Category: MLV

Christmas! I’d set the alarm for 8am, since this time we weren’t going to be up super early and hardly any of the family was going to come over till much, much later. The boys, however, were awake by 7 and Mary waited to call till 7:45, when they couldn’t contain themselves anymore. Mario wanted to take a quick shower and of course they were complaining ’cause they had to wait so long for Mario. Mary and I tried to stall by separating everyone’s presents (mainly theirs) into piles for easy opening. As I was getting ready to set up the baby monitors Alaethia woke up and Mario was finally ready. The boys opened their presents first and I’m so happy that they were happy with their Santa gifts and gifts from us and everyone else. They actually asked for “small” gifts from Santa this year (Jaylen – the whole Pixos set and Eenan the Nintendogs Chihuahua DS game), which Santa really appreciated because he was on a budget this year ;).

They mostly got DS games, movies (Wall-e and Kung-Fu Panda on Blu Ray!), art stuff, and lots of science lab stuff. They even got an awesome microscope/computer kit (that Jaylen became too over-eager opening and cut his finger with a tool). Mona out-did herself; she got the boys some really nice Transformers toys and a blanket and froggy (that really croaks!) for Alaethia. The boys finished with their gifts and went on their merry way to play with everything.

Next it was Alaethia’s turn. I was a little upset because Elda grabbed her and helped her open presents while Mario took video. It sounds whiny and childish, but I wanted to be the one to sit with her and open presents. That’s something I should have been doing with her. That, and I never have pictures of myself with the kids, ever, unless I ask someone to take them. But anyway.

Alaethia loved her My First Dollhouse from Santa she wanted to open all of her accessories right away and play. She also loved her Hello Kitty from John, the giant Care Bear from us and the stroller from us. She promptly stuffed the big Care Bear in there and gave her a ride in the stroller.

Andy and Noelia got there and she opened her treasure chest from them. It was almost like an actual treasure chest, filled with tons of girlie accessories and a super soft Tinkerbell blanket I wanted to steal for myself LOL.

I loved all of my gifts. Mario and I didn’t get each other anything big (he got me two DVDs I’d been wanting and I got him a knife). Mary went all out as usual. She got me the first 3 Twilight books, City of Angels on DVD (which I’d have to exchange since that’s one of the ones Mario bought me), slippers, boxers, Mrs. Doubtfire on DVD and a beautiful butterfly necklace. Grandpa surprised all of us by giving every single member of the family cash, including my mom and brother! I felt so emotional when I opened that envelope and then learned he’d included Mom and John. I totally signed into Ebay later and ordered Batteries Not Included for myself (and that was all I bought really, for $7.35).

Mario made some Mexican hot chocolate and it was delicious. I had like, 3 glass-fulls. I don’t think we had any breakfast just so we could make space for all the delicious turkey, gravy and the trimmings. It was like Thanksgiving all over again!

We chilled out the rest of the day enjoying the kids and each other and their new gifts. Alaethia was amazingly entertained by her stuff! I tried organizing her room as best as I could, to make room for all her new stuff. We still had some girl-ifying to do to her room, heh.

Will add pictures to this entry soon.

Mon., Dec. 22nd – Ah, my first official day of Christmas vacation! It was so nice waking up and actually getting a chance to make breakfast for everyone. I saw Mario off to work and once he was gone I started cleaning. I took a break, then started organizing Alaethia’s room some more. Her closet is almost 100% organized, except for some of the boys’ blankets and board games on the top shelves.

Eenan’s getting over his cough and was resting, Jaylen was playing the Game Cube without throwing a fit, and Alaethia was blissfully playing in her neat, clean room. I’m slowly getting the house in order. That’s what I call heaven.

Tues., Dec. 23rd – I woke up to turn off the alarm and find that Mario had already woken up. I staggered to the living room 20 minutes after the alarm went off and contemplated staying awake to do laundry. I told myself no, I was going to get the boys’ breakfast ready and then allow myself to go back to sleep. It’s one of my resolutions for this holiday break: sleep, and not feel guilty about it!

