Week of Money: Where my first week of working is while sick AF

Psst! I was featured on the Millionaires Unveiled Podcast. Episode 105. Listen here. 🙂

DAY ONE

??:?? — Tired. And achey but in a good way, not from the cold. I pushed myself in yoga yesterday, doing all the advanced moves, and I feel it in my body, after not having done yoga for so very long.

??:?? — Little Bun lies on top of me, curled up. Then pats me gently and says: Mommy. I’m awake. I blearily get up, grab his milk.

6:18 a.m. — I make tea, feed him pasta and cheese for breakfast (it’s what he wants), and have him on my lap while he scrolls through my photos and checks the weather in Yukon and White Horse, informing me that they plan on having sun today, and will snow tomorrow.

6:30 a.m. — I am definitely going out today, I found a place that MAY sell super authentic tacos and if that’s the case, I’ll pre-try them and bring my friends when they visit.

6:52 a.m. — “I don’t want Mommy to be tired…” …. to which I reply that I have a cold, I am sleepy, and yes, Mommy is tired because she has a lot to think about.

7:16 a.m. — We play more “Treasure Hunt”, where I hide blocks underneath ‘caves’ of blankets and he searches for them with a flashlight and a spatula from his plastic grill.

8:22 a.m. — Little Bun is having a temper right now. I am really, REALLY not able to handle this. I tell him – “Little Bun, you’re making Mommy very red right now, and I am starting to get upset.” …. to which he pipes up … “But Mommy loves me anyway, even if I make her angry and sad“… and that softens me right up, that cheeky bugger. He hit my soft spot, and I instantly soften and repeat that I love him even if he makes me angry and sad, and even if I am upset and yelling.

9:55 a.m. — I head out after a morning of nonsense. Little Bun is just so clingy right now, and wants me to stay at home because I am like his security blanket, but I NEED A BREAK. I can’t deal. I tell him I need a break and to get away. Just like the Mommy Bird in The Nice Book.

11:15 a.m. — I head over to a thrift store and end up finding a Trifani (vintage) necklace. I could tell the minute I saw it that it wasn’t a cheap piece of crap, it just looks different. The gold looks different, everything looks so much better. $10.50

12:15 p.m. — I stop by and get some al pastor tacos, they’re pretty good. I love this cute little restaurant because it is run by a family and so LOCAL. It feels quite authentic and very New York to be honest, which is surprising. $23.85

2:52 p.m. — Home, and Little Bun is still napping as he is sick.

2:58 p.m. — He wakes up, and gets milk, and is super grumpy until we have a little cuddle time, to try and calm him down.

3:30 p.m. — We play in my closet and I organize my work kit – which is mostly my toothbrush, toothpaste and floss for now. Once I see what the situation is like – do I have a desk? Drawers? I’ll bring in other things, or leave them in the car for easy access.

4:15 p.m. — I wrangle him into the shower. He is so hard to wash because he is so ticklish, and giggles every 2 seconds every time you try to wash his neck or his back.

4:26 p.m. — I take my own shower afterwards.

6:02 p.m. — I prep my lunches for the week… zucchini medallions with roasted chicken, quinoa and red peppers. Then I do all the dishes and only wipe the plates but leave the rest to air dry. I’m lazy.

6:47 p.m. — He sits on my partner’s desk, while he is studying playing with his office gear. At least he is having fun.

6:50 p.m. — I do a little yoga in the bedroom to stretch out. My whole body aches from pushing myself yesterday, so I am just doing slow stretches.

7:40 p.m. — It sounds strange to say, but I think people are like octopuses. We really fit the space we are in. If it is large, we will fill it up, if it is small, we will try to downsize (or giving up, we will find a larger home to stow our junk). Even our work lives are like this – we act differently at work than we do at home, we talk differently to our friends versus colleagues.

8:30 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $34.35

DAY TWO

??:?? — What the… it can’t be six.

