A night out

I have been working so much and I guess I needed to slow down so the Lord send a bunch of rain to Hidalgo County, lol. I decided to forego doing field work and spend time with the family. We took the kids to eat chinese and then bowling. It was so much fun cause Bo had never been bowling. At first he would squat like a frog and roll the ball and then he got brave and started throwing it. Good times.

TMobile

So as many of you know I took up a second job...well really I put my appraising job second and decided to work for T-Mobile. I got hired as a customer service representative (bilingual) and let me tell you I though my spanish was pretty good but I really need to brush up, lol. So far I love it. The environment is so positive and I think I'm overall a happier person now. During our breaks we play fusbal (idk how to spell it, lol) and ping-pong....we have so much fun. It's a little overwhelming at all the policies and procedures that we need to follow, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm just grateful cause I didn't have to look too hard to find a job. The process was fairly quick as it took about a week and a half to get hired...from what I hear it takes people up to a couple of months because of the background checks. I guess it helps that I've maintained my job for 5 years and my previous one for 8. It is literally one of the best places to work and they have so many incentives. I'm really excited and I hope I do well. Right now I'm adjusting to the schedule which is from 1pm to 10pm and at first it was hard cause I've always made my own schedule but I kind of like the structure and order I have now. I know pretty much how my day is gonna go so it's been a good adjustment. Wish me luck and continued success!

Happy 1st Birthday Lauren!

Lauren turned one yesterday and had her Birthday Party on Saturday. It was a bit of short notice so basically it was our family and a few of our friends. Lauren's birthday theme was Princess Strawberry Shortcake cause I think with her short hair she resembles her a little. We had such a good time from going to Mexico with Gris and Wesley and buying the pinata and candies to actually scrambling to make the candy bags for my nieces and nephews. My Aunt Dora bought her the most beautiful birthday dress and hat, my sisters helped us out enormously and so did our parents. I am so blessed to have three happy and healthy kids. Thank you lord for allowing us to celebrate another one of our kids birthdays.

Chalupa Party....Chalupas to eat and Chalupa to play, lol

My sister's Joanna and Jessica came home early on Friday night which was a wonderful surprise. We decided to stay in and make chalupas to eat and play chalupa. We had so much fun. Usually I don't like to play cause my sisters are VERY loud, lol. It was so funny cause my dad was drunk and after only three cards were called he was already saying "BINGO" and then after every card we would call he would say something dumb like "Oh my god". After a while we didn't even want to take his money cause he wasn't even paying attention. Well before all of this he was the one calling the cards but we noticed that he kept bending over, well he kept dropping the cards....he was cheating! We received some wonderful news also, my little sister Jess is expecting. It was a huge surprise but she looks so happy and she has suffered with her previous relationship. But that's all in the past and we couldn't be happier. Congratulations Jess and JJ we love you guys!

Satellite Office

So we received the news last week. Our office will close and become a satellite office. We will pack up and literally move our office home which I think is great cause I'll spend more time with the kids. The only downside is that we will not receive payment for our work until our company has been paid for the jobs we've completed. I used to get paid like that at my old office and it's not that bad if the work keeps rolling in. The first month will be the hardest since this is the time we have to accumulate our work load. I think in the mean time I will look for a full time job and keep appraising part time. Even at part time it pays very well so I'm gonna keep appraising. Luckily my sister still keeps her job and will also be working from home. Can you imagine how cool that is to just check emails every now and then and have all calls transfered to her cell phone. I'm sure they will reimburse her for that. For now I'm just glad we have something rather than nothing. Don't get me wrong, I'm worried and all....but I'm not gonna dwell. I'm just gonna stay optimistic and keep moving forward. Wish us well.

Technical Issues?

