CrazyLove33

1st week down...

2009-08-23T13:28:00.002-05:00

Isabel's first week went pretty damned good! When I went to pick her up on the first day, she had so much to tell me. She made friends, she has two teachers, she got to play on the playground, she had Jello for lunch, etc. etc. I'm so proud of her! There were no problems at all during the week. She went to bed right at 9:30 each night (which in a week or two I'm going to move up to 9:00pm) with no complaints! Seeing how we were going to bed pretty darned late this summer, this is great.

There was one small hurdle, though... On Thursday I received paperwork from the ESL (English as a Second Language) program at her school. They did an oral test on her, and she qualifies for help through the program. I was kind of hurt and disappointed when I received the paperwork. I felt like I did something wrong. The next morning, though, I went and spoke with the ESL director, and I signed the permission slip. She is going to have someone go into her classroom and give her extra help as she needs it.

Tomorrow Olivia starts all day prekindergarten! I'm excited for her! I have to go home and iron her uniform and label all of her school supplies. I'll post pictures of her first day as soon as I can!

Freakin' a bit here...

2009-08-16T20:03:00.002-05:00

I've been bursting into tears randomly all weekend. Tomorrow, August 17th, my first born will be heading off to all day kindergarten. On Thursday, we went to meet her teacher and see her classroom. I was fighting back tears the entire evening. But, the closer we get, the harder it becomes to squelch the urge to cry.

I'm usually not a sentimental person, so these last couple of days have been really hard! Even though my heart is breaking at the thought of walking away from her classroom tomorrow morning, I'm also excited for her. Isabel is beyond prepared for tomorrow. She has checked her backpack a bazillion times. She asked me to make sure her tennis shoes were still in the box. She has been practicing writing her name like crazy, even though she's been able to do so since she was three. She loves change, and adapts quickly to new environments. She's going to have a blast tomorrow!

At least I hope she does... If she has a bad day and doesn't want to go back, I'm likely to let her stay home with me forever! ;)

Wish her luck tomorrow!! And then its Olivia's turn next week!!

Crazyness!

2009-08-11T11:12:00.002-05:00

Things have been kind of crazy around here... Can you believe Isabel is going to kindergarten in less than a week?? And the next week Olivia starts her all day pre-k program!! Oh my gosh... The last few weeks have been spent searching for school supply bargains, scheduling doctors' appointments, searching down immunization records for Isabel...

Sheesh!!

Today Isabel has her check-up with her pediatrician. Olivia is spending the day with Jose's mom. I'll post an update as soon as we get back from the doctor. Adios!!

Pictures and doctor's update...

2009-06-26T13:19:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from Olivia's 4th birthday party. :) Here she is with her little pinata. We had one little pinata for the small kids and a HUGE one for the bigger kids.

Isabel and her BFF Juliana posing for a picture while Olivia blows the candles out on her cake.

This is the park where we had the party at. Isn't is beautiful?? Everyone thought it was an awesome park.

And here is a picture of the bounce house we rented. That is Olivia and my mother-in-law sitting by the entrance.

Anyways...

We had our follow-up appointment regarding Olivia's wheezing episode the other night. The pediatrician said that at this point, he is almost certain it is asthma. He put her on a preventative medicine (Pulimicort) and also said that we are going to have to postpone her oral surgery until her lungs clear up.

So...

Any cool plans for the weekend?? We are invited to another party at the same park where we had Olivia's. I'm kind of excited. It is for a little girl who is turning two. I hit up an AWESOME sale at the Children's Place and bought her two outfits (skirts and halter tops), matching hair pretties, and sunglasses for $25! :)

Have a nice weekend! TGIF!

Haven't had much to report...

2009-06-24T17:05:00.002-05:00

I've been kind of busy getting used to being back at school and having homework and tests and projects due!

Olivia's party was AWESOME. We could not have asked for nicer weather! The park looked beautiful! Once I get somewhere with a faster internet connection, I'll go ahead and upload some pictures of her party. She had so much fun. She says her favorite part was the bounce house!

Last night she gave me a scare, though! I ended up rushing her off to urgent care, where they said she was having an asthma attack! We haven't had the "asthma" word thrown around in a good 9-12 months. I had hope we were over this! Apparently not. She got bad, and she got bad FAST. She went from a little bit of coughing in the morning to non-stop coughing by 5pm and deep, scary-sounding wheezing.

They took her vitals at the urgent care clinic, and within seconds two doctors were in the room and they said she needed a nebulizer treatment and steroids. They also told me I need to talk to her pediatrician and see about getting her an official diagnosis so that she might be put on a preventative med. She is needing the nebulizer treatments every four hours like clockwork right now. We'll see how things go in the next couple of days.

Other than that, I can't really think of much to report. Take care everyone!!

Party planning committee

2009-06-11T09:18:00.002-05:00

I can not wait until the new season of the Office starts! That is TOTALLY not the direction that this post was headed in my brain, but what can you do about it?

Also, totally not related, but one of those things I feel compelled to talk about, last night I caught a brief-but-entirely frightening glance of my mother-in-law and her beau participating in the horizontal cha-cha. My eyes, people! My eyes! At the moment I felt like gouging them out of my head! But then I realized the oh-so-horrible mental image has been forever etched into my memory. Eyes or no eyes I'm still going to remember it. Ewww...

Why the fuck would they not lock the damned doors?! Really?! What the hell?!

(sigh)

Anyways, now for the real reason for this post: Olivia's 4th birthday party is on Saturday!! I'm so excited! It looks like everything is going as planned! We're having it at a park, and I plan on serving fried chicken, Mexican-style rice, potato salad, macaroni salad, chips and dip, chips and salsa, and diced fruit. It kind of sounds like a lot of food, but if everyone that is invited shows up, there will be a lot of people.

I already have the goody bags made, and all the candy for the pinatas ready. Parties make me so happy!! I can't wait!

Math woes.

2009-06-10T10:00:00.002-05:00

Monday was my official "First Day Of School". I was excited and a tiny bit nervous as well, but all went well! I am taking Intro. To Algebra, or MATH 921B. Unfortunately, when I took the placement test, I failed the math portion miserably and this course is a refresher class to get people prepared to take Intermediate Algebra.

Right now, things are super easy. Seriously. We are adding and subtracting. No joke, people. We did greater than or less than yesterday. Um... I totally thought I had masted that skill in 5th grade, but apparently not!

Today I also start Human Growth & Development. It is a FIVE HOUR CLASS. FIVE HOURS!!! I'm going to go crazy cooped up in a classroom for five hours! Wish me luck! I can't afford to let my attention stray, because in a class that long I bet we cover a LOT of material!

Not much else to report. Olivia's birthday party is on Saturday. Her birthday is actually today! She is a four year old now!!! WOW!

Speaking of Olivia, since I'm going to be going to school full time in the fall, we had a decision to make. Day care? Preschool/day care? All day preschool??

At first, I was totally against the all day preschool idea. I think its a bit much for some five year olds! I couldn't even fathom the idea of putting my four year old in a classroom for 8 hours a day!

But then I started reading the information packet the principal gave us. And I brought it up to Jose to see what he thought. We've talked about and talked about and talked about it, and we decided to sign her up.

Economically, its the better choice. Daycare/preschool is $110 a week. The all day preschool is $300/month. Religiously, its the ideal school setting for us, and I'm even considering switching Isabel to the school for first grade.

