Category: Home Improvement

My babygirl, my little fairy princess diva, is 5 years old today! :*) I can’t believe how fast time flies. I feel like I’ve missed so much the past year and it hurts :'(, but at the same time it’s made me appreciate and value the time we do spend together all that much more.

I took her shopping for her gift this past weekend. She, Emily and I made a trip to Toys R Us to get her the Dora kitchen she’d been asking for. Once we got there and she saw everything else, she couldn’t decide. She wanted a Barbie kitchen instead, then some Blythe/Pet Shop playsets and then she finally picked two Barbie playsets:  a “pancakes” one and one with a full Barbie-sized kitchen. She’s really into baking and watches baking videos on YouTube (supervised, of course). Her favorites are Barbie cakes and some about Japanese candies o_O. I’m hoping to have a little birthday party for her next weekend, when they’re with me. I hope funds allow and I can make it happen!

I picked up a cupcake for her (and Emily) on my way home from RGV Cupcake Factory and went to visit her tonight. I visited with the boys a bit, too. Jaylen made me laugh with this weird finger game and I told the boys about how Jorge and I had put a lint-roller tape on Ruffles’ back and he just collapsed, it was the weirdest thing lol.

Before that Tia Sylvia and Tio Mateo came by to visit. Tia’d called me Sunday to let me know they had some fairly new furniture they were getting rid of and they were bringing it over. They sent pics and everything looked awesome and matched our existing furniture!

They get here, we catch up cause I hadn’t seen Tio in decades (for real) and they start bringing the furniture in. I was in shock: everything was BRAND NEW! And gorgeous!

They gave us these matching chairs. I LOVE their shape! I wanted a white one from IKEA that was this exact shape.

We’re still trying to figure out how to make these work in the living room space, and of course we need some accent colors. How I wish the darn thing wasn’t recessed !

They gave us 4 matching counter-height stools. Two of those we scrunched in with the bistro set in the kitchen nook, the other 2 are up next to the kitchen counter. This is actually the set Jorge and I got each other for Christmas. We couldn’t figure out what we wanted, and when he brought up getting the set I couldn’t think of anything more perfect. We’d been wanting this set for a while and it just completes the kitchen. (Yes. We’re weird like that, heh.)

They also gave us a waffle maker, a chopper, a picnic set, a full set of dishes, & two futons that match all the other furniture. One went in the boys’ room, the other will go in our bedroom. As soon as we figure out how to arrange everything :confused:.

Anyway, we had Papa Murphy’s pizza which we’d never tried but I was recruiting them for my event so we gave it a shot. Best. Pizza. Ever. Take-and-bake? Fresh Subway-esque ingredients…it was awesome.

We went for our jog afterwards and just talked and enjoyed the cool breeze. I love that park :).

I’d written an entry last week, all about New Year’s, but the darn draft didn’t save. So. I have to redo that. Lots of stuff had been going on, including Gramma being hospitalized, but she’s so much better now. I’d been under a lot of stress, but thank GOD things are looking up :).

Ok, it’s late, gonna shower!

I dragged through last Friday. It felt like the longest day OF MY LIFE. BUT! They celebrated Jesse (my co-worker) and my birthdays, which made it go by much faster :).

I also had a ton of errands to run after work, like buying the hot water hose for the washing machine and the new plug for the dryer from Home Depot. Then I had to buy a blouse, because I was out of clean clothes and had nothing to wear for Jesse’s party that night.

We were late, as always LOL. And almost DIED on the way there. There was a long line of cars that were stopped at a green light on 10th street and we had to stop and then swerve out of the way in like, 2 seconds. I had Emily’s carseat loose in the back and it came flying forward and hit me on the elbow >_<. I was kind of in shock so I didn't feel the throbbing pain till about 15 minutes later! We hung out at Russo's for Jesse's party for a bit with the work peeps and then headed to Longhorn Steakhouse. We sit down, excited to have a drink...only to find out they close in 10 minutes. Oh well. I had a quick Watermelon Margarita which was AWESOME! I'd never had one of those before!

