Category: Domestic-ness

I have to pick Eenan up in 20 minutes, so I’m going to try to type as fast as possible. The last time I posted Jaylen and I went on a walk to Eenan’s school to pick him up. It wasn’t as lovely as I was hoping it was going to be. I ended up having to take the humungous Eddie Bauer stroller since the little one was in Mary’s van. It was my fault since I should have gotten it out the night before. It started getting REALLY hot too: 85 degrees and breezy, my butt! We get there and Ms. O. sees us and brings Eenan to us with a really sullen look on her face. I ask, “How’d he do today?” and she said, “Not good. He put gum in a little boy’s hair while we were at the graduation practice.” I lectured him, once again, grounded him and he felt really bad, especially since the little boy’s one of his good friends. He ended up getting a referral (Eenan) since it was put in the little boy’s hair. I was a bit upset that they didn’t do anything to the little boy, since he did start it all by putting the gum down Eenan’s shit. I politely let the teacher know how I felt about it the next day, but I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Hopefully Eenan learned his lesson and behaves the rest of the year. I don’t even want to know what’ll happen if he gets a 3rd referral (the first one was for when he kicked the little boy in the nuts .

It was Mario’s day off yesterday and we literally just chilled out all day…didn’t do a thing. It was kind of nice not having to have any errands or anything. We did finally take apart the bunk beds and threw them out…the room is MUCH spacier now. Hopefully now I can convince Mario to finally split the darn bedroom, but I doubt that’ll happen what with hardly having any days off.

We went to Jorge and Maggie’s last night and the men chit-chatted over beer while we chit-chatted. It was nice to finally see her. Hopefully we’ll go over again tonight and maybe go to the new Wal-Mart together buahahaha .

Jaylen was too cute last night. Justin and Jorgie had already been put to bed and he was outside with us (Eenan was sleeping over at Mary’s). I saw his legs from under the back of Jorge’s Explorer and I called him over. He says, “Hold on Mom, I’m getting a froggie.” He ended up actually catching the huge frog and was just holding him and talking to him. He was using him as a little airplane and was “flying” him around when he dropped the poor thing so Mario convinced him to take him to the back of the house. I was so afraid the frog would “pee” on him but he actually didn’t. They never pee on him now that I think about it. Yet, when I get them they’re franticially whizzing everywhere!

Okay, it’s time. We gotta go if I want to be one of the first ones . I hate waiting there for an HOUR!

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Been trying to update all day and of course, never got a chance. Oh, what I’d give for wireless internet and a damn laptop. I’m gonna start saving for one, dammit (a laptop).

Anyway, my birthday was lovely . Thank you all who wished me a Happy Birthday…I’ll get back to you all individually soon!

My birthday was so totally not what I expected for some reason…and that’s good. I didn’t think we’d do anything to begin with, but we did, and on my actual birthday, not on the weekend like I initially thought.

I woke up and got Eenan ready for school then dropped him off. The first thing he said when he woke up was “Happy Birthday, Mama!!” Then, when I left him at his class his teacher wished me a happy birthday too. I thanked her and asked how she knew and she said, “He’s been talking about it non-stop since Monday”. My baby! *tear* When I got back I just sat on the couch and idly watched TV. Mario woke up, wished me a happy birthday and then asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I was craving an omelette and so he made me one. It was the cheesiest, tastiest omelette with ham, jalapenos, and cilantro I’ve ever eaten and although I may have gained 5 lbs. that morning, OMG it was SO worth it!

We plopped ourselves on the couch after our gluttonous breakfast and after flipping through channels, Mario decided to cancel the Starz package and got Showtime. After a few seconds of flipping again, I found one of my favorite 80’s movies, For Keeps?. Mario, being the wonderful husband that he is, sat through it and toughed it out to make me happy .

We picked Eenan up from school and I see him bringing a cupcake with him. Ms. O. told Mario (since he’s the one who got off the car to get him) that a little boy had a birthday party and Eenan refused to eat the cupcake…he said he was keeping it for me since it was my birthday . How freaking sweet is THAT? He even brought me a party hat…aww!

I took my time getting ready when we got home. We’d be meeting at Yadira’s for my birthday. We had lasagna, spaghetti and salad and everything was delicious. Bless Mary’s heart for cooking everything . They also surprised me with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! I’d told Mario I’d love to have one and they got me one! It was delicious. Mario ended up having two slices LOL.

After cake, I opened my gifts. Mary and Big Mario got me a gorgeous heart-shaped ruby necklace (that I’m dying to wear somewhere!) and Cata, Annie and the kids got me two cute T’s–one with Tinkerbell and one with the Pink Panther. Yazmin wrote me a letter on a Hello Kitty card and gave me two Hello Kitty Uno cards with a 2 and a 3 on them…too sweet . I was a happy, happy girl.

