Category: Outings

John’s Graduation & Summery Things

Warning: The first two paragraphs have a bit of swearing. Read at your own discretion.

John’s graduation was on Friday night. He was cool and collected until 5 o’clock came around and he only had an hour before he had to be at the Stadium. After that, he was a nervous wreck. Mary dropped him off then picked Sonia up and the boys and I finished getting ready.

We left when she got here and tried to find parking and a place to sit at the stadium. It was so packed. We got good seats anyway–well, until this woman and her noisy kids decided to sit beside us. Wait no, I meant to say, she sat ON TOP OF THE BOY beside me. And her kids sat on the boy too, which meant her daughter was half sitting on MY lap. This woman had to have been in her late 20’s, early 30’s and she was stomping her feet, jumping up and down, laughing, screaming–she was ridiculous. I tried ignoring her, which was extremely hard to do since she was right next to me. I scanned the field for John and Jennifer (who was also graduating) and the bottom of the bleachers for Mom and Aunt Nora to keep myself from smacking her (I’m not a violent person, really, but had you been next to that woman you’d understand–I should have taken video with my camera). Finally, after what seemed like forever, they started with the Pledge of Allegiance…and that woman YELLED THE WHOLE TIME while we stood there with our hands over our hearts. When Pomp and Circumstance blared out of the loudspeakers and the kids marched to their seats, the bitch smacks me on the back of the head with her disposable camera because she was swinging her arms like a maniac. She tells me, “Ay, perdon!” (sorry) while laughing the whole time. By then, I’d had it. I get about 4 inches from her face and tell her, “Can you please calm down? You’re moving way too much.” She looks at the boy who’s lap she’s sitting on and airheadedly says, “Que dijo?” (what’d she say?). I respond, “Que te calmes. Te estas moviendo mucho.” She shrinks back behind the guy, talking crap about me no doubt, and I mouth out, “Dumb bitch” . She moved away after that, thank the Lord. I feel sorry for the people she terrorized next.

The ceremony took forever. It was hot. There was 1,029 kids. The people giving out the diplomas kept getting the names screwed up. And finally, we see John go up there. I tried getting as many pictures as I could. We saw Jennifer go up and since they were getting to the end, we made our way down to the field to meet with everyone. It was absolute hell getting down there! People are so rude. They were pushing and shoving and elbowing. Jaylen had been asleep the whole time, and had just woken up when we started walking down, so he was kind of moody. I carried him the whole time we were down there basically, and my arm was SORE. It took about 15 minutes to find John…it was pure madness. He looked upset. I know for sure it was because he didn’t want to eat with everyone (Mom was treating all of us to Chilli’s) and 2, he didn’t get to see most of his friends, though honestly it would have taken all night to find anyone out there.

Mario was meeting us at Chilli’s since he wasn’t allowed to get out of work early. It was already 10 and we were barely eating dinner. We met my cousins Art, David and Art’s fiance Michelle there, too. It was a nice night. We all talked and laughed and talked with John about what he wanted to do now that school was over. I had the Alfredo Shrimp and Pasta, or something like that. It was good. It was so much food, I had to bring some with me. It was really late, so Eenan ended up falling asleep and came home with Mary. We all said our goodbyes and Mario, Jaylen and I went to Wal-Mart. He needed a new toolbox, locks, flints for his lighter and I got a Goodluck Bear tee and two cute skirts. We ended up leaving behind the darn bag with the locks, flints and tools Mario bought . I called Wal-Mart when we got home and talked to a manager. She told me to take our receipt with us and we could get our stuff back.

When Mary went to Wal-Mart the next day I talked to a cashier and everything went smoothly.

We went to watch Madagascar Saturday morning. It was such a cute movie . It was very predictable but it made the kids laugh uncontrollably. They really liked it. Can’t wait till it comes out on DVD .

We came home and basically just vegged out all day. When I was going to feed the turtles I noticed Squirt didn’t swim away from me frantically like he usually did. I look closer and notice the filter’s sucking up his little foot! I talk to him and say, “Squirt, what are you doing?” and when I pick him up, his little head flops to the side. My heart sank. He was dead . I don’t know what happened. I had just been telling Mario 2 days before about how wierd I thought it was that Squirt hadn’t been basking and was sleeping in the water for long periods of time. He’d swim around and was eating fine, so I didn’t think anything was really wrong. Poor little guy. I put him in a little box while I cleaned out the tank, rocks and filter, just in case anything in there made him sick. I wonder if whatever caused Shelly to die (Yadira’s other turtle) was what made Squirt die. And is it contageous??

