Week of Money: Where my body realizes it hasn’t worked out in a long time

DAY ONE

??:?? — Little Bun is up. I am tired. I want to go to sleep….. and sleep more. Another hour or so could do me….

6:23 a.m. — I make a tea. OMG. I am in so much pain right now.. I am aching all over. My legs, my thighs, my arms especially, and shoulders. I can’t really lift my arms.

6:44 a.m. — I log in and work.

10:08 a.m. — I time in the morning trying to figure out how to fold a fitted sheet. See, I am an adult, intelligent by all accounts but properly folding a fitted sheet #%(*’ing eludes me. This is my first attempt with the “this is the last video you will ever need to fold a fitted sheet” claims… which are LIES

Yeah. Home diva I am not. This is my first attempt with all these videos I googled.

In the first videos I watched, they are already folding and flipping corners and I am still trying to figure out where the hell the corners are to fold over each other. By the time I find a corner, they’ve already had it neatly folded on top of itself and pressed into a flat piece. O_o I had to keep going back and re-watching and re-watching and it was NOT SINKING IN.

10:15 a.m. — I finally come across this video and this is THE most helpful one of the bunch…. because it shows me THIS image of what it SHOULD look like as the end result.. and then it clicked in my head.

ET VOILÀ! It is neatly folded as much as it can be (it is a fluffier sheet), and looks better.

11:40 a.m. — Time for lunch.

12:16 p.m. — I pull down a box (about 30 pounds) from up high and my arms almost buckle. I am REALLY weak and aching all over from yesterday’s yoga workout. I contemplate asking my partner to put it back up when he comes home but in the end, I just grit my teeth and lift it up over my head to put it back. Owwwwww…..

12:50 p.m. — Back to work.

2:56 p.m. — Time for some noodles!

3:27 p.m. — I am dancing as I am working to Aaliyah – We need a resolution… she was SO talented. I still listen to her songs and love dancing to the beat.

5:04 p.m. — I log off. Waiting on two people. Hoping to get their stuff in by tomorrow in my Inbox. I start on the dishes, and two loads of laundry.

6:01 p.m. — Little Bun conks out and goes down for the night. He woke up early, and didn’t sleep for his nap, so he is tired.

6:21 p.m. — I finish all the dishes and dry them while watching Tamborine – Chris Rock. Apparently this TruSkin is the most wished for anti-aging serum on Amazon right now… but if you want to really have an anti-aging heavy hitter, nothing beats retinol, and this one apparently on Amazon is a hot item as well.

7:44 p.m. — I am really.. really aching. I can barely lift my arms to put the dishes away. MAN. I really went hard on the pushups. I sort of want to do it again in a few more days once my body heals to do some Sun Saluations at least.

8:00 p.m. — I go down for bed too.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

3:33 a.m. — This is early. Little Bun conked out at 6 so of course he is up. OMFG. I try to get him back to sleep.. desperately.

4:01 a.m. — Okay, he is up. I grab blankets and shift us to the other bedroom so I can hand him a mini iPad and conk back to sleep. I actually go into a deep sleep as he colours on the mini iPad in his app… and I am so tired I don’t hear a thing.

5:44 a.m. — Phew. I slept a bit. I don’t feel as sick or as dizzy…

6:12 a.m. — I start getting ready for work…

8:08 a.m. — At work, get lots of compliments on my outfit. I think it has to do with my shoes… and legs.

12:08 p.m. — Time for lunch. I eat meatballs, quinoa and a hummus…

1:11 p.m. — Back to work. YAY! Not. We put up a Christmas tree..

2:30 p.m. — I want to leave. So bored. Tired.

3:17 p.m. — Chanel is banning exotic furs and skins from their line… and that is considered groundbreaking. O_o I thought that was already being done, why the hell are we still torturing and skinning animals JUST for their fur and skins, not even for their meat? Complete, disgusting nonsense.

4:23 p.m. — I head home.

4:47 p.m. — I mail off all the Christmas cards..$7.58

4:51 p.m. — Dream closet <3

5:25 p.m. — I make noodles and then feed Little Bun and do compound words with him (his new favourite game).

