Category: Kiddos

The beginning of the week (March 26-30) was quite…uneventful at work. I kept trying to find stuff to stay busy. I was thrilled when a certificate would come in, heh. I was giddy with suppressed laughter at the following pins:

Source: shibleysmiles.com via Yajaira on Pinterest

Source: static.someecards.com via Yajaira on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Yajaira on Pinterest

On Monday, the 26th, I’d made baked fish and green beans and it was SO GOOD. Since Mom got a scolding at the doc’s and since the rest of us really need to make an effort to eat well again, I wanted to start making healthy meals. Mom’s done good, though, and sometimes doesn’t even wait for me to make dinner like she used to; she’ll just make herself something healthy and she’ll retire to her room.

Jorge vacuumed my van that night, without being asked, heh ♥. He’s awesome. I put the girls in the bath and had them bathed before 9, woo! We asked Mom to keep an eye on them while we went to get a Redbox movie. We finally watched Contaigon; it was an awesome movie! Now Jorge knows why I wash/germ-x my hands all the time; you never know!!

The boys were all STAAR testing the next day; I’m confident they aced it and scored well in the writing part :).

We went to have dinner with the girls at Chili’s on the 28th; I had a coupon, which was a plus, heh.

I’m glad I took this photo of them before we left the house; those pine trees don’t look like that anymore (you’ll read why later). They look grumpy in the pic because this was about the 5th one because they kept moving and getting blurry. By this pic they yelled, “Let’s just go eat already!” LOL

They had a great time :). I tried eating “healthy” but you really can’t eat healthy when you go to Chili’s LOL. I had a shitton of chips and salsa and ordered the Cajun chicken Alfredo =\. I had a lot leftover tho, hehe.

The next day was the All About Women event. Michelle and I spent the afternoon running errands for Gerry. We got back to the office, helped set up here and there and then I excused myself to pick up my boys ♥. I picked them up and we went back to the office. We got there just in time for dinner; Costa Messa was catering :).

We finished up and got home. Mom had already made dinner for herself and the girls and Jorge ate lightly when he got home. Freddy came to visit and we all sat in the garage chatting. We started noticing the sky was quickly becoming dark and it got windy. I’d seen a FB update from the news that they expected thunderstorms here and there and possible hail. I figured it was one of those types of “storms” where it drizzles and goes away.

We had just set up Monopoly and Puss and Boots to watch with the kids when it started thundering. From one second to the next, it was hailing!! All the kids huddled in the living room with Mom while Jorge and I tried to clear the garage as quickly as possible to get my van and his work truck in. Only the front of his work truck fit since the lawn mower was in there; but at least the windows would be ok.

When the rain and wind had just started, the van was moving back with every gust of wind! Winds were about 75MPH that night. I’d never heard anything like this. It was the loudest, quickest storm I’ve ever experienced in my life! I can only describe the sound as a machine gun in an action movie; it was scary.

As Jorge was moving his work truck he got clocked in the head with a huge hail ball! I’m so glad he was swift and quick-thinking and moved the vehicles when he did. We were worried about his truck, which he’d left at work.

We took pics as much as we could, calmed the kids as much as we could. Eenan–who has feared storms since he was a toddler–wasn’t very happy, but he prayed and tried keeping as calm as possible.

We called everyone and told them to stay home/go home/put your cars away! And at some point we came inside and Jorge checked on the bedroom. Our window was completely broken and there was about an inch of water on the floor and glass everywhere; it even hit the other side of the wall!

We started cleaning up as quickly as possible and put a fan on to dry the room and cardboard to keep the water out. It was the best we could do with what we had at the moment. I’m so glad nobody was in that bedroom when the window literally exploded.

The girls’ room window broke, too, but only the outer panel, so their stuff didn’t get wet, thank God. I’m glad none of the other windows broke; I seriously thought the octagon-shaped window in our master bath didn’t break.

It looked like it had snowed outside, but it was about 6 inches of ice balls. It was the craziest sight I’d ever seen in March.

There were tornado watches and flooding all over the place. We heard the BMW dealership had tons of cars wrecked by the hail. We turned the news off and the kids finally calmed down and went to sleep around 11pm. Eenan stayed up later because he was nervous. Jorge and I went for a drive to check things out and we realized we were practically on an island; some places, like Shary Rd. had up to 2 feet of flooding. Damage to schools and the roads was bad enough to close them down. I ended up staying home and cleaning up; it looked like a disaster area outside. The trees were all bald; our flower bed was completely destroyed, my bougainvillea was bald :(. It was really sad.

Those who showed up to work were sent home in 2 hours due to lack of power. I hadn’t gone out to drive around, but Jorge called that 10th and Nolana was wrecked. His truck, by some miracle, had 0 damage!

Jorge and I were on our way to Walmart on Sunday to buy a push-broom and another rake. We took a detour instead to 10th and Nolana. The damage was crazy. Some places looked abandoned. We stopped by Starbucks and were taken aback at the sight:

We got home and started cleaning up outside. The boys had been playing games all day so we sent them all outside to help us. We had an ice cream break when the ice cream truck passed by and we cleaned some more. We made a game out of it and took turns holding bags open, raking and shoveling. We finished up in an hour and a half. We filled up about 25 bags! I thought we’d never get it done!