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings right after and had a very late dinner >_<. It was super good though; I'd never had the Spinach & Artichoke Chicken on Flatbread! Now I wanna make some at home. But I was doing my research and making Flatbread at home takes AT LEAST 4 hours! I wonder if I can buy some good, healthy flatbread? Mario had the kids that weekend 🙁 and my babe was at work but I managed to keep busy. I cleaned the house, unpacked and organized (I love that everything has its place!), bought groceries, visited Gramma (who is super nearby now :D!), and made the Spinach Artichoke Dip I was contributing to Harvey and Evelyn's potluck going away party. They're a Winter Texan couple who volunteer at the Chamber :). They're leaving for the spring and shall return permanently during summer and they invited a few of us to dinner, aww :). I hurried through the dip and then got in the shower. My babe called that he was on his way home, yayyy! I rushed over to Harvey and Evelyn's, where Michelle, EZ, Maritza and Teo already were. It was nice talking and laughing with my co-workers :). The food was GREAT! And everyone loved my Dip :)!

I left home and then made some lasagna for everyone at home. I had a teeny piece since I’d already stuffed my face at the party. We went to sleep semi-early and tried our hardest to sleep in but NOPE! We were up by 9 and then again at 10 hehe. I made omelets for us and eggs for the boys and Mom. We ran errands at Target, Walmart and Home Depot, did some little home-improvement things here and there and we dug out the bird feeder. I’d bought that fairy bird feeder back in 2001 when I sold Avon!! And I finally had a yard and tree to call my own and hang it from :). Next we need a hummingbird feeder to attract them!

We were cleaning up the yard so we changed…and promptly had a waterhose fight :). I only wish my kiddos had been there to have fun with us, but we will soon :). Mario came to drop off Emily and all the other kids wanted to stay so I told him I’d drop them off :). It’s so nice watching them sprawled all over the house, comfortable, being able to run and play as they please. I’d waited so long to see that :).

My babe’s friend and his son and daughter came over and the kids all played wonderfully together. I made dinner and we sat outside on the patio while the kids played tag and then ate. It felt like time had gone by so quickly; by the time I knew it, it was time to take the kids home :(.

It was such a wonderful weekend :). Jaylen’s birthday was Monday and I got to see him for a bit, but we’ll hopefully celebrate this weekend. This week is a short work-week so I’m keeping the kiddos since Thursday night :).

I passed out last night (those Tostadas I made were so delicious I went into a food coma LOL), and my babe stayed up late assembling our dresser and the last bunk bed ♥. Even though I slept 3 hours, then woke up and showered and slept 4 1/2 more, I felt refreshed, got ready on time and made my babe some breakfast. We had our first next event’s meeting today and had to take the dreaded picture for the paper >_

I don’t know what gave me the desire to want to actually use and mess with my website (this website that I’ve been paying for and never use, heh), but I downloaded my FTP again and started fixing things here and there. I’m so sad that for some reason (Vista, maybe?) my radio.blog player won’t upload the new music I wanted to put in it. Oh well. I’ll figure it out later, I guess.

Tons has gone on since I last updated. TONS. Big, life-changing, monumental stuff. It’s amazing how much can go on in 3 months. That’s WHY I didn’t really want to update. Not much good happened. I won’t go into detail–because really, I’d like to forget a lot of those things. Lets just say two Saturdays spent with friends (& family) Downtown turned into a complete disaster. Miscommunication & misunderstandings almost caused 2 couples to split up, mine being one of them. It wasn’t really just those two nights in particular that began the domino-effect of problems–everything really began months before but neither of us ever noticed. Or tried not to, in my case.

