Category: Jorge

This post should actually be titled: “Not Much of a Spring Break 2017”. But anyhoo…

In my previous post I mentioned I had a lot going on currently (at work, at home) that was stressing me out. I was even more stressed out about not being able to take sufficient time off work to take the kids somewhere during the half-week they were with us (they’d be with the other parents the rest of the Spring Break week). But, I told myself that I wasn’t going to let it get the best of me. I did good on my promise to myself, even when I was going 100mph at work.

We had several meetings on Monday alone and I even stayed at work late trying feverishly to finish all my tasks so I could take Tuesday off with the kids. I was ALLMMOOSSSTT done with everything, until I realized I needed my “Boss Boss'” signature on some important documents I needed to mail out. Darnit. So I came in for half a day Tuesday and rushed through the (growing) to-do list. By 12:30pm, I finally had everything done and I was OUT!!

I get home, excited, and walk into the boys’ room, only to find all of them except Julien still asleep. I annoyingly sing-song, “Get up, childrennn,” and it still takes them a while to groggily ask, “Why?” 😐

I tell them we’re going to Ben & Jerry’s, and the big boys protest, but I don’t care 😆 . I swear: these kids would rather lay in their rooms playing video games all day than going somewhere. 🙄 They all take turns showering and I ate lunch (a Hot Pocket. Can you believe that?? A HOT POCKET!! I never eat Hot Pockets, wtf!!), while I (wait for it) watched, “My 600 Lb. Life”. –The irony…

Eenan said he wanted me to sit and watch a new Disney show, so I did. The pilot episode of “Andi Mack.” He said the little girl’s art reminded him of me and he thought I’d really enjoy the story. And my boy knows his mama: it was great; I really, really enjoyed it!! One of the more mature shows Disney’s produced for sure. Can’t wait for the next ep!

So the kiddos finally finish getting ready and we take off. My 7 ducklings and I beat the rush; it got really packed as soon as I put in their last order.

We finished up and headed to the park.

While the big boys played football (minus Eenan, he stuck with the Littles and me) and the rest of us were at the playground, I had a conversation with Emily’s friend’s mom (AKA, Ryan’s aunt), about my little Emily’s behavior 😡 . She was being…proactive about a bully but started being somewhat of a bully herself telling her friend over iMessage that she was becoming “like her” (like the little girl they claimed was the bully) and whatnot. So much so, that her mom got on the phone and said her friend wasn’t available. Embarrassing! I had already gotten after her for being mean to Maddie, and now that. She got yet another lecturing, much to her irritation. I know she’s headstrong and really takes no sh*t, but I don’t want her to be the mean girl 🙁 . I have no experience in this, especially not with the boys or Alaethia! When Alaethia was having drama with her friends last year, it was nothing like this.

But anyway, her friend’s Mama and I spoke and got everything sorted. I’m glad that it wasn’t too awkward and that she didn’t tell me off for my kid’s behavior, heh. She was very understanding and we agreed we just want our kiddos to get along.

I dropped the kiddos off with Mom at home, picked Jorge up from work and then we took Jorgie with us to order Domino’s for dinner. Then the kids wanted to watch “My 600 Lb. Life” again. I’m converting them 😆 ! I don’t know why I like that show so much!

The day, unfortunately, came to an end and then it was time for bed since Jorge and I had work the next day ;? .

The kiddos left with the other parents on Wednesday afternoon and the rest of the week at work was a blur of working on Taste McAllen.

I picked Jorge up from work and then we stopped for some snacks at the Food Park before going shopping at the mall (oh, joy 🙄 .

I had to mentally prepare for an interview I was having with Chef Larry the next morning. I despise interviews; I get nervous and bumble all over myself and my skin wasn’t cooperating with me AT ALL. Plus: not happy that the camera adds 10 more lbs. 😥 !! But I sucked it up and went with it. Alan Campbell was our host and is such a jokester, so he eased us into the interview and was really good about prompting us on what to say.

I had an event at the food park that Friday, so of course, we had to indulge a little. I mean, why not? We were already there!

We spent the rest of the weekend cleaning out our garage. John still had TONS of boxes in there, plus his table and chairs from when he lived with us and used the garage as a storage unit. I called and asked him what to do with everything and he said to chuck it. 😐 Really?? We coulda chucked them a long time ago!!

So several trips to Goodwill, Walmart, Target, Home Depot later, we got rid of tons of junk and bought additional storage bins and shelving. It hadn’t looked that nice and clean in a looong time!

I took the opportunity to clean up the box of Dad’s records I inherited. He had lots of old-school “Regional Mexican” records, but he had the Beatles, some opera and waltzes as well!

We also got some pavers and new mulch to re-do the greenery bed under the kitchen window. We were literally in the dark, with the flashlight of our phones, digging and planting and so on. But we finished!

