A Week of Money: Where I live out my days like a vampire

DAY ONE

6:40 a.m. — HOLY CRAP. MY EYES ARE RED. I look.. REALLY.. REALLY. BAD. I look like an albino bunny. No seriously. My eyes are bright red. Oh.. my.. god. How can I go to work like this!?!?… I put in more red eye eye drops*

*NOTE: DO NOT buy “red eye clearing” drops if your eyes are red and irritated. NEVER EVER buy anything but Refresh or Systane real tears eyedrops. I thought I ought to warn you ahead of time because as the week progressed, I had to finally go see a pharmacist and he told me what’s up with that crap.

7:59 a.m. — At the office, I try to hide my eyes but unless I wear sunglasses inside like some douchebag, I look terrible. There is no way around it. I look like I am STONED. People probably think I stayed up all night partying and drinking, smoking weed and being a total party girl, which could not be farther from the truth. I don’t even drink! Not even coffee! Tea is probably the strongest beverage I can imbibe. Oh dear god. I have so many executive conferences today…

11:02 a.m. — I have been embarrassed all day with my eyes. People WANT to ask me if I am stoned, or just really casually say: WTF happened to your eyes, girl!?…. but they are far too polite to do so. They .. just stare. And curiously, I might add.

12:08 p.m. — I eat my lunch, depressed. Stupid me. Why did I NOT wash off the excess EyEnvy liquid? Gah. Never had this happen to me before. Let this all be a lesson to you. Oh the things we do for our vanity.

4:45 p.m. — I finish working and gratefully head home, hoping to take out my contacts and rest my eyes.

6:37 p.m. — I don’t even know what happened between home and now. I forgot to record it, BUT I do remember switching into glasses ASAP and having an intuition that mayyyyy be I should not be putting in these red eye drops so often. I decide to see how my eyes are tomorrow.

8:37 p.m. — Bedtime. We didn’t even have a proper dinner, just some hard boiled eggs. I am far too worried about the state of my eyes to care about food right now.

Saved: $0

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up because my eyes feel really dry… I pop in some more red eye drops to help.

6:20 a.m. —  Ok. Calm down. I am trying to be calm but WTF is happening to my eyes? I woke up last night and put in some drops but now they are worse. I make an executive decision to wear glasses to work today.

8:08 a.m. — I feel so self-conscious in my glasses. I probably look smarter (lol) but man I hate them. They don’t feel like my own eyes, and I keep getting headaches from the glint off them.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch. Depressed. Had a few meetings with some directors and they KEPT STARING AT MY  EYES. I kept looking down on the page pretending I was doing something else. Honestly guys, I am not stoned. Really. I have irritated eyes.

12:28 p.m. — I finally go to the pharmacist to buy more drops, maybe these ones are not working (I have been putting them in my eyes every 2 hours!)…

12:56 p.m. — I get out of the pharmacy completely a changed person. He explained to me that these eyedrops are crap and they have to sell them, but honestly, NEVER BUY THEM, and only buy the real tears drops to help lubricate and let your eyes heal, as the first layer is extremely irritated and red, so you are just going to make it worse with the “red eye removal” drops. What a scam. I buy the bottle he suggests and basically wash my eyeballs in it.

1:18 p.m. — Oh. They feel a bit better. Still bright red though.

3:22 p.m. — I dutifully pump in more refresh eye drops to keep my eyes going. Maybe I should just buy this stuff to help me in general.

5:35 p.m. — I pick Baby Bun up and head home. I keep pumping drops into my eyes all night.

6:15 p.m. — We have a nice omelette. I like it when my partner cooks but I hate the scrubbing at the end.. especially of the pots. Annoying.

6:39 p.m. — Baby Bun lets me do all of the washing up without whining, once. I should get him a puzzle with the map on it later, maybe this one, that brand is great for puzzles, the quality is very high and I have never been disappointed even thrifting the puzzles.

8:07 p.m. — We play on the bed and chat, while Baby Bun runs his trains over us.

8:47 p.m. — Bedtime.

