Category: Shopping

Pixydust.net has been renewed for 2 more years! Not that very much has been or will be done with this website, but I just can’t let the darn thing go. (As much as it creeps me out sometimes,) there are too many visual memories saved here and I just can’t do away with it!

We got a 3-day (surprise weekend) at work, so I was off since Friday. It worked out perfectly since the girls had their Veteran’s Day program. Alaethia and her cheer team were performing and Emily’s class was singing. I’d missed Alaethia’s very first performance last month since it was when we had that delegation here from San Miguel De Allende.

Anyway, Mom actually went along for once, and their dad, too. It was a quick, but very sweet and emotional program. Of course I got goosies and was all choked up during the National Anthem, and got teary again at the end when Mr. Guerra sang “God Bless the USA”.

I didn’t get to take very many photos, especially because Emily was far and Alaethia was in the middle of her cheer team, but I snapped one when they were dispersing to their classrooms. Once I helped Alaethia change into her regular clothes, we hugged them goodbye and then Mom and I searched high and low for the new NES Classic console. I don’t know why I thought I’d actually find one, when all the crazies were out making lines at 5am 🙁 . I wish I could have been one of those crazies, but I forgot! Oh well. Maybe the next batch 🙁 .

Mom treated me to Wing Stop (those fries and nacho cheese. Mmph.), and then I dropped some off to Jorge, who was stuck at work without a chance for lunch.

I went back home afterwards and started taking down and wrapping up Halloween decorations. Mom went crazy buying little things here and there, which ended up turning into a dining table full of stuff to put away. I had to get another box.

I spent the evening watching Food Network and browsing Pinterest getting ideas on how to finish decorating my living room. Jorge and I decorated together when we moved in 5.5 years ago, but I wanted something bright and fresh that won’t break the bank. I started with dusting off two art pieces I had that I wanted to frame. So I went through my box of cheap Goodwill frames and found 2 that I would need to paint.

When Jorge got home from work he showered and then we had dinner at the Food Park!
We had our usual aguas frescas from Antojitos Beba and then we headed to Nuri Food Truck where I had a Q-dilla, Jorge had his favorite Devine Swine tacos and we shared the extremely delicious Bulgogi Pork Belly Kimchi Fries (Fries Carlito’s Way). They are literally finger-lickin’ good!

We went home and caught up on Grey’s Anatomy, and it wasn’t long till I passed out!

The girls had a UIL meet early the next morning, so I got ready, saw Jorge off and headed to their school to meet them and Mario.

It felt like time went by in a flash, then John (Audrey and Maddie’s dad) reminded me it’s because we used to have to stay all day for Chess! It’s a welcome change 😆 .

I saw my little ladies off when they were done with their stories/competing and I headed to Goodwill, for yes, another frame. I found nothing except Monster High and MC2 dolls for the girls.

I went across the street to Wal-Mart to purchase a bin for the Halloween decorations and ended up finding some AWESOME pillows on clearance that would match the theme I was going for in the living room in my head 😆 . They would match perfectly with my Otomí embroidered pillows I purchased from one of my awesome Artisans! I couldn’t believe my luck; they were $7 together!

I got home and started fixing things up, but not before I got bored enough to stop and meet Jorge for lunch :D. (I feel like my life really does revolve around food *sigh*.)

We went to Siempre Natural, where I had my usual turkey and bacon pita and fideo soup. I only ate half the pita and was so proud of myself. I dropped Jorge off at work and went straight to get my hair cut. It had literally been–wait for it–a YEAR since I’ve cut my hair. Jorge said if I didn’t go cut it THAT DAY, he and John would hold me down and he’d chop it himself!

So Ms. Rosie (my hairdresser) and I had a great, long talk while she chopped away at my hair. It’s still long (it was halfway down my butt; now it’s above it), but I should have asked for a more diamond-shape at the bottom like before 😕 .

