Category: Crafts

Grab a cup of coffee my loves. This is going to be incredibly long. I’ve been updating little by little, just never published it. I don’t remember much from the 7th to the 10th since I didn’t update at all at that time.

Sunday, 3-11-07 — We were home all morning. Mario didn’t want to go anywhere. He only wanted to stay home and watch TV. The boys didn’t want to go anywhere so Mom, Alaethia and I went to Big Lots on our own. I hadn’t been there in about a year so I was excited to see what crap I’d find. As soon as we walk in we’re bombarded by people who want to touch and see Alaethia. Then we’re on to the frames section where I found a great frame for 3 4×6 photos with hooks for sweaters and whatnot. Just what I’d been looking for. And it was only $12! Cheapest I’d seen anywhere.

We strolled onto the scrapbooking isle next and I was in love. I gave myself a budget–because, are you kidding? No budget = us broke. I would have bought so many more things, but I picked only my favorites.

Mario sent me to Sears next, where I had to get a raincheck for the multi-meter he wanted that was on sale for $10.

Monday, 3-12-07 — The first day of the boys’ Spring Break. Mary was off from work, so she, Noelia, Mom, all 3 kiddos and I went to eat breakfast at Denny’s. Noelia and I shared a meal (those things are huge). Best French Toast I’d had in a long time. The boys behaved so well and had Alien pancakes and colored on their placemats. They’ve been so artistic and creative lately. Makes my heart dance with joy that their only source of entertainment isn’t just video games and TV anymore.

We came back home to get jackets since it was drizzly and cool and was quickly getting worse. We were going to go to the outlets in Mercedes, but the rain just didn’t make it possible. Mary and Noelia went to Mexico for a few things (the rest of us stayed in the car). We went to watch Bridge to Terabithia and I bawled my eyes out. Alaethia was a little moody so I spent most of the movie at the foot of the theater in the staircase, walking around with her and rocking her. I tried my hardest not to cry since people could see me down there but once everyone was walking out when it was over, I couldn’t stop! Eenan was crying too and had his hoodie over his face. He get embarrassed sometimes because, like he says, he’s so sensitive LOL.

We did a few more things that day, like Mary had to go get plates at the sticker place (forget what it’s called), Alaethia screamed her head off because we ran out of water and the bitchy girl at Stripes wouldn’t bring me a warm water from the back, and I got Mario’s multi meter from Sears after spending half an hour on the phone with incompetent salespeople.

I finally popped in The Biggest Loser 2 Workout Video I purchased from Target the week before into the DVD player that night. I figured if I want to be in shape for Noelia’s wedding (which is a mere 3 months away — EEK!) then I better get on the ball. Which reminds me, I need an exercise ball. Can’t do the crunches or back exercises correctly without them! I felt so flexible and relaxed when I was done and I didn’t feel sore at all the next day!

Tuesday, 3-13-07 — The kiddos were still in bed and Mario was just walking out the door to leave to work when he gets a call on his cell phone. He closes the door, then quickly comes back in and has this look on his face that’s all too familiar: The Bad News Look. My heart sinks and, bracing myself for the worst, I ask, “What happened?”

He says, “My mom just called to tell us Tia Alma passed away this morning.”

My heart sinks even more and, thinking I heard wrong, say, “WHAT? Tia Alma? No…”

He says yes, that she died from a heart attack. All I could think about was Jason, Adan and Jennifer. They’re all too young to lose their mother. Especially Jennifer. She’s only 19 and needs her mom.

He tells me he’ll get more info later and he leaves.

Mary calls and fills me in on what happened. Apparently she’d felt bad all night. She thought she had heartburn or air in her chest, so she kept sending everyone to get her mineral water and Tums. Her husband insisted on taking her to the ER but she refused and said she’d feel better; that it would pass. Finally, at 5:30, she listened to her husbands pleas and went to the hospital. She was fine at first and then she said she couldn’t breathe after they hooked her to the oxygen so they got ready to transport her to the Heart Hospital. After half an hour, she was pronounced dead :(.

I’m still in shock that this happened. It was so sudden. She was fine one day and gone the next. It’s sort of a reality check, for everyone. Tia Alicia, her sister, barely passed away 2 weeks before she did and now her. It’s unreal. I pleaded to Mario to stop smoking, but he won’t listen. I fear for his health; for his whole family’s health on his Mom’s side. First Tio Saul, then Tia Alicia and now Tia Alma. I can’t believe it. She was only 53; 4 years older than Mary and 5 younger than Mom.

We, Noelia and I, spent the rest of the day with Jason and Mireya. Mom watched my kiddos for me. First we were at their (Tia Alma’s) house, then at the funeral home, at their house again where we met with more family who came to give their condolences and just to talk about what a shock it was, and then later we went to Chilli’s to have lunch since Jason hadn’t eaten since the night before because of everything that was going on. It was so sad. Everything. Watching Jason make all the arrangements, at the age of 23, picking his mom’s casket…just everything. And he was so strong, too.

We had a Rosario that night for Tia Alma. The whole family came over and we prayed. I had a lump in my throat the whole time hearing the Tias crying and just seeing the sadness in Jennifer’s face. It’s always great to see everyone, just unfortunate that it had to be under these circumstances :(.

Wednesday, 3-14-07 – We (Mom, the kiddos and I) spent most of the morning at home, then, when John got home, we decided to go thrift store shopping. It took a while for us to remember where it was, but we eventually got there. The boys had a great time playing with the toys and picked out 5 things each. John sat with them at the toys and watched them while I looked around with Alaethia in my arms (she didn’t want to stay in her stroller).

I went over to their huge library and immediately found three brand-new books: Like Water for Chocolate, Always the Bridesmaid, and A Million Little Pieces. On the other side I found The Wedding and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood. All for $3! I wanted to look around more but I would have been there forever.

We made sandwiches that evening since we had another Rosario that night and this time Mario got out of work early and made it on time.

Thursday, 3-15-07 — One of these nights was when Alaethia slept in her crib the whole night! From 11:30 to almost 7am. It was absolute bliss. Well, almost. I woke up at around 5am expecting her to wake up for a bottle, but she didn’t. It would have been so awesome to sleep the whole night but I’m just so used to waking up that I can’t! The two nights after that I was woken by Jaylen’s screams from his room around 2am, so I didn’t sleep the whole night those times either.

