Category: Books

I’ve been trying to type up this exact sentence for the past 8 days and it just never happened. I thought blogging was hard to find time for before, when I didn’t work, and it’s proving to be even more so now that I am working. Duh, right?

So the first three days were absolute murder on my body. I lost two pounds last week, let’s just say that LOL. The first day was spent taking books out of boxes and re-shelving by the Dewey Decimal System, which I hear isn’t mandatory at all schools. I stayed an extra hour that day to make up for the hours I thought I wasn’t getting that morning since I went in at 11:48.

The next day I got a tour of the school, since I spent most of the day transporting books to teachers just to get them out of the library since it looked like a warehouse. Not sure if I mentioned it, but we’re stationed at an old (OLD!) school while the new one is being built. It’ll supposedly be done by the end of September, but lots of people have been saying “yeah right”. Most of the books are boxed up, waiting to be shipped to the new school. The whole place looked like a disaster. Anyway, we were trying to get everything out of there, and me being the assistant was the lucky one who got to, at first, carry the books to the teachers until we found an abandoned cart in a hallway. Then I had the privilege of wheeling 20-30 monstrous dictionaries and encyclopedias all over the school, which is a whole bunch of separate buildings that have been added to the original school. I was eternally grateful for the elevator staff’s allowed to use. I was beginning to feel like Andrea from The Devil Wears Prada, except Mrs. V. isn’t that impossible. It was such a relief when I got back to shelving books, though. I think that was also the afternoon that our parent volunteer began to help us, bless her. She’s become a good friend of mine :).

I was SO stressed out and sore and just overwhelmed that afternoon. That was the last afternoon I stayed an hour after work to make up my hours since they said I didn’t have to do that. Darnit.

It was so nice to get home and hold Alaethia while we sat outside with Mom as we waited for the boys to get home from school. They were too excited to go on the bus. Eenan’s only been wanting to go on the bus since he was in Pre-K and would always ask, “Mom, why don’t we get to go on the bus?” He was thrilled when he’d go on the bus to his UIL meets, even though it wasn’t even a 10 minute ride. They got home and ran straight to their bedroom. Jaylen’d been falling asleep while they were waiting, my poor baby. They weren’t getting home till 4:30, and that’s because they get out at 3:15! I was already thinking of picking them all up myself, but if/when we do move to the new school I won’t make it to their school on time and they’ll just have to get used to taking the bus again. So, I decided it was best to have them come home on the bus.

Even though the boys love the bus, I felt awful that they were wasting so much time waiting at school and then on the bus. I was exhausted from going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 5:30am. I was in pain from the soreness of pushing carts around. I was overwhelmed because I never imagined getting used to being a working mom while still having time for the kids, a husband, cooking, and cleaning my house. Not to mention grocery shopping and paying the bills. I don’t know if it was nerves or a bug I caught but I felt awful that night. I kept having to run to the bathroom because I felt like I was going to hack but nothing happened. I had chills and was trembling; it was terrible. I even had to call Mario when he was on his way home from work to bring me a Sprite to settle my stomach. Mom’s like, “You know she’s sick when she’s asking for Sprite” LOL.

Mario and I had a little pep-talk that night and I felt a teensy bit better. I was so used to everyone depending on me I felt that if I wasn’t around, the world couldn’t go on. Thanks to Mom, it has. She’s been such a tremendous help; I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay her for giving me the opportunity to work and for keeping me sane. She’s here at 6am and stays till around 8pm after I’ve finally had a shower. The amount we’re going to pay her for babysitting is nothing compared to all the work she does.

What also made me feel a little better was the “presents” I received that morning. A huge coffee cup filled with pens, dry-erase markers, pencils and an awesome gel pen and another lunch bag filled with a stapler, staples, a tape dispenser and tape, a sharpener and a few other things I can’t remember at the moment. I love school supplies.

It’s so weird not helping the boys get ready in the morning, but at least I’m here when they get home and I get to spend some time with them. Holding Alaethia feels like such a relief at the end of the day. I try and carry her around as much as I can when I’m here.

