Wreaths

Today went to Walmart to practice making wreaths. Ran out of materials but hope to finish it tomorrow .

Breakfast a great start to every morning

This morning my darling husband surprised we with a good Spanish breakfast . It's been awhile since we had this , because of cutting back on eating out. But it was just what I needed to start the day. Today I was working in Key Biscayne, I love the drive there. The scenery is beautiful , going over the bridge surrounded by ocean and then a stretch of forestry. The store manager that I am visiting today has been on my shit list for awhile. He doesn't have an understanding of the way things work in our area. He knows that I been upset with him so lately he's been extra nice. I get there and he has everything I need in order. This will make the day go a lot smoother. Lunch time comes around and he takes me to a very nice place for lunch. We all know how much I love free food. It's an Italian restaurant with a very hipster vibe . My drink comes in this cute mason jar glass. Brie with fig wrapped in a pastry bundle, blue cheese chicken Milanese with candy pecan and Oreo mousse cheesecake. All of this I was feeling to full to continue working, but I had no choice. This week with all the visiting it made me realize I miss doing it. Sitting day after day just teaching was no longer fun. But getting the chance to visit the people I have been teaching to see how things are is nice. I left work later than I expected it turned out to be a full day. I get home and my son is excited to tell me he got green today. Now if we can get this to happen consistently. Tonight I even stayed up for movie night with the hubs. All in all it's been a normal simple day. And with the things life always throws at me . I truly can appreciate simple.

One of those days

Today started out as one of those days where everything was going wrong . I was scheduled to meet with a store manger to do his audit .he sends me a text as I am dropping my daughter off to tell me that he changed his schedule he is now working the night shift. Had I know this I would have just went home after dropping my son off and spent time with my daughter. So on my way back home i call the trouble maker because I have to audit her  as well . When I call her before I can mention anything she tells me that R did not do her audit. Like I said yesterday something seems real funny with her. I told her that I am doing it today, she then tells me she is getting visited by the district manger and the regional manager. oh and that she is off Friday so I need to do it next week. I said its due Friday so I will come after her visit . Once off the phone I call my boss because I feel like Z is going to skip out on me . My boss feels the same way and she also thinks Z is hiding something . She told me to tell her that we will do it next week both the HR and her will do it. I call Z to tell her this and she sounded uncomfortable . Oh well she would have been better off with me. 

So I go home because now I don't have to work until tonight. Well this week since its been raining so much my toilet has been slow to flush. This is what happens with having a septic tank. Warning stay away from houses that have septic tanks . Well today it is worse it won't go down at all. Now I am fearful of overflow. I calm my husband and he calls the professionals. I am not happy about this , just two months ago we paid $500 because something was wrong with it. The guy comes and does his thing and then he knocks on the door and here comes that curve ball. He calls me outside to show me something the concrete lid is broken and needs to be replaced and (long pause with huge sigh) he tells me to listen. You can hear running water constantly going into the tank. I must have a broken pipe somewhere. Well that explains the high water bills. I call my husband and my cousin who lives with me . The news upsets them, my husband just wants to move. We have been living here for a little over two years and we have been drowning financially over it. Another day i will have to explain how we came to this house and why we make the repairs. This problem will require a plumber to find out which pipe is broken. Just this job came up too $200. I had to write him a pre dated check. 

Today seemed like it would have been less stressful if I was at work. After running around town picking up my kids , I had to make a quick stop to the grocery store for dinner. I really do hate going to the store with both the kids. My son wants to push the cart and my daughter doesn't want to stay in. She begins crying more like screaming . I make the trip super short not in the mood to be dealing with this . Before going to work I managed to get homework and dinner completed .

It's 7 pm so on my way to work . For my first time doing the audit it went great. I didn't finish until after 10pm. Leaving the store I crank the music up , roles the windows down and enjoy my time to myself driving down South beach. It's Labor Day weekend so it's getting crowded with tourist. Who are putting on a great show of drunken behavior . Even though my ride is only 30 minutes long I enjoyed every bit of it. Sometimes you have to enjoy the simple things so that you can make through to the next day.

Rainy day

So I wake to a very raining day. This is good and bad at least it's not hot but for anyone who has kids and do not have a garage understands this dilemma. Worse when I drop my son to school we are told that we could no longer park in the parking lot . So the walk today is even further . I send him off hoping that today he will have a good day. On my drive I call my husband and early in the Morning there goes life rearing its head and I preparing for the wind up. So I dial his number and what do I hear the phone company sending me to the financial department. I hang it up knowing what this means. I get to the babysitter and use her phone to call my husband , my phone is always the first to go. He says he would handle it. Later the phones rings its my husband he had to go negative and in my bank account to make a partial payment. Partial payment is $250 it's to early to feel this stressed out. Once you're behind it seems like you're always behind. Today I had to visit my stores located on the beach and wouldn't you know when I get there it's completely sunny. The first store is just across the street from the beach . I could hear the waves crashing calling me to their  shores . Sorry not today must work and I didn't bring a change of shoes . The second store I visited was a store manager that seems to be trying to cause trouble. She was responsible for doing HR audits along with another store manager. The other one was not able to to complete her stores so I told her I would help this week Since the other one wont help her. Last week Friday store manager R called me to tell me which stores she needed help with. Well that day store manager Z was there with her doing the audit for R 's store . You are not able to do your own store . Well R says that she will be doing Z's over the weekend. When I visited Z's to drop off the paperwork she never mentioned that R did not do hers over the weekend. I found this out about 2 hours ago when R text me. I called R and and told her Z acted as If it was done . Hmm something seems funny , I think she is trying to set R  up. I call my boss and of course I need to get this done they are due Friday. I am upset over this because I am already scheduled to due someone else's store. So now I will have two stores and still have to make it on time to pick my son up. 

Later when I picked up my son he has his head a little low . Oh boy, I know what this means he got a red today. Sure enough when I saw the paper its red and you could see the teacher seemed upset . The writing was big and bold. I had my son call my husband to tell him. By the time we got home my husband met us . Punishment he went and lots of extra homework to do. Today I was so upset that I didn't even make it to my buisness meeting . I've been so consumed by this child , I have not been able to start up my page for my business. I really need to do this every extra dollar I can make will help. 

After the kids are down my crazy husband decides to start a project . He wants to put up the kitchenette set my daughter recieved . Why tonight not sure next week will make a year since it was given to her on her first birthday. Seeing this reminds me to discuss about her upcoming birthday next week. I have sadly decided that we won't be able to have a party we just can't afford it. If I did it then only four weeks later I would be having to due my sons . Then it's thanksgiving and before you know Christmas. Last year by the skin of my teeth and with the help of my mom we were able to give a decent Christmas to all the kids in the family. So tomorrow we will see what life holds for me. 