I’m glad there weren’t any casualties that night. I’m glad everyone was safe. It was a wake-up call though; heaven forbid we have a hurricane that hits us directly. I’d hate to know the type of damage that would happen then!

Right after my previous post yesterday, I started on my to-do list. I accomplished most of my tasks.

I paid the bills online, then I put my bedsheets to wash (haven’t gotten a chance to wash everything, but I *have* to do that today. Oh, how I hate folding…), and went to Dollar Tree to get a few things for an Easter Egg wreath. I’d seen Laurie’s post about this wreath and it looked easy enough. I couldn’t find a cute bow (that was already made, heh) or basket grass, so I’d try at HEB later.

We visited Gramma and chatted for a while. Her new roommate was still a little loud, but wasn’t screaming like last week. She did ask me, several times, to help her, call her mother, help her get out of there, etc., but once I called a nurse for her she quickly stopped. The nurse gave me a meaningful look, like she does that all the time. Poor lady . And poor Gramma most of all!

Mom asked where I wanted to eat. Since she’s on a strict diet and can’t really have carbs at all it was hard to choose a place, but we ended up going to Kumori since she could get riceless rolls. (I was unsure how to bring this up to Jorge–going to Kumori without him–but once I saw his FB photo post of his sub at Texadelphia I figured it was ok, heh.)

We didn’t have to wait and our food was out super fast. Mom’s plate was a little…little but she said it was filling.

We made our way to grocery shop, which I loathe probably a bit more than folding laundry, but it was a surprisingly fast shopping trip. I got a few more Petunias And I found some basket grass for the wreath. I’d have to do without the bow .

I was just getting home when my love called that the boys would be dropped off by their mother. Good thing I’d just arrived. I put everything away, with Mom’s help, and the kiddos got here. Jorge got here a few seconds later and we sat outside chatting with Freddy. He’d brought us a bottle of red wine, from 2000. I forget the name at the moment. I really wish I could let red wine grow on me, but all the ones I’ve tasted so far are way too strong and dry . I usually stick to Moscattos or Moscatto D’astis.

I put the baby down for a nap and mom stayed with him while Jorge and I finished cleaning the shower. I got started on dinner: lasagna and garlic bread. We ate and then I got started on my Easter egg wreath. My babe cut the cardboard for me, because I failed miserably when I tried, heh. I need to glue more fluff around the edges and I might even stick some flowers on there, but we’ll see.

For now, I’m just happy having a cute Easter wreath!

We chilled out after that because Jorge was exhausted from work. We wanted to watch a movie with the kids, but we knew that we’d end up passing out. We went to the bedroom and the baby fell asleep quite easily and slept the entire night! I woke up at 9 and was completely refreshed :).

I made regular and banana pancakes and hazelnut coffee for breakfast. We lazied around till lunchtime, I spoke to my kiddos (miss them !!), and then my love hung our drapes in the dining room. They make such a huge difference in the room!

The drapes were a gift from one of his customers. They are expensive panels!

We couldn’t put up our brown micro-suede panels, because they sort of clash with the drapes. I really hope we can find a place for them; they’re so nice! –Nevermind! We’re removing the collage frame and putting one suede panel on each north and south wall, instead of flanking the drapes like we’d originally wanted to. It works!

We have to remove the Van Gogh painting from the northside wall of the dining room that Jorge’s mom gave us because the orange in the painting clashed with the drapes, too. But we moved it to the wall where the bistro set us and it goes really well :). I’d been thinking about the color scheme for the kitchen and, thanks to the painting, I think we’re going with blue and orange :).

And right now Jorge is dropping off the little guy and I’m getting ready to go outside and salvage my little flowers! I need to accomplish a few more things before this day is over. We’ve got an early day tomorrow, as we usually do on Mondays :).

There goes my neighbor; showing off on his riding lawn mower, manicuring his green yard. I’m sitting at the dining room table, scowling at him between the open spaces of the window blind, and staring down at my already-feral looking yard that needs a trim badly and is slowly becoming yellow ! We must call the lawn guy soon, before we get a scolding that we waited too long and the grass can ruin the lawn mower belt like last time, LOL.

Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not much of a gardener. I guess it’s a learning process, but I did a few things wrong when we planted our little flower bed. I didn’t keep the little card thingies that have the name of the flower and the info. *facepalm* I know what the Petunias are, and I know that they do well in sunlight and should be watered every 2-3 days. When I was watering them every day they were wilting. I didn’t know that Impatiens, one of the other flowers we planted, were supposed to be watered daily and should be in shade most of the day. And the other plant, that has already fully wilted *cries*, well–I don’t even know the name of the poor thing to try and look up info on it to save it !!

I’m going to have to remove the flowers that don’t belong. Maybe I can salvage the unknown pink/white flower if I put it in a little, cute pot and move the Impatiens to a more shady area and just plant more Petunias in their place? It makes me annoyed because the Convention Center has Impatiens and they’re in a sunny area all day and theirs look nice!!