Wednesday was spent shelving and dropping off a few more dictionaries. I let Mrs. V. know just how horrible I felt the night before and I don’t know if that had anything to do with it but I didn’t have to push around such heavy things anymore. She had me take some TVs and VCR/DVD players to classrooms, but that time I asked for the help of Mrs. G., our parent volunteer. I felt much better that day, but I had this nagging feeling about something I’d heard the day before from John and Mario. One of the buses in our school district had left a small boy 4 miles away from his house! I kept imagining something awful like that happening to the boys, but pushed it out of my head.

That afternoon Mom and I wait at Mary’s house where we can see the road and the bus approaching. We’d been chilling out on the porch the days before but Alaethia’s eczema acts up like crazy because of the heat. 3:45 comes around and we see the boys’ bus coming. We see all the little neighbors filing out of the bus and my heart sinks when I see the bus driver closing the doors and Eenan, Jaylen nor Brandon had gotten down. Haley, one of the neighbors, tells me Brandon went on another bus and the boys followed. Great. I ask the bus driver what happened and he said they were on another bus; the assistant principal had made them get on it. I asked him to be sure and he called another driver on the radio, who confirmed that the boys were on his bus and he’d be dropping them off soon. I call the school to tell someone off, because 15 minutes had already passed and why on earth would you put my kids on another bus?! Of course all the women were blaming each other. One even said she SAW them get on the right bus, so they should be at my house. I told her, “Well, they’re obviously not, so WHERE ARE MY KIDS!” Eventually they figured out that they were on the bus the bus driver told me about and she kind of laughed it off telling me they called the wrong Brandon. The Brandon they were looking for lived on the other side of the street on the East, so it was a misunderstanding. Naturally we’ve told all the kids to stick together, so my boys followed Brandon. I’m just glad they were all together. They weren’t phased by it at all, thank God. They actually had a nice ride since that other bus was air conditioned.

Thursday was a much better day for me. Mrs. V. taught me how to get into the systems at school and I learned how to make labels for the books. We (Mrs. G. and I) spent a lot of time doing that. Nice break from having to move stuff or shelve books!

I decided to start eating lunch soley at work, since the 30 minutes they give us is too little to be driving to and from my house. I did that on Monday and Wednesday, just so I could rush home and see Aly and give Mom a little break, but it only allowed me about 10 minutes to actually eat. The rest of the time was spent driving to and from work. I’m learning to Hoover my food; I’ve always been a slow eater.

John went with me to pick up some black Mudd maryjanes I’d ordered at JC Penny, then we went to set an appointment for a new cell phone for him since he drowned his other one, and then we picked up a pizza for dinner. I’m a working woman now, so not having a home cooked meal on the table is completely excusable now, and I LOVE IT!

Friday was even more awesome than Thursday. Not only did we spend most of the day on the computer searching for books to make labels for (and then came the fun part of placing the labels on the books — I LOVE stickers), but it was FRIDAY and the start of a 3-day weekend! That day went by so fast. I had stayed 10 minutes later on Thursday, so I was let out 10 minutes early on Friday! At the end of the day Mrs. V. gave both Mrs. G. and I a strawberry sundae and she gave me a huge hug. I felt so appreciated :).

I went with John to Sprint, then Academy for Mario and then Walmart. We were in line behind my principal, which was pretty funny LOL. Well, not really. He had school supplies to buy (2 cart-fulls to be exact) so we were in line for half an hour =\.

I spent Saturday cleaning the house. I did something else, but can’t remember. It was pretty low-key, which I’m so glad for. Sunday, I woke up late-ish and helped Mary and Big Mario clean outside. We were supposed to have a practice for Yazmin’s quinceañera but the damn choreographer was an hour late before Mary got pissed and called her to forget it. I had tons of crap to do so I was pretty pissed I waited all day for nothing. It was 3pm before we left. We visited Gramma, put a big chunk of cash towards my laptop payment at Circuit City, (finally) bought Norton Antivirus/Confidential(?) for $20 at Best Buy, then went grocery shopping. I hate how long that takes. We went to Yadira’s afterwards for a bar-b-q. I was so glad I had the next day off.

We didn’t do much Monday, except for going to Dollar General to get some house stuff, like a welcome mat and a mat for the kitchen.

Yesterday was great at work. I spent a lot of the day making copies, putting folders together for the meeting we were having today, and sticking labels on to books.