Mom and I went to see Gramma and then to Walmart because I wanted to find another one of each of the pillows! After searching high and low (literally), I found one of the pinwheel ones. It’s something, at least! I got a few grocery items and then got home and made Jorge some lemon butter salmon and some zucchini noodles :).

After dinner, Jorge and I sat to watch TV while I paid all the bills online. He got to see first-hand just how long that takes me (almost 2 hours!!).

We woke up the next day and I made us some chorizo, egg and bean tacos with queso fresco. I’d bought some refrigerated tortillas from one of my artisans the week before, and he gave me 2 more packs! They are delicious.

We lazied around and then spent the rest of the day running errands, like purchasing bathroom repair stuff from Home Depot and then Jorge took me around 2 more Wal-Marts to find more pillows (only found 1 more pinwheel one, but for $2!! WIN!!)

We got home and he worked on the bathroom, while I stood by for support (and later tidy-up duty). I made dinner and we watched “The Walking Dead”, which I’d missed the week before. I was passing out before we could even watch the current one 😕 . Alas, as restful and productive as my weekend was, I could still use a whole other week off! It goes by too fast!

It’s been 8 months since I decided to go under the knife. I didn’t update last month (month 7 post-op) because I was feeling pretty good and didn’t want to jinx anything. 

I’ve had little to no shocks of pain lately. I used to get them a lot around the areolas. Sometimes I’ll still get a sudden sting in the same area I was drained on month 6, but it’s nothing major.

I’ve even been sleeping on my sides again, but I have to be very careful to not squish my boobs. On the actual day of my 8 month post-op anniversary (the 10th), I had some pants to return at JC Penney so I went bra shopping after my epic fail a few months ago (nothing fit comfortably then and I couldn’t figure out my size!). 

And this time, I still couldn’t figure it out! 

It’s either a C or B (down from DD) but I felt like everything was pressing on my incisions (even though I only tried on wireless bras) and it was giving me anxiety! I could also see lines of chub on my back (a direct result of not being able to run or exercise!!), so I said screw it, I’m keeping my cotton sports bras! I’m more comfortable anyway!
I went running on the 11th and felt pretty damn awesome! My heavy-duty running sports bra wasn’t too constricting and I didn’t feel stretching on my boobs when I ran fast. I had just been thinking about how I hadn’t gotten those weird, red, itchy, mosquito-bite looking welts in a long time! But lo-and-behold, when I got home and took my bra off, there was one on the side of my left boob above my incision! I still don’t know what the heck causes that! Sweat? My blood pressure being elevated from running? The bra itself? Who knows?

But all-in-all, I can’t complain. I feel comfortable and am braless as soon as I get home from work. I just hope it doesn’t backfire and I make my bewbs all wobbly!! Can that happen??

Sorry, thinking out loud. Anyway. If I could just get myself to work out daily again and not have some kind of mammary-incident, that would be great!! I was doing P90X, Yoga and running (occasionally) before that infection on my incision happened, so I’m hoping to start again soon, and hopefully with no problems this time! I have a Halloween Costume and 1920’s themed event I have to dress up for!

I think we’ve successfully gotten into somewhat of a routine now that school’s started. Unfortunately, that means waking up at 5am every. single. day for me. And being exhausted by 8pm. And passing out on the couch. And forgetting to wash my face at night. And starting the cycle again.

BUT!! The girls are doing well in the morning. We had a couple of days when Emily cried and didn’t want to stay at school, and a couple of other times when she got in a bad mood before leaving the house, but she’s doing so much better, thank goodness. Waking up at 5am and waking the girls up by 6:30am means that we leave the house by 7:35am and Emily gets to test her book. It annoys me that–even though I wake up at 5am–I’m still arriving at work at 8:15 >_<. I'm just glad my bosses don't mind. That first week was crucial to the girls (especially Emily) getting accustomed to attending school again, so it was crucial that I drop them off in the morning, but a group from Irapuato had scheduled a visit for the end of that same week and I had to be at work super early Thursday and Friday. Ugh. It's always fun taking the groups on tours, don't get me wrong, but I just wish it had been a different week. I worked late Wednesday to meet the group at the airport with my boss, and when they took too long to show up I left to a training Michelle, EZ, Wally, Maritza and I had. We all passed! We started the tour Thursday morning with breakfast at Cracker Barrel: [caption id="attachment_2424" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A somewhat healthy meal from Cracker Barrel[/caption]

