A Week of Money: Where I finally get sick

DAY ONE

??:?? — Little Bun is sick. I’m sick. My partner is sick. We are all not sleeping well.

6:00 a.m. — I wake up before Little Bun but try to will myself back to sleep. I’m tired and sick with a major cold and a sore throat but I can’t go back to sleep.

6:10 a.m. — Little Bun gets up after I get up and I start some tea after I give him some milk.

6:12 a.m. — I start on my skincare and my cheeks are RED. I may have gone a little much on the products this week in an attempt to erase all this acne. Frustrating. I can feel new bumps alongside my nose and on my chin from hormones.

6:20 a.m. — I drink my tea, my partner hands me my lunch and I start getting ready.

6:23 a.m. — After milk, Little Bun squeals: No Monday!! No school! Want to stay home. I tell him to ask his father to get him out of the way, he asks, his father laughs and says “No” and then I have to deal with him squealing. Ugh.

6:30 a.m. — I keep him quiet with the secret mini iPad which he uses to create slideshows with until it is time to go.

7:21 a.m. — I get into work, drop off a massive mountain of snow gear for him, deal with a sobbing red faced child clinging onto my legs for dear life, then go to work.

7:23 a.m. — I’m feeling sick with a sore throat and tired so … ughhhhhhh.

11:30 a.m. — I work until yoga time.

1:12 p.m. — After yoga, back out in the cold. I think about the progress I’ve made in the past few months. I am almost able to lift both feet off the floor when trying headstand (the trick is in the abs & forearms!) and I am close to getting my feet off the ground and holding them steadily off the ground in Crow.

2:00 p.m. — I get back to work and get saddled with an issue my lead doesn’t want to admit is out of his league. Figures. LOL. But it is urgent and I don’t have the brain or mental capacity right now being tired and sick to deal with this.

3:12 a.m. — I take 3 calls in a row from various folks and sit out in the lobby to take them.

4:15 a.m. — I get back to work and then leave to grab Little Bun early.

5:35 p.m. — At home I am not even hungry. I just eat some bread and collapse into bed after taking off my makeup and washing my face. We sit there and read books.

8:00 p.m. — I get Little Bun ready for bed. I’m feeling sick, my partner is sick, Little Bun is sick but doesn’t want to admit it. I’m TIRED.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up from Little Bun running out into the living room. I lie there because I don’t know WTF is happening and I’m still sleepy enough to sleep. I then hear a heart-wrenching wail: “Mommmmyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!! Mommyyyyy!!!!!! Want my Mommy!!!!!!”, and as he runs back in, I sit up slightly and call out to him: “Baby, Mommy is here!! Come here, come sleep beside Mommy. Shhhhhh”.. He sobs a little and crawls up into my arms, I cover him and pat him back to sleep.

6:10 a.m. — I fall back asleep and he wakes me up again singing the days of the week in two languages and then asking me to get up. I take him to the bathroom and get his milk. He seems to be in a good mood today.

6:22 a.m. — I get ready and get dressed, make some tea and treat my skin super gently because it is raw from over exfoliation. Oops.

6:23 a.m. — I dress Little Bun for Picture Day and my partner wakes up coughing too (we are all sick). He is staying at home. I’d let Little Bun be at home too but today is Picture Day.

6:37 a.m. — Little Bun finally allows me to dress him in a shirt that doesn’t have holes and has a collar at least and put on his shoes etc while he plays on the iPad (a math game of matching).

7:09 a.m. — I grab him and my partner walks us down and I leave with Little Bun. My partner has a whole free wonderful Bun-free day to himself so he better enjoy it.

7:24 a.m. — I get to work, NO TEARS and I ask Little Bun to practice smiling with me (no nose scrunching which he is so fond of). I drop him off happily, get to work and realize I forgot his hat and mittens AGAIN. Arrrrrgh.

7:56 a.m. — I get to work and feel sicker than usual. I double up on tea then switch to a tisane to soothe my throat.

8:00 a.m. — I eat a banana for energy but have no energy to cut my apple.

