Category: Domestic-ness

Getting Stuff Done

Pixydust.net has been renewed for 2 more years! Not that very much has been or will be done with this website, but I just can’t let the darn thing go. (As much as it creeps me out sometimes,) there are too many visual memories saved here and I just can’t do away with it!

We got a 3-day (surprise weekend) at work, so I was off since Friday. It worked out perfectly since the girls had their Veteran’s Day program. Alaethia and her cheer team were performing and Emily’s class was singing. I’d missed Alaethia’s very first performance last month since it was when we had that delegation here from San Miguel De Allende.

Anyway, Mom actually went along for once, and their dad, too. It was a quick, but very sweet and emotional program. Of course I got goosies and was all choked up during the National Anthem, and got teary again at the end when Mr. Guerra sang “God Bless the USA”.

I didn’t get to take very many photos, especially because Emily was far and Alaethia was in the middle of her cheer team, but I snapped one when they were dispersing to their classrooms. Once I helped Alaethia change into her regular clothes, we hugged them goodbye and then Mom and I searched high and low for the new NES Classic console. I don’t know why I thought I’d actually find one, when all the crazies were out making lines at 5am πŸ™ . I wish I could have been one of those crazies, but I forgot! Oh well. Maybe the next batch πŸ™ .

Mom treated me to Wing Stop (those fries and nacho cheese. Mmph.), and then I dropped some off to Jorge, who was stuck at work without a chance for lunch.

I went back home afterwards and started taking down and wrapping up Halloween decorations. Mom went crazy buying little things here and there, which ended up turning into a dining table full of stuff to put away. I had to get another box.

I spent the evening watching Food Network and browsing Pinterest getting ideas on how to finish decorating my living room. Jorge and I decorated together when we moved in 5.5 years ago, but I wanted something bright and fresh that won’t break the bank. I started with dusting off two art pieces I had that I wanted to frame. So I went through my box of cheap Goodwill frames and found 2 that I would need to paint.

When Jorge got home from work he showered and then we had dinner at the Food Park!
We had our usual aguas frescas from Antojitos Beba and then we headed to Nuri Food Truck where I had a Q-dilla, Jorge had his favorite Devine Swine tacos and we shared the extremely delicious Bulgogi Pork Belly Kimchi Fries (Fries Carlito’s Way). They are literally finger-lickin’ good!

Nuri Food Truck

We went home and caught up on Grey’s Anatomy, and it wasn’t long till I passed out!

The girls had a UIL meet early the next morning, so I got ready, saw Jorge off and headed to their school to meet them and Mario.

It felt like time went by in a flash, then John (Audrey and Maddie’s dad) reminded me it’s because we used to have to stay all day for Chess! It’s a welcome change πŸ˜† .

I saw my little ladies off when they were done with their stories/competing and I headed to Goodwill, for yes, another frame. I found nothing except Monster High and MC2 dolls for the girls.

I went across the street to Wal-Mart to purchase a bin for the Halloween decorations and ended up finding some AWESOME pillows on clearance that would match the theme I was going for in the living room in my head πŸ˜† . They would match perfectly with my OtomΓ­ embroidered pillows I purchased from one of my awesome Artisans! I couldn’t believe my luck; they were $7 together!

Yay for cheap, colorful pillows!

I got home and started fixing things up, but not before I got bored enough to stop and meet Jorge for lunch :D. (I feel like my life really does revolve around food *sigh*.)

We went to Siempre Natural, where I had my usual turkey and bacon pita and fideo soup. I only ate half the pita and was so proud of myself. I dropped Jorge off at work and went straight to get my hair cut. It had literally been–wait for it–a YEAR since I’ve cut my hair. Jorge said if I didn’t go cut it THAT DAY, he and John would hold me down and he’d chop it himself!

So Ms. Rosie (my hairdresser) and I had a great, long talk while she chopped away at my hair. It’s still long (it was halfway down my butt; now it’s above it), but I should have asked for a more diamond-shape at the bottom like before πŸ˜• .