Anyways, time to run... 10:15, time for class! Peace!

YAY!

2009-06-04T11:55:00.003-05:00

The local news station had a Twitter message offering tickets to tonight's show of High School Musical at the local children's theater. I e-mailed them right away, and they were kind enough to give me three tickets! I'm so excited! I know that Isabel is going to LOVE it! I'm a little apprehensive about Olivia, so she might wind up staying with my mom. Movies are almost pushing it for her, so I don't know how good she'd do with live theater, you know what I mean??

Not much else to report. I have to go pick up the tickets by 5pm at the news station. The show starts at 7pm! :)

Back to school... and dentist woes.

2009-06-03T15:22:00.003-05:00

Sorry, dearest blog, for I have been neglecting you lately. The weather has been fairly nice, and we've been spending quite a bit of time enjoying the great outdoors!

Anyways...

I've postponed mentioning this next tidbit, because I wasn't 100% sure it was going to happen. Now that tuition has been paid and classes start on Monday, I guess its safe to bring it up.

I start school on Monday!! How exciting and nerve wrecking is that?! Jose thinks that we should be taking advantage of him working out of town and making decent money, and what greater way to take advantage of the situation than for me to go to school and get a degree?

I'm going to be a full-time student starting in the fall. Right now I'm only taking two classes, human growth and a math refresher course. I still need to buy my text books, but I can do that on Friday as soon as Jose deposits his check into the bank.

I've bought mechanical pencils, notebooks, folders, and pens. I'm excited in an utterly geeky way. I can't wait to start doing homework and taking tests!

Wish me luck!!! :)

And now, a rather depressing bit of news. I took the girls to the dentist yesterday. I cried when I got the news. Olivia is getting her two front teeth pulled, and three crowns on her back molars. Isabel is getting one tooth pulled, two crowns, and four cavities filled.

I *knew* Olivia was going to need some work done. That was a given, seeing how she's been having dental work done since she was a baby. Isabel came as a shock to me, and I'm so upset with myself. Ugh.

The dentist and the receptionist were VERY, VERY nice (our first time there). The receptionist told us we ARE NOT the only ones in this boat, and that a lot of the time it is FAR worse. It made me feel slightly better, but I still suck. :(

They recommend us going to the hospital and getting all of the work done in one visit. If our health insurance okays it, that's the road we're going to go down. If not, I guess we'll be making lots of trips to the dentist!

We'll see. Wish us luck in that area, too!

Take care!

We're home from our little vacation!

2009-05-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

After LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of driving, we've made it safely home! We sure had a lot of fun! We swam like crazy in Phoenix, met Jose's family and visited Disneyland in California, and enjoyed the sights in Las Vegas!

The highlight of our trip was Friday, when we went to Disneyland. The girls were in awe the entire time we were there! We rode rides all day long, and also caught the street celebration parade TWICE! LOL!

I'm posting some pics on here, and there are even more on my Myspace.

We had fun, but I'm glad to be home!!

On Saturday, we also were lucky enough to check out the Swap Meet. We got some GREAT deals, including EVERYTHING we need to baptize Karina's son. We bought everything (suit, shoes, socks, undies, undershirt, and the little box thingy with the candle and stuff in it) for $70! Here in Omaha that stuff would have cost me over $200!

Tomorrow I'm taking him to Portrait Innovations to get some pictures of him in his little suit. I'm excited! LoL!

Where might we be, you ask?

2009-05-06T18:12:00.008-05:00

PHOENIX BABY!!!

Wait, wait. It gets even better! Jose is taking me and the kids to Disneyland! We're freakin' stoked!

I can't wait to share pictures with you guys! I'm so excited. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, but I had to share SOMETHING.

I'll update more if I get a chance. Take care!! Bye!!

The Cinco De Mayo festivities begin tomorrow!

2009-05-01T14:32:00.009-05:00

Yay! Tomorrow our town's the annual 5 de Mayo parade! I'm so excited. It looks like the weather is going to be pretty good, too! I'm going to load up the wagon and lawn chairs tonight, so that we can leave early tomorrow and claim a good seat.

I guess I'm feeling nostalgic lately with all these photos from the past. Here were are at Olivia's 1st Cinco De Mayo parade. Olivia was 9 months old at the time, and Isabel had just turned two. The lady with the baby happens to be my mother-in-law, whom which I am none to happy with at the moment. Yeah, yeah. I know. What else is new, right?

I guess if you want to get technical, that wasn't officially Olivia's 1st Cinco De Mayo parade. The year before, at 9 months pregnant, I had actually MARCHED in the parade with my fellow co-workers. They were all fighting to hold down one of those huge, annoying balloon figures (Macys parade style) against the 45 mph wind gusts, while I was marching along with the little kids waving little Mexican flags. I felt kind of ridiculous, but whatever.

Anyways... back to 2009!!

Tomorrow I plan on taking the girls to the parade and to enjoy all the yummy Mexican food, and we'll go to the carnival Sunday afternoon. I bet the rides will be SUPER PACKED right after the parade, don't you think??

I hope to get lots of cool pictures tomorrow. Let's hope it doesn't rain! We have a busy day ahead of us!

Food dreams are taking over!

2009-05-01T10:26:00.000-05:00

So, I forgot to mention that yesterday morning I was dreaming about going with Karina (Jose's niece, mom to the little boy that we are going to be Godparents of) to the buffet to eat some breakfast. But this was a special buffet indeed. I grabbed a waffle, and it was stuffed with a chicken fried steak and gravy!

Last night, I was dreaming about chowing down on some Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was soooo good.

WTF?! Why am I dreaming about food so much? Its definitely not because I'm depriving myself during the day! Hah! I kind of lost steam for the whole diet thing a month or so ago.

Sheesh... I must be a true fatty if food is even seeping into my dreamlife. And its not even healthy food. Stuffed waffles and fried chicken?! Give me a break!

Anyways...

TGIF! Tomorrow is Diana's niece's 2nd birthday. I'm excited to take the girls to her party. They are going to have a blast! In honor of the event, here are pictures of my girls at Maritza's party last year. They went all out and had a clown that made awesome balloon animals.

Dreams...

2009-04-30T10:57:00.001-05:00

I've been having some weird ass dreams lately...

Last night, I dreamed I was at Once Upon A Child (kids' clothing consignment store) pawing through racks upon racks of clothes and they had NOTHING cute in my DDs' sizes. It was quite distressing! ;)

The other night, I dreamed I was in Mexico City and for whatever reason I had to pretend that I was the daughter of some famous drug lord. They were filling me up with all kinds of information in case anyone had any questions for me. It was weird. Even weirder was that I was young (like 6 or 7) but had the thought process that I do now at 24.

Weird, weird, weird.

I've also been dreaming NON-STOP about my BFF's wedding. I must be stressing about it or something, because I seem to dream about her wedding 75% of the time! My most recent wedding dream involved me waking up at 11am the day of the wedding, and I didn't have my bridesmaid's dress yet!!! I went to store after store after store and not one single store had a dress that even FIT ME, let alone the color I needed! I ended up in some ugly flowered dress. :(

Phew... it stresses me out even remembering!

Thank God, I already have ordered my dress. This is what I ordered:

Instead of the pink, it will be a gold color. The bride picked Tealness and Harvest Gold as her two colors. And I will be using the spaghetti straps that the dress comes with. Very cute. Simple. :)

Hmm...