I tried taking a nap with her after Mario’d left to work, but it was a no-go. Alaethia wanted a bottle so I stumbled through the hallway and was surprised to see Mom and John already here. The boys had just woken up about half an hour before and had let them in. I laugh and make a joke about how they should just have their own key already and John says, “Hello?? Free Starbucks?” and I remember that, duh, it’s Thursday the 15th! Free coffees at Starbucks. I’d only been bitching for two whole weeks since I’d read about it in a Parenting magazine and I totally forgot. I fed Alaethia, washed up and got dressed, and since I was going to buy a top for the funeral the next day Mom gave me some money to get her something and she stayed with the kiddos.

We stopped at the Starbucks in the Target first and got our drinks. I’d never really had coffee from Starbucks, just lattes and Frappuccinos, so I was pretty darn surprised when I put about a pound of sugar and half a cup of milk in my coffee and it still tasted super strong. John had never had a coffee in his life and ended up putting some honey in it. When I yelled at him not to do that, I was a second too late and he says, “Then why do they put it here if it’s not for coffee?!” I tell him, “This is Starbucks, Dork. They sell tea, too!” He supposedly made it taste “really good” and offered me some but I took his word for it.

We took our coffees and left to McAllen. I stopped by Mario’s work and asked if he wanted some and he said, “Sure!” so off John and I were to the Starbucks on 10th st. — with the coffees we already had hidden of course.

We kept making jokes and, my God, I don’t remember the last time I was that hyper. We kept giggling about how they were going to ban us for trying to get two more coffees and I tried my hardest to have a straight face while the girl handed us the coffees through the drive-thru window. We took them to Mario and Manny and later on when I spoke to him he said they had a bitch of a time trying to get them to taste good LOL.

We stopped by Ross, where it took forever for me to find something for Mom. We were there for a good hour. I wanted to get a cute white hoodie with red and black skulls on it but of course, they had a shitload of them and non were in my size.

We went to the mall next, where we went to Hot Topic and John got Alaethia this cute little doll:

Next stop was Target. I found a cute black blouse with hearts on it and got a grayish/blue tank that matched the hearts. We got a few things John needed and I found some scrapbooking stuff that was on clearance and headed home.

The Rosario that night was at the Funeral home. I walked around with a lump in my throat again and finally let it out a little after a while. I had to go to the lobby with Alaethia for a little while since she was fighting sleep. Once she was asleep we went back and then she was passed around by relatives LOL. Tia Amelia scared everyone. She passes out when she gets really emotional and she usually comes-to quickly. This time, it took her much longer so everyone was panicking. She was fine though, but my gosh, it was a huge scare.

Friday, 3-16-07 — We woke up early to get everyone ready. Mario was moody so he kept snapping at me and quickly put me in a bad mood, which just made me feel even more horrible than I already felt considering the funeral was in a few minutes. I didn’t know what to expect when we got to the church. I found Mario (he’d left early with Jorge, who was a Pall Bearer) and we sat together. The reality of everything finally hit me and I couldn’t stop bawling. Then Anabel, the youngest of the sisters, started crying loudly so that made me cry more. I just still can’t believe this happened.

We followed the procession to the cemetary and found places to stand in the shade since Alaethia and the boys were with us. It was so sad seeing the kids, Jason, Adan and Jennifer watching their mom be buried. It’s always so hard to go up to them, even if we’d already seen them before, and pay our respects to them one last time before they bury her.

We all came home and then, after Mario and I’d had yet another little tiff, left to eat at Golden Corral. The boys didn’t want to go anywhere, as always, so they stayed with Mom and John at our house.

I hadn’t been to Golden Corral in so long. The food was really good. I had popcorn shrimp, bourbon chicken, macaroni, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese and ate almost everything! I hadn’t eaten breakfast so I was starving, as was everyone else. I hid some cookies in my bag for the boys (buahaha) and we were off to Wal-mart.

We got a few things we actually needed and then I found these little blouses for Alaethia in the baby department:

So adorable! I couldn’t find tiny jean shorts for her, but I’m having her wear them as a dress with bloomers under until she fully grows into them :).

We had the Rosario at home that night. There was lots of food that everyone brought and later on, crazy things went down. Crazy things that involved Yazmin poking all the women in the boob and everyone poking each other back O_o.

Saturday, 3-17-07 — Mom and I’d made plans to go to the flea market Saturday morning. We actually left on time for once. The only kiddos we had with us were Jaylen and Alaethia; Eenan was going to town with Mary. We get there, find parking quickly and put both kiddos in their strollers. Mom finds a glass punch bowl with cups right away so we take them to the car. Jaylen finds a plush R2D2, I find lots of new-release DVDs and have to stop myself before I spend all my money, Mom finds plants and some parakeets she’s been wanting forever, I find Pokemon plushies for the boys and a cell phone case for Mario’s new phone. Pretty successful flea market day. We saw Lisa there and she said the family had been there, too, but were already leaving. We didn’t even get to see at least a fourth of the flea market — it’s huge! Next time we go, we’re starting from the side we didn’t get to see.

Mary called and said she, Noelia, Eenan, Jose, Elda and their boys were at Luby’s and if we’d like to meet them there. We said sure, and went. I had marinara chicken, or something like that, and mashed potatoes and macaroni. LOVE Luby’s macaroni. The kids ate well and when we were done, we switched kiddos. Eenan came with us to drop the cell phone case off to Mario and then we went to Big Lots, where I found some more awesome (and cheap!) scrapbooking supplies. I’m becoming obsessed, I think! I have so much stuff that I can’t wait to use.

We went to see Gramma next. She’s fine, except that she has yet another cough. I get so worried about those darn coughs. I’m always afraid she’s going to develop pnuemonia.

Our last stop was Target, where we ran into Mary, Noelia and Jaylen. He came with me and since they’d behaved we promised to get them a game. They had to decide which one they wanted to share, since they were only getting one. They decided on one of the Final Fantasy ones.

I also got Alaethia the Fisher Price Rainforest Swing. It entertains her for a while, enough time to do a few dishes, but she always ends up screaming her head off LOL.

I went to the scrapbooking isle, just to see what they had on clearance again (obsession I tell you) and found a corner shelf for $12.50. I plan on asking for the rest of the cubes for my birthday if anyone asks what I want :). I just hope the rest go on clearance. $24.99 regular price seems like too much for me.