9:23 a.m. — My friend makes plans to come up next week and after about 50 messages, we finally nail a short two hours that we can meet in the middle of their busy schedule because it is just insane with visiting family and friends.

10:02 a.m. — I get back to work and try to figure out this tangled issue I have that is messing me up and can’t figure it out so I head to yoga.

11:40 a.m. — On the way there I buy some cake for after. $5

12:05 p.m. — Gahhhhh my beloved Wolford tights ripped. I was too rough on them with a zipper due to my brain fog. Dang. Now I need a new pair.What can I do with laddered tights? I am sure there are some things to re-use them.

12:45 p.m. — At yoga I stretch it out and manage to even do a half headstand with my legs bent!!!!! AND I HELD IT!!!!!! This is so amazing. It is all in the forearms and abdominals. I AM SO HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA. #Goals are this picture:

1:11 p.m. — I head back to work, cough for 4 hours, moan, groan, eat my cake and then pick Little Bun up.

4:15 p.m. — Little Bun eats his snack while we chat about how great he was at Picture Day today, how pretty all the lights are outside, and how it is twilight (just before nighttime) and that it was a wonderful day today.

5:00 p.m. — At home, I stuff my yoga gear into the basket, I’ll do a load tomorrow and let them air dry. I also put away the dishes, and feel really sick. I need to start taking care of myself. A spoonful of honey every night.. my skin is still super dry around the mouth, and peeling like crazy because of the terrible Retin-A medication my doctor prescribed which I stopped using. Never trusting my doctor for my skin again. I get into the shower and leave Little Bun with an iPad so I can keep an eye on him while I shower.

5:47 p.m. — My shower done, I start on some spearmint tea with honey. My partner leaves to go … pick up food? I don’t know. I’m not even hungry. That’s how you know I’m super sick.

6:00 p.m. — I order some makeup wipes online, let’s see how these do. $27.60

6:20 p.m. — My partner comes home. We have an appointment together tomorrow to discuss Little Bun at preschool so I prep for that as well. I also stuff Little Bun’s hat and gloves into my bag. I AM NOT FORGETTING THEM THIS TIME.

6:37 p.m. — I drink my tea while we eat dinner.

7:14 p.m. — I start and finish dishes and finish them.

7:40 p.m. — I put on that SK-II mask I bought on a whim for $25 (?) at a checkout in Sephora. I’m such a sucker. It’s super goopy and I should have squeezed out some of the excess liquid before spreading it on so I can use the rest of the liquid as as serum for later nights. Oops. I waste a lot of serum instead, and curse my lack of foresighted frugal-ness. I sit on the bathroom floor with a mask on while Little Bun stops, and just stares at me, until I say: “Mommy is moisturizing her skin.” He nods doubtfully and goes back to making faces at himself on the iPad while I scroll through my RSS feed.

7:55 p.m. — Mask off. I rub in the excess liquid all over my neck and my chest, and save the rest of the liquid in the packet for the next night.

7:50 p.m. — I then read to Little Bun (or try to get him to read to ME) while I am lying down with my eyes closed. So tired.

8:04 p.m. — Bedtime. I groan, get up and get him ready for bed.

Spent: $32.60

DAY THREE

??:?? — Don’t even know WTF all of these times were for.

??:?? — Just

??:?? — know

??:?? — that

??:?? — I

??:?? — am

??:?? — ridiculously

??:?? — tired.

6:00 a.m. — Little Bun woke up at least 8 times during the night. I’m finally up at 6 but I’m exhausted. My sleep is all broken.

6:01 a.m. — Little Bun squeals a little in his sleep asking for Mommy and I come back and shhhh him and he falls asleep for about 10 minutes then gets up and comes to find me.

6:12 a.m. — I set him up with videos of himself (his latest obsession and then he narrates the scene in either language depending on which parent is closer).

6:13 a.m. — I get ready and my skin is healing but still rough. I try to moisturize it and no more AHA or BHA until it heals. I spread on some of the leftover SK-II mask as a bit of serum.

6:50 a.m. — I slap on makeup and Little Bun protests school until I tell him today is FRENCH day and it is so exciting to be going to school for FRENCH day. He ponders this and stops fighting me, only pausing to insist he wears his cousin’s massively large blue shirt because he likes the design. Fine. Whatever.

