Category: Yay!

We survived the hurricane. It wasn’t as bad as everyone assumed it would be. We did get a lot of rain, which lead to a bit of flooding in the yard but Mario suited up in a raincoat and boots and dug trenches here and there to help the water flow out. We ended up losing power at around 1pm and it was fixed around 5pm. There were tornado warnings and then watches till around 7pm, but nothing hit our area. So glad everyone and everything are okay .

While the lights were out and the kids were at Mary’s and then at Elda’s, John, Mario, and I lit candles all over the house. We sat around, listened to the radio and kept going outside to see what was going on. At one point, while feeling extremely claustrophobic and bat-shit-crazy, John said, “What if the electricity never comes back and we have to live like in the middle ages?! I DON’T HAVE A SWORD!! We must pillage!”

I just stared at him and said, “And what? Take the neighbor’s canned goods?”

Mr. I Want the Hurricane To Come. He didn’t know what to do with himself for those few hours.

Mario and John ended up falling asleep because they were that bored, the boys were still with Mary, so I found it the perfect, quiet time to start reading the Harry Potter series. It was so nice reading in the dark by candle & lantern light and hearing the rain tapping on the windows. I’m on Chapter 10 of book 1–slow reader . Mary, Yadira, Sonia and Noelia would have been done by now, but I’ve only read at night so I’m excused. I was going to start from book 4 since I’ve already seen the first 3 movies (cheater, I know), but decided I’d just read all of them. Hope to finish soon so I can read the last (most recent) book!

This morning, I got ready, ate a quick breakfast, woke Mario up and called to the high school I graduated from to ask about my transcript and if I could get a new, dated one or if they could date the one I already had. I called at 10, and the woman said she’d look for my file and she’d call me back. It was 11:40 and she still hadn’t called, so I called her. She said she couldn’t find my file, so I had to call Central. I told her about how they’d given me the run-around already (the receptionist, who I’d talked to twice already had gotten my info and said she’d tell someone to call me back but never did). The lady basically said there was nothing else she could do, so I called Central again and spoke to the lady I’d spoken to before. I told her I REALLY needed my transcript and a copy of my diploma (which they said they also needed) so if she could look for it we’d be on our way. Mario and I got into an argument about it–he didn’t want to drive over there if he didn’t have to. I couldn’t believe how he was acting knowing very well how important this was to me. After throwing a little crying fit, I finally composed myself and we left. It was a disaster. The transcript I had (which was a copy I’ve had since I got out of high school when I was going to start college back then) had two classes and credits that the one the lady had filed didn’t have. The one she had, had info from my 10th grade year that the one I had didn’t. The one she had also stated I only had 21.5 credits, when I needed 24 to graduate. She knew for sure I graduated since she had a copy of my diploma. She took the time to work out my GPA (which was 3.5), added all the grades in, signed it and stamped it. I was so grateful I couldn’t stop saying thank-you. She was super busy!

We took the transcript to my advisor and everything’s good to go, thank GOD. First day of school’s on Tuesday. What’s cool is that we have a very lenient dress code. I asked her what I should wear that day, since we don’t have our Polo’s yet, and she pointed to my black Strawberry Shortcake T, jeans and black flip-flops and said, “Something like what you’re wearing. Very casual. We’re not strict with the dress code.” Frijoles frescos! (Cool beans ROFL!)

The parts for Mario’s Prelude haven’t come in yet, but Noelia doesn’t start school till August so Mario can take her car to work and I can take the Sentra till we get the Prelude ready. *whew*

We stopped by Mary’s office afterwards, chatted for a while then went to eat at Jesse’s. Since we’re low on cash, we ordered from the “cheapie” part of the menu. Mario recommended the “Super Q”, which is a Super Quesadilla, which came with rice and beans. I figured 1 taco was good for me, and the rice and beans would definetly fill me up. I was in utter shock when they brought me a taco that was almost the size of a pizza when it’s folded in half! I only ate half, but man was it delicious.

We drove around for a while trying to kill time till Mom got out of work. We passed by a few houses we liked and took pictures. We’ve been really into homes lately since we’re just itching to buy a house in a few years. We want to be sure and confident with our ideas/plans for building our house.

We picked Mom up at 4:30, stopped to rent a movie, checked the post office (my driver’s license came in–my picture’s even more hideous than I had anticipated!), and then we came home. Mom’ll be staying with us for 3 days while Aunt Nora and Tio Arturo are on vacation in San Antonio.