We got home and it was one hour till we had to go to church for the Rosario. I got into the shower really quick since I felt gross from walking around at the flea market in the humidity and when I was done we left. Mom went with me and Alaethia, John, who was desperate to use the internet since I hadn’t been home all day, stayed with the boys.

Alaethia was a very good girl the entire time. She even slept through Matthew’s squeals LOL.

Sunday, 3-18-07 — Matthew turned 1 year old on Sunday. I didn’t go to the Rosario that morning since I was exhausted. At least Alaethia’d slept through the night again.

Mary and I went to Target really quick to get Matthew a gift. I’d totally forgotten to get him something when we were at Target the day before. I got him a t-shirt that says ‘Ladies Man’ on it, since he’s such a flirt, and some khaki cargo shorts.

We went to Matthew’s party, which was being held at Chelito’s house. It was nice sitting around with everyone and talking. Tia Tala was having a garage sale, which made me want to go through my stuff and have one even more. I need to do that soon. For some extra bucks and just to get rid of all the clutter.

The food was great, I got a break from Alaethia since everyone was holding her and passing her around. Matthew opened his gifts and then we had cake and came home.

Monday, 3-19-07 — It was back to school for the boys on Monday. It was hard putting them to sleep the night before and a little more difficult to wake them up that mroning. Mom and I went to Target yet again ’cause she wanted to buy who knows what, and I ended up finding another corner shelf like the one I’d bought on Saturday and the desktop shelves. Now I only (ha, only!) need two of the 4-shelf cubes, 1 3-drawer cube, and the 4-drawer cube to create my scrapbooking space!

Mario called and asked me to check out prices at a car dealership. He was tired of the Sentra and he’d told me the night before that he needed a new car, but it was just a casual sort of thing. After I picked Eenan up from school, I left the kiddos with Mom. John accompanied me to the dealership. Mario was a little pessimistic about it, as always, but I promised him I’d be dropping off a car to him in a few hours.

We got a really cool salesguy. He asked what I was looking for, I told him and he delivered. We went out to look at the cars. We had a choice of a red 2005 Cavalier, but it had dents on it. A silver 2006 Chevy Cobalt, but it had horrible cigarrette burns and reeked of smoke. No thanks. Another 2005 silver car that I can’t recall at the moment but it was really used looking. A 2006 Scion, but Mario doesn’t like those. A 2005 or 2006 PT Cruiser, but Mario doesn’t like those either. Then he showed me a metallic silver (like the Equinox) 2005 Dodge Neon. It looked great from the inside, the engine, and only had 34,000 miles. Not bad. Mario wanted to see it, and I mentioned this and the salesguy, Carlos, said, “Let’s take it to him so he can look at it.” He was awesome. We drove two cities so Mario could take a look at it and he loved it. We go back and finish up the paperwork. It took about 4 hours total but when we were done they’d dropped the price from $12,000 to $10,000, I’d left $159 down and got the price we wanted of $218 a month. Awesome. When John’s ready to get his car we’re going with the same guy :).

But this also means I must stop spending recklessly. Must start being frugal, like I was those many months ago :(. Still, I’m glad Mario got a new car. He needed one. It just sucks that we barely paid off the Sentra last year and now we have two new car payments LOL. That’s how it goes I guess.

I got home just in time for the Rosario. It was supposed to be held at church that night but something happened and they moved it over to Mary’s.

Tuesday, 3-20-07 — I went grocery shopping after dropping the kids off at school and stayed within my $120 budget (I spent $111). I took them to the book fair, where Jaylen got two coloring books and a book-making pack (it’s like scrapbooking basically) and Eenan got a The Cat book, a Pokemon book and the same scrapbooking pack. Then I notice that I missed the kids’ Open House the previous day. That sucks! It’s the only one I’ve ever missed of Eenan’s and it was the first one for Jaylen. I felt like a bad parent, but it’s not like I would have been able to go if I’d remembered since I was at the dealership anyway :(.

Since Big Mario needed a new vehicle, too, Mary went over to where Dalia works and got him a truck. It’s nice. A white Ford F-150. He was sort of in shock and kept saying, “I told you to get a car, not one for me!”

We had another Rosario that night with finger foods for a snack afterwards. Mario actually got out early enough to make it. The kids all played and it was nice and breezy outside. We’d had Monday’s and Tuesday’s Rosarios outside and the wind felt awesome. Mario left to Adan’s afterwards (and then ended up at Isaac’s) and so I didn’t get to take a shower that night. I LOATHE going to bed without showering!

Wednesday, 3-21-07 — Alaethia didn’t fall asleep till 1am the night/morning before. She let me sleep a full 5 hours, but I was exhausted in the morning and she had her two-month checkup. Since Mario was out being a darn bachelor and didn’t come home from his cousin’s house till God knows what time, I had to take a quick shower in the morning and ate breakfast really quick before we left.

Mom went with us. We wait a whole hour before they call us just for them to tell me that she’s not “old enough” to get her vaccines. They should have given her an appointment for exactly 2 months or a few days later, not a few days earlier. She was 3 days too early. Grr.

I checked my weight on their scale, since it’s the one that’s most accurate and the one I’ve been weighing myself since I was pregnant. I gained a pound! I haven’t been working out like I wanted to because of all the Rosarios and, of course, because of caring for Alaethia. I need to work out more. And stop eating so much junk food!

They gave me another appointment and we left to pick up Jaylen.

Jaylen had a note taped to his wrist. Picture Day’s Tomorrow! it said. Bastards. I hate when they do that; when they send last-minute notices. It would have been nice if they’d reminded me about the Open House!

The boys didn’t have any decent clothes so I had to rush to JC Penny to get them some. (But not before stopping at Michael’s really quick to buy some scrap paper that was on sale!)

It took FOREVER at JC Penny since there were tons of people from Mexico shopping. One had about 100 items of clothing and wanted a sale price on each one or else she didn’t want it. The other 3 (that cut in front of me no less!) were arguing about a coupon they had that didn’t work and were insisting that they try everything in their power to make it work. I had the same one and it didn’t work either, but I just left it at that. Grr. I was almost late to pick up Eenan!