I’m completely embarrassed that those who follow me on Facebook were witness to some of the drama. These past three months have shown me that sometimes some friends can be closer than family (SOME), family can turn their back on you at the drop of a hat and people you thought you knew–well, you realize you still have a lot to learn about them. I realized who my true friends were. I realized that my comfortable little life could have quickly been swept from under me, even though I never did anything to make that so.

It was just a strange and crazy 3 months. My birthday didn’t feel like my birthday. We went to IKEA, which was a trip we were super excited about & bought some pretty awesome stuff–but the happiness was short-lived when we ended up getting into an argument there. I was on the verge of divorce by Mother’s Day. (I was going to try and avoid mentioning that, but it’s part of my history so I guess I should.) By the end of May, Mario and I were reconciling. By the first week of June, Mario was leaving to training for 3 months. He was gone for only 2 weeks and I realized I missed him like crazy. I wished the past 3 months could have been rewound and we could have spent those months loving each other and spending time together with the kids. The kids didn’t really notice much; well, the younger 3. Eenan did and even tearfully asked me once while Mario and I were separated if our family was breaking apart. I told him no, that we were working on it, not to worry. And thankfully, we did.

In all my years on this planet, and all the years Mario and I were together I never, ever thought we would get to the point we were at. I never understood how people could be together for so long and then *boom*, they split up. I never thought it would happen to us in a million years. I’m just glad we could come out of that. We still have a lot to work on, but I’m glad we can help each other and do it together.

I don’t know if it was something in the water, the alignment of the stars/planets, but SOMETHING caused just about every couple I know to fight and split up; most splits were over petty things. That’s what was most frustrating: witnessing all these things and knowing it all could have been prevented somehow.

We got to take a little trip to Del Rio, TX while Mario was getting ready to leave. Took the kids for tours around the city and took in the beautiful scenery & old buildings. Took them to the Whitehead Memorial Museum, which they surprisingly enjoyed. We even got a chance to visit Lake Amistad–gorgeous, gorgeous lake!

And since Mario’s been back and while he’s looking for a new job we’ve been cooking together, watching movies almost every night and spending time with the kiddos, like in the old days. I’m so grateful for Jorge and Maggie, who adopted me while Mario was gone LOL. He was only gone 2 weeks but it felt like months. They came over Sunday night and it’s official: Maggie and Jorge are expecting!! We are all, of course, hoping it’s a girl!

Adan, Aide & their kiddos moved to Dallas and I miss her terribly, as Alaethia misses her Best Fwend Bellie :(. She became one of my best friends in recent months and I miss her so much!

Our newest home improvement project is the kitchen! We’ve gotten a spiffy black countertop installed and purchased a few new cabinets. Next is picking our wall paint and sanding all the existing cabinets down and painting them white. I CAN’T WAIT to see everything done!

I’m still, somewhat, doing my workouts. We were supposed to finish our round of P90X on the 28th of June, but we stopped the week of May 17th, then started again 3 weeks later, only to do 1 week of P90X and start on Insanity at the beginning of this week. Mario, John and I went jogging on Sunday and, as I suspected, got majorly painful shin splints. So I was already injured Day 1 of Insanity (which was the Fit Test, and only 20 minutes). Yesterday’s workout was Plyometrics & I further injured myself, not to mention the agonizing soreness in my calves. I couldn’t even walk this morning so I let the guys know I wasn’t going. I found out later we weren’t going to end up working out anyway ’cause our workout partner is out doing work in preparation for the hurricane. Yes, we are waiting for Hurricane Alex to make landfall sometime this evening. Not here, in Mexico, but we’re going to get lots of rain and wind. I just hope it doesn’t flood :(. My bedroom, which leaks from a window when it rains a lot has already started leaking. I just noticed the bottom of my side table is warped :(. I love the rain, but I hate the leaking!!

We’re going to watch a movie before the lights go out LOL. I really do hope everyone’s safe. And I really wish to start updating again! I think it would be better than updating Myspace & Facebook every half hour, heh.