2009-04-29T18:47:00.002-05:00

We have quite a few childrens' movies on VHS and I'm starting to notice something. Whoever was Tigger voice in the New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh seems to be in every other Disney movie we watch!! I noticed it last night during "Hercules" and now during some "Little Mermaid" spin-off.

Anyways...

I'm having major in-law drama right now. Its pretty bad. They all, with the rare exception of my soon-to-be comadre, suck. In honor of her and her non-suckiness, here is a picture of my soon-to-be hijado (Godson).

LoL, that is his "CHEESE!" face. I have these kids all camera traumatized. He's pretty damned cute, isn't he? His 1st birthday is coming up next week! Birthdays make me happy!!

I'm blue and da be de da be da...

2009-04-29T11:15:00.001-05:00

I'm apologizing in advance for this entry. But I have a theory, damn it, and I need to get it out SOMEWHERE.

Jose is from Jalisco, Mexico. To get all technical on y'alls, he is from a teeny tiny little town called El Bajio or El Pueblo de la Laguna, which is about 15 minutes away from a decent sized town called Lagos De Moreno.

In El Pueblo de la Laguna, there is a pig farm. (Ha, now you see where this is going??) Maybe "pig farm" isn't the right term, but its one of those barns filled to the brim with little piggies that they are getting big and fat to slaughter. This place REEKS. There is seriously a little swamp of pig poo behind this place. Flies are RAMPANT in this area. Its gross.

Jose's cousin and his wife went down to Mexico towards the end of March. His wife (along with others from the area) got REALLY REALLY sick. This lady complains that she felt like she couldn't breathe, and her whole body was in pain, etc etc. They never went to a doctor. She ended up taking some pills, and got over it after about 10 days.

Maybe these people are getting swine flu?? Maybe they've BEEN getting it and since they are either not seeking medical attention or if they are its not being documented no one knows about it? I mean, I know they claim that the first person infected with the flu was the small boy from Veracruz or wherever, but how do they know that for sure?

Hmmmm...

It makes you think, doesn't it????

Picnic!

2009-04-23T16:25:00.001-05:00

We went on our very much anticipated picnic this afternoon. I woke up, cleaned the apartment as fast as I could, took a shower, and got the three of us ready to go. We had a run a couple of errands, and buy some goodies for our picnic first. We ended up with fried chicken from Wal-Mart as our "main course". LoL, the sandwiches didn't sound appealing any more this morning!

We fed the ducks and the fish an entire loaf of bread! The girls thought that was the coolest part. We also went on a small hike where Isabel spotted a big, ugly snake!! She was pretty shaken up after the run in with the snake (you'd have think it had tried to bite her finger off or something from the way she was carrying on!) but once she noticed the playground the snake was soon forgotten.

Picnic at the park!

2009-04-22T18:27:00.001-05:00

Holy crap, it took me forever to spell "picnic". For some reason it looks so weird to me spelled like that, but according to spell check and a quick Google search its the right way.

Craziness...

Anyways, tomorrow we are planning to have a picnic lunch at the park. The girls are going to LOVE it! I think we might go over to my mom's house early to snag her picnic supplies now that I'm thinking about it. She has a really cool green picnic basket that has green plates and utensils!

I'm going to take the easy route and pack sandwiches for us. I'll do a couple of turkey sandwiches and a couple of PB&J sandwiches. A couple of bottles of water, some chips, and some fruit, and we should be set!

I'm still trying to decide what park to go to. I guess we'll see how far I feel like driving in the morning! :)

Park...

2009-04-22T13:49:00.004-05:00

We went to the park this morning to enjoy the totally awesome temps that are in the mid 70s. It rocked! I'm so glad that Spring is finally here. Whoo-freaking-hoo!!! Summer time here we come!

I took tons of pictures today. I'm falling deeper in love with my camera every day. :)

(The pics are really small because wireless internet connection is slower than the cable internet was, so I resize the pics so that uploading doesn't take three years)

And, just for fun, this picture is from May of 2007. It is a picture of the girls on the exact same motorcycle as the above pic. :)

Harry Potter...

2009-04-21T16:48:00.001-05:00

Oh my gosh, I just watched the trailer for the new Harry Potter movie (coming out in July - only 3 short months away!!!) and it looks AMAZING. I can't wait to see it! This is totally going to be one of those movies that I MUST see at the midnight opening! I will buy tickets as soon as they go on sale!

I'm so excited. Between the new Twilight movie and the new Harry Potter movie, I have a very thrilling cinematic couple of months ahead of me.

Gosh, I just reread that last sentence and realized how big of a dweeb I am. Sheesh.

Anyways, I checked out the Goodwill today on my home from running errands. I love thrift stores. Jose is less than thrilled by them, but oh well. Today, I bought the girls 5 VHS movies (Land Before Time 3, Winnie the Pooh, Air Bud, Problem Child 2, and 1 other), two calendars, a coffee mug for Jose, and 8 books for me. I'm a bookaholic! I need a big book shelf to display all of my recent book purchases!! :) It makes me happy to see all of my books on display.

Jose's family are amazed by how much me and the girls enjoy books. Its kind of sad that NONE of Jose's nieces/nephews in Mexico have any books at home (other than the bible). Next time I go, I'm going to try to take some Spanish books down to them!

Have I mentioned that we're going to be padrinos??

2009-04-20T13:43:00.000-05:00

Karina (my husband's niece) has asked us to her son's Godparents (padrinos). We're very excited to have this opportunity! Things are a little more complicated then I'd like (with Jose working out of town and all), but we're making plans the best we can. :)

Yesterday, we (Karina, the baby's dad, and myself) went to the first of two classes (placticas) at 2:30pm. I've already taken the classes once, but they were only valid for five years and they expired last month. It was a LONG (and kind of boring class), but it was interesting and I learned a LOT. There were some beautiful things said, and I wish Jose would have been there to hear them.

He hopes he is here by next Sunday so that he is able to make it to the class with us!!

Hello hello!!

2009-04-19T19:12:00.000-05:00

We've been staying here at our new place for an entire week now! I love it. Nights are a little scary for me, but I've always been somewhat of a scaredy cat! LoL! The girls are really happy, which is awesome. I thought they were going to hate it!

Not much to talk about today. :) I just got the internet up and running this afternoon. YAY!

Skee-Lo? Y Tu Mama Tambien?

2009-04-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

LoL, anyone remember the song "I Wish"? I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller. I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her...

Ahhh... memories.

You can watch it on YouTube here.

Easter Sunday!!

2009-04-12T09:40:00.000-05:00

The kids woke up bright and early this morning to hunt for Easter eggs and to check out their Easter baskets. They were pretty thrilled when they seen all the cool toys they got! :) Right now they are playing in the bath tub with these little wind up boats that my mom bought them.

I'm slowly been taking more and more stuff over to the apartment. The biggest chore ahead of me is now our clothing and my computer.

The bedroom is kind of empty and "blah". I need something to take up some space and to brighten the place up a bit. Speaking of brightening up, I need lamps and I need them bad! LoL, even with every single light on in the place it is still kind of dim in there.

I'm very happy, though. All of my good friends checked it out yesterday, and everyone seemed to be pleased. I can't wait to have my friends coming over to visit me again! LoL.

Anyways, yesterday afternoon me and the kids walked to the park that is by our apartment. I took a couple of pictures, but it was kind of chilly and we didn't end up staying long!

Saturday!! YEAH!