Today was the Refresher meeting for all the teachers. I made copies all morning, helped with stickers, showed our kid volunteers how to shelve books, then I enrolled kids into classes for about an hour at the end of the day. Mrs. G. and I had lunch in the teacher’s lounge and talked about the possible fight that happened in the bathroom in our building. I was actually on the toilet when I heard 6 or 7 extremely loud thuds on the wall behind me. Supposedly all the boys coming out of there said they were using it because the 8th grade bathrooms weren’t working, and then, coincidentally, a boy comes out with a nosebleed. MMhmm.

The meeting went pretty good. I met lots of teachers I hadn’t met yet and Mrs. V. introduced me and said nice things. We squealed with excitment right before we left to the staff meeting because I’d already inputed all the 8th grade students into the system. She said, “You’re fast!”

I got home, spent time with Aly, got the boys into the house, helped Jaylen with his homework (and scolded Eenan for forgetting his. Oh, but he doesn’t forget about video games!), then went with John to the salon to cut my hair. I chopped it all off. It was almost to my waist and now it’s above my shoulders. I felt the difference right away. My neck was feeling really tense and it felt 10 times better after all the hair was gone. I did everything I had to do tonight pretty early since Mario called to tell me he was staying a bit late so not to worry about dinner. The boys and I had sandwiches. Mario ended up getting out earlier than he thought, so he’s picking himself up some Taco Bell. I would like Taco Bell…but it’s too late :(.

It’s been pretty awesome, I have to admit. One of the perks of the job is getting dibs on the books! I already assigned myself a number and checked out I Love Saturdays, y Domingos! for the boys. I love it!

I’m getting used to the routine — and as long as I establish a routine, it’s all good.

Now, if I could only put Alaethia to sleep at about 9:30, that would be AWESOME.

We all slept in yesterday and around 11am. Mom came over shortly after that and we all wished her a happy birthday. 58 years young!

After I’d finished my breakfast I started checking the Sunday ads to see if there were any deals on Norton (our current antivirus, McAfee, which came bundled with our laptop, already ended and we’re desperate to download new music but are afraid to get viruses so we NEED NORTON. I don’t like McAfee anyway…). I checked Target out, just for the hell of it, then went to Circuit City. I flipped idly through pages, looking for a yellow box with “sale” or “mail-in rebate” printed near it but I stopped dead when I saw the Wii console with all its accessories floating around it. Mario calls me right that second and tells me to make him breakfast (he was outside with his uncles). I’m excited and I ask him, “What do you want? Eggs?” and he says, “Yeah, whatever,” and hangs up. Didn’t give me a chance to tell him about the Wii. I call back and he’s all moody: “Just leave it, then. I’ll make something myself,” and hangs up on me again. I call and tell him, “Quit being an asshole. I’m calling because there’s Wii’s in the Circuit City ad.” He grunts and says, “Just because they’re in the ad doesn’t mean they have them.” I call and check and they tell me yes, they have 10 in stock. Woo! We’ve been wanting one of those damn things since they came out but they’re ALWAYS sold out over here. I call him back and say, “They have 10,” and he says, “Get ready. We’re leaving.”

John comes over when I’m blasting out of the bathroom looking for my shoes and I tell him about the Wii. He says, “Let’s go!” and Mom said to hurry up, she’d stay with the kids LOL.

We arrive and are panicking because there’s TONS of people from Mexico in the store, as usual. It’s still tax-free weekend and they’ve got some serious shopping to do. All the good stuff’s usually gone by the time we get there on Sundays since we wake up late and live pretty far from it. But thank goodness, I get a ticket for one of them! We get extra controllers and a battery charger dock and take forever deciding on a game. Mario wanted Transformers, but John said it sucks so we got Wario Smooth Moves instead.

We pay (thank God for Target Visas!) and hurry home as quickly as possible. Aunt Nora stopped by to wish Mom a happy birthday and she was head over heels for Alaethia :). We talked for a while, which was nice because we hadn’t seen her, though we have talked on the phone.

Aunt Nora left and then we rearranged the living room to have enough space to play and start messing with the system. It’s AWESOME. We start by playing the sports games it comes with for a good hour before we even touch Wario Smooth Moves. I was so excited to play tennis again, even though it’s not actual tennis and it pissed me off because it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to and John and Mario beat me every time, but I loved it. I kicked their butts at boxing though ;).

I am SO SORE this morning. I can’t wait till the Fitness game comes out!