7:22 a.m. — We get to pre-school, he doesn’t cry when I drop him off (OMG!!), and I get to work and I’m in early!! Way early. I grab tea and start working.

8:01 a.m. — Am loving this song: Can’t get next to you by Al Green.

9:15 a.m. — Someone at work is not getting renewed for next year and I suspect it is because of me…. they can’t afford the both of us. I feel slightly bad but also relieved for my situation. Freelancing is a dog eat dog world.

11:15 a.m. — I leave early for yoga and take the long way there to relax.

1:15 p.m. — At yoga I ALMOST MANAGED TO DO CROW!!!!!

2:15 p.m. — Work.

4:15 p.m. — After work I leave and pick up Little Bun and we head to the bank for a meeting.

5:15 p.m. — While he is at the bank, Little Bun colours and gets me to spell things for him while I sign papers.

5:55 p.m. — We head back home and have a smoked salmon salad for dinner after I toss kitchen towels in the wash.

7:01 p.m. — I start on the dishes, and then dry them all off and start the dryer on the kitchen towels.

7:15 p.m. — I make some tea with honey and just go to lie down early because I do not feel well at all. I’m very tired from this cold. I wish I could stay at home.

8:17 p.m. —  I get Little Bun ready after he squeals about how he doesn’t want to sleep for 30 minutes and then we all get into bed and I conk out.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — Brain hurts. Headache. Coughing.

??:?? — Coughing more.

??:?? — More hacking.

6:11 a.m. — I wake up sick AF again. Coughing up green stuff which I think is a bad sign. Or good, I have no idea.

6:13 a.m. — I wake up before Little Bun so I just get up and start my morning, and as I am getting up Little Bun hears me and says: “Mommy? Want milk.” I get up, grab his milk and then start getting ready for work.

6:21 a.m. — After he is done his milk, he sees me put on clothes and squeals he doesn’t want school today. I tell him today is “Colouring Day” and he has to go to school to colour. He ponders this and says firmly: “No school” even though I INSIST that colouring day happens at school.

6:22 a.m. — I sigh and we commence an hour, pure hour of whining, crying, screaming and protesting against the indignity that is preschool all the way until we get to preschool. I finally had to threaten and leave the house and hold the door closed before he sobs and finally deigns to wear his shirt (but only if he wears his other shirt underneath). Fine. Whatever. I also have to carry him (like a baby) while carrying 3 bags to get to the car. WTF. I’m really tired. And sick.

7:23 a.m. — At preschool no tears ONLY because the educator found a breadstick to entice him with. If she didn’t have that breadstick, she would have had to PEEL HIM OFF MY LEG.

7:51 a.m. — I get into work and start working.

9:16 a.m. — I make a mistake in an invoice I billed and am mortified. I submit a new invoice with a new timesheet but I really hate making these mistakes….. I apologize at least 3 times. I AM SO EMBARRASSED. Chalk it up to being a Mommy. AAGH. Luckily the Directory is super sweet about it, but I MADE SURE to reassure him it would never, ever, freakin’ happen again.

10:25 a.m. — I eat my lunch and skip yoga today. I’m way too tired and I don’t love the teacher on these days.

11:02 a.m. — I decide not to go out for a walk ( I WILL spend money and buy stuff if I do). So I’m saving by not seeing. I sit around and chat while people eat lunch.

11:25 a.m. — I get back to work and try to figure out what happened to something I’m working on.

12:00 p.m. — My brain is shot. I can’t even think.

3:54 p.m. — I think I’ll pick Little Bun up early and call it a day. I’m really too tired.

4:00 p.m. — I go to pick him up and he just.. LOSES IT. Like ALL OUT SCREAMING, CRYING, KICKING when he sees me. Even the educator is surprised in his change in behaviour. She said he was really listless near the end, didn’t want to play, participate or do anything. He is full out crying with a red face now, screaming.

4:05 p.m. — We leave and I’m exhausted, but at least he stopped screaming. I wipe his tears and hand him his snack.

