Mario called last night before he got out of work and in a rush said, “I’m gonna be a little late. There’s an emergency meeting. You’re not even going to believe what I tell you. There are two things. The second one’s going to blow your mind. I’ll call you after the meeting.”

20-30 minutes later, he calls.

“Well, what happened?” I say, my heart beating a hundred miles a minute. By the tone of his voice I knew it was something shocking.

He replies, “Two guys got fired. One was Joe.”

I gasp. He’s one of the best speaker box makers, ever. I didn’t understand.

“Who was the second?” It felt like I had a weight in my chest. The same feeling I had when he told me he’d lost his job at the hospital in April of 2004. I closed my eyes, crossed my fingers and silently prayed that it wasn’t him.

“Jorge.”

My eyes about popped out of my head.

“WHAT?! How? What happened??”

He explains to me what happened, which I won’t mention here since it’s about work and all, but it was something that could have easily been avoided. I still can’t believe it. When Mario got home from work, he ate dinner, we spoke more about it and he got dressed and went to visit Jorge. I don’t know what they talked about since I was in bed when Mario got home, but I just feel so bad for them. I can only imagine what Maggie’s feeling right now. They have a house to pay for!

Their situation opened my eyes and reminded me that not everything in life is certain, most definitely not your job. This we know from experience since Mario’s been laid off twice from good jobs. It scares me to think that one day, if we ever buy a house and a new car, that we may not have a job to pay our bills with for whatever reason. Granted, Jorge did this to himself, but still. When Mario was “laid off”, it was due to budget cuts and stupid things like that. I just hope they’ll be okay. I really don’t know what they’re going to do.

As for Eenan, we had another tough morning. I thought for sure he’d be okay, but then we walked down the hallway and realized he was the only kid from his class there. He didn’t want to wait alone, so I waited with him. I talked to him and he got a little sad, but Angela and her two friends showed up and they sat with him (angels, they are). When I was walking away, I realized I hadn’t told him I loved him, so I went back. He tells me he loves me and then Vianca tells me he cries when the teacher gets mad at him. We’d spoken about the boy, Joshua, who had spun him around and dropped him, and he told me he hasn’t bothered him since. So, the only thing I can think of that makes him dislike school is his teacher . I don’t want him to be miserable all year. I’ll talk to him again today and if it is his teacher that he’s not comfortable with, I’ll see about getting him switched to another class. We’ll see.

School was good today though. We arrived a few minutes late since Ricci wanted breakfast from Whataburger. We’re learning to use Excel now and the lesson was kind of confusing, but we eventually figured it out. We use lots of numbers with Excel…kind of makes me nervous LOL. I have every intention of coming home after I pick Eenan up (I have to leave in 20 minutes) and making a list of our budget to use as a monthly template. It’s so nifty .

The girls (Mayra, Ricci, Lucy) want to have lunch together again sometime this week, maybe Thursday. We just need to figure out where to go.

We got out of school at 11am since two girls are taking the Microsoft Certification exam. I stopped by to see Mario and drop off his PDA charger and we chatted for a bit. God I love that man. I wish we could spend more time together *sigh*.

We left Mario’s and went to see Gramma at the nursing home. She told me how she was worried because we hadn’t gone to see her. I explained about how I didn’t have the car on the weekends (Mario takes it to work instead of borrowing Jose’s gas-guzzling truck) and how Mom’s had appointments so she hasn’t been able to visit on her days off. During one of our quiet moments, she grabs my hand and lights up, suddenly remembering something.

“Mija! One of your friends works here! She’s a nurse. Go, go find her and talk to her. Go!”

I was a bit shocked and say, “I told you I knew your nurse! We went to middle school together. I don’t know where to look for her though, Gramma.”

Just as I said that, Letty, pushing Gramma’s roommate in her wheelchair, walks in.

We caught up on a few things; the typical What’s Been Going On In Your Life Chat. We also talked about Cassandra Niño, a girl we went to middle school with (Letty’d known her her whole life), who died in a car accident brought on by a drunk driver. She was 23 and was about to finish school to become an RN. It’s so sad. I was surprised by how affected I was by this, since Cassandra and I weren’t exactly close friends, when I found out about it. She was so young .

We chit-chatted more and checked off who we’d seen that we went to school with. She saw Jessica working at a pawn shop, and I quickly asked which one, so that I could go stalk her and ask her why on Earth she hasn’t contacted me yet. She’s also seen Dayse, who I haven’t spoken to since the summer of 9th grade, and she saw Angie, who was very pregnant and still working at one of the Wal-Mart’s as a manager.

I gave her my e-mail address. Hopefully, we can keep in touch.

I took the practice test on the Microsoft 2002 Core Exam and got a 92. The exam we’re taking is the 2003 edition, so it’s a tad bit different but Mrs. C-R said it’s basically the same thing. I’m going to try the Practice Expert Exam, which is what we’re going to be taking (Microsoft Office 2003 Expert exam). I got to question 46 after I finished my work at school and man it’s confusing. The way they word the questions is just so puzzling. I wonder if the two girls who are taking the exam will pass. If they can pass, I think I can pass.

My, how I’ve babbled on. I actually don’t have to do anything today, and that is wonderful. I still need to go to the store to get Gramma some baby powder and room spray (per her request), but I’ll do that tomorrow and take it to her on Friday. I should get to visiting some dailies/answering e-mails, vacuuming, washing towels and then hopefully, reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, comes out in November and I want to read both books before it starts showing. I think I can do it. I read about 2-3 chapters just while I’m waiting in line to pick Eenan up from school.

Mmm. Some ice cream with marshmallows sounds divine while I surf .

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