Category: Emily

April 9th – Started the week like I usually do: with a Monday morning meeting at work. Everyone goes around taking turns, talking about what’s coming up in the week for them. As I jotted down event after upcoming event, I started feeling a little apprehensive. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a worst-case-scenario-type person and my nerves quietly festered into fear. I vented to Jorge about this later and he told me no problem, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. He said he’d schedule his work near Aly’s school and he’d pick her up. That was what concerned me the most. He’s so wonderful !

April 10th – The girls and I planned another little reunion. It was kind of an impromptu thing, with ideas thrown here and there and we finally agreed to do it at our place. OMG! I felt great about it and then I started feeling nervous, like, what if I couldn’t get the house spotless?! Or what if we couldn’t fit all these people on the porch?! Or what if work didn’t let me borrow tables and chairs?!

I got home from work and tidied up, watched TV with the girlies, and made dinner for all of us:

Then I bathed the girls, read their stories and they were out for the count. Mom said she’d watch the kiddos for us while we went out, so we decided yes, we would for once. We went to Chili’s and just chilled out. I was SO tempted to have my absolute favorite, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, but I woke up and weighed this in the morning:

…and I didn’t want to ruin it! I had a drink (ok, 2!) and we chit-chatted and played on our phones :). I told Jorge, “People are probably looking at us and thinking, ‘Man they’re in trouble. They won’t even put their phones down.’” He laughed. Little do they know we were playing Words by Post with each other LOL.

We were home by 11:45pm :). We got ready for bed, snuggled up and crashed out, heh.

April 11th – The day was a usual work day. It ended as a day where I involve myself in activities I probably shouldn’t, and by that I mean a cupcake bake-off LOL. I don’t know what I was thinking. EZ called asking me to participate, because he knows I like to bake and cook, but I told him Yes, I like to, but I’m not ready for a bake-off!.

I finally agreed to do it if Michelle agreed to do it with me. She said ok. So there we go, right after work, to HEB to buy our ingredients. We decided we’d be doing Rainbow Cupcakes. I’d never attempted these before, but I’d always wanted to and it seemed easy enough…

We got back and I started on the batter. I dyed it with food coloring and then the girls helped us mix. Then Michelle and I got started on layering. I took a picture of her because she said, “No one’s ever going to believe that I’m baking!” And they didn’t LOL!

Michelle thought it was the cutest thing that they pull the stools up to the counter and quietly watch me work. She asked, “Do they always do that?” And I said, “Oh, yes, every day.”

She asked Emily, “You like to watch Mama cook?”

Emily (who was being shyer than usual) nodded a timid Yes.

Michelle asked her, “You want to cook like mama?” and Emily nodded yes again, with a little smile this time. Aww

The inside:

We were proud of our cupcakes :). I thought they were super cute; something I’d definitely have to make for the kiddos, but in cake-form next time!

April 12th – We were excited about the bake-off. Everyone wanted to see our entries. We had to provide 3 for the tasting and 9 for the guests/donations.

I picked up Alaethia after school and had lunch with her and Emily, like usual. I was going to miss my little ladies. It was Mario’s weekend and I wouldn’t be seeing the girls right after work since Michelle and I would be heading to the bake-off right afterwards.

We submitted our entries, got a tour of the place, ate a teensy bit and waited. When all was finished Michelle and I didn’t win, but our cupcakes were the 2nd to go. It was a little upsetting that the winners were 2 of the people who work at the organization =\. And there was only one People’s Choice category and it went to a professional bakery. BUT, it was fun and a great experience. I’d never been a part of something like that and it was awesome :)!

Got home and called all the kiddos and spent time with my love :). He had some news for me: he wasn’t able to get the full day off on Saturday so we couldn’t go celebrate Sally’s birthday like we wanted to . I felt awful that I wouldn’t be there. I had to figure out how to work up the courage to give the news to Tina.

April 13th – I eventually told Tina before noontime that we wouldn’t be able to attend. She even tried accommodating us the best way possible but even then, he would get out too late Friday and we wouldn’t make it. I was so sad that I wouldn’t be able to spend our 30th together :(.

I tried inviting Sally to lunch, but she was with QC and said we’d leave it for another time. Jorge said we’d have lunch at Kumori, so I met him and his new employee there. I hope we didn’t freak him out with our jokes and constant “that’s what she said!” innuendos LOL.

My day got instantly better spending a little time with my babe :). Too bad I started feeling sick about an hour after lunch! I almost thought I had food poisoning, but I was just really queasy. I thought, “Not before the reunion!!”

I got home from work and Mom and I rushed to get some stuff for the party the next day and a few little decorations from Ross. I didn’t want to spend too much, but we got a few new rugs for the bathrooms, Mom got me Margarita glasses for my birthday LOL, new soap dispensers from Target and a few other things. I got home and started cleaning while the boys played in their room.