I woke up around 10 and waited for John to come over since he’d agreed to go to town with me the evening before. He didn’t come over till 11 and then tells me I have an hour and a half to get to town and shop. Um, it takes half an hour to get there and another half hour to get back…there was no way 30 minutes was enough to finish all my shopping. I had things to return which takes long enough!

I told him to forget it and started cleaning and doing some more laundry. He comes over around noon, bummed, and tells me his plans were cancelled. Karma! He asks if I want to go to town after all, but I say no, I’m busy now. He sits at the chair he usually occupies when he’s here and huffily takes out his laptop and starts surfing. I do want to go to town, but I take my time getting ready then making lunch for the kids and I. Mom came over to stay with the kids while we went shopping.

Our first stop was Circuit City to pay off the rest of my credit card balance ($15.56). We only had a $1,000 account and the finance charges per month were ridiculous. I’d give more than the minimum payment due and the finance charge was still greater than the payment. So we transferred the balance to another credit card with no interest for a year. I’m hoping to do that for all my credit card.

We went to the mall, which was John’s idea. I’d been avoiding the mall at all costs, except for the time I’d gone to JC Penny to buy Mom’s gift and Toys R Us for Aly’s. We stopped by several stores and then went to Build-a-Bear, where John wanted to get Alaethia her gift. The line trailed well outside the door of the store, out into the isle. We spent 1 hour standing in line, just to get to the “Stuffing” section. John was getting her a turkey (he’s strange like that) and he wanted to get her a Hello Kitty, but they were out. So we picked a pink bear with white hearts instead. I complained the whole time we were in line, especially because I could feel my sugar dropping and I was getting shaky. Thankfully I had some Jelly Bellies in my bag.

I was also getting in a bad mood since some shoppers from Mexico think the rules don’t apply to them and kept trying to cut in line. They kept coming up with excuses like, “I’m just going to pick the animal.” Um, no. I had to wait in line to pick our animals so they’d have to do the same thing, sorry.

We stuffed the bear and turkey and rubbed our love and care into the little hearts that get sewn in. We asked the girl helping us if she knew when they’d be getting more Hello Kitties and she said she wasn’t sure since they’re the first to go. She said definitely not before Christmas since it was already the 23rd.

We get in the other line to pay, which is another freaking hour. As we’re standing there looking at all the clothes while the line slowly inched closer to the registers we notice people walking around with limp, stuff-less Hello Kitties. Wtf? When we’re parallel to the animal bins we notice they’ve added not one, but three bin-fulls of Hello Kitties! We’d already stuffed bear, but I was hoping that when we got to the register we could talk to someone and have them switch them. I went across and grabbed a Hello Kitty and when we finally get to the register talk to the girl about our dilemma. She called someone to stuff the Hello Kitty and said they’d use the bear we’d already stuffed as a sample so everything was fine! I was so glad!

It was already 5pm and we were starving. John asked if I wanted to eat at Kumori (um, yes!) so that was our next stop. He needed to be home by 8pm, so we needed to eat and finish shopping in a hurry. Too bad they were taking long with everything—doesn’t it always happen that way? We also had this brilliant idea to order a Jalapeno Firecracker, which is a huge jalapeno stuffed with crab and cream cheese and had all these colorful sauces swirled all over. It looked and smelled delicious. I watched in awe as John ate his with no problem, while I kept taking tiny bites from mine and having my eyes and nose immediately water. I told him screw it, it was too hot and I couldn’t do it. So he happily took mine and ate it in two bites—and man did he regret it!! There wasn’t enough lemonade on the table to soothe the sting! He told me that my pepper was much, much hotter than his was. He’s like, “Didn’t you see me eating mine with no problem? Yours was a lot hotter!”

We ate our rolls quickly once they brought them to us, and then went to Barnes and Noble a few shops down to get a gift for a friend of his. Our next stop was Target, where I returned a few things and bought 2 cute dresses to stuff in Alaethia’s stocking (she has way too many toys already!), and some jeans for her and wipes. Next we went to Walmart, where I was going to buy the boys a Halo figure each, like the one Elda’d asked me to get for her for Brandon. We had no luck finding them, but we did find Elda’s Bakugan Starter Set she wanted for Brandon that we couldn’t find anywhere else. I couldn’t believe my bad luck; I hate not finding what I need. Since the kids wanted Happy Meals we stopped at Mcdonald’s and then finally, thankfully, went home.

