Category: Job Hunt/Work

Tues., Oct. 14th – Back to the daily grind. Only it wasn’t so bad because the library was closed due to a guest speaker visiting the 7th grade classes to give them a quick training on the writing portion of the TAKS test. I got to work on updating several things on Reading Renaissance and then our check-out system. It was a restful day, and I got to jot down some points to give Eenan because he’s taking the writing TAKS this year.

Since the library was closed, Mrs. V., Mrs. Ruiz and I went to eat lunch together. Mrs. Ruiz was awesome enough to pick up food from Starlight Burger for us both. I was going to treat her for once, but of course she gives me my $20 back! I finally got my delicious fried Shrimp plate with fries dipped in nacho cheese. *drool*

Wed., Oct. 15th – It was another normal day at work. It was Jorge’s birthday that day (Mario’s Nino) and we were celebrating at Yadira’s. After homework and everything else I didn’t have time to bathe the kids or get anything ready for the next day before it was time to leave. We had a good time over there and sat and talked like we usually do. Poor Alaethia got beaten up once by Matthew, but that was it. She’s learning to defend herself, but he did manage to catch her off guard that one time, heh.

We got home and we were in a frenzy getting everyone bathed and ready for bed. I was so tired I was literally falling asleep wherever I sat. I didn’t have lunch for myself or Mario the next day but he can always buy something from a restaurant. I only have 30 minutes for lunch so I can’t exactly leave campus so I figured I’d just buy the school lunch.

Thurs., Oct. 16th – I can’t remember much from this day. It was probably one of those usual ones, where 1st and 2nd period are hectic and crazy and the rest of the day is spent trying to make the system work with us. Mrs. Ruiz didn’t go that day so I had a late, quiet lunch and read a little.

Fri., Oct. 17th – We’d ordered brisket plates for a Migrant fundraiser and were worried that we weren’t going to get to eat that day since they never came in. But the lady did come in, by 11:30. Poor staff members that eat from 10:30-11:30…they didn’t get to eat that day if they’d ordered a plate!

When Mrs. Ruiz and I got back from lunch it was nice and quiet and we actually had time to just sit and chit chat.

We got home and I get a call from Mario asking me if I’d like to go to Jorge’s at night. I said it would be fine. Mary asked if we’d like to go to town with her. Mario didn’t want to go—in fact, he made it a point to fall asleep on the couch just to stress how sure he was. Mom, Alaethia and I went along with Mary and the boys stayed with Mario.

JC Penny was having this huge sale…let’s just say between Mary and I, we got the boys a whole new wardrobe! The t-shirts were $2-3 each, no joke. It was awesome! I finally got myself some new er, undergarments. No luck finding anything in the maternity section; everything was huge!

We got a few things at Target, where I lost my mother. Darn woman made me walk the whole of the store 3 times and I couldn’t find her. I went to the car with Alaethia, who needed a diaper change and Mary found Mom later, still in the Halloween section. That’s supposedly where she was the whole time. Not when I checked!

We stopped to pick up dinner at Chick-fil-a and then Mary dropped me off at Jorge’s with Mario and picked up the boys. We stayed pretty late that night, talking about anything from the upcoming election to the end of the world LOL.

Sat., Oct. 18th – Since we went to sleep really late, we woke up really late. We decided we’d go to the movies after Mario finished helping his dad with something. So I took my time getting ready. Around 3pm, half an hour before our movie started, Mario gets a call from Jorge that they need to go to the Dodge Arena to set up. Grr. I was so pissed and kept asking myself I didn’t know this was an on-call job. Fumed the rest of the day while doing my housework.

Sun., Oct. 19th – We were supposed to go to Tio V’s girlfriend’s daughter’s baby shower, but Lisa had her baby that morning. We kind of just chilled out most of the day until we decided to go to Home Depot to look for a new fluorescent light for the back porch and to buy meat for an impromptu bar-b-q. We invited everyone over. After spending time with everyone outside I came in and got everything ready for the next day. I was so not looking forward to going to work the next day. I guess because I know I’m going to eventually stop working I feel lazy waking up each morning, hoping that the day I don’t have to wake up at 5:30am comes quickly. It feels like it can’t come fast enough when Alaethia wakes me up 2+ times a night.

