Category: Family

Monday, October 27th – I had a long to-do list that needed to be accomplished before 4pm. Alaethia’s 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Hammond, had approached me about encouraging her to join UIL Creative Writing. So I did, and she accepted and she gets out of practice at 4pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was glad to pick her up and find that she really enjoyed herself :). When I’d brought it up to her the day before, she was nervous and got teary about it. She had flashbacks from last year, when she tried out for Chess Club and she was left in the cafeteria with the bus kids, they tried putting her on a bus and she didn’t even get to try out till Mario got there and couldn’t find her. So, I got where she was coming from, what with being traumatized and all. But, Mrs. Hammond walked her to the pick up area so she could become familiar with the routine, so that was great :).

Got home and talked to the boys, then helped Jaylen re-do his Powerpoint presentation that we’d worked on over the weekend. Helped the girls with homework, made Frito-pie chili (awful, you don’t have to tell me!!) and then watched “Guardians of the Galaxy” with them and Jorgie and Justin. Of course I missed the entire thing ’cause I fell asleep, heh.

Tuesday, October 28th – Tuesday was another day spent going non-stop at work; calling potential exhibitors for the upcoming Expo and working on January’s 1st Expo. It was another day I had to get my to-do list done before 4pm. Although it felt amazing to get 30 extra minutes at home with the girls, I helped Alaethia with her math till 7pm. The way they teach that math, OMG, it’s ridiculous. Completely different from the way I learned math, but well, that was decades ago!

Once the girls had finished up homework, eaten dinner, showed me videos on Youtube and were put into bed, Jorge, John and I watched Sons of Anarchy. My favorite part of Tuesday :).

Wednesday, October 29th – I got the girls ready to go right on time and dropped them off (in the drop-off area–such big girls!) and then I made my way to United Way to meet the girls for a Forum we were invited to. It was very informational and we got to have some snacks. Ms. Thelma outdid herself with the decorations, like always :).

I arrived to the office and ran to the kitchen/conference room to help serve fajitas for the luncheon at work. We had so many people arrive, which is good, but out of 200, only 100 RSVP’d =\. We almost ran out of food; the staff got to scrounge around for bits hehe. Still, I was grateful for my awesome taco and then went to the front desk for reception duty. I wore heels that day for the first time in months…and realized right away just WHY I never wear them anymore. Grr. My feet haven’t been the same since, I think. #oldfart

Thursday, October 30th – Got to work after dropping the girls off and my boss and I started the day by scouting new exhibitors. We actually got one to sign up on the spot! It’s amazing how many new health-related businesses there are since February!

Got back and got ready for a lunch meeting regarding that same Expo. We’ve been having weekly meetings since it’s so close. I’ve never had so much Jason’s Deli in my life hehe.

Since Mario had already taken the girls (his weekend), Rosie and I took a stroll through a nearby thrift shop to find something 60’s-esque for the Annual Banquet. Michelle, Rosie and I had realized with a jolt of shock that the Annual Banquet was in a week…and we had no costumes yet.

So we looked around and found a few things and laughed at a few other ensembles but didn’t find anything we actually liked once we tried them on. We decided to check out Amazon with Michelle the next day.

Friday, October 31st – Halloween! This would be the first Halloween in 3 years we don’t have my kiddos. I’d gotten away with having them so far, even when it was their Dad’s weekend, but he asked to have them this year =\.

We had cake from Maritza and those delicious cookies Trisha brings from Sweet N Tasty every year. I got ready for our Food Festival meeting and once we finished up with that, met Valerie at her workplace. She’d invited us a couple of weeks before to try out their amazing burgers and visit the facility since we’d never been.

It was a great visit; they were having their Halloween costume contest and pumpkin-decorating contest, so that was fun to watch/judge.

And the burgers…oh my gosh, the burgers. They really were amazing!!

We headed to make more visits for the Expo. Got back to the office and checked out costumes with Michelle and Rosie. We ordered some and crossed our fingers. Then I made some calls and took some payments and made my way home.

I was feeling a little lonely since the kids weren’t home. We’d been invited to Jim and Joyce’s yearly Halloween party but I wasn’t feeling much up to going. Jorge got home and at the last minute, we decided hey, we’re kid-less, why not go out and enjoy ourselves?

I found my bag of Halloween makeup (bought tons last year on clearance) and made a quick zombie costume. Jorge got out of work a bit later than he planned, so he didn’t dress up. We waited for my kids to arrive (their Dad was nice enough to bring them over) and we had Krispy Kreme donuts I’d bought from a fundraiser and had a quick visit.

Those two!! Hilarious!

My kiddos left and then Jorge and I took off to Jim’s. Jim and Joyce were dressed as hippies (doubled as their costume for the Annual Banquet–smart!!), Thelma and her hubby were a cloud and a person struck by lightning, Michelle was a Christmas “HoHoHo” 😛 and EZ was a priest. We had fun chatting and eating little snacks.

