Category: Grimmy Grim

Closets and Kiddos

First, sorry this entry’s so long. It’s taken me all day, on and off, to complete it. I guess I’ve taken to updating every week or so. I always mean to update but when I’ve actually got some spare time I’m too busy doing other things.

Anyway, the stupid teacher’s aid tried putting Jaylen on the bus on Friday. I go into the school and my heart sank when I only saw Brianna there. I ask her where Jaylen is and she frantically starts calling out for him. The teacher’s aid came back from wherever she was (yeah, she wasn’t even watching the kids she was in charge of) and I asked her where my son was. She gets this look on her face, worried almost, and says, “Hold on.”

I had to wait 5 agonizing minutes before they finally brought him to me. He was sniffling and breathing hard. He was scared shitless, poor thing. She tells me, with the audacity to half-laugh that he was in line with the bus students. WHAT?? I could have set the aid on fire with my Death Stare. As calmly as I could, I told her, “Why didn’t anyone know he was missing? Aren’t you supposed to be watching him?!”

Her excuse? “It’s because there’s a lot of kids, Miss.”

Dumb woman. I don’t know if it’s because of what happened that day or if it’s just pure coincidence but I haven’t seen her in the morning’s anymore.

My poor boy. I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘What if they’d put him on that bus? Where would they have taken him?’ But Jaylen’s smart. He told me he screamed that he didn’t go on the bus, no matter how much they tried putting him in it. He said even his teacher tried, which is ridiculous since she knows I pick he and Brianna up. Thankfully he’ll now be in another teacher’s class with Brianna.

After we’d picked the kids up we went to pick up Mario’s paycheck from work. As he suspected he did get a small paycheck. It wasn’t small, but to him it was and it promptly put him in a bad mood. Still, we went around paying most of the bills. We left our storage unit payment till next paycheck though and we’d already sent a payment for our credit card so that worked out. We were in a hurry since we had to pick up Eenan and Brandon, but we still had to stop by Home Depot to get supplies we needed for the closets.

Big Mario worked on our closet shelves, but that was it for that day. We hadn’t gotten the closet rods yet (which are super expensive if you want good sturdy ones) so we had to wait. I at least put some stuff up on the shelves to make some more space around our bedroom.

We watched Silent Hill and Health Inspector that night. I actually enjoyed Health Inspector, as gross as it was. We watched Silent Hill next and OMG that movie’s disturbing. It’s out there and unrealistic of course, but ew, some characters were disgusting. I had trouble concentrating on the movie during some parts since I was too busy feeling Alaethia kick. She kicked so hard once that she moved my hand off my belly! I’m so glad I can finally really feel her movements. Puts me at ease.

I had plans to do nothing on Saturday but had to go pay my rings payment at JC Penny and then went to see Gramma. She’s doing great, thank goodness. We got there just in time for Mom to feed her (she doesn’t need to be fed, but Mom likes to). John and I are total clowns all the time so Gramma had trouble eating since she was laughing so hard. Mom kept telling us to be quiet so she could eat. She also said I was going to live forever since I was always laughing LOL.

The boys behaved alright while we were there, but when we got in the truck, OMG they drove me nuts. Let’s just say they screamed non-stop through two cities. Yeah, I had a headache and was gritting my teeth by the time we got home. Of course they got grounded from everything and just quietly played in their room the rest of the afternoon.

Jason, Mireya and Brianna came by later on so Brianna could jump on the trampoline with the boys. They left and Mario got here shortly. We had dinner and complained about how much it sucked that he had to work that Sunday–which was when The Scorcher was happening. John ended up going with Jonathan, Danny and Danny’s brother. I’m sort of glad I didn’t go, because when he came back the next day he looked like a lobster and was in pain. Buahaha.

Again, I didn’t want to do anything on Sunday, but we were so low on groceries I had to go shopping. I took Mom and the boys with me. First stop was Walmart, where the kids behaved okay. Next was H-E-B. As soon as we walked through the door, all hell broke loose because Jaylen wanted to get one of those rental kiddie cars, but I never get them anymore because it never fails that when I do, they climb out of them halfway through my shopping and refuse to get back in. He threw a fit on the floor and whined and screamed–everyone was looking at me. I gave him 3 chances, and when he didn’t stop I gave him a pinch on the arm. Of course that didn’t help his screaming, but he knew I meant business. He finally quieted down and then we ran into Mary and Noelia. They started asking him what was wrong and Noelia made a big deal out of his pinch so he started up again. God, I was so frustrated and annoyed.