5:00 a.m. — FIVE? Makes sense… he slept at around 8-ish last night, had a nap yesterday… he wakes up uber early when this happens. I can’t go back to sleep though, I’ll get a residual headache from the sleep. So I get up, get his milk, and make myself a tea.

5:30 a.m. — I am on the floor, working out all of my bags. My normal work bag (laptop, notebook, spare flat shoes if the heels are too much for the day), my lunch bag with my cutlery, lunch and water bottle, my post office errands bag with two packages, and my work kit bag with a mug, plate, bowl, teas etc. I am literally a bag lady.

6:08 a.m. — Little Bun ran into the bedroom to be with his father then ran back out and I cuddle him. I whisper to him how this new daycare will be just as fun as playgroup, and he is happy.

6:15 a.m. — I stretch out on the floor, still aching from yoga 2 days ago. Just some simple exercises. I start feeling a bit dizzy so I stop.

6:29 a.m. — Little Bun is insisting I teach him long division. So I start doing it, and telling him about groups of numbers, etc. He is not picking it up yet, but this is kind of his first foray…

7:15 a.m. — I start getting ready, and will drop him off early so he has a chance to acclimatize and not be overwhelmed with all the kids.

8:49 a.m. — OMG WHY IS THIS PLACE SO HARD TO FIND.. Then I realize I have the wrong address. #%*#@@ …. I am good now.

9:00 a.m. — I finally get there, ON TIME, and …. the project manager is not around.

9:30 a.m. — Fine. I am billing anyway. I am on time, YOU ARE NOT. I sit around, Instagramming, hanging out. This is great!

10:05 a.m. — I give up on my computer, it doesn’t work / won’t update to install their new programs. Fine. I basically tell them to give me a laptop.

10:37 a.m. — When is lunch.

11:50 a.m. — Lunchtime. I can’t believe I held off this long, I am STARVING.

12:08 p.m. — Wow. I am bored AF at work.

1:15 p.m. — I am dying to go home.

2:20 p.m. — I end up picking up this gorgeous $500-at-retail Vibeke Scott velvet robe and a cute labradorite ring for about $80. I have been hoarding my credits like a mofo, so they end up being free. “Kimono made from soft silk velvet. It drapes the body beautifully with or without the detachable belt. The length is just below the knees – depending on your height. Perfect with jeans and a top or over a shirt dress. Or just underwear. Or nothing.” I AM SO EXCITED! VELVET. I AM GOING TO BE DRAPED IN VELVET. $0

3:21 p.m. — I go and drink a cashew smoothie which I pack for work, and drink when I feel the craving for something sweet, but not a candy bar. New health commitment.

4:06 p.m. — FREEDOM! I don’t even care. I pack up, shut down, and off I go. I go to Anthropologie and pick up a cute, yet functional lunch tote. They even have a surprise 20% off for me, YAY! $44.06

5:34 p.m. — I drop off a Poshmark sale. YAY FOR SELLING!

5:35 p.m. — I also take advantage of the small business free shipping every Tuesday in October promotion, and I mail a gift to a friend. I hope she likes it.

5:48 p.m. — Little Bun Pickup. I need a key fob.

6:10 p.m. — I get unpacked, and repack everything. This new office is flex space, so I have no desk. NO FREAKING DESK. Where am I going to store my teas? My cups? My plates? This is BS. I’m grumpy now. I decide to store everything in a bag and put it in the cloakroom as like a little locker to access when I need my toothbrush, etc. I also start laundry.

6:25 p.m. — I make some noodles, I am starving. Then I do all the dishes while Little Bun chokes down his vegetable stew with his father, grimacing all the way (he is getting snippy these days about eating it), and then happily gobbles down a big bowl of yoghurt in 2 seconds. Little animal.

6:40 p.m. — I prep my outfit for tomorrow. Sort of feeling like they are all business casual so I can’t go TOO fancy. No heels here… but I’ll wear a cute dress tomorrow and some flats.