Hubby at midnight putting up the kitchenette 

Sick Day

Oh I been rough already . I have barely gotten any sleep , the kids kept me up all night . Between the coughing , sneezing , runny nose and fevers I myself have now managed to get sick. So now I am home sick trying to tend to the kids. This has been hard. I haven't been able to get my daughter to eat anything all day. Both don't want to leave my side. But being the awesome mom and wife I am I , sick and all I managed to put together a great dinner . Barbecue chicken, homemade Mac and cheese, homemade mash potatoes , and southern style bake beans. That should put us all asleep. Today I recieved a call from one of my co-workers , she and I are very close. I know her for over 15 years and we use to work at the same store . She is the one who help me become a trainer. She is also friends with the other one , and had also been at the other end of her childishness. She wanted to know did I ignore the text the other one sent me last week asking about training. I said no my phone has been acting up but I suspected she might have tried calling or texting to find out when an where I was having my class this week. I felt that if she wanted to know she would have personally asked me when she saw me last week Friday. I told her I not kissing anyone's ass she is going to realize that she needs me more than I ever needed her. My co- worker agreed and obviously it bother the other one since she brought it up.  It's amazing how people can't handle the  things that they dish out to others .

Double trouble

So today is the day I have to just kick my child to curb at school. I walk him to the gate to lessen the anxiety about it as I watch him walk off feeling a little lost. But we both managed to get through it. Today will also be his first time in aftercare . So I really want to try and get out early so he is not there to long. Well wouldn't you know it here goes life with a  strange sense of humor . I get to work and I only have one person to train the others that where scheduled are coming next week instead. I was not in mood to teach a 5 hour class for one person, especially one who's English is not that great. I was so proud of myself I got it done in two hours. Now I know what needs to be done to get it completed in 3 I was originally shooting for. We'll see next week. I got in time to pick my son up before he went to aftercare .but my husband said to let him stay for an hour so he can get use to it. So what to do with myself nothing just go home and watch rerun episodes of supernatural. A little eye candy before getting my day on the move again. I pick up my son and he got a green today he was so excited. But he sounded funny and there it goes he is sick. I went and picked up my daughter and once again with life she is sick . So now I have two kids sick. As any mother knows this is a horrible horrible thing. It only got worse through the night. So now this means I will be stuck home tomorrow with two sick and whining kids. Wish me luck and sanity. 

Nothing special

Today nothing of real importance happened. My older cousin was home today , he lives with me on and off. When he got up this morning his tire was completely flat. So my husband had to Change it for him. He ended up spending majority of the day working on cars. Apparently the rotors in my car were no good and needed replacing . Extra money to be spent but at least it's something my husband can fix. Today I was in a funk  , I really felt sad . Sometimes I wonder how did I get to this point in my life. I had goal that I should have reach by now and I haven't gotten not one. Living in Miami is hard you pretty much have to be on the very high end of middle class to get in the neighborhood you want. I really would like to live in the neighborhood my son goes to school in. One day several months ago I saw a house there for sale , I got excited . I called my husband up immediately and he said we would take a look on the weekend. The house was a decent one story house. Weekend came and my husband takes me there he gets out of the car to get the flyer for the house . He walks back to the car with his head lowered . He hands me the paper and this 3 bedroom ,2 1/2 house is going for 859,000 . What!!  I will never be able to afford that . I know If you work hard you can get things , but I work hard so those my husband . I really need to make a change so that we could get these things but I just don't know where to start. I guess for now I can't sit home anymore and watch HGTV . It's making me feel sad . So that's all for today

Fun family day

Today I woke up with excited anticipation. We were taking the kids to a water park . My son bother me all morning about this. Our original plan was to get there early but with my husband that doesn't happen. The best thing is our cousin and her four kids were meeting us there. I decided to take my little cousin and a family friend. So we squeezed four kids in my little car. We get there and the kiddie section is closed and won't open for another hour. So I take my daughter in the bigger section , I am not allowed to slide down with her. So I had to have the one of the bigger kids take her up while I waited at the bottom for her. Pure joy for her , she enjoyed having the freedom of doing it herself . So much that when the kiddie section opened up and I could do it with her she got upset and started crying . I had to take her back to the bigger section. This water park is a perfect size big enough for kids of ages to enjoy but small enough to allow freedom. My son enjoyed not having his parents with him but of course we still had check ins. But his freedom came with strings he had to stay with the family friend at all times . He is 10 but a very mature 10. I know I really didn't have the money to do this. But when you work very hard you have to be able to do the simple things , that's what helps you to keep on truckin. 

T.G.I.F.

Today is my husband turn to take my son to school . I thought I would have the opportunity to sleep in , but my daughter had other plans for me. Bright and early as usual. Today I am nervous I'm hoping he brings a green , it is the last day of the first week. Before I could even make it to work I get a call from the store manger where I get paid from. Normally I don't mind getting calls from him, he is one of my favorites. But on Fridays not so much and then here goes life and its curve balls , he started to apologize that he forgot to pay me for last week. So in other words I only got half a paycheck . Well let me just get my sign out now. I think I need to post one on Pinterest in case anyone else needs one. Something simple like spare some change or will work for food. This has happend to me before so we already make an agreement that he will pay me out of the store . Unfortunately i won't be able to get it until Sunday .

 Off to work I go at the regional office , when I get there you know who is there. I'm a professional so I say hello and walk on by. The whole morning she makes it a point to avoid talking to me. The funny thing is , is that everyone notices this. When she leaves ,our boss comes up to me to mention something about it. She thinks she is just trouble. This childish behavior will effect her more than me. I had to meet my cousin today and I was bad ,I was gone for 2 1/2 hours . It was nice its been awhile for us to be together without the kids. But having that long break means I had to be at work a lot longer. I hate being in that building myself it creeps me out. It use to be an old bunker, so I asked one of my co-workers to stay behind. It was just the two of us and wouldn't you believe it the copier starts to go crazy. It was time to go , I couldn't get out of there fast enough. My husband calls me to let me know how my sons day went, he got a yellow . Of course I am disappointed again but at least it's not a red. The rest of the day went good we had take out and stayed in. We were determined to watch a movie, well only 4 minutes into the movie I was gone sandman paid a visit . Now with this new getting up super early business I am struggling to hang on during the night. How am I suppose to be the cool mom who had no trouble staying up until 2 in the morning and waking up refreshed . Instead I am someone who should be in zombie movies . Grr , grr I need to take your sleep . Well hopefully Saturday night I can hold on and have date night movie night with my hubs. 

The saga continues(this is Thursdays blog forgot to post)

Today my original plans for work got deterred, I was schedule to go to my regional office. Instead I receive a call and  I need to visit one of my stores. When I get there I meet the store manager she is surprised to see me. I explain why I am there and she is a little upset. The manager of a different department was the one who called me, apparently the two are having communication problem. The store manager said that she had already started on trying to hire someone she wanted for her department if she had just asked she would have known this .  The store manager is fairly new to the position and she is not used to not getting along with her workers. She is almost in tears , this is just not what I expected of my day today. I go meet the other manager and she is not a pleasant person never has been. But she is excited to see me , then she she starts complaining about the store manager. How the store manager called her on her day off complaining that she scheduled one her employees without telling her . The store managers complaint was correct she just couldn't see it. Besides receiving the phone call she is also angry at a comment that was made , the store manager explained to her that she is the manager of the whole store including her department . She wanted to know what makes her think that. I had to put it as nice as possible but I explained the store manger is correct but it works better if you work as a team . I saw that what I was saying was not hitting home . The last three managers that have been at that store has pretty much had the same problems with her. She is insisting on hiring a person who worked for us in the past. It's been about 6 months since he was with the company. The store manager doesn't feel comfortable about hiring him she feels something doesn't seem legit about him. I told her to call his old store and get the real story. I explained this to the other managing partner she is not happy with this . She keeps asking will she get him , I said yes once we follow the procedures. Well later the store manger calls me to tell me she called his old store and its bad . Apparently he tried to sue us and he was a horrible employee , it's even in his file that he not rehireable. I am glad I convinced her to go with her gut. The next day I will explain this to the other one , once I discuss this with our HR. 