Jim and Joyce always out-do themselves! It wasn’t a very long visit, but we were proud of ourselves for leaving the house for once hehe. All-in-all it was a great Halloween!

Saturday, November 1st – Jorge went to work and I stayed in bed, covers over my head. He kissed me goodbye and told me to sleep. And I did: till 8:30am. And it was AMAZEBALLS!! It was the first weekend in a few months that I didn’t need to be up at 5 or 6am!

I made myself some breakfast and coffee and ate outside on the porch while I read my book, all huddled up in my hoodie and sweatpants.

My happy place <3[/caption] It was 75 degrees outside and such a beautiful day. I put my phone down (where I was reading my eBook) and admired the birdies perched on the branches and flying around. I eventually got sleepy and curled up on the sofa to allow myself to pass out. Then I remembered I had to withdraw money to pay bills and I got over the sleepiness right away. But oh well; duty calls. I even did grocery shopping, cleaning and visited Gramma with Mom :). Evening came and I spoke to my kiddos to see how their day went. Then Jorge and I went over to Noni's for a BBQ. The food was awesome and so were the Peach Belini's and hanging out with Lisa and Joyce is always fun. There were technical difficulties with the movie we were trying to watch outside, but they changed it over to a game and we enjoyed conversation instead. We had officially gone "out" 2 nights in a row! I sat there, taking it all in (TWSS), and thought, Wow. 4 years later and here we are. 4 years ago was a crazy time for us, but we pulled through and here we are together :’).

I managed to successfully complete my to-do list at work from yesterday and today.

I’d started this to-do list last Tuesday, because I knew I wouldn’t be in the office till Monday. I was still at work, but we had a Delegation coming in and I’d be away from my desk. Which made me nervous as heck because I have several events I’m working on and deadlines!!

I was nervous about the visit itself since we weren’t 100% in charge of the activities, but we went along for everything anyway and the things that didn’t work out were really only behind-the-scenes stuff and the back-up plans worked out really well. It was a stress-free visit, for the most part.

My treat during these visits is usually the food itself, heh. Don’t get me wrong: I really do love to learn about all the inner workings of our city and I always love visiting all our “landmarks” and the people! I love meeting all these different people. But my absolute favorite part is the FOOD!

I was so sad I couldn’t finish that cheesecake! *sigh* I love food, what can I say, heh.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the low-key visit to Quinta Mazatlan.

I would love to own a home like Quinta. Or to at least have a garden like the front yard at Quinta. And that succulent fountain they have. And this swing hanging from a gorgeous old oak tree:

The ladies and I had fun taking turns and taking photos. They were such a great group! I was so sad that I couldn’t properly say goodbye to everyone since they were let loose at the mall for some shopping during their last hours of the visit and I needed to leave to pick up the kids.

I picked up the kiddos and Emmos was tired and was throwing a tantrum. I can’t even remember over what. The other kids and I spoke about her, and the reason why she’s spoiled sometimes. We picked up pizza, got home and Emily was still sobbing and went to her room, but she’d calmed down. I’m walking down the hallway and she opens the door to her room and says, “Mama? Can I speak to you in private please?” My mouth drops at how mature she sounded. I said sure, and opened the door and we sat together on my bed. She very maturely let me know what was on her mind, and I told her what was on mine and that I would work on being better, on being more patient. I pulled her near me and embraced her and said, “I’m convinced you’re a 20-year-old in that little 5-year-old body.” She has her moments (such as tonight; she was tired and mopey and didn’t want to do her homework), but she’s just such a great little lady .

My heart feels like it’ll explode from the love sometimes. I passed by the boys’ room and saw them all in there, peaceful, happy, without a care in the world and I’m just so grateful I had to capture the moment.

(Pay no attention to their messy, unmade beds .)

The girls and I passed out on the sofa and Jorge moved us to our beds. We had to get up early for Jaylen’s game on Saturday.

We all woke up super early (except Eenan, of course!) and Jorge, Justin and Jorgie went to Justin’s game and the girls and I went to Jaylen’s. We dropped him off at school, and since we had an hour-and-a-half to waste before the game started I took the girls for breakfast at McDonald’s.

Jaylen did so well at his game! He’s progressively getting better.

It still made me cringe every time I saw one of the kids get hurt, though, ever since Jorgie broke his leg (I’m still pending that post!). Several boys on the White Team got hurt. Jaylen told me one of them dislocated his shoulder *shudder*.

I waited for Jaylen, picked the girls up (they’d left with Mary to Sonia’s) and then we got stuck in traffic. There was a 5-car accident on the Expressway thanks to non other than a drunk driver. When we finally got through, I picked up Justin, who was with Jorge at a job site. Took the kiddos home, then made them lunch.