The last Rosario was last night and it was held outside. We had Pan Dulce as a snack and talked with everyone. Since Alaethia’s nap was ruined in the morning due to her stupid appointment, she was super moody by nighttime. She cried during the entire Rosario, which is not like her at all. Everyone was surprised. It took me forever to put her to sleep, but it gave me some time to order some prints from Winkflash. I can’t wait to get them and start scrapbooking again! It’s been too long!

While looking through the pictures I realized how fast Alaethia’s growing! Sometimes I wish I could just clutch Time in my hands and bring it to a screeching halt — it just goes by way too fast! At 6 weeks Alaethia looked so much older. Cradling her in the crook of my arm for too long makes my arm sore. Her legs stretch out beyond my arms when I’m carrying her when just a week ago she was the length of one of my arms to the other. Now, at 8 weeks, she almost sleeps through the night (goes to sleep anywhere from 11pm to 12:30am and doesn’t wake up till 6:45-7:30am. She’s learning to focus on things and even reaches out her hand to try and grab things. She holds her legs stiff for a good while and has been holding her neck up since she was 4 days old. She smiles and softly coos when I do my Crazy Mom Baby Talk and she’s even laughed a few times when I Raspberry in her neck. She’s significantly heavier and her legs are so cute and chubby!

And the boys! Jaylen’s almost Eenan’s height. They’re already talking about what they want to be when they grow up (at the moment, Jaylen wants to be a soldier in the army and Eenan wants to be in the Navy — which, considering our current wordly position, scares the hell out of me). I was looking through their baby albums to see how much they resemble Alaethia (she’s a carbon copy of newborn Jaylen) and I almost cried remembering how tiny they were and wishing, like I’ve been with Alaethia, that they’d stayed that little, where I could hold them all day long, love them and protect them from all the horrible things in the world.

*sigh* This was long. I finally don’t have anything to do (well, that I know of. You never know if there’ll be a pesky surprise!) so I finally got to finish this post. It’s only taken me several days of spurts of typing to finish this up. My appologies to those who are subscribed to receive e-mails when I update: I accidently pressed ‘Publish’ last night when I was updating instead of pressing on ‘Save and Continue Editing’. You recieved a blank e-mail when I pressed Publish, so I’m sorry about that.

I need to make it a point to blog, especially since Alaethia’s litle. I’ll so regret it if I don’t keep updates on her. I want to remember everything. Good and bad.

Not that I have anything against old people, not at all. I’ve been driving around like a mad woman since last week and the handful of old people who should not be allowed a license all happen to be on the road at the same time as I am. John said that phrase this afternoon and I thought it was hilarious (and so true. I even said, “That’s SO going to be my blog entry title!” I was supposed to change the title on my entry about Anna Nicole to “The Day John’s Penis Died” but I never did LOL.) We were on a McDonald’s run when TWO cars full of Winter Texans almost slammed into us from each side. That’s been the norm since last Thursday it seems.

I’m at my desktop computer in the living room right now, with Alaethia’s bassinet at my side just in case she spits up like she did a few hours ago. Scared the crap out of me. Thank goodness I was passing right by her bassinet when she started screaming.

I didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of my laptop and wireless internet for too long since Mario got tired of how slow the laptop was and sold it today to one of his co-workers. So now we’re saving the $600 we bought and sold it for until we can save a little more to buy a better laptop. I had no problem with it; I loved it. Mario, on the other hand, is impatient and the poor little processor in the laptop was too slow for him. He also likes to mess around with the inards of operating systems and hates that Windows Vista doesn’t really let him get into all the folders and such. I just want to update from my bed again :(.

Anyway, I didn’t drop Noelia off at work on Thursday. It was nice to get some extra sleep in the morning. After I picked Jaylen up from school, Jaylen, Mom, Alaethia and I headed to the hospital to get Alaethia’s PKU done. It thankfully didn’t take super long to get called in since we had to make it back on time to pick Sammy (Yazmin was admitted into the hospital since she had a bad throat infection that needed intravenous antibiotics to clear it and nobody was around to pick up Sammy) and Eenan and Brandon up from school.

I braced myself for some tears (not just hers, but my own as well) when I put Alaethia up on the table and removed her sock. The nurse pricked her heel and it took her about 5 seconds to realize what had happened and she screamed her little Kitty scream. I picked her up and consoled her and she calmed down. Poor baby. I only got a little teary eyed this time, but I’m nervous about her immunizations next month!

We looked around the gift shop for a little bit, where mom got me a cute, soft little teddy bear that has “Special Daughter” embroidered on the tummy, aww :). We made it back with more than enough time to pick Sammy up, so we wasted some time at Joy Dollar. Jaylen of course went straight to the toys and picked out some swords with shields for him and Eenan. Can’t beat quieting the children down for $1! Well, quieting them down while we’re at the store. Once they have those swords out at home and are dueling with eachother, that’s another story.

Everything went pretty smoothly that night until it was time to make dinner. I decided on spaghetti and meatballs since I had a brain fart and thought, “It’s easy to make and I don’t really have to do much.” Right. Completely flew over my head that I actually have to prepare the meatballs. Alaethia started crying unconsolably just as I was defrosting the ground beef and would not let me put her down. Luckily, I still got it: I made meatballs with ONE HAND. Mashed all the ingredients and made perfect little balls and everything. *pops collar*

I finally gave her her first “full bath” that night. Her belly button stump had fallen off at the beginning of the week, but she still had a huge scab across her belly button and it was a little red and would bleed a little on her diaper. I was concerned, but they’d told me at her doctor’s appointment that she was healing well. I still couldn’t wet it though. I got tired of mopping her down with damp washcloths so I gave her a bath as carefully as I could without getting her bellybutton wet. It was a success and of course we took pictures :).

John and I went to Target earlier that day to see if they had the stuff he wanted and we made a quick stop at Michael’s, where I bought $3 worth of scrapbooking papers (they were on sale for a quarter each) and some embellishments. I bought one of the papers especially for documenting her first bath :).

I had to drop Noelia off on Friday morning and Mario had to work so I had to rush and get the kids to school then get Noelia to work on time. I got everything ready as quickly as I could that morning and then Noelia, Mom, Alaethia and I got into the truck. Got her to work with a few minutes to spare.

On the way back home Mom and I are looking for an old thrift store we used to go to. I’m so intently paying attention to all the shops on each side of us and trying not to get into a car accident that I’m stunned when I see something fly across the windshield and CRACK!! I frantically look around to see what happened and notice a circular crack on the top right side of my windshield. Looks like a baseball hit it. A darn trailer that was going in the opposite direction somehow managed to toss a huge rock at my window diagonally. How the hell does that happen?!

