Okay, so I didn’t update the day after my Long Update post like I said I would. I never had time. SO…I shall continue, for my own reference mostly. You may skip this entirely if you wish. It’s dreadfully long.
Thursday, Nov. 22nd – Thanksgiving Day. I woke up early to help Mary with the Thanksgiving preparations. The boys’d slept over at Mary’s house and were already awake and ready to come play Halo 3 but had to wait till Mario woke up. He slept till 11 or so, lucky. I kept having to come and check on Alaethia since she was sleeping in like her Daddy. The food was DELICIOUS, as it is every year. It was fun sitting around with everyone and chatting. It was nice having Noelia and Andy over especially, since we don’t get to see them that often these days. Everyone loved my Death By Chocolate desert. Andy ended up taking a huge chunk that afternoon when they left and then took some later on during the week LOL. Tommy and Mario went to the store to buy the newspaper to get the Black Friday ads, which is tradition in our family. We all sat around the table and worked out a game plan: we decided who was going to which stores and everyone got a list of what to buy. Yes, we’re that serious about getting a bargain!
Friday, November 23rd – Mario and I were in charge of Target. The main thing we were getting were the gifts for the boys. We tried sleeping but didn’t have much luck. Mario is constantly battling his insomnia and so he began playing on the computer after he couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sleep because of Alaethia. Mom was sleeping over and was watching the kiddos while we went on our shopping expedition. We made some coffee, grabbed our jackets and our bags and left the house at 2:30. We were so surprised to see tons of other crazy people on the road at that hour. We arrived at Target at 3am and sat our butts down on the cold concrete for another three hours. Of all the days for it to be in the 40’s. It was complete agony. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that cold in my life. I was wearing my white, puffy jacket, a beanie, a scarf and gloves and I still couldn’t get any type of relief. Mario was only wearing his fleece pullover and a beanie. We were huddled together trying to stay as warm as possible. When we’d first arrived I scoffed at the people who’d brought lawn chairs and thick blankets along with them but after about an hour of being in the cold I felt jealous. There were even some teenage boys in a tent!
People who were arriving late tried cutting in line or standing around at the entrance to try and get in, but I was pleased when the security guards held them back. There were 27 people before us when we’d arrived and at 5:30, when everyone stood up and got ready for the stampede, there were 40. Grr.
I started regretting having that warm cup of coffee when I got an incredible urge to go pee. We ran in when it was time to and grabbed a cart. We went straight to electronics. We couldn’t find the special edition Zelda DS’s anywhere; the reason we were there in the first place. Another woman and I followed each other around asking employees and managers. I guess we both figured we were after the same thing, so if one of us found it so would the other. In my search for the DS’s I left Mario behind, which was fine because he looked for other stuff we needed. I stood at the entrance of the back room with 3 ladies (and a whole bunch of other people behind us, PUSHING) because for some reason the employees brilliantly didn’t scan the games for sale. It took an additional half hour to actually get the games. The manager comes out and holds his hand up for silence. He asks one of the employees, Rodrigo — who’d already let me and the two other ladies know we’d be getting first choice — who were the people who were first in line and he points me me and the other women. Woo! At the last minute the manager was trying to tell me they had a limit of one DS per person and I told him HELL NO, just more nicely. While I was arguing with the manager, Mario was on his way back from the bathroom. He had a Powerwheels Jorge asked us to get for him in a cart and had to abandon it while he went to pee ’cause he couldn’t wait. We hoped it wouldn’t get stolen and thank goodness, it didn’t! We had a pretty successful shopping trip; we got everything on the list! Mary, Noelia and Andy were all at Walmart and Toys R Us and got everything they (and we) needed. Mario and I went to Home Depot and to Game Stop and then met Mary, Noelia and Andy at Denny’s for breakfast. We’d started our official shopping at 6am and finished by 9am. Well, the first part anyway. We got home and had a nap with Alaethia while Mom watched the boys and then it was back to town for Mario and I again. We picked up Mario’s paycheck and stopped at a few game stores and Harbor Freight and I forget where else. At night, we went to Nelsy’s (Annie’s sister) daughter’s 1st birthday party.
Saturday, November 24th – I don’t remember much about this day except doing more shopping with Mary. We left the house around 8am and spent a lot of the day in town. If I remember correctly, when I got home with Mary I left to town with Mom and the kids to visit Gramma at the nursing home. Alaethia turned 10 months old on that day :).