Today I was really excited to pick my son up , I was certain he would have a green. I even told my husband that I would leave my daughter at the babysitter so I can take my son to the park. So as he gets in the car I check his bad and so we continue with the struggle he received another red. I was so disappointed and upset I just went and pick up my daughter. My husband was furious , he actually met me home . My son was told to sit in a chair in his room without tv. I decided to take all his toys away. My husband burst my bubble he said we didn't have enough garbage bags to do this . So I found some small ones to at least get started , by this weekend all of the toys will be gone out of his room. Once he comes home with a green then he can go back in the bag and choose one toy to take out. At this rate he would have to be good until the end of the year to get his toys back. It could be longer if he gets red because that will mean something will be taken back, yellow will mean that nothing will be taken or added . I hope this is enough to get him on the right path. We shall see. 

Am I smarter than a 5th grader

Whoo!! Hoo!! This morning my sons school was better organized. They had the names of the teacher on the cafeteria tables and they used a bull horn to call the students in line. My son even ate some breakfast it was a chicken patty. Today I said yes to my friend about the business opportunity , it's all or nothing . I can't live like this forever so I really need to do something about it. I would like to be able to afford to put my my son in extracurricular activities. Today was early release day for the 2-5 grade. I called my close friend and told her since her son who goes to the same school will be getting out at the same time , I will pick him up. The afternoon not so organized , they didn't think ahead what to do with all the grades being released at the same time. 

Well after making the kids something to eat, it was time to do homework . I go through my sons bag an here goes life again. I see his progress report and it confirms that yesterday wasn't a good day he received another yellow , wait but there's more today he receives a red. So  he is only getting worse , I am probably sure the teacher is labeling him a problem child. So I have a talk with him and put him on punishment he now is not allowed to do all the exciting things I had planned today. He will just have to watch his friend do them. Homework is finished and it is time for me to check what they both have done. The family friend is in the 5th grade and he had math homework. Well , I think that I am a pretty educated person I have a bachelor degree ,work in the medical field and teach. But all of that meant nothing when looking over his answer , I had no idea if they were right or wrong. I guess I am not smarter than a 5th grader. What a shame; I told his mom and she began laughing . She is educated , is a business owner and she could not figure it out. She will have to check his math book when she gets back home. Today my daughter took me by surprise , I am driving home and I hear her count she loves doing this. But this time it's different she is actually counting an open pack of her hair barrettes , she gets all the way to 13. Have I mentioned she is not even 2 years old yet . That is why decided to take the business opportunity , I really need to get her in daycare that works more like a school .  The rest of the day was a good day , I got the opportunity to work from home . Which means I had a nice nap and got the chance to spend lunch with my husband . Wink wink . Lets just hope tomorrow will be a better day for my son.

Frustration

Today was an all out frustrating day, this is what life had planned for me . First it started at my sons school, today I allowed him to get in the breakfast line by himself. He needs to get use to me not being able to help him. He chooses his own food and even remembers his PIN number. I wait to direct him to the table and when I looked down at his tray he had chosen pancakes and a granola yogurt parfait with nothing to drink. You would think the lunch people would take time to make sure he got something to drink . Instead they are to busy yelling and making the experience more frightening for the younger ones. Only about 5 minutes later a little old man begins walking around the room asking something. It's so loud you could barely make out what he is saying. I look back and I see my sons teacher is in the cafeteria . So I started to think may he is asking if anyone is in her class. By the time my son throws his food away , she is gone . I literally with some other parents had to run her down. This was very frustrating , because the thought crossed my mind what would of happened if I wasn't there. My son with a few of the other kids would have been waiting there until everyone left.No One heard this old man , why didn't they use a bull horn. 

Later it's time for work which I am regretting, I really wish I took this week off for vacation . Today is the day I train the new hires for the company since I took a vacation day yesterday. I am responsible for 2 areas which together consist of 39 stores . There are 4 trainers in our region. One of the trainers , she and I usually train together. She as well has 2 areas with 39 stores. When I say train together  it means I train while she sits on her lap top. She is very good at taking advantage of my niceness. But I let this happen because I welcome the company and she and I can vent our frustration together . Well for the past month she really hasn't been speaking with me much since apparently she is upset with me. That will require its own post to explain the childishness of a mid 40 something year old . Those that know us at your job think i shouldn't be bother by her , that I do all the work anyways . She is just using me. It is so bad that my boss even put on my evaluation that she wants us to do separate classes. Now with this new version of me at work , it really no longer bothers me that she is not talking to me. But what bothers me is that she stills speaks somewhat because she needs me. She hates teaching the new hire class . So she keeps wanting to know when i am having it so she can send her people. remember this new me is still a work in progress.Well she calls me only about 15 minutes before class starts to tell me she is coming late . This is nothing new I could never depend on her to be on time. She says she has a meeting to attend , she waits to the last minute to tell me this so that I don't rearrange the time. She then proceeds to tell me she only has 2 people to make it seem like its not a big deal. But it is I only have 3 and to come to find out she actually has three . Now I have to go through the whole hiring process , which would have gone faster if I just had my employees. Half way through the class she calls me to say she is done but needs to stop by one of her stores before coming. This makes no sense why not wait until the class is over . She again is taking advantage but she is always playing the victim . She does not get along with other trainers either. Ten minutes before class is over she calls to see how much I have to go , I explain I am at the end . So she says "oh ok I don't need to show up". I was furious, I am so over her. I know she will be calling me later on this week trying to find out when I am having my class for next week . I am purposely going to wait until Sunday to have her scramble about. Hopefully this will force her to do her own class because there is nothing more frustrating then dealing with phony people.

Today I was not able to pick my son up from school do to work but I did not want to place him just yet in aftercare . He would've only needed it for just a day and that is a waste of money. So my husband leaves work early to get the kids , I was able to go straight home after work. My husband didn't get a chance to ask the teacher how was his day since it was the security guard that booted him out the gate. But I rummage through his bag and I see a progress report from the teacher. She only has filled out Mondays date I don't know what happened to today's date. But it confirms my suspicion about what happend yesterday he received a yellow . Green for good , yellow for ok and red for bad. There is also a note of him talking to much and not being able to sit down. I sigh, first week already. I now remember during the meet and greet the teacher said that if the child received a green in their bag she would send home a little card with a green apple. And at the end of the week if they collected enough they were able to get an item from the treasure chest. Since I didn't know what color he received today , I ask my son where is his green apple he said he was the only one that didn't get one . Oh! What to do its only the second day. I am trying real hard to be optimistic about it , I think I really am going to have to make a standing appointment for every Friday . I will wait to see how tomorrow went before emailing her. 

