Category: 80s

Good Things & Colds

I’m deaf in my left ear right now. I caught Eenan’s cold around Friday night and have felt like crap ever since. I don’t understand how I can get sick all the darn time if I drink juice at least once a day (the apple juice we drink has 125% vitamin C!), I exercise and take vitamins and I still manage to have the weakest immune system on the planet. I need to be healthy to take care of my kids, my husband, my pets and my house! I can’t afford to be sick at all, dammit. I have the worst cough…that’s how my ear blew out and I’m SO scared because that’s how Mom lost her hearing in both ears. One year she had a really bad cough–so bad, that she lost partial hearing in one ear and almost completely lost her hearing in the other. I can’t imagine, and don’t want to imagine, what it would be like to be hearing impaired. Mom has such a hard time with it. I feel like I’m getting a fever and my whole body aches to boot. Okay, I’ll stop whining .

I don’t remember much from Thursday, the day after I last posted. I know I spent a good chunk of the day cleaning and sorting stuff for the garage sale. We went to Aunt Nora’s for a while to visit her and Mom and John.

On Friday, we woke up at the time we usually do to get Eenan ready for school, which was a bad idea. We dropped him off, hung up the signs for the garage sale, and realized we were going to be starting late. Really late. Aunt Nora didn’t even get there till around 8:30 and we were supposed to have everything ready by 7. We hadn’t even brought Mom’s things out when people were arriving! I ended up taking them over to the apartment next door for them to look at stuff instead of lugging it all over here. It was sort of a bad idea, since some ladies were super careless and were breaking shit. A group of ladies (that came the last time we had a garage sale) bought a whole bunch of stuff…but only because we were selling things for a quarter and for a dollar and they were STILL trying to jack stuff! Can you beleive that?? They saw some little ornaments Mom had on the kitchen counter and thought they’d be sneaky and pass them to eachother hand-in-hand but I saw them. When they were walking out I said, “You gonna pay for that?”. They acted like they had no idea what I was talking about and pointed to the little ornaments. They were like, “Oh! Of course!” Grrr.

We did good that day. It was nice and breezy and it was fun sitting out there with Aunt Nora and talking. She was cracking up with Jaylen. Tio Arturo stopped by and took Aunt Nora to lunch, and they saved us and brought some back for us, which was so nice. They ended up leaving at around 3:30 since they had a Cher concert to catch that night . Mom made around $50 and we made around $50 so that was pretty cool, considering how damn cheap we were selling everything. But we did want to get rid of all the stuff so it worked out. John came over that day after school since he was going to spend the weekend with us. When we were cleaning up I get a really serious call from Jorge, who was looking for Mario. I told him Mario had gone somewhere but I’d tell him to call him back. Jorge said the boss wanted to talk to him. My heart sank and I felt lightheaded. Did I hear correctly? Could my husband possibly be getting a job?? The job he’s wanted forever?

Mario got there and between squeals and jumping up and down I told him to call Jorge. He did and Mario said he needed to freshen up and go talk to the boss. He’d be starting the next morning at 11am. I couldn’t believe it, but I was so happy. Especially for Mario who wanted this so badly and heck, we needed it so badly!

Mary picked Mom up since Aunt Nora and Tio were getting ready for the concert, so she spent a little time there too and I gave her her moola. Then Mario and Mary would drop her off at home and then go to Sears to pick up some tools Mario would need. He was all smiles. He was SUPER excited. I hope everything goes well. After everything we’ve been through the past year, I hope this is our chance to be happy for a good long while, and hopefully not have everything ripped away from us as it’s happened twice before. I hope, hope, hope everything goes well!

Saturday, Aunt Nora didn’t come to the garage sale. She told me she was super tired (don’t blame her) and that I could sell her stuff and keep the money. I asked her about 3 times if she was sure and she said yes. Mario picked up McDonald’s for us in the morning and then he left to work *squeal*. I missed him instantly. I had John out there with me most of the day, since I felt lonely. Mary ended up taking Eenan to the doctor since he was still feeling sick and now had a fever, so I just stayed with Jaylen. We were chased around by bees all darn day long! When the garage sale was over, I was so relieved! We took the remainder of the stuff to Mario’s Grandma’s house and then came home. Mary asked if we wanted to watch Shrek 2 with her so the boys and I went over. Big Mario got home…he shot a deer and it was barely the first day of Deer Season! Then Mario got home and told me about his day. He loved it !

The next day, Mary, Jaylen and I woke up early and went to the big flea market/garage sale. Eenan slept in with John and Mario. I bought a few Hot Wheels for Mario that I know he didn’t have to add to his birthday present and got the kids a few things (dinosaurs for both and a Swift Heart Rabbit for Eenan). I was kinda disappointed that I didn’t find too many things, but relieved at the same time since I still felt guilty for how much I spent the last time . I found a Raspberry Tart doll, baseball Popple, a really cute Rainbow Brite sleeping bag, Care Bear sleeping bag and Strawberry Shortcake twin flat sheet. In all, I spent only $15!! I was so happy with my purchases and proud of myself for putting the rest of the sheets/sleeping bags down LOL. Here’s a pic of them. I put up a bigger pic of the SBSC one in the SBSC page and will be adding the other ones soon.