Jorge and I went to pick up the tables and chairs from work and came home and put them in the garage. Jorge wanted to take me to dinner: our traditional birthday dinner at Pappadeaux, but I was skeptical. I hadn’t eaten since lunch; I’d only had a sip of his Sprite and I felt nauseous all over again. I didn’t want to puke 🙁 LOL. But we went anyway and I’m so glad I felt ok enough to eat.

Everything was so delicious. I ate so much during the appetizers that I couldn’t finish my food OR my free birthday cheesecake!

I had my poor babe on an emotional roller coaster. I’d feel fine and then I’d feel ill, so I’d laugh and then I’d kind of mope and try and calm my nausea. He dealt with it all really well though ♥!

We got home, earlyish, and I made myself some manzania tea to settle my stomach before we sat down to watch DVR’d American Idol. I was kind of regretting stuffing myself with appetizers, but I’m glad I was only nauseous and not full-blown sick. I snuggled up next to Jorge on the sofa, with my hot tea and my favorite blanket and he took the words right out of my mouth when he said, “I love this. I love when we get to just relax together.” Me too :).

April 14th I woke up to “Happy Birthday, Baby!!” He snuggled me for a while and gave me a kiss on the forehead. He walked to the door and said, “Sleep in, Baby, it’s your birthday,” and sleep in I did! For the first time in a LONG time I allowed myself to sleep in till 10:30am LOL. Mom had already served the boys breakfast. I told them to get ready while I got ready. We were picking up my kiddos and having lunch at Peter Piper Pizza. I’d asked Mario earlier in the week if I could “borrow” them, since it was his weekend and he’d agreed. I thank him for that. It made my day to see my kiddos on my birthday :*)!

Mom, the boys and I picked my kiddos up and I was greeted by 4 Happy Birthdays ♥! We got to PPP, ordered our food and I got a bajillion tokens. They played to their hearts’ content and then we ate. Emily threw one little tantrum, because Alaethia had gotten a prize and she didn’t, so we went and got her some tickets and the guy gave her 3 of the prize she wanted :).

We ran into Salvador, one of our old classmates at Tae Kwon Do. He’s already a black-belt! It made me a little sad; I was hoping to be the first “family” of black-belts to graduate together at our school . But oh well, things happen.

I let the kids play another long while. They were reluctant to leave even when I gave them an extra 20 minutes. We took pictures; Mom didn’t do to well with my phone…she cut half the kids’ heads off LOL. So Jorgie took the pic of my kiddos and me :).

Of course it was dark because my phone ran out of battery and Emily is forever turning when the picture’s shot LOL.

I dropped my babies off :(, and then we stopped by HEB to get some food and stuff we’d need for the reunion. It was fast with Jorgie and Justin ticking things off the list.

I got home and cleaned in a frenzy. I didn’t have much to do, the house is usually tidy, but the bathrooms got a good scrubbing, I cleaned behind and under the fridge (which was acting up ever since they fixed the freezer), and I hung up all the laundry. Jorge got home and swept/washed the porch and cleaned up the pit. I vacuumed the living room and dusted and took a shower and got ready. Felipe and Freddy had come over and helped him put the tables and chairs up.

He showered and got ready and we made a quick run to Feldman’s. We got back and the girls slowly started arriving. It was great seeing everyone and chismiando :). Jorge ended up calling Freddy to come back because none of the guys who’d RSVP’d came LOL.

My Love was so wonderful. He did all the cooking and made us Margaritas and was just such a great host. When we were inside together once I apologized that he ended up doing everything on his own. He said, “I want to, Babe. Anything for you, Love. It’s your birthday.” All the girls kept telling me how lucky I am. How very right they are :*)!!

They sang Happy Birthday to me and we had 2 different cakes :). Daisy brought a Better-than-sex one and Mom had bought me a brownie ice cream cake. Justin was so sweet; he got all involved with the cake and candles and serving :).

I had such a great, great birthday! It was honestly one of the best in YEARS. I felt…special :)!

We had the boys get in bed and I finished catching up. The last of the girls, Jessica and Daisy, ended up leaving around 1am. I need to make more time for my friends. I had no idea how much some of them were going through right now. I need to be a better friend!

I stayed up with my Love and Freddy till I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore LOL. I actually went to bed around 3am for once!

Freddy kept telling us how lucky we are to have each other. I couldn’t agree more ♥!

April 15th We woke up early considering how late we fell asleep. I got up and made us breakfast: omelets of course, per my Baby’s request, heh. We ate leftover cake as we watched Jerry Maguire–well, sort of, until we realized that the weird smell our fridge was emitting was becoming annoying and really nauseating. We decided we’d go look at fridge’s, just in case. If they were too expensive then forget it.