Back to school

Today was a very early morning for me and worse I was exhausted since last night insomnia hit me. But at least I was not alone my husband took the day off to help me go through the craziness of first day of school. My husband insisted that we get there extra early due to the parking situation. We are told that the children must go to the cafeteria where they will await for their teachers to pick them up. It was a horrible disorganized mess, which is expected on the first day. They have the kids line up for breakfast and my husband forces my son to do this. He waits with him in line since this is first time doing anything like this. Before getting in line they give my husband a pin code my son has to use. While he was up there one of the workers gets snarky with my husband , saying that he needs to let me son figure it out on his own. He snaps back that he must first be shown how to do it , so that the next time he can do it by himself. I was impressed at the selection my son got but I know my kids they hate breakfast food. i can't even get them to eat eggs. My kids are the type that would eat rice and pasta for breakfast. I guess its hidden in the Cuban DNA. So the food was a waste, my husband tried to force my son to eat a mini blueberry pancake. Well we continue to wait and now its extremely crowded because now all the bigger kids are in the room. You can see the look on the pre-k and kindergarten's face , it was a look of being overwhelmed. Finally after waiting for over 45 minutes we are just told to walk the kids to the class , the teacher is running behind. I was o.k. with this because this is what I wanted all along. My son settles in perfectly no tears or tugging for us to stay. His teacher even took my sign I used for pictures today to post on the door. I  manage to hold it together no tears out of my eyes, have to be strong like my son.
After that my husband and I needed to go find the rest of the stuff we didn't get on his list. Half a tank later we were half successful. We then decided to go and find out about our little Light bill problem. Well as usual with Life we are told the $445 bill is not a mistake, they apparently had closed out my account and refunded me some of my deposit. Now I really had to fight back the tears , just when you think you get a ahead life's curve balls knocks you out. Can I call for a foul. Well I gave them the deposit back but that is not nearly enough to cover the bill. I will have to figure that out on payday, hopefully they wait until then.  By the time we finished our errands it was time to pick my son up and this turned out to be a bigger disaster then the morning. They do not allow you to pick up the kids in the school you have to drive up and they basically toss your child at you. The problem with this is that its only two lanes that allows you to pick up the kids and if the cars in front of you child has yet to come you have to still wait. Also these are the younger kids that are being picked up so that means time to put them in their car seats.  People where literally leaving their car in the middle of the street and picking their kids at the gate entrance. I would have done the same but I had my daughter in the car. So after about 40 minutes my sons teacher walks him to my car, I still was several cars behind. I was excited by this I could ask her how everything went. She gets to the car and I excitedly ask so how was the first day for him . She gives me a look and says its a work in progress. My heart sinks , I want to ask more but she has to shuffle the other kids to their parents. I somewhat understand why they are doing this horrible lock down policy. They are making sure what happened in Connecticut doesn't happen here. But at the same time these kids are young , and teachers are always asking for more parent involvement. Its hard to do that if I am not able to meet you on a regular basis. I guess I should make a weekly standing appointment.
I ask my son how his first day went and he was like it's o.k. My son if he does not find it interesting he really doesn't go into details about it. Well we both survived the first day now the second day lets see, I don't have dear ol' husband to help me out.

 

Kids

Today is last day to shop before school starts. My husband wakes with a hangover so he is not able to go with me. Luckily my friend and god daughter decide to venture with me through the craziness. Only 10 minutes into the trip, I am driving on the express way when something makes me look back. Well what do I see It's my darling daughter half way coming out of her car seat. This girl has manage to figure out to unhook the top portion of the strap. Have I mentioned she is only one . Well at 80 miles an hour I am freaking out and my friend is reaching in the back to try and strap her back in. But she is screaming and locking up her knees , finally my friend gets pissed off and had to get very assertive with her. With that she was finally able to locked her down. The first place we get to is Walmart , the parking lot alone gives me a glimpse of what we have to look forward too. It was a mad house and my kids where the worse behave I felt. This weekend my kids truly made me feel like a mother with no control. By the time we headed to our third store , all I wanted to do was scream and cry. I didn't care that I didn't get everything it would just have to wait another day. My friend today was going through some personal problems and I felt bad because there wasn't much I could do. But I know she will get through it , she is stronger then she realizes. 

Later on my sons godparents come over to give him his new lunch bag and supplies . He was just excited to show them his new skateboard he got yesterday. Then my parents came  by to wish him good luck at his new school . My son loves all this attention it makes him feel special . My sons godmother Aisha reminds me that I need to read her revised version of the first children book she wrote . I laugh in my mind because lulu my other friend yesterday just left me the first couple of chapters in her novel. I am just surrounded by these talented women. But I feel extra special that they want my opinion on it. 

So I have my first day of school sign printed , sons back pack ready, and teacher wish list items set lets just hope I can keep it together tomorrow . You'll have to wait and see .

Visitation day

This morning when I awoke I noticed that I had received a text around 2:30 in the morning . It was my dear good friend who wanted to pay me a visit today. I was excited to see her we don't see each other often. even though we live in the same city only 10 minutes away from each other, life just gets in the way. I begin just going about my normal Saturday which is very zombie like. For some strange reasons my kids always decide to wake up extra early on the weekends . I will have pay back once they are teenagers. Of course my lovely husband gets the luxury of sleeping in until 11am. He gets up and pretty much scurries  out the door. He needs to get money so we can buy my son some school shoes and the rest of the school supply we need. He wants to go to sawgrass which is a huge outlet mall that's shape like an alligator. I call my friend and ask her would she liked to ride and she said yes. I was glad she decided to come. Later on she comes over with my precious god daughter who I haven't seen this whole summer. She is 8 1/2 and I am just amazed at the young lady she is turning out to be. My friend has truly done a great job in raising her. She gets to my computer in which she logs on to this lovely blog and makes the changes I need to it. I am not too tech savvy so I needed the help. Later we load up in my car which I felt so bad because they were completely squished back there. But we make the 30 Minute ride to wear we have to go. We get there and Of course it's crowded it's the last weekend before school starts. And today my daughter decided to be on her worst behavior , even after we rented the stroller that looks like a car for her. She eventually kept insisting on getting out . Well that wasn't going to happen we spent $6 on that thing and I was not going to be carrying around a squirming toddler. After about three hours there I was ready to go, we didn't even get the school supplies. Shopping with kids can truly drain the energy right out of you. We got back to the house but it was time for me to get ready to go to another engagement. I felt sad because this was not the day I hoped to spend with my friend. Hopefully very soon she will come over and I will make it up to her. Leave the kids with my husband and she and I have a girls day. I really wanted to enjoy tonight, so my parents watched my kids for me. This doesn't happen to often , they usually only watch my son but not my daughter . The explanation to this will have to be another day and time . So my husband gets to this party which is an hour away and they had tons of food set out . We are celebrating my friends son going away to the navy next week. I am very proud of him for making this decision . We had a great time I felt like I was in college all over again. They had Jell-O shots , beer pong and of course hunch punch. None of which I had since I don't drink at all but my husband enjoyed enough for the both of us. The only thing that would have made the night better would be to have left my kids at my parents to spend the night. But no that doesn't happen my husband doesn't believe our kids should be without us. I have to work on changing that it would have been nice to come home to a house by ourselves . Well we will see what happens in the future . 