Saved: $0

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

6:10 a.m. — I wake up with my eyes finally healing. I don’t take chances and crack open a new set of contact lenses. I apply more Refresh Tears and am pleased to see it work and my eyes look pinkish now not bright red like some deranged hashish-addicted bunny. Final word to the wise in case you have not gotten the memo: NEVER BUY REDNESS REMOVAL eye solutions and only buy Refresh or Systane “real tears” eye drops. Otherwise, your eyes could take much longer to heal.

6:20 a.m. — I get Baby Bun to agree to go to school after he does his Letters Puzzle. I spend the time exfoliating and washing my face, then applying makeup. I never should have gotten so overzealous with the EyEnvy… light LIGHT steaks folks, and every other day if you get any irritation.

6:30 a.m. — I pull on my black thrifted wrap skirt which absolutely rocks and is well worth the $5 I paid, and tuck in my newly discovered Equipment silk tank. I didn’t like how long it was but it is super cute tied up and knotted or tucked in. I decide on an Egyptian-like gold bib beaded necklace I scored at a store specializing in wares from India and am pleased with the end result.

6:20 a.m. — I head into work, drop off The Bun who snags a rice cake on his way in (eww.. flavourless), starts whimpering about going home and staying with Mommy (NOPE!) and sits down to eat it while I rush out the door (I do NOT linger).

7:00 a.m. — I start working and realize I forgot my stupid tea refills at home. Gah. I’ll have to go beg for tea later. Yeah. And for nut butter. I never got around to buying ore raw almond butter. Grrrz.

7:30 a.m. — I wait for a colleague to come in then pounce on his good nature to provide me with teabags and give me some peanut butter for my day old baguette.

11:30 a.m. — I start working and only break to eat my pasta which I eat half of and toss the rest. It tastes strangely mushy and metallic. I ponder a lunch at Starbucks as it is Double Star Day at Starbucks but decide against it. I’m going out for a dinner with coworkers tonight (funnnnnn!!) and am a bit nervous. Not only is it the first time out of work but Baby Bun will not have me at home until late (bedtime late!) which makes me anxious. This is the FIRST TIME I have ever left him for this long in a day in his entire life. I’m sure he will be fine but I’m nervous. I hope my partner remembers to pick him up too. O_o

1:30 p.m. — Also.. I have to be a bit careful. I think someone is trying to ‘mate poach’ me (a term learned from this amazingly funny book by Aziz Ansari – Modern Romance). He knows I’m with my partner and have a kid (!!) but he still seems to be trying. It is a feeling I get. Nothing concrete but my intuition is pretty good. Nothing is ever going to happen but I don’t want to give him the wrong impression that it could EVER work nor make it awkward between us to the point where I’d have to tell him flat out what the deal is and then we can’t talk to each other normally. I’ll have to keep hinting that I’ll find other girls to fix him up with. On the bright side of things, it would be so awkward if it were a higher-up but luckily this is not the case. I think I remind them of their daughters or granddaughters. Phew.

2:47 p.m. — Should mention that the mate poacher is also a bit of an overgrown frat boy. More on that later, I plan on doing a post about observations of what I see in the workplace in terms of dating.

4:30 p.m. — I finish working then leave earlier to go drop off the two iPod Touch cases I bought (not loving them). -32.98

4:40 p.m. — I also pick up a bottle of wine for my partner for later on. $19.95

4:57 p.m. — I pick up some raw almond butter (not organic) because I want to see what the taste difference is. $10.55

4:57 p.m. — I drop by Starbucks (can’t help it!) and am horrified at the price of a small box of chocolate milk for kids — $3.95?!? Are we smoking crack here? It is just MILK with SUGAR and CHOCOLATE FLAVOURING which I know is the same thing as the hot drinks I normally buy, but my hot drinks are 4X the size for the same price!! I decide on a slice of Banana Bread to tide me over instead. I don’t want to stuff myself before the dinner but I also don’t want to faint as I didn’t get to finish my entire lunch. $3.95

4:57 p.m. — I try to log in and spy on Baby Bun but he is already outside playing — but I’m nervous my partner forgot as he never emailed back to confirm that he got my message reminding him about The Bun pickup. I waffle between going a bit early or waiting until 5.30 before going and CHECKING that Baby Bun is gone and picked up, and not sitting there in tears, wailing as everyone was gone and he was the only one left at 6 which is the cutoff. I decide to steel myself and wait a bit longer.