6:26 p.m. —  I do all the dishes and dry them.

6:40 p.m. — My partner brings home cheese and bread..

8:33 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $7.58

DAY THREE

??:?? — It’s early but based on the light outside not THAT early..

6:19 a.m. — Not bad. I call this sleeping in.

6:03 a.m. — The inspiration for my outfit was originally this:

I dress and then change my skirt because I didn’t like how it looked because the studs made a bit of noise…

7:14 a.m. — I leave for work and traffic is a thousand times worse than when I leave 10 minutes earlier. O_o

8:08 a.m. — At work. It takes me half an hour longer if I leave 10 minutes later….

9:24 a.m. — What a fantastic outfit — Valentino rockstud heels with black opaque tights and I LOVE these Valentino BOOTS!

11:08 a.m. — My dumbass forgot my lunch at home. #%#%… I have to go out to buy something. I get a sandwich and some fancy cookies to share with the team. $20.90

12:28 p.m. — Tea break.

2:16 p.m. — ALMOST TIME TO GO.

4:25 p.m. — I head home.

5:05 p.m. — At home, Little Bun squeals and greets me then goes back to this animated superlative interactive book – The Magic of Reality – Richard Dawkins… It is a fantastic app and a lot of fun for kids…

6:19 p.m. — I make noodles and then finish cleaning up.

6:21 p.m. — I go and play with Little Bun, making up little games with his cardboard cars and trucks, hiding and finding number, little felt puppets… it is what he loves, so I play with him and marvel at how BIG HE IS NOW. He is still so small and sweet, but I remember when he was just a chubby little baby with the chunkiest thighs…

7:40 p.m. — Time for getting ready for bed. I do my face routine, and am impatient for these sunspots to bleach out of my skin… plus I have been loading retinols lately..

8:29 p.m. — Bedtime. Little Bun refuses to sleep. He wiggles and wiggles…

Spent: $20.90

DAY FOUR

??:?? — Nosebleed. He refuses to let me hold his nose and to stop the bleeding and starts screaming and crying. We are both exhausted trying to get him to calm down and LET ME HOLD HIS NOSE to stop the bleeding!!!

??:?? — WTF. So tired. He wakes up and I get him to go to his father (who was already awake) to get his milk. His father greets him happily and chirpily, and also helps him to the bathroom while I try to desperately get more sleep in.

5:22 a.m. — So early…

5:50 a.m. — Time for some tea. I make a bowl of matcha..

6:04 a.m. — Time to work.

8:23 a.m. — I feed Little Bun his usual breakfast of oatmeal (he loves it…. it is kind of amazing)

8:37 a.m. — I quickly scroll through Instagram a little..

..and this looks silly. Looks like it was just styled terribly….

9:00 a.m. — I make warm noodles for myself. Have been craving them again, love this stuff.. can’t get enough. Must be all the nutritional yeast and the B12 that has me addicted to it. Plus, if I eat, I won’t feel the need to buy something outside to eat and will save money. Win-Win. I have to learn how to stop just deciding to splurge on little ‘treats’ here and there, because it adds up…. :S

9:45 a.m. — I take Little Bun out to run some quick errands – need to pick up some Oral-B Super floss on sale….. I love this stuff for the bridge under my teeth. $23

10:15 a.m. — Back home. I give Little Bun an almond cookie (homemade from a colleague).

12:08 p.m. — Time for a call.

1:33 p.m. — Call over. I go back to eating my cookies. Little Bun was refusing to nap until I desperately tell him his father was upset with Mommy that he was no longer napping at home with me, and it was making him sad. Little Bun looks up at me, and then turns over in his blanket and closes his eyes. He falls asleep to some rhythmic bum patting.

2:05 p.m. — Read this clear explanation of “Baby it’s cold outside” is not a song about rape in the time it was written but obviously it was misinterpreted with TODAY’S modern reading of the lyrics as a song about drugging a girl and raping her.