Wed., Oct. 8th – It was an okay day at work–the usual, really. I rushed to pick Jaylen up from school, dropped off our stuff at home and then I took him to get a haircut. Eenan was at UIL practice till 5, so I asked Mary if she could pick him up on her way home and take him for a haircut, too. She said yes, thank goodness. Just like their school to let me know they have pictures with such short notice. At least it was two days notice this time.

I got Jaylen into the shower to wash up when we got home, then went straight to pick up Mario from work and took him to his Lasik consultation. To make a long story short: the whole procedure would cost $4,400–after the $1,300 “discount”!! Because of Mario’s severe astigmatism he’d need two surgeries to fix his vision. Something told me to ask what his vision was without corrective lenses and the lady said 20/75 in one, 20/80-1 in the other. I looked at Mario and couldn’t help smiling: his vision was within the requirement for Border Patrol without corrective lenses! Yes!! The reason they’d sent him that notice was because his vision was 20/20 in one eye with his current glasses, 20/25 in the other eye. We didn’t even think that would be the case. We kindly declined the (very expensive–$250) dilation and came home. We decided we’d set up an appointment with another ophthalmologist on Saturday for new glasses. Even though I feel incredibly nervous all over again just thinking of him being away for three months (and possibly missing the baby’s birth) I know this is something he really wants to do, so I’m supporting him all the way.

Mario and I lay in bed that night watching TV with Alaethia between us. I’d been feeling the baby flutter for a few days already and have a habit of just placing my hand on my belly, just in case the baby would kick. I actually felt her kick hard for the first time! It wasn’t just the little it-might-be-gas fluttering that I usually feel—this was a swift, genuine kick!

Thurs., Oct. 9th – Mrs. V. took Mrs. Ruiz and I a huge bag of corn each from her mom’s garden. All I could think about was some yummy corn with mayo, chile and lime for the rest of the afternoon.

The boys had picture day so I left their clothes and instructions with Mom like I usually do. I prayed that they’d stay clean until they took their picture. I was so tired that afternoon after work that I just chilled out till 5:30, when Report Card Night started. It wasn’t very restful, as Jaylen was sleepy and refused to take a nap. It’s so exhausting when he gets that way. I told him I wasn’t taking him with me since he was acting up and he stayed behind with my dad-in-law and Alaethia. He ended up falling asleep on the hammock Big Mario had just put up again.

The teachers both had nothing but good things to say about the boys. I was a bit disappointed to find out Jaylen had been moved to a different class, but still reports to his old class as his “advisory” for breakfast. He was moved away from his best friend, Aaron. And I’m not sure I’m too keen on having him in a Bilingual class, even though it’s considered “GT”. He already has a GT class. But still, his old teacher said he’s extremely bright. I didn’t get to talk to the new one because her mother had passed away and she was absent.

We visited Eenan’s class and I was glad to find out his behavior’s been improving. He isn’t talking as much (but he is still talking) and he’s turning in his work. He got off of his “half-grounding” and now gets to play video games (for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on behavior at home) after he finishes his homework and reads for half an hour like Jaylen. His teacher still seems…different. She’s not as happy-go-lucky as she was when I first met her. Maybe she was just tired?

I’m so proud of my dudes—they both made the All ‘A’ Honor Roll! Eenan had a close call—there was an 81 printed on his report for Language Arts, but when I showed the teacher she said it was the system messing up—he’d actually gotten a 94!

We got home and my dad-in-law had already put some of the corn-on-the-cobs on the grill…they were delicious!

I stayed up that night feeling for Little One’s kicks but felt nothing. I know it’s still early, but I was worried since by this time in my other pregnancies I’m sure I was already doing Kick Counts. I didn’t fall asleep till 11. Add to that Alaethia beginning to get sick and teething; she kept tugging at her ear and was having a hard time swallowing. Then she woke me up for some milk at 4:30 and again I stayed up feeling for kicks, but I didn’t feel anything. I fell asleep finally at 5:15—and my alarm went off at 5:30. Needless to say I felt like a slug all day and couldn’t wait to just get home.