5:35 p.m. — OK I can’t take it. I’m speedwalking to the preschool to check to see that my baby is not forgotten. I AM SURE he picked him up but I never got an email confirmation back and email it not super reliable sometimes. Maybe he forgot. OMG.

5:37 p.m. — Oh good. He’s gone. I finally relax and head to my dinner.

6:17 p.m. — Chatting, having a great time, eating…..

8:37 p.m. —…. IS IT ALREADY 8:30!!? My baby will be waiting for me. No way is he going to sleep without his Mommy beside him. That, is for sure. I wonder if my partner is holding up.

9:03 p.m. — I am home and apparently he had been waiting at the window, watching for every car passing by if it was Mommy. My partner finally, to a great relief, pointed out: MOMMY! LOOK! IT IS MOMMY OH THERE SHE IS THANK GOODNESS…. and Baby Bun came to the door squealing with joy. He was fine the entire time. He was not scared or sad that Mommy didn’t pick him up instead, and he went home willingly, had yummy a chicken dinner with Daddy and was otherwise occupied, confident and secure in the knowledge that his mother would be home for bedtime. <3 We all go to sleep relieved after I quickly scrub off my makeup.

Saved: $0

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

6:21 a.m. — Baby Bun wakes up today and is surprisingly NOT resistant to going to school. He seems to be resigned to the fact that it is preschool day and that is all there is to it.

6:27 a.m. — I make myself a green tea and scarf it down happily. I suspect my lax on the green tea drinking is NOT helping my skin either and I’m getting bumps daily now. I need to start drinking the tea again to see if it helps.

6:37 a.m. — I start a hot soak in our washer (I love that we have full-sized ones) on some kitchen towels with Oxiclean before I leave for work.

6:57 a.m. — We get ready, and we have a SNAFU where Baby Bun wants Daddy to wait for us but we aren’t even halfway ready!!! My partner leaves without us and I’m annoyed my partner couldn’t wait 10 minutes and end up snapping at Baby Bun in frustration when he cries for his father and because he wants to playfully sit on the floor to get his shoes on instead of on the chair. Sigh.

7:27 a.m. — I get him to preschool and he doesn’t even fight me or whine or ANYTHING like he normally does. He doesn’t cling to me or even ask to stay at home. He just goes with the caretaker and sits down to eat his snack.

7:35 a.m. — I get to work and start working. I break for a tea after 5 minutes and then am back to work until my next tea break (I allow myself 2 teas before 10 a.m.).

11:35 a.m. — I work until lunch and happily eat my pasta. It is so good this week!!!

11:47 a.m. — I quickly speedwalk down to the nearest grocery store and pick up some almond milk. The big packs are cheaper than the individual drink packs which I plan on using only in “emergencies”. $2.50

11:56 a.m. — Darn it. Forgot my bank card to return some blush and eyeliner (I bought the mini Hourglass Ambient Powder instead of the cheap Revlon stuff). Have to do this tomorrow. I get back to my desk and work again, periodically stopping to get up and stretch because my neck is killing me and I shouldn’t sit too long.

1:06 p.m. — I get an email from a manager stating we need approval before we can work from home now. Sigh. I knew this would happen. Now we all have to justify working remotely but screw it, if Baby Bun is sick I can’t control that so I’ll work from home without approval.

2:06 p.m. — On one of my breaks to walk around and stretch from my desk job, I make an offer on and buy more of these awesome cord tacos in a silver leather. It comes out to about $6 CAD each if you take the shipping and fees into account. $57.31

4:06 p.m. — I work until it is time to go home and I go to get a Poké Bowl instead, knowing that Baby Bun had his vegan soup tonight to eat (we have been lax on making him eat this but it is pretty much his 50% source of weekly vegetables), and my partner will go biking tonight so he won’t be home.

4:16 p.m. — I get my yummy Poké Bowl (honestly I think I just like raw fish and rice with a little soy sauce). $15

4:56 p.m. — I pick up Baby Bun who had a number of accidents today (sigh), and didn’t eat his lunch or his snack. Sigh. Vegan soup it is.

