Category: Family

I tried blogging yesterday, mostly because of the fact that Annie was talking about all these superstitious things, one being that doing something on the 31st or the 1st will help you do whatever you did all through the year. For example, cleaning your house completely promises a clean house all year. If this is true, I’m going to have unwashed dishes, unmopped floors, a grimy bathroom, and a messy bedroom strewn with toys all year long. At least I’ll have clean clothes!

Obviously I didn’t blog yesterday, so sadly I probably won’t be blogging much this next year–if the superstition is true. I’ve become so bad with blogging. I feel like my site’s just taking up space. We’ll see how it goes in the next month or two. If I still can’t manage to update on a regular basis I think I might just scrap the whole site/blog thing. I’ve been doing this since 2001, so it kills me to stop blogging, but with graduation coming up and maybe a potential job, I can just tell I won’t have time for online things anymore. How do people manage to have a life AND blog?? I feel SO bad because I haven’t even had time to visit my friends or even wish them Merry Christmases or a Happy New Year!

Christmas was fantastic. The whole family was here, well, with the exception of Gramma but we did go see her on Christmas Eve. The kids woke up, ready to rip open presents and when everyone arrived at Mary’s, they each had their little piles and opened them up in front of the adults. Eenan and Jaylen couldn’t have been happier with their presents from Santa.

Eenan screamed, “I knew I was getting a DS!”, and Jaylen couldn’t believe his eyes when we opened the front door and he saw his little Powerwheels. They were so happy with their presents and I thank God that we were doing okay in ’05 and could actually afford to get them nice things.

I’d told Mario to promise he wasn’t going to get me anything else since we got our rings but he bought me something anyway. A black shirt from Hot Topic that said, “Cute on the outside, naughty on the inside”, and a mauve-colored, suede Union Bay bag I’d loved from JC Penny. I felt elated but so bad at the same time since I didn’t get him anything :(. Next year though. I’m counting on my job so that I can surprise him just as he’s always surprised me :).

I ended up having to exchange the shirt for a completely different one since it had two little tears in it and they didn’t have my size. I exchanged the Grumpy one too (which was from Mary) since Mom had already gotten it for me. I exchanged the jeans Mary got me since they were L.E.I.’s and the only size 5’s I can squeeze into comfortably are Arizona stretch boot legs. (God I need to lose weight for Noelia and Andy’s wedding!)

Mario had this past Friday off so we went to the mall and did our exchanges (Hot Topic even threw in one of the shirts I was leaving behind but I was too embarrassed to go back once I realized what happened , so I got a free shirt!). One of his bosses wanted him to go in to work, but since we had stuff to do all day he didn’t get a chance to. He was supposed to work on Saturday but I woke him up late (I forgot he went in at 9 instead of 10). When he called the “boss” to tell him he was going to be a few minutes late, Mr. Boss said to stay home if he was going to be late. Mario obliged and came home. I was thrilled to spend extra time with him, but my gosh, this dude (the boss) throws hissy fits for everything. He’s the same one that suspended Mario for three days because he playfully told him “fuck you”–which the boss himself tells EVERYONE.

We ended up watching The Nightmare Before Christmas and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the kids that morning. It was nice to just be home together.

That night Jose, Elda and the boys were here, Noelia and Andy, Jorge and Bonnie, Mary, Mario and I and our boys, Mom, Yazmin, and after midnight Tommy, Yadira and Angela joined us. Since Mary brought some tequila over from her and Yazmin’s quick trip to Reynosa I made Margaritas, Mom made her homemade burritos, and Mario made his famous Bailey’s Milkshakes. All the kids popped fireworks. Eenan quickly changed his mind once he inhaled smoke from a sparkler and as the night wore on, Jaylen became extremely brave and was lighting “big” fireworks with a punk. I was so nervous, but Mario and Jose kept reassuring me that he was fine. Sammy was lighting Black Cats and at one point one shot straight for his eye! Luckily it hit him about an inch under, but I was terrified of the kids using the fireworks after that.

When 12am came around we clinked our plastic cups of champagne together (in my case, a Margarita since I don’t like champagne either), Mario and I had our New Year’s good luck kiss and we hugged everyone that was present. It was such a nice night . Our neighbors across the alley always have those really big, fancy fireworks so we turned our chairs to that direction and just watched and talked till about 1:30a.m. I tried calling my friends at exactly 12 but the lines must have all been tied up since nobody here could get through on their cells.

