EVOO for 50 cents

yesterday i bought this bottle of extra virgin olive oil at harris teeter for fifty cents. i thought i'd share how, so you can do it too. it is regularly $7.15 at harris teeter, but this week it was the e-vic item. (e-vic is a weekly email from HT telling you what the basically secret item is that's on sale for e-vic members. it's not advertised in the store. if you're not signed up, go to harristeeter.com and sign up.) so for e-vic members it's on sale for $1.99 this week. sunday's paper had a red plum coupon insert w/ a coupon for 75 cents off. HT doubles coupons, so whala- grand total was 51 cents exactly.

the e-vic sale ends today though, so you'd have to go today to get the deal. also, if you're not signed up for e-vic, once you sign up, you won't get the e-vic discount until next week's item.

thanks to my dear friend amy savage who introduced me to the new world of "coupon-ing." :-)

24 weeks

some updates. every time i tell someone i am 20-something weeks along, they say, "oh, you must be feeling great then! this is like the honeymoon period of pregnancy." false. that is not exactly how i'd describe it. basically the only thing i'm comfortable in is stretch pants and a sweatshirt. so i pretty much wear yoga pants and a hoodie whenever i'm not at work. i'm hungry all the time, so i carry various snacks with me at all times (grapefruit, almonds, yogurt). but i'm kind of going back to being nauseated by some things again. last night we had fajitas and half way through, i had to give mine to mark and eat cereal for dinner before i lost it. i'm pretty tired a lot of the time. and i have trouble concentrating on people talking to me for long periods of time. i can normally carry on a several-hour long conversation, but lately, i start to zone out after someone's been talking to me for like fifteen minutes. it's not that i don't want to pay attention to what they're saying, i just can't. mark probably appreciates this actually because he doesn't have to talk as much for me to be satisfied :-)

to report some funny things he's said lately:

mark: what are we doing for the superbowl?

me: going to brian and lauren's party, remember?

mark: oh yeah, when is it? saturday?

me: nope. it's sunday, just like all the other superbowls for the last fifty years

mark: please don't tell anyone i said that. 

mark: are we eating lunch with them?

me: yeah, i'm pretty sure we are

mark: well, should we prepare for the ulterior?

me: do you mean 'alternative'?

(this is actually from a while ago, but i laugh about it almost every day)

mark: (coldplay's viva la vida comes on the radio) i love this song. i just wish i knew what it was about.

aaron ohare: oh, it's about this guy who used to be like a king or someone really important, but then he lost everything. and now he's saying he sweeping the streets he used to own. 

mark: oh, cool. did you read about that online or something?

aaron: no, i just listened to the lyrics. 

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.