Category: Home Improvement

Right after my previous post yesterday, I started on my to-do list. I accomplished most of my tasks.

I paid the bills online, then I put my bedsheets to wash (haven’t gotten a chance to wash everything, but I *have* to do that today. Oh, how I hate folding…), and went to Dollar Tree to get a few things for an Easter Egg wreath. I’d seen Laurie’s post about this wreath and it looked easy enough. I couldn’t find a cute bow (that was already made, heh) or basket grass, so I’d try at HEB later.

We visited Gramma and chatted for a while. Her new roommate was still a little loud, but wasn’t screaming like last week. She did ask me, several times, to help her, call her mother, help her get out of there, etc., but once I called a nurse for her she quickly stopped. The nurse gave me a meaningful look, like she does that all the time. Poor lady . And poor Gramma most of all!

Mom asked where I wanted to eat. Since she’s on a strict diet and can’t really have carbs at all it was hard to choose a place, but we ended up going to Kumori since she could get riceless rolls. (I was unsure how to bring this up to Jorge–going to Kumori without him–but once I saw his FB photo post of his sub at Texadelphia I figured it was ok, heh.)

We didn’t have to wait and our food was out super fast. Mom’s plate was a little…little but she said it was filling.

We made our way to grocery shop, which I loathe probably a bit more than folding laundry, but it was a surprisingly fast shopping trip. I got a few more Petunias And I found some basket grass for the wreath. I’d have to do without the bow .

I was just getting home when my love called that the boys would be dropped off by their mother. Good thing I’d just arrived. I put everything away, with Mom’s help, and the kiddos got here. Jorge got here a few seconds later and we sat outside chatting with Freddy. He’d brought us a bottle of red wine, from 2000. I forget the name at the moment. I really wish I could let red wine grow on me, but all the ones I’ve tasted so far are way too strong and dry . I usually stick to Moscattos or Moscatto D’astis.

I put the baby down for a nap and mom stayed with him while Jorge and I finished cleaning the shower. I got started on dinner: lasagna and garlic bread. We ate and then I got started on my Easter egg wreath. My babe cut the cardboard for me, because I failed miserably when I tried, heh. I need to glue more fluff around the edges and I might even stick some flowers on there, but we’ll see.

For now, I’m just happy having a cute Easter wreath!

We chilled out after that because Jorge was exhausted from work. We wanted to watch a movie with the kids, but we knew that we’d end up passing out. We went to the bedroom and the baby fell asleep quite easily and slept the entire night! I woke up at 9 and was completely refreshed :).

I made regular and banana pancakes and hazelnut coffee for breakfast. We lazied around till lunchtime, I spoke to my kiddos (miss them !!), and then my love hung our drapes in the dining room. They make such a huge difference in the room!

The drapes were a gift from one of his customers. They are expensive panels!

We couldn’t put up our brown micro-suede panels, because they sort of clash with the drapes. I really hope we can find a place for them; they’re so nice! –Nevermind! We’re removing the collage frame and putting one suede panel on each north and south wall, instead of flanking the drapes like we’d originally wanted to. It works!

We have to remove the Van Gogh painting from the northside wall of the dining room that Jorge’s mom gave us because the orange in the painting clashed with the drapes, too. But we moved it to the wall where the bistro set us and it goes really well :). I’d been thinking about the color scheme for the kitchen and, thanks to the painting, I think we’re going with blue and orange :).

And right now Jorge is dropping off the little guy and I’m getting ready to go outside and salvage my little flowers! I need to accomplish a few more things before this day is over. We’ve got an early day tomorrow, as we usually do on Mondays :).

There goes my neighbor; showing off on his riding lawn mower, manicuring his green yard. I’m sitting at the dining room table, scowling at him between the open spaces of the window blind, and staring down at my already-feral looking yard that needs a trim badly and is slowly becoming yellow ! We must call the lawn guy soon, before we get a scolding that we waited too long and the grass can ruin the lawn mower belt like last time, LOL.

Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not much of a gardener. I guess it’s a learning process, but I did a few things wrong when we planted our little flower bed. I didn’t keep the little card thingies that have the name of the flower and the info. *facepalm* I know what the Petunias are, and I know that they do well in sunlight and should be watered every 2-3 days. When I was watering them every day they were wilting. I didn’t know that Impatiens, one of the other flowers we planted, were supposed to be watered daily and should be in shade most of the day. And the other plant, that has already fully wilted *cries*, well–I don’t even know the name of the poor thing to try and look up info on it to save it !!

