Category: MLV

I dropped Mario off at work on Saturday (the 5th), deposited his paycheck, and went directly across the parking lot to Big Lots. I still needed to get a gift for Gramma for her birthday (which was the day before on the 4th) and she had already told us before that she didn’t want anymore clothes because they didn’t fit in her wardrobe nor did she want anymore trinkets. I had the perfect solution: some plastic Sterilite drawers for inside her wardrobe since the nurses just toss all her stuff down there and it’s a mess.

Jaylen was throwing a spectacular fit because he work up too early. He’s already 6 and still throws these fits. He wouldn’t put on his shoes and then he’d open the car door and shut it again. It took all the strength I had not to drag him out across the parking lot into the store. I couldn’t anyway because I was carrying Alaethia. He finally decided to come out through Alaethia’s side and climbed into a cart.

We took about an hour in there. The plan was no more than 15 minutes since we already knew what we were buying. Well, Mom hung around with me and didn’t look for anything till the last minute and Alaethia and Jaylen kept changing their mind about what to buy. And then of course my body wandered off into the scrapbooking section so I ended up with two packs of cute ribbon. So we spent an hour in there.

We get in line and I look out the window. It’s pouring outside. We pay and I tell Mom to stay with the kids while I run and get the car so they won’t get wet. I can’t believe my eyes as I’m approaching the Equinox. The door behind the driver’s side is wide open…and the seat’s soaked. The first thing I think is that someone broke in, but the TVs, kids’ stuff, everything was still in there. And then I remember….Jaylen’s fit. He didn’t close the door right!

Had it not been raining I don’t think I would have had a car when I went back out. Especially on that side of town where car theft is quite common. God was on my side, definitely.

I made two payments and then we visited Gramma. The first thing she says when we show her her gifts is, “Why did you bother? I don’t need anything!” But when I finish organizing her wardrobe she’s extremely happy. We realize she’s missing some sets of clothes and a blanket Aunt Nora gave her but we figure every thing’s in the laundry.

We rush home because we have a party to attend with Mary for Noelia’s friend’s son. It’s still pouring, but we make the trip anyway. The kids having fun running all over the place playing games and getting on rides. Alaethia’s satisfied with the mess she’s made with her food. It was Carb City and I must admit I was naughty, especially with the spinach pizza and Parmesan oil pasta.

Andy and Noelia met us there and they told us how they’d gone to the outlets in Mercedes and there were tons of sales. We were going to go straight over there from the party but we had the kids with us and Jaylen was still in his mood. So we drop them off with Mom and were going to meet Andy and Noelia in the parking lot of Pier 1. I’d never actually gone in there since it’s so darn expensive but they were having a sale! I was looking for something small and green, a figure, to go on my black shelves, since all I had on them were pictures. I found this cute, chubby green bird and it was the exact same shade as my sofas. I need to go back and get ideas for my kitchen; I’ve still got the cherry theme going on and am ready for a change. But I need a fabric as my inspiration since I need to re-cover my chairs.

Our first stop when we get to the outlets is the Children’s Place. They’re having this huge sale: most of the toddler clothing was $1.99! Mary got her a few things and we found some awesome sales for the boys, too. Most of their shirts were from $2.99-6.99. Now they just need pants!

We figured Mario wouldn’t be out till 8pm, but at 6:30 he calls that he’s out already. Great! Poor Andy goes all the way to Mario’s work to pick him up and goes back since we were in 1 car. Mario got some new Sketchers for work at the Sketcher’s outlet. I’m totally going back for the boys’ shoes there! They love Sketchers.

Mario was in a hurry because the UFC fight was on that night and we were going to meet Jorge, Maggie and the gang at Fanatics to watch it, so he was rushing us of course. We get home around 8:30 (the first fight started at 9pm) so Mario’s annoyed. We get dressed really quickly, kiss the kids and go.

Maggie had given us the wrong street so it took us a while to find it. Mario was livid. But I knew he wouldn’t turn back and go back home because 1) we’d come too far, 2) think of he gas!, and 3) he didn’t want to miss this fight.