2009-04-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled that it is Saturday. Saturdays ROCK! And, the weather is super nice here, so that makes today even BETTER. :)

We are staying here at my mama's one more night, so that she can spend and take part in the Easter festivities with the girls. Tomorrow we will officially be moving out!

My bed is set up, I've started putting things in my closet, the living room is almost done, the bathroom looks super cute, and the kitchen is cleaned, disinfected, and ready to be filled with food!

I'm in an awesome mood.

The Dollar General Store.

2009-04-10T21:58:00.000-05:00

I've bought enough stuff from the Dollar General store the last couple of days to keep them in business for months to come. Seriously. Part of it is the cheapness factor and the other part is the convenience factor. Why drive all the way to Wal-Mart (5.6 miles) when I can pick from THREE DIFFERENT Dollar Generals that are within 1.5 miles from my house?!

Today, I bought picture frames, stuffed bunnies, a Mariposa Barbie, Fairytopia Barbie, 3 tiered corner shelf, a pair of tongs, and a candy bar. :)

I still need a paper towel holder. Jeez, I might have to make the trip out to Wal-Mart to pick up one of those!

Tomorrow is the big day. We will be officially MOVING IN. I have a few small details to square away (TV stand placement, clean the glass table top, etc), but we will be sleeping there tomorrow. As it gets closer, I'm getting nervous. Its going to be scary being alone again!!

Yikes!

But, the apartment makes me very happy! The kids will keep me company. Things will work out just fine!

I already miss my mama!

I got the keys!

2009-04-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

Yay! I went and picked up the keys to the apartment today. He was going to finish moving out a couple of pieces of furniture and told me I can start moving stuff in by 5pm. I'm kind of excited.

I don't really plan on being completely moved in until early next week sometime, so that I can have plenty of time to go through my belongings and only take the most important stuff. The rest I plan on donating to the thrift store. I have so much STUFF. Its crazy!

Let's hope for no rain! LoL, my lazy butt still hasn't gotten the futon/couch thingy off of the back of my Dad's truck. I covered it with trash bags for now...

Looking for an entertainment center...

2009-04-08T19:58:00.001-05:00

I went to just about every thrift store in town today looking for a coffee table. I didn't find anything I liked that was under $50. For a used coffee table!! Exhausted, I decided to check out K-Mart for some throw pillows.

I was strolling through the furniture aisle (K-Mart has some VERY nice furniture, by the way) and there is was. The perfect coffee table! And guess what?! It was on clearance for $14!!! It doesn't get better than that! YAY!

Now, I'm switching my search over to a decent entertainment center/TV stand. Wish me luck!

Shadow Boxing!

2009-04-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

Wow. I got my BUTT KICKED at the gym tonight. I went a shadow box class tonight with some friends, and it was TOUGH. Its been over two hours, and I've still in pain! LoL. My ankles are sore, my arms burn, and I feel like my abs are on fire. It was a really, really good & intense workout. I will definitely be going again!

I'm slacking food-wise. I'm going to have to step it up. I'm maintaining my weight loss, but I want to LOSE. :) We'll see how things go!

Have a nice, relaxing night! Take care!

A Few Childrens Museum Pics

2009-04-07T17:00:00.000-05:00

Things are coming together. :)

2009-04-06T19:34:00.001-05:00

Friday night I'm going to start moving things into the apartment. I'm excited!

Me and Diana went shopping for some new apartment things. At the Family Dollar (we're high class like that) I bought curtains for the living room and the kitchen, and rugs, wash clothes, towels, and a trash can for the bathroom. The bathroom is the most "blah" room in the apartment, and I'm going to do my best to make it bright and cheerful!! I bought bright blue rugs, striped cream/hot pink/bright blue towels, and a hot pink trash can/tooth brush holder, and soap dispenser. LoL, it sounds pretty LOUD, but it looks cute in person. At least the girls will get a kick out of it!

We then went and priced bunk beds. The cheapest we found were metal framed bunk beds for $129.99. I'll only need to buy one mattress, since I already have one.

I'm excited. LOL, I can't wait to grocery shop again! My mom has been doing all the grocery shopping for the last 6 months!

Change of plans...

2009-04-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

We are moving out of my parents' house. I almost can't even believe it. This is kind of crazy and a lot sooner than I thought it would be!

We are no longer going to visit Jose in Oklahoma. He decided he would, in fact, rather come home and stay with us for a week. Lord knows the man deserves a week off! He's been working TONS of hours, and it probably exhausted.

But, we run into the dilemma of him not really enjoying himself here at my parents' house. And I understand him. I get it. I would HATE living with his mom. Its nothing against her (even though we have had our differences!), its just that its not MY house and I wouldn't be comfortable there.

As we were talking about him coming home, I was checking out apartments on Craigslist. I found a basement apartment (lol, not the most glamorous, I know!) for super cheap and in practically in the same neighborhood we live right now. I called the guy, and made plans to meet up with him at 1pm.

In the meantime (it was only 11am), me and the kids drove over there to check it out. McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King are LITERALLY right down the street. There is a beautiful park with new playground equipment a couple of blocks away (and by the nice pedestrian bridge so that we won't have to cross the busy street!). A couple of gas stations and a grocery store are all pretty close.

At 1pm, me and the girls met the landlord and checked the apartment out. I was rather impressed. For the price, I was kind of expecting a dump. It is pretty nice, freshly painted, new kitchen, and roomy. I immediately told him I would take it, and handed over the depsoit and first months rent. We are moving in this weekend!!!

I'm excited!

My mom is a tad disappointed. I knew she would be. But, we are driving her pretty insane, and I know once we're gone she will be relieved.

:)

I'm off to the store to check out some curtains and stuff to make the place cheerful! :) Adios!

Wowsa, three posts in one day!

2009-04-05T20:59:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty excited! Jose wants me and the kids to go see him down in Oklahoma! He says he would rather use his time off for the summertime so that we can take the kids on a nice little vacation. Its over an 8 hour drive, but I would plan on stopping mid-trip to get some lunch and let the girls stretch their legs and play for a bit.

I told him I thought us going down there was an AWESOME idea and I would so love a little mini-vacation right now!! Right now, the temps are about 20 degrees higher there than they are here. YAY!

I hope this happens! It would make me very happy!

:)

Crappy weather...

2009-04-05T13:34:00.001-05:00

Feeling a little whiny here. I still feel like bitching about the weather. We could be doing something totally awesome right now, but nope. Not a chance. It is cold, slushy, yucky, and muddy.

But, on the plus side, it looks like we have two more days of temperatures in the 30s, and then the outlook for the week is rather bright. Highs temps in the upper 50s/low 60s. Let us rejoice!

I kind of sorta wanted to take the kiddies to the Childrens' Museum today, but I feel like crap and its uber crowded on Sundays. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday? I can take them out to lunch first, and then we can check out the museum.

Take care. Peace.

Snow?!

2009-04-05T12:20:00.000-05:00

Here we are, April 5th, and in the midst of a gosh darned blizzard. Sheesh...

Okay, maybe blizzard was a slight over exaggeration, but it is snowy and yucky outside. WHERE IS SPRING?! Where are the nice temperatures? The birds? The pretty flowers? This stinks.

Anyways, I went to pick up some McDonalds for lunch this morning and didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign. My five year old totally called me on it.

"Mama, you didn't read the sign!! It says 'STOP'! You were supposed to stop!"