5:19 p.m. — I take him to the park and smear on Clinique Pep Start SPF 50 beforehand which is a bit too liquidy for my liking but goes on very nicely and smoothly. Can never be too careful. I should have done this when I went out for lunch too but I hate smearing my makeup. Man I really want that Coola sunscreen, it was great, not at all shiny on my face and went on so smoothly.

6:06 p.m. — I wrench him away from the park and go home to start laundry. Oh yeah, kitchen towels. I start a hot wash on them. I’ll dry them when I’m home while I start Baby Bun’s wet laundry. Maybe I’ll leave Baby Bun’s stuff for tomorrow as he might pee again.

6:16 p.m. — I feed him his vegan soup and get a spearmint tea soaking. I don’t know if it is helping my hormonal acne or not but maybe my skin is normalizing (detoxifying your skin seems like a load of bunk but what else explains this?) while it is getting used to the spearmint because I’ve been getting bumps daily.

6:34 p.m. — I want to take him out to the park again because my partner is out biking and won’t be back until late. I get dressed, quickly slap on some Dr. Scholls heel pads onto my new size 6 (!!) striped flats I scored on sale from Banana Republic and I love, and plan on working them out to stretch while I do short jaunts to the park. I don’t think I can last a day in these yet until they stretch out, they are a size 6 and I normally take 6.5 at the SMALLEST for leather in this style (with suede I can go as low as size 6), but I’m a true US 7.

6:37 p.m. — I stuff his apple snack into my bag, some wet wipes and sunglasses. I spy a bottle of bubble mix (?) and realize I forgot to bring it to use at the park all summer. Better get on it and use it up. I bring a bottle of the bubble mix and let Baby Bun go to town. I call it a “treat”, and Baby Bun’s eyes light up, he thinks it is juice and wants to drink it now before I explain to him what it is. Gah.

6:41 p.m. — These shoes are TIGHT. But I do feel them stretching a bit.

7:40 p.m. — We finish at the park after he sits there and happily blows out a third of the bottle, and I head home. Now I can take off all the sunscreen (two layers!) and makeup. I am considering getting a brow tint because I think it looks very natural and would save me the time in the morning. But $50 expense sounds REALLY expensive every month on top of a $120 facial. I think I’ll forego the facial and do just the brows every month.

7:52 p.m. — I unpack my bags, toss some more spare pants and socks into Baby Bun’s bag and go through my To Do list for tomorrow. My partner comes home in the middle of the Great Unpacking.

8:11 p.m. — Oh!!! Finally!! Mamie’s care package TWO MONTHS LATER is arriving. I wonder f emailing them helped. She has to fill out a customs form with some ID. How dumb, it was a gift of a notebook and some photos of Baby Bun. Ugh…

8:21 p.m. — I go and mix in a small teaspoon of wild honey into the spearmint tea (it steeped too long and now is bitter), as I also feel like I’m coming down with something. Maybe the honey will help.

8:41 p.m. — We get ready for bed, read our two books (The Boy with Two Belly Buttons and Little Boy), explain the world outside and we all go to sleep.

Saved: $0

Spent: $74.81

DAY FIVE

??:?? — Baby Bun … is upside down on my face. Why is his bum on my face!?

??:?? — Baby Bun flings an arm across me and uses me as a couch. Nice.

6:00 a.m. — I get up before him because he woke up so many times last night and I get my tea to get ready for work, hoping he is in a good mood today. I make up an outfit wanting to wear one of my favourite skirts — a girls on film retro paper bag waisted number — and like the result. Kind of like a retro Japanese secretary. It looks a lot like this one from ASOS for $51:

6:10 a.m. — I put on my 3 black stone rings and notice one is worn badly. Cheap crap. Never buying this crap again. I toss one in the garbage and keep the other two.

6:40 a.m. — I get Baby Bun ready and then we all head out after Baby Bun gets yelled at by my partner for jumping on the bed in dirty outside clothes. I calm Baby Bun down and tell him that Daddy only means to tell you that Inside Clothes are Inside the home and Outside Clothes mean that we don’t go inside with them. He repeats it back to me, calmly, sniffling back his tears and nods. My partner needs to stop just yelling orders at Baby Bun (it doesn’t work on this kid) but how do you tell someone they’re doing it wrong? I decide not to say anything and wait to see if he will pick up on how I handled the situation calmly. If it happens again or more often, I WILL gently say something.