We sit with everyone and I make a few bathroom runs with Judith and Maggie. I don’t know who brings it up, but we realize that none of us have gotten our periods yet. Argh. I don’t want to think about it. Neither does Maggie. Judith does, she’d like another little one.

Sally calls a few minutes before the main fight starts. She’s going to join us, yay! Maggie and I’d ordered panchos since we’d first gotten there and they were barely bringing them to us. Grr. Sally gets there and we get up to order some drinks. I get a frozen strawberry Margarita that’s incredibly watered down. Bleh.

I don’t remember much of the fight since we were all talking, but we had a great night. Sally was going home and Jorge and Maggie were going home so we went home, too. Mario ended up staying at Chris’ with his Nino and I came home. All the nights of staying up late were catching up with me.

Mario worked on Sunday, which sucked. We stayed home all day while I cleaned and uploaded pictures to Flickr at the same time. It was about damn time, too. I’ve been, as you’ve probably noticed, editing/uploading old entries that I started and never published. For dinner that night Mom ordered a botana from El Pato. Mario and I stayed up watching movies; Aly fell asleep. I started feeling really ill, like my stomach was upset. Stupid food. I’d been wanting Flamin’ Hot Fries all day but I didn’t let the stomach ache stop me. I felt fine a few minutes later, thank goodness.

I dreaded the next day. I was going to have to do everything I didn’t do Sunday, like grocery shopping >_<.

(Mon. June 30th) – Spent most of the day lazying around with the kids. Andy and Noelia invited us to their house for a bar-b-q. We ate (and I had this awesome Jack Daniel’s pink lemonade drink) and just hung out the rest of the night with them. Mary and Jorge were leaving and, since Mario was going to install Noelia’s radio into the Sentra, the kids left with them.

The men stayed outside and Noelia and I went inside to look at her photo book and got on Ancestry.com to look at Noelia’s family tree. Very interesting! I need to start updating mine.

(Tue. July 1st) – Can’t remember much of what we did during the day (man, my brain’s really turned to mush lately! I can’t remember anything!) It was Maggie’s birthday that day. She’d told us the Friday before that she wanted us all to go over, so I got ready. I caller her up to see if we were still on but she told me her mom was unfortunately at the hospital. We already had sitters (Mom had Alaethia, Mary had the boys) so we called up Adan to go to Whiskey’s. We get there and Mario had forgotten his ID at home so we go back to get it.

There’s hardly anyone there and there’s no kareoke going on. Phooey. I’d been craving a Piña Colada so I got one. It was alright. The best Piña Colada I’ve had so far has been from the Blue Shell restaurant, hands down. But it was good. Mario and Adan played pool most of the night and although they asked me to play a few times, I felt really tired and sleepy but didn’t want to ruin their fun so I just sat at the table surfing the web on my phone. I caught up on reading some blogs, so I can’t say I had a horrible time LOL.

(Wed. July 2nd) – We met Mary at the Carmike theatre and watched Wall-E. I am so in love with that movie! It was the sweetest, ever. I hope they make Wall-E and Eve plushes…I’m totally getting them!

We went to Wal-Mart in the evening to get a few things and print out some pictures for Dad from the Kodak kiosk. Of course we get there right at 8pm and they turned off the machines because the photo place is closed. Grr. We drive over to Target and get them there. 28 pictures for almost $7 isn’t bad, but I would have much rather ordered them on Winkflash.com if I’d had more time.

(Thurs. July 3) – We left around 12pm to visit Dad. Mom went with us again, even against our protests. We told her not to because she was rude the last time but she insisted on going. Fine, whatever. We stayed for a few hours talking about the big Digital TV thing next February, the kids, stories from when I was a baby, and I even got some info about his side of the family for my family tree. We ordered pizza for lunch. And he loved the pictures we printed for him.

We stopped by Mr. G’s Fireworks warehouse in Alamo and got $45 worth of fireworks. Mom got another $30. The kids were set. Maggie calls just as we’re leaving and invites me to go to Mexico with her and Judith; they wanted to buy bottles. I say sure, I can get a few packs of birth control while I’m there, since I didn’t get to buy them before Natalie’s Quinceañera since they didn’t end up going to Mexico. Mario drops me off. We stop at ATM’s to get money and go. They get three bottles to celebrate Maggie’s birthday and I get the birth control and some cigarettes for Mario, since they’re $2.50 over there.