Meet and greet

Today was meet and greet day at my son's school . We get there and we are placed in the cafeteria . Then the principal begins introducing every one and then going on about the policy. Afterward we were able to go the classrooms and meet my sons teacher . So then I see its a class of 20 kids and only one teacher. I know that this is the norm but it hasn't been what we are use to. We all sit down in the chairs and she begins to discuss the items the kids need in the classroom. It's a huge list she even gives us her wish list items. I am going to try my best to get as many of her wish list items as I can. She starts to explain how this year they are no longer allowing parents to celebrate birthdays at the school. I couldn't believe it most parents usually bring cupcakes to make their child feel special on that day. This of course does not sit well with me , I am a huge fan of making a big deal of birthdays. I will not even work on my birthday , for its a holiday I am celebrating the fact that god gave me to the world. I do this to anyone who is in my life , their birthdays are equally special. Then she explains that this year there will be no end of the year graduation for pre-k or kindergarteners. All I hear are sighs in the room , this is what parents look for after kindergarten , seeing their kids wearing cap and gowns and participating in a ceremony. I mean even when you're  on Pinterest you see the pictures off the high school grad holding up their kindergarten graduation picture. Luckily for me at my sons old school they had a ceremony for the pre-k. But those poor parents who didn't get one , I feel real bad. The conversation was more about what they were no longer doing. She even said that the kids are not allowed to have book bags and must by a pouch from the school. I am glad I had some cash on me to buy this especially since school starts Monday . After leaving the school my husband seemed really upset , he said he felt like he failed our son by not being able to keep him in his former school. I had to put my positive hat on and told him things will be alright. We are dedicated parents and we will make sure that he has what he need from us . We are just doing the best we can. I know there are some people who are wondering why are we making such a big deal about this . But it's because we worry our child could easily fall behind because he requires extra attention. And we have seen what can happen to kids just like my son . Later on when they move up to higher grades and then have to take the state standardized testing they end up failing and having to repeat the grade. This is even with extra tutoring and usually once you are behind its hard to catch up . But I promise I will make the sacrifice at home to make sure this doesn't happen. 

Hysterical laughter

Today as I was loading the kids in the car , I saw my mail carrier . It was strange she usually drops off the mail between 6 and 7 pm. I should have been suspicious as she hands me a load of weekly sales Ad. As I place them in the car a white envelope falls out . As I lean over to grab it I see its from the light company. Well I thought I guess it's time for the new bill. As I open it my eyes widen , jaw drop, and my heart nearly stops . As I suspect it's a bill but the amount due is $445 dollars. Let me repeat just in case you are in disbelief $445!!! I  try my best to hold it together the kids are looking at me , but with no control I begin laughing hysterically. You know that kind of laughter the one when you want to cry, scream or just simply take off running but all that comes out is laughter . That's what happened to me , my kids thought it was funny hearing mommy laugh like this , that they themselves began laughing. If only they knew it truly wasn't a laughing matter . Once I calmed , I immediately call my husband who of course is in disbelief. He just called two days ago during that power outage and they said our balance was $0. He said he needed to see the bill and couldn't wait till he got out of work. So once I dropped of the kids I came back home to meet him. We spent that time in silence not knowing exactly what to say. But all I could think about was the check they sent us earlier this week , all I want to do is run to them and give it right back because some how they are screwing with me. But we both have to get back to work and will deal with this tomorrow . 

Today I had a meeting with an employee she has been wanting to meet with me for over 3 weeks. Between the distance, traffic and rain it takes me over an hour to get to her. She was already done with her shift so we decided to meet at a pizza place next to her store . When I get there I see her husband who is an assistant manager in our company, herself and a unknown woman who turns out to be her cousin. This was strange , I sit and ask so why am I here? Her cousin then Proceeds to tell me about a business opportunity , in the beginning I am upset but I try to keep calm about this. This is not what I expected ,she should've given me warning to this . But not to be rude I listen and it peeks my interest. I was all ready to sign up until they told me registration will cost $163. You could almost here brake sounds coming out of my head. This is not going to happen and they asked why. I was very honest I just can't afford it , even if I could get my hands on that kind of money it would be better off served somewhere else taking care of my immediate impending problems. The two that brought me to this meeting looked at each other as if they were secretly communicating to each other . The husband turns to me and says that they will pay for my registration if I feel really strong about doing it. I hesitate because I know myself  very often when I decide to commit myself to doing things I usually don't see it through it or I end up having to restart it over again. Case In point school is only 4 days away and I still haven't finished cleaning my sons room . I tell them I need to discuss this with my husband , which is true. I would need his help in making this successful he is the very outgoing , charismatic one between the two of us. I let them know that I will have an answer by tomorrow .

Later on my husband is too tired to really give me the full attention I need to discuss this so I have to wait until tomorrow. This will have to happen after we go to the light company to figure out what the hell is going on.  Cross your fingers for me , lets just hope it is some kind of huge mix up . Because at this rate the next time you will be reading something from me is a sign Im holding on the side of the street asking for some spare change . 

Last payment

Today I wake up feeling a little low. I have money I borrowed but its not enough to get everything paid . The roulette game begins who gets paid. Well my husband decided on one but it got me upset over it. Then he said it is the last payment . Woo hoo!! What is this last payment , it's to a law suit. This law suit is almost 6 years old. I was in the  hospital being induced to give birth to my son. My husband was on his way when a car cut the car off in front of him and break real hard . My husband not reacting fast enough ran into the car . He ended up meeting me in the hospital by ambulance . Well 6 months later we were being sued and this Miami , where they have jingles about how to sue . So it was huge we were sued for car damage and bodily damage. And our lovely insurance only covered 10 grand of the 40 grand lawsuit . People be aware just because they say you have full coverage , it might not be everything . So now we are finally free . 

The rest of the day went by in a boring blur , which I am thankful for. 

Paranoid

Today I wake up to scramble about to pick up my Aunt and cousin who will be babysitting my kids today. When we get back to the house my son goes to put something in the refrigerator and the light is off. I of course just assume the bulb must be out. But my son the little investigator goes and checks the freezer and that light is  also off. So here goes life's curve balls and they have me paranoid. I go into the kitchen and not only is the refrigerator off, but so are the stove, the deep freezer and even worse my air conditioner. I called my husband in a panic , screaming something went wrong the check was a mistake  they cut half our  power off.  My husband says it must be impossible, but I can't wait to see what happens I have to get to work.  Later he calls me to tell me that there was a power outage in the neighborhood but we still need to be looked at since only half the house has power. But that will be for a different time , all that concerned me is that everything was working again.

Today was one of those hum drum days at work. The class I taught was for new hires , today was their first day at work. I go over how great the company is and how there is a lot of opportunity for growth. I have to say this every week , when in reality I just want to tell them to run for the hills. I made it through class with the help from chocolate and a coke. I got out of work a little late because I had one student who wouldn't stop talking to me. She actually is not a new hire , she has been with the company for over 9 years. Her store has sent her to get retraining in customer service and attitude adjustment. I give her the whole speech about how her approach might seem a little harsh. But I really know what it is , its a lack of faith in the company. She hasn't moved up at all, and now they are asking her to do triple the work at the same pay rate and with even more criticizing that what she does is not enough. Basically the company has broken her and they want her to be o.k. with it. But my mouth stays quite about the truth, her situation it just like so many others.

Today I was invited to dinner by a sales rep to a restaurant I have never been before in a very expensive area. I love going to these things , they are always at really expensive places that I could never afford to go on my own. And we know how much I love free. So, I'm home excited about going and there goes life and it's curveballs. My husband calls me and his voice seems a little panicky , he tells me to move my car out the drive way he needs his car there. He gets home moments later and he says something is wrong with his car. Paranoia is starting to sink in , every horrible scenario is now crossing my mind. We can't afford to be down a car, there is no dropping each other off my husband and I work 30 minutes in the opposite direction and that doesn't count when I have to travel to my stores.  After what seems like forever and a free dinner missed my husband says it just a belt and he can fix it himself. So with all the scares today I am glad that everything worked out fine. I have to see how I can get a makeup for my free dinner.