7:11 a.m. — On the way to work in the car, Baby Bun happily reads our street signs and names of streets (he amazes me), he learned some new words thus far and I don’t even know who taught him because I sure as heck didn’t. He is now able to read small sentences as I type out names of files. He will say things as I am typing like: “Baby Bun playing with Daddy!” or “Baby Bun eating like a horse!” (Yes these are actual movie file names..)

7:31 a.m. — We get to pre-school, no tears, he sits down and kisses me goodbye and doesn’t even look back. We are making progress because the last time I did something similar, it took 6 months for him to acclimatize but now we are progressing down to 4. Yay!

7:41 a.m. — I immediately grab a cup of tea at work and fill it with unsweetened soy milk which I don’t love but at least don’t hate like the coconut almond concoction I tried last time that curdled in my cup. I need to try all the brands before I settle on one but all the almond milks have SALT in them. So weird. It tastes really weird.

8:21 a.m. — At work, I am hit with 3 urgent emails that keep me busy until lunch. I have a meeting at 1 so I will leave early to go return a few things (I think all this acne stuff is making my skin worse not better), and to find a little cute tea saucer for my tea strainer. Somehow, my tea strainer saucers keep getting tossed by the cleaning people and now I have nothing left to rest a wet strainer on.

11:21 a.m. — I scarf down my lunch (so good) and head out for that walk for a tea saucer and to get some money back for a defunct product. I suspect the essential oils are what are causing me to break out in these things. Paula’s choice all the way! Why did I ever change?!?!?

11:31 a.m. — I return the acne gel. -$75.31

11:47 a.m. — I return the blush and eyeliner. -$22.78

12:07 p.m. — I drop by a local gym and am suddenly well aware of how they get their claws into you and don’t let you go. $150 Registration fee? $15 card fee? INSURANCE to cancel your gym contract?!? WTF. I do the calculations with all the hidden fees, and at 3 yoga classes a week I would pay about $16 per class, the only problem being that I don’t know if I will be here for a year so for those classes I would need to drive here to take them and would only make it to two of them so the price goes up to $22 a class. Hmm.

12:47 p.m. — I get back to the office and google a yoga studio nearby and sign up for their introductory offer. I’ll go daily at the times I think are close to lunch and if I can keep it up, I’ll just suck it up and pay for these classes until I get extended for certain (if I do). I don’t want to get locked into anything. $56.35

1:15 p.m. — First class is next week. I make a note to pack an outfit. I don’t know if I can change there or not. Or if I have to change at work and then walk there. Might be best so that I don’t have to carry TWO outfits. I still need to drop by the bank to withdraw some cash, but at least I remembered to put gas in the car after the weekend. The prices went down by $0.08 a litre just in a few days so I’m glad I waited.

3:15 p.m. — A reader got me thinking about my next used car and I need to budget for it, I’m thinking $50,000. Preferably UNDER. It won’t be for a long time though as I plan on tuning what I have to the ground, rusted out and truly unsafe.

3:45 p.m. — I finish up a few urgent emails and try to organize the situation. Some people just can’t read emails. It is like you need to hold their hands all the way through.

4:40 p.m. — I leave after I realize no one is around to get my request done and I pick up Baby Bun earlier than I had planned. He goes to the bathroom and then we pick up a snack pack (I groan inwardly because it happens to be cereal and he takes FOREVER to eat). I manage to convince him that we can eat it at the park instead of doing it before getting in the car and getting stuck in a knot of traffic. He agrees readily and I’m amazed.

4:45 p.m. — We get out without much of a scuffle in traffic and sail home after hitting another knot of it — HATE THESE BRIDGES. HATE!!

5:17 p.m. — We make it to the park and Baby Bun starts on his cereal while I snack on his uneaten cut up apple slices. Yum.