We’d left at 2:40pm and got home at 6–Mario was here before we were. When we got here, he was sanding down some rods for the closets that Big Mario brought home. Freebies! I’m so happy and grateful that he got them for us. Big Mario working on the kids’ closet since the morning and had all the shelving up. Mary was helping him paint and then he put the rod in. It looks so great and has so much space I even put the kids’ toys in there. After hanging up all the clothes I eliminated the plastic drawers I had Jaylen’s clothes in and got rid of his tiny white dresser. And there’s so much more space now, which I love. All we need for that room are the doors for the closet, the floor moulding (that’s what it’s called!) and the door to the room.

Boys' Closet

I spent Monday morning, Labor Day, organizing the boys’ closet and room. Then we went to Peter Piper Pizza with Mary. I don’t know what was up with that place that day–hardly any of the darn games were working. A plus to that was that the kids kept getting extra tokens and tickets when the guys would go fix the machines. We left once the kids got their prizes and went to Target since Mary needed to make a payment. There were some really cute scrapbooking things in the Dollar Spot, but since I was short on cash I only got 4 things.

Tuesday was the kids’ 1st day back at school. Jaylen’s new class is down Eenan’s hall now, so I think that’s why he was so calm. He did really good in the morning, but when I picked him up after school he looked a little sad. I asked him what was wrong and he said, “I wanted you,” and told me he cried during lunch. I promised him I’d always pick him up at 11:30, right after lunch, so he shouldn’t be sad or scared. Mireya picked Brianna up that day. Jaylen, Mom, John and I went to Michael’s and Pet Smart before picking Eenan up.

At Michael’s, Mom and I got supplies for some small surprises for Mary for her birthday. Mom got her a jewelry box and put a picture of her and my dad-in-law in it and I got her two little miniature cabinets for her tiny, mini dishes she loves to collect. I painted them when we got home. She loves strawberries and has them in her kitchen, so I painted some tiny ones on the cabinets. I was debating whether I should post pics or not, but her birthday’s tomorrow so I doubt anyone will catch a peak before.

Mini Furniture

Jewelry Box

We needed crickets for poor, hungry Liz, so that’s why Mario sent me all the way to Pet Smart (why he couldn’t just go is beyond me). Before we got the crickets, John and I did our traditional Cat Visit that we make each time we visit Pet Smart together. We went to the adoption center and played with all the cats. They were all so adorable, especially pregnant Mama Kitty (that was really her name :)). Right when I decided it was about time we get the crickets I saw someone who looked familiar. I walked a few feet and realized who it was. “Betsy?” She looked over and said, “Who is it? Wait right there, don’t move!” She walked over to me and I told her, “I’m Yajaira…from OSM?” Her eyes widened and we hugged and caught up. We literally stood there for about 20 minutes, catching up. She and Greg aren’t married anymore but she remarried and had another baby with her new husband, aside from the two kiddos she had with Greg. She looked so nice for having 3 kids! I hope I can bounce back like that. We exchanged numbers and will hopefully get together in a week or so once she’s moved into her own apartment.

The boys did really well in the morning, well, once we were at school already. I had trouble getting them to do their morning routine. Jaylen was thrilled because he got a sticker at school for good behavior. I saved it on his sticker sheet with the date on it when I got home. The new lady in charge of them said he was a ‘beautiful boy’ and ‘very well behaved’ aww. They had homework for the very first time and both Jaylen and Brianna were excited. They did everything, which was tracing A’s and 0’s, right away. They were both great until they started giving me a hard time. Needless to say, I was really stressed by the end of the day. I was in such a bad mood and it didn’t help that the stupid water pressure was sucking at night. Grr.

The good thing is they fall asleep as soon as they lay down anytime from 9:15-9:30. I got some time alone and was extremely bored since Mario was at a meeting then was drinking with the guys and got home super late. I was in bed way before he got home. I was feeling really depressed that night (I don’t know why) and I hate feeling that way. I feel better now though.

I had trouble getting the kids ready in the morning again the next day, but Jaylen was good when I dropped him off. He’s been having me stay for about 5-10 minutes in his class. I’ve obliged since it helps him calm down. Once he’s situated, with his juice and breakfast, and is talking to his friends then he’ll let me go. He always runs up to me when I’m at the door to give me a hug, but he hasn’t cried at all, thank goodness! I’m so proud of him. Everyone says he’s such a good boy :).

Eenan’s doing great at school too, regardless of how strict his teacher is (I knew it from the minute I saw her that she was strict!). I think it’s good for him, though. He had to write his first composition yesterday (‘What I Did This Summer’). He wrote it on a full page and his teacher gave him double-spaced paper to re-write it on and was freaking out because his teacher only wanted it on that page, but after some revisions we got it to fit :).

I was making dinner at night and Big Mario came in to check if Mario had worked on the closets. I told him how Mario hadn’t gotten home early in days, so he hadn’t done anything. He promptly comes in with the closet rods and installed them in my closet. I had to wait for them to dry (he’d spray painted them white) so it was killing me! I just wanted to stuff all my clothes in there but I had to wait.

