My little puppy Piper is in need of some doggie diapers!  She's about 9 months old, so she's coming of age.  *Tear*

This may seem like a silly post, but I actually wanted to share some valuable information about a cancer study and why we're trying to hold off getting my Piper spayed.  We were talking to Linda Draper, one of Purina's recommended Rottweiler breeders, and she suggested not getting Piper spayed to prevent cancer.

Bob Barker say whhaaa??  I know we've been taught forever to spay or neuter, but new studies with Rottweilers suggest otherwise. 

Apparently, researchers found that if a rottie gets spayed or neutered before 1 year of age, their chances of cancer increases greatly.  Osteosarcoma is an aggressive bone cancer and is common in big breeds like Rottweilers, Wolfhounds, Goldens, and more.

If a male rottie is neutered before a year of age, his rate of osteosarcoma ALMOST QUADRUPLES.

If a female rottie is spayed before a year of age, her rate of osteosarcoma MORE THAN TRIPLES. *

[*Read the Dog Cancer Blog]

There's more evidence that shows that the longer a Rottweiler keeps her ovaries, the longer she lives.  

Even though the study was done on rotties, it could be valuable information for other purebreeds or big breeds.  Linda suggested that if we get Piper spayed, we at least try to keep her ovaries.  She spayed two of her rottweilers and both died of cancer.  Our previous rottie, Jasmine, was also spayed and also died from bone cancer.  I feel awful because we thought nothing of getting Minnie spayed when she was a puppy.  If we could only turn back time.

So far, the diaper isn't causing any major hiccups in our daily grind.  We're not quite sure what we'll eventually do, but I think the most important thing is that we keep learning about the health care of our canines.  As funny as it sounds, we feel a big responsibility for them being on the earth, so we want to do our best while we've got them!  

If you have any advice, please share it.  I would love to hear it!  (I don't think we need to buy special doggy diapers since her only has a nub.  What do you think?)

Sanah Sayani found a great deal on kids' toothpaste at CVS.  She paid .34-cents a bottle. 

Aquafresh Kids toothpaste, reg. 2.67.  On sale B1G1.
We had a coupon for $1 off.  We used two coupons.  [2.67 – 1.00 – 1.00 = .67 / 2 = .34-cents]
RP 4/15 (exp 6/30)

I also got a great deal on some items for a 4th of July cookout.  Weber seasoning cost .49-cents and Sensible plates are.30-cents at Harris Teeter.  (This deal lasts until July 3rd.)
 
Weber Grill seasoning, reg. 2.99.  On sale, 1.99.
We had a coupon for .75-cents off that doubled.  [1.99-.75-.75 = .49-cents]
SS 6/24

Sensible disposable plates, reg. 2.79.  On sale B1G1. 
We had a coupon for .55-cents off that doubled.  [1.40- .55 - .55 = .30-cents]
SS 6/17

Other deals:
Daily's pouch mixes, price 1.99 at Harris Teeter.  There's a coupon in some of the bigger newspapers for Buy 5, Get 1 Free.  It's in a rebate form.  I got mine in the Washington Post May 20th.

Dr. Scholl's inserts at Target.  Massaging sole, 9.49.  Used $1 coupon from Target.com and a $5 coupon from a secret shopper service.  Unfortunately, this deal won't be for everyone because of the $5 coupon.  But, you may have been curious.

Thanks to Sanah Sayani, there's a great deal that gives you money!

At Walgreens, you can buy Bayer Aspirin for $31.9 a box.  Last week's paper (SS 6/24) had a coupon for $3 off.  So, that makes you pay .19-cents a bottle.

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!

Walgreens has another deal going on.  If you buy $20 worth of Bayer (or some other products), you get back $10 in Register Rewards.  What does that mean?  If you spend $20, you get $10 back in store credit.

We paid $2.89 for 7 bottles of Walgreens.  [1.33 + 1.56 tax] We got $10 back in store credit.

[10.00 - 2.89 = 7.11]

We just made $7.11!  Between Sanah and I, we had 7 coupons, so we used them together.  She can keep the RRs because she did all the legwork.  I'm just happy to have the Bayer for free!

See the other deals at Rite Aid and Target!

I'm out of pocket $ 5.12 for shampoo, conditioning cream, and two kinds of eye makeup removers.

I actually needed eye makeup remover, so I think this is a good deal.  At CVS, you get $3 in ECBs back after spending $10 worth of Maybelline cosmetics.  The makeup removers are $4.99 each.  On top of that, if you go to the receipt machine, it will spit out a $3 off any $10 cosmetic purchase.

You dig?  That's $6 off my Maybelline.

Also, at the ticket machine, I got a $2 coupon off any shampoo or conditioner.  I found the Fruitopia conditioner on sale from $3.49 down to $1.74.  So, I used my coupon and got it for FREE.