I’m going to have to remove the flowers that don’t belong. Maybe I can salvage the unknown pink/white flower if I put it in a little, cute pot and move the Impatiens to a more shady area and just plant more Petunias in their place? It makes me annoyed because the Convention Center has Impatiens and they’re in a sunny area all day and theirs look nice!!

ANYWAY. It’s so quiet this morning. The kiddos are with Mario. I miss the usual sounds of “Good Luck Charlie” and giggling and “Mama, can you get me some milk?”

We watched “Cats and Dogs” Wednesday night before I bathed them and put them to bed for school the next day. I miss my cutie pies :)! And I miss the boys, whom I haven’t seen since last Thursday . I shouldn’t be the parent who has “weekend” visitation and it makes me sad and angry.

Blah. Anyhoot. The work-week was still a bit slow. And I stopped feeling like I should FIND something to do when I found out just how many events we have coming up. April and May will be a whirlwind, but it starts slowing down again in June.

Mario picked up the girls Thursday evening. Sorry, his mom did LOL. Again it was a weird, quiet hour where I just sat and attempted to watch the news. Jorge had some great news for me, and asked if I wanted to celebrate with dinner at Chili’s. Of course I did! I’d been behaving myself all week, watching what I ate, so I think we deserved it ;).

I had a coupon for free queso, chips and salsa and we ordered Spicy Spinach Artichoke dip, which came with more chips and salsa, so we had an abundance.

By the time our food came out, we were so full of Mango tea and chips and dips that we hardly ate. Which was a good thing considering that my Shrimp Alfredo noodles were hard and rubbery :(. So I only ate the 6 shrimp that came with it.

We felt full, and I felt nauseous, so we went to Target to walk it off. We got our curtain rods (finally) and a soap dispenser I’ve been wanting since around 2007. I’m not exaggerating, either LOL.

So now that we have our curtain rods and drapes, all we need is a painting for that northside wall above the sectional. And then the living room will finally, after almost a year, be complete :)!

We came home to drop everything off and then met Rudy and Jr. at Cigar Bar to chill out. We realized that night, as we’ve been unfortunately realizing more and more, that we’re just not into the whole going out thing. It’s nice, for a little while, maybe an hour–but I really don’t know how people can spend HOURS clubbing or drinking, especially if you have to wake up to work the next morning. We only stayed out till midnight because we had to work the next day, but I’d had enough after just an hour. Didn’t help that the early-20’s crowd next to us was loud and obnoxious. And the drinks were pretty lame, too. I think they changed bartenders or something :(. We used to enjoy going there a lot more a few months ago.

Yesterday I met my love for lunch :). We wanted to go to El Terco, but it was insanely packed. That place got way too popular way too fast and they need to figure something out to expedite the coming-and-going of the lunch crowd. The lines to wait and pay were horribly long. We ended up at Palenque Chicken again across the street. I finished my entire bowl of food and felt horrible afterwards. I’m getting used to eating small portions, so when I stuff my face like I did at Chili’s and then at Palenque I feel terrible :(.

I got out of work early to take Mom to the doctor for her follow-up. Again, this woman got scolded. So now she’s on a health kick. Let’s see how long this lasts, shall we?

I tried busying myself when I got home. Michelle and I were going to go to the ribbon cutting for Legends, but we got lazy and didn’t go, heh. I was going to take a nap, but I felt guilty (STILL can’t change that) and I got up and went outside to water the lawn and give my flowers a pep-talk so they can LIVE.

I came inside and swept while I watched the news. I cleaned up the bathroom, did some laundry and tidied up here and there. I love when the house is clean and spotless :).

Jorge got home from work late and we sat and talked with Freddy outside for about an hour or so. Jorge and I were starving, so we decided to have an impromptu date and went to Kumori. The wait was long and I couldn’t get ahold of the manager so we had to wait like everyone else, grr :P.

We finally got seated at almost 9:30 and we had a cucumber martini and our usual jalapeno firecrackers, spicy calamari and our rolls. As we were leaving Jorge ran into one of his customers and he just so happened to be best friends with one of my ex-co-worker’s wives! She works at Eenan’s school now. It was nice having a brief catch-up. Jorge and I couldn’t get over what a small world this really is! It made me so happy when he said, “It made me feel good that you were with me and I got to introduce you to all those people.” He’s wonderful !