Mom and I chilled out at Mary’s talking with Mary, Elda, and Elda’s mom and then I came back here and downloaded a few songs. Gotta make myself an MP3 disc to hear on my way to school on Tuesday .

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Yesterday evening, after Mary, John and I finished another round of painting at the apartments, John and I went out for a drive. He got the courage to drive on the Expressway, so I got my cup o’ noodles and my lemonade raspa and we left. He drove around the neighborhood first, then went down the back road and was going to come down the main road in Peñitas, then down the Expressway back home.

The car died on us in Peñitas.

Right when we reached the expressway and John saw that it was clear to pass to the crossover, the gas pedal stopped working and then smoke blew out from under the hood. It was overheating big time. I was so scared that if he did try to get the car to “go”, we’d get stuck in the damn traffic and get hit. We turned on the emergency lights, turned off the car and just waited there for a bit. He turned it back on and slammed the gas and we made it across to the crossover. Put the emergency lights on again and we looked around to see if anyone could help us. A man in a green car came up behind us and I was about to wave him to go around us and he parks next to us and asks, “Did the car stop?” I said, “Yes. It’s overheating. Smoke was coming out and everything.” He said he’d help us move the car over to the left shoulder so we wouldn’t be in the way. I got into the driver’s seat and John helped him push. He ran back to his car and I yelled, “Thank you SO much!”

So we sat there and waited. Thankfully, I had the cellphone. I usually forget it. I tried calling to Mary’s, but no one ever answered. So I called Mario at work and of course he starts lecturing me on “Why did you take that car if you know it’s not working right? Why didn’t you take my Mom’s car.” I tell him, “Well, that’s not gonna help me now, is it? I’m calling because I need your help. Bring water please.” He says okay and that he’d be there ASAP.

We tried making light of the situation and kept making jokes. We’d scream out, “Helpo! Helpo!”, whenever we’d see a cop car or constable, which is John’s idea of Spanish LOL. There was one cop car parked at the gas station that was across from where we were stranded. Eventually, he drove over and parked behind us. And then I panicked because I left my permit at home! He gets out of the car and asks if we’re okay. He was funny. I expected any cop to be mean and straight-faced, but this cop wasn’t. He kept cracking jokes and kept assuring us we’d be okay. I told him we were waiting for my husband, so he said he’d wait with us and helped us move the car a little farther away from the shoulder.

Just a few seconds later, a family parks on the opposite shoulder and asks if we need help. The cop says, “It’s overheating. She’s waiting for her husband to bring water.”

The guy yells, “I have water!” So we nod for him to cross over. He explains a few things, adds water to the radiator and we notice the radiator fan’s not moving. After messing with the A/C and then the heater, it started. The car cooled down right away. The guy said he was from our city, and that he’d follow us home just in case. I told him we’d wait for Mario since I couldn’t get a hold of him and he was on his way. I thanked him profusely and he and his family waited in their van for us. The cop guided us while I drove to the right shoulder, since he said it’s safer. Mario gets there, he puts the radiator cap back on and I get in the Sentra while he drives the Honda to Sonia’s. The guy in the van saw that we were okay, so he and his wife waved to us and off we all went.

I didn’t think we’d get that kind of help. I expected to be there, waiting, until Mario got there. John kept saying, “There ARE nice people. I never expected them to be HERE!” God Bless them. I’d of had a panic attack had they not helped us!

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I would have updated on Thursday, but my darn internet is down (typing this on Notepad on Friday, 7-01-05 @ 11:03pm) and Roadrunner’s offices close at 9pm. 24 hour service my arse.

Anyway, I DID IT! I GOT MY LICENSE!! Can you believe that? Because I still can’t . I think I’m most surprised out of everyone. I was nervous as heck. I only slept about 6 hours, we got there late, and I only got a chance to skim through the parts in the driving book that I had trouble remembering (I kept trying to remember the How Many Feet Does It Take To Stop At So-And-So MPH). Poor John didn’t get to even take the 1st part of the damn test because he needed a THIRD type of ID and he didn’t have one. He needed either his diploma (which hasn’t come in) or school transcript. Bastards.

I thought I was going to pass out before I took the test. Not only was I shaking when I was filling out the application, but I was yawning. I yawn, uncontrolably, when I have “butterflies” in my stomach. I yawned about 30 times and started feeling really lightheaded. Mario had told me we had a choice of a written test or a test on a computer, but they only do the computer test now. Mario and I’d been talking the night before, at around 1:30am, and since I was really sleepy, I remembered him saying something about how he missed 3 questions and didn’t pass the test the first time he took it. So I thought, “Okay, the most questions I can miss is 2”.