Whoops. I didn't know my little backseat driver was paying attention!

Bride & Bridesmaids Dresses...

2009-04-04T14:12:00.000-05:00

My BFF is having a traditional Mexican-Catholic wedding the first Saturday in October of this year. Me and Jose are going to be the padrinos de las arras, and the girls are going to be la madrinas de los recuerdos de la iglesia.

Today, I accompanied her, her sisters, and her mom to help her pick out a wedding dress. Oh my gosh, every single dress looked beautiful on her!!! She picked out three that she really, really liked and was going to make her final decision this afternoon. They all looked amazing, so no matter what dress she goes with, she's going to look great.

For the bridesmaids (or in her case, madrinas), she picked the color, but is letting everyone pick the style of dress that they feel more comfortable in. Her sisters already picked out dresses, and I'm going to go with her and two of the other madrinas next week to pick and order my dress. LoL, wish me luck. I hate dress shopping! I look frumpy in everything. :)

Anyways...

That's pretty much all I've done so far today! So much for my plans to go to the zoo. Its raining and sleeting outside! Yuck!

One last post today regarding my new camera...

2009-04-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

I went to the park, a lake, and McDonalds and took pictures like crazy the entire time. I ended up with over 150 pictures. Do you want to hear the best part? I only had to delete about 3 or 4 to them due to blurriness! All the other ones look pretty darned good. I'm thrilled. So, here you are:

I went to the park, a lake, and McDonalds and took pictures like crazy the entire time. I ended up with over 150 pictures. Do you want to hear the best part? I only had to delete about 3 or 4 to them due to blurriness! All the other ones look pretty darned good. I'm thrilled. So, here you are:

The verdict is still out...

2009-04-03T18:28:00.000-05:00

I've taken about 30 pictures with the camera so far. I can't decide if I like it or not, you know what I mean? I'm wondering if maybe I should give it a couple of days to give me time to get used to it...

Here are a couple of pics.

This is Izzy sitting on top of our horse tank. Poor, deprived child uses it as a trampoline when no one is watching. She assured me she was just using it as a bed when I took the picture. :)

One of my mother's lovely (maybe offensive?) lawn statues. He used to carry a small lantern in his hand but the girls broke it many summers ago.

Aquarium in the living room. Oooo.... look at all the pretty fishies.

I feel the need to make a trip to the zoo tomorrow and take TONS and TONS of pictures. I can make a proper decision afterward.

Bye!

Olivia's (Late) 3 year Stats

2009-04-03T16:50:00.001-05:00

Okay, these are probably more like her 4 year stats, since she is going to be four in June. This is what's going down:

Birth date: 6/10/2005
Height: 40 inches
Weight: 47 pounds

She received a Hepatitis A vaccine, and took it like a champ! For real. This girl didn't even FLINCH! I took it worse than she did.

As mentioned, I also went to the doctor yesterday. We don't need to go over my stats. No way. But, the doctor said things looked great. She verified that my IUD was still in the right place, which was kind of a relief because I had worries about this IUD floating around my uterus and kidneys and such and having to have surgery to remove it! We talked about removal (its 5 year life-span will be up in 14 months) and I decided to wait until around December.

Anways...

I GET MY NEW CAMERA TODAY!! BE PREPARED FOR MAJOR PICTURE OVERLOAD!

Insurance giddiness...

2009-04-01T21:38:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited to have decent health insurance again! I was just reading through the paperwork and out family deductible is $400! Awesomeness. My last insurance plan had a family deductible of $2500! Ouch! So this is quite a change in the right direction!

Tomorrow, me and Olivia are getting some good use out of our new insurance plan. She has her 3 year check-up tomorrow and I have my yearly (that I haven't had since said 3 year old was 6 weeks old!). Ugh... The thought of the speculum getting rammed up my...

Well, I'm sure you can catch my drift. I'm not looking forward to it very much!

Do you know what, though? Jose accompanied me to my first ever visit to the gynecologist's office. Wasn't that nice of him? He paid cash for it and even got out of work early to pick me up from school! Silly me. I could have used my health insurance to pay for it. I was afraid of my mom finding out about the birth control pills. I ended up telling her about it the next day, though!

Oh yeah! My health insurance has ZERO co-payment. AWESOME. I had a $30 co-pay last time we were insured! That adds up FAST.

I'm in a really good mood!!!!!! LA LA LA!

Adios-a-rooni!

Good weekend.

2009-03-22T22:28:00.000-05:00

This weekend was just one of those totally awesome weekends that you repeat over and over in your head! I had a ton of fun, and loved pretty much every second of this weekend!

:)

Bad luck...

2009-03-13T13:18:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned how I'm the kind of person that gets told, "Only those kinds of things happen to you"?

Well, its true.

Back in the day, I had my work badge in the back pocket of my pants. When I stood up from the potty, it fell in. The toilet was the kind the flushes automatically, so with a great big WHOOSH, my badge was gone forever. The supervisor was mortified that she had to explain to her boss what had happened so that I could get a new badge.

Two weeks ago, I was enjoying a bowl of raisin bran crunch when my phone rang. I answered the phone, and whoops. The phone slipped out of my hand and into the bowl of cereal. It was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Yesterday, I was chillaxing in the sauna. I was the only one in there, so I decided to lay down. My MP3 player slipped into the little crack in between the benches and the wall. I gave it a slight tug to pull it back up into safety, and the headphones disconnected from the jack and the Mp3 remained stuck. It was in a tiny little crevice that my fingers wouldn't even fit in.

(sigh)

Jose is very reluctant to let me have expensive gadgets because bad things seem to happen to them. I try to take care of things. I swear. I just have bad luck, I guess...

I need my music to work out, though. I'm going to have to figure something out!!

Kindergarten Round Up!

2009-03-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today I took Isabel to kindergarten round up. She was so excited to see her new school. She was very impressed with how big it is! We filled out all the paperwork and got everything taken care of except for her immunization record. It *should* be here in 5-7 days, so I'll just run it up to the school once I get it.

Awww... both my girls will be in school next year! How exciting!!

Anyways...

I finished book 3 of the Twilight series. (sigh) Book four isn't supposed to get here until SATURDAY. I might go crazy waiting!!

I've also started working out on the treadmill. I've been seriously avoiding this machine, but the past week or so I've been working out 20-30 minutes on it. I really, really enjoy it. I'm hoping to sign up for the Cinco De Mayo 5K!! :D

Awww... what a day.

2009-03-10T13:05:00.000-05:00

After waking up super, super late this morning (this time change is kicking my butt!!), I called the nearest Catholic School and asked about enrolling my youngest in preschool. I've went back and forth on my decision to send her to preschool, and I finally decided to go ahead and send her. When she watches her big sis go off to kindergarten next fall, its going to break her little heart!

I left Chavela here with my dad while me and Olivia ran over to the school to get her enrolled. I was very impressed with the school; it looks like a very nice place! They gave her a school t-shirt, we took a little tour, and she got to see her classroom.

She almost had a melt down when it was time to leave, but thankfully we were able to avoid such an episode!!

Tomorrow, its off to kindergarten round-up!

This weekend went by FAST

2009-03-08T18:44:00.000-05:00

I can't believe its already Sunday night! This weekend just FLEW by!

Nothing very exciting to report on...