Mario had a day off again yesterday but we hardly spent time together since we were each doing our own thing. He was off helping his uncles clean up Grandpa’s lot and I cleaned the house a little bit and then Mom and I went to Aunt Nora’s. She had a gift for each of us (need to get her something, too!) and she gave me 5 Rubbermaid bins full of Christmas decorations! Mom, of course, fought me on a few things (Aunt Nora yelled, “Woman, these were for Yaya!”) but I got most of what I wanted. I even kept the tiny, brand-new tree she gave us. I thought Mario was going to have a fit, but he was in an incredibly good mood last night. Just in case, I’d made everything I kept fit into just two bins, woo!

We’re planning on having a garage sale sometime this month so I’ve slowly (very slowly) been getting stuff together. I really need to look through the big closet and the kids clothes and toys. Gawd. That room looks like a disaster area . I’m GOING to be more organized this year. I have to if I want to keep my sanity.

I have a feeling 2006 and my 24th birthday are going to be the best. I just know it will be. I’m so grateful for everything we had and everything that happened in 2005. It was a fabulous year.

And now, for New Years Resolutions! Out of last year’s I only did #’s 2 and 9, tried doing #8 to no avail, and of course you can never do enough of #5. As for this year:

1. Continue getting good grades at school and graduate on April 26th.
2. Visit Gramma more often.
3. Visit Aunt Nora more often.
4. Get organized!
5. Split bedroom (grr!)
6. Finish with the bathroom walls.
7. Lose weight in time for Noelia and Andy’s wedding!
8. Get a job I love after graduation.
9. Treat each day like it’s the last. Tell my family/friends I love and appreciate them every chance I get.
10. Spend more time loving my husband and kids.
11. Be NICER and more patient.
12. Stop being so hard on myself when I don’t get straight 100’s in school. (I’m stressing out more and more lately, it’s ridiculous.)
13. Make time to blog and visit online friends!

A list of my loot.
1. 13″ True Heart bear from Mary and Big Mario.
2. 13″ Hopeful Heart bear from Mary and Big Mario.
3. Shape hole-punchers and punch-helper from Mary.
4. Victoria’s Secret Garden Pure Seduction lotion and body spray from Mary.
5. 10″ Harmony Bear dressed in “rockstar” clothes 😛 from Mary.
6. Pink anime Tinkerbelle shirt from Mary and Big Mario.
7. Gray Grumpy Bear shirt from Mary and Big Mario (which I exchanged for a green Bambi one since I already had it).
8. Two pairs of jeans from Mary and big Mario (which I exchanged for a different size and a mauve-colored Cheshire cat shirt).
9. A Precious Moments planner/calendar from Mary.
10. A brown velour track jacket with gold trim from Natalie (my gift exchange).
11. Mauve/suede Union Bay bag from Mario.
12. Black “Cute on the Outside, Naughty on the inside” shirt from Mario (which I exchanged for a white Little Mermaid one since the black one had two tears and they didn’t have any in my size :().

Things I got before Christmas:
1. Dining set from Mom.
2. Gray Grumpy Bear shirt from Mom.
3. Black Penny shirt from Mom.
4. Engagement/Wedding rings from Mario :).

Things I got from our friends at school:
1. Hello Kitty toaster, Hello Kitty light switch, and Care Bear stickers from Lucy.
2. Red glass pitcher, glasses and Care Bear card from Ricci.
3. Red sequin hand bag, pink filigree/rhinestone clip, and pink/silver charm bracelet from Mayra.
4. Good Luck bear baby and a card from Romeo and Kimberly.
5. A huge Sweet Pea bath and lotion set from Rosy (my gift-exchange).

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It’s a sunny 79° outside right now. Needless to say it won’t be a White Christmas in south Texas this year. Bah humbug.

My immune system sensed that Christmas was ’round the corner because it decided to discombobulate after school on Thursday. I decided to drink orange juice this morning to accelerate my recuperation and sort of over did it as I now have a horrible upset stomach. I hate colds!

I spent Wednesday night getting everything ready for school: gifts, lasagna, cookies, camera. My car was packed to the brim Thursday morning. I got to school and took a few things in, and noticed all the presents under our “Christmas Tree”, which was a tree drawn with a marker on the dry-erase board. Romeo and Kimberly helped me bring everything else in and we put everything in it’s place. I read a card (a Cheer Bear one) that Ricci wrote to me. I initially thought Kimberly wrote it (I had my thumb over the name) and felt so embarrased when I said, “Aww, thank you, Kimberly!” and Ricci turns around and says, “THAT’S FROM ME!”