The baby was squirming around like crazy. I still wish I had some type of ultrasound machine at home so I could see exactly what she’s doing when it seems that she’s kickboxing in there. Damn you Tom Cruise and your money and your in-home ultrasound machine!

I wrapped the rest of the presents I had stashed in the closet while all the kids were playing at Mary’s. I was about to start wrapping the cute play-stroller we’d bought for Alaethia when Mary brought her in. I didn’t think anything of it and left the box on the table while I cut the wrapping paper to size. Alaethia was walking into the living room when she stopped in her tracks and asked, “Hey, wha’ dat?” She came running back and asked to open the box and I thought fast and said, “No, Baby, we can’t. That’s Angela’s toy. Her mama forgot it here.” She actually fell for it!
I was so sleepy but I had to wait for the laundry to come out and I had to wait for Alaethia to stop being moody. She’d developed a canker sore and it was driving her nuts. I couldn’t find the Orajel anywhere. She was awake till 12am.

Wed., Dec. 24th – Mario and I both woke up and I made breakfast. He was tired and reluctant to go in to work in the first place, even though they’d be getting out early. His bosses, along with Jorge, Maggie and Robert, got drunk and stayed up till 4am so no one was answering their phone when he was calling to ask what time they should go in after he noticed he had a missed text from Robert. He said he’d wait till 9:30 for them to let him know and if no one called he wasn’t going in. They did call, but just to let him know it was an optional day, so of course he didn’t go in.

I don’t remember what Mario had to do that day, but I gathered up the kids, Alaethia’s things and Mom, of course, went with us to several stores to find those Halo figures I wanted for the kids. I went to 3 different Walmarts, including the one I’d gotten Brandon’s Halo figure at, but they were all sold out at the first two. I finally found some at the 3rd one, even though they weren’t the ones the kids originally wanted, but they were Master Chief anyway so they’d do. I got Alaethia a little Pucci (I think that’s what they’re called? They’re tiny plush dog houses with a tiny dog and tiny accessories—which I would promptly put away in case she decided to eat them), I found a gingerbread house THANK GOODNESS, and bought a large cookie tray for the Snickerdoodles I’d hopefully be baking.

I finished wrapping everything up and then we all went over to Mary’s to construct the gingerbread house. I *had* to get one this year since Eenan wrote a composition about his Christmas memories and making a gingerbread house with his siblings was one of them. Since the house already came assembled it was much easier to get the icing made and ready for “gluing” all the gumdrops and candies. They had fun making it…and then eating it.

Mary and I helped Santa *cough* wrap up Christmas gifts from him and stuff stockings and all that jazz after the boys went to sleep. Mario was watching Alaethia and he noticed she’d gotten a fever. I was so worried, especially because Mary told me to keep an eye on her since the canker sore and fever and cold-like symptoms (which she didn’t have) were the first signs they’d gotten when Bonnie got Meningitis as a baby, bless her soul. I just prayed and prayed that it wasn’t the reason why Aly was sick. After Mary and I finished up inside, we watched some TV and then to bed we went. I gave Alaethia some Motrin to help the Tylenol we’d given her earlier and put her to sleep in our bed. I get too nervous when they’re small and develop fevers. I’m always afraid they’ll get worse before they get better and I won’t notice. She slept well all night though. Good thing, because we had an early morning the next day!

Mon. Dec. 15th – I woke up with a runny nose and had no idea why. I thought it was just allergies acting up and was certain I’d feel better by the end of the day, but the cold quickly took over and I was dragging. Rudy, one of our students I’d been helping reach goals the week before, came in to read a bit more and helped me out a lot. I’d laminated the 399 banners I’d been making and helped with that, then Frankie, Erik, Yulissa, Emily and Jessica helped out. I never thought it would happen, but the banners were done within a matter of minute. I love those kids LOL.

I walked around like a zombie most of the day, but pushed myself to make it till 3. I got as much done as I could just in case I couldn’t make it in the next day. I spoke to Amaveli, our attendance clerk, about my situation with the boys and she completely agreed with me.