Sunset Sessions was that evening so I got the kids all pumped up to go. Well, all of them except the 2 teenagers. Eventually Jorgie was convinced so only Eenan would be the one to stay home with Mom. Emily and I went to HEB to get picnic stuff. We were finally going to break-in the picnic basket Aunt Sylvia gave us and the girls were super excited.

AND THEN IT STARTS RAINING. And the lights go out at HEB. While we’re still inside. And didn’t even have my phone.

Dammit.

Jorge wasn’t going to be out of work on time and there was no way I could move Jorgie along in his wheelchair in wet grass/mud. So we scratched the idea. There was an audible, “Ahhhhhhh!!!” from all the kids. Even Justin said, “We don’t get to plan things often and then this happens!” No kidding!

So, what else do you do when you have a blanket and a picnic basket packed and it’s raining? You have a picnic on the porch, of course!

It was Michelle’s birthday that day, but we didn’t get to hang out. She called that she was on her way to Sunset Sessions but she understood that the rain+kids wasn’t a good idea. I promised her we’d celebrate later.

About 30 minutes later, the rain stopped and a rainbow popped out. FML LOL.

Jorge got home and debated for about an hour whether he was going to take up his boss’ invite to go to the ranch. He eventually decided “yes” and took Justin with him. I hung out with the kids for a while, watching TV and put them all in bed. The girls were happy to snuggle with mama :).

Woke up the next morning and made the kids wheat pancakes. Relaxed, did laundry, then Jorge got home and I made shrimp Alfredo. More tidying up and then I decided that I would relax. But not before making banana bread.

And then playing 4-square with the girls. And THEN I got to be lazy for a few minutes before I started on dinner. I hadn’t made tuna casserole in a while. The girls helped me with the ingredients and then Eenan started joking around, like always. We get into a conversation about why we’re not very huggy with Mom and both John and I tell him, “Well, we weren’t really brought up that way. She’d hug and hold us when we were little, but as we got older well, she just wasn’t like that.” Justin’s standing next to me and pats my shoulder and says, “I know the feeling.” So I say, “Get over here!” and grab him into a hug. I say, “I think it had the opposite effect on me; I think that’s why I love hugs and hugging the kids.” Emily, then Jaylen and Alaethia run into the group. Julien hears the commotion and goes into his famous running hugs. Then Eenan comes in for a hug. We’re all giggling and in a huge, wonderful group hug and poor Jorgie rolls in from their bedroom and says, “Hey, what’s going on?” We all laugh and then I realize that I hadn’t preheated the oven. John says, “Well if you weren’t over there getting group hugs…” Buahaha!

We ate dinner quickly and gathered around in the living room to watch “The Walking Dead”. It was 2 minutes in before we sent the girls to their room. It was much more gorey this time!! But such a good episode!

Put all the kids to bed and then a new week began. And I kicked Monday (and Tuesday) in the ass!! I even went on an interview. As much as I dislike those, because I’m always afraid I’ll screw up, I just went with the flow. And it worked out :).

We picked up a cake to celebrate Michelle’s birthday at work:

I got home from work and took Eenan to get a haircut with Emily in tow, of course. Mario waited for the kids while we got home and he took the boys =\. I’ll never get used to that.

EZ, Michelle and I went to Wing Stop today to celebrate her birthday. And I finally got one of my projects completed this afternoon and finished today’s to-do list. I have so much to do still, but I hope I can keep the same momentum going! I feel good about everything I got to accomplish. We sent all the kids to bed and we’re catching up on “The Voice” before I have to shower. Have lots going on tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll feel like this at the end of the day:

Thursday, September 25th was a hectic day for both Jorge and I.

He had their yearly Expo at his workplace and I had to run around all over the place and try and make it on time everywhere.

I left work a little early to pick Jaylen up at school after football practice. I was earlier than he expected (to which he said, “I had just gotten comfortable and sat down to watch a volleyball game *insert sigh*”) LOL. We picked up Eenan and waited about 20 minutes for some pizza (they’d been wanting to try the pretzel crust one) and then Jorge and I met at the house with all the kids, we practically tossed paper plates out like frisbees and had them all sit down to eat. Jorge changed, left to work, then I changed as quickly as possible. I made it to the Expo by 7 and was taken on a tour by my Love :), where he showed me his latest creations.

Michelle, EZ and Ivan showed up a while later, as did Jenna. Jenna and I’d never hung out other than the Expo the year before, or comments here and there on Facebook and she really is such a sweet girl :). We walked around, ate, looked at the latest techie things and then the guys and Michelle left. Jenna and I stayed behind, eating and chatting and then headed to Roosevelt’s, where one of the Reps was taking us. Jorge didn’t want to be rude and decline so we went. It’s one of the very few occasions we stay out while we have the kids.

