Week of Money: Where I actually hold my handstand for the first time!!!!

Update: I must have hit Schedule on the post by accident when I went to save it, and then since it was Scheduled, I never checked it… *LAUGH* I chalk it up to being a one-woman show. Sorry. You only get 4 days not 7 this time 😉

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up a bit tired. We slept “early” last night but as I drank 2 gulps of wine, I am having something like a fuzzy morning. I never drink, so I am truly a lightweight, like Mr. Monk (if anyone caught that reference to the show, I am basically him when I drink.)

6:10 a.m. — I log in and try to work through my 30-task list. I have so many ideas and things to do, but it takes time to write it all down, and Little Bun has been hogging my time trying to play with me. I need to start setting more boundaries so I can get stuff done and not miss tax deadlines, payments, etc.

7:59 a.m. — I do all of the dishes, dry them, do laundry, and then we spend the morning going through and he is helping me measure my purses. I have to plan out what the bookcase will hold / look like.

My partner is thinking I am going to have a huge bookcase with my purses displayed, but I simply have NO SPACE for that. One or two purses would take up the entire space with their handles. I need it for other things like sweaters, jewellery bags, etc.

I also joked to him: What, you want it to look like this? I am going to need to go shopping to get a few bags I am missing <3 You know, like that Hermès Kelly……

11:50 a.m. — We have crêpes for lunch, and then I try to help Little Bun beat his levels in Two Dots (we enjoy playing together but this game really sucks a lot out of my brain mentally).

2:29 a.m. — I do blog admin stuff, organizing categories, deleting them, updating them, adding tags.. all of this stuff takes TIME. Blogging is not a passive pursuit but it is worth it (Book: Start a Blog Like a Boss to get you going)… and my revenue increase has been crazy from one year to the next.

Update: It went over $500 by the end of the month.

5:52 p.m. — I practice my Handstands, and I CAN HOLD IT FOR A SECOND OR TWO! This is amazing progress because last year, I couldn’t even get up against the wall without falling. IT IS SO AMAZING. I am going to start uploading my videos I normally do on Instagram, to Youtube so that blog readers can watch them too <3

This is my channel if you’d like to subscribe. I have plans to do proper videos later, but for now, they may be kind of random. Apparently I need 1000 subscribers to make my channel a custom URL and so on… so we will see. I should plan out what to do with it. I don’t have anything up at the moment.

7:07 p.m. — Out of the blue, my partner suddenly asks how much my brother paid for his place. I say around $1M or so.. (?)… but then I realize my partner is asking because he wants to move to the middle of nowhere and have no one around him at all. *sigh* … I DO NOT WANT TO MOVE. I like this place, I like the area, I like everything about it. He just doesn’t like the neighbours, unfortunately the old ones sold last year and these new ones are truly… O_o ….. I can only hope they’ll sell too one day, and we will outlive them. In the meantime, I have to mitigate my partners’ expectations because if we want to still keep working on occasion (AND I DO)… we have to be in this area and not in the middle of some countryside otherwise my commute shoots up to 2 hours one-way, so 4 in total.

8:28 p.m. — We spend the night looking at places. Honestly, it’s all under $500K for a very decent, nice place. Even a brand new build is $400K with 1-acre lots in the middle of nowhere. But we have to be COMMITTED to retiring and no longer working. He’s just a country mouse not cut out for the city, as everything bothers him especially noise. The issue is that our neighbour runs the A/C 24/7 and their A/C unit is loud. It doesn’t bother us during the day, but at night, he can’t sleep because of the noise, and he is starting to get very annoyed after a few weeks of not sleeping. he is now contemplating acreage so we have no one around for at least 10 minutes, and we are still close to civilization (?)

9:10 p.m. — Time for bed. Little Bun and I always spend about 15 minutes chatting. He makes up stories, tells me things he thought about, and I always tell him how much he is loved. I suspect children never tire of hearing it. I know I wouldn’t.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up ‘late’ … I feel a little bit rested.

7:18 a.m. — Oh this is nice. I got an extra half an hour in which has helped a lot. I was asked and have been asked to do a course online, like a webinar of sorts but I am … not into it. It sounds like work. A lot of work. But I do feel antsy and maybe this will take the edge off if I do this. I make a cup of matcha.

8:12 a.m. — Little Bun and I sit together happily as he stickers in his book, he colours, he asks me questions… we make up stories. He’s such a good child and I feel a bit bad because I am falling into a kind of rut where I have zero motivation to do anything, even play with him.

11:08 a.m. — Lunchtime. I could eat mashed potatoes and chicken which my partner made, but I make noodles instead, I feel like something comforting.

12:15 p.m. — I make a second cup of tea, with a tiny splash of milk. I can’t drink these things black.

1:01 p.m. — Down for his nap, I feel antsy but lazy. It’s such an odd combination of wanting to do something and yet not wanting to do a single thing at all.

2:20 p.m. — Oh and this is my small closet makeover plan, now that the wire shelving is out. Also, why am I putting so much energy into this if we aren’t going to stay here long-term? I hate this. I thought this was our forever home.