Mom and I went to see Gramma and then to Walmart because I wanted to find another one of each of the pillows! After searching high and low (literally), I found one of the pinwheel ones. It’s something, at least! I got a few grocery items and then got home and made Jorge some lemon butter salmon and some zucchini noodles :).

After dinner, Jorge and I sat to watch TV while I paid all the bills online. He got to see first-hand just how long that takes me (almost 2 hours!!).

We woke up the next day and I made us some chorizo, egg and bean tacos with queso fresco. I’d bought some refrigerated tortillas from one of my artisans the week before, and he gave me 2 more packs! They are delicious.

We lazied around and then spent the rest of the day running errands, like purchasing bathroom repair stuff from Home Depot and then Jorge took me around 2 more Wal-Marts to find more pillows (only found 1 more pinwheel one, but for $2!! WIN!!)

We got home and he worked on the bathroom, while I stood by for support (and later tidy-up duty). I made dinner and we watched “The Walking Dead”, which I’d missed the week before. I was passing out before we could even watch the current one πŸ˜• . Alas, as restful and productive as my weekend was, I could still use a whole other week off! It goes by too fast!

The End of October

It’s been a crazy few weeks. What with the girls having their extracurricular activities and having to leave work at 4 p.m. almost everyday for them, and having to get costumes ready, bills, groceries and work, work, work–I feel like there really aren’t enough hours in the day. Best believe there’s been no time for working out or hobbies πŸ™ .

But as tired and busy as I’ve  been (and oftentimes: overwhelmed) I’m glad that work events, activities with the kids and life in general have gone pretty smoothly.

Sally invited us to her and her friends’ Halloween party. We get invited every year, but for  some reason or another, haven’t made it. 

After paying bills and running  errands on a Saturday, the girls and I went to a thrift shop that I  used to frequent a lot about 10 years  ago. 

I had to figure out a costume for THAT evening because only I would buy my costume in September and try it on 3 weeks later only to find that it was completely see-through (and I could have done with losing about 10 pounds! That thing was skin tight!) The family is going with a Star Wars theme for Mia’s birthday this year, so no Princess Leia for me. Instead, I was going to figure out how to be an Ewok! Wicket, to be exact.

Emily unearthed this plastic turkey that we had an exact copy of  when I was little. Mom also  had a Santa and Rudolph! Of course it came home with us (not like I need more junk πŸ˜† !)

Just as I was about to give up on finding something, I couldn’t believe my luck! Not only did I find the perfect  teddy bear to behead for his ears, but I also found some burnt orange fabric and brown plush fabric to match the ears! We got home and I  got to work while I made dinner. 

I realized I DID NOT know how to sew a skirt, especially since the fabric really was some type of plush upholstery, but I tried my best and put something together within an hour. I’m happy to say everyone knew exactly who I was!

Darth Vader and Wicket the Ewok
Sally and me πŸ™‚

Jorge and I are both a bit socially awkward when we don’t know people, so we didn’t think we’d stick around long but we ended up staying a good 1.5 hours! (Ooh, party animals!)

We had our Wine Classic event that was “The Great Gatsby” themed so I had to figure out how to run all these errands at work AND find myself a 1920’s looking dress! So of course I would run to thrift shops during lunch to find pieces to make this outfit possible. I ended up finding a black lace dress with beige liner and a kid’s-size flapper dress I wanted to cut the fringe off of. When I finally got around to working on the dress…the fringe wasn’t enough! So I conceded to the fact that I’d have to actually purchase some downtown. Meh.

So I found the fringe on one of our craft-shopping trips, and I found my shoes and headwear later downtown as well. I was literally working on my dress, hand-sewing the fringe during my lunch hour that same day!

I rushed around finishing things at work and rushed off to Quinta Mazatlan to help Gerry. I was posted at the silent auction room like I am every year πŸ™‚ . Where all the yummy desserts are!