We went to Conn’s and found the fridge he’d been looking at online and it was a great price! We were approved for it right away and the paperwork as done, just like that! THAT’S the type of stuff I’m used to, not the being denied just about everything a year ago when I was barely salvaging my credit after SOMEBODY ruined it .

We stopped at Target afterwards…for who knows what LOL. I can’t remember. And we had some nachos and Icee’s. I weighed 115 on my birthday–my short-term goal!–and I was sure I’d gained it back in those 1 and a half days!

We did our Sunday routine when we got back. The Golf Tournament was the next day and I was SO GLAD to be wearing jeans to work, hehe. We relaxed and caught up on our shows. I’m so thrilled and humbled and GRATEFUL for all the wonderful people in my life, my kids and Jorge and family above all :*). My next 30 years are going to be GREAT!

Leave it to WordPress to completely disregard what “Save Draft” means. Darn thing didn’t save my almost-finished entry!!

Ok. So, starting over. This has been quite a month of blessings :).

Started off the month celebrating Alaethia’s 5th birthday party. It was a cold and drizzly weekend, but I should have known better as her birthdays have all been during that type of weather. The kids couldn’t even enjoy the awesome moonjump Michelle’s dad hooked us up with. But at least they got to jump in there for a little while when it dried up the next day.

We had court just a few days later. I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve regained custody of my little lady, Alaethia . Those who follow me on Facebook were witness to my happiness :). It’s a dream come true! We’ve seamlessly fallen into a great routine. (Another plus is that I’ve lost 5 pounds since I started taking my lunch earlier to pick her up from school since I’m not eating at restaurants everyday, heh.) I can honestly say I FEEL like a mother again–I mean, I’ve had my Emmy, but getting Aly ready for school, getting updates from her teachers, dropping her off and picking her up, it’s just wonderful :*). I’d gone a year and a half without taking my kiddos to school :(. I’ve sincerely missed it.

I’m so thankful to Jorge, Mom, John and Sally for their unending love and support. And so grateful to my bosses for being so understanding with everything going on, even when I had an event coming up. I feel genuinely humbled by the love and generosity that surrounds me ♥!

Dina, Briana and the kids visited and Dina stayed with us :). It was fun watching shows and just catching up :).

A few days later it was Valentine’s Day. We hadn’t really made plans, but my love surprised me with reservations at Pappadeaux!

We got out of work, I picked up a few things for the girls, gave them their medicines since they were getting over a cold and made sure they were good before we left.

We sat outside the few minutes we waited for our table to be ready, listening to the wonderful singer who sounded like she was playing right off my iTouch LOL. She sang two of my favorite Adele songs and Norah Jones. It was great just being with my babe and spending time together. We’d had a hectic month so far and it was nice to just relax with each other and EAT, heh.

We had our usual fried alligator, some awesome shrimp dip, and oysters on the half shell which I LOVED! Jorge was quite pleased that I liked them, too :).

I can’t even remember what entrees we had, but OMG they were delicious. And we had New York style cheesecake for dessert. Lordy. I’m drooling just THINKING about it!

We had such an amazing night. We checked on the girls when we got home and they were sound asleep. We sat outside on the porch and reflected on the amazing day and year that we’ve had :D.

A week later, on Saturday, Sally and John came over. Sally and I took turns making waffles for the kiddos. For lunch, ’cause we’re awesome like that!

Sunday, we woke up from sleeping in. Yeah, right. The latest we can sleep in is 9am :P. We snuggled in bed before getting up to start the day. I had my eyes closed and opened them to find him sweetly staring at me. I cover my face and whine, “Baby! My hair is everywhere and I probably look terrible!” He laughs and says, “Oh, baby. It’s been 10 years, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” I giggle and say, “10 years?! Silly!”

We got up and got menudo and barbacoa tacos from Taqueria 7 Hermanas, one of my exhibitors who just so happen to be really close by. We ate and then went to Home Depot to get spotlights and got the sudden urge to start a little flowerbed. We had all our supplies and, although we didn’t exactly know what we were doing, we got working straightaway. I’m so proud of our work!

Our yard is looking so nice!

All week was spent doing Food Festival related stuff. It was an INSANE week, but when it came down to it, I was so proud of the event! Since we did a few things differently this year, we have a few things on our “things to change” list, but all-in-all, it was great! Mario took my kiddos (it was his night with them) and my love took his boys and they had a great time! Jorgie got to celebrate his birthday there :). I was so glad they had fun. I was debating whether I should post the video of the event or not, but heck, why not?

It was my little Emmos’ birthday on Friday, the 24th! We snuggled her with kisses in the morning and I let her know I’d be home after lunch.

It was strange returning to work on Friday and although we were busy with finances and other things having to do with the event, it was calm! Roda and I worked on the tally sheets and media surveys and I was out by noon. I picked up Emily’s gifts and she opened them when I got home. My babe had taken the day and was working on the last of the home-automation stuff he wanted to do. The girls and I took Mom to her lab appointment and then we got home and sang Happy Birthday :)! I got a great deal on her cake from Sweet and Tasty (another exhibitor, heh).