Technical issues is what we've been saying to our clients. On Monday the construction people hit a cable and our phone and internet went out. My sister Gris (our office manager) had to have all calls transfered to her cell phone and it really sucks cause all the calls we're getting are pissed off clients. No one wants to wait more than three days for an appraisal. The bad news came when Southwestern Bell called her and told her we would not have any type of service until Friday at 8 PM. So Robin and I lugged our dinosaurs home to connect them to our internet. Usually I remote to my work computer from home but I obviously can't do that if my work computer is offline. Well, my internet is through a satellite since I live in the middle of nowhere and ofcourse it's not as easy as plugging in a cable. I had to call my provider...after hours mind, you and get them to give me the correct ip's and all that stuff that I don't understand. I'm sure it's an expensive service call, but I had them bill my company, lol. Okay so since I have a wireless router I had to connect my work computer to the router which is in my laundry room since I wanted all the ugly wires out of sight. Well, now my office is in my little laundry room. The signal is not that great so what takes me an hour at the office takes me about four hours here and I'm thinking it's time to save and invest in a lap top. My boss from Dallas was like why don't you guys just go sit at starbucks? Right, they all work off of labtops. Then we get a call saying that one of our bosses from Dallas is flying in tomorrow. Many of or other offices have become satellite offices and I have a feeling that Verappraise Harlingen will too. This just means that we will work from home PERMANENTLY. In a way I think it's good, but then I don't really work well from home. I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings and for now I just want to literally kick my computer's ASS!

And they're off......to daycare

Today is my kids second day at daycare. We had a lady watch them at home for a week and it was wonderful but I felt bad cause she has her own family and she was really just doing it to help us. So I decided that we would try daycare. Jennifer referred me to Marie's which is where Aiden attends. Both kids did good until the metiche Roland went over there to check up on them. When he left Bo was literally kicking and screaming on the ground. We picked them up early cause we couldn't wait to see h ow they did. Well, again the metiche showed up before me ofcourse so I didn't even get to see them in their new envirnoment. Bo was doing his abc flashcards when he got picked up and he had alot of fun with the other kids. He was most excited cause they fed him carnitas with pappas. As if the day was not traumatic enough, Roland decides to get their immunizations up to date (which they need anyway to be in daycare). Bo only got one and Lauren got one and one oral so it was not that bad. This morning he woke up a little cranky but then he was happy when he heard we were going to daycare he was excited. On my way out I noticed Roland parked outside the day care doing surveilance, lol. I keep having to run him off. Now my mom is pretty sad cause she doesn't see them that often and because I have to pay a big chunk of money towards day care, but I think the kids will benefit from being with other kids. We'll see how it goes.

Lauren's first steps

Today I stayed home from work so that my mom could go see the doctor. Still looking for a nanny, but haven't had any luck. It is not as easy as one thinks to just spread the word and then magically you'll run into someone. So we were home all day and in the evening when my mom got home Lauren was so excited and she took like three steps. Now she doesn't want to crawl anymore. She even stands up and thinks she can jump. She takes a couple of hops and then falls on her booty. I can't believe it, she's only 10 1/2 months and she's taken her first steps and yet she still doesn't have a single tooth, lol. I guess now we brace ourselves cause there ain't no stopping her.

Sex and the City....the movie

I had been waiting anxiously for the Sex and the City movie. I have seen every episode when they first aired. I would wait and watch every week. On Monday my sisters Gris and Veronica, my Aunt Dora, and yes my mom decided to go. Not a good movie to watch with your mom, lol. Luckily Gris sat next to her so I wasn't as mortified with all the nude scenes. If you haven't watched it don't worry there's alot of surprises but it is true to the series. Loved it!!!!!!