I tried looking for something to wear to a wedding Mario and I were going to on Sunday, but I couldn’t find anything. I’m not too fond of the moo-moo style that’s oh-so-popular these days. I don’t need to look any heavier, thank you.
Sunday, November 25th – I dropped Mario off at work in the morning and later on all us girls (and my boys) went to Jennifer’s baby shower. I won two games :). The boys had fun. Jaylen was really upset because he hadn’t won anything. He ended up winning the last prize, which was a little plaster trinket box that he now proudly displays in his room LOL. Too cute. Alaethia was adorable as usual and was passed around the room. We rushed home because I had to get ready for that wedding I was going to with Mario. I was a little moody about going, I mean, who has a wedding on a Sunday? I didn’t even have time to do my hair since I needed to pick Mario up from work, take him his clothes so he could change, and then rush to the wedding. It was just us for a long time, until two of his female co-workers joined us. It was actually a pretty cool wedding. Everything was really quick — not like those weddings that wait to serve the cake until 12am. I guess since they knew people had to work the next day (some of us wake up at 5:20 *cough*).
I really wished Mario and I could dance, even he said so. The entertainment was awesome. They hired this awesome 10-person band and they even had dancers, balloons and black-lights! It was so cool. I told Mario I wanted to leave by 9:30, but I made him stay till 10:30. He almost had to drag me out when we were walking out the front door and there were two guys on 8 foot stilts wearing funky patterned vests and pants — I just KNOW they were going to do something cool. But anyway, what we got to see was fun. I had a blast.
Monday, November 26th Ah yes, crunch time at work. This was the week we had to haul ass and pack as quickly as we could, because the next Monday, December 3rd, we’d be starting work/school at the new building (which is 8 miles away from my house. I’m used to driving 9 streets down and getting to work in 5 minutes.).
Tuesday, November 27th I think I spent a lot of this day making copies of reading logs and passes for our new folders at work. We closed the library (meaning no more circulation of books in or out of the library) and spent a good deal of time packing.
Wednesday, Nov. 28th We started taking in all the A/V equipment (TVs, overhead projectors and projector carts). I started feeling this weird tickling in my throat around the afternoon. I figured it was the dust from moving and boxing stuff up. I went to H-E-B with John later that evening and I started feeling achy and feverish while waiting in line to pay. The sickness developed rapidly; I felt like absolute crap at night.
Thursday, Nov. 29th – Decided to go into work, even though I felt like death warmed over. I couldn’t abandon the boss, she was already at her wit’s end about what to do (she told me herself). The boss had mercy on me, thankfully. She kept saying how sorry she felt for me and that I should have stayed home. Had kids helping us with our new reading folders. Just chilled out most of the day. Got back from lunch and some guy was at my desk, in my chair. Starts telling me about how he’s a sub and was basically fired on the spot because of some incident that happened with two female students. I didn’t want to seem like I was bothered, by in my head I was panicking a little. Even more so when my boss never got back from work (she had an hour lunch that day but was actually gone for about 2) and then there was an announcement about not letting the students out of the classrooms for any reason. I was dizzy and felt like total shit by the time work was over, and I still had to pick up the boys from school. Good thing work was only a 2 minute drive to their school at the time. I got home and went straight to the doctor. I felt so horrible, even my blood pressure was way up and concerned the nurses. I was given three meds, plus ear drops and Ibuprofen for my fever. I got home and had the hardest time staying awake or walking straight. I don’t usually get sick that severely, so I was pretty freaked out. I later realized the Durahist, or whatever it’s called, was the pill that made me drowsy and dizzy. I wouldn’t take it when I was going to drive or go to work.
Friday, Nov. 30th – Alaethia started getting sick Thursday night. I spent my Recovery Day taking care of both Aly and myself. We were both boogery and sick already, so there was no point in staying away from her. I took her to the doctor and when we came home, we snuggled on the couch and passed out. Mom took care of us. Mario was out doing God knows what with his Godfather, Jorge. I was so pissed at him that day. I hardly ever saw him anymore; either we were working or he was getting home late from going out. It got to the point where the mere sight of him (when I actually saw hime angered me. I kept wanting to say something about what I was feeling but didn’t want to start a full-blown fight. Besides, if we did start arguing, what would the argument lead to? That’s what scared me.
