 63 dollars with your VIC card today." And at first I was smiling, congratulating myself as I left. But then it hit me. That means that on any regular day, without this sale, Harris Teeter is overcharging me by about $63. I can't stand for it anymore. Yesterday I went in to HT to grab an apple for a snack b/c I was starving. Guess how much, for ONE apple? $1.31. Over a dollar. Apples are 50 cents each at Trader Joe's. But HT was more convenient for me, so I overpaid. Harris Teeter is basically charging an 80 cents convenience fee for apples. I can't take it anymore.

me at 18 weeks

fyi, taking pregnancy photos is so awkward. what do you do with your arms? and what other time do the words, "did you zoom in on my stomach?" ever come out of your mouth? but anyway, here you go:





mark at 18 weeks:


(this is him showing me what to do in the photo. haha, nice face.)

being pregnant makes things funnier

i don't know why, but it does. maybe because my emotions can sometimes be a smidge out of control. maybe because i often find myself eating a family size bag of salt and vinegar chips and sleeping until 10:30 am. (what is this, college?) so anyway, here are some of our laughs as of late. mostly related to pregnancy.

me: (laying in bed) i'm going to make some goals for tomorrow. three goals. okay, my first goal is to make myself a smoothie for breakfast
mark: (breaks into uncontrollable laughter)
me: WHAT!
mark: denise, i just think if you're going to set goals for yourself, you shouldn't make one that you're going to fail on in the first 30 minutes of the day. it will be bad for your self-esteem.

so i have basically gone from being a disciplined student and worker who gets up early in the morning to spend time with the Lord and make myself an omelet for breakfast to someone for whom making a smoothie is an unattainable goal.

me: did you rent transformers?
mark: no, you told me i couldn't
me: i didn't say you couldn't, i said you could rent it but i wouldn't watch it with you
mark: oh no, that's a trap. i know a trap when i see one.

mark: did you take your prenatal vitamin today?
me: no, thanks for reminding me.
mark: how many days a week would you say you forget to take it?
me: what is this, a quiz? i don't know
mark: seriously, how many days?
me: maybe...three?
mark: denise! our baby is going to be born with three eyes!

pancakes and other news

recently i have been eating a LOT of pancakes. and i am not talking your average bisquick pancake. or aunt gemima. or whatever. these are good. whole wheat pancakes with fresh fruit on top and HOMEADE whipped cream. i have eaten these for dinner every night for, roughly, the past week and a half.

(and yes, that is mark's shoulder as he leaned out of the picture. okay, okay, i'm not exactly ansel adams.)

why am i eating pancakes for dinner every night you ask? i am pregnant. :-) okay, i said it. i'm 13 weeks pregnant today. and i have been SICK. i think i'm actually coming out of it now, but the nausea has been the worst at night. mark has been forced to make his own dinners (i.e. stop at wendy's on his way home from work) and i've been eating a lot of plain-tasting stuff. a lot of carbs. a lot of pancakes.

about mark. haha.

hello...it's been a while. i don't have much on my mind, but i'm at work and a smidge bored, so here goes. i'm at work at Bonitz (mark's company)- i am working the front desk here now on Fridays. it goes a little something like this: "Good morning, Bonitz, this is Denise..." for about 6 hours :-)

mark has been a great husband lately. let me give some examples:
the other morning i woke up and i usually sit in our living room and read for a while before i get ready for the day. so i go to the living room and mark had made me a fire in our fireplace before he left for work at 7:30 am! It was one of those cold mornings and it was awesome.

my work schedule now is kind of weird, so i work 10 hrs on wednesdays and i'm off on thursdays. on thursday morning mark called me and asked how i was doing and i said i felt wiped out from the day before. he said "you should just relax today, you worked so hard yesterday. why don't you just read, take a nap, watch a movie, stuff like that." um, yes please. i was expecting him to say something like, "why don't you clean the house?"

he usually lets me park in the garage and he parks in the driveway. but the other night, the night before it frosted bigtime, he parked in the garage and i had to park outside. but the next morning, when i went out to my car i realized he had pulled my car in the garage before he left for work. so the frost was gone and i didn't have to scrape. how kind.

this morning we rode to work together and i had a really bad headache, but as some of you know, i have a hard time swallowing pills sometimes. i know, i'm a grown up and it's kind of ridiculous. but whatever. so i was trying to take a pill with water and i was getting totally frustrated. i was laying back in my seat with my eyes closed saying-
me: do they have chewable tylenol?
mark: what?
me: do they have chewable tylenol?
mark: what?! i can NOT understand you.
me: (screaming now) DO THEY HAVE CHEWABLE TYLENOL?
mark: yeah, they have it for little babies.
me: oh my gosh, i want to die.
mark: (singing now) chillable towel, chillable towel...oh, chillable towel (that's what he thought i was saying all along)
but all that to say, when we arrived at Bonitz he says to me, "i love riding to work with you." and he meant it.

last night we were driving and mark says to me:
did you know that daylight savings used to be in september but the government moved it back so we would go shopping longer?
me: yes, you've told me that fifteen times now
mark: oh, the government should realize it cannot maintain control over the citizens by turning back the hands of time.
me: what? is this like, 'proverbs by mark flanders'?
mark: yes. i think i'll write a book. proverbs by mark flanders.
(later we are at tanner and staci's house and staci says, what are we gonna do if it rains during the marathon)
mark: just receive the rain. you know, receive its showers upon you.
me: is that for your book?

beach trip and new nephew

some pics from our trip to bald head island, a very amazing beach.






why do i include this picture you ask? because mark took this photo and after he took it i asked, "mark, is it good or should we take another?" he looked at the camera and said, "yeah, it's good." i guess it's good, except for our white faces and mel's HEAD BEING CUT OFF.


that's better :-)

and let's welcome to the world our new nephew, noah david flanders: