So we’d planned on leaving for our Mini Vacation at South Padre Island on Friday after Eenan got out of school. After dropping him off in the morning, I started looking up numbers and info online and got prices for Schlitterbahn. When Mario woke up, I asked him about the hotels. I started calling around and our worst nightmare happened: All the cheapy hotels were sold out! And even then the cheapy ones were expensive. All the ones that were available were $150 and up–that’s expensive for us seeing as how we stay at Motel 6’s every time we’ve gone on vacation. Shoot, even Motel 6 in Florida was way less expensive than the one at The Island.

We gave up and I silently curse my bad luck while I cleaned the bathroom. After we’d both calmed down, Mario told me to call The Surf Motel since it was one of the least expensive ones that was available.

We got a double-bed room with a kitchenette for $89. Pretty good deal. They only had Saturday night available so we decided to leave on Saturday morning instead of that afternoon. It would give us more time to clean up the house and pack our junk. So I did laundry, cleaned up, and we packed (Mario actually helped me this time!).

When we picked Eenan up after school his teacher walks him to the car and she says, “Oh, he’s so excited about his trip! He’s been talking about it all day!” Mario and I look at eachother, worried. He’s definetly going to throw a fit, or cry when we tell him we’re not leaving till the next day. So we break it to him. His eyes get watery but we tell him, “We’re starting our fun weekend today–we’re going to Mr. Gatti’s!” He quickly wipes his eyes and cracks a smile and starts asking us about our plans.

We ate, and ate, and ate at Carb Heaven Mr. Gatti’s. It was SO good–never get tired of that place (even though the pizza has so much grease it causes both Mario and I to get an upset stomach ). I ate so much pizza, brownies, chocolate pizza and these buttery, icing-covered sticks I probably gained 5 lbs. that afternoon.

After we played games with the kids for about an hour, we got tired and ended up winning tickets for them from this spinning game so we could get their prizes and leave. Mario and Eenan went to the truck and Jaylen and I went to this shop, Melissa Guerra, that I’ve wanted to visit since I started seeing their commercials on TV. I saw an old friend from elementary/middle school who works there. That place is so nice–I love all the little knick-knacks and jewelry! Since I needed a potato brush, I bought one of those in the shape of a potato and a little pig-shaped molcajete.

We went to Wal-Mart that night so we could get snacks, drinks and sandwich stuff for the trip. I took the opportunity to find a new bathing suit, since my chest was busting out of my old one. As I expected, not one darn bathing suit top fit me. Medium was too small from the chest but perfect for my torso, and XL was fine on my chest but the rest was enormous on my body. They didn’t even have cover-ups, so I gave up. I figured we could stop the next morning on the way to the beach.

I stayed up pretty late that night hunting for the kids’ sand toys outside, finishing up with packing, washing dishes and checking things off my obsessive-compulsive induced list. I hate forgetting things so I make lists. Lots of lists.

And then the fun began.

I’d set the alarm for 7a.m. since Mario needed to take a shower and I always need extra time to get myself and both the boys ready. We got up 30 minutes after the alarm went off. I get ready and start checking things off the second list I made and when the kids are ready (and grumpy) and Mario’s out of the shower we start putting everything in the truck. Mom and Mary are here to see us off. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing, but I looked into Mario’s rats’ cage and notice that Tailwhip’s just laying there. I think, “Oh, no,” and sure enough, he was dead . I give Mario the bad news and he gets a Ziploc to get him ready for his burial. I’d just fed the rats the night before, and he was fine, so I didn’t understand why he died. And it was so weird that it happened just a few days after Spike died.

I go outside to give the cats food and water and I find EMOcat (John named him so because he was a screamy little emo kitty) just laying there as well. I thought he looked a little lethargic the night before while I was getting the kids’ sand toys together, but I thought it was because he’d been asleep. So there I go, with another Ziploc bag and a Wal-Mart bag to cover him up. John ended up burying them for us since we had to leave. So, so sad :(.

We leave and pick up ice at Aziz for the cooler. We decide to get some breakfast at Burger King and I ask Mario if he can stop at Target since I needed a bathing suit. He ends up saying something sarcastic like, “Sure, we’re late anyway,” and that just sets me off. The stress from rushing, the animals dying, being behind schedule, and the headache I was going to get from crying my eyes out because my big boobs weren’t going to fit into anything just got to me. I yell, “We’re already late, it’s not my fault! You think I want to look for a frickin’ bathing suit that ‘s not going to fit me anyway?!” He realizes just how crappy I feel about everything so he calmly tells me to finish eating and to take my time. And then I go into Target.

I tried on several adorable bathing suits that just didn’t work for me. I need to know where they sell bathing suits with underwires, because I don’t know how other women who have big boobs do it. I didn’t feel “secure” in those bathing suits at all. I imagined myself coming down the slide at Schlitterbahn and my top flipping over my head because those things are so loose. *shudder*

I decided to buy this tankini top and a bottom that had a cute skirt over it–yep, I don’t like showing skin AT ALL. I wasn’t thrilled with it, but at least I found something.

We still had to stop at the dealership in Harlingen to pick up our license plates, we freaked out when it started raining around Los Fresnos, and then, when we finally got to the Island, we had to find Schlitterbahn.

The park opened at 10, and we got there at 11:30. There was a huge line when we got there, but it must have been from some school because they let them in right away. We rented our locker, got the kids ready and then I got ready. As I walked into the girl’s bathroom I noticed all the skinny little teens and tweens were in these itty-bitty bikinis and flat chests and I instantly felt like I was 500 lbs. I thought, “Oh, hell no. I’m not wearing my bathing suit top”. I left my regular bra on and my t-shirt (which thankfully matched my bathing suit bottom) and I felt alright. Only for a few seconds before I realized that when I took a shower, I failed to notice my cactus-legs and didn’t shave…lovely.

Schlitterbahn wasn’t super exciting or anything, but there’s water everywhere so the kids had a great time. The water was freezing, though, but the weather was nice and cool since it was overcast. We checked out the big Sand Castle with the kids and they mostly “swam” in the kiddie pools and slid down the slides surrounding the Sand Castle. We got a little brave and even went on the water slides. They were so fun! Jaylen loved them. It took a while to convince him to go with me. There was an Arabic man with his adorable little boy in front of us and he noticed I was having trouble with Jaylen. He talked to him and told him he and his little boy were going on, and when they got down they’d tell him how it was. When we saw them, he told Jaylen it was fun and his little boy didn’t cry, so Jaylen was excited. Eenan ended up liking it so much he kept going on all the slides all by himself (with Mario waiting at the bottom for him, of course). All-in-all, it was a blast.

We left at around 2, since check-in at the hotel was at 3. We can’t find the darn place. After driving from one end of the Island to the other, we decide to ask someone at Circle K for directions. When I ask this big, burly cashier where Gulf Blvd. is, he chuckles and says, “You’re on it.” He hands me a map with a look on his face like, ‘Damn tourists’ and points me towards Amberjack St. We finally find the place and are kind of taken aback by the little shack. We think, “Oh great, it’s gonna suck”.

While I’m checking in and give the attendant my $101.69, a lady asks what rate they had for the next day and he says, “$49”. He says since everyone goes back home on Sundays the rates are much cheaper. Price-inflating bastards.

We go around the back to the rooms and are surprised to see it was a pretty sweet place. There’s a deck with a bunch of tables and the kitchenette is fully stocked–everything from napkins and utensils, to pots and pans. Had we known I would have bought actual food to cook!

We unpack, have lunch (sandwiches, Pepsis and sour cream and onion Pringles) and decide to take it easy for a few hours–we’re exhausted from chasing the kids and the kids are exhausted from running away from us. Mario falls alseep and I read for a bit before taking a shower and then bathing the kids.

When Mario’s slept for about 2 hours I wake him up and we go to the shops. The kids are running rampant around the stores and don’t let us have 5 minutes of peace. After we threaten to sell them (and immediately feel like horrible parents, as we should) they start behaving a little better. We had fun looking around at all the shells, hermit crabs and funny shirts and hats.

Mario and I didn’t find the flip-flops we wanted in our size after scanning at least 7 shops, so we got a few souveniers for everyone back home and picked up some KFC. I hadn’t had KFC in forever, so it was delicious. Jaylen, Mario and I ate out on the deck and Eenan stayed inside because he wanted to watch Cartoon Network. The weather was awesome that night–it felt so good. We talked out there for a while, jamming to the music of the pack of teenagers that had the room next to ours.

I read before bed (I never finished that darn book–Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells) and fell asleep beside Jaylen, who was playing with my hair, as always. Mario stayed up watching a DVD and slept in Eenan’s bed. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more relaxing sleep. I didn’t even wake up to pee!

We woke up the next morning and got everything packed. We planned on going to the beach, then going back to the hotel to wash up and then go home, but we had to check out by 12 noon and it was already 9a.m. We put everything in the truck, I double-checked my “Don’t Forget!” list twice and turned in our keys.

Our first stop was McDonald’s since we hadn’t had breakfast. Worst. Service. EVER. It was packed so I thought I’d give them a break for getting my order wrong (gave me a McGriddles instead of a bacon, egg & cheese biscuit). When they took about 15 minutes just to give me my ‘you-only-have-to-microwave-the-damn-thing-biscuit’, they had officially pissed me off. And, oh my gosh, they have the cutest little gay boy working there! I instantly fell in love with his big, blue eyes. That’s the only reason I didn’t gouge out my cashier’s eyes for taking so darn long–I was too busy staring at the guy .

The kids had a blast at the beach, as always. It was nice and cool, too. The sand wasn’t even scalding our feet. We took our beach chairs, cooler, mat, and sand toys. The kids made sand castles, which got drowned by water several times, but they kept adding sand and pushing shells in.

Mario fed the seagulls Pringles that fell into our bag, I took a picture of seagulls “doing it”, I helped the kids with their castles, then Mario did; the kids played in the freezing water, I looked for smooth, flat shells for my scrapbook; and right before we left, we saw a blue jellyfish. I’d never seen one in my life:

It started getting hot, so we tip-toed as fast as we could to the car since the sand was scalding by then. And of course, as my luck would have it, I only sunburned/tanned on one arm. WTF?

It was a total pain getting the sand off of ourselves without actually showering down (we didn’t go to Andy Bowie park this time, but to a separate, free beach access), but with the help of half a case of bottled waters, damp towels from the day before at Schlitterbahn and the kids standing on the cooler we had minimal sand in the truck. Jaylen almost peed on the seat–he was an inch away! I ended up having to strip down in the truck and just prayed to God that nobody decided to pass by–which thankfully, nobody did. I hope

It was a nice trip. I wish it could have been longer but maybe next time. And next time, we’ll reserve our hotel much sooner!

We stopped by Wal-Mart, where Jaylen threw a fit because we didn’t get him some M&Ms and then to another shop where we got some necklaces and shirts. I liked that store much more than all the other ones.

I made sandwiches for us on the road since it was lunch time and we enjoyed the quiet while the kids slept.

We got home and took showers and later we went to Jorge and Maggie’s. We saw their new 2005 Accord, which they got in place of their Explorer. I still can’t believe Jorge actually let his Explorer go!

They ordered pizzas and we talked about work, finding work, crappy parents, genealology and other stuff. It always amazes me that we can find all these different things to talk about.

Today we took it easy, well, the morning anyway. We had breakfast, gave our first car payment, went to Target and returned my bathing suit top and I got a bra and an entertainment center for the kids. We need to put the cedar chest Mom gave me in storage and since the kids had their TV, game consoles/games, VCR & DVD player on top of it, we needed to get something to put all that stuff on. We went to eat at the New Wave Buffet and, oh my gosh, I stuffed myself to the brim. Even Mario was freaked out by how much I ate. I really have to stop doing that, stuffing myself. I can FEEL that I’m gaining weight. I feel…jiggly :(.

We picked Eenan up then put the entertainment center together and then went to Wal-Mart. And now, they’re showing Philidelphia? where Tom Hanks plays a guy with AIDS and I’ve never seen this movie before so, bye!

[edit: 12:56a.m.] After watching Walk the Line I realized I totally forgot to mention that April 30th, Sunday, was Mario and my “altogether anniversary”, which is how long we’ve been together in total. We’ve been together 9 years! I can’t even believe how long it’s been! [/edit]

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Jaylen’s party was on Sunday at Mr. Gatti’s and we all had a great time. Lucy didn’t get to go because of work, a few uncles were fixing Jose’s truck, and Maggie didn’t go at all (which I thought was pretty rude since I went to hers just the day before and she told me she was going!), but we still had a good turnout. We ate till we could eat no more and the kids all had fun playing games. It even came out to much less expensive than we expected.

The only bad thing that happened was when I lost Eenan for about 5 minutes. It was the scariest moment of my life. I dreaded the day that I’d feel that lost, helpless feeling because I was missing one of my children and couldn’t believe it was happening.

Yazmin wanted to play air hockey and since Mario was busy chasing Jaylen around, I asked Mom to watch Eenan for me while I played. When I bumped into Mom after Yazmin and I finished playing, she asks me if I’d seen John. I tell her no and notice that she doesn’t have Eenan with her but I figure he was at a game nearby and she was just checking up on John. I ask her where Eenan is and she says he’s probably with John. When she said, “probably”, I panicked and started looking for John. I see him and my heart sinks when I notice that Eenan’s not with him. I practically yell, “WHERE”S EENAN???”, at both of them. I was so pissed that Mom would just let him run off like that. I stomp off with my heart bursting out of my chest and searched everywhere I thought he’d be. I had visions of someone kidnapping him and a knot was forming in my throat. I walked up to the photo booth, one where it “illustrates” you like one of the famous painters, and just silently pray that he’s in there–by himself. You just never know these days. I look up at the little screen that draws the photo of you so that people outside can see the progress and I notice it drawing his little face. I pulled the curtain open and cup his face in my hands and ask him, “Why did you run away from Grandma?! You’re not supposed to do that, you know better!” His excuse was that “Grandma didn’t want to go to the photo booth” and he wanted to take a picture of himself, so he did. Please believe that I lectured that boy (and my MOTHER!) all the way home.

We rented a whole bunch of movies on the way home that day so that’s what Mario and I’ve been spending our time doing when he gets home from work. It’s really nice to just cuddle on the futon and watch TV together. It’s something I look foward to each day :).

Mayra, John and I drove to school together the next morning. It was fun, and Mayra and I got to chat about personal things and about just how weird it was going to be to get used to being home again instead of getting up and going to school in the mornings. We caught up on a math assignment we’d missed out on when we’d left to pick the pizzas up on Friday and then we reviewed for our Final the next day. Mayra and Lucy left together after school and were going to stop by Target since Lucy needed to make a payment. They call me to tell me about Lucy’s awesome gift idea for Mrs. C-R–a scrapbook! They picked some stuff up from the $1 Spot (gotta love the scrapbooking stuff they have there every-so-often) and I told them I had plenty of paper and accessories to complete one. We’d made plans to go watch The Pink Panther on Tuesday, but we decided to watch it here at my house and scrapbook all afternoon.

So we did just that. Since I thought we weren’t going to be allowed to use the computer’s calculator for the Final, John and I stopped by Wal-Mart the next morning to pick up a cheapy calculator. All I found was $10 ones so I scratched the idea since I didn’t want to spend 10 bucks for a calculator I was going to use once. (I could have used my cell phone but the darn battery was low.) Instead I stopped by the scrapbooking isle end cap and found some adorable scrapbooking stickers for $0.94.

We study the first period and I feel good and ready. Then I find out we’re allowed to use the calculators on the computers–great! We take the final the next period, and although I kept second-guessing myself I kept telling myself I would do okay.

John and I go to the Financial Aid office because they ask to see him. Turns out they’re trying to screw him out of an additional $100 enrollment fee (or something like that), and that’s beside the $20 registration fee he paid when he was enrolling. Supposedly his Financial Aid didn’t cover it, which is bull because nobody else in the whole class had to pay it seperately. I was so pissed we just left when we were supposed to talk to some ol’ broad.

We all meet up and drive to my house. I had the best time, ever. We watched The Pink Panther while eating popcorn and pickles. I was going to make enchiladas but the girls didn’t let me so we had corn dogs instead. After laughing our butts off at the movie (and waking John up with our hyena laugh :p), I left to pick Eenan up. When I got back, we started on the scrapbook. We each worked on our own special page to Mrs. C-R. It was awesome seeing the pages come together–we each added our own style to our “own” page, complete with a letter to Mrs. C-R. Here are “our” pages, with last names blurred out for privacy, of course.

We split the rest of the pages and put the finishing touches on them the next day. I went to Dollar General with Mom to pick up a few scrapbooking things (they have some pretty cute stuff, too!). Even the kids got into scrapbooking. They used smiley faces and shapey hole punchers to personalize their pages, which I will add to my own scrapbook :).

I couldn’t sleep that night just thinking about the next day: our last day together. Mrs. C-R. was passing out our Finals and grades: I got a 96 on the Final and a 97 as my overall math grade. My anal-retentiveness caused me to almost have a fit, as I’ve never gotten anything under a 98 as an overall grade. Mrs. C-R. goes over all the problems and I find out I have one of the ones marked wrong, right (I’d gotten 3 wrong). That brought my Final up to a 98 and my overall grade to a 98. I was thrilled :).

After that, we all just talked about how we were going to break down, and oh my gosh, what were we going to do?! I felt a little emotional, but thought I could keep it together. We ate donuts that Andria so kindly brought for everyone and Joe went up to the front of the class to say a few words about Mrs. C-R and the students. We worked on the scrapbook during our break, turning around every time we heard a noise thinking it was Mrs. C-R. When we went back, it was time for our Pinning–a little goodbye ceremony where they present us with a little computer pin and say nice things. Mrs. C-R said something nice about all of us. When she got to me, she said she wished she could have been the type of student I am when she was at school. I immediately developed a knot in my throat and felt even more emotional when I looked over at Mayra and Lucy and noticed Mayra’s eyes were all watery. She asked if anyone wanted to say anything and I did, so I went up there. As soon as I opened my mouth I started to bawl my eyes out. I felt so embarrassed, but I couldn’t help it. I took pictures of everyone as they got Pinned and Mayra took a picture of me with my tear-streaked face. Mrs. Keyes said a few things and then we took a group picture and we were off. We fixed up the scrapbook and put it in an adorable gift bag Mayra brought and all left for IHop. Joe didn’t go, which really sucked, but what could we do.

Traffic was insane since it was Administrative Professionals Day. Luckily, we found a parking space nearby and after waiting a few minutes we were seated. Mayra and I had a steak omelet, Lucy had this awesome looking quesadilla and John had a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity AND a monster burger. And the boy finished everything. I felt nauseous just looking at him look sick. He didn’t stop till he put that last piece of hamburger in his mouth–ew. But anyway, we chatted and had fun and got sad and laughed. We gave Mrs. C-R. the scrapbook and she said she’d never received a gift like that and that she loved it. That made it all worth it :). It was so hard leaving everyone. We took pictures for as long as we could.

I miss seeing them already–Lucy, Mayra and Mrs. C-R. I was so used to getting up early and seeing them every day. I truly believe I enrolled in school when I did to meet them. They were supposed to be a part of my life and I hope we can continue to have this friendship till we’re little old ladies :).

I fell asleep when I got home that day. I was exhausted. I woke up at 3 and went to pick Eenan up, then we came home and John showed me a documentary about 9/11 called Loose Change 2nd Edition, which you can view on my Myspace. It’s a total must-see.

I woke up today feeling totally weirded out about just…being home. I got Eenan ready for school, ironed, dropped him and Sammy and Brandon off, came home and made breakfast and ate with Mario. John left to school (alone!) in the Sentra and Mario took off in the Equinox.

I had nothing to do so I thought, “Eh, I’ll just get online”. I was preparing to spend the morning pimpin’ my Myspace when I get a call from the nurse at Eenan’s school. She says, “Is this Eenan’s Mom?”

“Yes? This is she.” The first thing that popped into my head was, ‘Oh no, he’s hurt!’

“Eenan had an accident, Miss. He didn’t make it to the bathroom on time.”

I felt relieved and then panicked. “Oh my gosh. I don’t have a car right now. I don’t live that far, I’ll go walking, but it’ll take me a litle while.”

She says, “Oh that’s fine, Miss. I’ll keep him here in my office.”

I pump Jaylen up by telling him we’re going for a walk in his stroller. He loves taking walks in that thing (even though he’s 4 already) so he was psyched. As soon as we get ready, pack the bag with his clothes and get my stuff, we step outside…and it’s drizzling. WHEN. THE. HECK. DOES. IT. RAIN. HERE???

I find John’s keys to his Civic (which isn’t working well, which is why he’s borrowing the Sentra) and I spend 15 minutes trying to get “Vish” (John’s pet name for “her”) to turn on. Nothing. I throw my hands in the air in frustration and tell Mom, “Fuck it. Let’s go walking.”

Mom brings her umbrella over from her apartment. We’re all set and ready to go and what happens? It stops raining. Grr. We take off and power-walk to the school, uphill with me pushing 35 lb. Jaylen in the stroller.

My. legs. are. on. fire.

I tell the nurse about our misfortune and she laughs like it’s the most hilarious thing she’s ever heard. Because my luck’s funny like that. I start unpacking Eenan’s clothes and to my absolute horror realize I’ve forgotten his darn underwear. I look up at the nurse and say, “You’ll never guess what I did?”

Her eyes widen, like she knows exactly what I’m about to say. “What?”

“I forgot his underwear.”

We laugh nervously and I’m quickly trying to figure out what to do. Then I see my second-born sitting angelicly in his stroller and a light bulb goes off above my head. I coo, “Jaylen, Baby, come with me to the bathroom, please?” He looks up at me suspiciously, but follows me. The nurse catches on to what I’m about to do and says, “Miss, I’d do the same thing.”

I ask Jaylen to please sit on the bench in the bathroom and tell Eenan to strip down. I’m removing Jaylen’s shoes and he’s freaking out. I tell him I need him to take off his shorts because Nano needs his undies. He tugs back at his shorts and says, “No! They’re my underpants!” He wouldn’t surrender, so I did the next best thing: bribed him. I whisper in his ear, “If you give me your undies, I’ll give you a candy when we get home.” His eyes light up and he happily steps out of his underwear.

He always puts them on backwards and inside-out, so technically, they were pretty clean when Eenan put them on. God, I’m a terrible mother!

When they’re both dressed and Jaylen’s in his stroller again I get to talking to the nurse about enrolling Jaylen in school. Turns out he most likely won’t be attending school till he’s 5 and in Kinder. As much as it pissed me off before, I think it’s sort of a blessing in disguise since I was worried sick (literally) about who was going to pick him up and drop him off since Pre-K’s only half a day.

A little girl comes in and the nurse starts talking to her about her medication. Jaylen finds this the best opportunity to casually say, “I’m not wearing any undiepants.”

Everyone bursts out laughing. Quite an interesting morning. And here I thought I was going to be bored.

Tonight, Yadira, the girls, and Matthew came over and Mary treated us all to Whataburger. We ate and talked and laughed and Mario got home and reported that he did get his week off. If things go well, we’ll be going on a mini-vacation this weekend. Woo!

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What kind of car do you drive?
Chevy Equinox 2006

What color?
Silver Metallic

Do you like it?
I’m in love with it.

Any decals/stickers?
Nope…don’t plan on having any for a while!

Anything hanging from the rear view mirror
No, Mario wouldn’t let me hang my “Mardi Gras” beads on it, blah!

Any fun stuff?
In my car? My Ipod, which I use with an FM modulator. We plan on getting some screens in the future, when we can afford them LOL.

Do you have seat covers?
Nope.

How many miles does your car have on it?
14 thousand and some.

What’s your first radio preset station?
Wild 104

What CD is in your stereo?
Don’t use CDs…I use the Ipod.

Do you get mad if you get a scratch?
My God, I think I’d DIE.

Does your air conditioning work?
Yes…it’s so fresh!

Who was the last person to ride in your car with you?
Mom and the kids.

Does your car have a lot of problems?
Nope :).

Do you own it/lease it/given it?
Technically own…we’re paying monthly…

Does it get good gas mileage?
Yeah, for an SUV.

How many bodies can fit in your trunk?
I don’t have a trunk, but if I pack them into the back real tight and move the seats up, mmm, about 4 :).

Is this the style of vehicle you thought you would be driving at your age?
I never thought I’d even drive an SUV, so no.

Are you fully covered with Insurance?
Yup

What do you wish you could change about your car?
Nothing…well, that I could fill it up with about $20 :P.

Have you ever slept in this vehicle?
Nope, but I wouldn’t mind :P.

What is the farthest you’ve ever driven with it?
So far, Harlingen, where we bought it.

What is your car’s name?
Doesn’t have one, yet ;).

Will update with a “real” post soon ;).

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