7:15 p.m. — Time for bed, I wind down with Little Bun watching videos and then we do long division. He is SO EXCITED to learn long division it is hilarious.

8:15 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $44.06

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up feeling rested. Finally.

6:29 a.m. — Oh, it’s 6:30 that’s why. I guess I won’t be at work for 7 today then.

6:32 a.m. — I get up and take care of Little Bun, then make my tea, and put away all the dishes that air dried last night.

6:37 a.m. — I then make a big bowl of pasta for Little Bun but he is really grumpy today. I apparently put the cheese on incorrectly, and this triggers a meltdown for 15 minutes of him crying that Mommy did it wrong, and he wants a RESET of the cheese to be put on the pasta. I threaten to take it away and he goes to daycare hungry. He stops crying, and I tell him, I already said I was sorry 8 billion times, please eat your pasta.

6:39 a.m. — He eats it unhappily, the cheese all incorrectly applied, like it is garbage he is shoveling into his mouth, tears dripping down his face (a real drama queen, I raised)… and then I get ready for work, and basically have to hassle my partner to help get him dressed completely. I MEAN WTF. I am getting ready, running around, the least you could do is get him ready and his lunch ready, and give me a damn break. Emotional Labour for SURE for Little Bun lies on me.

7:14 a.m. — I finally get out the door, sweating like a pig, and load in the 5 bags of crap into the car. I have one bag I am leaving at the office with all of my emergency stuff, including my cutlery and bowls, and another box I am leaving in the main area to separate out MY mug from the tea so that no one goes for it.

7:20 a.m. — I go to drop off Little Bun and the educator basically is disorganized AF and gives me another paper to sign. Why didn’t you people give me what to do, where to give the cheque and all of this crap BEFORE I started him at daycare? Why am I doing this in a rush at 8 a.m. in the morning?

7:33 a.m. — I sign the paper, and basically tell her in a cross voice – I do not have time for this right now. I have to be at work.

8:10 a.m. — I head over to work, and realize someone took my mug, but I find it in another area. I’ll have to hot wash it to use it again, and I put my little basket of separated teas and stuff in the corner. This is my outfit.

8:15 a.m. — I find a desk, this time, in a corner, far from everyone (I hated the chatting of yesterday), and start to try and log in to get my stuff organized to work.

8:26 a.m. — It literally takes 45 minutes to log into my laptop, I set it up on my personal computer instead. O_o

9:25 a.m. — I finally log in, get my personal laptop set up, my normal one done.. and then my other laptop shows up. Ugh. I have three now? I return the loaner and get to work setting up the second one but it is all in FRENCH. FML. I hate working in another language on a computer but I’ll do it.

10:04 a.m. — I make a tea, then make a call to change my bank appointment to next week. I need time to move money so I don’t pay fees when I get that $350 sign up bonus from a new bank by putting in the minimum account balance to waive the fees.

10:19 a.m. — I chat with the secretary and realize that she is also an avid secondhand shopper. I introduce her to Poshmark. Sweet!

10:23 a.m. — I spend the morning setting up my laptops. All the introductions happen today, and I everyone is busy. Oh well.

10:39 a.m. — I check my lipstick in the bathroom and am horrified I have had it on my teeth the whole time. FML. At least I didn’t smile at anyone, so that’s a bonus.

10:50 a.m. — My meeting gets cancelled. I wait for the next one. My calendar is booked already.

11:04 a.m. — Meeting, after meeting.. after.. useless meeting.. I think this is appropriate right about now:

2:00 p.m. — I sit through the last meeting, with a guy (is there anyone else), whom they have hired for years on and off at this client, talking up what he has to do as a workload. Basically, he is in one department and I am in another, doing the exact same thing. He is creating a f(#*$-d up mess because he doesn’t know what he is doing, and delegating all the important bits to other people (what he is paid for, really)… and making it seem like it will be years before anything gets done, on his side.

