Week of Money: Where I am truly not as fit as I should be for my age

DAY ONE

??:?? — It feels early. I am sure Little Bun is up because of a lemon cake waiting on the counter for him.

6:00 a.m. — SIX AM!? .. This kid loves cake. Man. I am at least feeling well-rested.

6:20 a.m. — Tea down, and I eat my slice of the cake. It is a Ladurée recipe and DELICIOUS. I scroll through my Instagram while I take a break…

10:17 a.m. — What I got done this morning in 3 hours:

• Washed and dried all the dishes with Little Bun helping
• Started a load of laundry
• Vacuumed the entire apartment
• Steam mopped the entire apartment
• Showered and curled my hair with the Dyson Airwrap (love it, review here)
• Made green smoothies with a whole box of baby spinach, some leftover carrot curls, one large mango, and a cup of soaked raw cashews with 3 cups of water (Little Bun drinks half a cup)
• Whitened my teeth with a Crest White Strip
• Wrote and scheduled three posts for the blog — I am up to the end of August now, I’d like a 2 week buffer into September so I can handle Little Bun’s school transition
• Answered all the comments on Instagram and the Blog

And who says parents aren’t efficient?

10:40 a.m. — Have you done this yet? I am sort of excited at how many trees I am planting with just searching (they use the revenue to give to the charities)..

12:01 p.m. — I finish scanning all of my receipts that have been piling up for months, and I trim Little Bun’s hair (little pieces sticking out).

12:28 p.m. — Lunch time. Little Bun tells me he is STARVING. Kid, you have no idea what starving really means.. so I sideeye him and tell him he won’t die. He can wait.

1:02 p.m. — I head out for the afternoon. Need a break. Also want to pick up some ingredients for a vegan Thai curry experiment I am doing later this week for dinner…

2:16 p.m. — I find boxed coconut cream (we don’t have a can opener so I need to get creative), buy some red Thai chili paste (don’t want to make it quite yet until I am sure this is a good thing), and some seaweed from Maine from a brand called VitaminSea because I am trying to avoid products from Japan as much as possible (radiation…. My matcha tea, I googled, is higher up in the mountains away from the radiation, but seaweed FOR SURE is in the ocean, so this is a strictly on a eat-as-little-as-possible basis). $35.17

3:26 p.m. — I come home. Little Bun is squealing and happy, I guess he ate cake?

6:47 p.m. — Dinner time. Omelette with a salad.

7:20 p.m. — Uh oh. Is my gastritis back? I feel violently sick, and my stomach hurts terribly.

9:33 p.m. — I am very very tired. I did not get to nap, Little Bun and my partner DID nap, so they are fine, but I am dragging, having been up since 6:30. Bedtime for me.

Spent: $35.17

DAY TWO

??:?? — Tired. It must be early.

6:00 a.m. — WHAT? SIX AM? .. Little Bun is bouncing like Tigger, and runs to the kitchen to get his piece of lemon cake.

6:12 a.m. — I make a cup of tea, I eat my cake slowly, and I am .. tired. Little Bun isn’t feeling so great either, he is quite whiny, to be honest.

9:10 a.m. — I snap. THREE HOURS OF WHINING. Whining, crying, wiggling, screaming.. WHY DID HE WAKE UP SO EARLY. Oh RIGHT, CAKE. I snap and lose my @%*@%) … and when we both finally calm down, I tell him that Mommy tried the Nice way for 3 hours, and she had to scream with the Hard way, which is the only way he seems to listen when he is like this. I tell him he is grumpy because he hasn’t slept. I tell him that Mommy is also grumpy but has been super effing patient until this point, and I need him to work with me, because we are BOTH grumpy.

9:30 a.m. — I need a break. I am out of here. I head out pretending to run errands, but in reality, I do mail something (sold another item on Poshmark Canada! Use code SHERRYISH for $15 to spend),

10:40 a.m. — Home. Oh, it looks like Little Bun got French Fries for lunch, which is a real treat for him. They taste great, homemade. I don’t really like ketchup so I just have salt on them. Actually, we don’t even own ketchup in the house, so even if I wanted any, I couldn’t have any.

12:44 p.m. — I try to snooze for 20 minutes and end up sort of regaining some mental acuity. But I cannot be here when he is going down for his nap, he refuses to nap when I am at home, so I head out. Again.