The Unexpected

I was really looking forward to today, I was sure I would have the opportunity to sleep in. I took today as a vacation day since I didn't have anyone to watch the kids. The camp my son goes to is now over and my babysitter decided to go on vacation. Well since I didn't have to wake them up we all could just sleep in. Ha Ha!! that is not how life with kids work , my daughter decided to get me up bright and early , earlier than what we would normally wake up. Straddling me she begins to jump up and down saying wake up mommy. Did I mention she is just shy of two and she already does these things. But that wasn't enough for her, she felt like her big brother must be awake also. Waking up this early brings several problems, a groggy , cranky mother and a  5 year old who already is feeling the cabin fever itch. Right away its mommy when are we going to the pool you promised me , can we pick up Chris.  No I reply, mommy would like to do some chores. Light chores of course no deep cleaning with annoying children around. But I was satisfied with what I got done for now. The whining begins all over. I had it set in my mind that we would practice some school work today. School begins next week and I want a little refresher course for him. I explain that once we finish we can leave. Well we began around noon and finished a little after 3. It took us that long, he kept getting distracted by his little sister and needed several breaks. This is just one more reason that I must supplement his education. I must be the one to take time with the one on one, even if it takes 3 hours. So I'm glad I made that declaration last week of putting my flexibility at work to use. I am going to need all the time I can to juggle work, kids, husband and home life. Having an outside life , Pfft , must wait to later to figure that one out.

So we pick our cousin up , stop for pizza and head to the pool. It was much needed . The days have been really hot and Miami's humidity is nothing to joke about. Just ask my hair. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Afterward we went home to make rice krispies treat. I really do love cooking with them. It gives them a since of accomplishment. I think I like doing this since I really didn't cook with my parents. My father was the cook in the household and that was his domain. No one else's cooking or food was worthy enough for him. So I am self taught , Thank God for going to college for forcing me to fend for myself. If not for the Food network I don't know what I would be feeding my family. But I learned quick and now everyone likes to come over to  my house for dinner.

Lounging by the pool eating pizza

My little chefs making rice krispies treat

My husband today seemed down I suspect its over the life curve ball we experienced on Friday. Because today we can no longer ignore the immediate problems. We have to figure out a way to survive until next pay period. And Life and its curveballs seem to never cease , because this week majority of the major bills are due. My husband goes out outside to get the mail and we have a letter from the Light company. Oh no! he exclaims we just paid them , we are still behind but he thought we bought a little more time. But Life gives us an unexpected curveball , as he reads the letter he is in disbelief . He shows it to me and its a check, apparently they have been overcharging us. What a relief, I am going straight after work tomorrow to cash it and give it right back to them. This money could go towards paying half of the next bill. Hey, water company is there anything you would like to send me , because I definitely have a sneaky suspicious you are overcharging me.

Later that evening when I was taking my cousin home , I looked up at the sky and I was in awe of its beauty. Sometimes  you have to take these moments and truly appreciate what you have in your life.

What a view

Baby Shower

At what I felt like was the crack of dawn , I awoke and got kids and husband up to get ready. Today we were going to a baby shower and it started at 11am. I know who schedules' these things on a Sunday so early.  Where this place is located it will take me over 30 minutes to get there. So I am scurrying around getting clothes , packing bags, and making homemade oatmeal bars to eat Strawberry Oatmeal Bars ( I added chocolate chips). They came out pretty good. My husband of course is dragging his feet , he is the main cause after the kids for always  making me late. I still have to pick up my mother, who of course was making a last minute shopping dash. She really wants to get them more things and is planning on buying more later. We are excited to go because we feel like we have been apart of every step of their life as a couple . My mother met the mother and dad to be at her job. That's how the two met and fell in love. Once the mother to be left the job to join the police force , her own mother came to work for the company. She and my mother became very fast friends. About 4 years ago we were invited by dad to be , to a birthday party for mom-to-be , but we all knew it was a surprise engagement. It was a beautiful thing to be part of. From there we where at Bridal shower, wedding, first baby shower to their daughter, christening , and 2 birthdays. Its been really nice to be part of these important things in their life.  And for the most part they have been part of ours as well.

With my husbands crazy driving we only made it about 35 minutes late. It was in a banquet hall and it was decorated beautifully. She was really able to carry out the whole Monster Inc. theme. We played several games and even won a few. Seeing the way things where , gave me ideas on how I want to set up decorations for my daughter's birthday.

Candy Table

Table decorations with cute cookies, and jars of candy. (I got to take the centerpiece home)

My husband dressed up like a baby for a game. Poor thing he seems to always have this part at baby showers.

My mom with the beautiful mom-to-be, showing off her winnings

 

 We leave the baby shower about 3 pm, we had a really good time. My son who was begging to go home with grandma got his wish. He never wants to be in the house anymore. So all I had was my daughter who was tuckered out and fell asleep during the car ride. Unfortunately , she woke up about 20 minutes after we got home. so hubby and I decided to take turns taking a nap . And here goes Life 's curve ball I couldn't even enjoy my nap because the phone rings and it's my boss. She is hysterical because someone hasn't completed their training and today is the last day. So of course she gets me all riled up and I assure her we will be ok. She knew exactly what that meant , but she replies are you sure you can do it, its made for a certain position. Yes , I say I will figure it out like I do anything else. I log onto my computer and yes I know I said I wouldn't put the extra effort but I would never hear the end of this. Remember we get blamed for things that we don't have control over. So here on my Sunday I am working and it takes me two hours to get the work completed. With my daughter tugging at me the whole time for my attention. It's moments like this I hate , I am having family time , resting or doing other things and she changes my whole mood. But at least crisis was averted.

Feeling Normal and being blessed!

Today's Life curve ball was a good one, it let me feel normal if even for a day. I was able to do things I haven't been able to do in awhile. Today I loaded the kids up in the car went over to pick up my mom and my little cousin and off we went to Babies"r"us to buy a gift for a baby shower we are attending tomorrow. On the way there we witness the weirdest thing. An SUV that was several feet in front of us slowed down but was still in motion and then all of a sudden a man was pushed out of the car. I mean he literally rolled onto the street while the car was still moving and the car speed off. My husband and I looked at each other in disbelief at what we saw. My mother was in the back with kids so she missed what actually happened. The guy was sitting on the floor trying to put back on his shoes that fell off and looking at the scrapes he received. My husband pulls up and asked him if he was o.k. . With this embarrassing look on his face, he said he was fine. From what it looked like he might have been arguing with probably a girlfriend that got upset and literally kick him out the car. Now that we realized he was fine we both began laughing as we drove away. Only imagining what he must have done to piss her off so much.

