Category: Daily

Lots of Food & a Wedding :)

November 8th – I picked up some groceries after work, got home and Emily and I picked up Jorge at work. She wanted to get off the van to see Jorge’s workplace, so we went in to visit. We talked to Jorge’s co-workers (the girls fawned over how pretty she is ♥) and then we found him. Emily ran straight into his arms and we walked back to the van. Emily asked if we could go to “the place with the gummies” (Red Mango), so we took the little princess :). She was feeling so, so much better from her cough and cold. She wasn’t up the entire night coughing, thank goodness.

Red Mango <3

Emily added the gummy bears, I swear!

We ate at the restaurant and then we came home and had some dinner–backwards, yes LOL. The good thing is, Emily’s a great eater. I’ve probably mentioned it before but she eats everything: from spinach to tamales. One of her favorite things is spinach salad with walnuts, strawberries and vinaigrette. So I wasn’t too worried that she’d had her sweets before dinner :).

We watched TV for a bit and then we got ready to go for a jog at the park. God, I love that park. It’s so spacious and open and you can just breathe out there. Emily stayed with Mom (she had a sugar crash from the gummies, I think heh) and we took off. We walked 3 laps and jogged 2. Yes, actually jogged. Jorge is about a foot taller than me so his legs are much longer and it takes some effort on my part to keep up, heh. But he’s great and actually waits for me when I start getting winded (I remember how jogging with someone else SUCKED because he’d leave me behind all the time. I hated it ).

The night was fresh and we just talked about everything: our teen years, old married life, our life together now, our kids…it was easy to just walk and jog all those laps :).

The next day, the 9th, was cold and overcast outside. I caught up on details for my event at work and met my love and his co-worker for lunch at Siempre Natural. We decided that if we were going to eat somewhere it was going to be healthy. Didn’t want to ruin our exercise. I had a damn good grilled chicken salad and we shared a bowl of fideo (carby, but it was a small portion, heh).

Mario came to pick up my Emmos that day since it was his night. Jorge got home and we went to Ross to look for some slacks for him and a dress shirt for Karina’s wedding that Friday. Didn’t take us long to find him a nice outfit and then I got myself a plum blouse and some gray dress pants for work the next day :).

We ended up at Red Mango again since it was down the block, hehe :). That was all we were having for dinner, so it was ok! I had the perfect night planned in my mind: Red Mango, XFactor and cuddling–but one tiny thing that had nothing to do with us made the night take a different turn. We’re so alike and we react so similarly that we kinda sat there and stewed for a bit. And then we looked at each other and got over it, just like that . THEN we enjoyed our yogurt and show :).

I was helping Michelle with one of her events the next day. I did a few things related to my event and then helped her out. It went well, and we had great food! I cheated and had cheesecake but it was a HUGE slice and I couldn’t resist! There were TONS of cheesecakes left and food, so I made a plate for my love since I wouldn’t be home and left him the 4 slices of cheesecake at work. He behaved himself and only had one (and I regret it now, but we behaved so well that 2 of the cheesecakes were eventually thrown out 🙁 ).

Thursdays are usually hectic for me because it’s when I go to La Joya and it’s usually the night we have events at work. That would be one of those nights.

We had a Mixer at the Incubator and they weren’t expecting a huge turn-out, so our “boss boss” required us to be there. The Incubator is at my old elementary ♥. I became quite nostalgic being back there. Walking up the front steps into the hallway that used to have the light blue water fountain. Walking into the odd glass-doored room that had the main office on the left side and the cafeteria and stage on the right. Jamie gave me a tour of the office, which looked almost identical to the one I remember. The cafeteria looked so much smaller than I remember, but that could be because they built offices inside. The stage was still there but was missing the faded red velvet drapes. The floor was different too; it no longer had the blue tiled floors with the yellow tiles that spelled “S H” in front of the stage :(.

Leading out of the glass-doored room was the long hallway that lead to all the other hallways “outside”. Sam Houston was one of those old-fashioned schools that had outdoor hallways. It SUCKED when it was cold and you forgot your sweater and had to go to the library or the restroom LOL.

The Old Sam Houston Hallway

The exact same yellow follow-the-leader lines from back in the day still remained, albeit chipped. The only bathroom I could find (that was down that loooong hallway with signs that said, “Bathroom Down the Hall”…”Almost there”…”Keep Going”, no joke LOL) was one of the boys’ bathrooms where the “tunnel” with the mural of the huge golden cougar head was. I can’t remember now if the old cougar was still painted on the wall . I laughed to myself as I entered that bathroom because, for the first time ever, I was in the boys’ bathroom at Sam Houston :P. It was a big no-no to go in there when we were little hehe.