4:15 p.m. — I sit with Little Bun on a nearby bench and wait while he eats his special snack from preschool and I eat his leftover grapes. Yummy. I stroke his hair, then hold him tight on my lap while we eat our snacks, and give him kisses. I am confused as to what happened. Did something happen? Is he okay? Why did he just go crazy?

4:45 p.m. — At home, I put everything away, start laundry, get undressed, take off makeup, put away the dried dishes, and try to remember all the crap I need to get done.

5:35 p.m. — My partner gets home with dinner and starts another salad. He is really on a salad kick, which I don’t hate, but I wish we had more variety. Once he gets obsessed about something, he doesn’t stop.

6:37 p.m. — We finish up the dinner. I start on dishes.

6:57 p.m. — Dishes done, I put the stuff into the laundry. I chat with my partner.

7:44 p.m. — Laundry done, I put it away, then go to lie down and read a little.

8:07 p.m. — After reading a bit, Little Bun asks for books and cuddling, so I go and cuddle him. I ask him multiple times if he was okay, if everything was all right, and why he cried when I went to pick him up. I tell him it is okay to be upset but Mommy wants to help, and can Mommy please help? I offer suggestions, about maybe how he was missing Daddy, missing Mommy, and just wanted to go home.. or he didn’t nap well…. he immediately latches on: “I didn’t see Daddy at preschool. I missed Daddy.“.. I don’t even know where he got that because he NEVER sees Daddy at preschool pickup or drop off but I nod and say “All right“.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — Coughing.

??:?? — Hacking.

??:?? — Coughing.

??:?? — Hacking.

4:40 a.m. — Only 4 a.m.? Back to sleep then.

6:20 a.m. — I fall back into a restless, insomniac-like sleep. I am getting a lot more of these.

6:49 a.m. — I get ready to go after making tea, grabbing my lunch and getting ready. Little Bun grabbed his father’s hand to run away but then as I said: “Wait, give Mommy a goodbye kiss and hug!“, he immediately bursts into tears and clings to me. The last time I left without saying goodbye, he was inconsolable for an hour, so I promised never to do that again. So now I’m saying a proper goodbye so he can see me leave, but he bursts into tears any way.

6:51 a.m. — My partner and I try to entice him to stay, and my partner says: But if you stay at home, you get to eat cheesy pasta! (which he loooovvvvves!). Little Bun wavers in his insistence that he wants Mommy more than pasta, but I can see the wheels in his brain clicking: Mommy? Pasta? Mommy or Pasta? Pasta? Mommy? … and decides he wants Mommy instead, but my partner grabs him firmly away from the door, and I leave, hearing him wail as I leave.

7:11 a.m. — At work early. I start early.

9:15 a.m. — BAGELS! OMG. HOW NICE is this woman? She paid for it out of her own pocket. How sweet..! I stuff my face.

10:18 a.m. — I argue a little with my team lead. Sometimes he just doesn’t get it. I get so tired with bureaucracy I just want to GTD (get things done), and he wants to go through all the proper channels and politics.. ugh. Don’t care.

11:32 a.m. — I leave for yoga.

12:08 p.m. — At yoga, I stretch it out, and can’t replicate my half headstand AWESOMENESS, but that’s okay…

1:08 p.m. — Back at work I buy a raffle ticket for a draw (you have better chances of winning draws at work than a lottery ticket with the public, statistically speaking), and spend $5 for 3 tickets. $5

2:18 p.m. — I call my accountant whom I use for advice from time to time only to make sure I am doing things right, and realize he moved offices. I am NOT trekking up to the boonies. I tell him I’ll email steps and a spreadsheet for him to validate.

4:00 p.m. — I leave work early. I am too tired. I was bombarded near the end with multiple changes, indecisiveness and PEOPLE WHO DON’T EFFING GODDAMN KNOW THEIR JOBS BUT PRETEND THAT THEY KNOW MINE. Why don’t you leave MY expertise to ME, and you do YOUR job. TGIF. (Thank goodness it’s Friday)

4:45 p.m. — At the library, I google whether SK-II masks work. I will say that around Monday my skin was IRRITATED and DRY and ANGRY. Since that day, I stopped exfoliating, and only moisturized with hyaluronic acid and tried some SK-II masks which seemed to work. My skin 4-ish days later, is now almost back to normal and looking smooth and feeling great, when before I remembered it taking about 2 weeks before my over exfoliated, bright red face finally healed. Maybe I can buy some of this SK-II stuff and use it sparingly like a serum once or twice a week…..