We get to Babies "r"us and proceed to get our registry list ,its huge 22 pages long. My mom is one of those people you really don't want to shop with she is very indecisive and makes something simple very frustrating. We look on the list and we see a baby tub its about $60 dollars, it gives the baby's weight and the temp on a digital screen. Awesome I thought ,because I always wanted to know my kids weight but refused to buy a baby scale separately to take up more space in the house. My mom thought the price to be a little hefty since we had a budget to work with. She is one of those people who believe if she buys you the tub she must get the towels, rag, robe, and bath supply set. This can add up pretty quickly. I told her I thought it was weird to see that tub because last night , I glanced online at the registry and saw a different tub. Sure enough we check the last page on the list and someone had purchased the cheaper tub. My mom was like she is not buying the tub there is no point in having two. So now this is where it becomes complicated my mom can't decide what to get. She doesn't want to buy  one big item she wants to  buy one medium item with lots of smaller items. So I show her the room décor they are asking for, its Monster Inc. It's very cute but very expensive, the wall decals alone are $30 dollars. So after about two hours , kids running the store screaming and now complaining of hunger we were not able to get the room décor. They were completely out of stock and you could not order it online. The line was in process of being discontinued soon. So finally with hesitation we left with a expensive bouncer and a tub with diapers and wipes.

It felt really good to be able to get them something nice they are truly good friends of ours and are the nicest people you will ever meet. After making sure we feed the kids, off to Old Navy to buy school uniforms. I can't explain how grateful I was to do this, as of two days ago I had no idea how I would come up with the money to buy what my son needed for school. Thankfully two things happen one of my best friends on Friday managed to buy my son a couple of shirts to lessen the amount I had to buy. I cannot explain the gratitude I have towards her for doing that. Just the thought makes my eyes water and my heart swell. She and I are like kindred spirits because just a week ago she was not sure how she was going to get her 4 kids their school clothes. I still needed to get my son a couple more shirts and some pants because I learned jeans at his school are not allowed. Don't understand the reasoning of the no jeans but there is nothing I can do about it. The only reason I was able to shop at Old Navy is because my beautiful mother last night opened a credit card with them. Being in that store shopping for my son , choosing what I wanted felt like old times. I felt so normal doing that , I remember being able to do that before with no ones help. I was able to get 5 pants 2 shorts, and 6 more shirts, I was even able to throw in a pair of flip flops. I got all of this and spent only $95 dollars.
What a relief I had that's one more thing I do not need to worry about especially since the Life curve ball I experienced yesterday is going to be affecting me for the next two weeks. 

Later we ended up on the other side of Miami close to the beach , very nice area. My husband stopped off at a Dollar tree. It was humongous the ones in the city are small and really don't have much merchandise and are usually pretty messy. I got excited about being in there they had lots of party decorations that I will be buying in the soon future instead of going to party city and breaking the bank. While there they had a whole school supply section with workbooks just for a dollar. I was amazed because I bought some books before and spent about $10 a piece on them. Now I know it sounds like I never been in a Dollar tree but I have its just been along time since I've been in one so nice and big. And its weird how Life and its curveballs always come unexpected, this one was not a bad one but a much needed one. In that school supply aisle I met a teacher who teaches forth grade. She was telling us how she is not excited to have the school year back in session. I give her this look of fear , this is what worries me about public school. She says her school is an F school. My husband ask her what does she recommend private or public. She says it depends, not all private schools are good. Which I have already experienced but she then says if you go to public school try to go get into a good one in a good area. Why my husband asks makes the difference , its the parents that make the difference she explains. In a good neighborhood the parents are vested in their kids education they understands that education does not only happen at school but also at home. And if their child is struggling they finds ways to get their children extra help. She explains that because her a school is an F school the resources they have are not as good and the parents are not as involved with the kids education. One of her past students could barely read by the time she got to her, and simplest words like you and then. When she spoke with the mother she became very hostile and said nothing was wrong with her child. Sometimes when she is checking their homework assignments and they completely get it wrong she asks if they asked their parents for help. She was shocked that most said the parents did it for them. Hearing this made me worry a little but this is the reason I went through such lengths to get my son enrolled in a good public school. When asked what are some things we need to make sure to do with our son , she really gave great tips. We spoke with her for over 45 minutes. It was a pleasure meeting her and a very important life conversation to have.

As I am writing this post , I receive a text from one of my other best friend of 16 years she is the God mother to my son. She asks me if I needed help in  getting my son school uniforms and school supplies. I told her uniforms are  covered but I still need things like a book bag , lunch bag and school supplies. She already has a book bag in mind a Superman one. She knows my son likes Superman. He is in that super hero and bad guy phase. So here again less things I have to worry about.  I wasn't blessed with a life of riches but I was blessed with some great people in my life. They complete me as a whole, we look out for each other.

So my blessing for today are for my kids who make my life interesting every moment, for  my husband who loves me unconditionally, for my mom who is my first best friend and my rock, to my girls Aisha and Andrea, though we are not connected by blood there is no stronger bond than the one we have.

Oh where , Oh where did it all go!

Well this morning I woke up late , and today was my son's last day of camp and they were going to Chuck E Cheese. My husband who was off today had some responsibilities he needed to do. We still haven't registered my son for school and he is starting Kindergarten . He needed to go to the driver's license bureau to get the address changed so my son can attend school in a certain area. Let me explain why I must do this, here in Miami the division of the area is very weird.  There isn't really a true suburb area. If an area is considered suburbs then right down the street is the ghetto. Not that its truly a real problem but just like any normal mother I want the best for my kids. The area I live in is a simple middle class area but I am only less than 5 minutes away from the not to nice areas. So the school that is located near my area is shared with the other area. My worry is that the school is not an "A" school and the teachers don't have the drive to deal with some of their students. My son is someone who needs a little extra attention, he takes longer to get work completed since he gets distracted very easily. In the wrong school he can easily be labeled a bad , difficult kid. This will not be the first time my son has been in school he has been going since he was 3. For the first two years I had him in a private school that practice the Reggio Emilio theory. This school probably almost sent me to the poor house and for nothing. The school practiced free play and let the kids choose what areas they wanted to learn. Well my son always worked the construction area. After two years I realized that my son was behind and the only things he knew where the things I taught him at home. What a waste a money. So the third year I put him in a more structured private school for Pre-K. This school was awesome I couldn't be more excited with the results. They were the ones who actually noticed that my son had a distraction problem. This is not something I caught when I was teaching him at home because it was one on one care. Sadly due to financial reasons I will no longer be sending him to that school, which is why I have to try and chose a good public school. I am working on getting his distraction under control now that it has been officially identified, but that will take time.
 So I wake my husband and he looks at me with these very sad eyes. So here goes life and its curveballs , he explains that even though today is payday for both of us we have no money. I got this horrible pain in my stomach, please explain how is this possible. Well apparently I was so over drafted in my account that my whole paycheck went to pay the bank back and that a check I wrote over three weeks ago got cleared. This check that got cleared now caused me to be  over drafted again. So I ask my husband about his account and he told me that he is over drafted as well. Well what are we suppose to do. We are like most people living paycheck to paycheck and not getting one in a sense is catastrophic.  Like always I have to pull it together and come up with a solution , I need money so my husband can get a new drivers license its $25. My parents of course are always my solution. Thankfully they come through and this morning I manage to send my kid to camp with extra money and husband off to get a new license. With all of that we were able to get my son registered at the school we want. So even though I still have a lot to figure out , this one huge thing that was causing lots of stress has been fixed.

If you even have enough money to do that.