I actually behaved myself for once and stayed completely away from the delicious looking brownies and sweets. I didn’t even have the shrimp & queso dip, can you believe it? That’s what happens when I’m actually working out: I make an effort to watch what I eat. Otherwise, I really don’t care =<. I mingled a bit with some of our members at the mixer and then made a run for it to pick up the kiddos to eat dinner. Since it was already a lil late we had snacks at Burger King. We sat and talked about our day, the boys talking about the games, of course, and the girls being silly and needing to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes O_o. It's way too short a time to spend with them. I hate it .

I got home and my babe and I snuggled on the couch and watched DVR’d XFactor. He made us some Abuelita Hot Chocolate since I was getting sleepy :). We stayed up a bit longer…and then I crashed out at 9pm! He woke me up about midnight so we could go to our room. Lo and behold, after washing my face, brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed…sleep left me completely. Figures. I was up till about 2!

The next day, was 11/11/11! I helped Michelle with her Lunch & Learn meeting. It ran a little late, which was perfect because I got to meet my love and his co-worker at Deli Salads. He’d been raving about that place and he was totally right, the food was great!

Deli Salads

We chit-chatted and watched the news. Jorge told me about the Blu Cig, an electronic cigarette he’d been researching and finally bought that morning. He said so far, he was doing pretty good and hadn’t smoked anything but the Blu!

We finished up and I headed across the street to Red Lobster to pick up some gift cards they were donating to my event. The rest of the day kinda went by fast :).

Karina was getting married that day! It’s about time LOL. I stopped by the church to see if I could catch some of Karina’s ceremony, but I got there only to see them taking pictures. We talked a bit and then I went straight to pick up the kiddos after work and then we picked up a pizza for them. I had to do it: I had one breadstick, but I was STARVING.

I made sure mom had everything she needed, made sure the Roku was connected so the kids could watch a movie on Netflix and then I got ready for the wedding. Once Jorge did get home we kinda rushed around and then we picked up Gina so we could find the wedding together.

It took us forever. Dayse even called and we were all driving around aimlessly. She finally got ahold of Karina and we eventually found the place, but we missed the dinner LOL. It was still pretty darn great to hang out with my buddies :). Gina, Dayse, Martha, a girl I don’t remember named Anabella, Karina of course and even Juan B., who was there with his band. My babe was social and wonderful and got along with the husbands, hehe. And he looked so darn handsome :). Never, in all my years of knowing him, have I ever seen him in slacks, willingly LOL.

Dayse took a picture of us with my phone, but not before I started fidgeting with my black cami trying to cover my extreme cleavage. Dayse smacked my hand away playfully and said, “You need to stop being so self-conscious! You’ve always been this way. People PAY to have those!”

Jorge gave both she and I a knowing look, because he knows exactly how self-conscious I am. But, we took the picture and I think it’s my favorite of us!

My Babe & I <3

We had to get back home to the kiddos so we didn’t stay too long. We politely declined going to the after party for menudo LOL. We said our goodbyes and then we headed home. All the kiddos were very cutely strewn across the living room on every surface. We left them all where they were, they looked so comfortable. We tiptoed to our room and I changed into PJs and then my babe and I sat outside on the porch and talked :). It was a great night.

The kiddos and I had a lazy Saturday. The boys played Xbox, the girls circled stuff in the Walmart and Target catalogs that they wanted for Christmas and I searched for new themes for my site. The girls and I did our nails and then Alaethia asked me to straighten her hair. I was skeptical, but I put the straightening silk in her hair and only pressed it lightly.

Aly's Somewhat Straightened Hair

She was so happy with her long locks :). She’s already becoming conscious about her image and it makes me fear for the future :(. I had such low self esteem growing up and I don’t want the same for my girls. Alaethia already talks about wanting to change stuff about herself; her hair: wants it straight. Her skin: says she wants to be like me and Emily. I want my girls to know that they’re beautiful exactly how they are!

After I pretended to do some of Emily’s hair (she wanted to be like her sister LOL), I made lunch, paid a few bills, got some groceries and then made dinner before everyone started arriving for the Marquez/Pacquiao fight. Even Michelle came over…and she brought Margaritas hehe.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me these days. I was seriously nodding off during the fight! Didn’t help that Emmos was sitting on my lap and I would rest my forehead on her head LOL. I got to see how unfair a fight it was, at least, but as soon as Michelle left I went straight inside and sat on the sofa with the kiddos…and quickly fell asleep!