It seemed really odd to me while I was reading “Kimberly’s” card that everything she mentioned was what Ricci and I had been through. I felt like an airhead!

I really appreciate my friends though. I never thought I’d find friends like these and I just feel so blessed. It’s not because of the holidays, either. I think about them all the time and thank God for bringing them into my life.

Speaking of, Lucy looked really sad and…indifferent that day. I wish she’d just talk to me, but she seems to only open up to Mayra. It doesn’t bother me that she doesn’t talk to me, it just makes me feel a little disappointed. I wish there was a way I could make her feel better.

We reviewed chapters 2 & 3 of our new class, Business Communications, for the test we’d be having before our party. I can officially say, I highly dislike adjectives. Some of them are confusing to me. I can honestly say we weren’t taught certain things in high school.

Anyway, after reviewing, we opened gifts! From Kimberly and Romeo I got the Good Luck Bear baby, from Ricci a beautiful red glass pitcher with two glasses, from Mayra a gorgeous banana (?) clip, charm bracelet and red sequined purse; from Lucy a Hello Kitty toaster (exact one I got last year), Care Bear stickers, and glittery Hello Kitty switch plate; and from my Secret Santa, Rosy, a huge basket full of Sweet Pea lotions and bath stuff. I was thrilled with my stuff :).

I gave Rolando his present, which was a gift card to the mall since I COULD NOT figure out what to get him. I mean he gave ideas, but there was no way I could afford what he wanted. I figured I’d get him a gift card so he could choose what he’d like and actually LIKE IT.

I was utterly surprised when he rushed by, gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and whispered, “Mario got really lucky with you.” It could have also been that he was in love with the cookies and lasagna I’d made LOL. He kept saying, “WHY’D you have to be married?!” I guess what they say is correct: The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!

Unfortunately for him, I’m perfectly happy being married .

I felt really warm inside hearing compliments about my cooking. That never gets old to me. We had a great time pigging out. We laughed and talked and had fun. Mrs. C-R was with us, too. Most of the other side of the class had left, but that didn’t bother me at all. Everyone who’s company I enjoy was there .

I planned to chill out with Ricci at her Grandma’s for a while after school, but I got a call from Mom that Eenan’d been stung by a bee. I rushed home of course, thinking the worst, but thankfully he was fine.

Mom agreed to watch the kids on Friday while Mario and I went out to finish our Christmas shopping. We picked up some McDonald’s, then we went to Norma C.’s car lot first where he’d install a radio in a car and then we went to the bank. We tried killing some time before he had to pick his check up from work so we went to check on our property in McAllen.

We got down and inspected the lots. Mario estimates that we’ll be spending at least $2,000 to get the trees uprooted only from the backyard. There’s so many trees on that lot it’s not even funny. It looks like a mini-forest in the middle of town, no kidding. I felt this overwhelming feeling of bliss standing there, making plans with him about our future home. I momentarily stopped hearing what he was saying and just stared at him standing in the ray of sunlight and I thought, I’m so glad I married this man.

I really can’t wait to build our home together. I can’t wait to go through life together and raise our kids together. This is so important to me. I just pray that we’ll be able to actually uproot those trees and that Mario can buy his motorcycle since work would only be a few blocks away.

We met up with Mary and Elda at Chick-fil-a to eat lunch, and shortly after Mario was called to pick up his check. Then came the hours of shopping, paying $10 for crappy valet service, and having a fit at Target because they wouldn’t let me exchange my Hello Kitty toaster for something that wasn’t in Housewares. They wouldn’t even let me take pillows! Pillows go in a HOUSE!

Mario stopped by this little stand he likes to buy hotdogs at, then we ordered pizza and rented movies. We ate fast food all day, how sad. BUT, I’m so glad we finished with our Christmas shopping.

We visited Gramma this morning and took her her gifts. I really miss her. It would be the perfect Christmas if she were able to spend it with us *sigh*.

I’m going to go back to Mary’s. I’ve been trying to rest, but with all the kids running in and out of the house it’s basically impossible. All the kids are playing in the bedroom and I JUST finished cleaning half of it so I think I’ll take them with me. *checks* Oh yeah, they’re making a mess.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christmas. God Bless!