2:40 p.m. — OB-SESSED with finding some black studded shoes now. I guess I could try buying these much cheaper and super similar pairs online and satisfy my craving that way but will I be happy? I add shoes to my cart, then shut the browser down because I cannot justify this purchase right now. Need to breathe on it. Would I even wear them as often as I think? Perhaps not. It seems very one-note and like a ‘one-look’ that might be not worth the $100-ish price tag.

2:47 p.m. — Oh and I really want these gorgeous cashmere turtlenecks but so to squash this or to fuel my lust for them, I’ll go try them on tomorrow to see if I should splurge or not. They are pretty much 100% exactly what I am looking for. Interesting bishop sleeve, perfect knit without being too chunky, a nice thick ribbed neck, fitted and yet slightly oversized…. but trying them on in-person may yield another answer.. AND THEY ARE CASHMERE. I generally hate BR wool (too itchy and cheap)…

5:04 p.m. — I end up going downstairs early to hang out and do some things in the car (clean up a bit) while waiting for the buyer. She ends up coming an HOUR later, but traffic is usually bad at this time, and Little Bun was having fun playing, so as he told me he wanted to go back upstairs, she arrived just in time as we were coming up the stairs.

6:06 p.m. — I  sell the necklace — this statement 3-strand pearled thing that I got from Forever21 and thought would be a nice classic fun necklace (a la Carrie Bradshaw if anyone gets that Sex and the City reference), but I just never end up wearing it because it is too precious — too many faux pearls, too big, and always making me feel like it isn’t quite right. I think I am more the long strand of pearls type, something that I can loop around my head once or twice)… + $5

6:08 p.m. — I pick up our packages from the concierge – the Le Creuset Tatin pan in cast iron, and the gorgeous Little Deer maplewood handmade cooking utensils. They are BEAUTIFUL, they shipped quickly, and aren’t that expensive if you consider the handmade craftmanship, locally made, hand-signed.. and they are so sweet. We spent about $400 (including taxes and shipping of $25) on a set of items and my partner flips through the catalogue they included to see what else he could want.

6:11 p.m. — Little Bun makes a huge mess on the floor and when I try to play with him to clean it up and get it out of the bedroom (he started putting puzzle pieces and toys in his clothing baskets), he LOSES HIS #%#%… I try to stay calm but I am also tired, and he keeps screaming and emptying the boxes of stuff I am filling to bring it to the other room, screaming: I WANT TO MAKE A MESS. I WANT THIS TO BE LIKE THIS. IT DOESN’T GO THERE… CONSTANT SCREAMING.

6:13 p.m. — I try to leave the room to let my brain take a break from the screaming but he follows me, and I eventually snap. I scream back, and he gets even louder… I KNOW that is not the logical thing to do, but man when you’re sleep deprived, tired, having done a whole day, waited an hour for a buyer, and now he wants to act up for no reason, you are freakin’ losing your mind no matter what your logical brain tells you.

6:20 p.m. — I finally take control of my anger, sit down on the edge of our futon, and wait for him to come. I hold out my arms, and he climbs into them, sobbing, his whole body shaking, crying, unable to control his emotions (obviously, he is only 4.5)

6:24 p.m. — I just hug him. We hug it out. I hug him, rub his back, his arms tighten around me, and I push his head down on my shoulder and rub his hair, hugging him, and kissing his cheek and neck, wiping his tears away.

6:33 p.m. — He calms down, and when he is calm, I start to explain why I lost my temper (which triggers another screaming fit), and I tell him: Shhh shh, you have to listen to me. Mommy was sad because you were sad.

6:35 p.m. — He bursts into tears and says very loudly and empathically (but not screaming it): But NO. ONLY ONE sad. One sad, one happy. ONE SAD ONE HAPPY. He pats his body and says — SAD, and taps my chest and says — HAPPY. I tell him that isn’t how it works and Mommies are not happy when their Babies are sad. They are sad too. They just want their Babies to be happy but he insists that I stay happy in the face of him being sad.