It's the little things

So this year on our anniversary we decided that we would go out ALONE. We always take the kids with us cause we feel so guilty. It started out with Bo cutting his chin and going to the ER so that night was out. Last night Roland worked late and supposedly the ticktets to Sex and the City were sold out. Well, I had fun with Lauren anyway. She loves to look outside the window from her little play house. We bought that play house for Kari one Christmas I think she was only 2. Anyway, she stands on that little chair and doesn't learn cause she's fallen several times and still gets right back up, lol. Lately we've been singing Happy Birthday to her and she gets all chiflada. She starts laughing and kicking and then we say Yay! and she'll start clapping...she looks so adorable. This morning I was checking my emails and Bo told me he had to wash his hands so I told him to pull up a chair and do it himself. I heard the water running for a while but ofcourse I didn't pay attention. By the time I turned around he had spilled the whole bottle of dishwashing soap in to the sink and had a big mound of bubbles. I started to get mad at him and he put his little hands on his hips and said angrily "Loot at what the soap did". So I just let him have fun with it. I usually get all worked up and get mad at them but my dad always tells me that atleast they are healthy and we would rather them be doing their travesuras than for them to be sick in bed or something. So I think I'm gonna loosen up...after all it's the little things that make me smile.

Another trip to the ER

Well, why would my anniversary be different from any other day. I got to my moms to pick up the kids and we were sitting outside for like 5 minutes when my brother comes to the backyard with Bo crying. My brother was furious cause we weren't watching him. He was playing with the mangera and got all wet. When he went inside he slipped on the ceramic tile and landing right on his chin. It wasn't that bad I thought but after we got home and he got showered it was shaped like a football and it was wide open. Roland took him to the ER and thought he needed stitches. They put a glue on there which I'm sure is alot less painful. It doesn't look that bad now, I'm just glad he's ok. It doesn't look like he learned just yet, he's still jumping around. I guess we'll have to save our date for tomorrow night.

"On the Cover"

Karina had yet another dance recital this year. This year was a little different cause she not only did ballet and tap, but jazz as well. The rehearsals started Wednesday and Thursday and then they had the actual recital on Friday and Saturday. It was a long week but we made it through. This years theme was "On the Cover". The girls danced to a variety of songs themed after magazines like Vogue, Good Housekeeping (hence the maid costume), American Cheerleader, Latina, and oh so many other numbers. I am so proud of her cause every Thursday and Friday evening she spent at the dance studio and some days we would skip gymnastics and go straight to her softball games. It was pretty hectic but I enjoy seeing her so happy and I'm glad that I am able to help her with this beautiful experience. We love you Kari!

Milestones.....Travesuras

OMG, Lauren is 9 months going on 10 and she has managed to freak me out. I don't know if it's that you forget how soon your previous child started doing their travesuras or maybe the youngest one just has too many people around so they pick up their ideas quicker, idk. She plays casita with the blankets and she just sits there laughing....it is so adorable. Then yesterday she was in her little play house that is in my room mind you (they have managed to take over all the rooms in this house) and she kept ringing the doorbell. But then she got the bright idea to stand up on her chair so that she could reach it from the window. Standing outside and ringing the doorbell just wasn't fun enough. And then tonight she grabbed my phone and kept putting it up to her ear. At first I didn't think anything of it but she kept on and even babbling at the same time. So now you say hello and she puts the phone up, but she almost puts it to the back of her head...she is so funny. She also gives topes (headbutts) to anything that is near her forehead oh and she blows on her food to cool it down. I just love watching her grow and as long as they're healthy we can't complain about their travesuras.

Gone fishing!

For the past couple of weekends we've been heading out to Arroyo City to do some fishing. One night we went right after the dreaded tournament and made it a late night. The kiddos had a blast. Karina is so not a girly girl so she fits right in. Bo is such a manly man and wants to impress his dad and even Lauren wanted in on the action. I have to say thanks to our friend Wes for inviting us and being such a wonderful host. I don't really enjoy fishing but seeing the kids having so much fun made for a wonderful time. I'll go anywhere and do anything with my kiddos.