Saturday, Dec. 1st – I tried spending most of the day trying to recover from my awful flu. My ears were pounding but other than that, I felt a little better. My fever had finally subdued and I didn’t feel as dizzy. Mrs. Ruiz was having a quinceañera for her daughter that night, but Mario didn’t really make an effort to get out early so I was more than positive I wasn’t going. I spoke to Yazmin later in the evening and she said she’d be getting back from their football game earlier than she expected so she could accompany me. So I started getting myself and Alaethia ready. Mom offered to babysit the boys (who didn’t want to go) so we were golden. Mario got home as I was straightening my hair and said he’d get ready to go with us.
We get there and the place is packed. I’d never seen such a huge turn-out. Everything looked awesome, especially Mrs. Ruiz and her daughter! I couldn’t find her at first, so we went straight to sit down while Yazmin buzzed around talking to people she knew from school. Alaethia was so well behaved and we had some cookies while we watched a presentation Mrs. Ruiz’s daughter was participating in with the ROTC (we arrived too late for dinner 🙁 ). After only an hour of being there Yazmin wants to go home because she didn’t feel comfortable. Mario also kept saying we should go home, which bothered me because I did go to his co-worker’s wedding when I really didn’t feel like it and I ended up enjoying it very much. I kept dropping hints about it but he never got the point so we gathered our things and left. I said hello and goodbye to Mrs. Ruiz when we found her, chatted a bit and dropped Yazmin off. I was peeved. Mario asks if I’d like to go to Jason and Adan’s since we were already out and I said sure.
Mirella and I chatted and I expressed to her how frustrated with Mario I was lately. I even managed to mention a few things to Mario and he was, I can only imagine, a bit startled. He probably thought I was good and fine about “us” but he had no idea.
Monday, Dec. 3rd I couldn’t sleep at all Sunday night. I wasn’t able to attend any of the tours of the new school so I had no idea how long it was going to take me to get there, nor where I was supposed to park. I got about 3 hours of sleep total and woke up at 5:20. I used to wake up at 5:40, when work was 5 minutes away. Now it’s 12-15 minutes. Those extra 20 minutes I used to get made a difference, man. Doesn’t help that the road I take to avoid traffic is super dark. I felt like I was going to fall off the edge of the world the first week I was driving over there.
The new school is HUGE. Unfinished at the time, but huge. The library is in the center of the school and it’s enormous. Let me just smash that whole first week together: The power went out for about an hour the the water went out for two hours. We didn’t have any of our library furniture in; it would be ordered on the 12th and delivered the 14th. Oh yes, and the band was being housed in our empty library because the fine arts hall wasn’t complete. I didn’t mind the kids’ music much, it was the darn metronome that drove me nuts. Even when I wasn’t in the library I’d hear “Toc toc toc toc” in my head.
We didn’t have water for two whole days, Wednesday and Thursday. I ended up being on Water Duty, where we passed out cups of water to students. The district donated 1,000 bottled waters to the school those two days. Then they tell us we might “be that way” for a month or two. Thankfully the problem was fixed by Friday.
The boss and I kept ourselves busy by finishing up the reading folders, making boxes for each class to put the folders in, cataloged and passed out presentation carts to each teacher (I actually did that myself), inventoried A/V equipment, and my gosh I can’t even remember what else. Two days out of the second week I spent in the 7th grade hall as a hall monitor while the kids benchmarked. I spent a good amount of time reading The House of the Scorpion. That is a GOOD BOOK. I really hope they make it a movie. OH! Speaking of movies! Confessions of a Shopaholic starts filming this month and should be out by October 2008! I’m so excited about that :D. I think Isla Fisher will make an awesome Becky Bloomwood!
Getting back on track…My darn phone wouldn’t get signal at work since we’re way out in the boonies so I was really bummed because Sally was due to go into labor at any minute. I was even more bummed that I was still sort of sick and wouldn’t be able to be AT the hospital with Sally like we’d both wanted. On Tuesday, December 4th, the day of my dad-in-law’s birthday, Pete and Sally’s little Peanut, Quentin Cash, was born. He’s so fair-skinned and might just have Pete’s hazel eyes. I picked up a little gift for him from Babie’s R Us and went to the hospital to see them. Poor Sally ended up having a C-Section. She was a little upset she didn’t have a girl, because we both thought she was having a girl and that they’d be best friends since childhood like us, but I told her it’s okay; Quentin can be Alaethia’s future husband LOL.