Once you buy the bottles the cashier gives you a slip of paper and a delivery guy takes the bottles to you by bike to the bridge (I’m still not sure why they do that). Well, we had some trouble getting ahold of the bottles. We had to go back to the store to ask what was going on. We finally get the bottles and make the semi-confusing trip around the bridge back to the US. While we’re waiting in line Judith quickly tells me to switch places because she can’t drive (for a reason) and so we switch. I feel weird when I first drive others’ vehicles, but I drove all the way home.

I stayed with Judith at her apartment where she got ready and Maggie went home to shower. I felt so uncomfortable and sweaty LOL.

As I was waiting for Judith I noticed the Mission yearbooks were stacked on one of her shelves so I flipped through the 10th grade one. I was in there, but thankfully I didn’t look that bad LOL. As I was going through the pictures I realized I hardly remember anyone. It’s kind of sad, really, but I was so consumed with my relationship with Mario that I didn’t care if I had friends back then. Especially because the friends I had made at the time had all either backstabbed me or just disappeared. So I learned to keep my distance.

We went to Maggie’s and Mario was already there. Us girls went to Wal-Mart to get a few things (like chips, dips and stuff to make Margaritas with) and got some McDonald’s to eat. We ate at Maggie’s and just when Mario had finally come in and was about to sit and eat his dad calls him and asks if he can pick him up and take him home. He does that, then finally goes back and eats. We hung out till pretty late just talking outside. The girls shared with each other how we’re all “late” and how we’re freaking out.

On the way home Mario tells me he’s had a great time his whole vacation. I tell him I have, too, because it’s great having him home and spending so much time together, like the good ol’ days when I was a housewife. He asks, “Hey, did you ever get your…you know?” I had already mentally tracked my cycle while the girls and I were talking about it and there was no way. I figured I was just late for some reason, probably because I’d stopped taking the pills so abruptly since I ran out. We were both a little more at ease.

(Fri. July 4th!) – We wake up the morning of 4th of July and it’s POURING. So much so that these little guys made an appearance:

The first thing I think is So much for the fireworks! We didn’t let it dampen our festivities, though. We had to get creative, like rolling the grill under the side porch, but we made it work for the most part. The boys put on their water shoes and ran all over the driveway in the rain and even had a mud fight (which I had no idea was going on or else I’d put a stop to it!). Alaethia was loving the water and being carried around by her Bimpa. Mom, Mary, Jorge, Mario and I were all sitting around chatting. I’d been wanting a Chelada for a while, so Mario prepared one for me. It was so good!

The girls were all inside, nice and dry, and the guys were outside chilling out and making the food. Well, Mario was. He’s always appointed the cook because he’s so good at it.

It was Gramma’s birthday, but the weather was so bad and we had no idea how bad it was in McAllen, so we didn’t go visit her. I felt horrible all day, but I made a vow to see her the next day.

It was also Natalie’s birthday, so we celebrated with cake after the bar-b-q. We sat around talking for the remainder of the day, since it never stopped raining. We thought for sure we wouldn’t be able to pop any fireworks, but there was this nice gap when it was only drizzling and the kids started popping them. Alaethia was terrified at first and was clinging onto me, then to Mary, then to Big Mario and then to Elda.

By the end of the night she was perfectly fine and clapping.

Once we were done sweeping up we left Aly with Mom, Eenan with Mary and took Jaylen with us to Jorge and Maggie’s. They invited us over for burgers. The burgers were delicious! We sat around a while and Judith asked me to go with her to her apartment to get a bottle and the stuff for the Margaritas. She made some AWESOME Margaritas. It was like eating a raspa. We sat outside and talked and then Judith’s friend stopped by so we went inside. They’d been friends since high school and were telling us about all the crazy things they’d done as teens up to now. I was slurping down my Margarita like crazy, until my lips felt like I’d eaten a pound of sunflower seeds. I had to stop!