I call Mario to let him know what happened. We already had 3 small “stars”, one that had been repaired and now that huge one. I was pissed. Mario was annoyed. I called Mary and she tells me to put in a claim and get it taken care of with the insurance. So I do that as soon as I get home. I speak to a guy from the claims department at the company I’m getting the windshield repaired at. I ask him about the crack: it’s 2-2 1/2 inches long, can it be repaired? He says yes, as long as it’s less than 6 inches long it can be fixed. Awesome. I give him all my details and he says he’ll call the insurance company. I have an appointment at 9:30 at the windshield/glass place on Saturday morning. Lovely.

After picking Jaylen up I start getting ready to leave to my optometrist appointment. It’s about damn time I get new glasses; the ones I currently have I’ve had for 6 years. I’ve had the exact same frames two different times but the lenses have been the same for 6 years. I’m beginning to have problems seeing letters from far away again and have so much trouble seeing at night so I’m way overdue. I leave the house with enough time to find the place; I wanted to be early since I had to be there 5 minutes earlier than my appointment at 1.

I’m driving down the street looking for the place. It just so happens to be on the same street Mario works on. After frantically looking for it and pissing everyone around me off for driving 15 MPH, I decide to stop at Mario’s and ask him where the darn office is. We can’t find a phonebook anywhere and when we finally do, I’m already 5 minutes late, which means I’m 10 minutes late if you count the 5 minutes I was supposed to be there early. Turns out they moved the one that was near Mario’s work and it’s all the way on the other side of the expressway. Nice.

I finally get there and customer service SUCKS. One guy finally pays attention to me and directs me to the back of the place, which is so odd because nobody really knows they’re allowed to go back there O_o. Once they call me in it’s cake; everything was done really quickly. I’m only slightly more blind than I was before, so I guess that’s good. I got some brownish frames this time, sort of square and they’re Transitions lenses with anti-glare, which I’ve always wanted. Came out to $135. I almost died, but the lady who was attending me painted such a pretty picture, and after telling her how long I had my current frames she said I deserved some spiffy new glasses. I told myself, “You know what? You DO deserve some new glasses!” so I got just about everything they “recommended” I get. Mario was a little upset with how much I spent, but like I told him: this is the first time I go all out with my glasses and I’ll probably keep them for another 6 years. Not like him, who spent $170 on Tommy Hilfiger glasses that broke in a few months. Grr.

I picked up some McDonald’s for the both of us and I dropped it off to him. I was starving. All the weight I lost is going to come right back if McDonald’s keeps taunting me with it’s big golden arches :(. They’re everywhere! And I don’t usually like McDonald’s!

Mario got out early but I didn’t see much of him anyway. He was outside bonding with his dad by the fire of the bar-b-q. I left them alone and chilled out inside with my little lady and my littlest man (Eenan was sleeping over at Mary’s), since the day’s beautiful weather was quickly turning chilly and damp.

I actually got online to check my Myspace that night and to my surprise I had a friend request from an old friend from Middle School: Carmen! When I first saw her name I thought, “Could it be? No…” But it was! We exchanged messages for a while then had a nice, long talk on the phone catching up on eachother’s lives. We made plans to meet the next day for lunch somewhere.

In the time I’d left Alaethia with Mom for the few hours that I was at my eye appointment and then picked up the kids, she managed to screw up her routine. She gave me so much trouble that afternoon; she’d cry and cry, drink about an ounce of milk, go to sleep, wake up screaming and would drink another ounce. It took a few hours to get her back on track and I was fearful that she wouldn’t let me sleep that night and that her almost perfect patterns were gone for good. Although Alaethia did pretty good that night, and did pretty good every other night before, I felt so exhausted on Saturday morning. I overslept by a few minutes and it threw off my whole morning. I didn’t even get a chance to iron Mario’s clothes. I ate some breakfast real quick and got all of Alaethia’s stuff together. I was taking her with me; there was NO WAY I was leaving her with Mom again for that long! The boys, on the other hand, weren’t making much of an effort to get ready and since I was already running late I left them with Mother.

I was nervous driving to the glass place that morning since it was cold and rainy. She did great on the way over there and was an angel the entire time we were there. It took a while to get done this time and I was starting to get worried. It didn’t take but half an hour the first time we went there to get a chip fixed. The receptionist was just appologizing for how long it was taking when one of the installers came in to tell her it was done being replaced. I laugh and say, “Oh, you mean repaired.” The guy chuckles and says, “No, it was replaced.” My heart starts racing and I slap my hands over my eyes. I say, “It wasn’t supposed to be replaced! It was only a crack!” He says he looked over the work order and it was put down as a replacement; there’s no way they’d be able to repair that type of crack. I tell him I specifically asked the guy if a crack of that size could be fixed and that he’d said as long as it was under 6 inches, it could be. We stand around pondering what to do and then the guys tell me not to worry about it, to go home. I say, “What? I just…leave? Just like that? What happens then?” The same guy chuckles and says, “We just won’t get paid our comission.” Just dig the dagger deeper in why don’t you? Like I didn’t feel guilty about everything that was happening already, and that’s because I didn’t even do anything wrong! So we decide I’d just leave and we’d resolve it on Monday. Yippee.

I drove to Mario’s to show him our new windshield and told him the horror story behind it. He sort of just laughed it off, which annoyed me a little. I parked and called Carmen up to get my mind off the darn thing. We made plans to meet at the mall and have lunch there. She was going to have her kiddos with her and I had Alaethia.

It was so good seeing her! We held eachother in a hug for a few minutes when we first saw eachother. I remember that at the end of 8th grade we weren’t as close as we were in 7th. You know how all that middle/high school drama goes. Sadly I can’t even remember what happened that came between our friendship. She moved away after 8th grade and we lost touch completely, but I’m so glad that it’s like we never stopped talking!

Her kids went to this little mall event they were having for the kids’ club. I signed up for Sephora.com and got some free makeup, yay! We walked around and just chattered on and on and then we had lunch at the food court. I had spinach and mushroom stuffed pizza from Villa Pizza. *drool* That was delicious and oh, so sinful.