1:25 p.m. — At a farther-than-usual thrift store, I scour the racks and only find a little green pendant. It looks like glass, not stone, and it is not plastic. It is kind of cute, as a layering piece. I pick that up.

2:37 p.m. — Hmm.. A sequinned top. I kind of have always wanted one to be honest, as a layering piece… what the heck. I want it too.

3:09 p.m. —  As I am about to leave, I zero in on a gorgeous grey wool cape shawl coat thing. WHAT IS THIS? I google the brand Tavan and Mitto and realize it is a $500 – $800 coat I am holding in my hands. It is so cool and retro but yet quite modern. MUST HAVE. $15.50

3:09 p.m. — I got lost on the highways coming back. They’ve ripped everything up. It is a huge mess.

3:13 p.m. — My partner heads out. As he is getting ready I hear a squeak in the bedroom and he goes to check on Little Bun but he was just squeaking in his sleep. All is quiet on the western front. I spend time listing more things on Poshmark. I am almost done. Just jewellery left to list.

4:46 p.m. — I am getting hungry. But my partner will be making bread tonight for dinner, and I really don’t want to end up feeling too full and a bit sick, if I drink this smoothie and cannot finish my dinner.

7:15 p.m. — We finally eat. He baked the bread too late, it was too hot to eat, I didn’t care, I was starving. I eat that, the salad and drink my smoothie.

9:16 p.m. — Bedtime. Our wakeup times are 6 a.m. now, this is really taking a toll on me but I can’t get him to bed sooner because I am too tired to wrangle him. Plan B — I am going to be taking him to the park a lot, to work off his energy.

Spent: $15.50

DAY THREE

??:?? — Tired.

6:00 a.m. — Yep. That’s what I thought. SIX AM. I am beat. I lie in bed while my partner takes care of him.

6:20 a.m. — I finally get out of bed, and do a little exercise – 20 minutes because I have zero endurance, and I am starting slow to not re-injure my knee again. So far, so good.

6:43 a.m. — Man.. I am really not in shape, cardio-wise for sure. Plus my knee is still feeling tight. I can at least work on my arms and abs, but have to really baby this knee.

6:51 a.m. — I make a tea, and then spend the morning listing a few more things for sale. I am carefully going through everything, and thus far, want to keep 90% of it, but at least have about 3 garbage bag full-worth of stuff I am reselling on Poshmark. I have about 100+ listings now.

9:11 a.m. — Little Bun has been fed, with a smoothie, cherries and pasta by my partner. He is also starting on the bedroom today, painting this disgusting teal colour out to a neutral grey. It will make me feel less stressed I am sure. So, I take Little Bun to the park.

10:16 a.m. — This is nice and relaxing. He plays, I read a book. I need to start wearing longer shirts and pants though, bugs are just eating me alive.

11:00 a.m. — Little Bun is throwing sand again, and I tell him that if he does it again, we’re going home. Sure enough, HE DOES IT AGAIN. So we head home. He is whining and really upset, but this is the time to stick to your guns because you MEAN IT. I wipe down his feet amidst his screaming, and bundle him into the car. I explain that he has a chance to come back to the park in the afternoon if he doesn’t give me any more trouble. ACTIONS have CONSEQUENCES, I tell him.

11:16 a.m. — Home, I wash his feet out of all the sand, and we have lunch. At least, I try to eat my lunch (he already ate a lot this morning), but he wants my food too, so he ends up eating pasta, tomatoes, basil and cheese again.

1:46 p.m. — I do all the dishes, and manage to read a book for a solid 45 minutes or so. This is big. HUGE. He goes down for his short nap, and then we will go out and play in a toy store like I promised.

2:15 p.m. — I throw on a Crest Whitestrip for 30 minutes. I so rarely do these (once every 5 years or so), but when my teeth get very yellow, it does make a difference in my mood and smile.

3:17 p.m. — Little Bun is up. I give him milk, and he eagerly asks to go to a store to play with toys. My partner took the car, so …. this may not happen today, I don’t want to get stuck in traffic. I may do it tomorrow instead in the morning as an activity. I know a toy store nearby he can play and hang out in, or we can look at books….

4:02 p.m. — We are going to the park instead. I don’t like getting stuck in traffic.

4:14 p.m. — Nope. Scratch that, it is raining.