The ticket machine also gave me a $1 coupon off any Garnier product.  I had a $2 manufacturer's coupon, too.  I found some leave-in conditioner on sale from $4.29 to $3.34.  That means I paid $.34-cents for the Garnier.

I spent $25.67 (before tax) on everything you see in the two pictures below.  I went through all of my coupons last night and pulled a lot of them from the last Sunday paper.  Some of the items weren't on super sale, but I needed them anyway.

The soda is a my favorite deal.  There's a Dr. Pepper coupon for $1 off.  Right now at Harris Teeter, if you buy 2-12 pks of Pepsi products, you get 3 free.  So, that means I started out paying $12.78.  With my $1 coupons (that double), the price drops to $8.78.  Divided by 5 - 1.76 for a 12-pack!  Not bad!  It will take me a while to go through the soda, but it will definitely get used.

I still probably have one more round of shopping left in me.  I wish I could've gone to the store more this weekend, but I had a lot of things going on.  Still, saving 75-percent on this trip was awesome.

We had such a great time cooking on the Hangout Network via Google+.  Larry Fournillier is a chef in the Caribbean and runs a popular show over Google's social networking site. 

I had the chance to be his special guest.  He took a favorite Korean dish and gave it some Caribbean flare.  I made bulgogi and kimchi fried rice!  Our hangout had a great group of people, and it went live over YouTube.  

One of the ingredients we used was scotch bonnet pepper.  If you have a hard time finding it, try looking for it at an Asian market.  I bought mine at Saigon Market.  I could only find scotch bonnet pepper sauce.  It is incredibly HOT!  But delicious.  We only used about a half teaspoon in our recipe, and trust me, it was enough!  

Larry took my traditional bulgogi recipe and added cumin, ginger and scotch bonnet pepper sauce.  My husband liked the food so much that he nearly ate the entire plate!  

CIRCLE US FOR A CIRCLE BACK!
+Larry Fournillier
+Michelle Li
+Fox Wilmington

There was such an amazing turnout at the Cape Fear Shrimpfest!  Every year this event gets bigger and better.  I met so many wonderful people, and it was an honor to serve the Cape Fear Presbyterian Church and be their honorary chair.

Proceeds help those in need at the Black Mountain Home for Children and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.  Special guests included Congressman Mike McIntyre, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, professional basketball player Brett Blizzard and ESPN's Sam Gore.  Their presence may have been some sort of divine intervention.  The congressman and our mayor are always busy.  Brett is here on break, and Gore leaves for Wimbledon Sunday!  

Who's who:  I also spied Brownie Harris, the founder of Hearts Apart.  That organization was just honored by the White House and Congress for its dedication to military families.  Special thanks to Fish Bites Restaurant for donating the shrimp!  Reverend Jonathan Watson said that means more money will be able to go to charity.  

Lots of great guests, volunteers and visitors made this Shrimpfest a huge success!  

SWEET TWEETS!
@RepMikeMcIntyre
@BlizzAthletics
@SamBGore
@CFShrimpfest
@MichelleLiTV

Words can't really express the shock over this story.  Four young men and a 15-year-old (not pictured) have been arrested for the murder of Zhen Bo Liu, a delivery driver found slumped over in his car on June 14th.  Witnesses said he had "a hole in his neck."


UPDATE, 5:45 PM Friday 6/22:  A 6th person has been arrested in this case.

Police say the group ordered about $48 worth of food, shot and killed the delivery driver, and went back to a house to eat the food together.

"If that's not cold-blooded, I've never seen it," said Ralph Evangelous, Wilmington Police Chief.  "Seldom do we ever see the victim accosted in such a brutal way."

[Read full story here]

Zhen Bo Liu hadn't been here for very long.  His wife was still living in China.  His grown son lives in Canada.  Zhen Bo Liu was a delivery driver for China King, which has now stopped delivering food.

The men accused of the murder range from 15 to 20 years old:  Cornell Dwayne Haugabook, Jr, 20.  Marvin Lee White, 18.  Manije Johnson, 16.  And the, unidentified juvenile.  It's unclear if he'll be tried as an adult.  In North Carolina, 16 year olds are considered adults.

Well, it must be a good story if Jeanne Moos is covering it.  She took Nadine Maeser's story with the convicted felon who bit a K9 cop... and turned it into TV magic.  My news peeps will enjoy this.  

[Read the original story on WECT]

It's a big week for Harris Teeter fans.  It's Super Doubles week, which means that a coupon up to $2 will double.  Can you imagine getting $4 off an item?  That leaves room for lots of great deals and several freebies.

When I took this picture, I actually left out of items, like mascara and Chex mix.  Whoops!  

In all, I spent $11.13 ($12.59 with tax) for $82.89 worth of goods.  That's and 87-percent savings!