2:10 p.m. — On my side, I am doing something about twice as complex as he is, but the timelines for me, are fine, even though they are a little compressed (I joined late), and I have zero problems about delivering. This is a perfect example of my industry – men talking @$*! out of their @##, playing up what they are doing, playing the Drama King card, and delivering crap…. and then me, confused as to why he has so many people working on so many different things when it is simple and he only has one task, really. Which he isn’t doing. And is delegating.

4:04 p.m. — After my last meeting, I pointed out a few problems to the lead before taking off at 4 again. I may try and squeeze it up to leaving at 3:30 because I like having time to drop by the post office, grocery store, etc before heading home.

4:38 p.m. — I drop by the post office to deliver that secret present to my friend, but the woman in front is taking too long with the clerk, so I just drop the prepaid package into the box and head to pick up Little Bun.

5:26 p.m. — Little Bun… is having a day. He runs into my arms, upset (even though he was FINE, playing alone), and then refuses to put on his shoes (he knows how to, he’s just tryin’ me), and refuses to walk to the car unless it is at a SNAIL’S PACE. Literal SNAIL’S PACE… and starts sobbing when I hurry him across a busy road because this daycare is ill-located on one of the busiest intersections KNOWN TO MAN.

5:30 p.m. — I get him into the car (I had to lift him up to the seat because apparently I parked too far from the curb for His Little Bunness to climb into the car), and buckle him in, with him squealing about the ‘wrong song playing’ in the car. SERENITY NOW. SERENITY NOW…!!!!!

6:11 p.m. — I get home, and the whining continues. He doesn’t want to take off his shoes, jacket, wash his hands, get changed into inside clothes. OMFG.

6:30 p.m. — I manage to get everything put away and ready to be cleaned, and he says: I AM TIRED MOMMY. …. SO GO LIE DOWN!

6:47 p.m. — I try to set him up with videos (I am twitching right now) so I can eat something, and he refuses to log into the laptop but doesn’t want me to do it for him.

6:51 p.m. — I finally just leave him. I go and start making what I want to eat  for dinner, and chat with my partner about what’s going on at work. He knows a few people I am working with and it is kind of hilarious, that blowhard guy in the other department (let’s call him BH) is someone he has worked with, and he tells me a few stories about how much he thinks BH sucks as a consultant.

7:02 p.m. — I tell him I’m keeping it cool. Not much work to be done there, not sure if I want to stay because I am not feeling the vibe / culture yet, but (A) I love money and (B) I will never quit before a contract is done because I am not an amateur. I’ll be there until I think I can’t really learn or do anything more / extra.

7:05 p.m. — This is the kind of job where I could mentally take on another contract and easily work both, no sweat. I think if that old client/second contract ever calls me, I’ll do that and double my salary, and then celebrate with a Chanel purse!… Just kidding. I’ll celebrate, but with something under $500 or less. I still haven’t even spent the entire personal $500 bonus for getting this contract.

7:30 p.m. — I clean up and do all the dishes after eating. Little Bun gets force fed soup by his father (a new task I have delegated), and then has yoghurt.

7:34 p.m. — Little Bun comes out announcing: Mommy. I am bored of videos now. I want to do long division and short division because it’s fun. … WHOSE CHILD IS THIS? … I am secretly thrilled but also not thrilled because I have to use my brain (thank god my job is easy for me), and try to creatively explain to Little Bun how to figure out these (now) Grade 3-level math problems.

8:14 p.m. — After some math, we get ready for bed. Little Bun, true to form, is refusing to brush his teeth. I side eye him and threaten: Mommy will no longer do long division with you if you don’t brush the cavity bugs out of your teeth. .. to which he squeals angrily and brushes his angrily while somehow simultaneously WHINING. How is this even possible?