We spent the rest of the day playing and just being together ♥. we’re planning something special for Emily & Jorgie’s birthdays. I wanted to go with the whole moonjump thing but who knows how this crazy weather is going to be.

Mario picked the girls up when he got out of work that evening. Jorge and I had no idea what to do with ourselves in such a quiet house, which is usually the case when the kiddos aren’t here. I had a few gift cards from my exhibitors so I asked him what he thought about having dinner somewhere. He thought it was a great idea. Our first choice was closed so we went to our second, which was Hooters LOL. I was a little skeptical since the last time I’d been there was in 2008, when I was unknowingly pregnant with Emily and I’d had fried pickles and felt extremely nauseous, heh. But we had some this time and I was fine!

The next day we sorta slept in (yes, no kiddos and we still couldn’t manage to sleep in! We showered, cleaned up a bit, packed, went to the bank and stopped at Starbucks for some drinks. We’d been making plans for a month with Michelle & EZ to go to the beach, but the weather was just being uncooperative. Jorge and I, spontaneous as we are, decided we were going anyway :).

We talked about anything and everything on the way over there, it was a great :). Our first stop when we got there was lunch at Daddy’s, Jorge’s favorite place on the island. The food was so darn good. We’d been eating so much fried stuff I was sure I’d gained the 5 pounds I’d managed to lose!

We had TONS of food leftover so we packed it up (and had it for dinner at the hotel, heh). Speaking of, that was next on our to-do list: finding a hotel.

We got a great deal on a great room. We rested and then went for a chilly walk on the beach. I’d never been to the beach when it’s cold, it was nice :). I’d also never in my life seen so many jellyfish at one time or these weird clay balls. Poor Portuguese Man-o-War jellies :(.

We got to the hotel and ate dinner and then got ready to go to Louie’s Backyard to watch the UFC fight. I hadn’t had a Margarita in forever and ordered two of the best strawberry ones I’ve ever had! We also ordered these addictive quesadillas, which they messed up and brought us a whole other plate of LOL.

I have to say I had a great night’s sleep considering that I wasn’t in my own bed. Woke up refreshed! We had breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We drove around a while thinking of what to do next. The day was gorgeous so we decided to go to the beach for a while. We changed into our bathing suits in the van, which was quite a feat but we did it, heh.

We collected some shells and got back in the van and drove down the strip. We had an impulsive idea to go and do something crazy, but after thinking about it for a bit we decided we wanted to accomplish this when we were better prepared. So instead, we went to Pier 19 to have lunch. Courtesy of the restaurant :).

And after lunch, we went on a bay fishing trip! Also courtesy of the company ;).

I’m not crazy about my appearance in this pic, what with me being makeupless and my hair being frazzled by the humidity but I loved this trip and I want to remember it &hearts!

Dolphins! I caught them just barely, as they were going back under water.

We didn’t catch a darn thing LOL. We kept getting bites, but nothing got hooked. Well, I’d hooked a catfish…that quickly jumped back in the water! Apparently you don’t have as much luck fishing after a cold front . Now we know for next time. Because there will be one :).

Jorge and I drove to work together today . I had enough time to pack my breakfast and lunch, which is great. The plan was to stay at work during lunch, eat and blog (leftover apple chicken salad and a side of fruits) but my babe and I wanted to meet for lunch <3. We met at HEB Plus. He raved about the Cobb Salad, but once we got there I saw the 1/2 panini and soup and fell in love.

They were SO GOOD, and so filling :).

Mario called that he wanted to pick up Emily tonight since “I have her from Thursday on” (and I completely refrained from starting a fight because I totally wanted to yell: Well, you have the other 3 from Sunday to Thursday, so NO!!, but I was a good girl :)). So he’s going to have her tonight and Wednesday, part of Thursday for Thanksgiving and then I have them Thursday afternoon till Sunday evening. I hate this whole back-and-forth thing, but I’m glad we can be civil enough to share them .

My babe and I have a date tonight since Emmos won’t be home. We haven’t gone on a “date” in a LONG time. We’re usually at home with Emily, or all the kids or we go jogging after dinner, all of which we love :). But, I’m so excited :)! Finally going to watch Breaking Dawn (coupon!) and we’re having dinner at Cornerstone Grill. But first, I’m gonna get him some pants from Old Navy (coupon is expiring today!) and then I’m picking him up from work. And work has been low-key since our event is over and most of my co-workers have already left. All we really did was go to the Consul’s office, where I served as photographer again :). And then I cleaned my desk:

So spiffy, heh. And much cleaner than last week for sure!

Ok, 6 minutes till I’m out of here. I’m feeling so darn blessed and just GREAT!!