I had to break it to the kids, so I straight out told them Squirt went to heaven. Eenan cried a little and it was so heartbreaking when Jaylen innocently, quietly said, “Wake up Qwoht, wake up.” They were okay after a while though, thank goodness.

Jackie and Daniel seem fine. They were even doing a little mating dance last night! I’ll be so upset if they die too .

John left with his friends at around 6pm. Mario got home that night and we watched Alone in the Dark, which he searched all over for and finally found at Best Buy. John called at 9pm and said he was going to another friend’s house and would be a late. I was glad he called and figured he’d be home at 11-11:30, the latest. We were super tired, probably from not sleeping much the night before, so we went to bed after the movie was over. Which was around 11:45. Mario and I were to rendevous later on, but Eenan was freaked out because of the movie (he insisted on staying up with us) and wouldn’t let us close the door, so we scratched the idea and fell asleep.

When we were laying there Mario asks, “Does John have a key?”.

“No. I didn’t think he was going to be out this late. He should get here any time now.” *snore*

At around 12:10am I hear a knock on the door. I figure it’s John, so I open it and peek my head out. Nobody’s there. I close it, then open it again and nothing. I hiss out, “Psssssssst!”, just in case, but again, nothing. So I go back to sleep.

At 2:20am I hear something at the door again. I get up, open the door and again, nobody’s there. I peek over to Mary’s house and notice the light’s on and Big Mario passes by the door. Wierd. I shut the door and begin to get really annoyed because surely the waking up/going back to sleep is going to make me feel really tired in the morning. I hear something, so I open the door and Noelia’s there. She said John’s been waiting to get inside. Dork. He’d supposedly been “knocking loudly” all night, yet I didn’t hear anything but those two knocks. I’m a very light sleeper, so I, well, I didn’t really believe he’d been knocking as loudly as he claimed. He later said he didn’t want to wake Mario and have him kick his ass. Okay, I’ll stop. I’m laughing out loud and he’s right behind me saying, “Quit laughing at my misfourtunes”. Oh! Oh my gosh! I can’t breaf! *holds side* You can read about his experience here .

We had two kiddie parties to go to the next day. One was for Jennifer’s baby, Seth, and the other was for one of Mario’s cousin’s little boys. Even after the tiring night he had, John decided to go with us. It was cool. The first one, Seth’s, was at Peter Piper Pizza. The boys had fun. We stayed there a while and then left to the other party, which was being held at The Zone (formerly Mountasia) and was already in progress. We didn’t eat since we got there late (and had just eaten at the other one). The kids got to hit the piñata, got candy bags and then played on the games. They had so much fun, but since we’d been in town all day they were getting tired and fussy. We came home, rested a bit and then went to Wal-Mart (where I returned my two cute skirts because I didn’t like how they fit *sigh*), and then grocery shopping at H-E-B. We got home, Mario made us sub sandwiches and then we watched Are We There Yet?. John kept talking about how he wished we’d stayed up that late the night before LOL.

At around 2am I wake up to what sounded like rocks being thrown at the window. It had been thundering before we went to bed and sure enough, it was a full-blown thunderstorm with golf-ball sized hail. It sounded horrible. The kids, who are terrified of thunder, slept right through it. But not John and I. We got up and just stared out the door. He says, “First snow. Now golf-ball-sized hail. It’s the Appocalypse!”

Our car was out there and the alarm was going crazy so Big Mario moved it under the carport as much as he could. After staring a bit more I came back to bed. I. COULD. NOT. SLEEP. I woke up with every thunder, every hail that hit, and then woke up again at 4am to an Earth-cracking thunder and then about 30 minutes later to another huge boom. Another sleepless night indeed.

Today, my plans are to clean this hell-hole place. I hardly did any cleaning last week and boy has it accumulated . I did it to myself. The boys are going to swimming classes for the next week and they start tonight. Already got their little trunks out. Must take camera .

Bah. I guess I’ll start cleaning now…

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Star Wars & Procrastination

Revenge of the Sith was THE BEST! It was incredible. I won’t go into detail for those who haven’t seen it yet, but man, you’ve GOT to see it. The boys had a great time. Jaylen fell asleep halfway through (as always) but loved what he got to see and Eenan just adored it. He kept commenting and laughing during the funny parts. There was one “gorey” part, where Mario had to quickly reach over and shield his eyes, but nothing else really bothered him.