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm Jose's neice's madrina de esclava (Godmother of her bracelet) for her Quinceanera. I sent the money to Jose's sister today so that she can buy the bracelet. I was hoping that I'd be able to go down there for the party, but I guess not. (sigh)

I'm 1/2 through book #3 of the Twilight saga... Very, very good books!! This series totally revamped my love for reading!!

I'm still doing the gym thing every day. Tomorrow is step class. I'm excited. Step class is pretty enjoyable! I hope my friends go, too. Makes it even more fun!

Hmm... what else is there to report on??

Not much. :(

Have an awesome Monday everyone!

Just dance, gonna be okay...

2009-03-06T21:19:00.000-06:00

Being the semi-obsessed shopaholic that I am, I'm still on a little shopping "high" after my latest Amazon purchase. The shoes I just bought are going to $85-$90 on Zappos.com and Shoes.com AND, they have really awesome reviews.

I can not wait to get my shoes!

Anyways...

I need to go to Wal-Mart and pick up my contacts. I also need to buy book numero tres of the Twilight saga!

YAY for Wal-Mart!!!

Hello dearest blog!

2009-03-06T17:07:00.000-06:00

C'mon. Be honest. You know you love that shoe!! I have heard awesome things about New Balance tennis shoes, and these babies were only $33 and shipped for FREE. My Wal-Mart sneaks were half that! And after three weeks they are falling apart!

I know I don't NEED the shoes. I wasn't even looking for shoes! Honest. I was doing some harmless on-line "window shopping", and happened to come aross these.

I had just made an order 10 minutes before... but look at these shoes. I had to do it. I'm really excited. I can't wait to get them!!

My other order consisted of book #4 of the Twilight saga, a true crime book as a gift to my wonderful mama, and a measuring tape so that I can get some measurements of myself.

Amazon.com rocks.

Jose and stuff...

2009-03-04T13:52:00.001-06:00

Just since I haven't had much to say about Jose lately, I figured I might as well talk a little about him. I mean, he is my husband after all. :)

He loves his job. I don't know what exactly he loves about it... Maybe the money? The people he works with? Traveling? But he really enjoys his job and that makes me as happy as a clam. I know we don't see each other as often as a typical married couple does, but we love each other just the same and when he is happy, it makes me happy.

He's ready to buy a house. We've worked really hard at fixing our super shitty credit up this last year, and he is hoping to have enough cash saved by May/June for a decent down payment. We'll see. I'd really, really like to be a homeowner! :)

He also doesn't think we will make it to Mexico this year, and that kind of sucks. Oh well, though. Maybe next year I can spend all summer down there or something... By then our house in Jalisco will be finished, so I'll have somewhere of my own to stay!

Well...

I'm still hanging in there with the whole weight loss plan. I've worked out every single day since I've started this quest. I feel pretty good, actually! I look forward to going to the gym every day.

See y'all later! Bye!

Still going strong...

2009-02-26T21:38:00.000-06:00

It's been one week and one day, and I'm still doing good with my goals. I haven't had a single soda and I've been to the gym every day! Working out makes me feel amazing. I can't even describe it... Even when I'm tired and sweating, and my legs are screaming with agony, I feel GOOD.

I'm down 6 pounds. Go me!

I have an added incentive. Once I'm down 20 pounds, Jose is going to buy me an Ipod Touch. I've drooled over this nifty little gadget many times in the past couple of weeks. Its a big motivator for me.

My MP3 Player (A cheap-o little pink one we bought at Wal-Mart for $29.99) is what helps me get through my workouts. I zone out and concentrate on the music. I've worked a lot on my workout playlist, and I am quite proud of it at this point! :)

***

Switching gears here, I'm almost done with the first Twilight book. Still hooked... :)

Two things...

2009-02-23T23:12:00.001-06:00

1) I went to my first ever step class today. Oh my lord, it seriously kicked my ass. I figured, its a freakin' step. How hard could it be? Up, down and up, down a couple of times and class is over.

Yeah-fucking-right.

It was jumping jacks and marching and weights and lunges and kicks and jazz hands and squats all squeezed into 45 minutes.

I was dying. After a few minutes, I was considering putting my step away and making a break for it. After the class was over, my legs were JELL-O.

I was a few steps behind the class the entire time. It was kind of embarrassing.

All in all, though, it was a fantastic workout and I'm eager to try it again. Next time, though, one little step thingy instead of two (I was feelin' brave, I guess) and 2 1/2 pound weights instead of 5!

2) I just started reading "Twilight".

Can we say, "ADDICTED"?! I'm in love, and I'm only on page 83~

Me, working out?!

2009-02-21T15:32:00.000-06:00

I've joined the gym.

Amazing, isn't it?

And I haven't had a soda pop since Wednesday. Considering I was drinking 6+ cans a day, I think I'm making some mighty good progress.

I've been to the gym three times so far. I've learning a couple of things.

1) I'm out of shape. I'm easily in the worst shape I have ever been in my entire life.

2) The elliptical machine seriously kicks my ass. As I struggle to complete a measly ten minutes on that baby, I watch in shock and awe as the people around me fly through their 45 minute workouts.

3) Gyms kinda stink.

I've also seen more middle-aged nakedness than I care to. :)

Long time no blog...

2009-02-13T18:45:00.000-06:00

I'm kinda in a blogging funk. Don't really know what to blog about. I've always caught a nasty cold and feel like crap.

Anyways...

Talk about a good night for TV. I never, ever watch TV. EVER. I, instead, watch my favorite shows (Family Guy, American Dad, Friday Night Lights, The Office, And Reba) on Hulu. I decided to see what times Friday Night Lights airs tonight, and seen the awesome lineup. I love Wife Swap, and its on at 7pm. AWESOMENESS.

See ya.

Spendy Wendy should be my name...

2009-02-05T22:00:00.000-06:00

Um, so yeah... I need to ease up on the spending. I've spent a little too much money this past week!

A part of me is kind of thrilled; I have over 1/2 of Olivia's summer wardrobe purchased!! And I got some seriously cute things!

But, then another side of me screams, "LIZ! IT IS THE FIRST WEEK OF FEBRUARY! IT WILL NOT BE WARM ENOUGH FOR SUMMER CLOTHES FOR ANOTHER 3 MONTHS!"

Everything sure is cure, though. Once I get everything together, and once I get a camera (I keep forgetting I gave mine away in Mexico!), I'll make Olivia do a fashion show.

Speaking of shopping...

I went to K-Mart this afternoon. For $40, I bought myself a pair of jeans, a pair of denim Bermuda shorts, a pair of khaki Bermuda shorts, a camisole, and two dressy tank tops. The shorts were clearanced for $3.20!! I so want to go back and get a pair of black Bermuda shorts! I think I'm going to return one of the tank tops and get the shorts instead...

Sheesh. Decisions, decisions!

I guess this is the time of year for good deals!! I was in shock over some of the great clearance items at JCPenny this weekend. Everyone is trying to get rid of the winter clothes so they can pile in the summer stuff! :)

Anyways...

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already! And that Jose has been gone over a week now! WOW. Time flies!

Jose called me yesterday morning and totally caught me off guard. When I answered, he goes, "Hola, mi pedacito del cielo! Como estas mi vida?" He says some pretty sweet and caring things sometimes, but he is hardly ever that lovey-dovey! I asked him what he had done wrong, and he just replied that he loved and missed me, and had been thinking about me.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww...

I love my chaparro!

A miracle.

2009-02-05T14:20:00.000-06:00

It's 46 degrees here. A freakin' heat wave. The kids are actually OUTSIDE PLAYING. How awesome is this!?!