We play till around 4:30, when we start preparing everything for Mom’s birthday dinner. We were just having a little dinner for her, just us and Mario’s parents here at home. I didn’t want a disappointing repeat of last year when everyone either got here super late or didn’t come at all, so we decided it would just be us.

Mario prepped the fish (cilantro, seasonings, and some butter), I made the salsa (and I actually got it right!), I made cornbread and then Mario popped the fish in the oven. While they baked I made brownie batter and put the pan in to bake when the fish was done. Everything was done quickly, I had all the dishes washed and then we took everything over to Mary’s so we could all eat. Everything was delicious and pretty healthy (besides the brownies, of course). We chatted with Mario’s parents for a while and Mary told us about her trip to the casino and we came back. Mario left for a “drive” which ended up being a good hour. He called after 20 minutes of being gone to tell me Chris and Nancy were coming over. Thank God I was in the middle of cleaning.

They get here and the men automatically start playing games on the Wii. It was hilarious watching them box and play baseball (I don’t like that one…I can’t ever hit the ball!). I put the boys to bed at 9:30 (though Eenan didn’t actually fall asleep till almost 11 because he kept waking up to “drink water” or “go to the bathroom” which meant he was stalling). Nancy and I chatted and watched them play. She held Alaethia for a good, long time. Alaethia didn’t even scream, but that was probably because Nancy gave her a sip of her tea LOL. You feed that child and she’ll love you forever.

Mario and Chris went to McDonald’s for some late-night snacking. I surprised myself by declining a delicious $1 double cheeseburger (those things are so unhealthy but man, they taste good) and instead got a tiny fruit and walnut salad.

We ate, Mario left with Chris and Nancy, and I stayed here with Aly. It took forever to put her to sleep and I was pretty frazzled and deranged by the time she did fall asleep.

Before I fell asleep, I remembered to document what I’d eaten for the past two days, because that’s Step 1 in French Women Don’t Get Fat: document what you eat — every-single-thing — for 3 weeks. Maybe I’ll make a page here just for that, because I think that others seeing what I’m eating will help me not be so gluttonous. If I’d started earlier than two days ago you’d be surprised at how much junk food I’d consume. That, my friends, is why my scale at home — which usually shows that I weigh less than I actually do — says I weigh 125. 125!!! Which is probably more. That’s the most I’ve ever weighed in my life while not being pregnant. (Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m only 4′ 11″, so every pound shows!) So, I’ve decided that I’m going to change the way I eat, for real this time. I already ate the last bits of my S’mores ice cream, heh, and until I can start controlling myself around junk food I will not be purchasing any at all. The only junk food I bought this last time I went to the groceries were Cheetos Puffs for the kids and some Koolaid juices I got for free. Mario and I also decided we won’t be purchasing any more sodas, not even for him to take for lunch.

I was astonished when I came across a picture Mario’d taken of Alaethia and me. She was sprawled on my lap but I wasn’t looking at how cute she looked, I was staring at the huge tire that spread disgustingly around my waist. I’ve never looked like that before and I’ll be damned if I continue to!

Now, if I can only convince John to run with me at the park, I’ll be on the right track.

So first I wasn’t around because I was shutting myself away from everyone so Harry Potter wouldn’t be spoiled for me. I’m so happy that the site I went to didn’t write about what really happened! After finishing the book I still haven’t been around much due to having a life LOL.

Friday, July 20th

♥ Mario got paid and it was a lovely amount. We cashed his check, paid our bills and saved money for Eenan’s birthday party.
♥ Ate at Wendy’s.
♥ Mom stayed with Aly while the rest of us watched Meet the Robinson’s at the Dollar Movies. It was a steaming bowl of ADD…and I loved it! Why didn’t anyone tell me how awesome it is?! Eenan (who is most like me) and I both cried like babies at the end.
♥ I thought Aly was all better but her fever started up again that afternoon.

Saturday, July 21st

♥ Woke up at 7:30am to get my Harry Potter 7 book at Target. Mom went with me, Mary stayed with kids. The store was EMPTY. I got my book and some Starbucks went home.

