Category: Daily

The girls and I had a hard time falling asleep last night, probably because today was their first day back at school.
I woke up at 5:30a.m. to make sure we’d all be ready on time.  They got dressed, excitedly,  because they were wearing the outfits they picked themselves ^_^. They looked so cute all dolled up with their hair in a headband and their backpacks and lunch boxes (Hello Kitty for Alaethia, Doc McStuffins for Emily).

I was nervous for the girls.  Emily seemed excited, but she seemed that way last year then cried half the year :(.

I was nervous for Alaethia because a little boy that would pick on her last year was sitting right next to her. She seemed really uncomfortable when she found out on Meet the Teacher night.  And it was the same this morning;  her chipper attitude was completely deflated when she walked in her class and saw him sitting there.  As she’s getting settled he looks right at her and says, somewhat annoyed, “I didn’t know you were going to be in my class.” She ignores him and I give her a kiss and tell her to have a great day, no matter what.

I had borrowed Aly’s teacher’s Sharpie to write their names on their lunch boxes and end up walking Emily to her class holding Alaethia’s lunch box…and realized I left Emily’s Target bag of supplies on Aly’s desk. Ugh. So, back we go.

Alaethia looked so upset, still, and for the rest of the day I couldn’t unsee her sad little face. I prayed her would be nice to her.

I took Emily back to her class and the teacher asked her questions and then we found her assigned seat. She sat quietly, hands on her lap, like a good little princess :). I’m happy to announce that they BOTH had a great day!!!

My boys did, too!

Jaylen stayed in band after all and got into football. OMG, I fear for my skinny boy’s safety!!!

Eenan was thrilled that he got friends in all his classes, I just hope he doesn’t get distracted. >_< So all-in-all, they all had a great day!! Thank you, Lord!!! May they continue to have great days all year long!

It was a pretty good Friday, considering I crashed out pretty hard last night, stopped my alarm instead of snoozing and waking up at 7:20am instead of 6:30am, heh.

I had my oatmeal at work while catching up with Michelle and simultaneously getting my work done. I accomplished everything, thank goodness. We’re gonna have a busy day next week and I need to mentally prepare myself >_<. Oooosssaaaahhhhh..... My love was working out of town and wouldn't make it back on time for lunch so I made plans with Sally. We met at a fairly new vegan restaurant called the Green Owl Deli. I'd told Jorge about it, but I lost him at 'vegan' LOL. It was such a cute place. I want to decorate ONE of the rooms in my house like that (Jorge would probably allow one of the bathrooms or laundry room only, but I'll take it!). It was just so cozy, whimsical and cute! [caption id="attachment_2359" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Cute decor!![/caption]

I totally wanted to take more pics but I didn’t want to be THAT PERSON, heh. It was impressively full for being a fairly new restaurant. I still wish poor Buttercreams Deli had made it; it reminds me of that place a lot. I miss the crepes!

Anyway, the prices are, well: pricey. But you can’t beat the unique paninis and sandwiches and desserts they have.

Sally and I both had the strawberry salmon panini with swiss cucumber sprouts and hibiscus tea. OMG. SO good!

Sally covered lunch so I got us some desserts. I got myself the Mostachon (which I ate at 4pm, heh) and it was amazing!

The afternoon went by semi-quickly. I was going to donate blood after work but the bus was 40 minutes late and I got lazy after picking up my prescriptions at HEB. So I came home and paid attention to my succulents. (I just realized how, um, elderly those few sentences sounded, buahaha!) Then my love got home and we ordered some Wing Stop. I talked to my babies on the phone (they’re still at their dad’s this weekend). Emily’s getting a cold, which sucks because school is JUST STARTING. Eenan was concentrating on buying some commissioned art from some kid-artist. He’s into all things illustration and pixel right now (his mother’s son??). Jaylen’s being a good boy and reading and doing his last-minute summer homework like he should be. Eenan’s had some…trouble feeling motivated about his >_<. And my Alaethia is all about her LPS (Littlest Pet Shop) right now. It's all she ever talks about. Just like all her mom ever does is talk about plants LOL. Which leads me to the next part of my post: I got the itch to do something creative. I'd seen these cute little cork planters on Pinterest. They were pretty pricey so I decided I wanted to make some myself. Jorge carefully carved out the tops for me and hand-drilled a drainage hole. And then I got to painting :). [caption id="attachment_2361" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Part 1 of my cork planters[/caption]

I finished painting them (it took forever since I didn’t have proper brushes; I used the girls’ very worn-out ones). I sprayed some cactus soil with water and carefully pushed it into each cork top. I snipped the tops of some of my succulents and using the end of a paintbrush, made a litle hole to stick the cutting into and then carefully topped off the soil. And voila!

I want to make more! And I didn’t have to pay $65 for the pair! Although, personally knowing how long the work takes, I can understand why they charge that much! Jorge joked that he’d happily carve more out for me if I sold them for $65 buahaha. Now let’s just hope that the little plants survive!

Ok, bedtime for me. I had a teensy bit of wine when I started this entry and it hit me already. Lightweight ^_^!

So that interview I wrote about yesterday? I survived it once again.