I’m proud of myself for maintaining control of myself throughout the event, but now that I’m looking at the photos, I’m having major regrets about not tasting everything πŸ™ !!

Anyway, my outfit worked out (the fringe never unraveled!) and I managed to throw my hair into an up-do that sort of made sense. (It actually worked out much better during my trial-run at home!):

My plummage and fringe!
My plummage and fringe!
The view outside

It was an awesome event, Gerry always outdoes herself! Clean-up was crazy but seemingly fast and Gerry, Ryan and I ended up having our actual dinner at 1am at Whataburger, hehe.

Briana, Dina and the kids had arrived while I was working the previous day. We got up and got ready to have Mia’s 7th birthday party, Star Wars themed! Briana goes all out! It was a crazy whirlwind of going to Walmart, getting tables and chairs, attempting to help Briana with snacks (my Jello brain was good, the white chocolate I bought for our pretzel mummies was so bad! Stick with the good stuff, even if it’s more expensive. Then we had to get ourselves and all the kids ready, but the end-result was awesome! Jorge, Briana and the kids even did the Imperial March as the big open πŸ˜† !

Grpup Pic!

It’s a good thing I got a group photo!! The boys lasted all but 15 minutes in their costumes!

My mom-in-law!
Me with my sis-in-law!
The birthday girl, Mia, who wasn’t in the mood for photos, ’cause, hello, MOONJUMP!
My 2 little ladies, Rey and Captain Phasma. Rey didn’t want her accessories most of the time!
There they are!
Chewy!
Star Wars Bingo!
Happy birthday to Mia!
My BFF and me!

It was so fun! Glad Sally and the kiddos got to make it, too! I never got around to trimming the “hood” of my costume (it was supposed to be v-shaped at the front *sigh*), but all-in-all, it was a blast and the kids were chocolate-wasted and strewn all over the place. Love those family gatherings!

First Day of School, 2016

It’s been a while since I last updated (don’t  I always begin my posts like that??). I have several posts started but not completed and I can’t promise myself I’ll ever finish them, but it’s important that I document today. 

Emily entered 2nd grade, Alaethia entered 4th, Jaylen entered 9th grade early college (a Freshman!!) And Eenan entered 12th. Twelfth!! He’ll be in college before I know it and I don’t know what I’ll do with myself!

Jules entered kinder (aww) and both Justin and Jorgie entered 9th. So we have 3 FRESHMEN!! WHAT?!

Jorge and I spent most of the day cleaning yesterday. The kids were at the other parents’ houses but since it was their first day today, Mario brought the girls back Sunday night instead of Monday morning. I got to see the boys like we usually do the night before school starts, and we had their photo sesh.

They’re hilarious; they each switched sibs πŸ˜† .

I reluctantly saw the boys off, after hugs and smooches and well wishes. I’ll never get over not being able to see them off to bed or wake them up for their first day of class :'( .

We were all still in summer mode, but eventually the girls finished showers, the spaghetti and meatballs were done, teeth were brushed and new clothes were picked. (I let them make their own fashion choices this year, since shopping for what I like for them has backfired in the past 😳 .) 

At one point during dinner, I watched in awe at what sweet, funny, adorable daughters I had. I turned to Jorge and said, “I should record them to remember them like this. Before they turn into teenagers and don’t like me.” Alaethia says, genuinely surprised, “Mama, why would we ever do that??” I hope she remembers!

Goodnight hugs and smooches were given at least 4 times, and then it was really time for bed. I slept around 4 hours, but was ready when the alarm went off. The girls woke up in great moods and were excited. Mario and I exchanged photos of the kids when they were ready.

*sigh* I made those *beams* πŸ˜€ .

They all had great days and love their teachers (the boys, for the most part anyway). I had a good chat with all of them about their day. Emily was upset she didn’t get to sit with Maddie after all, but hopefully the teacher will rotate them and at least they’re finally in the same class!
Here’s to a great year for all of us!