My nose was red-raw because I was constantly blowing it. Egh! I’m just glad I wasn’t as sick as I thought I was going to be. I think *knocks on wood* that I may have actually skipped the cough part of this thing!

The next day was the usual. Jaylen and I just chilled out here. I had cleaning to do, so I was kind of relieved that Sonia would be picking Eenan up for me. John came over since he’d be spending the weekend here for Jaylen’s party. Mario got out of work a little early and took me out to a movie for my birthday. We watched Beauty Shop. Mario was cringing at the thought of watching a “girlie movie” but he actually enjoyed it. My favorite line in that movie’s got to be “It’s hotter than a jalapeno’s coochie out there.” That’s how I’d describe a south Texas afternoon . The only thing I didn’t like was that we once again sat in front of a bunch of annoying little kids who were constantly kicking our seats. I refrained from smacking the little girl behind Mario and instead yelled at her to quit her shit. What is it with these morons? I don’t pay almost $8 to have my damn seat kicked .

After the movie, we went next door to Wal-Mart and Mario bought me two DVD’s I wanted, 50 First Dates and 13 Going on 30–both make me cry like a baby at the end . We tried looking for Independence Day for him, but had no luck.

The next day after we ate breakfast and Mario left to work I got ready and went to town with Mary to run errands. Eenan stayed with John. First thing we did was pay bills. I paid all of them and it felt so nice getting everything out of the way. Then we went to Target where I bought a cute brown shirt with embroidered flowers on it and my favorite bras which were on sale. We went to Pet Smart for rat food and I saw some red eared sliders–they were HUGE. My babies are going to (hopefully) get that big one day .

We went to the new Wal-Mart, which was extremely crowded, to get a few things we needed for the goodie bags for Jaylen’s party. I also found Pocky sticks! I’ve never seen them at the other Wal-Mart, or anywhere else for that matter.

When we were on our way home there was this green truck in front of us. It suddenly stopped in front of the drive thru shaped like a 6 pack of Cokes so we stopped too, naturally. Then we felt this huge smack that jerked us foward. Someone hit us. Since Jaylen had been moody, I’d reluctantly sat him on my lap and he fell asleep. I’m so, so grateful that nothing worse happened. I couldn’t sleep that night thinking, “What if he’d taken his seat belt off if he was in his seat?”, “What if it would have been much worse and he was on my lap? What if he flew out the windshield?!” “We were in the van, what if we were in one of the smaller cars?” I’m extremely anal about them being in their seat belts and I couldn’t believe we get hit when he’s not in it. Instinctively I wrapped myself around him when I felt the van jerk foward and immediately afterwards I felt my back start throbbing. When we were getting off to check the van, I hear Mary say, “Oh my God, he’s leaving!” Asshole . I asked the men that were standing nearby if they saw where he went. He’d reversed and then made a U-turn and sped off and according to the men, his whole bumper was hanging off. There was glass everywhere and it wasn’t from the van. All that happened to the van was a piece of plastic fell off of something, the bumper got scratched and the license plate fell off. May karma strike that man and his car .

After calming down and shaking it off, we came home. Mary made broccoli rice for Mario’s Grandpa Leo’s birthday party and I cleaned up and then bathed the kids. I took an Advil after bending over the tub to wash them because my back was killing me. We left to pick Mom up from work–she’d be spending the night also for Jaylen’s party. We went to the other Wal-Mart afterwards to pick up a few more things they didn’t have at the other Wal-Mart and to exchange a gift Mom bought Jaylen since Andy bought him the same one. THEN we went to Grandpa Leonel’s party. The food was awesome and they even sang Happy Birthday to me LOL. The kids had fun running around with the puppies and all their cousins. On the way home, Mom gave me my birthday present from her–a beautiful silver heart-shaped necklace with lots of little pink and white stones on it .

When we got home I fed everyone and then we worked on the rest of the Ninja Turtle centerpieces–just touch ups here and there. I got everything ready for the next day and finally finished around 12am.

The next day we all got ready, had breakfast and then got ready to leave to town since we had lots of stuff to do before the party. Mom and Eenan would go with Mary and John and Jaylen would go with us. We went to JCPenny to leave a payment and get Jaylen some new shoes and a shirt for Mario. Then to Payless to exchange some shoes Mom had given me…I got some cute, brown Airwalk flip flops to match my blouse. Then we went to Pet Smart to get the filter for the turtles’ tank, some crickets for them, water conditioner and some new, bigger pebbles for their tank since we removed the gravel ones (they might think they’re food and eat them). I still want to get them a background for their tank and a cute ceramic/resin? palm tree they had there .