So although we didn’t get to do much for Spring Break, our time with the kiddos and each other was pretty damn great 😀 .

I can usually deal with stress pretty well; heck, I’ll even be annoyingly optimistic. People have even complimented me about it. But lately, I’ve got to admit: it’s tough.

I managed to get my 2nd cold of the year (a month apart) last Sunday. I felt awful at work on Monday but had a lot to do, and I almost went to work Tuesday because I was afraid of getting behind, but I told myself I needed to start taking care of myself. I keep thinking of my friend that had a stroke that was probably due to high stress. So I decided that work could wait. I took Tuesday off to go to the doctor and recover at home. I hadn’t slept very much Monday night due to the coughing, ear pain and not being able to breathe, so I kept passing out once I picked up my medication from the pharmacy. I’m still not 100% better; I keep waking up with a pain in my ear, even though I’m over everything else. Missing Tuesday did cause me to get behind at work, but I knew if I scheduled my day accordingly, I could catch up.

I was in charge of an event for our “Boss Boss”, and I was already nervous about screwing it up. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to drop off 4 kids at 2 different locations in 2 different cities and get to work by 7:30am in a totally different city (those are my Fridays and Mondays). Mario, thankfully, helped me out. I’d be missing Alaethia’s field trip, just like I missed Emily’s 🙁 , since I had an event that day, too, but Mario would accompany her.

I had a good count for my Boss’s event, got everything ready and then…I’m about 20 people short the count that I originally had as everyone started showing up. Thanks, people >_< . My Boss did tell me, “Good job,” at the end of the event, so that made me feel better.

Lunch time rolls around and I’m giddy as I make my way to my car, relieved that the event is over and done with. I was meeting Alaethia, her class and the moms at Mr. Gatti’s for Alaethia’s last part of the field trip. I relieve Mario and he hands me Alaethia’s stuff as the girls continue to play and the moms catch up while we eat lunch together. (I’m convinced the girls like us to go with them so they can hit us up for money!) We spent a few minutes with the kids and see them off on the bus. I get back to work and jot down my to-do list in the hopes of getting as much done by 5pm so I wouldn’t be swamped on Monday and could take the next Tuesday off with the kids. Next week is Spring Break, but we aren’t doing much. Still, I wanted to at least take a few days off to take the kids out for ice cream and the park, etc. Unfortunately, I had forgotten it was Spring Break during the week and had already made 2 appointments for Monday that I can’t miss. And then we have the food festival coming up, and I feel like we’re SO BEHIND. FAK. 🙁 So I figured I’d take Tuesday off only. So I got to work, and was on a roll…until Jorge called with an emergency.

I couldn’t believe what happened and I’m thankful things weren’t much, much worse. But I just feel like we can’t catch a break 😥 . 1 step forward, 2 steps back. I was angry at Jorge. I was angry at myself, too, for not taking care of things I should have, but I’m just so focused on work and it takes up so much time that I can’t take care of personal things that need to get done. And it shouldn’t be that way.

The girls had a sleepover at Jenny’s and when I went to pick them up, we had a nice impromptu therapy session with all 4 of them. I’m glad that they can openly talk with us about what’s going on with their friends. Apparently lots of drama is going on, but we explained to them that they’re wayyy too young for so much tension at school and that everyone can get along, even if they’re not BFFs. Now I need to have an uncomfortable conversation with another mom, and apologize for my little Emmos 😳 .

Jorge and I had a talk last night, and I felt better. Until something ELSE happened today. Ugh. I’m going to try and have a nonchalant, happy-go-lucky, carefree, fk-it attitude this week. I’ve got a lot on my plate at work, and may not be able to take a day off at all with the kids (especially because of this event, and my boss is off since Wednesday when we have shit to take care of!), but I’m not going to stress. I’m not.

Well. That’s easier said than done, but I’ve got to promise myself to take it easy. Or I’m going to lose my shit.

We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year. I know it’s been a disastrous year for many of our beloved famous figures–but personally, it felt like an easier year than last year, for some reason, and I’m thankful for our health and being together.

I’m also thankful that on November 17th, I got to finally meet Tia Tere and her daughter, my cousin, Anna. Tia Tere is the aunt everyone would say I resembled in her younger years 🙂 .

We all met at Velma’s house. We shared anecdotes and family history (Lipan Apache was confirmed in Velma’s Ancestry.com genealogy! I want to do mine!) and when I told everyone about trying to reach out to my Grandfather back-in-the-day I learned that he was actually a family friend (Velma’s mom and dad’s compadre)! So that was interesting to say the least. We had a wonderful time, laughing and eating. Velma’s always such a wonderful host 🙂 .

They opened the Performing Arts Center on the 18th and we got to take a tour and hear the acoustics. It’s pretty state-of-the-art and just impressive!