5:19 p.m. — I organize my To Do list and realize I need to start laundry when I get home. I read my downloaded emails and my partner wants to invest in a home safe. Being the guy he is, he has chosen the best quality possible and my share would be $900. He emails me the specifications and I am balking at the price tag but I do see his point. I would put my grandmothers pearls in there but that is about it for sentimentality. Then passports perhaps? I sigh. $900!!!

5:57 p.m. — We play for a bit at the park and I get him home for a wash up and dinner. I need to shower tonight. And prep for next week for yoga so I don’t forget anything.

6:37 p.m. — My partner hears us coming in and gets the grill started. Wings tonight. Baby Bun hated the strong mustard seed flavour of the smoked wings we buy, but now he likes them. Still won’t eat raw tomatoes though. LOL..

7:07 p.m. — I mention a field trip the kids are having to an apple orchard and want Baby Bun to go (it would cost $26). My partner balks at the cost but says: “Well why don’t we take him instead and have it as a family thing?” Even better!

7:41 p.m. — After dinner, my partner Googles a few places and we decide we will go tomato picking next week because he wants to buy tomatoes to make his homemade tomato sauce for the winter. He makes fresh tomato sauce in the summer when it is in season, then freezes little packages of them in glass boxes to use when he cooks beans, pizza, pasta, and such in the winter. It’s quite smart but a lot of work.

8:21 p.m. — I finish the dishes, and start reading books to Baby Bun, after he gets ready for bed.

9:07 p.m. — Bedtime. He puts his pillow on my stomach and lies on it to try and get as close as possible to me, but I gently shift him off into the crook of my arm and put my arm around his body, gently patting his bum to sleep.

Saved: $98.09 – Need to stop buying stuff

Spent: $56.35 – SO EXCITED FOR YOGA!!!

DAY SIX

6:17 a.m. — Baby Bun wakes up and gently pats my face to bring me to life. So. Tired.

7:59 a.m. — We make tea and play as quietly as we can while my partner rests. I plan on going to get my eyebrows tinted today, to see what I can do to help them along.

8:08 a.m. — I take Baby Bun to the park while my partner goes out to get groceries.

11:02 a.m. — We come home for lunch, we eat some bread with cheese, and hang out a bit before I kiss him good-bye and leave. Baby Bun DOES NOT WANT ME TO GO but I gently and firmly push the door closed on his little wailing face. He’ll be fine.

12:08 p.m. — I drive. At the spa, I get my eyebrows tinted and shaped for the first time in my life. I cannot believe the results, I am SO unused to them. I feel like everyone is staring at my Kabuki Eyebrows (but they are most definitely NOT that strong). They just feel like that to me. $50

12:28 p.m. — I wander around, and end up picking up a World Puzzle for Baby Bun and some gummy snacks. What!? I couldn’t resist. $26.61

12:56 p.m. — I take the train back a few stops and wander into Sephora (my latest kryptonite), and grab a few samples of more makeup removers. I’m slowly starting to give up hope. I think makeup wipes are my only saviour at this point, as everything seems to make me break out. $2.25

1:44 p.m. — I go and sit down at a Starbucks, getting a hot chocolate so I can read. $5

4:15 p.m. — Whoa. Getting late. I close my e-reader down (this is so relaxing) and head home.

5:35 p.m. — At home, Baby Bun runs into my arms and I kiss him all over. He missed me but he was FINE with Daddy.

6:00 p.m. — We have dinner of a duck confit with some vegetables and avocado. Mmmm.. We talk about our family field trip to the tomato farm next week. I’m excited!

7:37 p.m. — I finish the dishes and let Baby Bun watch videos of himself. He’s a cutie. He started being cute at 2 years, and I even caught on video, him telling me that he had had “poo poo’d” in his diaper (it was just a pee), at the start of our potty training which by the way I documented here to help anyone who is going to start it. How to potty train your toddler realistically.

Saved: $0

Spent: $83.86

DAY SEVEN

6:11 a.m. — Baby Bun wakes up hopeful I forgot about last week and it is Sunday Train Day today. FAT CHANCE KID. I remind him how badly he acted last week and keep telling him that he is not going on Sunday Train Day because of it.

6:31 a.m. — I make and drink my tea, and finish off last night’s baguette with some raw almond butter.