We came home and I changed into a t-shirt while he made me a mango Margarita. We sat outside catching up on American Idol and having our drink. We sat in our chairs, hand-in-hand and he turned to me and said, “I love this time that we spend together. It’s like a breath of fresh air.” I gave his hand a squeeze and told him, “I was seriously thinking the same thing to myself just now.”

I started nodding off right after the last American Idol. He joked that I was going to stay out there with him, even if he had to bring me a blanket LOL. So I told him to bring me one and I snuggled up in the chair. I told him he needs to get me a lounge chair or outdoor chaise for times such as that, heh.

Alrighty. I have a to-do list I’d like to get accomplished today, while I’m kidless. Like possibly buying Petunias, grocery shopping, cleaning the shower stall, laundry and cleaning my incredibly messy car. Possibly vacuuming it, too. We’re gonna visit Gramma, also. And I have to pay the online bills. –Did that one already ;). I better get on with it. I’ve got about 6 hours!

Leave it to WordPress to completely disregard what “Save Draft” means. Darn thing didn’t save my almost-finished entry!!

Ok. So, starting over. This has been quite a month of blessings :).

Started off the month celebrating Alaethia’s 5th birthday party. It was a cold and drizzly weekend, but I should have known better as her birthdays have all been during that type of weather. The kids couldn’t even enjoy the awesome moonjump Michelle’s dad hooked us up with. But at least they got to jump in there for a little while when it dried up the next day.

We had court just a few days later. I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve regained custody of my little lady, Alaethia . Those who follow me on Facebook were witness to my happiness :). It’s a dream come true! We’ve seamlessly fallen into a great routine. (Another plus is that I’ve lost 5 pounds since I started taking my lunch earlier to pick her up from school since I’m not eating at restaurants everyday, heh.) I can honestly say I FEEL like a mother again–I mean, I’ve had my Emmy, but getting Aly ready for school, getting updates from her teachers, dropping her off and picking her up, it’s just wonderful :*). I’d gone a year and a half without taking my kiddos to school :(. I’ve sincerely missed it.

I’m so thankful to Jorge, Mom, John and Sally for their unending love and support. And so grateful to my bosses for being so understanding with everything going on, even when I had an event coming up. I feel genuinely humbled by the love and generosity that surrounds me ♥!

Dina, Briana and the kids visited and Dina stayed with us :). It was fun watching shows and just catching up :).

A few days later it was Valentine’s Day. We hadn’t really made plans, but my love surprised me with reservations at Pappadeaux!

We got out of work, I picked up a few things for the girls, gave them their medicines since they were getting over a cold and made sure they were good before we left.

We sat outside the few minutes we waited for our table to be ready, listening to the wonderful singer who sounded like she was playing right off my iTouch LOL. She sang two of my favorite Adele songs and Norah Jones. It was great just being with my babe and spending time together. We’d had a hectic month so far and it was nice to just relax with each other and EAT, heh.

We had our usual fried alligator, some awesome shrimp dip, and oysters on the half shell which I LOVED! Jorge was quite pleased that I liked them, too :).

I can’t even remember what entrees we had, but OMG they were delicious. And we had New York style cheesecake for dessert. Lordy. I’m drooling just THINKING about it!

We had such an amazing night. We checked on the girls when we got home and they were sound asleep. We sat outside on the porch and reflected on the amazing day and year that we’ve had :D.

A week later, on Saturday, Sally and John came over. Sally and I took turns making waffles for the kiddos. For lunch, ’cause we’re awesome like that!

Sunday, we woke up from sleeping in. Yeah, right. The latest we can sleep in is 9am :P. We snuggled in bed before getting up to start the day. I had my eyes closed and opened them to find him sweetly staring at me. I cover my face and whine, “Baby! My hair is everywhere and I probably look terrible!” He laughs and says, “Oh, baby. It’s been 10 years, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” I giggle and say, “10 years?! Silly!”

We got up and got menudo and barbacoa tacos from Taqueria 7 Hermanas, one of my exhibitors who just so happen to be really close by. We ate and then went to Home Depot to get spotlights and got the sudden urge to start a little flowerbed. We had all our supplies and, although we didn’t exactly know what we were doing, we got working straightaway. I’m so proud of our work!