Negative Things:
– arguing with Mario, openly in front of the kids, about finances on the way over there
– ending up at the wrong theatre because I forgot which one we were going to *slaps self*
– hearing Mario complain about how we were going to get crappy seats because of my navigational mistake
– Eenan having a pee-pee accident =\
– Mario having to get out of line to wait for me (the boys went with Sonia, Noey, and Andy) since I hadn’t had a chance to go pee yet because of Eenan’s accident

Positive Things:
– We got back in line right away
– We got REALLY good seats!
– The boys were incredibly well-behaved
– The movie rocked!
– Mario and I made peace 😛

After the movie we went to Aunt Nora’s. There, we talked with John about getting our driver’s licenses together and he’s going to come over today to practice his turns and stuff. We discussed the plan of action–what he’s doing over the summer. After he gets his license he’ll be driving Mom to work and back since she has to go in at night now and Aunt Nora can’t drive at night. During the day (while Mom’s at work) he can go around and fill out applications at places. If he hopefully gets a job, he’ll work and Mom will quit. That’ll go on till I can figure something out. I was thinking maybe after Jaylen starts school I can drop him off with her when he gets out (or before he goes in, depending on what time of day he’ll be attending Pre-K) and pay her for babysitting him while I take a few classes. That’s my goal for next year–getting my license (this year) and then starting school. I can’t wait really.

As for today, I have lots of stuff to do around the house. I hardly did anything yesterday since I was messing around with the website. I had to make myself a list last night in order to get things done! How sad is that? If I don’t have a list, I’m completely lost . I’ll probably have to do that today.

And, speaking of the site, I installed the Plugboard. It didn’t use a database . For some reason, when I tried installing it before, I thought it used one, heh. Thinking it needed one is what scared me away from trying to install it. I’m so lazy when it comes to learning new “web” stuff, it’s pathetic.

Okay, breakfast is ready and it smells delicious!

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My Weak, Weak Immune System

I caught the kids’ cold. Actually, I caught a cold that was even worse than the boys’. I got a fever, and chills–the works. I went to Mexico (Reynosa) with Mary and Noelia and the boys on Wednesday (got some birth control pills !) and shared a Dr. Pepper with Eenan. Sure enough, the next morning I woke up with a sore throat (they didn’t even get a sore throat!).

Mario had Thursday off and Mom needed to be picked up from her Opthamologist, where she was picking up her new glasses, so we went for her around 9:30. After picking her up, she treated us to lunch at Taco Olè in Mission. I ordered some of the best cheese enchiladas I’ve ever eaten in my life. Sad thing was I couldn’t even enjoy them since my throat was on fire by then. We dropped her off after that. I chilled out for a while while Mario napped and then I went to pick Eenan up from school. We were going to bar-be-cue that night so I got everything ready while Mario got the pit ready. I made what was possibly the best rice I’ve ever made, Mario grilled the drumsticks and ribs and marinated them in bar-be-cue sauce, we had baked potatoes smothered in cheese–everything was delicious, and of course, I couldn’t enjoy it .

The next morning I woke up feeling lethargic but forced myself to drop Eenan off. I ironed Mario’s clothes and then laid on the couch. He kept smiling at me sympathetically since he’s not used to seeing me thrown on the couch in a helpless heap. I didn’t even make him breakfast that morning–that’s how tired I was. I’m sort of glad in a way that everything hit me at once: runny nose, sore throat, cough, aches and pains–because I’m pretty much just putting up with the cough and phlem now (ick!). Usually, my colds last for days. I’m hoping this one’s over soon *crosses fingers*. I’m so grateful that Noelia brought me Day and Nyquil, Mary brought me antibiotics, Big Mario watched the boys for me most of the afternoon while I slept my cold off (I couldn’t stay awake at all) and then Mario brought dinner (pizza and breadsticks!) and movies. We watched Spanglish which I thought was really cute .

Today I just paid bills and went grocery shopping with Mary, Yazmin and the boys and then we watched Are We There Yet?. I was gritting my teeth at all the crazy things the kids in the movie did LOL. The boys actually sat through it. They’re getting better at watching “movie” movies; we couldn’t get them to sit still if we were watching something other than a cartoon.

Oh my gosh. I yawned and I can hear again! Wow, I had the volume on the TV on really loud .

Hopefully Mario will be home soon and we’ll go to the “new” Wal-Mart. We need to get house things. I hope the boys will be well-behaved. They’re on a sugar high since they stuffed themselves full with junkfood at their Nana’s and being in public with them after something like that never goes well.

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