ANYWAY. It’s so quiet this morning. The kiddos are with Mario. I miss the usual sounds of “Good Luck Charlie” and giggling and “Mama, can you get me some milk?”

We watched “Cats and Dogs” Wednesday night before I bathed them and put them to bed for school the next day. I miss my cutie pies :)! And I miss the boys, whom I haven’t seen since last Thursday . I shouldn’t be the parent who has “weekend” visitation and it makes me sad and angry.

Blah. Anyhoot. The work-week was still a bit slow. And I stopped feeling like I should FIND something to do when I found out just how many events we have coming up. April and May will be a whirlwind, but it starts slowing down again in June.

Mario picked up the girls Thursday evening. Sorry, his mom did LOL. Again it was a weird, quiet hour where I just sat and attempted to watch the news. Jorge had some great news for me, and asked if I wanted to celebrate with dinner at Chili’s. Of course I did! I’d been behaving myself all week, watching what I ate, so I think we deserved it ;).

I had a coupon for free queso, chips and salsa and we ordered Spicy Spinach Artichoke dip, which came with more chips and salsa, so we had an abundance.

By the time our food came out, we were so full of Mango tea and chips and dips that we hardly ate. Which was a good thing considering that my Shrimp Alfredo noodles were hard and rubbery :(. So I only ate the 6 shrimp that came with it.

We felt full, and I felt nauseous, so we went to Target to walk it off. We got our curtain rods (finally) and a soap dispenser I’ve been wanting since around 2007. I’m not exaggerating, either LOL.

So now that we have our curtain rods and drapes, all we need is a painting for that northside wall above the sectional. And then the living room will finally, after almost a year, be complete :)!

We came home to drop everything off and then met Rudy and Jr. at Cigar Bar to chill out. We realized that night, as we’ve been unfortunately realizing more and more, that we’re just not into the whole going out thing. It’s nice, for a little while, maybe an hour–but I really don’t know how people can spend HOURS clubbing or drinking, especially if you have to wake up to work the next morning. We only stayed out till midnight because we had to work the next day, but I’d had enough after just an hour. Didn’t help that the early-20’s crowd next to us was loud and obnoxious. And the drinks were pretty lame, too. I think they changed bartenders or something :(. We used to enjoy going there a lot more a few months ago.

Yesterday I met my love for lunch :). We wanted to go to El Terco, but it was insanely packed. That place got way too popular way too fast and they need to figure something out to expedite the coming-and-going of the lunch crowd. The lines to wait and pay were horribly long. We ended up at Palenque Chicken again across the street. I finished my entire bowl of food and felt horrible afterwards. I’m getting used to eating small portions, so when I stuff my face like I did at Chili’s and then at Palenque I feel terrible :(.

I got out of work early to take Mom to the doctor for her follow-up. Again, this woman got scolded. So now she’s on a health kick. Let’s see how long this lasts, shall we?

I tried busying myself when I got home. Michelle and I were going to go to the ribbon cutting for Legends, but we got lazy and didn’t go, heh. I was going to take a nap, but I felt guilty (STILL can’t change that) and I got up and went outside to water the lawn and give my flowers a pep-talk so they can LIVE.

I came inside and swept while I watched the news. I cleaned up the bathroom, did some laundry and tidied up here and there. I love when the house is clean and spotless :).

Jorge got home from work late and we sat and talked with Freddy outside for about an hour or so. Jorge and I were starving, so we decided to have an impromptu date and went to Kumori. The wait was long and I couldn’t get ahold of the manager so we had to wait like everyone else, grr :P.

We finally got seated at almost 9:30 and we had a cucumber martini and our usual jalapeno firecrackers, spicy calamari and our rolls. As we were leaving Jorge ran into one of his customers and he just so happened to be best friends with one of my ex-co-worker’s wives! She works at Eenan’s school now. It was nice having a brief catch-up. Jorge and I couldn’t get over what a small world this really is! It made me so happy when he said, “It made me feel good that you were with me and I got to introduce you to all those people.” He’s wonderful !

We came home and I changed into a t-shirt while he made me a mango Margarita. We sat outside catching up on American Idol and having our drink. We sat in our chairs, hand-in-hand and he turned to me and said, “I love this time that we spend together. It’s like a breath of fresh air.” I gave his hand a squeeze and told him, “I was seriously thinking the same thing to myself just now.”

I started nodding off right after the last American Idol. He joked that I was going to stay out there with him, even if he had to bring me a blanket LOL. So I told him to bring me one and I snuggled up in the chair. I told him he needs to get me a lounge chair or outdoor chaise for times such as that, heh.

Alrighty. I have a to-do list I’d like to get accomplished today, while I’m kidless. Like possibly buying Petunias, grocery shopping, cleaning the shower stall, laundry and cleaning my incredibly messy car. Possibly vacuuming it, too. We’re gonna visit Gramma, also. And I have to pay the online bills. –Did that one already ;). I better get on with it. I’ve got about 6 hours!