♥ Saw a cute family of brown ducks — two adult ducks walking side-by-by-side and a trail of about 15 ducklings behind them — happily walking beside the median wall of the expressway. Too bad I couldn’t get a picture!
♥ Read for one hour.
♥ The boys and I went with Mary to her 1st annual company picnic at the lake. It was hot and humid, but there was a nice breeze at least. It was an overall nice day — when the boys weren’t swimming deeper into the lake and scaring the crap of out us. There were lots of fun activities for them (water balloon game, obstacle course, a pi&ntildge;ata and they even gave them huge bags with goodies) and it was fun watching Mary’s co-workers trying to drench each other with bottles of water.

♥ Read as much as I could the rest of the day.
♥ I know I reluctantly went somewhere else, but I can’t remember where now.

Sunday, July 22nd

♥ Slept in.
♥ Mario ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. Something we hadn’t done in a while and it’s always nice to get a break from cooking!
♥ Andy and Noelia came over. We had a 3-hour class to attend for Alaethia’s Baptism.
♥ Alaethia got her last fever that afternoon at 2pm. Thank God!
♥ The class was excruciatingly long and boring. We had to watch videos that had nothing to do with Baptism and then come up with reasons they did have something to do with Baptism. The man who was in charge of our group was kind of odd. He said things like “All the good things that happen are because of God. Everything else, the bad stuff like bad weather, happens because of the devil,” then contradicted himself by saying, “God loves us. More than anything. But he can hate you, too. I can go into the bible and show you where he wiped out cities full of people with storms.” I still can’t believe he said God could hate us.
♥ I read some more.

Monday, July 23rd

♥ Spent the whole day running errands; paying bills, grocery shopping and getting all the stuff we still needed for Eenan’s birthday party. This time I wasn’t bothering with spending $40 on candy. We filled the goodie bags with crayons (Crayola, of course), little notepads, erasers, a drink, chips and nutter-butter wafer thingies.
♥ This was around the time my desktop computer died, and along with it went my Adobe programs (idiot that I am, I didn’t back those up) and my favorites. Very sad day indeed. It gave us 4 wonderful years. Thank God we had everything else on our external harddrive, though.

Tuesday, July 24th
♥ Alaethia turned 6 months old!
♥ Spent as much time as I could reading HP7. I vowed to finish reading it that night (partly because the rest of the family wanted to discuss it already!). It was a perfect night for reading. The kiddos slept over at Mary’s, Aly fell asleep early, Mario was over at Chris’ and it was storming outside. The perfect background noise for the end of the book. I read the last word at 1:36am that night (or Wednesday morning, whatever). If I have a chance (Aly’s on my lap making this very difficult) I’ll give my opinion on it under “more” at the end of the entry.

Wednesday, July 25th
♥ Sat around feeling numb and bored. What the hell was I supposed to read now?!?
♥ Made a tuna casserole for the first time, ever that night. It was alright.
♥ Yadira and Matthew were here while I was making it. Most of our conversation revolved around Harry Potter.
♥ We watched a movie (I can’t remember which one at the moment) and Chris and Nancy came over for a little bit.

Thursday, July 26th
♥ I don’t remember much about this day except that I finally got around to looking through a plastic bin I had in the hallway and only kept what I needed from it. I also looked through all the junk I had outside that was left over from the garage sale. I threw out a whole bunch of crap, almost died when I realized my 80s Care Bears, Rainbow Brite and Popples books had gotten wet and moldy from a few corners; and made a Goodwill and Dump pile.
♥ I still need to clean up the hallway some more. I’ve got the boys’ artwork in boxes from last school year that still need to be scrapbooked!

Friday, July 27th
♥ Mario and I woke up early and went to toss junk at the dump while Mom watched the kids.
♥ Mario sprained his wrist, badly, while hauling a box spring mattress into the dumpster.
♥ Met Mayra at McDonald’s for lunch. Mario stayed with the kiddos. It was nice seeing her after so long.
♥ Chilled out at home with the kiddos for a while.
♥ Mario and I decided to go on a date. Mom watched the kids. We ate at Taco Bell then watched Knocked Up at the Dollar Movies (LOVE the Dollar Movies!). It was a great movie. There were lots of boobs, but other than that it was hilarious. Reminds me of the Mario and Yajaira from way back when LOL.
♥ Got back home and went to Yadira’s with Mary, Mom and the kiddos. All the women sat around the table like we usually do and looked over ABC books and talked.