But not before flipping my shit because I was half-abandoned and expected to do the thing myself when I didn’t even want to do it in the first place. I mean, I felt like flipping my desk over (if it didn’t weigh a literal ton). But I got over it, and wonderful Alexis (I’m so sad she’s not my neighbor anymore, waah!) practiced the Spanish part with me and Mrs. Thelma helped me through it, as did the two ladies interviewing us. They really are great at what they do and totally put us at ease and made us laugh.

I wasn’t too thrilled when Carolina, the lady who did the Spanish interview, offered to get in touch with her contacts at the other Spanish stations to interview us and promote the program there, too. I just smiled and gave a thumbs up. She’s just being helpful, of course, but I did stumble all over my words during the Spanish part. You’d think that after 4 years of Spanish being a part of my job that it would sort of just FLOW, but it doesn’t.

I’ve got lots to catch up on tomorrow since I took half the day today to comply with my appointments.

I met my love (and Marco, and then ran into Michelle, EZ and Anabel) at Palenque Chicken. I love meeting him for lunch .

Emily had a follow up at her dentist’s office. Well, not really a follow-up; more like a second opinion. I couldn’t believe it when they told me she had 2 cavities her last visit (after 6 months). During that same visit, when it was time to schedule an appointment for her fillings they tell me they would schedule her fillings for her 6 cavities. I tell them they made a mistake; check the chart. Nope, it was hers.

I felt weird and frankly, I didn’t believe it. So I scheduled an appointment with the pediatric dental specialist for today. He checks her and says he sees 4 cavities. Still not the original 2, but OK. And then he says he recommends she gets caps instead of fillings. I’m squinting at the X-ray; the cavity is miniscule!! I don’t understand how something that small needs CAPS!!!

Emily and Alaethia leave with Mary to have lunch, while I go to my dentist appointment. I text Jorge and tell him about my concerns, then I text Mario and tell him the same. They both agree they need to see a different dentist altogether. I get to my dentist’s and tell Jennifer and Elda about it. Jennifer says she used to work for them and they were kind of shady. I freaking new it. I’m moving the girls to my dentist ASAP.

I get my check up done and for the first time in a long time, everything is A-OK!! Woo!

I came home to change really quickly, then went to the girls school to meet Mario and the girls for Meet the Teacher night. I updated Mario; the girls weren’t going to be in the same class as their BFF’s, Audrey and Maddie (both sisters, both the same exact age as my girls). It kind of worked out when Audrey and Alaethia saw each other from across the hall and ran and embraced. As did Emily and Maddie. It was the sweetest thing :). Jenny and I found the opportunity to tell them that Audrey’s class was at the end of the hall and that Alaethia’s was a few doors down. They got it right away, but they didn’t get upset. We did promise weekend play-dates at Ben & Jerry’s though, heh. You gotta bribe them SOMETIMES!!

Jenny complimented me and said that I’m “looking good”. I joked that I jog once a week to keep my figure LOL. I told her we should go together and she replied, “I run, to the fridge!” Buaha. I love her, she’s hilarious. And the compliment was much appreciated as I’m feeling quite gelatinous lately since I’m not working out OR running. Waah.

I took the girls to Ben & Jerry’s for a treat after Meet the Teacher:

We got home and I sent them to the bathroom to brush their teeth!

Mary picked the girls. She’d taken the boys to get haircuts. I think it’s amazing how they both tower over me (it was bound to happen, heh). I love those lil’ guys. I need to mention just how wonderful they are. They’re so loving and great. Eenan sent me this last night when I whined about how much I hate being in front of the screen:

Such a great boy :*)! I just wish he’d see what a handsome boy he is!! I’m afraid I passed on my low self-esteem to my eldest child. How do I fix that :(?

Lots of hugs and kisses were passed around and then my kiddos left :(. It sucks that this is the last week of summer.

Jorge got home as the kids were leaving and before I started making dinner, I checked on my succulents. They’re doing pretty good since I separated them all on Saturday evening with the girls’ help ^_^.

The succulents in the large pot were having trouble, as is the Haworthia Zebra in the smaller “garden” so I had gone with Emily to Home Depot to purchase some small terra cotta pots. (Then we had gone to Kohl’s to finish their school shopping :).)

(I’m not too fond of that photo; it was dark and the flash made the succulents turn weird colors >_<.) Unfortunately, I lost my large hen & chicks and my Echeveria "Lola". They were never the same after we got back from vacation. I'll never understand if it was underwatering, overwatering, sunburn or WHAT that did them in =\. It's frustrating. [caption id="attachment_2344" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Leaflets, propagating.[/caption]

I put all the leaflets I was propagating in this pot. Well, the ones that made it, anyway. The wonderfully budding Jellybean leaves all shriveled up, except one. And even that one doesn’t look like it’s doing too good =\. I just hope the rest make it!

[edited on Friday, August 22, 2014]

I just realized the photo above is from August 15th!! The tiny, new buds have grown significantly in a week!

I threw in the other 3 that I’d been propagating separately, as you can see. Sadly, I’ve forgotten which they are! The little “beads” are Sting of Pearl leaflets and I know there’s a Donkey Tail Burrito. I thought there was a Golden Sedum, but I’m not entirely sure now, since it looks different O_o. Anywho, I can’t wait till they grow more!! The waiting game drives me crazy!!

And here is my windowsill at present:

*swoon* I could stare at them alllll dayyyyy!!

So, even if today started out pretty darn crappy, I have to say my family, friends and hobbies turned it around completely <3!