We had our Christmas Party after school. They catered and Mrs. R. did an amazing job with the decorations. I was sad I wouldn’t be staying long. They had me take my plate and I went straight to the boys’ school. I was actually feeling nervous, which is odd for me when I’ve got something to argue about. I told myself all the way over there that I needed to state my case and hold my ground.

I get there and the woman’s actually in. I was afraid she wouldn’t be there since I’d called earlier in the day and reminded a clerk that I’d be in to speak to her. She told me, “Remember I warned you about it? That if they left before 12 they would ruin their perfect attendance and you said you were taking them anyway?” I told her yes, because I knew that I could take them after 10am and have them not be counted absent. Everyone else does it, especially on Fridays when they take their kids to Mexico for the weekend and I didn’t hear anyone else having a problem. She acted like that was it, like she wasn’t going to say anything else so I said I wanted to speak to the principal.

I went in and the principal was just giving me a hard time like the clerk. I was so pissed and just seriously wanted to start yelling. I told her how nowhere in writing did it say they’d be counted absent after 12 and how my boys had worked so hard to have perfect attendance and all A Honor Roll. I told her how it was the first time ever that neither of them had been sick with Strep this year, which is what hindered their perfect attendance all the years before. It was right after that, that to my horror, I busted into tears. I was so embarrassed but I’m pregnant and hormonal and really couldn’t help it. The principal was a little shocked and asked me to step out while she spoke to the boys’ teachers.

When we’re waiting in the front office and I was trying to compose myself Eenan’s teacher walks in and she tells me, “I’ve been trying to call you this whole time! Do you know what’s going on?” Apparently she had just gotten word of it because she’d been home sick and was trying to reach me. I gave her a quick summary and she genuinely looked sorry. She told me, “I wish I hadn’t told you to just take them. I know you were going to wait.” Which is true. I was going to wait till after 12 to take them both, but both teachers told me to go ahead and take them, just not to tell the office they told me so. It wasn’t time to resent anyone though. She went in to speak to the principal and Jaylen’s teacher and they called us in after about 10 minutes. The office staff had actually taken the time to find a document that stated we couldn’t take them out till after 12 but couldn’t find anything, just a document about how they didn’t want parents complaining when it was time for a field trip and kids had actually been absent. They told me how they didn’t want the kids leaving before lunch because it messes up the lunch count—which ultimately means they don’t get paid for the kid. That was basically the whole reason for holding my kids back.

Then the principal said what made her upset was that even though it wasn’t in writing, that I’d gone against something the staff said and what they’re trying to teach the kids in school is you can’t just be defiant like that and blah, blah, blah. I didn’t want to open my mouth, because I’d surely piss everyone off, but if it’s one thing I teach my kids is to do the right thing, and nobody was going to tell me that I wasn’t doing that. But I just kept my mouth shut and listened and even half-sarcastically said, “Well, now that I know the “rules,” I won’t be removing my children from school before 12. I wish I’d known this before.”

The principal said they’d come to the decision that they wouldn’t be holding the kids back from the field trip because they were great students and I was a great parent (yeah, way to try and kiss my ass). Then the dumb attendance clerk jumps in and says, “But I’m still going to be needing an excuse slip for yourself to use for your kids.” Um. Okay. Sure lady. I got home and got all the documents together that I needed. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that woman is out to get me and really doesn’t like me.

After I got everything done I lay on the couch and just passed out. I seriously couldn’t stay awake and my body was hurting SO BAD. I started to make dinner, fideo and beans, but I felt so horrible I asked Mario if he could take over and he did! He did a great job.

Tues. Dec. 16th – I stayed home and went to the doctor. I’d texted Mrs. V. (because she’s left me e-mails about her absences before) and left an e-mail to Vero since it was really early and I didn’t think I’d be able to wake up later on. Well, Vero calls me at 8:30, when I’m getting ready, and asks if I’m going to work. I tell her no, didn’t she get my e-mail? And she said no, that Mrs. V. was wondering what happened to me also. So apparently I was MIA. Last time I don’t call to let them know. Funny how it works when they leave me a message though. Grr.