We went to Wal-Mart again to get Jaylen a new gift from Mom and John needed some stuff so he got them. Then we went to Best Buy to get Independence Day for Mario and then to Home Depot for heaven-knows-what that he needed and then to Dairy Queen, which was right across from the party, to get Mario some food since he was “starving” and said the pizza wouldn’t fill him up. I got a yummy caramel Moolate *swoon*.

When we got to the place, Eenan was already playing and Jaylen quickly joined him. John watched them for us while we got stuff ready at the tables.

Aunt Nora and Tio Arturo were some of the first to get there. We mingled while we were waiting for them to bring out the pizzas. Albert’s wife, Jannette, got there with her two nieces and her baby, Alan. I sat with her for a good while and we ate and talked. She’s nice . Jaylen had a blast. We brought everyone together to sing to him while he and Eenan poked at the cake as usual LOL.

After we ate cake, it was time for him to open his gifts. I think he needed a nap by then because he was quickly becoming irritated. He was grunting when I’d ask him to take pictures with his gifts.

He opened a few presents and then got to Andy’s, which was the Rafael (or Rafayeld, as Jaylen calls him) set with the bandana, sai (?), belt, and elbow/knee pads. He didn’t want to open anything else after that. Then Eenan wanted to play with it so all hell broke loose LOL.

They played a little more and then the party was over. We thanked everyone for coming and then dun*dun*dun…it was time to pay. We were SO surprised to find out it was only $281 this time. We’d given $100, and Mom had given $100 for the deposit, and Mary put in the $81. I’m so glad they help us out each year and I’m so glad it wasn’t so pricey this time (there’s usually a whole lot more people). One year it came out to $725…yeah, heart attack .

We dropped Mom off at home and she noticed she didn’t have her shoes–she’d left them at our house so I said I’d go drop them off. I cleaned up while Mario set up the new stuff in the tank for the turtles. Then John, Jaylen and I left to Mom’s. I wasn’t too nervous driving all the way over there, which surprised me since it was my first time driving all the way over there without Mario instructing what to do and where to go. The off-ramp made me nervous, but I did okay, and when we passed by the big Coke drive-thru I got nervous too, because I remembered when that idiot hit us. Other than that I did good. I sat and had a chat with Mom and Aunt Nora for a good hour and then we left.

John stayed over again that night since he didn’t have to go into school till noon on Monday. I cut his hair that morning after dropping Eenan off and then helped Jaylen open the rest of his presents, when he finally remembered there were some (he was still clutching on to his sai sword thingy Andy got him though!). I cleaned the house most of Monday…it was chaotic. Sonia picked Eenan up again for me that day since I wasn’t going to use Noelia’s car. I went to the Dollar General with Mary for a few odds and ends and got some scrapbooking stuff. I want to start scrapbooking so badly, but need more supplies first. I’ve got so many ideas! When we got home, I started on Jaylen’s cake. Since the 18th was his actual birthday, I was baking him a cake to celebrate. He wanted green frosting, so I used up 1/4 of a bottle of green food coloring to do it. Then I drew Rafael on it LOL. He liked it. He blew out his candles, then we ate cake and he opened his presents. Later Yadira stopped by with the girls and they had some cake too. Yadira said she didn’t like yellow cake (all we had) but she tried it and ate it all. She said, “And I really don’t like this. Dammit, Yajaira!” I guess it was good cake !

We talked about the kids’ first days of school and then she mentioned maybe putting him in Head Start next year, since he’s already 3 and is potty trained. I’m not sure if we’ll qualify, or if I even want him to go there (she took Angela out since the teachers or whatever they are were being sort of negligent). But then I really want to start school and get a job and all that jazz…so ugh, we’ll see.

After everyone left, we came back here and Mario got home. He ordered Flight of the Phoenix…very good movie.

As for today, it was spent cleaning once again. After picking Eenan up from school we went to the Family Dollar where I bought 3 stacking shelf things for them to put their toys in. Jaylen’s Ninja Turtle box became too small after all the Ninja Turtle gifts he got this weekend and their Dinosaur boxes are overflowing. I got them to help me clean the room because it was a disaster and I painstakingly scrubbed crayon off the floor since Jaylen decided to scribble all over . I got all my chores done early and still got to enjoy American Idol and I Want a Famous Face, or whatever it’s called. It’s already 12:23 though, which sucks because I actually thought I was going to get to sleep early. I forgot to wash Mario’s work clothes during the day and had to stay up for that . I’m ready to crash right now.