The boys caught colds around Dec. 6th and missed school. I took them to the doctor and thankfully they didn’t have strep or anything like that, but Jaylen wasn’t allowed to go back to school till the 10th. Of course the darn cold set Jaylen’s allergies off; he’s been sniffling since. I’m going to have to take him in to get checked out.
Oh, I forgot to mention. Mario got me an early Christmas gift, a Palm Centro!
Mario and I’d had that “talk” I’d been wanting to have for a while Thursday night. I won’t go into detail but I’m glad we had that talk. On my way home from work I get a text (because my new phone actually accepts them, unlike the other one!) that he’s got dinner covered. He was bar-b-quing and was genuinely making an effort to make me happy in any way possible. It’s been going much better for us since then.
On Saturday, Dec. 8th we ran errands, visited Gramma then went over to Sally’s mom’s house to visit her, Pete and Quentin. We ended up staying for an impromptu bar-b-q. It was awesome visiting with them and watching Sally care for Quentin. She’s such a good mom :). Pete’s just elated with his little man. The boys actually went with me this time and behaved pretty well. They entertained Alaethia and she just had a blast playing with Sally’s neice’s dollhouse and little cars. That’s when I got it in my head that I wanted to get her a cute dollhouse.
Mario and I went to Home Depot on Sunday, the 9th to get all the materials to fix the leaking bathroom sink. I was so relieved to have that darn sink fixed. It was so annoying. I spent the rest of the day doing last minute science projects, just like I new I would be. I kept asking the boys if they wanted to work on them during the week, but nope, they waited. Jaylen was doing a rock collection and Eenan was doing a lava lamp. Jaylen borrowed my collection of rocks (that I’ve had since childhood) and I took him to the park to get some more. I went over there with Jaylen and Alaethia and Mario met us there since he’d been dropping something off at someone’s house. I never got Jaylen’s project back for some reason?
Thurs. Dec. 13th – I picked the boys up from UIL practice and then took them to the Fair they were having at the school. Eenan didn’t end up going so it was just Jaylen, Aly, Mom and me. Jaylen got some face painting done, we got some food and came home. We were too late to play any games, but I didn’t feel like staying late anyway.
Friday, Dec. 14th – That day was so fun. We had our Extreme Readers field trip that day. At Fantasyland Skate Center! I hadn’t rollerbladed in 5 years, since I had Jaylen, and I’m 20 pounds heavier so I was quite nervous. My boss didn’t end up going since she wanted to be there when they installed the furniture so 2 6th grade teachers, the art teacher and myself were the chaperons. My group of kids were awesome, they even behaved on the bus! It was so cute watching them stick to the wall like flies when they got out on the rink. It took me a while to get used to skating again but I got the hang of it. I got too confident and tried doing a spin to stop and fell flat on my butt when one of the students called me. I couldn’t stop laughing, more from embarrassment than anything really. But it was fun. I realized Eenan’s already 8 and we’ve never taken him or Jaylen skating. We all need to get rollerblades.
We got back to work and ate Subway sandwiches and it was only about an hour before it was time for our gift exchange. I participated in the Secret Elf exchange and was more than certain my Santa was one of the girls from the front office. Turns out my Santa was a male 8th grade teacher LOL. He got me a Bath and Body works gift set. Yum! I thought I had my elf fooled, and I did at first, but some big mix-up happened and he ended up finding out who I was. He told me he liked everything he received, so that was cool.
We had another early bar-b-q that night like we’d done the week before, because Jorge loved all the food Mario’d made and then we got ready to go to my Christmas party. We were having it at Whiskey’s, a new sports bar. Mario and I’d always wanted to go there but never had the chance before. It was so awesome. The frozen strawberry margaritas were cheap and really good and they had kareoke! I didn’t feel comfortable enough going up there, but it was fun watching all my co-workers who did have the courage to sing do their thing. I was exhausted, but we didn’t end up coming home till 12:30am, which is SUPER LATE for me.
Okay, this is it for now. I WILL finish the rest of this, Dec. 15th – now, tomorrow.