November 18th is also Jorge and my “All-Together” anniversary, and to keep tradition with previous years, we had lunch together at Kumori!

Neither Jorge nor I were thrilled with that photo, so it didn’t make it onto social media 😆 !
I had to work at the Food Park the next evening at Unplugged (and had to pick kids up in between), so I didn’t get to go to the all-day mini-reunion the family was having 🙁 . Tia Tere visited Gramma. I’m so sad I wasn’t there to see it for myself. The sisters hadn’t seen each other in years!

I made myself feel a little better about not being able to meet more family by totally pigging out on these pork belly Kimchi fries from one of my favorite food trucks, Nuri Food Truck!

I learned the next day that at the mini-reunion at Gramma’s, mom decided to tell my life story (even the embarrassing and depressing parts) to my “new” relatives. Without my consent or knowledge. I couldn’t believe her. Let’s just say Linda said everyone was shifting uncomfortably and looking off into space. I asked Linda why she nor anyone stopped her and she said, “It was her time to shine!” 😆 Oh geez!!

Anyway. I showed my face at the next evening’s reunion with Aunt Nora and Linda. And apologized to my tia and cousins for having to endure my mother’s rambling on. I got to meet another cousin and her little girl, which was pretty damn cool :).

The next morning, Sunday, I hung out with my Littles. They don’t require as much attention as they used to, but they still do love to follow Mom around, even if it’s just to sit in my company. Seeing as how I also have teenagers who spend most of their time playing video games, football or asleep, I’m going to let Emily, Alaethia and Jules follow me around as long as they want. There will come a day when I’ll miss them doing so!

Jorge and I bought some pork belly from Gabriel, our friend that owns Nuri, so that I could make Jorge some kimchi fries while Nuri was on Thanksgiving break. Even though it wasn’t exactly like Nuri’s, I’ve gotta admit: it was tasty:

So, feeling as guilty as I did after consuming what’s seemingly an entire PIG the month of November (we LOVE Nuri!), Jorge and I decided to have lunch at Gumbo’s for something light. I ordered my usual: Island Salad. It’s like the most scrumptuous dessert!

Buuuuut…I also had broccoli soup in a bread bowl. Aye.

It was…as warm, delicious and comforting as it looks! My stomach wasn’t too happy with the cream (as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized I’m INCREDIBLY lactose intolerant!! Why meee?! Why cheeese??), but man, was it worth it!!

The kiddos had been with Mario that week up until Wednesday, and this year all 7 kids would be with us till 4pm, since Maggie wanted them at that time. So I picked up my babes and we had a small PokeHunting sesh since they’d just started with the new tracking system.

This was also the day John moved out (and we haven’t really seen him since) so he was missing from the Thanksgiving festivities. Dina, Briana and the kids came down, including Nick’s friend Tony. He was such a polite young man!

As soon as they arrived, we started with the preparations for the feast.

While the turkey baked, we visited Gramma.

I didn’t get a proper photo of the spread since we were cutting it close before the kids had to go 🙁 . But Alaethia said grace, and the food was delicious!

(Jorge didn’t get into any photos!!)

The Holidays don’t usually pass without some kind of hiccup, and there was a small bit of drama but it didn’t last long, thank God.

The kiddos left with their other families around 4-5ish so the adults kind of just relaxed watching a marathon of “Forensic Files”. Jorge and I did our Christmas shopping for the kids from the couch (OMG, got SUCH good deals!) and literally just about finished shopping for the big boys that same day!

I snuck out early the next morning, by myself, to do some minimal Black Friday shopping at HEB Plus. There were a few things I absolutely couldn’t pass up for the kids, so I *had* to go. Happy to report that everyone survived! HEB Plus was pretty straightforward with their rules (they gave you a map, a circular and the rules as you arrived) and let you know they weren’t taking shit from anyone and would escort you from the store if you caused trouble.

Jorge had to work that day, and Dina went to visit her mom so Briana and I hung out with the kids and then went to the park to meet Lisa and Joyce since the kids were becoming stir-crazy. Later on we all met at Fantasy Land Skate Center. Totally made me miss the kids, but I distracted myself by helping Mia and Maddie stay on their feet.

We got home and of course I had to make the obligatory Turkey Leftovers Salad.

That salad is truly the tastiest! (Darnit. Now I want some…)

I did some grocery shopping the next morning (with my $20 coupons I got from shopping the day before!) and then we kinda lazied around till we went to the Food Park that evening. Had to take Briana to SnoBro Raspas!

We had actually dressed for going to the park and doing a run, but we stayed nearby and went for a walk at Archer instead. Nick and Tony played football and Mia chased fireflies. It was the sweetest!
And then we picked up Whataburger for dinner. So much for our walk!!

But that’s what it’s all about right? Having fun with your loved ones, eating, drinking and being merry?!