5:27 p.m. — After getting sucked into an internet rabbit hole of people saying it works and other says it doesn’t, I decide it doesn’t work. I think it was just hyaluronic acid and moisturizing with Paula’s Choice that did it, and SK-II just happened to help supplement.

5:28 p.m. — I try to muster energy to do my spreadsheet for my books for my company but just can’t deal right now. I decide I will procrastinate until I cannot put it off and under pressure and stress will GET IT DONE. I instead, watch videos online.

6:01 p.m. — I am home and Little Bun is out with his father. YAY!!!!

6:12 p.m. — I hear them in the hallway. Uhh.. next time I’ll come back earlier then. 😛

6:45 p.m. — Little Bun bursts into tears after 15 minutes of seeing me, and then wants to play “Baby”.. He is either feeling sick, or just going through a “I miss Mommy a lot” phase, and wants to be with me all the time, which is very hard on me. He just starts crying and losing it.

7:24 p.m. — I try my best to calm him down, but I finally get frustrated enough to punish him, and he stops. I HATE doing this because I know he is going through a “I miss Mommy” phase, but I cannot go on for hours like this pandering to him. ENOUGH.

7:28 p.m. — He is finally calm enough to eat. I eat my salad, he eats his dinner.

7:33 p.m. — I don’t want to do dishes but my partner is exhausted from dealing with him all day and goes to lie down early. He is not in a good mood tonight at all. I know how he feels but now Little Bun sticks to me like glue so he at least gets a real break and doesn’t have to do anything. When I stayed at home all day with Little Bun I ALSO had to do the nighttime routines too because Little Bun just wanted me 24/7. My partner should be happy he at least gets a real break when I come home, unlike the reverse when I am at home with Little Bun.

7:42 p.m. — I finish all the dishes.

8:11 p.m. — Screaming match between my partner and I ensue as Little Bun annoys my partner and he tells him: BEDTIME NOW! but he doesn’t actually get up to do any of this (I do all the bedtime routines now to even out the work he does and the full-time he spends with Little Bun during the week and also on the weekend when I escape). I start screaming at my partner that it is making it WORSE when he orders Little Bun to “go to sleep”, and then makes it worse on me because then Little Bun doesn’t listen, starts panicking about bedtime, and it becomes a real $$*@#show. IF he handled bedtime, fine, say what you want, but I do it, and he’s just lying there in bed, half dozing off already. I’m exhausted too. AND SICK. WE BOTH ARE. GIVE ME A GODDAMN BREAK.

8:12 p.m. — I manage to calm down Little Bun and tell him: “Bedtime is in TEN minutes. Not right now. You come with Mommy and do your pull-ups and we will cuddle, read a few pages of My Room and then I’ll cuddle you as I explain the outside to you, okay?” Satisfied there is a schedule, a list of steps to follow, expected results and a plan, Little Bun is more than happy to now listen to me. I also explain to him how hard it is when he doesn’t listen when we say “No” and it makes Mommy and Daddy very upset and angry. He looks at me with his huge little baby otter eyes and says: “Make me happy! MAKE ME HAPPY!“, while patting my chest. He means “me” as in “you”, because he doesn’t quite get the usage of “me” and “you” he thinks it is names and Mommy is called “me“.

8:45 p.m. — We get to bed, we sleep without any more fuss.

Spent: $5

DAY SIX

??:?? — As predicted, last night’s nonsense interrupted and screwed up Little Bun’s restful sleep because he was so stressed from the screaming the night before and my partner ordering him around.

??:?? — He kicks me in the eye HARD.

??:?? — He apparently kicked my partner too and my partner swears at him. We are both extremely tired and sick.