After the call with Vero I receive another call from the kids’ school. They called to confirm a change of plans; it was way too cold to take the kids to the Corn Maze like they’d originally planned, so they were calling to see if it was okay to take them to the movies instead. I was relieved. I knew Eenan was nice and toasty in his jacket, long johns, regular clothes and hat and gloves, but it was in the 30’s and I didn’t know how long his little body could stand it out there. So I gladly accepted the change.

Mario was so tired he didn’t end up going into work either. Thank God, because I really needed him. I went in to the doctor’s at 9:15 and got out at 11:30 and went to the pharmacy. I ended up having my prenatal appointment that day, too, since I was supposed to have it the next day. I’m measuring at 27 weeks (although I’m 29 weeks) and I weighed 137.8—which means I haven’t really gained weight in almost 2 months! Everything with the baby looks great. I can finally say that I’m at ease about her being a girl and not “changing” on me at the last minute LOL. I had an ear infection, sore throat and cough, so they gave me some cough medicine and antibiotics. After I left the pharmacy I got home and just laid on the couch. It was the most rest I’d had in a while, even though I kept waking up because of my cough. I was surprised and pretty pissed to read the labels on the cough medicine bottle and the leaflets they included with it that said the medicine shouldn’t be taken while pregnant, especially the last 3 months. WTF? Why the heck would they give me that then? I continued with my Robitussin, which is what they told me to take as an alternative. Great.

When I’d first laid down on the couch Alaethia came up to me and laid her head on my shoulder. I tried to give her a hug without breathing my germs in her face. She tells me, “I love you, too.” I hug her tighter and squeal, “Oh little mommy, you make me feel so much better.”

She could tell by my voice that I wasn’t feeling well. She gazes at me and asks, “Are you awright?” I tell her yes, I am, just a little sick. She’s so cute and sweet, I can’t stand it sometimes!

It was so nice having Mario home. He made a chocolate cake with Jaylen and it was delicious! Next project is brownies with Eenan. I think it’s sweet that he’s taking time to do little things with each of them.

Wed. Dec. 17th – It was Jaylen’s turn to go on his field trip. They were going to The Zone, an amusement park type place but most of the games were indoors, and it wasn’t as cold as the day before anyway.

I felt like I was dying, but I went to work anyway. Good thing too, since I had to stay an extra hour and a half to make up for time since we were getting out early on Friday. I still don’t see how that’s our fault and we have to make hours up, but whatever. It took some doing, but Mary found a ride for the boys for each day: Yadira that day and Sonia the next.

As I was passing some permission slips back to some kids in the morning from class to class, I ran into an old…acquaintance I guess you can say, who was substituting. She looked like she’d seen a ghost when she’d seen me. When I had lunch that day I ate with Mr. D. when my old “friend” walked in followed by her sister, who was also subbing. They were both being obnoxiously loud but I tried blocking them out, especially since I had a headache. Mr. D. and I talked about his wife’s pregnancy and mine and they kind of just glared at me, which was weird. I went back to the library and my old “friend” stopped by about 3 minutes later asking to check her pin drive. Her sister had already subbed the year before and seen me. I wouldn’t put it passed them to have been checking to see exactly where I worked. Idiots.

Anyway, I got everything done and then some, including some letters for the bulletin boards. I was out of there like a bat out of hell and was sorry to have finished my water at work since I coughed all the way home. It was awful. I couldn’t breathe. I finally calmed down about 15 minutes after getting home and just threw myself on the sofa again. Mario got home and he started making dinner. He was bringing me water and taking care of the kids. I looked at him running around in the kitchen and was amazed. He caught me looking at him and said, “What?” I smile and tell him, “Wow, Babe. You’ve washed dishes, made cake with kids, you’ve made dinner twice, waited on me hand and foot—no wonder you like being married to me!” He smiled and narrowed his eyes at me. Then he says, “I admit. That was a good one.” LOL

Thurs., Dec. 18th – It was the day of our field trip to Fantasyland Skate Center. I prayed that I’d feel alright and that I could make it through the day. We had to house the kids at the library from 9-11, since it was freezing outside and weren’t going to be able to take them to the park like we’d planned. They had lunch right at 11 and after that we loaded the buses.