We finished up there and continued with our tour for the entire day; a lot of it being outdoors in the heat, and later: humidity >_<. It was a late night for us. We didn't end up eating dinner till 10pm and left Republic of the Rio Grande at 11pm. (My first time there, ever.) Needless to say, I was beat. The girls were already in bed thanks to Mom so I re-tucked them in and kissed their foreheads =\. I had an early morning. Michelle met me at the office to help me pack up my truck with all the stuff we'd need for the El Salvador Consulate Ribbon Cutting. Thank God that went without a hitch; though the building was teeny tiny and hot. Bob and EZ helped us take all the equipment and stuff back to the office and then my boss and I were picked up by the limo where we met the group at the Library. We went on our way for the rest of the tour and it was supposed to be another late night, but I got out of going to the going-away party. It had been raining all day, I was tired and wanted to go home to the kiddos <3. It was a mix of bubbles and painting and the boys being silly, like always. I cleaned and was literally in the kitchen most of the day so I gave myself a break to re-pot some of my succulents. I love them, but sometimes they stress me out! I just want them to LIVE. I don't know what got into me, but I saw my plain clay pots and decided to draw and paint them. I didn't really even measure, so it was a bit crooked, but I think it came out alright: [caption id="attachment_2407" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My first painted sugar skull pot[/caption]

I had to come in to make dinner, but I couldn’t wait to make more. I got a lot of compliments on it :).

We had movie night with them on the porch, which we hadn’t done in a while. We got snacks together and watched “Blended”. It was SUCH a good movie!!

The next morning (the 31st), I had the itch to make a good breakfast. I had been wanting biscuits forever and decided to make some from scratch! They were a hit (thank goodness hehe)!

The girls had a playdate with their BFF’s later that day. They’re not in their classes together, so Jenny and I agreed that we needed to have a playdate every once in a while so they could spend time together.

We started the date off at Ben & Jerry’s then went a few doors down to Barnes & Noble.

They spent a lot of time, running through the isles and giggling. We were surprised nobody kicked us out or “ssshhhh!!”‘d us heh.

They had a short playdate back at Jenny’s and they were so disappointed when it was time to go, but I had laundry to do and dinner to make and they only had a couple hours before they needed to get in bed.

It was Dad’s 1-year-anniversary since his passing. I’d been thinking about him a lot; regretting, still, not taking that final photo at the hospital. Not having that last bar-b-q :'(.

Woke up early again on Labor Day to drop the boys off at school. There was tons of traffic, so for the 3rd morning in a row, Jorge dropped the girls off. I spent the day cleaning, visited Gramma with Mom, ran errands and cleaned some more. I at least got to paint one of my pots :).

It was back to the grind on Tuesday. That was the morning Emily had her first meltdown, which I should have seen coming when I went into their room at 6:30am to snuggle them awake. As I lay there next to her she softly says, “I don’t want to go to school today, Mama.” She was fine until we got into the cafeteria. She cried and wouldn’t let me leave and then Alaethia became sentimental for her sis and started crying, too. A counselor had to intervene and held her back. I hate when they do that, but I know I have to let her be strong and leave. It’s just heartbreaking to look back and see the counselor holding her and Emily pulling forward with her arms outstretched for me :(. Alaethia calmed down, too, but not before saying, “Why can’t you just take her home, Mama??”

I didn’t make it on time to my morning meeting, and my boss asked me about my absence at the end of the day. I apologized and explained about the girls and he listened and empathized. Thank GOD.