6:36 p.m. — I almost start laughing it is so irrational, but I tell him that I will work as a Mommy to stay calm and happy when he is sad, but he has to also work as my Baby to NOT be sad and to listen to me, or at least explain what he wants before getting angry. I tell him I didn’t understand what he wanted to do with the toys (which boxes were to stay empty, which ones filled), and he nods.

6:43 p.m. — We hug it out again. And all is good. Parenting is hard AF. I kiss his cheeks and tell him I love him more than anything, and he nods. His eye darts over to the corner and sees a “fuzzy” which is basically a dust bunny. I haven’t vacuumed in a week, and he almost starts to lose it but just points and says loudly: MOMMY MOMMY, FUZZY FUZZY…. and I calm him down with a hand on his chest, and I tell him I’ll bring him Happy Colour to play with while I vacuum, is that okay? He nods.

6:45 p.m. — I bring him the iPad, he starts colouring on there (tapping the numbers for each colour), but before that happens he sees that I changed the background to his picture and he is about to lose it again, but I calm him down and explain that I thought it was nice to see him on the iPad, and he shakes his head, on the verge of tears and tells me he didn’t want it changed. I soothe him, and tell him to change it back then, and Mommy is sorry, I will ask him next time she does something like that because she didn’t know. He nods, and changes the wallpaper back to his favourite ocean scene.

6:50 p.m. — I vacuum the entire apartment and calm down.

7:04 p.m. — My partner comes home with a bunch of stuff — he saw my dental floss for my bridge on a 50% off sale so he went to all the pharmacies to buy a stock for me. <3

7:15 p.m. — I feed Litle Bun his dinner, and then make myself noodles again. I can’t seem to get enough. Maybe I am addicted! LOL… I sneakily eat a few Ferroro Rochers I snagged from the office and then do a load of laundry. They say you shouldn’t wash jeans and just freeze them to keep that jean feeling but that always sounded gross to me. I wash my jeans in warm water and with some soapnuts.

7:30 p.m. — I play the “Warm up” game with Little Bun where we cuddle in bed and read books together, and then I get him ready for bed, and we spend the next 25 minutes quietly sitting beside each other. I am reading Sue Grafton’s A is for Alibi (and so far, am loving Kinsey, the private detective a lot, and Grafton’s writing style is very distinctive and clear, almost with a hardboiled detective flair.)

8:16 p.m. — Then, it is time for bed. He gets tucked in and then wiggles over to my side, pushes down my side and puts his heavy head on my belly to sleep. I wrap an arm around him and rub his belly and his head, and tell him he is my good little boy.

Earned: $5

Spent: $23

DAY FIVE

??:?? — Giggling.

??:?? — Whimpering.

6:16 a.m. — I wake up and I feel very tired but I know it must be time to wake up and go. I just didn’t sleep well last night, he woke up whimpering and giggling which broke my sleep.

6:17 a.m. — I get up, grab his milk for him, take him to the bathroom, and then start getting ready. All this dermarolling I am doing to my skin (so far, twice weekly) seems to be fine for my skin in the sense that it heals pretty quickly, within 12 hours. Maybe I can now do dermarolling a bit more often, like every other night. I was warned that retinoids would ‘clean out your pores’ really well, and make bumps appear where you didn’t think there were any because the pore was clogged but dormant. I sort of see that happening, because I see slight bumps appearing but not pimples.

6:20 a.m. — I apply this Kat von D bright orangey-red lipstick in the colour Outlaw, blot it off, then apply this Bobbi Brown Crushed Lip sample I got in the colour Babe. I like them but the orange-red I should have done it in front of the mirror and not my car mirror. The Kat Von D lipglosses are REALLY like tattoos, they are permanent-ish, don’t budge and do eventually wear off but don’t dry your lips out. Really the best of both worlds.

6:55 a.m. — As I go to leave, Little Bun says – Bye Bye Mommy, see you later! – and I cue him to also say: I love you and I will miss you. 😉

7:32 a.m. — I get to work, and root around my bag, searching for my badge. Hope I didn’t forget it at home AGAIN.. LOL.. Oh there it is.

8:05 a.m. — Time for a tea, then my first meeting.