Saturday, July 28th
♥ Mario had a hard time sleeping and his wrist hurt so much in the morning that he called in. It takes A LOT for him to call into work. He didn’t even want to call in when we had Mono last year.
♥ Sally and I missed each other’s calls, so we didn’t get to go to Goodwill together, unfortunately :(. I finally decided to leave around 11am. Mom and I left the boys with Mario and she, Aly and I left. We dropped the crap off at Goodwill, then went inside to shop a little. I came home with a new Pyrex pie pan for $.50, the book French Women Don’t Get Fat which I’m currently reading (I found life after Harry Potter!), a jumbo frisbee for the boys, a telescope for their clubhouse for $1, a whole bunch of scrapbooking magazines, a huge pack of paint brushes, a bar-b-q wire brush, and a pillbox and some other thing for Mom. Everything was brand-new except the Pyrex pan and came out to $8.60! I love Goodwill!
♥ We ate at Taco Bell. Aly melted the heart of a tattooed, septum-piereced, tough-looking guy. She also stuck her whole hand into Mom’s nachos.
♥ We finished running errands and picked up Eenan’s cake from the cake shop. I’m never going there again. They charged me an extra $5 for the Transformers toys for the cake when I ordered it. I was livid to see that they’d put in some crappy dollar store robots. They gave me my $5 back and I went to Family Dollar, which is one of the only stores in my area, and prayed they had Transformers toys. They did. And they were much better than the darn ones they put on there.
♥ Got home, started on the party bags. Had to make a last-minute run to Joy Dollar to get a few things we’d forgotten. Mary later went to Dollar General to get us some more of the Little Debbie wafer snacks because I miscalculated and didn’t get enough.

Sunday, July 29th

♥ We all got ready and left to Peter Piper Pizza. Since we had to reschedule Eenan’s party for 11am because we had the Baptism meeting at 2:30, we were quite alone for a good 15-20 minutes before anyone started to arrive. Our kiddos played by themselves and once everyone got there, it was still only our kids playing out there.
♥ I saw someone I did not expect to see.
♥ It was a nice intimate party. The whole family made it. Maggie and her boys went, and Sally and Pete made it as well, yay!
♥ Eenan had a great time and loved his gifts. Jaylen threw a fit shortly after present-opening because Eenan wouldn’t lend him a new video game he got from us.

♥ We got home and chilled out before leaving to the Baptism meeting. Another 3 hours of videos and confusing talk about why we should baptize. The man kept going off subject and even got told off by a new girl when he told them God would hate us LOL.
♥ Mario got me some Hot Cheetos with cheese. I had to add that one in because it was really sweet that he went from one side of town to the other because one place had the chips but not the cheese and vice versa.

Monday, July 30th

♥ Met Sally for lunch at a new deli called Hagen Baks. I’d never had a more delicious sandwich. The bread alone was amazing!
♥ We had a good, long chat about pregnancy at the deli.
♥ We went to Auto Zone for a bulb for her headlight and dropped her car off at Mario’s work so he could switch it for her.
♥ Next we walked around the mall and looked at clothes and tried on make-up at Sephora. It was so fun! Took me right back to when we’d chill out at the mall in high school!
♥ Dropped her off at Mario’s so she could get her car. I came home and started on Eenan’s birthday cake, since the 30th is his actual birthday. My boy is now 8 years old!. I can’t believe it’s been so long that I’ve been a mother!

Tuesday, July 31st

♥ Aly had her 6 month checkup. I ate breakfast as quickly as possible and Mom watched the boys when we left.
♥ She weighed 15.6 lbs. and is 25 1/2 inches long. I was told she’s tiny for her age, but perfect for her height and weight. She’s a bit advanced for her age, too :). She got three immunizations, poor girl, but she did really good. Dr. C. confirmed that she has eczema and prescribed some cream for her. Her skin feels so much better to the touch now.
♥ Went to H-E-B to get a few groceries and get her prescription.
♥ Went to Jorge and Maggie’s that night. Both boys actually went for once!

