Category: On The News

It’s All Good

So that interview I wrote about yesterday? I survived it once again.

But not before flipping my shit because I was half-abandoned and expected to do the thing myself when I didn’t even want to do it in the first place. I mean, I felt like flipping my desk over (if it didn’t weigh a literal ton). But I got over it, and wonderful Alexis (I’m so sad she’s not my neighbor anymore, waah!) practiced the Spanish part with me and Mrs. Thelma helped me through it, as did the two ladies interviewing us. They really are great at what they do and totally put us at ease and made us laugh.

I wasn’t too thrilled when Carolina, the lady who did the Spanish interview, offered to get in touch with her contacts at the other Spanish stations to interview us and promote the program there, too. I just smiled and gave a thumbs up. She’s just being helpful, of course, but I did stumble all over my words during the Spanish part. You’d think that after 4 years of Spanish being a part of my job that it would sort of just FLOW, but it doesn’t.

I’ve got lots to catch up on tomorrow since I took half the day today to comply with my appointments.

I met my love (and Marco, and then ran into Michelle, EZ and Anabel) at Palenque Chicken. I love meeting him for lunch .

Emily had a follow up at her dentist’s office. Well, not really a follow-up; more like a second opinion. I couldn’t believe it when they told me she had 2 cavities her last visit (after 6 months). During that same visit, when it was time to schedule an appointment for her fillings they tell me they would schedule her fillings for her 6 cavities. I tell them they made a mistake; check the chart. Nope, it was hers.

I felt weird and frankly, I didn’t believe it. So I scheduled an appointment with the pediatric dental specialist for today. He checks her and says he sees 4 cavities. Still not the original 2, but OK. And then he says he recommends she gets caps instead of fillings. I’m squinting at the X-ray; the cavity is miniscule!! I don’t understand how something that small needs CAPS!!!

Emily and Alaethia leave with Mary to have lunch, while I go to my dentist appointment. I text Jorge and tell him about my concerns, then I text Mario and tell him the same. They both agree they need to see a different dentist altogether. I get to my dentist’s and tell Jennifer and Elda about it. Jennifer says she used to work for them and they were kind of shady. I freaking new it. I’m moving the girls to my dentist ASAP.

I get my check up done and for the first time in a long time, everything is A-OK!! Woo!

I came home to change really quickly, then went to the girls school to meet Mario and the girls for Meet the Teacher night. I updated Mario; the girls weren’t going to be in the same class as their BFF’s, Audrey and Maddie (both sisters, both the same exact age as my girls). It kind of worked out when Audrey and Alaethia saw each other from across the hall and ran and embraced. As did Emily and Maddie. It was the sweetest thing :). Jenny and I found the opportunity to tell them that Audrey’s class was at the end of the hall and that Alaethia’s was a few doors down. They got it right away, but they didn’t get upset. We did promise weekend play-dates at Ben & Jerry’s though, heh. You gotta bribe them SOMETIMES!!

Jenny complimented me and said that I’m “looking good”. I joked that I jog once a week to keep my figure LOL. I told her we should go together and she replied, “I run, to the fridge!” Buaha. I love her, she’s hilarious. And the compliment was much appreciated as I’m feeling quite gelatinous lately since I’m not working out OR running. Waah.

I took the girls to Ben & Jerry’s for a treat after Meet the Teacher:

Chicklets & Sprinkles!
Chicklets & Sprinkles!

We got home and I sent them to the bathroom to brush their teeth!

Mary picked the girls. She’d taken the boys to get haircuts. I think it’s amazing how they both tower over me (it was bound to happen, heh). I love those lil’ guys. I need to mention just how wonderful they are. They’re so loving and great. Eenan sent me this last night when I whined about how much I hate being in front of the screen:

Do I have the best kids, or what??
Do I have the best kids, or what??

Such a great boy :*)! I just wish he’d see what a handsome boy he is!! I’m afraid I passed on my low self-esteem to my eldest child. How do I fix that :(?

Lots of hugs and kisses were passed around and then my kiddos left :(. It sucks that this is the last week of summer.

Jorge got home as the kids were leaving and before I started making dinner, I checked on my succulents. They’re doing pretty good since I separated them all on Saturday evening with the girls’ help ^_^.