We peeked into a few of our favorite stores. She has a wedding to go to, so we went into Macy’s to look for dresses. I saw red clearance flags in this one section of the store, and I quickly skidadled over there. I found a cute tee (Just Jimmy’s one of my current favorite brands) for $4.99. I just noticed how much the shirts actually cost. I’ve got 5 of them and I’ve never paid full price for them. I usually get them at ross for under $7. That’s why I LOVE Ross!

John called telling me he wanted to go to the mall, too, so as soon as Carmen and I were done walking around the mall I went home and we made plans to go right back. The boys didn’t want to go, again, so it would just be John, Alaethia and me. Well, Alaethia decides she needs a bottle at the last minute (and she’d just eaten right when we got home) and then Mary asks us to drop her off at Noelia’s work. Everything took an additional hour and 15 minutes to get done, so we didn’t end up going to the mall. John wanted to get Alaethia a cute blanket from Hot Topic. I hope there’ll still be some left for when we finally decide to go back.

I started feeling sick with a sore throat that morning so after stopping by Game Stop, where John bought some game thing, we went to H-E-B to get medications, honey and chamomille tea, cereal and ice cream :P.

Mario was home on Sunday and since Target was finally going to have some DS’s in stock John asked if we’d be kind enough to do him the favor of getting up at the crack of dawn and getting one for him. We left the house at 9 and we expected them to be sold out. We get to Target and there’s 6 whole shoppers in the entire store. Better for us. I’m so glad we have a Target “over here”. The ones in McAllen are always sold out of the good stuff because of the people who come shopping over here from Mexico.

We had some breakfast afterwards at Burger King and then Paul called us to go over to his house so we could work on networking their computers. I just sat with Alaethia on their bed and talked with Norma while Mario figured out the computer stuff (with Paul watching LOL). It was nice seeing them after so long. Their kiddos are all so big!

Mario dropped Noelia off at work today, so I got the kids to school extra early and got home with enough time to do everything I needed to do. I tried taking a nap with Alaethia after everyone left, but everybody and their mama kept calling. Including the lady from the glass place. After a whole bunch of BS, I still won’t find out what happens for another week. My deductible is $100 now, but they were saying it was still $500, which isn’t true. If they do accept it as $100, I won’t have to pay anything at all. It better happen that way; I don’t plan to pay anything since it wasn’t my mistake.

I got a call from a guy at I.R.R.A. asking me to pick up my darn high school diploma (that I’d ordered since 2005) already, so after I picked Jaylen up from school John and I went to Edinburg to pick up the darn thing. It looks nice and un-cheap, unlike my first diploma. I called Sally while we were over there and we made plans to meet after 3:30 at my house.

We met Mario for lunch (after we’d picked up the McDonald’s I mentioned at the beginning of the entry) and ate at the park we’d eaten at on Thursday. It was so nice out today. I wish I could see my Babe more often, but I guess since I don’t get to it makes the time we do spend together more special :).

I was to help Sally figure out what to make for dinner and then we’d go buy the groceries we needed. So fun! We wrote down recipes and talked for a good while and when we were about to leave she realizes she doesn’t have her wallet. She calls Pete and they realize they threw her wallet in the trash at the park they were having lunch at this afternoon by accident! Thankfully, Pete goes and checks and to everyone’s relief the wallet was still in the trash! Sally’s going on a hiking/road trip this weekend, which I’m so jealous of! Hopefully, after she comes back all the girls will be able to get together like the old days :). I can’t wait!

So I guess you can say I’ve had a pretty awesome, albeit hectic, week. I’m on Cloud 9 in life right now. I’m so grateful to be surrounded by loving family who’s more than willing to help me out when I need it and friends who I can count on and distract myself with. I was so afraid I’d have Post Partum Depression again for the 3rd time, but I’m so incredibly thrilled to say I don’t feel the baby blues at all!

(Edit @ 12:35pm) Just went through this entry and realized the insane amount of typos and things I left out since I was writing this with one eye open last night. I was that sleepy. I also realized just how long this entry is. I salute you if you actually read through the whole thing! (End Edit)

Okay, either I’m hallucinating because of all the sugar in my coffee or I actually heard them say on Today that J.K. Rowling named her 7th book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow” or “Hollow”? Okay, maybe I was hearing things, because the dude (the one with the salt-n-pepper hair) said the name of the book then said, “But first…” and went on to something else and they haven’t mentioned it. Now they have Anita Baker singing. Grr.

Okay, just checked on Mugglenet.com and yes, it’s called, “Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows.” Now that I know this new bit of information, I feel just a tad bit more impatient. I want the book finished already! The Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie isn’t coming out till July 13, 2007–I don’t think I can stand waiting for the book even longer than that (like I have a choice, right?).

Anyway, I’m so sorry if I scared some of you since I haven’t updated in a few days. I’m fine, baby’s fine and she’s still happily using my insides as a kickboxing bag. I’ve just been super busy since it was the boys’ last week of school before vacation began. Thank you so much for your concern though, it means a lot to me :). I promise, if something big does happen, like going into labor, I will somehow get to a computer and inform you guys (I’d do it through my PDA but it hates me and WordPress).

So the Saturday after I last posted started off as a calm and relaxing one. We’d be attending Catherine’s birthday party in the afternoon, which, according to my mother, was at 3pm. I took my sweet time washing my towering pile of dishes, bathed the boys and let them run around in their underwear for a while and started sewing a little camera bag for my new camera. Mario keeps telling me, “Why won’t you just buy one?” I don’t like the big, black, bulky bags for my camera. I like carrying it in my purse and one of those bags just won’t fit with all the other crap I have in there.

Well, after about an hour of fighting with the satiny fabric and having a fit because I’d have to sew some of it by hand I ended up with this:

(Holy Moly, I just saw Salma Hayek and Ellen eat crickets! Eww!)

It did not fit my new camera! It did, however, fit my old one, but that kinda sucks anyway since I don’t use my old camera anymore! I ended up using it as a little make-up bag till I can get some fabric and a zipper to make a new one.

While I’m finishing up the little bag, Mary calls and tells me that they’re ready (her and Noelia); to let her know when I’m ready. I look at the clock and it’s 1pm. I ask, “What time are we leaving?”

“Mmm…around 1:15?”

I panic and yell, “What?! But it doesn’t start till 3! I was barely going to take a shower!”