Fri., Oct. 10th – One of the teams at work was going on a field trip for the Goodlife Celebration and we’d agreed that we’d watch 2 of their kids that hadn’t passed, had referrals, etc. Well, Mrs. V. agreed—I obliged, which basically means that I was mostly the one dealing with them. At the last second they left us 4 kids, but the only boy refused to stay, so he was left somewhere else. So we were left with three girls, one of them being a girl who’d given me trouble in the past. Later on they sent us two boys and they actually did everything they were told with no problem. The girls on the other hand…well, let’s just say all three ended up writing words from the dictionary till it was time for them to leave. I kept my cool the whole time, but by the end of their stay I had a headache.

Mrs. Ruiz and I left to lunch after that, which was such a relief. When we got back it was time for the Goodlife video-game party another team was throwing in there. They played Xbox—loudly. I wouldn’t have minded, but I had a pounding headache from being with the girls all day.

I was so glad to get home and just chill out. When Mario got home we went outside with the rest of the family. We hung out and then grilled some more corn-on-the-cob again.

Falling asleep that night—and staying asleep—was a challenge since poor Alaethia was in pain again. She was fine all day; her cold and teething were only bothering her at night.

Sat., Oct. 11th – I woke up as soon as I could the next morning and had a quick breakfast, fed her and got her dressed to go to the doctor. Ear infection and sore throat, just as I’d suspected. Jaylen had made plans to go to Aaron’s house that morning, so we went to the pharmacy to get Alaethia’s prescription and then dropped him off at Aaron’s. We went home and I tried giving Alaethia her medicine to no avail; she quickly squirted it through her lips as soon as I gave it to her. It was that nasty ear-wax-tasting antibiotic. So there I go back to the pharmacy to get them to flavor it, even though it didn’t make a big difference. We left Eenan and Alaethia with Mary while Mario and I went to his optometrist appointment. He got his exams done and he JUST BARELY passed the requirements for Border Patrol! We picked up his check afterwards and then went to Walmart to cash it since the bank was closed. We picked up McDonald’s and then picked up Jaylen from Aaron’s. We sat around talking with family at Mary’s. Noelia was over getting help with grading her students’ work. Aaron’s mom was picking up Jaylen so we turbo-cleaned just in case she wanted a tour (she did the same for us when Jaylen first went over)…but she only came to the door. Oh well, at least the house was clean.

Jaylen was invited to a party at Aaron’s aunt’s house so they picked him up and went to party. We’d made plans with Mary to go to the movies so we let Aaron’s mom know to drop Jaylen off with Mom at our house when the party was over. She was babysitting Alaethia and Eenan, too.

Mario and I watched Pineapple Express, which was even funnier than I thought it would be! I couldn’t stop laughing. Mary watched The Mummy 3, I think. We ended the night by picking up pizza for dinner. Lately—even though the food’s fattening—there’s nothing I like more than not having to stand in front of a boiling stove and minimal dishes to wash, heh.

Wed., Oct. 1st – I took half a day off because I had my 18 week appointment and I had no idea how I was going to pick up Jaylen, make my appointment at 4 and still get out with enough time to pick Eenan up from his UIL practice. So I got out at half-day (10:30) and came home to drop off my lunch so it wouldn’t spoil and stink up my car and found Mom trying to put Alaethia to sleep. Grr. I left poor Alaethia crying and went to the doctor.

Since the baby didn’t let us see its gender at the last appointment, I was on pins and needles because I just knew I’d be finding out that day. I was still certain I was having a girl, regardless of my 50/50 chance the doctor had told me about at the previous appointment.

I read my book, The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales (an author who grew up in the city I grew up in, McAllen!) and waited patiently. Then they called me in.

They took my weight (I’d only gained a pound in two weeks, thank God. I expected the scale to say otherwise!) and my blood pressure and sugars were fine. When they took me into the Sono room my legs were shaking and my teeth were chattering. I felt silly being that nervous, but I was! I couldn’t help it. Dr. C. came in and went over my chart. He was going to do a sono first. Yay! I asked him if he’d be checking the baby’s gender and he said yes. He’s moving the wand back and forth, taking measurements of the head, tiny thigh bones and the spine. I’m filming the entire thing. He checks the gender and says, “Ah, a little girl.” It kind of didn’t register the first time. When I hear him say it again I say, “Really?” and he says, “Yup!”