Truth me told, I totally thought the temperature was closer to 60ish. I was a little shocked when I read it was only 46 degrees, because it feels AMAZING outside.

I love nice weather. Come on Spring time!!!

Edited to add:

Holy moly, I just check the weather and the highs for the next week are all in the 40s! Some days are even in the 50s! YES!

I love me some frappuccino...

2009-02-04T22:02:00.001-06:00

Ugh... Olivia just climbed into my bed and reported that she had found a turd. WTH?! Why in the world would the dog poop in my BED?! (sigh) Time to wash my bedding, I guess. How disgusting.

Anyways...

Me and my comadre went to get some Starbucks this evening. I love hanging out with her. Her and my compadre are just fun people to be around. Hopefully *totally crossing my fingers here) we'll be going out together this weekend. There is a dance at the Guacamaya on Saturday night. Its been awhile... I need to get my groove on! ;)

For awhile, I was adhemetly against Facebook. I didn't want nothing to do with it. Nuh-uh. Not ever.

Well, I have a confession to make.

I'm addicted to Facebook.

Sheesh. What's this world coming to?! ;) Take care everyone!

Coupons?!

2009-02-04T11:05:00.001-06:00

Where are my God damned casino coupons!? Sheesh... I'm 4 days into the redeeming period! You'd think they'd have sent me something by now!

Anyways...

I have some birthday party blues going on right now... I can't make up my damned mind. Amazing Pizza Machine? Chuck E Cheese? Pump it Up?! (sigh) Decisions, decisions!

I've tried getting the birthday girl's opinion on the matter, and she ooohs and aaahs over every place I've showed her so far.

Amazing Pizza Machine *is* fun, AND it seems like it will work out to be the cheapest. I might just go that route.

I shall keep you updated.

Adios.

Casino

2009-02-02T12:48:00.000-06:00

Have I mentioned my gambling addiction?

No, no I haven't.

I'm not really "addicted" in the true sense of the word. I don't go and blow through our savings or pull cash advances off of credit cards so I can play. Nah, it don't go down like that. I'm perfectly content taking twenty bucks and playing the penny video slots.

Its just so much FUN to be sitting there amongst all the old people, drinking free soda pop and hoping and praying you get the winning wolf combo. I love it. I really do.

My rewards coupons should be coming in the mail soon. Actually, they should be here today! *excited squeal* Last month I got a coupon for $15 of free gaming!

It doesn't get much better than that now, does it?!

Lack of blogging creativty.

2009-02-01T20:44:00.001-06:00

I've started about a bazillion different blog entries within the past couple of days and I can't seem to get past two or three paragraphs. I don't know what my problem is. (sigh) I'm not purposely neglecting the blog. I just can't get the words out.

I've had an awesome shopping weekend. Picked up a couple of the $1.99 sale items from Gymboree, snagged some freakin' marvelous clearance from JCPenny, and even hit up Avenue for some deals.

Speaking of Avenue, believe it or not, it was my first visit ever to a plus sized clothing store. Not because I haven't had the need for plus sized clothing. I've been a size 16 for quite some time now. I think almost 2 years!! I've just been putting off the inevitable.

Let me say this: It was very nice, and made shopping a much more relaxing to have a saleswoman that was similar to my size. I haven't a damned clue as to why that matters to me, but it made me feel as if I wasn't on display, you know what I mean? Whenever I walk into a "normal" store, I imagine this conversation taking place between the sales girls:

"Oh, my God, Becky. Look at that whale that just wobbled in here."

"Um, like, gross. She totally needs to lay off the Big Macs."

That probably isn't what's happening, but you never know. It could be!

Anyways, at Avenue, I bought myself a pair of jeans, a blouse, and a velour hooded sweater. Everything is sooo nice. I wish Jose was here to see how good I look in my new duds! ;)

Shopping plans

2009-01-28T23:11:00.000-06:00

Being the typical chick that I am, I totally love shopping. My main shopping vice, obviously, is Gymboree childrens' clothing. Back in the fall, I was in that store every freakin' day for three weeks straight. I was addicted. BAD.

Every day I'd tell myself that it HAD to stop. I couldn't keep living like that. What if people found out?!

But the next morning would come, and I'll be damned if I wasn't jonesin' to run to the mall and pay another visit to Gymboree.

I forced myself to give it up cold turkey. I went an entire week without going. I didn't even look at the website! I slowly eased back into my Gymboree purchases, and haven't allowed myself to get that addicted since.

Anyways, totally not the direction I was going with this post. Today, we made another trip to the mall. Today's trip was much more interesting than our little window shopping expedition this weekend. I was actually allowed to SHOP!

Not much. Jose is the ultimate shopping Grinch. 8 years together and I'm just now figuring out to LEAVE THE MAN AT HOME if I want to shop in peace!! We went to Gymboree today, and he wasn't even excited over the $4.99 deals. Didn't even bat an eye!!

He let me get each girl two pieces, and then about had a heart attack when I grabbed a pair of $.99 socks.

"Seriously," I explained to the Grinch, "$.99 for matching socks is a GREAT deal!"

"Don't they have enough socks at home?!" He grouched in response.

"Not yellow with little pom-poms on the back!!" I insisted.

He caved. I'm giddy with excitment over the pom-pom socks and other items I bought today. I was on a super bargain high all afternoon. It was great!

And then I came home and read about a possible $1.99 sale on Friday.

WHAT?! HELL YEAH! I'm so there!!

I'm stoked. Can't wait!

Why you should ask before eating dinner at my MIL's

2009-01-28T14:49:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the shitty picture, but I had to snap this shot incognito-style. Do you feel like taking a guess as to what that is a picture of?

Chopped up pig kidney.

Yum, yum. Good old pig kidneys.

Hah. Yeah, right, I'd rather you gag me with a spoon. Who in the hell eats PIG KIDNEYS?! Ewwwww...

She was making some kind of spicy salsa to go with the various pig innards, and being the sometimes decent MIL that she is, she invited me to stay for dinner.

Ummm. No thanks. I'm going to have to pass on the pig guts, thank you very much. Maybe next time, though!!

Wouldn't ya know?

2009-01-26T19:20:00.001-06:00

I appears as if my prayers have been answered!

The tax preparation place was able to do our taxes without the missing W2. They took some information off of a couple of Jose's old check stubs, did some calculations, and plugged the numbers into their nifty little computer system. After about 20 minutes, our taxes were filed we were on our way home!

Now, we're just waiting for the phone call telling us that our rapid refund check is ready to be picked up. ;)

As I blog, I'm awaiting an e-mail from the owner of the company where Jose works with his flight information. I think he leaves early Thursday morning.

Phew... What a relief.

Crazy man...

2009-01-26T14:16:00.000-06:00

Jose is still desperately searching for a way to do our taxes. If you could only hear some of the hair-brained schemes I've had to put a stop to these last couple of days. Lord, I am begging you, please have them call Jose with his flight information ASAP, so he can go back to work! PLEASE!?

As we speak, he is scrounging up old check stubs and God knows what else from our storage unit. He left in a huff because I obviously don't care about our finances enough. What the fuck ever. I care just as much as he does. I'm stressin', people, like I've never stressed before. Money problems suck big time. But, I can't let the worries and stress consume me. I try not to sweat it too much. I mean, we're going to be broke whether or not I'm worrying myself to death over it. None of our problems are going to be solved by me working myself into a tizzy over these things.