It actually started at 2, but my mother was misinformed. I don’t know why I didn’t bother looking at my own darn invitation. I had half an hour to dress the boys, take a quick shower (which sucked since the water pressure was SUPER LOW and I was about an inch away from the wall of the shower stall), iron my and Mario’s clothes (for Noelia’s graduation later that night) and get myself dressed and hair done. I hate being in a rush, just hate it. I was so frustrated by the time we left, but I sucked it up and tried to be in a good mood for the kids. We picked up Sonia and arrived at the party.

We should have just left late; the food wasn’t served till 3 and I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, which was around 9am. My sugar was dropping quickly and I was starting to shake badly. Thankfully, Elda had a 3 Musketeers in her purse which I quickly gobbled down. I felt better almost instantly and then finally, the food came. The kids inhaled their pizzas and punch and continued to play and enjoy themselves. They always have fun at that place but I wouldn’t have their parties there; it would probably cost me one of them to pay for it.

We left the party early since we’d have to drop Mom off at home with the boys. Noelia’s graduation was at 6:30pm, but we had to be there super early to get seats and before they closed the doors on us. Mario called while he was on his way home from work and asked me to pick up a plate for him from Long John Silvers since he got out early and didn’t have lunch. We get home and he’s frantically getting ready and starts stuffing his mouth with food simultaneously.

Noelia had left the party with Andy and went straight to UTPA. Big Mario, Mary, Mario and I left in our truck and Elda and Jose followed. We met Tommy, Yadira and the kids there and found Noelia, who instructed us on where to go.

I knew the ceremony was being held in the gym, but I had no idea we’d be seated in the bleachers. Normally, I’m not afraid of heights–not at all. But since I’m pregnant and my center of balance is way off at 8 months, I felt incredibly nervous going up the bleachers. My heart sank and I felt even worse when we got to the row we were going to sit in; we were high up and there was a 5, maybe 6 inch strip of wood we could walk on. I kind of froze at the beginning of the row and just stood there looking down. Is that what being afraid of heights feels like? I’d never felt that way before in my life. I must have looked like a loon, but I squatted down a little and held on to the bench while I slowly inched my way to Mario. He was looking at me like I was insane LOL.

I thought I’d lost my camera for a few (horrifying) minutes, but I’d left it in the car. We tried focusing the camera as best as we could but none of the settings would get a clear picture; we were really far. The ceremony was long and boring and then a man who sounded exactly like the one from the Visine commercials (…For red, dry eyes…) starts calling out names of honors students. I had absentmindedly started slumping on Mario’s shoulder and was falling asleep by the time they started giving out the “diplomas”. When they were done, we met Noelia outside and took pictures then everyone went their seperate ways. Big Mario, Mary, and I were hungry (Mario still wasn’t) so we stopped at Wendy’s. I had some chicken nuggets and a very cheesy baked potato with sour cream and chives. We had a good time. Our last stop was Wal-Mart and then home. I was exhausted.

We had plans to go to Target to start on my registry and then to our storage unit and get stuff out for the Garcia Family but we only got a chance to do the latter. Our unit was an eyesore of a mess, so we spent a good half hour organizing it. Jorge, Mario’s godfather, has a bunch of his stuff in there, too, so he put his stuff on one side and ours on another. Now we can actually walk in there.

I took the opportunity to get the boys’ baby clothes boxes out and check what I’ll be keeping as a memory of them, using for Alaethia (like white onesies and gowns), and giving to charity. I need to buy some Dreft soap, so I haven’t even tackled the boxes yet.

We dropped the stuff off at home, ate a quick lunch of sandwiches and chips and all of us piled in the truck again since we were going to the Motorcross Park and the Mud Pits with some of Mario’s friends. Out of all the guys that were going (like 4 or 5), only one went: Manny and his family. We chilled out with them for a few good hours. The kids were being absolute brats at first and I was quickly getting frustrated since Mario was having the time of his life on the ATVs, but after we gave the boys a talking-to they calmed down. I enjoyed the rest of the night after that. I was terrified of the boys being taken around in the ATVs, especially after it got dark but they followed instructions well and Manny and Mario took good care of them. We came home super late for a school night, so we fed the boys a quick meal of corn dogs, gave them 5-minute showers each and put them to bed. Mario was making some baked fish for us and it wasn’t done till around 10, but it was delicious.

Mario was off work the next day so after we picked Jaylen up from school Mario, Jaylen, John and I went to Target and I started on my Registry. (I really dislike that the only way you can view it is by using our first and last names :(!) It took all of 35 minutes to scan everything we liked/needed. We let Jaylen join in so he wouldn’t feel left out; I’d bring him the items and he’d scan them for me. I feel pretty good about the list. I left out the Graco Mikhala stroller set since Mario’s getting it, and we left out the bouncer since Yadira wants to give us hers. We also left out things she’ll be using much later on, like a playpen and highchair. I’m so excited. I thought it was so cute how Mario scanned some pink booties and a pink and yellow cap :).

I had every intention of starting on my baking that day, but it didn’t happen. John and I went to Dollar General to get some ingredients I needed (sugar, flour, crushed pineapple, etc.) and some nice baskets for the cookies. That would be the kids’ gifts to their teachers: a pretty basket full of homemade cookies.

For the first time ever, my little brother had to bail me out of something. I’d put gas in the truck earlier that day and left my debit card in my back pocket. It fell out of my pants when we’d gotten home and I didn’t notice. I had to change into decent clothes again when we went to the store, and totally forgot about the debit card. Well, I’m getting ready to pay for my stuff ($18-something) and realize I’m missing my card. I couldn’t even remember if I’d put it in my pocket at the gas station; I imagined everyone getting free gas with my card. John pays for my stuff with his debit card and gloats about it for the rest of the day. I told him I’d pay him back but he said since he owes me a Christmas present I can use the money to buy it for myself. How sweet LOL.

I was put in a worse mood when we got home after the ordeal at the store and Mary reminded us that there was a birthday party we’d made plans to attend. Great. No baking for me, which meant being in a hurry the next day, and possibly night like every other year.

The kids had fun at the party and we got to see Venessa’s newborn twins. They’re two months old, but since they were born a month early they’re actually 1 month old. They were so cute and tiny :).

I had a foot-in-mouth moment when Mario’s cousin Betty was asking me when I was due. Then I asked her when she was due (which was a few days before Christmas) and she half-laughs, “I had him last Saturday! He’s a week old.” I felt so embarrassed that I further shoved my foot in my mouth when I said, “I thought you looked smaller!” Lord, help me.