As we’re getting into bed we realize that it’s Mario’s official last night off. Back to work the next day. I was so sad. I wish we were millionaires and we could just stay home with our kids and enjoy each other and spend our days together. We totally needed this vacation. It reminded me just how wonderful it is to be married to him :).

We woke up late on Saturday (June 28th). It was nice waking up next to Mario and just talking while we lay in bed. Mario was going to work on Moncy’s car that day so we went to pick up some parts he needed and then we went to Wal-Mart and H-E-B to stock up on things we’d need for our trip to the beach the next day. I spent the rest of the day cleaning and packing our stuff and Mario spent it working on the car. Yadira and the girls came over for a while so we chilled out outside watching Matthew trying to ride the boys’ scooters.

We woke up bright and early the next day and got everything and everyone into the cars. We picked up breakfast at Burger King and ate on the road. Our first stop was the Port Isabel Lighthouse.

I was actually really excited about the Lighthouse. Mario and I’d never been there in our lives, so this would be our first experience in a Lighthouse along with our kids. We took tons of pictures when we got there and since Alaethia was too small to climb on her own, Mary told us to go ahead and she’d stay with her and then we’d switch. Mom went along with us. Jaylen was scared but I convinced him to go up the stairs. They were small circular stairs and I never ever thought I had a fear of heights or enclosed spaces until I was climbing those stairs! I had to keep taking deep breaths and remind myself not to look down because my legs were shaking! I had to put on a brave face since I was trying to convince Jaylen to go up.

We finally got to the platform before the top of the Lighthouse and I could hear Mom wheezing as she tried to catch up. Mario was behind her, just in case. Between gasps she says, “I can’t…go up there.” So she waits on the platform. Jaylen wants to wait too and he looks pretty shook up so we don’t prod at him. Mario, Eenan and I went up to the top of the lighthouse. I was pleasantly surprised that Eenan went up so easily went up the stairs and to the top. He used to be so afraid of heights! I guess their clubhouse has helped him out.

It was an amazing view!

I finally have a good tan on my arms; I got rid of the farmer’s tan!

We eventually convinced Jaylen to come up with us and he got over his fear a little.

Mary went up after we did, accompanied by Eenan and then we chilled out and took more pictures. I love Port Isabel, just being there. I could totally live there. Well, except for hurricane season…

After the Lighthouse we went straight to the beach. Adan, Jason and Brianna had been fishing and we met up with them at the Andie Bowie Park. We rented two umbrellas with chairs, took down our cooler and sand toys and while our moms lounged under the umbrellas we took the kids to the water.

Alaethia was attached to me like a little jellyfish; she was terrified of the water. She didn’t even want the water to touch her when I sat with her at the point where the tide rolls in. She eventually warmed up to the water and even splashed a little with one hand while still vice-gripped onto my arm with her other.

Alaethia had a blast playing with Brianna in the sand. They’d made a little pool and stuck their feet in there. They used their sand toys for a while, then got tired and ran to where the men were playing in the water. Adan had brought a boogie board so the guys were busy trying to catch some waves. Jason brought along two tubes with ropes to pull with. Eenan, Jaylen and Brianna took turns on the two tubes. I had Alaethia on my hip while I held on to one of the kiddos, while Jason and Mario took turns with the other. When I wasn’t holding onto one of the tubes I would dip Alaethia’s bootie into the water when a wave would come in. She HATED it at first but got used to it. The waves were really strong that day. I kept a vigilant eye on each of the kids. I’ve got to say that the beach and swimming pools are the areas I’m most paranoid in as a parent.

My arms were so sore from carrying Alaethia for about 2 straight hours. One of the times Mary went to get in the water she scooped Alaethia up and took her with her to the shade. Alaethia ended up falling asleep for a good while. She was worn out!

We put on another layer of sun block since we were all looking a bit lobsterish. We went back out to the water and I held onto the older kids while the waves splashed us while the guys played again. Eenan was freaking out because he found a little teeny crab.