The succulents in the large pot were having trouble, as is the Haworthia Zebra in the smaller “garden” so I had gone with Emily to Home Depot to purchase some small terra cotta pots. (Then we had gone to Kohl’s to finish their school shopping :).)

Succulent gardens and new pots
Succulent gardens and new pots
The girls, painting pots while I re-pot my babies.
The girls, painting pots while I re-pot my babies.
The girls' finished pots :)
The girls’ finished pots 🙂
The succulents, all separated.
The succulents, all separated with hot pink aquarium rocks.

(I’m not too fond of that photo; it was dark and the flash made the succulents turn weird colors >_<.) Unfortunately, I lost my large hen & chicks and my Echeveria "Lola". They were never the same after we got back from vacation. I'll never understand if it was underwatering, overwatering, sunburn or WHAT that did them in =\. It's frustrating. [caption id="attachment_2344" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Leaflets, propagating. Leaflets, propagating.[/caption]

I put all the leaflets I was propagating in this pot. Well, the ones that made it, anyway. The wonderfully budding Jellybean leaves all shriveled up, except one. And even that one doesn’t look like it’s doing too good =\. I just hope the rest make it!

[edited on Friday, August 22, 2014]

I just realized the photo above is from August 15th!! The tiny, new buds have grown significantly in a week!

My babies on August 22nd!
My babies on August 22nd!

I threw in the other 3 that I’d been propagating separately, as you can see. Sadly, I’ve forgotten which they are! The little “beads” are Sting of Pearl leaflets and I know there’s a Donkey Tail Burrito. I thought there was a Golden Sedum, but I’m not entirely sure now, since it looks different O_o. Anywho, I can’t wait till they grow more!! The waiting game drives me crazy!!

And here is my windowsill at present:

Kitchen windowsill
Kitchen windowsill

*swoon* I could stare at them alllll dayyyyy!!

So, even if today started out pretty darn crappy, I have to say my family, friends and hobbies turned it around completely <3!

The Nerves!!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a “real” post but I need to vent a little so, here I am.

We have a project we’re promoting at work since the 2nd session is coming up. Never did I think during that fateful month last year when our boss sat Laura and I down at Starbucks and proposed his idea and I AGREED to do it–that I’d ever have to be ON TV.

FML.

We had an interview last week and I bit all my nails off AND my face broke out days prior. I was so nervous and stressing about it like crazy. I even told John and Jorge that I very much felt like going in and quitting the morning of the interview because I DID NOT want to do it. I was nervous about what I’d say, I had no idea what to wear and I’m so self-conscious about my skin.

Everyone who knows me in person knows what a bitch of a time I have with this adult acne, and being on TV is the LAST thing I want to do. I’d have to wear make-up to cover my blemishes and God knows THAT was going to make me break out even more. I never wear anything other than lipstick, mascara and eyeliner because of this lovely problem.

But I survived. I hated every moment of sitting there and hated seeing the interview even more (OMG, MY BOOBS. And why do I make THAT FACE??), but I survived.

Cheesin' in the studio.
Cheesin’ in the studio.

I tried making the best of it, though, even took a photo in front of the set since I hadn’t been there since our 5th grade tour. And I really hoped I’d never have to go back.

Now fast forward to tomorrow, where I have yet ANOTHER interview. FML!!!!

It’s not at the same station, but this one is not just one, it’s TWO interviews, one being in Spanish. I could barely get through the English one!

So instead of getting everything together for tomorrow, or practicing what I’ll say or going for a run, I’m sitting here, blogging and stalling. I should have gone running earlier and I probably should have painted my nails. Ugh. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow, what with the interview, lunch, Emily’s dentist appointment, MY dentist appointment and then the girls’ meet the teacher night. I still have to figure out how to break the news to the girls that they won’t be in the same classes as their BFF’s, Audrey and Maddie. Ugh, makes my stomach flip. I don’t know how they’re going to take it :(.

Alright, I’ll stop stalling.

Wish me luck *gulp*.

The First Half of Mother’s Day

Tues., May 5th – I got the boys ready for school and stayed awake to search online for the perfect new upgrade to my Kodak Z650. Mario had been trying since Christmas to get me to find myself a new camera but I just felt way too guilty. Since Mother’s Day was coming up he told me, again, to pick out a camera for him to buy me. He said this time he wasn’t going to stop bugging until I got one so I said fine, if you insist, heh.