Mid-Season Tnmnt Madness

OK so we played Thursday and beat a Harlingen team by one run in OT. Friday we played two Sebastian teams and won. Saturday we played the same Harlingen team and won again. Then we played San Benito Blue Lacies (Greg's Team) and finally beat them by like three runs. Man their parents were so obnoxious so it made it that much sweeter and our girls were pumped cause they have been after SB for a while. Those parents were in a state of shock, lol. Then we played SB Ballyard Babes (Lisa's Team) and to everyones surprise we beat them 13 to 7 easy. So then the girls had to play them immediately to win 1st place, well I don't think Lisa was gonna let that happen. Her and her assistant coaches caused some major drama after the league put three officials instead of the two that were already there. The leagues reasoning was that it was the championship game, but Lisa and her guys argued that if they would have beat us in the prior game that would have been the championship game and there were only two officials. Lisa's husband screamed at the league director and told him that he showed up for one day and wanted to make the calls. Whatever, after like 20 minutes and what I feel was their way of getting our girls off their high we started the game. Our girls got the very first batter out on first base. Well, Lisa ofcourse had to argue about that and asked the official but didn't ask the one that made the call. So the league directors called her on that and the drama insued again. After their bickering back and forth one of her coaches got kicked out of the game and was escorted out of the park. But he league reversed the call and the runner was safe.....WTF?!?! Our coach was like how can you reverse the call and change the rules? Well, he was so fired up already with all the drama and he was questioning it but not in a nice way I guess.....then he ended up getting kicked out of the game. Mind you he is our pitcher, lol. After that our girls completely gave up. It was so sad to see all the adult drama ruin what was the best games of the season. I do have to say that their parents were really nice about it and even invited our girls to Mr. Gatti's and offered to pay for their dinner as one of the parents is a manager. Really nice, but nobody was up for it. We were so tired and disappointed. Oh well, at least they came in 2nd which is very respectable. Good job Dirt Divas.

A day at the office

I love my job. Where else can you take all your gang and hang out like if you were at home. My mom dropped off Lauren cause she was very fussy (I think they were going shopping in Brownsville). I feel bad that my mom has to lug my kids around so when she called I told her to bring her. I really can't do anything when the kids are here cause there are so many distractions for them. My sister Gris (our office manager) usually helps me with them but she was out to lunch. My mom took Bo with her and left Bebo. Roland called and said he would bring lunch to the office and hang out with us. We had such a great time eating and playing with the baby.

Just a camera

I should of known better when Bo got my new camera and started snapping pictures. He was fine but then Roland decided to go to town and Bo ran after him. He sent him back in to give me the camera but he was in a hurry to leave that he went to put it down but dropped it. It was on and ofcourse it has to land right on the lens. It turns off right away and the lens does not retract as it should. I was so mad!!!!! I know it's just a camera and it's my fault anyway. But I just got it for Christmas and it's a Kodak 12 megapixel that shoots and records in HD. Oh well, I called and it has warranty but I don't think it covers your kid dropping it. I'm shipping it off, so we'll see.

Overwhelmed!!!!!!!!

OK so when it was slow at work I complained cause I wanted to make more money. Now I can't keep up. I asked my boss in Dallas to go ahead and accept a Vendor that they have been begging us to take on. At the time I thought.....hell no cause they pay lower fees, but supposedly they make that up with a good workload. Well, we turned them on several months ago and I have nearly doubled my workload. I have to stay in Hidalgo County all day long when I go just to see as many properties as I can and then come back and write reports for the next few days. Whewwww, I guess I just have to take a breather and continue on. I'm just grateful and I'll take it while the taking's good.

Saving Stuart Little

OK so I knew the snakes first feeding was not going to go well. Roland came home with a little mouse for it. I have tried my hardest to get him to get rid of this thing. Anyway, the snake was obviously not hungry cause the little mouse was still there after a few hours. I did not want to go in and see the feeding, but Bo told me the little mouse was still there. When I finally went in the little mouse was playing with it's little hands and it kinda looked cute. I know, anyone who knows me is probably thinking WTF, cause they know I'm terrified of them. For some reason I begged Roland to take it out and let it go. He took it out and we went outside to set it free, but the damn little mouse would not leave. So guess what, the kids picked it up and started playing with it, even my nephew Joshua was going along with this madness. Again, I tried my hardest to have them set it free. For now it appears that the little mouse, now known as "Stuart Little", will be safe. I will stand my ground and make them set it free as this is where I draw the line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My crazy kids

So it started with a fire belly frog that my sister Veronica bought Karina for her Birthday. Tia JoAnn also bought Karina some fish and a water frog. As if that weren't enough Roland brings home a ball python. AHHHHHHHHH! Oh and another fire belly frog and a scorpion. Apparently nobody cares what mommy has to say about this. I fought it as long as I could. And then my mom comes home with a turtle for Bo cause he didn't get anything. I have to say it is cute. I'm not as freaked out about the snake anymore. I guess we'll see about that once feeding time comes around. The frogs eat live crickets and the snake live mice. What the? I don't think I'll stomach that!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Karina!