8:20 a.m. — I am sort of looking forward to my lunch — meatballs, quinoa and hummus. Mmmmmm…

9:16 a.m. — I go and brush my teeth. They feel gross and my breath smells weird. I feel much better after, I think I used to forget about brushing teeth but once you get into the habit, you feel strange if your teeth are a little fuzzy and not smooth and slick.

9:20 a.m. — I re-apply the Kat Von D lipstick in Outlaw, a nice deep red with a slight orange tinge to it, a real step out of my comfort zone, really. I decide to go for it instead of mixing it with softer pink colours. I outline my lips neatly (I really am liking this), and go a little outside the lines so that my lips look bigger, fuller and more luscious… a neat trick.

10:41 a.m. — I am basically waiting for some emails to arrive, and in the meantime I am in limbo, with no work but knowing it will hit right after lunch and slam into me like a freight train… ugh.. I wish they would space this stuff out.

11:09 a.m. — Finally, work. I quickly jump on it. I’d like to get this resolved by end of Monday, latest but my side has to be kosher as well.

12:01 p.m. — I break for lunch — MMMMM MEATBALLS… I just can’t get sick of this while I read more of “A is for Alibi” and the story is getting twisty and interesting without being too dramatic, which I like. I’m looking forward to 25 more of her novels (one for every letter)…

2:16 p.m. — I finish up my last email and hope I can get this tied up in a bow before the end of today. I HOPE!!!

3:18 p.m. — Hmm. The thing about red lipstick is you worry about it all day. Is it smudging? Wearing off in the middle leaving a red baboon ring? … this is a high maintenance colour.

3:30 p.m. — Time to go home.

4:09 p.m. — I drop off a package (a return)… turns out the charger was broken, not the actual charger itself, so I am returning the new chargers I got.

4:25 p.m. — At home, Little Bun squeals happily. My partner is watching the riots in France.

5:08 p.m. — He goes out to run errands, and I cuddle Little Bun and play with him. We come up with 40 games to play with vehicles and toys…

6:26 p.m. — I make noodles. And I close one eye and order some studded shoes that are pretty darn good dupes of the Valentino Rockstud shoes that I am not willing to spend money on even secondhand because they are a trendy shoe and not something classic, like my Manolo Blahniks that I wear. This is a sort of unknown brand, called Chris-T. Review to come once I get them. …. The other great pairs are studded that most people buy. $98.96

8:15 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $98.96

DAY SIX

??:?? — Little Bun is squealing.

5:15 a.m. — I get up, make some tea and then start playing with Little Bun. He is SO CUTE right now. His cheeks, his face.. he is ridiculously sweet and cute, I love him so much. I can’t stop kissing him and hugging him.

5:30 a.m. — Why is Little Bun so quiet?…. OH. He is eating. That’s why. He is eating a croissant, and my partner made me one too. I start eating mine and he points to it saying: Mommy, is it yummy?, and I smile and tell him it is.

5:33 a.m. — He goes to wash his hands but before leaving, very cutely tells me: Mommy, you will stay right here and eat your croissant okay? I am going to go wash my hands and I will be back.

5:34 a.m. — He squeals on the way back down the hallway and tells me happily: Mommy! You ate your croissant! You finished it! 

6:30 a.m. — We are watching the riots in France. Hope things are fine and no one gets hurt… These are turbulent times.

7:40 a.m. — Another cup of tea, and we share a banana. Little Bun insists I share it with him and alternate bites. He is very into sharing these days.

7:58 a.m. — I itch my leg, and Little Bun tells me: “Mommy, don’t scratch your leg please. Put some cream on it.” I stop. He is SO CUTE. OMG.

9:08 a.m. — I am watching Serenity right now… the sequel to Firefly, a FANTASTIC series (love anything Nathan Fillion is on).

10:01 a.m. — On the edge of my seat. WHAT A GOOD MOVIE. And a SATISFYING ending for the most part. Finally. I can sleep better now.