I cut John’s hair later and spent the rest of that day and Monday cleaning. I’ve been sick as a dog, but I’ve been cleaning and it sucks. Monday morning I drove Eenan to school by myself for the first time ever. I’ve driven him before, but Mario was always in the passenger seat. I decided to let him sleep in more since he was going to work and bravely drove my child to school. I left his Motrin with the nurse and instructed her as to when his next dosage was and what his symptoms were. When Sonia picked him up after school and got the medicine from the nurse, the nurse gushed about how adorable he was. He said, “Mmmm! I LOVE Motrin! I love the orange flavor!” And took it with no problem. He knows he needs to take two teaspoons so when he swallowed that one he said, “More please!” LOL. He’s so cooperative. Well, at school he is LOL.

We decided we’ll be taking Eenan to the doctor again tomorrow. He still has a fever, even though it’s not as bad as it was, but it’s still lingering. He’s got to have an infection somewhere and the doctor didn’t prescribe antibiotics. Since Mary took him on Saturday, the pediatrician we go to was closed so she took him to a clinic. The same clinic that told us Jaylen’s foot was fine and just to “keep an eye on it” when he was first diagnosed with MRSA. Bastards. I told Mary we need to take him to his “real” doctor. Heaven forbid he have Strep :(.

I’m heading to bed. I’ve got horrible chills now and my fever’s in full swing. Already started on antibiotics…just hope they kick in sooner than later .

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Flea Market Finds & Manic Monday

Flea Market Finds 9-26-04

The flea market was great! Although I feel guilty now for spending as much as I did, I got some really awesome deals. The lady I usually buy from was really excited to see us (us being Mom and I) since she didn’t see us last month. We keep in touch though and she calls me when she gets stuff in that she knows I’d like. That huge Cheer Bear cuddle pillow in the picture was only $5 and it’s brand new…they usually cost about $16. I got a “new” vintage Hugs since mine was missing the hair tuft and ribbon (my old one will go on my For Sale page). I finally got a talking vintage Secret Bear!! He was the last one I needed to complete my “vintage” collection. I still need the vintage Loyal Heart Dog, Harmony Bear, Proud Heart Cat, Playful Heart Monkey, Noble Heart Horse and all the other UK exclusives but those are wayyy too expensive. Maybe when I’m rich LOL.

I also got a Murky Dismal, Posie sprite, another Rainbow Brite pillow case, the vintage Care Bear cloud car, 3 vintage mini PVC’s, a “new” 6 inch vintage Grumpy Bear (mine had pulls on the emblem so I gave that one to Eenan since he wanted it), and that Strawberry Shortcake blanket in the background…Mom got me that one :). It’s beautiful, with no flaws what-so-ever. There were so many more things I wanted, like some Strawberry Shortcake dolls, a Strawberry Shortcake thermos, and two Popples I don’t have…but I had already spent enough. I was even contemplating selling all the things I bought since I felt super guilty for buying so much but Mario said not to. He’s so good to me :).

After we finished browsing around the flea market and dropped Mom off at work, we stopped by H-E-B and Mario bought some fajitas and catfish. He bar-be-cued, I made the rice and beans and we sat down to eat with the boys. The fish was SO GOOD! I’d never had fish like that. It’s like, cooking and seasoning food comes naturally to this man. I bow at his feet.

Yesterday, Monday, we dropped Eenan off at school, then dropped John off and Mom and I went to talk to his counselor, or the attendance clerk. They sent in a letter that John had 6 unexcused absenses…which was total bullshit. John was enraged, since he never skips class and always does his work. He had a follow-up appointment with the dentist and we went for nothing because all John did was talk to the dentist on the phone. Supposedly, they tried getting a hold of us. Sure.

John told me he didn’t want to be late for 1st period, because he had Calculus. While we’re waiting to talk to someone, a boy comes in and tells the other lady in charge that his mom got a phone call and that he got a report that he was absent the whole year so far to some class he didn’t even have. He tells me his mom was furious with him and I tell him John’s dilema. We wish eachother good luck and then they call us in. We all decided I’d be the one to talk, because I’m bitchy and just won’t take crap from anybody, and Mom kind of just nods and doesn’t “fight back”. And sure enough, I had the pleasure of talking to an asshole of a man. He kept making it seem like it was John who was skipping. I told him no, that John was a good kid and he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his credits or graduation. He printed out a paper showing that he didn’t just have 4 absenses for that class, he had a total of 12 and about 6 more for his 6th period class. I told him nope, no way…there was no way he’d be skipping. I showed him his schedule and progress report and told him John didn’t even have the teacher that was posted there. As if he didn’t hear me, he tells the runner to go get John from his class. She comes back and says, “He’s absent today”. I tell them, “I just told you…he doesn’t have that teacher! And there’s no way he can be absent because we just dropped him off. We came from his dentist appointment and he didn’t even want to be late. He said he had calculus first period.” They start searching for another calculus class and tell me there is none. That he’s got to be skipping. He says, “A lot of kids say they’re going to class, yet they really aren’t.” I tell him “He wouldn’t skip. He’s a good kid. I want to get this cleared up because I don’t want him to have to go to court, lose a credit or not graduate because of someone else’s mistake. He hasn’t been absent to those classes.” He says, “Well, if he does have this class, and he has 12 absenses, then he already lost the credit for that class.” It’s like I just wasn’t getting through to that man. They were having a meeting with all the parents at 9:30am about the kids’ attendance (hmm…wonder why?) and he told us to come back and he’d personally help us unravel the problem. Then he says, “We’ll take your brother out of class so he can tell us what the problem is. That’s if he’s even there.” OMG I could have smacked him! The nerve!