I was having horrible, dry-heave coughs in the morning, but mostly on the way to the rink. It was so annoying. I was better by the time we got to the rink, though. It was fun watching all the kids. I still wish I could have strapped on some rollerblades and gotten out there but that’s not possible right now, of course. I ordered pizza with Baudi and Mrs. Martinez and we all chilled out with Roxanne. It was a fun free day for all of us. We helped load the kids onto the bus (took forever because it was confusing trying to get the kids on the right route) and then we got into Mrs. V’s truck and she drove us to the school. She likes to speed, and the three male teachers, Mr. D., Mr. C, and Mr. H were all teasing her and asking her to slow down. Just as we’re getting to the school we get stopped LOL. Luckily she only got a warning. The cop was funny and really nice. The plus was I’d gotten enough Comp time so that I could leave early like everyone else the next day.

Fri. , Dec. 19th – We had a totally free day. We weren’t really closed, but there weren’t any kids circulating that day anyway. They had parties and a dance to worry about. I had lunch with the ladies, Mrs. V. and Mrs. Ruiz. I felt a little sad that I couldn’t give them a nicer gift; I gave them a mug with cocoas and a book each. Mrs. V gave me massager and Mrs. Ruiz outdid herself and gave us both a robe, socks and slippers! They spoil me. We took all the decorations down and after lunch we got some nachos and checked on the kids at the dance. Mrs. Ruiz left with her daughter and we hugged goodbye. Then we saw all the kids off at the bus loading area. I got all my stuff together and said my goodbyes to Mrs. V. I rushed off to pick up my boys and then Sonia, who needed to go to a few places. It was the least I could do after she did me the huge favor of picking up the boys the day before. After we dropped her off, we came home to pick up Mom and Alaethia then went to pay John’s car payment. I paid all my bills online and then joined everyone at Mary’s to celebrate Andy’s birthday. We had Menudo, yum. I’d completely forgotten about Mario’s company party until he called to ask if I was ready. Oops. I got ready in a hurry and made sure to give Mom instructions for Alaethia’s medicines and reminded the boys to be good and pick up after themselves.

We were running a little late, but I assured Mario we’d be fine since everyone else is usually much later than we are. Well, for the first time ever everyone else was on time LOL. The dinner was at the Santa Fe steak house. I had no idea it was so fancy in there. A man was playing a piano in the background and it was really nice. They even compiled a menu just for the company!

During the dinner the bosses passed around gifts and small bonus for all the employees. How nice! Then we went to their house to play poker. The boss’ wife was teaching me and I actually won a few times! I want to play again. Mario ended up getting a little tipsy after he’d had a few shots of Tequila. We left the house around 3am. Mario kept falling asleep and waking up and looked really uncomfortable. Then he asked me to pull over and he hurled. He was swaying and I was afraid he’d end up sitting in his vomit. I always carry a little bottle of either Oust or Lysol spray and started spraying the Oust everywhere, because if I smelled anything I’d join him right outside the car. You can’t imagine how happy I was when we finally made it home.

Sat. Dec. 20th – I went to Goodwill with John and Alaethia that morning hoping I’d find some cute curtains from Target like they usually have. I found absolutely nothing and even broke a pretty Victorian glass bottle I was going to buy for Mary’s miniatures collection. The cashier didn’t let me pay for it, though. We did a bit of Christmas shopping, like Mom’s nightgown at JC Penny. I can’t remember where else we went, but I know we tried getting as much done as possible.

Sun. Dec. 21st – We went shopping again, only instead of John going with me this time, it was Mario. We hadn’t cashed Mario’s paycheck so we did so at Walmart. We went to Target, where we got a few more gifts we needed and some that Elda needed and then to Walmart. We rushed home to drop everything off since we were already late to Jaylen’s best friend, Aaron’s birthday party. Since Alaethia and Eenan were both sick we left them at home with the grandmas and took only Jaylen. He had a blast chilling out with his friend and Norma and I talked for a bit. If I remember correctly, we went back to Walmart for some grocery shopping and bought a necklace that Mary wanted from there, too. There were 3 shopping days left and I still needed a few things!