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Thank you all for Eenan’s well-wishes . He stayed home from school on Thursday because he couldn’t stop coughing the night before and his fever would come and go. He felt much better Friday so he went. Sunday, he spent laying on the couch all day, except to eat or go to the bathroom. He was completely lethargic, so I kept him home on Monday, too. Monday morning, around 6am, was also when Jaylen’s flu started…he had a fever of 101.6 and was coughing badly. Eenan went to school today; I hope he’s doing alright. I gave him his medicines right before I dropped him off, so he should be alright till he gets home.

Jose, Elda and the kids all left on Saturday afternoon. Elda didn’t want to leave and that’s because she was having a hard time with the fact that they’re moving over here during summer. That’ll be cool. Then all we’ll need is for Jorge to move over here from California and all of Mario’s side of the family will be in the Valley.

I can’t believe all the stuff that’s been on the news. First, the inhumane way Terri Schiavo died, then the Pope’s passing and then yesterday while watching the news at 5 I heard about an 8th grader at a school in McAllen had stabbed another 8th grader in the back with a pocket knife. The victim lived and is back at school and is okay, thank goodness. I can’t believe that happened over here. I tend to stay away from the news because I’m afraid of what the hell I’m gonna see. I’ve said it a million times: I fear for when my own kids are in middle/high school. Some kids are terrible these days. Then I heard about how a Judge (who’d served the county for 10 years) resigned, then I watched the news again at 6 and they had breaking news about how they found him dead at his home with a gun shot wound to the head. I know he’d been under investigation by the FBI due to allegations he was accepting bribes, but why would he leave a wife and 5 boys behind? It’s sad.

My birthday’s in 9 days and it doesn’t even feel like it. I’ve been too busy thinking about Jaylen’s birthday party which is coming up on the 17th (his birthday’s on the 18th). We haven’t even discussed what we’re getting him for his birthday. We still haven’t even gotten the ceramic Ninja Turtle piggy banks (which will be the centerpieces), or the candy (which we mostly get in Mexico), or the party favors and goodie bags. I have a feeling the next two weekends will be madness.

Oooh…forgot to mention. Saturday night we’d gone to Wal-Mart and Eenan had $.50, so he got two goldfish; Goldie #2 and Indigo and I bought a little Ghost Shrimp–cutest little thing. Well, we got home, I arranged the tank–even got them a portable filter/pump this time and the damn fish ended up dying before we went to bed. My shrimp was okay–till the next day. He died too. I did some research online and found out that if there’s even one sick fish in the tank the rest will get sick–and most likely–will die too. We went back to Wal-Mart to look for a filter for the turtles’ tank and looked at the tanks where we’d gotten our fish and there were at least 4 floating at the top. I wonder how many people have bought fish there that have died already. How crappy. Poor fish .

That night Yadira called us and asked if we wanted to adopt Squirt, Angela’s turtle. They had two, but Shelly had passed away that day and she didn’t want the other one to die so they gave him to us. So now we have three happy little turtles . They’re so fun to watch…I need to make a page for them soon and show off their cuteness. I think Mario and I get a kick out of them more than the boys do!

Mario got out of work Sunday and we went shopping for a few things. John actually came by this weekend (only because he missed his bus Friday after school ) and stayed with the boys while we went since they were sick. We went to Target and got Eenan a Gamecube game and a CD player for Jaylen since he didn’t have one yet. We were looking around for a new shelf or something for DVD’s and while looking at the furniture I fell in love with this tiny table and chairs that would fit perfectly in the kitchen. I want it so badly. The table we have right now a foldable one borrowed from Mary, since our wooden one was wayyy too huge for our space and our chairs are old, ugly chairs we used to use outside. My table and chairs embarrass me. One of the reasons I don’t like having company over…really.

After we went to Target, we got some drinks at Starbucks. I finally went to a real Starbucks and man was my Caramel thingy good! Usually, we’d only buy the Frappuccinos from Wal-Mart or H-E-B…the ones in the little milk bottles? But yum…I can’t wait to go back.

We went to Wal-Mart after that to get house necessities and found a new DVD rack. It wasn’t exactly what we were looking for, and it’s not black, but it fit all our DVD’s. Now Smokey, the gerbil, is tucked nicely in one of the shelves in the entertainment center and I still have to move all the electronic junk (Xbox, Dish Network receiver, Game Cube, VCR, DVD player, and the surround sound thing) around to make it look neater and utilize the empty shelves. I wish I was craftier and more creative so I could figure out how to make things fit nicely in this small place. I realized something while watching HGTV though…you need $$ to be organized, and sadly, I don’t have any extra $$ right now .

Okay, I’ve blabbed enough. Gotta finish with laundry *yawn* and help Eenan with his homework (Sonia just picked him up for me since I didn’t have a car today). Then I gotta try and catch up with online stuff. My inbox is ripping at the seams .

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