Wednesday, August 1st

♥ I can’t believe we’re already in August! The kids start school on the 27th.
♥ Went with John to check out a gym. My payment for taking him in my truck was lunch at Kumori’s. I had the same sushi I had when we went for Sally’s birthday in April. It was delicious. John felt, as he said, “like a cat in a brand-new environment; ready to run up the curtains and hide” — he was really uncomfortable but he finally tried real sushi like he’d always wanted! I’m craving sushi now…
♥ I really want to join the gym. It’s awesome because there’s no contract and now starting fee, just $35 a month! I’m feeling incredibly fat and unhealthy, and I’m not just saying that. I need to do something about it. We just have so many things going on right now that I’d feel…guilty using $35 we could put towards something else.
♥ Went to Maggie’s to pick up my cellphone since I’d forgotten it there the night before.

Thursday, August 2nd

♥ I spent this whole afternoon cleaning the house from top to bottom. Or trying to, anyway. I only got to do the kitchen, bathroom and part of the living room. I still need the two bedrooms, part of the living room and the hallway.

Friday, August 3rd

♥ We had breakfast and Mario left to his Grandpa’s for a while. We got ready and the plan was to take the boys to pick out their school clothes, but instead they stayed with Mom while we went to pick stuff out. They just said to, “pick good stuff!”
♥ The boys were replaced by Jorge and John.
♥ Cashed Mario’s paycheck. Deposited money for bills. Went to Big Lots where I found some cute scrapbooking stuff.

♥ Went to JC Penny to get a few things for the boys and buy a blouse for Mom for her birthday. I needed to find one for myself for the baptism, but didn’t have any luck and the three men were getting tired of waiting around (grr!). We found shoes for the boys, too, some cute Vans, and a back pack for Jaylen.
♥ Ate lunch at El Pato.
♥ Went home. Construction on the way over was hellish. I think they’re repaving the roads because of the new Wal-Mart. I can’t wait for them to finish this thing and to see what other stores are coming to the area!

♥ Andy and Noelia invited us over for dinner at their house. Noelia made Chicken Pamesean and garlic bread — it was delicious! The boys had a blast playing with Curtis, their hound. He tried to lick Alaethia at one point and she screamed her little head off; it was unexpected and SO cute!
♥ Eenan left with Mary and Jaylen, Aly, Mario and I went to Walmart to get a few things.
♥ We went to Jorge and Maggie’s and chilled out for a while. Maggie and I talked about stuff we’d never discussed before.

Saturday, August 4th

♥ Woke up early and Aly and I went with Mary and Noelia downtown McAllen to find Aly’s baptism dress. We found a beautiful one at the first shop we went to. Got Aly a “lighter” stroller than the one she has at JC Penny (she loved it, mostly because she could suck on the long straps LOL) and I found an Optimus Prime backpack for Jaylen. I called him and he told me to return the Power Rangers one for that one. On our way to the car I found an Optimus Prime one with wheels for Eenan!
♥ Picked Mario up and had lunch with him at Taqueria el Zarape.
♥ We went to a Payless next door where we found shoes for Aly’s dress and Mario actually found some shoes for himself! He has the hardest time finding shoes because his feet are wide.
♥ We made a few more stops then got a few groceries at H-E-B.
♥ The boys slept over at Mary’s; Mario and I finished watching 300, which was really good.

Sunday, August 5th

♥ I didn’t want to go anywhere, but had crap to do. All my kiddos and my mom and I left around noon.
♥ Went to two different stores to buy CDrs (Comp USA) and DVDrs (Office Depot).
♥ Went to Rue 21 — where Maggie told me she bought blouses for $4 each –to find something for the baptism. Fell in love with so many things but nothing for the event. Ended up buying a cute pink shirt in size large since I feel fat. It was too big.
♥ Returned a lamp at Target.
♥ Ate at Luby’s.
♥ Saw Mario at his workplace.
♥ Returned Jaylen’s Power Ranger backpack and found a blouse for the baptism at JC Penny. Returned an outfit of Eenan’s at Bealle’s and he ended up with two more shirts and some jeans.
♥ Boys were terrors everywhere we went. Only Mom got down at Gramma’s.
♥ Stopped at H-E-B since Mom needed stuff.

And that’s been my two weeks. I’m tired reliving it all while I write about it. We’ve got a hectic week ahead of us, what with Aly’s baptism coming up this Saturday. I guess my Harry Potter review will have to wait. I’m so tired. Aly’s already woken up for her first bottle of the night (after only half an hour of falling asleep) so hopefully she’ll sleep the rest of the night till I have to wake up at 7:30. I’m totally going back to sleep after Mario leaves to work! Well, if the children let me!