6:00 a.m. — He wakes me up, and I am just lying there, exhausted beyond belief. I get up, get his milk, take him to the bathroom, then lie down beside him, dozing off and stealing as much sleep as I can.

6:13 a.m. — I get up from bed after Little Bun sweetly asks: “Mommy… pwease… get.. up! Always say pwease!” He IS cute. He is just.. not a sound sleeper. We’re all tired and on the edge, plus fatigued from being sick.

6:15 a.m. — Tea time. I put away the laundry and the dishes in the meantime.

7:18 a.m. — Tea done, yoga outfits folded neatly with matching tops and towels, and I lay out the items for a banana cake today. Recipe here.

8:54 a.m. — I start on the banana bread. I left the butter out to melt to room temperature to cream into the sugar for best results.

9:20 a.m. — Cake in the oven, I start doing dishes. I don’t even know why people buy cake mixes honestly, because it doesn’t really save you that much time AND it is bad for you. You still have to add eggs and so on.

10:24 a.m. — Cake done, and out of the oven, cooling. Little Bun bounces around the apartment squealing: CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE! WANT SOME CAKE!, and I tell him it’s too hot and has to cool down.

10:37 a.m. — I have to bring my Burberry coat in to be repaired because the lining has ripped from since the time I bought it in 2012 (?!), and I get quoted “less than $400” to do it. Well, I might as well. I love this coat and it is fantastic but the lining has to be repaired. It has been more than 5 years, so this is not bad.

11:07 a.m. — Lunch.. wasn’t much of a lunch. My partner is tired too. I don’t say anything, eat a few slices of bread, and just plan to head out for a bowl of pho later.

11:57 a.m. — I start getting ready to go (slap on some sunscreen) and Little Bun starts whining immediately. “Mah-mee.. want mommmyyyyyy.. CARRY YOU PWEASE” (He means “carry me please”)… and clings to me, half sobbing. I manage to handle the situation by distracting him and having him take #OOTD shots with me:

(Yeah his fingernails are filthy. AND WHAT? .. *sigh* #MommyLife They’re clean now, but only once I held him down like a stuck pig.)

12:08 p.m. — I’m out the door and on the bus, after handing him off to my partner who forcibly picks him up and drags him away from the door so I can lock it. $2.25

12:12 p.m. — Caught in the Santa Claus parade. Quite cute…. I love how festive it is.

12:36 p.m. — Eating a bowl of much needed pho. Damn it is good. $12

1:12 p.m. — I make it to Burberry and drop my coat off for repairs. They’ll re-do the lining in a viscose blend black thing (not a Burberry lining), for $200 plus taxes. I need it done, and I don’t want to go out and buy Burberry lining or try and source it, nor try and figure out whether black silk would be nicer and more luxurious, so I just suck it up and pay. If it rips again the next time I’ll consider a luxurious thick silk lining in a magenta pink or something pretty. $230

1:44 p.m. — I wander around, and manage to remember to buy needles, some beading thread (I have to redo the necklaces I made because regular thread doesn’t cut it, as I discovered, it stretches out and doesn’t hold the beads properly). $22.67

2:18 p.m. — I head into stores and window shop like crazy. I want these books by Jeffrey Browne now, they’re HILARIOUS and Star Wars themed. They would be the PERFECT gift for a Star Wars parent / lover.

2:48 p.m. — I drop by the Bose store under the pretense of looking at stereos but really I just needed to charge up my iPod, and am enamoured by this super portable bluetooth Bose soundlink speaker system. I think this would be super handy to have music in any part of the house or to work out to without having to deal with headphones or the crappy sound on your iPod coming out from the speakers. They are phenomenal, these little things. I’d buy one except I am looking at a car purchase, and I don’t really see a need for this at the moment. I would however, buy it if I planned on keeping my old crappy car, and I would just Bluetooth my iPod to these speakers and play music in the car without dealing with the damn car charger and cables. It fits in your hand!!!