Mario got home early and we ate dinner, watched some TV, then later when he needed to take a shower, fought with the shower and its low pressure until we totally removed the shower head to get more water.

I had trouble waking up this morning and so did the kids but they were pleasant. I dropped Eenan off first then Jaylen. I stayed with him for a few minutes and helped Mrs. S. open a few orange juice boxes for the kids and then he said it was okay for me to go.

I came home, tried to take a nap since Mario was still in bed but nope, the phone rang so I had to get up. I can’t try sleeping after I hear the phone ring because it always happens that it constantly rings after the first time. We have these hi-tech phones and yet they’re lacking a freaking ‘ringer off’ button. Grr.

I started putting everything away in my closet. I didn’t know I had that much clothing. I really have to look through it and get rid of stuff I don’t wear or that’s super old. I’m glad everything fit and now my couch/futon actually has space to sit on!

My Closet

Got home from picking up the kids and Mario had made this cholesterol-filled beauty:

Mario's Specialty

I love when he’s home!

Today’s turning out to be pretty good :).

School and More School

[Edit] I just read this entry on Melissa’s site that a flea & tick spray by a company called Zema killed her cat! Her vet determined that her cat’s death was indeed due to that spray. Please, if you have this product or know someone who does, tell them to dispose of it immediately! [/Edit]

I drove around as much as I thought I was going to, if not more. Went to visit Gramma, who’s doing great. We laughed with her for about half an hour before we had to go to Mom’s hearing aid appointment. On the way to the appointment though, I had to stop for gas and go next door to the bank where Mom needed to deposit. When we finally got there, we waited about 15 minutes before they called her in. It took a total of 3 minutes for them to see her. What did we go all the way over there for? A cleaning! All the appointment was for was to clean her hearing aid! I was so pissed. They need to take into consideration that we live REALLY far away and that she already had an appointment 3 weeks ago and doesn’t necessarily need them to clean it for her. Grr!

Next was JC Penny, where I was picking up my rings. I’m SO glad we got the protection plan–the rings look brand new! They are so shiny; I can see my reflection in them again! They replaced Mario’s stone, resized it, and gave it a rodium cleaning for FREE! Mine only needed a rodium cleaning, and I’m so glad I got it. I need to be more careful with my rings though, and not wash dishes or do anything like that.

Went to Circle K to get Mario his drink and dropped it and his ring off to him. He was pleased :). Then we came home. We had an hour before Meet the Teacher Night, so I quickly got to seperating their school supplies and making a list of all the extra stuff they added.

Mary accompanied us to school. We get there and they give us this huge pile of forms–for each child. We had this scavenger hunt type thing where we had to go to a bunch of teachers/administrators listed and have them initial the sheet. WTF? I didn’t get like three of them. We got there at 5:30 and didn’t get home till 7! My pelvis felt like it was going to crack from walking so much.

As for their teachers: both of them seem really sweet. Jaylen’s only going to be with his current teacher for two weeks and then he’s switching to his “real” teacher, which was Eenan’s teacher in Pre-K. He goes in the morning and will of course be in the English-speaking class. A plus: I’ll be babysitting Jason and Mireya’s little girl, Briana, and she just happens to be in Jaylen’s 1st and 2nd class. I think it’ll make school less traumatizing for them since they already know eachother.

As for Eenan, his teacher says her class is usually the top reading class and Eenan’s all about reading, so that’s great. She seems really nice and I have a feeling I’ll be more involved with this class than I was last year. I felt really out of it with Eenan’s 1st grade teacher. I never knew what was going on!

I’m worried about October, though. I hadn’t written about it because I didn’t want to jinx anything, but I have a job for the month of October. As a teacher! I’ll be taking over for my former teacher during her maternity leave. I’ll be teaching Business Communications and Technical Writing at a college. Me! Most of the people are older than I am, so I feel a tad bit intimidated, but I know some of them. I’m extremely nervous. Especially about who’s going to pick Jaylen and Briana up during that month!

Welp, Mario’s on his way home. I should wash dishes before he gets here and I just leave them there (and then they pile up on me, which I hate!).

Eenan’s 7th Birthday and Other Happenings

Let me just say how much I hate WordPress at this moment in time. I hate when I get that stupid “you must enable referrers” crap. I tried saving and editing and *poof* my entry was gone just like that. Fucker.

Anyway, since my other entry where I felt like I’d just die from my sinus headache, I’ve been feeling pretty healthy. I took a regular Tylenol that night, just to see if it would work (because it didn’t the last time I had a headache) and lo-and-behold it worked. Too bad it was 11pm and I was already getting ready for bed.