We have food. We have shelter. The kids are happy and nonetheless wiser to our financial woes. Things could be so much worse right now. I say let's Thank God for the things we have, and the rest will eventually fall into place.

=) Don't worry. Be happy!

Passing time...

2009-01-25T23:39:00.000-06:00

I'm eagerly waiting for the kids to be asleep so that me and Jose can, um... you know, get our horizontal cha-cha on.

What exactly do I do to pass time online, may you ask?

Well, seeing how my main obsession in life in Gymboree, I check out the Gymboree Forums. If you would like a recommendation, I think you should check out Gymboplace. I previously was spending quite a bit of time on a different forum, but my posting privaleges were mysteriously revoked a couple of days ago.

It seriously made me want to cry. I was nearing 1000 posts. That's kind of a big thing. I honestly have no idea AT ALL what happened. In message board world, I am totally nice and not even close to being confrontational. I can't think of a single thing that I might have done to get banned, so I'm thinking it might be some kind of error.

Whatever. I've moved on.

Anyways, after some good old Gymbo chatting, I move on to other things. Yahoo Answers is quickly becoming an obsession of mine again. I have advice to give up the freakin' wazuu, so I feel right at home there. If, for whatever reason, Yahoo Answers is boring me, then I move over to Last.Fm.

Music is a big thing in my happy little world. Music is music, whether you're rich or poor, fat or thin, happy or sad. That's why its so awesome. Music never fails to make me feel a little better, even when I'm in a super craptacular mood.

Anyways... the whole purpose of this post, actually, was to spread some Last.Fm love. I downloaded the desktop program and even paid $3 (I know, I know. Big spender!!) for the "premium features". As I rate more and more music, it creates a special Lizzi station based off of my music choices.

I'm in heaven here...

Check it out. ;)

Window shopping blows.

2009-01-25T13:02:00.000-06:00

I am not a window-shoppin' kind of gal. Never have been one, never probably will be.

But, that's exactly what we did yesterday.

Jose, after spending all morning at his mother's, decided he wanted to take us to McDonalds for lunch so that the girls could play in the Playplace. Me and the kids had just eaten lunch, though, so I vetoed his idea. After thinking for a second, he informed me we were going to go to the mall instead.

Excuse me for not leaping up into the air with joy and all that jazz, but the mall isn't exactly the place you want to be when you're broke.

He told me to get over it, we were going anyway.

We began out mall outing at Vics Popcorn in the food court. I have a thing for greasy, buttery, movie theater-style popcorn. The girls, too young to comprehend that we're out of cash, begged and pleaded for slushies and the colorful glazed popcorn. I told them that we had $5 to spend. We could either share a large popcorn and a Coke, or we could buy one teeny tiny bag of colorful popcorn.

They didn't like my reasoning. The kept whining and insisting that they simply HAD TO HAVE a slushie and the pretty colorful popcorn.

Sorry, kiddos. This time its not just Mom being a meanie. We can't afford it.

From there, we headed directly to the play area. I was expecting complete and utter chaos. I mean, it was a Saturday afternoon, right after lunch. I was pleasantly surprised, though. There was actually a PLACE TO SIT. In fact, I was able to choose where to sit, instead trying to squeeze my plump rump into the only open place available.

The girls played for over 45 minutes while me and Jose sat and chatted. I must be getting my frustrations out in this blog instead of taking it all out on him, because I've been downright NICE the last couple of days. He even joined in on making fun of some of the other parents with me instead of chastising me!

After the play area (Holy smokes, the girls didn't pitch a fit when it was time to leave!!), we window shopped. Ahhh, the dreaded act of window shopping. I couldn't resist and took the girls to Gymboree. Jose will not step foot in Gymboree or Childrens Place, which is just as well because he'd probably have a heart attack if he glanced at the price tags in Gymboree!! The girls scurried happily to the TV set while I checked out the sales racks.

(sigh) I love me some Gymboree.

Everything was very cute. There were MANY pieces from Winter Snowflake (yeah, yeah I know the stuff by line name. I'm obsessed like that) that I adore and NEED for next year, but I have to wait.

After Gymboree, we browsed through JCPenny and Children's Place. I don't really care too much for Children's Place for my girls. The stuff is cute, but it doesn't fit them very good. And the sizing is all over the place. Last year, for example, I had to get Isabel size 10 shorts. Now, I now she is a big girl. But, there is no way in heck that my 4 year old was wearing size 10!

Children's Place was having a crazy good sale. There was tons of stuff I would have loved to buy my nephew. Maybe next time...

After Children's Place, we wrapped up our trip to the mall with another visit to Vic's Popcorn. We bought my mom two popcorn balls, since she really, really likes them. And then, we headed home.

What an adventure. :)

Nope, no W2s.

2009-01-24T12:59:00.001-06:00

Geez Louise, when does this lady plan on mailing out his W2s?! I'm getting desperate here!

The mail was rather unexciting. A letter with payoff information for our truck, which is an insanely ridiculous amount and I have no idea why the hell Jose would request such a thing. We can't even put GAS IN THE TRUCK right now, let alone pay the God damned thing off. Sometimes I wonder what goes on inside of that little head of his...

We also received a letter from the unemployment office about how much he will be receiving, which is a pretty disappointing amount. Anything is more than welcome at this point, though, so don't think I'm being ungrateful. But, I did get all excited when I realized the letter was from the unemployment office. I thought it would be a check.

But of course not. Just a letter telling us how much he can expect to receive. But not WHEN we can expect to receive it. Just send the damned check already!!! He applied WEEKS ago! There is some kind of hold up with immigration, I guess. They have to verify that he is a legal resident of the country and is eligible to receive benefits. The lady on the phone said that the verification process can take up to 6-8 weeks. In the immigration world, that actually means 6-8 MONTHS. They are dreadfully slow in regards to EVERYTHING.

Boo-hoo.

I swear, I'm not always this much of a downer. I'm just kind of in a poo poo mood and venting here on the blog makes me feel better.

Lack of funds.

2009-01-24T11:04:00.000-06:00

Not to sound petty or anything, but the whole Jose not working scenario is really cutting into my Gymboree buying.

(sigh) There are so many cute things that I would love to be buying right now. And there's even talk of a $4.99 sale!

Unfortunately, even a $4.99 sale can't work its way into our budget right now. What a drag.

Who'd a thought that buying childrens' clothing could be so damned addicting?!

Maybe our W2s will show up in today's mail. I really doubt it, but a girl can hope.

A quick vent.

2009-01-23T21:03:00.000-06:00

If I didn't know any better, I would swear to God that my husband is doing everything in his power to drive me insane. I'm seriously going crazy here. I don't know how much more of him I can take. It seems as if every day he gets whinier and needier. He needs to go back to work. If he doesn't go soon, I'm afraid I'm going to wind up in the poor house AND in the nut house.

And then what the hell would we do?!

(deep breath) I love the man, I really do. Its just that he has been home for over a month now. This is the most we've seen of each other in the entire 9 years we've been together. Him being here every single minute of every single day has been hard enough to get used to, but when we also haven't seen a paycheck in more than 4 weeks, things can get quite stressful.

(another deep breath) Supposedly, he is leaving for work on Tuesday. Wednesday at the latest. For the love of God, please let this be true. I might have to stab somebody if he doesn't go to work soon.

That is all.

PS: I really do love him.