I originally wanted a 12MP Kodak with 15x zoom like Noelia and Andy’s (I forget what the actual name was), but I found an even more awesome one searching through Walmart.com! The Kodak Easyshare Z980. I fell in love. 12MP with 24x optical zoom?? Heaven!

Even though I shouldn’t have, I applied for the Walmart credit card because I’d feel better (i.e. not guilty for buying myself something so extravagant) giving monthly payments on it (with no interest!) than just slapping $400 on the counter in the store. Mario pushed me to get next-day shipping, which added $14 to the final purchase of $400.16. I loved the reviews I read all over the web about this camera; people compared it to Nikons and Canons that cost $1,000 more!

Emily was kind of grouchy that day and wouldn’t stay with Mom for anything. I don’t know what it is about Mom, or if it’s just that she is that attached to me, but she just doesn’t like Mom sometimes LOL.

Since it was Mario’s day off I went with him to Home Depot to get a few more “final” things for the living room; this time the materials for the doors. How many times have I said that already; that we’re getting the final things? LOL It’s never-ending with home improvement projects. Anyway, Mario was having a fit because he couldn’t find the proper door jambs and thresholds we needed for the doors. His way to do things is: if you can’t do/find something, you give up and stop/leave. That’s not how I roll. I searched and searched until I found the right parts, even though he kept threatening to leave me. Grr.

As for the potty training, Alaethia did somewhat okay. I feared leaving her behind with Mom while we went to Home Depot because I was afraid Mom would be too busy with Emily and Alaethia would have an accident. I sort of banned her from the living room because I was afraid she pee/poop on the sofa or rug LOL. She did have a few accidents, about 2 while we were at Home Depot and 1 poo accident. She left a nice dollop next to her potty chair. Lovely.

I spent that night updating my entries from the first week of April (right now, it’s July 9th and I’m barely updating for May, ha!) so I went to sleep pretty late. It was becoming the norm to sleep late, though. I’m just glad the girls are on my schedule and that Emily’s a pretty darn good sleeper for being 2 1/2 months!

Wed., May 6th – At this point I don’t even remember if I even got up to make Mario breakfast before he left to work that morning, but I do know for sure that I slept in till around 11am. I only woke up at that time because Elvira, my old co-worker and good friend, called my cell telling me she was driving around La Joya looking for my house. I literally sprang out of bed and washed up, brushed my teeth and hair, put on some decent clothes and frantically picked up toys and clothes and flung them into my bedroom. My dishes from the night before were in the sink and the floor wasn’t mopped. Why do I always get company when the house looks like hell, yet when I clean no one bothers to come over?!

Anyway, I apologized for my mess and was so glad for her company. We caught up on goings-on at work, I told her about labor/delivery and how wonderful Emily is and she told me about her daughter’s appointment in Houston about her seizures. Unfortunately the news wasn’t what they’d hoped for, so Sabrina would have to continue with her meds, which Elvira wasn’t happy about giving her since there are so many. I have to say, I admire Elvira; she has so much on her plate yet she’s always doing for everyone else and is always cheerful.

Elvira visited for 2 hours and left back to work so she could pick up Sabrina on time. Alaethia was well-behaved during the visit and even hammed it up and took pictures with Elvira and Emily.

She had two pee-pee accidents that morning. I didn’t know what to do to get her to stop peeing everywhere. I even went so far as to read back my old entries from when I was potty-training Eenan and Jaylen to see if I could get any ideas! I tried being patient with her, but oh my gosh, I was boiling inside. I didn’t know what to do!