Jaylen’s Meet the Teacher night was that evening and of course, his teachers had nothing but nice things to say about him. He’s such a good boy :). His football coach also said, “He’s doing well. I put him up against some big guys and he took some pretty good hits.” Oh, my little guy!!

I went back to Mario’s to see Eenan and the boys and I took a selfie:

I love my guys!

Emily did a little better the next morning. There were still a few tears, but nothing like the day before. Alaethia was alright, too. It was pouring, so they were grateful I still took them all the way into the school. I was drenched :(. I headed straight to the place of one of the events I help coordinate. We had a great turnout, despite the pouring rain. Dania, one of our local artists, made a wonderful, inspiring presentation. Her story really hit home and I felt motivated. Jorge kept saying how good I was at painting my sugar skull pots and I decided that I may just start selling them :).

I got home that evening and the girls were inspired, too. They asked to paint some pots, so I let them while I made dinner :).

Eenan’s Meet the Teacher Night was Thursday evening. Again, good things from his teachers, of course. He DID get his phone taken away during his World History class that day, and the teacher held on to it to give it to us that evening, but he wasn’t angry about it. He said he wanted to hold it hostage so we’d show up for sure, hehe.

He’s doing PE this year and he runs and works out every day. He’s sore all the time, just like the other 3 boys who are in football LOL. I’m glad they’re all getting physical activity this year!

I worked for only half a day on Friday, which was awesome. I met Jessica at Cheddar’s and we celebrated her birthday almost a month late, heh. We caught up on all the gossip and life in general. It was good seeing her :).

I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few supplies for my pots. I love that place! I could spent hours (and tons of cash, heh) there! But instead of doing that, I scurried out of there. It’s dangerous!

I was bored all evening without my love and the kids, who were at the other parents’ homes for the weekend. Jorge was driving back from working at the Island. I’d wanted to go to the Music After Hours-Craft Fair, but I had already gotten into PJ’s and felt lazy, heh. When he got home we sat at our kitchen nook while he played his Clash of Clans and I painted :).

The one on the far right is one I’ll have up for sale. I was pretty amped up about starting this :).

We made ourselves go to bed since Jorgie, Justin and Jaylen were all having games the next morning.

We were so proud of those boys :). Mary had Emily and Alaethia with her and we all sat together and cheered Jaylen on. I was crossing my fingers that he’d get some play time, so I was thrilled when he went into the field every single time :)!!

And they won!!!

I stayed at home mostly that day, paid bills online and painted another pot. A black one this time. I got a lot of good feedback for that one!

When Jorge got home that evening, he asked what I wanted to do after all. We had discussed the night before that we were totally going to go out, maybe to a bar…but we decided on Kumori, heh. In our defense, we did have a cucumber Martini! It was great just talking and spending time together, just us two :).

We debated doing something after dinner…but decided we would just go home. And we were both okay with that :).

I started painting another pot as we sat at our usual spot in the house. This time the pot was for Dina :). Briana was in town so I wanted to send it back with her when we saw her the next morning :).

I sent her a photo and she liked it :).

Jorge and I woke up the next morning and got ready to go to Peñitas to meet Briana and the kids. We had breakfast from Subway (been wanting one of those breakfast sandwiches for ever!) and then were on our way. We tidied up the house a bit, caught up, I brought back a few wild succulents and then we said our goodbyes and Jorge and I ran some errands at Walmart. We dropped the stuff off with Mom and then met Jr. at his apartment so we could go hunting with him. It was hot, but it was fun :).

My love did pretty good, although he lost a few birds in the field. Jr. and I just lounged around watching, and we can’t forget the amazing bar-b-q Jr.’s Dad’s friends had made!

We cleaned up and I was relieved ’cause I REALLY needed to pee. The guys kept telling me to “pop a squat” but I just got the heebie jeebies thinking about it. *shudder* I was grateful to arrive at Jr.’s, where we hung out with Rudy and then came home :).