4:30 p.m. — I entertain him with reading books, but I am so sleepy even while reading the dang books that I doze off, sitting upright as he is opening flaps and reading the words inside.

4:50 p.m. — I feed him dinner and then some cherries as a bribe to eat said dinner.

6:28 p.m. — Night nonsense. Just reading, playing….

9:33 p.m. — Why the heck am I so full of energy now? He is tired and getting himself to bed but I’m wide awake and reading.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — My whole body aches. I’ve been doing modified pushups whenever I’ve been sitting, and random exercises … my whole body aches.

6:00 a.m. — Ugh. There is no milk for Little Bun they didn’t deliver yesterday. So, he has pasta for breakfast with cheese, and a bowl of homemade goat’s milk yoghurt.

6:22 a.m. — I check the weather – pleasant and nice! I decide to take him out to the park.

9:10 a.m. — Still at the park. He is able to play alone unsupervised like a hawk, and I finish reading my book. There are no kids around even though it is summer, they’ve all been packed off to camps as their parents have to work. It is quite peaceful.

9:34 a.m. — I shift down the bench as the sun creeps closer and closer to burning me out. I hate being in the sun and only like the shade.

10:03 a.m. — We head home. Actually, we tried to. He got distracted by a kid blowing bubbles on the playground and suddenly they were besties because he was blowing the bubbles and Little Bun was running around trying to pop them.

11:12 a.m. — Home now. Finally. Soaked, covered in sand… I feed him lunch, make my own lunch of which he eats half of (I thought ahead, so I made extra), and then feed him and myself cherries and have a green smoothie.

My favourite recipe for a green smoothie right now is:

• 50g of coconut cream
• 1-2 mangoes
• 1 banana
• 1 box of baby spinach or kale
• 1 cup of soaked overnight cashews
• 3 cups of water
• 1 cup of hemp seeds

This particular recipe is extremely creamy, sweet from the fruit, and a little nutty. Both coconutty and just nutty from the hemp seeds and cashew, slightly “gritty” but doesn’t really bother me, my Vitamix is a monster. I am still tweaking the recipe and once I have it, I will publish it. I feel like I could add a little lime in there to brighten it all up… or some ginger juice.

12:08 p.m. — I need to buy him a new hat. I have no idea where his went. My fave brand is Tirigolo, made in Granby Québec. They are only in French so.. umm.. yes. Use google translate. The hat I buy is here… Shipping over $85 is free, but the hat only cost $2.50 to ship to me as I am in Quebec as well. At least they don’t screw you over in shipping prices <3

12:28 p.m. — I am down for MY nap… Little Bun is resisting hard, but after 20 minutes, passes out. He REALLY ran hard at the park today.

1:25 p.m. — I wake up from my nap. I feel refreshed, not overly tired, and this is all good.

1:34 p.m. — I hear a squeal from Little Bun, and I go to “meh meh” him to let him know I am still here, but he turns around and just falls back asleep.

1:51 p.m. — Shoot. I have to measure his head for the hat. Do I risk it while he sleeps?

2:05 p.m. — I find a recipe for gazpacho and am I excited! I have wanted to do gazpacho for such a long time, ever since I had it in Spain, and the recipe is here from the NY Times (you have to log in / sign up for an account to see the recipe but not pay anything). I would post it directly here but I don’t know about copyrights so I’d rather you use the link to see it. Contact me if you can’t get it though, I’ll send it over. Or let me know in the comments and I will email you 😉

2:21 p.m. — I pop in a Crest Whitestrip. My teeth are getting whiter, but I don’t want them TOO blindlingly white, just to remove the stains from over the years.

3:34 p.m. — Little Bun is up! I measure his head quickly (51cm) and order a hat. <3 $29.26

3:56 p.m. — I complain about a spa – Elmwood Spa – and they just write back saying they’ll share the feedback with senior management. I write back: That’s it? ... Listen, I spent over $180 on one of the worst massages I have ever had in my life, the least they could do is offer a coupon or something for a second visit to make up for the service, even if I can’t use it until next year. Their response afterwards was — Oh we meant we would share it with management and then get back to you …. Even their communication is unclear.

4:15 p.m. — I make the gazpacho later that day, I put a too-large clove of raw garlic, next time I am choosing a tiny little one, and I love the taste of it, but should have used heirloom tomatoes instead of the grocery ones. The grocery ones had zero flavour, and it didn’t help the soup.