Our yard is looking so nice!

All week was spent doing Food Festival related stuff. It was an INSANE week, but when it came down to it, I was so proud of the event! Since we did a few things differently this year, we have a few things on our “things to change” list, but all-in-all, it was great! Mario took my kiddos (it was his night with them) and my love took his boys and they had a great time! Jorgie got to celebrate his birthday there :). I was so glad they had fun. I was debating whether I should post the video of the event or not, but heck, why not?

It was my little Emmos’ birthday on Friday, the 24th! We snuggled her with kisses in the morning and I let her know I’d be home after lunch.

It was strange returning to work on Friday and although we were busy with finances and other things having to do with the event, it was calm! Roda and I worked on the tally sheets and media surveys and I was out by noon. I picked up Emily’s gifts and she opened them when I got home. My babe had taken the day and was working on the last of the home-automation stuff he wanted to do. The girls and I took Mom to her lab appointment and then we got home and sang Happy Birthday :)! I got a great deal on her cake from Sweet and Tasty (another exhibitor, heh).

We spent the rest of the day playing and just being together ♥. we’re planning something special for Emily & Jorgie’s birthdays. I wanted to go with the whole moonjump thing but who knows how this crazy weather is going to be.

Mario picked the girls up when he got out of work that evening. Jorge and I had no idea what to do with ourselves in such a quiet house, which is usually the case when the kiddos aren’t here. I had a few gift cards from my exhibitors so I asked him what he thought about having dinner somewhere. He thought it was a great idea. Our first choice was closed so we went to our second, which was Hooters LOL. I was a little skeptical since the last time I’d been there was in 2008, when I was unknowingly pregnant with Emily and I’d had fried pickles and felt extremely nauseous, heh. But we had some this time and I was fine!

The next day we sorta slept in (yes, no kiddos and we still couldn’t manage to sleep in! We showered, cleaned up a bit, packed, went to the bank and stopped at Starbucks for some drinks. We’d been making plans for a month with Michelle & EZ to go to the beach, but the weather was just being uncooperative. Jorge and I, spontaneous as we are, decided we were going anyway :).

We talked about anything and everything on the way over there, it was a great :). Our first stop when we got there was lunch at Daddy’s, Jorge’s favorite place on the island. The food was so darn good. We’d been eating so much fried stuff I was sure I’d gained the 5 pounds I’d managed to lose!

We had TONS of food leftover so we packed it up (and had it for dinner at the hotel, heh). Speaking of, that was next on our to-do list: finding a hotel.

We got a great deal on a great room. We rested and then went for a chilly walk on the beach. I’d never been to the beach when it’s cold, it was nice :). I’d also never in my life seen so many jellyfish at one time or these weird clay balls. Poor Portuguese Man-o-War jellies :(.

We got to the hotel and ate dinner and then got ready to go to Louie’s Backyard to watch the UFC fight. I hadn’t had a Margarita in forever and ordered two of the best strawberry ones I’ve ever had! We also ordered these addictive quesadillas, which they messed up and brought us a whole other plate of LOL.

I have to say I had a great night’s sleep considering that I wasn’t in my own bed. Woke up refreshed! We had breakfast at the hotel and checked out. We drove around a while thinking of what to do next. The day was gorgeous so we decided to go to the beach for a while. We changed into our bathing suits in the van, which was quite a feat but we did it, heh.

We collected some shells and got back in the van and drove down the strip. We had an impulsive idea to go and do something crazy, but after thinking about it for a bit we decided we wanted to accomplish this when we were better prepared. So instead, we went to Pier 19 to have lunch. Courtesy of the restaurant :).

And after lunch, we went on a bay fishing trip! Also courtesy of the company ;).

I’m not crazy about my appearance in this pic, what with me being makeupless and my hair being frazzled by the humidity but I loved this trip and I want to remember it &hearts!

Dolphins! I caught them just barely, as they were going back under water.

We didn’t catch a darn thing LOL. We kept getting bites, but nothing got hooked. Well, I’d hooked a catfish…that quickly jumped back in the water! Apparently you don’t have as much luck fishing after a cold front . Now we know for next time. Because there will be one :).