The rest of the day was a pretty easy day . Later this evening I was schedule to attend a Mary Kay party. Interesting enough this is actually the first one I have ever attended. I mean I have been invited to several but have never went, this one was being held by my husbands cousin and I really wanted to show my support. So my husband dropped me off and decided to take the kids with him to a car show. Well my darling sweet husband ended of taking some of the other kids. So in my small little car he squeezed in 5 kids and didn't break a sweat about babysitting. Ladies and gentlemen I definitely got me a keeper. The kids had a great time , they got a chance to see really interesting cars and even had a hula hoop contest. As for me I had a great time with the girls getting all dolled up. I even bought me something. I know I shouldn't have since I still did not solve my financial woes for this week. But sometimes you have to do a little for yourself and it was only $20.
Even though today I struck out on life's curve ball , it will just have to wait another day, for another game.

Mary Kay Girls!!!

Free Day

Early this morning while I was still in bed there goes life and it's curve balls. I received a phone call from the store manager I spoke with yesterday and he called to tell me that our changes work. I can't explain the joy I felt, what a relief; I definitely hit this ball out of the park. With that good note I decided to go into work at my Regional office.  Once I finished my work I decided to peruse Pinterest. My daughter is turning 2 next month and I am planning a Mickey Mouse theme party. I was able to download the invitations , and some decoration. The great part about all of this is that it was all for free. Today turned out to be one of those free days .Even though I packed my own lunch of spaghetti , wouldn't you know they had ordered food for a meeting and I was invited to join in for lunch. Oh boy, what a lunch, Churrasco steak with beans and rice and a chocolate chip brownie. Heaven I tell you. I really appreciated the free things today seeing as though I was not one of the lucky $425 million Powerball winner. Maybe next time, that is one Life curve ball I would like to receive. 

Today I got home from work to an empty house my Darling husband decided to take the kids swimming at the pool. The pool is located at a dear friends townhouse complex which she gave us the key to. We are able to go there whenever we chose. It is rare to have moments at home just by myself. I thought what should I do with this free time. Should I finish cleaning up my son's room which has turned out to be a huge task. My daughter insist that all of his clothes and toys should be on the floor . I started Monday to organize it , I want him to go back to school with a nice and neat room. Well as most cleanings happen it looks a lot messier now than when I started. It didn't help that my daughter on Tuesday literally was protesting the cleaning by undoing what I begun. Nope that didn't happen. Should I finally hang up the clothes that my husband washed 2 days ago. Yes my husband is the one who does the laundry. Now if I can only get him to put away the clothes instead of leaving them in baskets. But nope that didn't happen either. There was no need for me to cook dinner since I was able to bring back leftover from todays lunch. So todays free lunch also turned into tonight's free dinner. So what did I do with this free time , Nothing its free time and it was mine. I just sat on the couch and watched TV. No  Nick jr or Disney jr , just watched Pioneer woman, Trisha Yearwood and Sandwich king on the Food network channel. Peace and quite; of all the free things today this is one of my favorites. It only lasted about an hour but it was great. I was even inspired to make breakfast burritos this weekend.

Son's room this picture doesn't do it justice you should see the double closets what a mess! Don't worry my son does not actually sleep in his room. He has his own bed in my bedroom. Gasp,  I know working on changing that.

Loads of fresh clean laundry to put away , just sitting in baskets.

 



A Drummond Breakfast What I'm hoping to make this weekend.

But you know what  all in all todays life curve balls of relief and free where welcome with much joy.

Oh what a day!

So let me explain a little bit about my job. I work at a major retailer and I have been there for 15 years. I am a trainer for the company and am responsible for over 39 stores.  This company like any major company focus mainly about numbers. Every move you make is being measured . So besides having classes with employees , I have to make sure the new ones complete their training on  time. The problem with this is that even when you give them a deadline and tell them they could lose their job if not completed on time;yet they still manage not to do this. Well because of this I find my self working everyday. My boss's do not understand this or care all they care is that we never miss are points. I  mean never and we must do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't happen. Even if you have to complete the  training yourself.

Well last week Friday I received my performance evaluation and I got the highest in points you could get. But here goes life with its curve balls , I was told that I wouldn't be getting a raise. Why is that because of a term called red line. Which means I make the max my title will allow. Now how is this possible last year I was not even close to it. Then she proceeded to tell me that the company decreased the amount that the position makes. Needless to say I was upset, hurt and disappointed, with all the responsibility I have I hardly make anything.  Well I decided I felt unappreciated and that this company does not reward loyalty. So I decided that I would no longer put forth the extra effort  and take advantage of the things my position allows me that I rarely put to use. Which is flexibility with my schedule , and being able to occasionally work from home.

So this weekend I decided no work I was going to enjoy my family. Well I completely forgot that I had one employee who was close to her deadline and her training was due on Monday. Well Monday and Tuesday came and went. So today I needed to do some work so when   I checked she was past her deadline and did not finish her training. Oh what to do this is unacceptable , I could be written up or worse suspended over someone else not doing their job. So trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat I called up the store manager and asked him to fix the problem. We won't know until after a week if it works. Cross your fingers for me and hope that it does.

But even with that curve ball , I received another today. My son comes home from camp excited as can be yelling" mommy , my tooth is wiggly". I checked and sure enough it is. Now I am excited , I am ready to have those memorable pictures with the snaggle tooth. So I'm looking for a tooth fairy pillow on Etsy, I got my tooth fairy letter and receipt that I found on Pinterest. Now I just have to wait. Proud momma all excited about a first lost tooth.

Mother and Son day

So hears to my first time blogging.

Last night I decided that instead of going to work, that I would have a work from home day. Then right before bed a thought crossed my mind that I should let my son stay home from summer camp. In the morning I went along with this idea and decided to have a mother and son day. So I took my daughter to the babysitter and my son was ecstatic knowing that he would have mommy all to himself. These are rare occasions especially since my daughter is only 1 and takes more my of time and attention.

Just as we are getting ready  to begin this wonderful day wouldn't you know it here comes life and it's curve balls to put a stop to it. I get a call from my mother asking me to take my father to social security office. When we get there of course the place is beyond crowded and it's only 10:30 in the morning. Two hours go by and my son doesn't seem phased that are day was being ruined. He was to busy playing with two boys that he now calls friend. It's amazing the innocence of children. The mother of the two boys and I exchanged numbers are  hoping to plan a future play date. Once the kids left, then the whining began mommy when are we leaving. This went on until 2:30 and $6 later on the metered parking when we finally left. My poor father was still there waiting but I sent in another family member to do the waiting with him, while I tried to save what is left of mother and son day.

What could we do, the day was almost gone and it would be time to pick up my daughter. So it finally came to me let's go to the beach. I called my husband and told him to pick my daughter up because mother and son day will happen. My son excited  got ready and packed before me. We get there and it was perfect.  The water was calm and crystal clear like the Caribbean. We swam , collected several sea rocks and had a great time. I even got the chance to throw in a little science fact about the workings of low and high tide with the rise of the moon. My son is only 5 so I had to put it in words he could understand. I explained that what we where swimming in is the beach  and the dark far stuff is the ocean. So when the moon comes out it makes the ocean go towards the beach and when the sun comes out it makes the beach go back to the ocean. He really picked up on that. Tomorrow I plan on looking up how we can make a little experiment and further teach him about this for the whole week. I will let you know how that goes. So at the end of the day I get a huge hug and a long kiss followed by a mommy I enjoyed being with you today. My heart fluttered and I hit that curveball life gave me out of the park.