I started with this:

It ended up like this in the blender, raw and vegan:

And result!

It is cool, it is refreshing, and I really like it but ruined it with that garlic.. especially RAW! 🙂

7:20 p.m. — Nonsense until bedtime – math drills, playing with “ducklings” (lego blocks) and trucks.

Spent: $29.26

DAY FIVE

8:08 a.m. — I head out early. I need a break. I head into Starbucks, and treat myself to a chai latte in a Cuppow glass mug, and read through my Kobo Glo. $6

12:28 p.m. — I made it 15 days without eating out or buying any drinks outside, so I treat myself to my goal – a vegan Crab Burger. I have been craving this for a while now, and it tastes so much better.. It is free because I use my Copper Branch points, and I also order via the mobile app so that part of my purchase goes towards saving the Rainforest. I do this even if I want to eat in at the restaurant (no takeout packaging for me), and I just tell them to make it for here, not to go. $0

12:56 p.m. — I head over to my pedicure. $75

2:15 p.m. — Pedicure over, I head home. And Little Bun, steps right on my toe. Of course he does. Now I have to go back and get it fixed.. SIGH.

9:22 p.m. — Nonsense until bedtime.

Spent: $81

DAY SIX

??:?? — Tired. He is waking up earlier and earlier sometimes.

6:00 a.m. —

7:59 a.m. —

9:26 a.m. — I get my pedicure fixed.

11:22 a.m. — I pick up some vegetables and more food for smoothies. $21.56

12:08 p.m. — OMG. I LOST MY BROOCH on my outfit… I was wearing this today, and Little Bun picked out my vintage 1940s flower brooch to pin on my skirt…

2:28 p.m. — I am frantic. I drove back and forth across the city at least twice, searching for this brooch. I am almost in tears.

3:11 p.m. — Home. No brooch. F#%(#%)..  I am really sad. But it is just jewellery right? I am being stupid for almost crying. It is just stuff. Breathe. STUFF. But it was a unique one of a kind brooch. F#%*#%(…. I am really sad.

4:27 p.m. — My partner finishes repainting the entire bedroom in a neutral colour. The previous owners put deep dark teal in the room that was so jarring… and painting over it is like a huge, bright, space now.

8:50 p.m. — Nonsense until bedtime. I am sort of depressed the entire day.

Spent: $21.56

DAY SEVEN

6:40 a.m. — Wake up depressed. I am going to give it one last chance. I will go back to the areas, canvass the restaurants and shops, search the lots again and see if I can find it. But really, I think in my heart, I know someone took it. It was too big to be missed, and too beautiful. Plus, in the time frame from when I last had it and where I ended up going, is not like it has been 3 days. I know it is gone.

7:16 a.m. — I do a quick workout. I am supposed to do 4 cycles of the following but I am so out of shape, I can only do 2 without stopping, and I want to work up to being able to do 2 without feeling out of breath before adding on a third. I have to take baby steps and be kinder to myself, rather than thinking I am a huge failure at everything. The Commando pushups are by far the worst for me because I have ZERO arm muscle. I have been trying to do nightly push-ups and I am hoping in a month they will be easier.

• 30 Star Jumps / Jumping Jacks
• 20 Heel Taps (on the floor, knees bent, tapping heels side to side)
• 30 Second Plank
• 20 Lunges
• 30 Mountain Climbers
• 16 Commando pushups

8:08 a.m. — I feed Little Bun. He has pasta, then a banana.

10:11 a.m. — You know what, I am going to let it go. I am going to just breathe in, and let it go. I have so many other beautiful jewellery pieces, it is dumb to focus on this one. I need to let go. I hope it went to a good home, where someone loves it.

10:42 a.m. — I am watching Revenge Body episodes because I need motivation, but some of these people are really entitled. I am surprised – the show is sure, all fluff, but you still have to work to get a real body and change. Either you want to do it, or you don’t. No one is forcing you to be on the show, to lose weight. You say you want to get ripped in 3 months, well here it is, get to it. I think once faced with a challenge and the work involved, much like learning about money management, people freeze and would rather ignore it than struggle through it.

12:08 p.m. —I have lunch, and then head back out to canvass the places. Nada.

4:28 p.m. —Home. I haven’t found it at all.

6:22 p.m. — Dinner. Then nonsense until bedtime.

Spent: $0

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