It was back to the grind the next day. It was such a good, productive week, and I’m grateful :). I’m hoping we can do really great with these events. I just have a feeling they’ll be great. I hope I can continue to be excited and motivated about it and not feel overwhelmed and stressed *crosses fingers*.

I made a Halloween wreath on Wednesday night after I spoke to my boys. It’s always good getting an update from them, though they were somewhat distracted this week, with their games. Eenan did let me know he’s been reading my blog. I still don’t know how I feel about that LOL.

Emily has done so much better all week, I’m so proud of her :).

Thursday morning was a bit hectic and it seemed to continue all day. I picked the boys up in the evening after work and Jorge picked up his. My boys and I had all different sorts of conversations. I’m glad we can be so open in our talks :). We got home and I made dinner and then we put all the kiddos to bed.

Took the boys to school the next day. We didn’t converse as much as usual because Jaylen was reading his book. The day was already so much better than Thursday. Something happened that bothered me, but I eventually shook it off after I had lunch with Jorge. We went to Mom’s Smokehouse and we had this:

Yes, you read that correctly: Cheezepotle Elote and Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas. Since I was already in a crappy mood I was annoyed that there wasn’t any “green” in my tostada (some avocado or lettuce, c’mon!) but it was just amazing!! I could go for one of those elotes again!!

I picked up my kiddos after work (the girls included, since Mario took them with him when he picked them up). It started pouring as soon as we got to Dollar General. I needed detergent and of course they had a garden sale so I got a bird feeder and a bathmat for the boys’ bathroom and a few other things. It took us a while to get home since it was pouring. We had pizza night when we got home and just relaxed the rest of the evening since our 3 football players had games very early today.

Thunder woke me up around 3am and when we woke up at 5am it was still going. We knew there was no way they’d play in this weather, but we got no warning from anyone. The kids ate, got ready and Jorge took his boys to their school and I took Jaylen to his. We could hardly see in front of our windshield, the rain was SO BAD. I was going 30-40 miles per hour on the expressway, sometimes even less, hydroplaning all over the place. When we finally arrive at the school, all the parents and kids are still in their cars, in the darkness and only the headlights showing how hard the rain was coming down. A few brave kids got down to ask if they were playing and the nice boy in the car next to us signaled a “no”. The other kids signaled everyone else and little by little everyone left. Jaylen said, “I hope they don’t make those who left do Lombardi’s!” LOL

So we made the trek back in the scary rain again. It was worse for poor Jorge, who drove all the way to Palmview and they said the game was still on, so he drove back to McAllen, where the game was being held, just to get a call when he’s almost there to go back to Palmview ’cause they cancelled the game. Eff our lives!!!

Poor Jorge had to go back to work, but I threw myself on the sofa where I eventually passed out and kept waking up ’cause the boys were playing Destiny. I asked Emmos to take a nap with me, but she wanted to play instead hehe. I got to rest just a bit before hanging out with the kids, picking up McDonald’s for the boys and getting the girls ready for Jessica’s little baby’s party. It’s POURING again by now and we park at the party place. We try 2 unsuccessful times to get out of the car and into the building, but the rain is just awful and the parking lot was flooded. Jessica and I are going back and forth on text and Facebook and after the girls and I have been trapped in the car for over an hour she calls to ask if I can see the empty parking space. Then she says, “Can you see the Boot Jack?” and then I feel like a complete moron because we’re at a completely different party place!! My poor girls were looking forward to it and I didn’t pay attention so they didn’t get to have fun. Ugh. We tried making it the last 30 minutes of the party, but the rain was so bad down Dove Ave. that I didn’t want to risk driving with the girls anymore so we picked up Burger King and headed home. They didn’t seem to mind, thank goodness!

So here we are, lazy and home and I’m so glad. Poor Jorge was stuck in Brownsville for a while and he said the road was completely flooded, even on the Expressway. We ordered pizza and I’m hoping to finally, finally sleep in till at least 7 tomorrow, heh.

And I hope our pond dries up a bit >_<. [caption id="attachment_2421" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The backyard![/caption]