Then Jason and Jaylen started looking for little clams. They had a whole net full of them (well, Jason did most of the scavenging really; Jaylen lost interest). Jason, Adan and Brianna left and the rest of us spent about 20 minutes working on sandcastles. Once I started getting really tired I told the kids that was it for me. I went and relaxed under the shade. The weather felt delicious; it was sunny, of course, but there was such a wonderful breeze. Add the shade of the huge umbrella and the sounds of the waves inhaling and exhaling — perfect recipe for a nap! I couldn’t relax at all though because Eenan and Jaylen were still playing in the sand and running back and forth for water for the moats and bridges of their sandcastles.

It was almost 4pm when we finally decided to call it a day. Mario, Mary, the boys and my mom started hauling stuff to the car while I stayed behind with Alaethia and disposed of trash I’d find around our area. I love the beach, but man, by the time you’re done playing you have sand in just about every crevice of your body. And no matter how much you try to brush it or water it off, it just gets worse!

Mary took the boys to wash up and change first and then Mom, Mary, Alaethia and I went to do the same. There was a huge line of people and a group of ladies ended up cutting in front of us. Grr! I have no idea why there aren’t any doors or shower curtains at the place, so we had to hold a towel up as best as possible so the others could shower. Poor Alaethia was having the fit of the century because she felt so gross. We got her done first, left her with Mario and then I went next so I could tend to Aly so Mario could go wash up.

We had lunch on the deck: sandwiches we’d packed up in our cooler. I must have been starving because that sandwich, chips, pickles and diet Dr. Pepper tasted like the best thing in the world!

We noticed a group of people was cooking on the dock, and that’s the #1 rule: no bar-b-q’ing or cooking on the deck. Mother, being a finger-pointer as always, told the attendant at the umbrella place when she was passing and a cop came over and scolded the family. How embarrassing.

When my kiddos were eating their Cheetos Puffs and Fruit Roll Ups, two little kids from that family were just staring my mine, so we gave them some (with the parent’s permission of course). They were so grateful that they sent us 3 tacos that they made. They were delicious. As I was taking a bite and Mom was taking one, too, I tell her, “You told on them and now you’re eating a taco…how do you feel?” and you’ll never guess what happened? I freaking choked on my food! I was talking and the next minute I was gasping for air. Mary looked at me and asks, “Are you okay?!” I shake my head and just as I’m praying to God to save me, I swallow down the lump of taco and take a deep breath! I shook for about an hour after that. I’d never choked in my life and it was the worst feeling ever. It was only seconds that I felt that way, but it felt like it was never going to end!! And of course Mom laughs and says, “That’s what you get!”

After we finished with lunch we went to a gift shop in Port Isabel. I didn’t find much; I didn’t really feel like buying shells with googley eyes or something pirate-y. I just got the kids something each and a shot glass for dad, whom we’d be visiting that evening.

Mary got us some ice cream (I felt fine afterwards, even though I didn’t check my sugar) and we paid and left. We were going to visit Dad right after that and of course Mother wanted to tag along. I don’t know why she insists on going: she’s always talking smack about him. But she went with us and Eenan decided to go home with Mary.

It was nice seeing Dad after, well, like 5 years. He last visited when Jaylen was born and we might have visited again after that but it was probably 5 years ago, too. We sat and chatted with Dad, catching up on things. He told us about how he gets bored and starts painting the house or fixing things. He’s still doing the same thing for a living, repairing TVs and electronics. I was amazed when he told us he even fixes Xboxes! This man has never had proper training for these more modern electronics and he’s good at everything he does. Much like Mario, I think they were programmed from birth to be good at these things.

Dad asked for pictures of the kids so Mario told him we’d print some out and take them to him later during the week. I was pretty pleased that Mario so willingly decided to take another long drive over there. Alaethia was pretty comfortable around Dad; she even called him Grampa a few times. Jaylen was doing just fine at first, but once he noticed we were taking a little too long (for his taste) and his DS was running out of juice he started throwing a fit. He didn’t even want to take pictures because he was “too tired”. I don’t know what to do with that boy.

I won’t even post the pictures because I looked so RED in them! I was barely getting over my sunburn from San Antonio and then I gave myself another one.

We got home pretty late that night and just relaxed. It felt so good to be home but we had an amazing day!