We ran into Jenny and her hubby, John, there and said our hellos. Then I tried my hardest to stay awake. I didn’t even want to order anything. I always feel like we’re taking advantage of the poor Reps =\. But we did have fun, and chatted and reminisced about the Expo last year and all the Shenanigans that happened. We said our goodbyes since we had to be up super early to take all the kids to school the next morning.

We got up, quite reluctantly, woke the kiddos up and got ourselves ready. I realized again that morning that feeling as groggy and tired as I did is exactly why I don’t like going out on a work night. I knew it was going to be a looong day.

I knew it was going to be an even longer day when we realized we’re all running late. I didn’t even get to make some coffee. We’re on our way, I pick up Gatorade for Jaylen (and Big Red gum for Eenan) and drop them off still on time, thank goodness.

I stop by the new Starbucks that I’d still yet to visit. There was only one entrance and exit and I wasn’t fond of the $4 I spent either, heh. Am I a cheapskate? Yes, yes I am, but I knew I couldn’t function without a coffee or latte.

The morning went by pretty fast, thank goodness. I was meeting Thelma and our instructors for our entrepreneurship project at Hobby Lobby to buy the supplies they’d need for the class on Wednesday. By the time I knew it, it was lunchtime and I met my love at Tacos Kissi. Such good sushi!

The afternoon went by fast, too, but not before Jorge and I got into spat by text. How I dislike those .

I picked up my boys and girls (Mario took the girls home with him so I picked them all up together). Dina, Briana and the kids were waiting for us at home :). We ordered in pizza and just chilled out at home. I think we were all exhausted and we all went to sleep earlier than we usually do when they come to visit. We all had an early morning the next day, since the 3 boys had football games!

I always wondered how it would work; like, would I make it on time the days Jaylen has games back in our city after dropping him off in the city he goes to school in. The first time we were presented with this type of morning was when it was storming and the game ended up being cancelled. So this was the first official time I’d attempt to accomplish this.

I dropped him off, drove alllll the way back, came home, got the girls ready and packed a bag of waters and snacks, then we made it to the school down the road where Jaylen would play. He was a bit disappointed the week before because he only played once but this time he was a receiver for the entire game! He did really well, although their team unfortunately lost .

We left the game after they played and I came home with the girls before we had to drive back to pick Jaylen up. Both the girls watch all these doll videos on YouTube and Alaethia had been wanting to do a project for a while. This one was baking breads and pastries for dolls. It was pretty neat :). We just mixed:

1 tablespoon of corn starch
2 tablespoons of baking soda
1 tablespoon of water, although we used a little more since it wasn’t mixing well.

Then we microwaved the mixture for 1 minute, let it cool, and kneaded it.

We shaped the pastries and let them air-dry while we picked up Jaylen:

When we got back home, we baked them for a while, let them cool, then painted them with acrylic paint:

Alaethia recycled a Prego lid to use as a pastry tray .

Briana, Dina and the kids returned from the boys’ game and we chilled out the rest of the day :). Emily started feeling under the weather. She’d mentioned that her ear felt weird the night before, so I asked her several times throughout the day if she felt okay, otherwise I’d take her to the doctor. She said yes each time, so we stayed home.

She woke up the next day feeling worse, so we’d be visiting the Urgent Care that night. She got a fever, and once she gets a fever she pretty much goes downhill. It’s pretty scary, so I didn’t want to take any chances.

Dina, Briana and the kids left that morning. It always feels like we don’t get to spend enough time together and it sucked because I was so exhausted this weekend .

I made everyone breakfast; well, the ones who wanted bagels with salmon and cream cheese:

It was a few hours before Urgent Care opened, so we did a few things around the house, like replanting things and setting up the birdfeeder, now that it finally stopped raining.

Even though she felt sickly, Emmos played football with her bro:

She got tired and Justin came out to play with Jaylen. The kiddos later helped clean up. Eenan was caught in the act:

We had a late lunch of fish tacos, which, thankfully, the kids all liked (except Emmos. She had soup).

We got ready and left to the doctor around 5:30. And were there till 9pm, for them just to tell us she was fine and prescribed congestion medicine. That’s what I get for giving her Motrin for her fever, I guess. She didn’t have a fever when we arrived, and they said that supposedly her throat and ears were fine. I knew I’d have to take her back to the doctor later. Grr.

And sure enough. She woke up feeling even worse. I kept her home from school, gave her Motrin & her congestion medicine and made plans to leave work early to take her to her actual doctor. When I picked her up, Mom gave me a run-down of their day. Emily tells me, “I love my grandma, Mama. ‘Cause she takes care of me when I’m sick.” Aww!

By the time we got to the doctor, she was clearly showing signs of infection in her throat so they prescribed an antibiotic.

I got home and talked to the boys. Had a conversation with Jaylen. It was music to my ears :). Something I’d been wanting to hear for a long, long time . Now to get it all to fall into place .