11:15 a.m. — I update to the new Gutenberg editor and am FRUSTRATED. I can’t add pictures exactly where I want, I cannot even add a link unless I do HTML directly, and while I like seeing it and typing in preview of how it would look, these are two of the main things I do – add images and links. I switch back to the Classic Editor.

12:28 p.m. — WHAT? THIS TURTLENECK SOLD OUT AT FULL PRICE IN ALL THE SIZES? How is that possible. I quickly order the grey one in small to try it out to see what the hype is all about. FULL intention of returning it by the way. $448.50

1:10 p.m. — I head out for the day. I was going to go downtown and go get my skin assessed by a dermatologist, but it has been SO GOOD lately, with barely any pimples, getting smoother and clearer that I doubt I am going to need anything except some proactive anti-aging like LED lights or something non-invasive which will get $$$$….. So I cancel.

1:24 p.m. — I go to a mall instead to browse – you can read what happened at the mall here – Day of Shopping with Sherry Volume II! $185.15

5:30 p.m. — Home. Just in time to eat.

7:12 p.m. — “Mommy let’s warm up our Magic Bags to feel better!“, so I warm up the magic bags in the microwave. He places his around his neck, and then he says: “And now we can do yoga!” So we hang out and do yoga together on the bed.

7:21 p.m. — After yoga, he says: “And now I am refreshed. I can take care of my baby now!” and he grabs his stuffed animal and cuddles it. I encourage him to kiss and take care of his ‘baby’ because ‘all babies love to be cuddled, and kissed and loved’…. Plus, he is learning that he needs SELF CARE as a pseudo-caretaker as well 😉

8:20 p.m. — Bedtime.

Spent: $633.65

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up and am tired.. as usual. Little Bun woke up a few times last night, just normal snuffling and snoring but it kills my sleep.

6:00 a.m. — Milk run, and I start my tea. And a load of laundry.

7:59 a.m. — By the way, for the holidays our fridge looks like this — SO FULL OF FOOD. You can see what it normally looks like here.

8:08 a.m. — Little Bun and I play games on the bed. He is so cute. He really is. So dang cute…. I hold him and hug him, kiss his little fat cheeks until he squeals and rolls away from me, giggling.

9:15 a.m. — Croissant and fresh orange juice made by Daddy.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch time. We eat some egg and avocado…

12:28 p.m. — Time for a nap. He doesn’t want to go down. My partner goes out to run errands, and I force him down for a nap….. and end up also falling asleep. I wake up halfway through the nap and STUPIDLY DO NOT GET UP to feel refreshed, but instead, close my eyes and go back to sleep. Stupid brain. Stupid body. I should have gotten up when I was out of my REM cycle because when I finally wake up, I pay for it with a deep throbbing over-sleep headache.

2:56 p.m. — Little Bun and I read and and play. Then I do the dishes while he watches Miu Miu and Kiki the pandas.… I think it is Paw Patrol rip off. I have no idea. I DO know that they are teaching him to WANT healthy food, make false proclamations like: MOMMY I love broccoli and REALLY WANT TO EAT HEALTHY! (All the LOLZ)…. As long as these pandas are brainwashing him in the right direction, I don’t care. The only odd points are when he tells me he is scared of earthquakes and hates ALL strangers…. (umm… tough one to explain there)…

5:10 p.m. — I make noodles.

6:25 p.m. — My partner comes home and we eat again — cheese and bread this time. I have been speed reading (all day) these books I have downloaded from the library, and this is the perfect rest for my brain — I am not idle as in I am not sitting around doing nothing, BUT my brain is still occupied which doesn’t make me feel like an antsy useless loser. The books are also fun chick-lit, so I get another boost there too, of sweet love proclamations and unrealistic announcements of “I love you” after only 2 weeks of dating or less. I think it took me a year to tell my partner I loved him.

8:11 p.m. — Bedtime. After I fold the dried laundry. Little Bun goes and sits on his “brushing chair” (this small Ikea chair we put in the bathroom for him to sit on while he brushes his teeth). He has learned he cannot just run the brush over his teeth in 2 seconds and be done. We make him brush every single tooth, top and bottom before letting him rinse.

Spent: $0

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