Mom left to work with Noelia and I told her I’d give her the details after I got things fixed. Mario, Jaylen and I ate breakfast, then around 10:45 we went back. They sent us to the attendance office, then to the library. There were other parents in line before us…all there for the same reason as we were. Out of all the parents there, only one of them had a son who really wasn’t attending class. The man we were talking to had the audacity to tell this other lady, “A lot of the times girls skip classes because they have some sort of problem. Maybe they’re on drugs…or pregnant…” I couldn’t believe my ears! He could tell her this in private. He’s making the poor woman have a heart attack, and he doesn’t even know the real reason why her daughter’s skipping or if she’s even skipping at all! I was really pissed, as was Mario, that they don’t even give kids the benefit of the doubt…he didn’t even think that it could possibly be a counselor’s fault, or the computers messing up (they did after all have a virus in the attendance room’s computer–the reason why we were at the library). He talks to another lady…now this one’s pissed. She tells him her daughter is a great student, she’s never absent just because, she’s in all sorts of extra cirricular activities, and that she doesn’t get home from school till 7:30 because she’s so involved. The man of course says there’s many reasons why she could be skipping. The daughter gets there and the man practically screams at her asking, “Tell me the truth? ARE YOU SKIPPING OR NOT? Because I have the computer right here, and I can check if you are or not.” She looks terrified and says, “No sir, I’ve never skipped class! I mean, I’ve had absenses but my mom knows about them. They’ve all been excused.” He asks her if she has the excuses and she says, “Well, no I turned them in to the teachers.” Duh mister. It’s not like they get to keep the excuses. He then sarcastically says, “Oh yeah? Well, let’s check last year…let’s see what kind of record you had…” He brings up her file from the year before and it shows she had 33 absenses for her 8th period. Again she says no, that she didn’t skip. I then hear that the same exact teacher/class they’re accusing John of skipping is the one that’s showing up for that girl too. I then interrupt the man and say, “Don’t you think it’s maybe the teacher who has the problem? Maybe she’s not taking attendance correctly? Or maybe it’s the computers?” John gets there and he tells me again he doesn’t have that teacher, that he has another one and that’s the one he’s had since the 2nd week of school. He also says it’s weird and that they changed his schedule to the class they’re accusing him of skipping just that day. How convenient. I’m still arguing with the man and Mario chimes in saying, “There’s over 2,000 kids in this school…and I’m not pointing fingers or blaming anyone, but don’t you think there’s a margin for error??” The man shuts up and says for us to go to the lounge and he’d meet us there since they needed the computer in the library. When he gets there, he looks a bit embarrassed and says, “I just checked on the computer, there aren’t even any absenses showing up for John anymore”. I feel like rolling my eyes and tell him…”See, I told you my brother wouldn’t skip school.” Turns out that the bumbling morons in charge of scheduling gave John TWO 1st period classes…the one he was being accused of skipping and the actual one he was taking. They didn’t even know the teacher he had was a pre-calculus teacher. The man starts saying something about John maybe having to make up some work and I say, “Woah, wait a minute. You’re telling me HE’S going to have to make up work when this isn’t even his fault?!” The man says, “Well, I’ll get this taken care of personally. You won’t have to transfer to that other class…I’ll make it so you stay in this one. I’ll get it taken care of by the end of the day. I don’t want to say ‘yeah, they’ll take care of it’, then the counselors don’t do anything and I end up looking like an ass.”

We all thought the exact same thing, “Too late…”. I swear, I think the reason he helped us out so much was because he wanted to prove us wrong–he wanted to prove that John really was skipping. I had my doubts…I started thinking, “What if John really is skipping??” But I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he wouldn’t lie to me. And if he did, I was already planning how to hurt him. I’m just glad that’s over. Stupid school. I feel bad for the kids who’s parents didn’t even bother going and getting the facts straight. The kids can’t even talk to their counselor without having to sign a waiting list! Can you believe that?? John and that man told us about how on the first day of school, there were 200 kids sitting in the cafeteria because they didn’t have a schedule. Pure chaos. They need to get some kind of system going on in that school…and soon. Grr.

Welp, gonna go update some pages and junk. Gotta get some more coffee…Zzzzzzz…Greymatter is ruining my entries after a few hours. It removes the emoticons and and the music & mood fields…does anyone know why it’s doing this and how I can fix it?!?

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