I keep staring, kind of in shock and giddy at the same time. I ask him, “Like, for real, for real?” And he says, “Yup, see, there’s her vagina!” I couldn’t contain my happiness and said, “Oh, I’m so happy!” and he said, “Que bueno.”

I got my labs done for the AFP and told the girls up front about my happy news. They’re all thrilled for us. I love my nurses…two are my friends on Myspace even LOL.

I called Mario as soon as I got into the car. I asked him, “Guess what your baby is?” and he said, “What?” I practically screamed, “A girl!!!” He laughs and says, “I knew it!”

Meanwhile I can hear Jorge in the background yell, “Noooo!” LOL

I got home to find two sleeping ladies on the sofa. I expect it from Alaethia, but not the babysitter! When Mom heard me make noise I told her the happy news and she was elated. Mary was too (all the ladies she was having lunch with screamed), as were Mrs. V. and Mrs. Ruiz, and so were everyone else we told. Words can’t describe how happy I am! I can already imagine Alaethia and the little one playing together. Now we just need a name!!

Thurs., Oct. 2nd – Work was slow Wednesday afternoon after I left, so thankfully there wasn’t too much waiting for me when I got there. It was a really low-key day, thank God.

Fri., Oct. 3rd – I can’t even begin to describe to you how awful that day was. And I know it’s because I didn’t pray during the moment of silence. A teacher came in during the announcements and although I had my head bowed and really wasn’t replying to her she continued to talk. It was supposed to be a low-key day but we had all of band and guitar there because they were varnishing the dance hall and the smell was strong. Add to that anywhere from 8-15 loud kids that had passed their 6 weeks exams in their science class throughout the day—it was so loud. And their teachers really weren’t watching them. The library was in shambles by the end of the day. Mrs. V. was also in a mood since the morning—she kept giving me pointless tasks and actually picked on me a few times. I was so frustrated by the end of the day. All was made better when Mario texted me, “How about dinner, just the two of us?”

We got Happy Meals for the kids and a meal for Mom before we left. On the way to town we couldn’t decided where to go. At first I wanted to go to somewhere like Chili’s or Olive Garden, but then decided I really wanted some good pizza. Papa John’s was too far, so we went to Luca Pizza in Mission instead. They didn’t actually have the pizza I wanted, nor did they have jalapeno poppers, but I got a pretty tasty stuffed pizza and some mozzarella sticks. We sat and talked, just the two of us. I’m loving spending more time with Mario. I don’t even want to imagine the hormonal basket case I’d be if he were still working those long hours at D-Tronics. It’s great having the same days off now.

Since it was still early we stopped by Jorge and Maggie’s for a bit to say hello. The usuals were all there chilling in their garage. It was actually cold that night, now that I’m remembering. We got home early for the first time in a long time. I’m sure Mom was relieved, heh.

Sat., Oct. 4th – I made omelets for Mario and me that morning. Mary stayed with all three kiddos while Mario and I went to the bank, D-tronics, and Circuit City to pay our bill and buy some speakers for the improved back patio. We went to Home Depot to get some outlet covers and a new “removable” shower head and then to the new Best Buy to check it out and get speaker wire. We filled up my Equinox with gas at $2.99!! We had a quick lunch at Whataburger and then went home. Mario got to work installing the new speakers while I paid bills online—yes, that is my life, paying bills. When I was done I went outside to chill with everyone listening to music emitted from the new speakers, which sounded even better than we thought they would. I read my baby name book trying to get some sort of inspiration. This is the first baby we’ve conceived where we don’t already have some idea for a name. I liked Amilia and kept trying to convince Mario to like it but he was afraid they’d call her AmELIA instead of AmILIA. Right when the name had finally grown on him I decided that nope, I didn’t like it anymore. First, I could imagine kids calling her Amelia Bedilia and then I saw a woman whose name was Emilia on the news, which was my 2nd choice of spelling, and thought Nope, don’t like it.

Mom got here with a surprise for Alaethia while we were outside: a Dorothy costume!! I didn’t think we’d find one in her size, but she did! Alaethia literally squealed with happiness when she was showing Eenan. She even got her a Toto in a basket and some cute maroon shoes she wanted to spray with red glitter, but they’re too cute to ruin. I’d rather get her some red ballet flats.