3:45 p.m. — I decide to head home early. I’m tired. $2.25

4:15 p.m. — Hmm. I check the garage before going in and see my partner’s truck. I hide out in the lobby reading a book instead. 😛

5:00 p.m. — Feel like it would be safe to go upstairs now. I head upstairs and am gratified to see them gone to get dinner, so I have the house to myself for a bit.

5:35 p.m. — They come home. Next time, I’ll hang out quietly in the stairwell until I hear them leave, then head into the apartment alone. These are all Mommy Ninja tricks and well worth the trouble. That, or I put a webcam near the front door so I can spy and monitor when they leave 😛

5:45 p.m. — I start a load of laundry.

6:30 p.m. — We finish up dinner, he made my favourite salad to date! Candied salmon, soft boiled eggs, olive bread croutons and balsamic vinegar with a light salad and avocado. SO GOOD. He drizzled it with a bit of olive oil too.

7:12 p.m. — Throwing the laundry in the dryer, I start on dishes after procrastinating, and make a cup of tea while I do it. I feel like I am battling away this bronchitis without needing any medication but we shall see in .. what 90 days? That’s how long a cough can last.

7:52 p.m. — Dishes done, wiped, everything put away so I don’t have to do it in the morning when I’m bleary-eyed, I go to lie down and read more of my book. I massage the back of my shoulder blade, it is just killing me and I need to pay for a good massage to work out the tension and kinks but cannot really justify $60 right now if it is just for a massage, AND I need a car.

8:15 p.m. — Bedtime for all.

Spent: $269.17

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — Couldn’t sleep all night, kept coughing.

6:25 a.m. — I wake up when Little Bun says: “Mama? Mama????”, and I pull him close with my arm over his body until he wiggles away. I stare into his eyes as he looks into mine, all serious and brown, and I pat his head, rubbing his hair and kissing his cheeks which he giggles and loves.

6:30 a.m. — “Milk?”, he asks, 15 minutes later. I get his milk but convince him the bathroom is a good idea beforehand as he had a lot of water the night before.

6:40 a.m. — I get up and start tea, and make a mental note to start the towels again today for the kitchen. With the three of us sick, we’re burning through the napkins.

6:42 a.m. — While the water boils, I take some salt and press it down hard on my canker sore. I’d rather have 2 minutes of excruciating pain than 2 more weeks of this thing slowly throbbing and hurting as I try to speak or eat. I’ll salt my canker sore again tonight and as often as I can remember until it is gone.

7:00 a.m. — My partner gets up and starts working. He’s on a deadline. I try to keep Little Bun quiet by playing crossword puzzles with him.

8:08 a.m. — My brain is not working. I have lots of blog stuff to get done.. but I am just tired. I just want to lie down and read my book.

9:11 a.m. — I put my things back in my closet, and re-distribute my toiletries into designated areas in the laundry room meant for it. I don’t need to store it all in my closet, and I end up freeing two boxes. I still have more work in getting rid of stuff, but every little bit counts.

10:48 a.m. — I finish cleaning up my closet and re-organizing it. It feels less cluttered but the only way to get rid of clutter is to get rid of the stuff completely. I am not there yet. #SorryNotSorry

11:00 a.m. — I set up my iPhone to have a hotspot connection (I have 1 GB a month, might as well use it!), and pay my bills online. My cellphone comes out to more than I expected because I went a measly 10MB over the limit and they charged me a full $10 extra. Have to be more careful in the future. $56.45

11:02 a.m. — My canker sore already feels much better. Less pain than before, and feels softer, which means it’s healing. I’ll salt it again before my tea, and it should be gone in a day or so.

11:22 a.m. — I schedule a post on the blog, and I want to go through and reply to Comments but decide to give myself a break and not do it. I need Me Time too, and I’ve been working quite hard lately.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch. I’m STARVING. My partner makes a great tikka masala chicken and we eat it with pasta, and lots of sundried tomatoes and basil. I love his cooking, and I love him so much. I have to remember to tell him that more often.

12:28 p.m. — I think I’ve decided on my car. It’s going to cost a lot of money. *gulp*

12:35 p.m. — Little Bun protested his nap, but fell asleep while watching videos beside me in the spare bedroom. I pat his bum gently and leave him to sleep and go do my own thing.