Karina just celebrated her 8th birthday. It was our turn to buy the snacks after the game so I decided to buy her a cupcake cake as well and celebrate with her team mates even if it was a day early. On her actual birthday I was so tired cause I spent all afternoon doing field work. But after much convincing from her Tias, we went to Peter Piper to celebrate (again). Cause if you're anything like me you know that if you don't do anything that day then you'll just put it off and eventually just say, nah. My mom, most of Kari's tias, and my in-laws stopped by with cake and presents. And I can't forget about Jennae, even though she couldn't be here she sent Karina a present all the way from California. Nydia is so thoughtful. We had a great time and to top off the night some Mariachi's came in asking if we wanted them to sing a song. Both her Grandma's bought her a song which made the night even more special. I just can't believe how fast they grow.

Our Weekends

I love spending time at home with my family. Our weekends are the only time we can relax and even then we still have some running around. Typically, we'll spend atleast one day at home with the kids. Our down time is spent relaxing outside. My dad is teaching Bo to ride the horses without help. He rides the horse by himself and he already knows how to steer the reigns to make him stop, go, and turn. I don't like to watch cause I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to stuff like that. The kids have their trampoline and swing set, but they prefer to be with the animals ofcourse. I love my life in the rancho!

I'm BACK!

OK I realize I've been away for quite some time. Let's see... there's my father-in-law's campaign for Constable which he won and well deserved. We went to charro days to see my dad in the parade. Other than that just hangin out with the kiddos lugging Karina around to her practices. I've been really busy at work also, which being on comission means business is finally starting to pick up. The sad thing is that I'm seeing alot of foreclosed properties and it breaks my heart cause most times the people leave alot of stuff behind, I don't know if they don't give them enough time to vacate their homes. Anyway, my heart goes out to anyone who is in that situation for whatever reason.

Belated Valentine's

I was not looking forward to this past week as Roland was gone for 5 days. He was in Corpus for a law enforcement class. I have never spent Valentine's away from him. On Friday I got a call from his phone, but when I answered it was Bo and he screamed Daddy's home. I didn't expect him home until around 8 or 9pm. I normally would have dropped everything and gone home but I got slammed at work with so many orders. Anyway, we went out to Chili's for our belated Valentine's dinner. We always say, okay it's just gonna be the two of us. But we usually don't have a babysitter or the couple of times we've gone we are falling asleep before we get our dinner and end up missing the kids terribly. Karina and Lauren were asleep when we got there. It was pretty quite for just a little while. We had a wonderful time and I was so glad Roland was home. That was the best present ever, okay I could of used the wallet for my new purse, lol. Kidding, I love having him around even if we go right back to our bickering.

Lauren's First Hair Cut

OK so Saturday Karina and Bo went to the Zoo with my sisters Jess, Gris, and my mom. From the video and pictures it looks like they had a blast. I actually was in Mission by 9 am to inspect my first property. I made it home at around 1 pm after inspecting 4 properties. I know shocker cause I rarely work on the weekends. Anyway, after I got home we were so bored. Roland suggested that we go to a pachanga for a friend of ours that is running for Constable in Rio Hondo and then out to eat. But of course being the guy that he is he wanted a hair cut first. While he was getting a hair cut I decided to have Lauren get her first hair cut. She did soooo good, she didn't cry at all. After that it was to Applebee's to have an early dinner with Jesse and my littlest sister Vanessa. We enjoyed the company.