The next day was our usual Omelet Sunday :). As Jorge and I sat at the table and he raved about his omelet I told him, “You know what they say: the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I knew I could hook you with those.” And he says, “Oh yes. It has nothing to do with the fact that I was in love with you forever, right?” Awww

I can’t remember too much from that day at the moment…I’m pretty sure it was spent cleaning the house, as our Sundays usually are. If I remember correctly, I made cookies for the kiddos that evening and were running late to drop mine off with Mario since the cookies were taking forever (and that’s ’cause it’s those premade ones that come in the tub; bought two from co-workers for their kids’ fundraisers).

We all piled into the van and took the long drive. For having 6 kids in the car, they were all quiet and well-behaved ♥.

We dropped off my kiddos :(, then Jorgie, Justin, Jorge and I went to his mom’s for a bit. We played with the doggies outside and then we took Old 83 to get a Michelada at Ramos’ Drive-Thru (and we also got snacks for the boys and some Flamin’ Hots with Cheese and corn for us…I forget what they called it. I wasn’t a fan >_<). Being in that part of the Valley reminds me of the few months before moving in to the house. I felt all warm and fuzzy, memories fading in and out of my brain like a slideshow :). We stopped for some Subway, but I only got a soup because I was already full from drinking some of the Michelada and that weird Flamin' Hot concoction. I also felt guilty about ruining my healthy-eating streak. I was officially down 5 lbs. in the week that I started eating well and jogging. The boys got in bed shortly after and we watched TV. I knew it was going to be a pretty busy week since my event was that next weekend, so I enjoyed every bit of my evening ♥.

The One that Got Away

I have a (long) blog entry pending, but I wanted to post this Katy Perry video, “The One that Got Away”. It’s cheesy in a way, but it’s funny I heard this just now after the conversation my babe and I had last night . The lyrics hit close to home. I’m glad–even though it’s been a crazy, bumpy ride–that we’ve had the opportunity to catch the one that got away :).

Concert and Cold Weather

Thursday morning, the 3rd, was like any other: scrambled to get ready, drove to work and listened to KTex on the way there. They were talking about the Lady Antebellum concert. I listened, wistfully. It was the 2nd concert recently that we wouldn’t be going to. We’d missed the Cold Cans Tour (Dierks Bently, Jarrod Neimann, Eli Young Band ) and now Lady Antebellum because we were grown-up and responsible and gave extra payments on bills. *shakes fist at adulthood*

But, alas, they’re just concerts, we’d go some other time.

That day at work was MUCH LESS stressful than the day before, thank goodness. I secured 2 more exhibitors, lost another, so we were really pretty much back to where we were before. Which sucks a little, since all those new exhibitors could have put us way over our goal !

But anyway. Around 3pm Michelle YouTubed “Need You Now” and she sighed, “I really want to go to that concert.” She lights up and says, “I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this!” And begins to dial her ex-mom-in-law’s phone. She works for a company that was sponsoring the concert and she told her that yes, she could most likely get tickets. I mouthed “Ask if she can get 3!” from across the room. I know Jorge had said he wasn’t very into them, but I wanted him to go, too.

We waited on pins and needles for what felt like forever. Finally, around 4:30 she calls back and says, yes, she got 2 tickets. I was elated! I felt bad that my babe couldn’t go, though . Going to a concert together’s something I’d been wanting to do, but beggars can’t be choosers :(.

I rushed out of work and went straight to pick up the kiddos to have our traditional dinner together on Thursday night. The girls wanted McDonald’s so that’s what we got :). We ate and talked about our day. The kids all wanted an ice cream cone before we left, so they got one and then I dropped them off.

I got home, changed as quickly as I could and called Michelle. She was ready and coming to pick me up so we could pick up the tickets. I went outside on the porch where Jorge was having a smoke and on his iPad. He already seemed a little upset, which I was certain would happen, but hoping wouldn’t. I felt even guiltier and almost wanted to just stay home, but I’d promised Michelle and didn’t want to be an awful friend and bail. She got here and we left.

We picked up the tickets and went straight to the State Farm Arena. It was starting to get cold, but we didn’t want to have to haul our sweaters so we left them behind. We started the seemingly mile-long trek to the arena. We get there, finally, and are sent right back to drop off my darn camera! I was so pissed. I’d forgotten that they don’t allow “big” cameras there. The explanation I got was the “big” cameras with “a lot” of zoom aren’t allowed, but the “flat” ones are. I was so annoyed. So there we go, all the way back to the car.

