Monday, October 27th – I had a long to-do list that needed to be accomplished before 4pm. Alaethia’s 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Hammond, had approached me about encouraging her to join UIL Creative Writing. So I did, and she accepted and she gets out of practice at 4pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was glad to pick her up and find that she really enjoyed herself :). When I’d brought it up to her the day before, she was nervous and got teary about it. She had flashbacks from last year, when she tried out for Chess Club and she was left in the cafeteria with the bus kids, they tried putting her on a bus and she didn’t even get to try out till Mario got there and couldn’t find her. So, I got where she was coming from, what with being traumatized and all. But, Mrs. Hammond walked her to the pick up area so she could become familiar with the routine, so that was great :).
Got home and talked to the boys, then helped Jaylen re-do his Powerpoint presentation that we’d worked on over the weekend. Helped the girls with homework, made Frito-pie chili (awful, you don’t have to tell me!!) and then watched “Guardians of the Galaxy” with them and Jorgie and Justin. Of course I missed the entire thing ’cause I fell asleep, heh.
Tuesday, October 28th – Tuesday was another day spent going non-stop at work; calling potential exhibitors for the upcoming Expo and working on January’s 1st Expo. It was another day I had to get my to-do list done before 4pm. Although it felt amazing to get 30 extra minutes at home with the girls, I helped Alaethia with her math till 7pm. The way they teach that math, OMG, it’s ridiculous. Completely different from the way I learned math, but well, that was decades ago!
Once the girls had finished up homework, eaten dinner, showed me videos on Youtube and were put into bed, Jorge, John and I watched Sons of Anarchy. My favorite part of Tuesday :).
Wednesday, October 29th – I got the girls ready to go right on time and dropped them off (in the drop-off area–such big girls!) and then I made my way to United Way to meet the girls for a Forum we were invited to. It was very informational and we got to have some snacks. Ms. Thelma outdid herself with the decorations, like always :).
I arrived to the office and ran to the kitchen/conference room to help serve fajitas for the luncheon at work. We had so many people arrive, which is good, but out of 200, only 100 RSVP’d =\. We almost ran out of food; the staff got to scrounge around for bits hehe. Still, I was grateful for my awesome taco and then went to the front desk for reception duty. I wore heels that day for the first time in months…and realized right away just WHY I never wear them anymore. Grr. My feet haven’t been the same since, I think. #oldfart
Thursday, October 30th – Got to work after dropping the girls off and my boss and I started the day by scouting new exhibitors. We actually got one to sign up on the spot! It’s amazing how many new health-related businesses there are since February!
Got back and got ready for a lunch meeting regarding that same Expo. We’ve been having weekly meetings since it’s so close. I’ve never had so much Jason’s Deli in my life hehe.
Since Mario had already taken the girls (his weekend), Rosie and I took a stroll through a nearby thrift shop to find something 60’s-esque for the Annual Banquet. Michelle, Rosie and I had realized with a jolt of shock that the Annual Banquet was in a week…and we had no costumes yet.
So we looked around and found a few things and laughed at a few other ensembles but didn’t find anything we actually liked once we tried them on. We decided to check out Amazon with Michelle the next day.
Friday, October 31st – Halloween! This would be the first Halloween in 3 years we don’t have my kiddos. I’d gotten away with having them so far, even when it was their Dad’s weekend, but he asked to have them this year =\.
We had cake from Maritza and those delicious cookies Trisha brings from Sweet N Tasty every year. I got ready for our Food Festival meeting and once we finished up with that, met Valerie at her workplace. She’d invited us a couple of weeks before to try out their amazing burgers and visit the facility since we’d never been.
It was a great visit; they were having their Halloween costume contest and pumpkin-decorating contest, so that was fun to watch/judge.

And the burgers…oh my gosh, the burgers. They really were amazing!!
We headed to make more visits for the Expo. Got back to the office and checked out costumes with Michelle and Rosie. We ordered some and crossed our fingers. Then I made some calls and took some payments and made my way home.
I was feeling a little lonely since the kids weren’t home. We’d been invited to Jim and Joyce’s yearly Halloween party but I wasn’t feeling much up to going. Jorge got home and at the last minute, we decided hey, we’re kid-less, why not go out and enjoy ourselves?
I found my bag of Halloween makeup (bought tons last year on clearance) and made a quick zombie costume. Jorge got out of work a bit later than he planned, so he didn’t dress up. We waited for my kids to arrive (their Dad was nice enough to bring them over) and we had Krispy Kreme donuts I’d bought from a fundraiser and had a quick visit.

Awww! Jaylen and Jorge LOL
Those two!! Hilarious!
My kiddos left and then Jorge and I took off to Jim’s. Jim and Joyce were dressed as hippies (doubled as their costume for the Annual Banquet–smart!!), Thelma and her hubby were a cloud and a person struck by lightning, Michelle was a Christmas “HoHoHo” 😛 and EZ was a priest. We had fun chatting and eating little snacks.

Jim and Joyce always out-do themselves! It wasn’t a very long visit, but we were proud of ourselves for leaving the house for once hehe. All-in-all it was a great Halloween!

Saturday, November 1st – Jorge went to work and I stayed in bed, covers over my head. He kissed me goodbye and told me to sleep. And I did: till 8:30am. And it was AMAZEBALLS!! It was the first weekend in a few months that I didn’t need to be up at 5 or 6am!
I made myself some breakfast and coffee and ate outside on the porch while I read my book, all huddled up in my hoodie and sweatpants.
My happy place <3[/caption]
It was 75 degrees outside and such a beautiful day. I put my phone down (where I was reading my eBook) and admired the birdies perched on the branches and flying around. I eventually got sleepy and curled up on the sofa to allow myself to pass out. Then I remembered I had to withdraw money to pay bills and I got over the sleepiness right away. But oh well; duty calls. I even did grocery shopping, cleaning and visited Gramma with Mom :).
Evening came and I spoke to my kiddos to see how their day went. Then Jorge and I went over to Noni's for a BBQ. The food was awesome and so were the Peach Belini's and hanging out with Lisa and Joyce is always fun. There were technical difficulties with the movie we were trying to watch outside, but they changed it over to a game and we enjoyed conversation instead. We had officially gone "out" 2 nights in a row!
I sat there, taking it all in (TWSS), and thought, Wow. 4 years later and here we are. 4 years ago was a crazy time for us, but we pulled through and here we are together :’).