I can't beleive I let it happen

My poor baby, I heard her scream last night and I literally jumped off the bed. She fell over and when I found her she was laying on her little back screaming her head off. I'm soooo sorry baby. I'm sure you guys have gone through this before. I was so sick and tired that I crashed out and since Roland was up still playing games there was no wall to stop her from rolling off the bed. I feel so bad, I'm just glad for carpet. It doesn't look like she hurt herself. More than anything we were just super scared. I guess that's why they're supposed to be in their cribs, huh. Well, not my kids. They ALL sleep with us. I have tried to send them to their room, but they just come back in the middle of the night. I guess I'll set up her play pen in the room.

It's been one of those days

I was getting Kari and I ready for work when Griselda calls....she never calls till around 10 that's when either her or I get into the office and realize neither one of us is there. She said Joanna is fine and I thought...I hate these kinds of phone calls, but she's been in an accident. She was supposed to drive to the Valley this evening. Well, turns out on her way to work a lady hit her car while she's on the feeder road. It appears that her car is a total loss but that is the least of it cause she's ok. I talked to her shortly after that but when I told my mom she of course freaked out and started panicking cause we couldn't reach her. We finally got through and she sounded ok she is so crazy she is still gonna come to the valley but one of her friends is gonna drive her down. I was there almost three years ago to the date. I'm sure most of you know about our horrible car accident and how extremely lucky we were to come out of it alive. Sometimes you think why did this happen to me, but in retrospect I think at the time Roland and I were so busy with work that we didn't make time for anything else. God decided that we needed to slow down. We slowed down alright. We are still feeling the effects of that day. Whether it be physically (cause I never got the surgery I needed and Roland's ankle hurts so bad he can't even stand) or mentally (cause you see a car that seems like it's not gonna stop), or financially (we had to file for bankruptcy and lost our house after that). I also was looking at the pictures the other day and I cry everytime I see them cause I realize how I almost lost everything that day. Valentine's has an extra special meaning for Roland and I cause that year we spent it in the hospital just thanking God every minute we could that we were together. Please buckle yourselves up and especially your babies cause you may be driving fine but you never know when someone else is just not paying attention. I thank god that my sister is doing fine and hope that she continues to stay strong.

FINALLY

OK so I finally finished my on-line continuing ed. SOOOOOOOO boring but still better than sitting in a room with someone just yacking to kill those 29 hours. Yay, I can send in for my renewal of my appraisal license which is not cheap by the way. I paid about $800 to take the courses and the renewal. I guess if I would not have been a procrastinator and waited to the last months or so... in two years $800 is not much. Anyway, Kari and I are doing sooo good (for a whole two days, lol) we went walking and we are not eating bad stuff anymore. Hopefully she'll lose at least a couple of pounds so that she can see that she can do it. I am so proud of her cause she never gives up. She dances tap, ballet, jazz does gymnastics and softball. It breaks my heart that little kids her age are so mean, but she manages to get through and has a lot of friends no matter what. OMG, I'm crying just typing this. I am so proud of her and I hope that I can help her get healthy. I never realized how much bad stuff we ate and I thought that just having her in her activities would help. Some people just need more than others. Wish us luck!

Day Off

I sooooo needed a day off. Last night I went walking with my mom and Kari...oh and my little chicle Bo. Big mistake taking Bo, he got tired and I had to give him a piggy back ride for a couple of laps.....well, I do have to say it was pretty good exercise. Anyway, I decided since it's not that busy at work I could stay home with my kids. I didn't know it was gonna be as boring since Lauren sleeps most of the day and Bo just wants to watch TV. But I can pick up Kari from school...she always seems to be up for anything. I'm also pretty mad cause Roland can't seem to find the new Zune I gave him for Christmas. He thinks I'm trying to teach him a lesson and that I have it tucked away somewhere. I wish I did.....man that's why I don't like to clean my house I always seem to misplace things. Wait, why do I always get blamed for everything. We'll see, I bet he has it at his office and doesn't even remember. Anyway, gotta go watch the soaps yeah right.