When we finally got back, we got in line to get a Margarita (more like, strawberry syrup–they were awful!) and we found our seats. I saw two of Junior’s friends and several people I’ve met through work. And then the concert started and it was WONDERFUL!! Lady Antebellum sound so great live!

Lady Antebellum!

Here’s the Magic Disappearing/Reappearing Piano. Michelle and I kept freaking out because we’d be looking at someone sing and then BAM–all of a sudden the piano was there again. It was funny at the time, hehe.

The Magic Piano

I’m still really upset I only got crappy pictures and video on my EVO! But, it was a great night, and a great concert :)! I couldn’t stop telling Michelle thank you :).

She drove us back home and she shared stories about her family. And then we joked about how I was going to ask Jorge for forgiveness for going somewhere without him, heh.

He was in bed when I got home. I snuggled up to him and he acted nonchalant, but I could tell he was still a little bothered. I ended up crashing out and he later told me he moved to his side of the bed because he still felt like being mad at me (heh) but he pulled me over to him when he felt my feet were ice-cold and warmed them up between his, aw !

We talked through text a little bit more the next morning while we were each at work and everything was completely right again :). He said he was okay with me going, but he was just a little upset because we haven’t really gone anywhere without the other. I did remind him though, that he said he didn’t like their songs, bwaha.

I had a few errands to run during lunch and once lunch was over the day kind of dragged on. Didn’t help that everyone was gone by about 3 because of their hours and it was so darn quiet. I blasted out of there as soon as I could (people seem to remember things right at 4:50 and decide to call, grr). I was so glad to be home. I called the kiddos, who’d be with Mario that weekend while I made dinner. Jorge got home with his boys and we ate dinner, then he played on his iPad and I did website stuff while watching TV on the couch ?. I renewed Pixydust for 2 more years that night :). I attempted to blog at the time, and I did, but that was the blog for the week before! (I never have time to catch up. At least I’m making an effort now, though :P.)

I went outside with my babe. It was becoming super cold so I came inside and changed into my pink fleece PJ pants, my pink fuzzy boots and my pink fuzzy robe. I got so comfy I was beginning to get sleepy, but he wanted me to stay awake with him a bit longer so he made me some hot Abuelita chocolate ?.

Abuelita Chocolate

Oh, yes. You know I threw in tons of marshmallows :D!

I slept in a bit a little the next morning. My babe had to work the next day, and made sure to playfully bother me because I got to sleep in and he didn’t. Mom had fed the boys so I got to sleep in a little more…until Ruffles woke me by chewing on my hair .

I had my coffee while I paid bills online and then surfed the web. It was getting later, so I reluctantly got ready. I looked outside and it was still overcast and I assumed it was cold, since I was freezing inside the house. I put on my jeans, boots and grabbed a blouse and one of my cute scarves. I walk outside and realize the weather has tricked me; it’s warm. As annoyed as I was I wanted to get everything over with, so I left for the bank.

I went to HEB to get a few groceries and was almost side-swiped by a silver Mercedes on the way over there. Grr. I bought myself some nail polish as a consolation prize for having to suffer through grocery shopping and tried not feeling guilty about it. Yes. Even buying 2 nail polishes that equaled to $4 gave me buyer’s remorse. But I told myself it would be for the girls, too, so I felt better :).

I got home and made lunch for the boys. They’d wanted those turkey/bacon grilled cheese sandwiches, so I made them.

Turkey Bacon Grilled Cheese

I did some laundry after we finished eating and then I rushed to Walmart to get an oil change. Since the oil filter that my van uses had some recall and those are the only ones Walmart Auto Service carries, I couldn’t get the darn change done. Mom’s prescription wouldn’t be ready for an hour, either. Darn Walmart, ruining my productive day!

My babe got home later on and we watched a UFC fight outside. I can’t remember how late we stayed up. I’m usually an old lady lately and start falling asleep pretty fast =\.

The next day I made us our omelets and we spent the whole day cleaning. We seriously cleaned the house from top to bottom, every single room. And then we go into the bedroom and we find this:

IMAG2485

He’s a smug little bugger! Must be nice!

As tired as we were at the end, it was so satisfying sitting down and enjoying the fruits of our labor :).

I’m kind of dozing off right now (there’s the old lady I was talking about…) so I think I’ll publish this entry. If I’m lucky, I’ll get a chance to update tomorrow and I’ll be caught up with last week :P.