Mario already wasn’t happy that we were going to the party and became even more frustrated when Mary and I took half an hour at H-E-B after the party. We needed to get a few more ingredients they didn’t have at Dollar General and of course with people traffic and the lines it took forever. When we got home, Mario had a total fit and made a mess in the kitchen. He made me feel like crap right away and I told him so. We didn’t talk the rest of the night; I took a shower and went straight to bed without saying a word to him. I woke up in the middle of the night to find his arm around my belly. I took that as his way of feeling sorry and guilty, even though I probably wasn’t supposed to “know” he was holding me.

The greatest thing just happened! Itzel, my former instructor (Mrs. C-R), just called to say hello and wish us a Merry Christmas. Her little girl just turned 3 months old on the 19th! I need to stop by school and visit her and have some lunch or something to catch up :).

As I was saying before, I spent the next day, Tuesday, making the batter for Snickerdoodles, picking up the boys and making cookies all in between everything else. I made Snickerdoodles of course, and some cookies called Butter Spritz Cookies I found in a stack of recipes Mom’d given me last year. NEVER AGAIN will I make those pieces of crap. I followed the directions step-by-step and they didn’t taste at all the way the description said they would. Dumb things. Didn’t help that the cookie press I’d borrowed from Mary (which she’d never used before herself) wasn’t working. I had to use cookie cutters. Even if the cookie press did work, I doubt they would have tasted any better >_<. Mary made Pan De Polvo and Pineapple bars and told me to use some of those, too. Lifesaver! It was 9:30 by the time I finished with the last cookie sheet and was about to start on chocolate chip cookies but took Mary's advice and just used the four sweets we already had. I had a hell of a time with the plastic wrap I was putting around the baskets but they turned out really nice. The kids each took the baskets that were for their teachers on their lap yesterday morning. Eenan handed his to Mrs. R., who said she loves Snickerdoodles, especially those that are homemade :). Jaylen carried a basket in each hand and gave them to Mrs. T. and Mrs. S., who hugged him and said he was a "handsome boy". I came home and quickly made Mario some breakfast. I scarfed down my food since my doctor's appointment was at 9. There's never any point to going early anyway, since they don't see you for at least an hour and a half after your appointment. Yesterday was no different. They called me in at 10:30 and took my vitals. I didn't gain any weight in the past 3 weeks. In fact, I lost 5 oz., which is surprising considering how much I eat. Laura, my nurse, said everything went straight to my belly because it's definitely bigger than last time. I told her about my constant aching feet and how they've been swelling at night lately. My urinalysis was perfect and so was my sugar, after they pricked my finger to check my glucose since I had glucose in my pee once again (Mario warns me not to put so much sugar in my coffee!). They took me into the Sono room and the doctor came in about 10 minutes later. He checked my feet and said I looked fine and my blood pressure was fine, too, so the swelling might be because I'm on my feet a lot and my belly growing isn't helping. So, I just gotta keep my feet elevated sometimes. He gave me an ultrasound to check the baby's measurements and he said she's weighing about 4 lbs. 6 oz. :). I saw her legs, big belly, her huge head (which is nicely wedged in my pelvis which is why I've been feeling those annoying I-desperately-need-to-pee pains lately), and her little privates, which still show she's a girl :). The only thing that I found a bit strange was he said I was 32 weeks, which is NOT TRUE! I'm 34 weeks and some days. He told the nurse to schedule my next appointment for 35 weeks, which according to him is January 10th! I'm supposed to be 35 weeks next Tuesday, so I don't know what the deal is. All I know is when I go back on the 10th, it starts the beginning of my pelvic exams and some swab that tests for some bacteria or something that causes premature labor. How lovely. Since the doctor moved my due date even further, I'm now supposedly due Feb. 8th. *bangs head* I picked Jaylen up at noon, and he was happily lugging a huge red truck he got in the gift exchange around and his backpack was full of goodies and glitter from art projects he was bringing home. We came home and chilled out till it was time to pick up Eenan, who had a huge gift bag and even more glittery projects with him. He made Mario this adorable basket, full of copper glitter and foam stickers. He was so proud of his basket. When he got home he quickly took all of Mario's keys off the key rings on the wall and put them in the basket :P. John and I left the kids with Mom and then headed for McAllen to drop off the bag of clothes, toys and a brand-new Scooby blanket for the Garcia family. I stop by Mario's work first, just to chat and as I'm leaving one of his co-workers tells me to go the other way, since something's going on at the Chase Bank Tower. I go the way he instructed me to and sure enough, when passing the bank we see a whole bunch of people standing outside the bank, looking up. There's cops and firemen everywhere. We try our hardest to find the building, but with all the one-way streets over there it was kind of difficult. I call the number in the newspaper and the lady says they're located right behind Chase Bank, but they're being evacuated so she was on her way home. I ask what happened and she said there was a bomb threat and everyone was told to leave. She told me I could drop them off today. Just my luck. I want to do something nice and it's the day the whole damn place is evacuated! I had Mario take the bag with him today to drop it off for me, since I didn't want to drive all the way over there for nothing again. I hope he got it to them okay. Mom's behind me, crocheting a blanket for Alaethia. She'd been wanting to start crocheting again, but after not crocheting for almost 30 years she'd forgotten how. She didn't stop trying till she "got it" again yesterday and now she's about a fourth of the way through with the blanket. It's all cute and pastel-ly :). I'm so glad she's got a hobby again; she's thrilled about it. Now she can teach me how! I've always wanted to learn but my brain turns to mush when I try to learn from tutorials online. It's taken me half the day, literally, to type this out while doing everything else I need to do. I have to stop slacking and start cleaning this place up since Jorge, Mario's godfather, will arrive here from California sometime tomorrow and I don't want him seeing this mess. Tomorrow's also the day that I'm PRAYING we finish with our Christmas shopping. I do not want to be in town on the 23rd and 24th--it's way too dangerous. I still need gift ideas for some people, too. Which reminds me: I need to e-mail Noelia to send me a copy of her List. The hard one's going to be Mario's dad. We still owe him a birthday present from the beginning of December! We can never find his sizes or the stuff he wants :(. Okay, that's it. I'm going to start from the kitchen and work my way to the bathroom and living room. THEN I'll tackle the bedrooms.