So, I’m taking the test, and I miss 4 questions. I was about to start bawling right there (didn’t help that it was officially Day 1 of That Time of the Month). Most of the questions I missed had to do with the How Many Feet Does It Take To Stop At So-And-So MPH. When I was done with the test, and the lump in my throat had grown to the size of a soccer ball, it tells me that I passed with an 84%. Later, Mario tells me he said he was 3 questions away from passing the test the first time he took it, not that he missed three LOL.

I was so excited that I passed . My driving test was set for 2pm, so we went back home (it was 11am) and went to the high school to get a copy of John’s transcript. As luck would have it, they’re closed till the 18th of July. Nice. Needless to say, John was really disappointed. So was I; I was really hoping we’d take (and pass) the tests together .

We ran a few errands, Mario put Vito’s new computer together and he quickly taught me to parallel park. I learned to parallel park in about 8 minutes. Granted, I’m not perfect at it, but I did okay. I practiced with a green plastic lawn chair and the wall to Big Mario’s tool shed.

We went back to McAllen after that and ate at a restraunt called El Molcajete. The food was so good — almost exactly like the Mexican food they make in Mexico. I wish I could have enjoyed my food more. I was so nervous I didn’t even finish my Coke, which is not like me at all.

When we got to the DPS, I started to get nervous all over again, but I can honestly say I was more nervous about the 1st part of the test than the driving part. They made us wait in line and turn our engines off, so I was sweating like a pig in 102° heat. A scary, mean looking lady did the inspection on the car, but a really sweet lady was my instructor. I was shaking by the time she sat in the seat but she broke the ice when she lost her pen under the abyss that is the passenger seat (Mario’s quite messy). After she finally found her pen, she directed me to two yellow poles, where I’d be parallel parking. Parking between two poles made me much less nervous than parking between two cars–which is what I thought they were going to tell me to do. I parked the best that I could. Then, we went around the block a few times and I messed up twice and even said, “Oh”, after realizing my mistake *slaps forehead*.

I thought for sure there was no way I’d passed. When we get back to the parking lot, she says, “Well, Mrs. V….”, and the lump in my throat automatically comes back.

“You passed your exam. Congratulations.”

She hands me my papers and tells me to go to the office to set everything up. I reach for them and she notices my hand’s shaking like a leaf. She smiles, since she probably sees that a lot, and I say, “I was SO nervous!”.

I ran to Mario and Jaylen (Eenan was with Mary) and told him I’d passed. He said he was proud of me and reminded me that I’d done it all on my own–and I can’t believe it, but I did. I taught myself to drive mostly . I set my goal, and I accomplished it. It even says on my calendar on June 30th: “Must get license by THIS day!”. According to my test record here, I need to work on my positioning and signaling for parallel parking, observance to corners, and control and positioning on my left turns LOL. And my picture on my driver’s license? I fear the day it comes in the mail…I was red as a lobster from the heat, I was sweating, I only had ONE EYEBROW PLUCKED (didn’t get to finish after Mario taught me to parallel park!), plus they make you take your glasses off and I couldn’t get my eyes to focus! I know I came out either squinting or with one eye straight and one eye to the side or something .

We went to Wal-Mart and got a few things we needed (new blinds, printer ink, undies for the boys) and I got myself some green spongy flip-flops and some Jolee’s scrapbooking stickers that say “New Driver”. Woo! Mario said he wanted to get me something nice to celebrate and I said he didn’t have to do that but I think I’m going to ask for some Kodak printing paper and ink so I can scrapbook again. Hee .

Today (Friday), I drove to McAllen (man was that scary! Traffic was SO congested!) and we saw Gramma at the nursing home. She’s doing good, thank goodness, and she was surprised and proud that I’d gotten my license. We took a few pictures with her and came home. I spoke to Mom and she was even more surprised and said she was proud, too .

Came home, and took Yazmin to McDonald’s and took John to Star’s and got ice cream for everyone who wanted some. Mario got home from work and wanted something from El Pato and the boys wanted Happy Meals so back we went. He laid his seat back and just chilled out while I drove–I’ve NEVER seen him that relaxed when I’m driving. What a difference a little piece of paper makes!

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