1:12 p.m. — I massage my shoulder blade with my fingers but I really do need to see a therapist or buy a ball to massage out the kinks..

1:44 p.m. — I futz around online doing nothing important at all. I want to try and make a calendar for a gift this year filled with Little Bun photos but I’m finding it hard to even muster the energy for that.

2:38 p.m. — Little Bun is up, a FULL TWO HOURS LATER. OMG. 😛 He needed the nap, and he fell asleep readily, and slept well. This is what a well-rested child should be like. I hope this means that tonight he will sleep like a rock or a childless person (not “sleep like a baby”, cuz babies dun really sleep now do dey).

2:48 p.m. — I cuddle him, hand him his milk, and start a load of laundry.

3:05 p.m. — I round up my partner and say we should try for a Family Photo. It has been on my To Do for about 5 months now, and autumn has long since passed for some beautiful outdoor shots, so .. the best we can do is against a wall inside.

3:55 p.m. — I think we get the shot. I had to try and get Little Bun to behave, but when I go to look at the photos, we both look freakin’ exhausted. I have bags under my eyes even with heavy makeup, and my partner just looks like a zombie. We’re also both battling colds. The only one who looks like a star is Little Bun, He is smiling, bright-eyed, well-rested and gorgeous. I decide to NOT use this family photo for the calendar and just put Little Bun instead. Don’t want to look at this photo all year.

4:00 p.m. — I field a 45 minute session of Little Bun SLHS (suddenly losing his s#*%# as all small children do). It is harrowing, I feel like I just sprouted 18 more white hairs and I AM TIRED.

4:47 p.m. — I do the dishes and scrub every pot, then dry it all and put it away.

5:27 p.m. — I dry the load of laundry, and start another. I’m starting to get hungry. Is there going to be food? This is like effin’ Russian Roulette with dinner time sometimes. Do I get a meal? Do I not? When do I know if I have to try and figure out my own meal? My partner doesn’t cook ALL the time for ALL the dinner meals, but it would be nice to get a heads up that he is not planning on doing it so I can buy something ahead of time to try and cobble a dinner out of.

6:00 p.m. — Nope. No dinner coming I think. I end up fielding another session of Little Bun SLHS. I AM EXHAUSTED. I think he is hangry, and I am too.

6:20 p.m. — I start some random somen noodles after I put the load of laundry away. It’s my go-to food in a pinch. I crack an egg in there and toss it in the microwave for 3 minutes just to cook it. I don’t think it’s healthy to rely on the microwave to cook food, but you can eat eggs raw-ish so.. uhh.. yeah. I’m fine.

6:26 p.m. — Little Bun hounds me for noodles and has ANOTHER mini Little Bun SLHS session. WHAT IS GOING ON TONIGHT. I tell him I can’t carry him if I am cooking noodles (also my back HURTS and is in major pain), and I don’t freakin’ want to deal with this right now.

6:37 p.m. — He is calm, the noodles are cooling, I hand feed him like a baby goat as he runs back and forth watching videos of himself. As I am eating, a friend emails me this Money Diary to read, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. SHE IS pretentious. I’m also pretty effin’ hungry, stuffing my face with 6-minute somen noodles with a cracked questionably cooked egg in there, so reading about scallops and biodynamic perfectly Pinterested eco-friendly food is not really doing it for me right now. I’m jealous, and hungry.

7:00 p.m. —  Little Bun fed, he runs off and plays with his father, belly full. We’ll eat a little more of the cake I made tonight (I added way too many bananas, 7 instead of 5, and it came off a little bit like a solid pudding with a fried cake coating, which isn’t so bad, but not really a “cake”). My partner grumbles that it doesn’t seem cooked. I tell him to not bother eating it then, and I’ll eat his share.

7:45 p.m. — I redo all the dishes, redry them again from the noodle excursion, and the cake eating, and then inform Little Bun in 15 minutes it is time for bed. He squeals: “NO BED!!!!“, but I insist because I’m still hacking up a lung and tired.

8:27 p.m. — Little Bun dressed, playing in bed with his father, I finish reading my book.

Spent: $56.45