7:31 a.m. — We spend the morning……. organizing my closet. YES. I pull out all the boxes and things and get rid of what I can, organizing and redoing things.

7:51 a.m. — I decide to not keep those shoe boxes except for one black box that is magnetic and very handy to hold winter accessories. I sort through it all, and end up closing one eye and donating about half a garbage bag of old household leggings and shirts that I thought would be comfy but in the end I hate how the cotton feels (not soft like my beloved Gisele Sleepshirts from Eberjey), and the leggings are fine but now a size too small and ain’t nobody got time for that to be jumping like some Jill-in-a box to get them on. I’m too old for that any more. I want loose loungey pants at home.

8:39 a.m. — I finish the closet and the floor is clear now. I have more work to do because I want to get rid of at least 3 more bags but this is a start. I have to consider what to keep and if I want to sell anything… namely purses. And if it is mainstream stuff like Banana Republic I’ll just do a big lot of clothes and let it go. Or not bother at all. I do think any designer stuff will sell though.

9:15 a.m. — I briefly consider getting rid of my The Row leggings and when I try them on I realize they ARE high rise enough (not super high but high enough to not be mid or low rise), it is just that the butt tends to come down when I squat or bend, and I hike it up thinking they’re falling. OK. They are staying. They’re awesome anyway. Love the bonded leather.

10:25 a.m. — I feed Baby Bun early and fend off questions and pleas for Sunday Train Day.

11:15 a.m. — Baby Bun has his second lunch with us.

12:15 p.m. — We get ready for a nap and he asks AGAIN for a Train and I tell him AGAIN why it is not happening. We eat our lunch together (the second one), and then he goes down for his nap.

1:45 p.m. — ONE hour. Omg he is no longer a baby!!! His naps are shortening. 🙁 He wakes up (asking for the train again) and we play with his new World Puzzle again with after some help (just the bottom penguin row), he does ALL ON HIS OWN.

2:25 p.m. — Okay this puzzle may be going back. I need something way more advanced. 100 pieces maybe. He goes down for his nap right after.

2:47 p.m. — I do the dishes, try to vacuum but the vacuum isn’t charged (doh!), and clean up what I can of my mess of receipts and papers in the tray. We hang out, play puzzles, read books, clean up .. and he helps me organize my bathroom drawer and wipe it down. Much better. I sort of want to clean it all up and get rid of it all but I’m actually using every item in there. Huh. I feel like more money is being spent on skincare, pampering and beauty these days with me.

4:05 p.m. — My partner entices Baby Bun out to go “find some bread” (as they say in French) and I very eagerly usher them out of the apartment, slamming the door (figuratively speaking), on their bums. YES! THE WHOLE HOUSE TO MYSELF!!!!! I don’t even know what to do first, I’m so happy I can’t stand it.

4:20 p.m. — I take a leisurely 15-minute shower (yes, this is luxury right here folks), and wash my hair without anyone squealing through the windows and watching me soap up.

4:42 p.m. — Then I … want to play in my closet but decide against and decide to go on the laptop and watch Game of Thrones. I get halfway through an episode (after replying to emails) and then I hear the door open. Sigh. Total bliss. I love Daddy + Bun outings. The old me would have gone with them to spend time together but the new selfish me wants to be ALONE.

4:50 p.m. — They come back and my partner prepares dinner.

5:55 p.m. — We eat and it is winding down to bedtime after I do the dishes again. More spearmint tea just to help my acne. At least I hope so.

8:00 p.m. — My partner grumpily tells Baby Bun it is time for bed. Baby Bun looks at me with huge seal baby eyes and says: Explain outside? Books? Mommy?!?!? I soothe him and say we will still do our two books and I will explain outside then sleep. It is our new ritual and I’m not about to change it if it helps him sleep.

8:20 p.m. — I get him ready for bed, read books, explain the world outside, and then we all go to sleep.

9:10 p.m. — Crossly, I tell Baby Bun to stop wiggling. He is not letting me fall asleep. He immediately panics and crawls on my chest, saying: Mommy not upset! Mommy happy! Mommy be happy!!… and I reassure him I am NOT upset, I just want him to sleep and stop moving.

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