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Last Wednesday, after having yet another frustrating day at school with Quickbooks, I went to the post office and ran into an old friend, Jessica, from my OSM days. We caught up (she’s married, has a little boy, one on the way) and found out she’s been living 3 streets away from me for the past 4 years! What a small world we live in. I knew I’d seen her at the Dollar General once and she swears she saw me walking down the main street with a stroller (ah yes, when I was actually making an effort to lose weight) and at Wal-Mart. We talked for a while on Saturday; I need to remember to call her back.

Sometime at the beginning of last week, Aunt Nora called and asked if we’d like her old bedroom set since she was buying a new one. I remember LOVING her bed, and ask, “Is it the one I said I liked?” and she said, “Yup, that one.” Score. She gave us the drawers and bedside table too. The dressers she’s had since she first got married () but the bed is brand new. It looks beautiful :).

Mario was going to take the Sentra Saturday morning, but when he tried to turn it on, nothing happened. Turns out the starter died. All I could think about was my final on Monday and how we were broke, couldn’t afford a new starter and HOW WAS I GOING TO FINISH CHRISTMAS SHOPPING??

Mary came to the rescue and bought the part for us (we need to pay her back *adds to long list of debts*) and Mario waited around all day for someone to help him out to no avail. Finally, later at night, Jose came home and fixed it with the company of Mary and Big Mario. Mario was too upset to go out there.

Brushka had her second litter of kittens yesterday. Panthy-Poo (who’s solid black) was the one who mated with her, yet she had black tabby ones (probably from Panthy), gray tabby ones like her, and a WHITE ONE. I told Mario, “Aww, she’s so cute! If she’s got long hair like Artemis, I want to keep her.” And to my surprise he replied, “I kinda want to keep her too.”

Booka (as Jaylen calls her) will be staying indoors until we get her spayed. With all these new kittens, that brings the total to 14 cats and well, I’m too young to be a crazy cat lady . I hope we can find them good homes (Booka’s last litter: Bah, Enchilirido, and Goop, were all given to Ricky and they disappeared a week later since they had them outside. He lives in a ranch–I’d hate to think what animal, like a coyote, could have gotten to them). I gotta get Choco Cat spayed and John needs to get his cat spayed, too.

I went to school all by my lonesome today. Ricci moved to Mission, so she won’t be going with me to school in the morning. I gotta say, I’m so used to going everywhere with her it feels strange without her there LOL. I’ll be bringing her with me afterschool and dropping her off at her Grandma’s, where Goyo will be picking her and the girls up. I’m really glad they got their own place–they really needed it.

We got to school and I tried explaining to Ricci and Romeo how to do a few things (that I could remember) in Quickbooks when Mrs. C-R suddenly asked us to sit and get ready for our final. She said, “Your final is your assignment from Friday. There’s 3 cheat sheets, each one’s 5 points off of your final if you ask for it. There’s also a bonus you can do. If you get it right, it’s 20 extra points, if you don’t, it doesn’t affect your grade.”

My mouth dropped. I stayed an extra hour after school on Friday to finish that assignment because I JUST HAD TO get it right. And I did! When I was about 1/4 ways done with the bonus Company, Mrs. C-R places a letter on my desk. It says that I already had a 100 for that class (yeah baby!) and I could take the bonus if I wanted to. She also said she was proud of me (aww ) and to always keep my head held high. She left a P.S. that said, “Thanks for always helping out your classmates.” I was beaming and smiling from ear to ear. I gave the bonus a shot anyway (I think I messed up on a deposit though ) and thanked her for the letter. I’m going to miss her when I graduate .

I was so worried about that Final. I was sure I was going to bomb it. I even had a dream–no, a nightmare–Saturday night that I’d set my alarm wrong on Sunday night and woke up at 12:20pm. I totally missed class and Mrs. C-R wouldn’t let me re-take. I woke up with my heart beating a mile a minute!

I went to drop Mario’s lunch off at work since he forgot it and Mom, the boys and I went downtown to get Tio Arturo’s gift and to this Japanese store I’d always wanted to go to. After 30 minutes of looking for parking we went over there and I’m in love. Mom bought me a little Lucky Cat snow globe and I think I found my inspiration for decorating the living room. I’d always wanted an Asian theme and now I know where to go for all my decor :). They have gorgeous vases and such pretty paper lanterns.

Welp, I should get to baking those Snickerdoodles. I’ve got TONS of baking to do before Thursday!

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