As I was checking my e-mail I heard something on Headline News about Jon & Kate. I turned up the volume and couldn’t believe what I heard: he really was cheating! I followed this show from the first episode–no, from the first special they had about the sextuplets. I never really get into celebrity news, but I just love this show because it was sweet and it showed them doing regular family stuff and discipline (her kids actually stay in time out, what?!) so I was really heartbroken when I realized their marriage might just not make it with all the tabloid fodder and Jon’s behavior in general. See what I mean about getting into it? LOL

Anyway, upon checking my e-mail I noticed my camera would arrive sometime that afternoon! Woo! I took Emily with me to Mary’s house since I’d see the UPS truck better from over there and waited. Alaethia stayed here at home with Mom since her potty chair was in her room since she wasn’t making it all the way to the bathroom when it was in there. I was at Mary’s for about half an hour when I asked Mom to come over and wait with the girls (and the potty chair, heh) at Mary’s for the UPS guy because I had to pick up the boys. I asked Mom how Alaethia was doing and she said she’d gone in the potty each time she needed to pee and even pooped once! I guess she just needed a break from my “OH MY GOD!’s” when I’d find her drenched in her pee. Mom’s got a more gentle approach LOL.

I spent 2 hours perched on Mary’s sofa waiting for my package. I’d just tweeted at 5:59 about how impatient I was becoming and how I had to get dinner started when the UPS truck drove up at 6:01. I was so excited! My baby was here!

*SIGH*

I couldn’t even walk the few feet it would take to get to my house; I opened everything up right then and there at Mary’s. Of course immediately after I stuffed everything back in the box and went straight to my room to start trying out the settings. This was shot from across my room, no joke. Look at how clear it looks!

Close Up From Across The Room

The macro feature was amazing, and even more-so because it’s got a macro x2 feature! And the video! It’s HD quality and you can zoom in and out WHILE filming!

OK, enough of that, heh.

I’d taken Alaethia’s potty chair into the bathroom to get her used to going in there. She’d been doing great that whole day, ever since she was with Mom in the afternoon. She got a little excited though and kept asking to go pee because she was liking flushing the toilet LOL.

We got some awesome news that night. Chris and Nancy, after 4 years of marriage and trying those 4 years, finally conceived!! I’m so so happy for them and wish them all the best. It’s going to be so cute when Nancy finally shows because she’s super tiny! She’s even shorter than I am and much thinner!

Before I went to bed that night I ordered more Re-Ment sets! My Mother’s Day gift from Mom. And of course she ordered some for herself LOL. I ordered the Strawberry Picnic set, Strawberry Breakfast set, Antique Japanese set and the Old Fashioned Tableware set. I can’t wait to get them!

Thrus., May 7th – I heard a noise in the middle of the night (well, around 4am, really) and saw Alaethia get up and very sleepily used her potty. I took the potty chair into my bedroom just in case, and thank God I did. She was so cute; she kinda swayed back and forth with her eyes closed while she sat on the toilet, did her business and stumbled back into bed. It was the cutest thing ever!

Who knows if I woke up and turned off the alarm and went back to bed or if it didn’t go off at all, but I woke Mario up late for work. I hate when that happens because he’s running around muttering under his breath and I just feel all guilty and uncomfortable. Then I’m worried that he’s going to speed to get to work on time and get into a wreck or something, God forbid. When I called him later, though, he said he was a minute late but nothing dramatic happened.

Alaethia woke up nice and dry, I’m so proud of her. She’s got the general idea of potty training already, which means that it only took her 3 days to become potty trained! Keep in mind that this was the third time teaching her, though LOL.

I picked the boys up from school and they gave me their handmade gifts :). Jaylen gave me a cute tea pot card with a Lipton tea packet (aw!) and this cute card:

Jaylen's Gift to Me :)

And Eenan gave me a poem with magnets on the back to put on the fridge and this awesome canvas painting!!

My Artist!

I need to find a nice frame for it and display it in the kitchen!

While I had all the kiddos there (the boys are hard to catch with the girls because they’re always outside playing) and took this picture with my new camera:

All My Children

I can’t even articulate how absolutely blessed I feel. I love my babies! And my husband! And just everyone!

Just as I suspected, when I uploaded pictures to Flickr, it took an eternity! I can only download 10 or so pictures at a time at 12MP compared to around 50 6MP from my old Z650 camera.

One of the times Alaethia had to go to the bathroom she opened up the vanity doors and started messing with stuff under there. Gotta remember to get some cabinet locks. She started screaming when I took my nail polish bag away from her. She crossed her arms and yelled, “I’m running away!” I watched her to see what she would do and she did indeed run away…to my in-laws’ next door just like Eenan did when he was almost 3 LOL. Hilarious.

I spent the rest of the night cleaning up my desk. It’s insane how much crap I have.