3:11 p.m. — I spend time researching, and end up buying these nailpolishes. I need to feel like a human again, and getting a pedicure is out of the question for at least the next year. I better just start learning how to do my own toenails at home if I want to pamper myself a little. I already have these items so I only bought the top coat and polish: $123.24

• Amope Electric Rechargeable Foot Filer – This is amazing and I use it once a week to keep my heels from cracking
• Tenoverten is the gold standard in top coats for nails and is 8-free, vegan, cruelty-free, & non-toxic, then you can use any nail polish underneath this amazing top coat and it will last
• Acetone-free nailpolish remover
• Cuticle nipper and pusher tools
• O’Keefe Foot Cream – The best for softening rough patches on your feet, lather it on, put some socks on, sleep.

3:11 p.m. — OK I lied. I end up also supporting a local comic author Wawawiwacomics online whom I love (his comics are so wholesome and sweet), and buy his book A Visual Hug and another one I had been eying – DK Eyewitness Elements for Little Bun. We can do a page a day with the elements, and it has interesting facts and ideas. I know Little Bun will love A Visual Hug because he is in love with the Milk Toof books I bought years ago.  $61.71

They’re wonderful comics. I want Little Bun to enjoy them as well.

4:56 p.m. — It’s been a ‘crazy’ shopping month for me. I better scale back.

5:43 p.m. — Little Bun refused to give me 10 Mommy Minutes. I asked for JUST TEN OF THEM so I could make notes to myself for tomorrow to transfer out bank balances and fees, pay bills, etc. He starts to wail, and I snap. I go into the second bedroom to calm down and leave him to scream.

While I am in there, my partner says: What did you do now!? Behave yourself!….

And I am thinking silently: Oh yeah that’s going to work. DIFFUSE THE SITUATION.

Normally, he lets him cry it out and leaves him alone but this time…. something must have clicked because he goes in, and he comforts him, and suddenly.. within 2 minutes, he is giggling and laughing in the living room, completely fine. WTF. Anyway, I sit in the second bedroom and try to calm down, stewing, while my partner takes care of Little Bun.

6:25 p.m. — Still in here. This is nice. I should do this more often. I end up stress shopping and impulsively go on Etsy and buy an Edwardian nightshirt that I plan on using as a dress. I have plans for it to be a cool interesting dress. $104.21

6:50 p.m. — Little Bun’s shadow darkens the second bedroom door… and then I hear a heartbreaking wail as he starts sobbing at my door. He usually does this when he can’t take it any longer being separated from me when I am at home. He sobs at my door (it’s not even locked, but he assumes it is), and then my partner whispers: Why don’t we knock to say “Mommy let us in?”.…. and Little Bun clams up, knocks, and I see his wet, pink, tear-stained face snuggled into my partner’s chest. I take him, and cuddle him. I’m calm now, but I definitely need to start taking separated pockets of time, an hour in the morning, an hour in the evening where I am away from him physically (not even in the same room).

7:18 p.m. — I spent all of today, explaining how much I love living here. Right in the city, close to public transit, near a great school district and university within a short distance, in a nice neighbourhood that is safe, close to all amenities and grocery stores…. I mean, you really can’t beat this place. I love being EXACTLY HERE in this spot, and not anywhere else as it is also quiet and peaceful. I am so passionate, I am almost near tears. I told him I’d move to the country so he could sleep but then what would I do if I wanted to take a contract? It would mean a 4-hour commute!!! AT LEAST.

8:25 p.m. — My partner finally ‘solves’ the A/C problem by blocking the vents to stop the neighbour’s A/C noise in the bedroom, and then redirects the other vents down the hallway to cool the bedroom. We may need some screen shelving or something like that to redirect the air into the bedroom. This is a much better solution than selling our apartment (which I love) and moving.

9:30 p.m. — Time for bed. Little Bun tells me sleepily: Mommy I am too tired. Can you please tuck in the Stuffies and make sure they have their protective pillow for bedtime? …. I reply: Yes baby, I will …. and then he says: And don’t forget to kiss them. 4 for the Biggest Stuffie and 2 for the Babiest One.

I feel like I am already a grandmother. O_o … if this is how it’s going to be…. LOL!!!!!!

Spent: $289.16

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up before Little Bun, and take out my book I was reading in solitude in the second bedroom when I was angry: Dress like a Parisian. I don’t agree with all of her ‘rules’ like not mixing super saturated bright colours together: Case in point – Orange sweater, bright pink belt, red skirt…. but I do agree with some of her assessments of colours and pairings.

7:00 a.m. — I get up with Little Bun who hugs me in the morning, grab his milk and I make some tea.

7:35 a.m. — I log in and do my 20 tasks on my banking list today for bills and scheduling while he plays on the computer beside me quietly. At 9, I will take an hour to myself in the second bedroom.

Insert Brain SNAFU

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Want more? Read all of my previous Week of Money Diaries.