We’d made plans with Pete and Sally to go out to eat. We were meeting them at 7:00 at the new Kumori at Palms Crossing. Although the service was kind of slow we gave them some slack since it was newly open. I love hanging out with Pete and Sally. We have great conversations and joke around with our other married/babied friends, but I feel like we relate more to them.

Sun., Oct. 5th – I got up early and showered and went over to Mary’s to make the deviled eggs I was contributing for the bar-b-q Mario and Jorge decided to plan. Mario went all out by taking our bedroom TV out and everything. It was a really nice, relaxing day. I love spending time with family. The burgers were delicious and so was everything else. We even did our Christmas gift exchange pickings that day. Since I was outside most of the day I, once again, didn’t get any of my housework done. I was in a frenzy trying to get everything ready for the next day, make sure kids are bathed and that I had lunch packed for myself. Mario was still outside drinking with Jorge and Adan and got mad when I asked him to install the new shower head. I hate when he gets like that. He did it so unwillingly that he broke one of the attachments. Grr.

It was hard getting to sleep as it is that night and then Aly woke up with leg cramps. I was so exhausted I was dreading going to work the next morning.

Mon, Oct. 6th – I prayed all the way to work that it would be a good day, and it was! We had a guest speaker so it was much quieter. I got all the books out of the book drop and sorted them out by section to get them ready for check-in. The system was slow, but I started checking in after advisory (8:45) and finished by 9:45. I got everything shelved by 11:30ish. Mrs. Ruiz helped, of course, and when we were done we just sat and talked, for once! We went to lunch and then came back and shelved some more then fixed the kids’ team numbers on their check-out accounts. I actually had time at the end of the day to organize and tidy up.

Although work wasn’t too stressful, I was sure stressed when I got home. As soon as I walked through the door Mom started complaining about wanting me to drive her to McAllen. I wanted to just get home and relax. I looked around and noticed all my laundry had been neatly hung and folded. I asked Mom, “You didn’t have to wash my clothes, but thank you so much.” She gets a funny look on her face and asks, “They weren’t washed yet?” I felt like screaming and laughing hysterically. There I am removing dirty clothes from hangers and unrolling dingy socks.

When I was finally done I unwillingly packed the kids up in the truck, homework and all. Eenan was throwing fits left and right about his homework and, even though Alaethia sits between the boys in her car seat, they kept bothering each other and yelling. Eventually Alaethia would join them.

I can laugh now about what I’m going to say next, but at the time it was terrifying. I had my bag on the arm rest between the two front seats and once when I braked hard my bag fell like a stone on the window controls, which are on the center console. Eenan’s window started rolling down—only I didn’t know this—and he started screaming his head off. All I hear is rustling of papers, the blowing wind and the worst thought floods over me: Eenan’s flown out the open door.

I’m freaking out, yelling, “What happened?! Why’s Eenan screaming?!” and Jaylen screams, “Eenan’s window’s down!”

I roll the window back up and ask Eenan, “WHY do you have to scream like that?”

“Because it scares me, that’s why!”

These kids are going to give me a heart attack.

Mom said she’d finish filling up my truck for taking her over there and who would turn down free gas? It took $15 to finish filling up my truck, for the cheap price of $2.84! Mom also treated us to dinner—botanas from El Pato—which took 30 minutes to wait for. We ate dinner when we got home and I got the boys into the shower as soon as we were done. I told them to do me the favor of NOT soaking the whole bathroom with the new shower head and it’s the first thing they did. I’d already had it for the day that I yelled at them and sent them to bed right after their showers at 7:46pm without the TV timer (which they absolutely need in order to get to sleep). They were asleep within half an hour. I hated myself for yelling at them, especially because I got a pain in my belly right afterwards, but what else can I do. I try breathing techniques to calm down. I hardly ever spank them (Mario says that’s the problem, but I don’t like spanking). I figured the next day would be better. I did laundry that night and decided to fold/hang everything the next day. I bathed myself and Aly and then we had a snack and went to bed.

Tues., Oct. 7th – This was another good day at work. Our system was still slow but I set a routine for myself and got everything done by 10:30. A few subs were actually sent to help for once so that helped immensely, too. Mary let me know she’d set up a consultation at Pena Eye Institute for Mario for the next day. He let me know that he and Jorge would still be working on that house in Rio Grande so he wouldn’t make it.