Mario and I ran a few errands on Friday. A few errands took about 3 hours, so by the time we got home he ended up falling asleep on the couch and didn’t do anything he needed to do to the bedrooms.

We got some stuff we needed from Home Depot, Pet Smart (food for Liz–she’s spoiled and refuses to eat the canned dead crickets and meal worms we bought her. She only wants live ones!), went to Mary’s office and then had lunch at Jesse’s Restaurant. I know we did more, but I can’t remember now.

I went to the storage units later on with Andy, Mary and Noelia since Mary got a unit in the same storage place we’re at. I had 5 plastic totes full of baby boy clothes, 2 strollers, 1 infant car seat and 2 booster seats. That’s because I have 2 more booster seats at home for Eenan and Jaylen. Garage sale time?

The next day I went to Mexico (Nuevo Progresso) with Mary, Noelia, and Andy. We got Revolution flea/tick medicine for our dogs ($24 for 3 months as opposed to $18 for every application at the vet every month) at the Vet. That store smelled so bad. I had to run out for fresh air because I almost puked. That had never happened before.

We got all the candy we needed for Eenan’s party. Mary got half and I got half. It was so hard choosing which candies to get–everything looked so good!

Dulces!

I also got some chocolate liquor candies for Mario; Jack Daniel’s and Jose Cuervo. I want to go back to the Canada Store to get some curios to decorate the living room with when all the remodeling’s done. I also want to go back to get a few more cute “fake” bags. I bought a somewhat similar copy to the Dooney Stars bag. I never thought I’d buy a fake bag, because most of the time they look tacky in my opinion, but this one won my heart and was only $13.

Stars

We went to Target to get Eenan’s gift, exchange my blouse (Target’s maternity section SUCKS and is totally ugly), and some pens for the party bags. Next stop was lunch at Golden Dragon and then Party Universe for the party bags. We got home at 4pm–I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was rest, but instead I got to filling the goody bags for the next day.

I got up early the next morning and gave the kids breakfast, cut their hair, cut John’s hair, bathed the children, dressed them, got Mario’s things together (because he doesn’t “know where anything is”), then got myself ready. We picked up the cake at 12:15 and got to Peter Piper by 12:45. We waited 15 minutes then went in to set up.

Everyone started getting there by 1:15 and the pizzas weren’t anywhere in sight. There was a girl attending our table and another table and the other table was definitely being quite bossy. The girl would forget to get stuff for us because there other people were so demanding and constantly “needed” her. I quickly got annoyed and told Mario, “Last time we’re having a party here.” Then I noticed the girl was right behind me when I said that and after that orders started flowing more smoothly. We did everything in a timely manner. Everyone got to eat as much as they wanted, there was plenty of cake and ice cream and even goody bags left over for some adults LOL. Eenan had fun. He kept asking, “Are we having cake yet?” Because he knows as soon as you have cake, you get to open presents! He got some pretty awesome presents and was just thrilled. He said it was the best birthday ever. A few of our friends didn’t go, but that’s cool. We had a good turnout anyway. And the best part? It was SO not as expensive as I thought it would be.

Eenan's 7th Birthday

YES!
He didn’t really want to smile as you can see.

Cheeeeese!

I Got This.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but whenever the kids have a birthday, the “non-birthday” boy gets a small gift, too. Just to prevent any tears or hurt feelings. Or worse, a tantrum in public.

Grr

So, yay. It feels nice and liberating after one of the kids’ parties. And I was thinking, after the baby’s born we’re going to have a party once every 3 months and then 6 months after that. Crazy!

I took Mom to her Endochrinologist appointment yesterday. She was having lots of trouble with her insulin. She was to the point where she would sweat profusely, get dizzy and feel extreme fatigue after injecting herself. The first thing that went off in our heads was ‘too much insulin’ and sure enough, when we told the doctor her symptoms he said it was the insulin. She was hypoglycemic and could have possibly gone into insulin shock. Her doctor lowered her insulin intake and she seemed to do much better this morning.

We went to see Gramma afterwards. She’s doing fine and is healthy :). Aunt Nora had called the day before because Gramma wanted to know why we hadn’t visited her in 2 weeks. I told her about Mom’s appointments and how she was doing and then finally told her I’m expecting. She wasn’t preachy or rude at all. I’m so relieved.

As for the remodeling, most of the sheetrock’s up, except for a few panels where they’ll need to work on the electricity. Remember the hole in my living room with the exposed studs?

Demo

Well, now it looks like this:

Almost Done

We already have the extra 3 boxes of joint compound for the texture on the walls and whatever places need to be taped/floated. After the taping/floating/texture, the electricity, and trim’s done it’s time to paint! I can’t wait to paint and then start decorating :)! I feel so anxious to get everything ready. I feel like my pregnancy’s going to swoosh by as soon as I hit 4 months.

I can’t wait :).