8:40 p.m. — Bedtime. Ugh. I can’t even fall asleep I am so worked up.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up early. About an hour earlier. I put away the dishes, make tea, answer emails, log into Poshmark to see if I sold anything else (nada)…

6:02 a.m. — I respond to an email from the daycare trying to charge me for full-time care, and a retroactive holiday, more than effectively doubling what I should be paying. I respond back with a short calendar calculation, and tell THEM what the total should be.

6:11 a.m. — Squealing and angry animal-like sounds from Little Bun. “I don’t want Mommy to EVER leave the blankets in the morning!!!” I guess he rolled over squealing and couldn’t find my soft belly to lie on and to pat me to tell me he is awake. So much for trying to get stuff done. :-\ I spend the next 2 minutes groveling and apologizing to keep a lid on this child and to not start the morning off terribly, because it really puts me in a terrible mood, and I drive into work all depressed and angry.

6:20 a.m. — I start getting ready to go to work. Little Bun is a tiny bit whiny, and I manage to calm him down / distract him by pointing out that it is a thunderstorm! He looks at me suspiciously, and says: I need to check the weather! and holds out his hand for my phone. I hand him my phone and he says triumphantly: Mommy. It says HEAVY RAIN. Not thunderstorm. I stand corrected.

6:40 a.m. — I get out the door, lugging this time only TWO bags instead of 4 (Little Bun is at home today, so I have one less bag). How can I cut this down.. I have to wear rain boots and rain gear, so I packed shoes for the office, which take up space. Sigh. I hate bringing a laptop. I wish I could just have a desktop and not have this nonsense, but without a laptop I can’t be remote. My jewellery game for today:

7:27 a.m. — At the office, lipstick check, tag on clothing check (I wore a tag on my dress THE ENTIRE DAY yesterday because I’m an idiot), and I make a tea.

10:06 a.m. — Surprisingly, I worked at an old client but I was helping one of THEIR clients with a project. They appreciated / respected me so much, that they sent me a message on LinkedIn saying that if/when they have needs in the future for my skill set, they’d be interested in hiring me. They didn’t have enough for someone full-time but would need someone from time to time. I said – Sure, why not?. How nice to be recognized not just by your client, but your client’s client! This is kind of how you build networks. The more professional you are, the stronger you show against the others who are out there, the more you’re remembered and recognized.

11:12 a.m. — I have a little mansplaining conversation with another consultant on the project. He’s trying to tell ME that he does my job and how I should be doing it. He starts rambling on about how HE KNOWS what I do, he USED to do it TOO. LOL. EVERYONE says they do my job, but I have yet to meet someone who actually does without lying through their teeth with a straight face. They may “do” my job but not the way it should be properly done.

11:15 a.m. — Figures. He mentions something in my area like he knows what he is talking about, and I have to correct him. He looks at me. Yeah. Go ahead, try and refute it. I want to see how much you know in my area, Mr. Expert-Mansplainer.

11:20 a.m. — I am suspicious about his research. He says one thing, but I cannot believe that this is how it has to be done. It doesn’t seem right to me but I wasn’t here from the start. He seems like a big blowhard (gee, what else is new), so I am hoping to find someone else who is less annoying and easier to talk to. He just speaks loudly and with so much “passion” (air quotes here), that people seem to just accept his BS? I think not.

11:40 a.m. — Oh yes. Of course. Now he is speaking on behalf of the client but it is HIS OPINION, not what should actually be done or decided by someone who is in charge. I re-phrase the question, and he backtracks, amending that yes it is HIS opinion. Not what was decided for the project. Great. So let’s keep that $@*( to yourself, you aren’t the one in charge of this, STFU.

12:03 p.m. — Lunch. Thank god.

12:28 p.m. — Back to work.

1:56 p.m. — More meetings. I work on a project deliverables plan.

3:39 p.m. — YESS I CAN LEAVE SOON. And tomorrow I work from home, so I feel SO FREE. FREEE!!!!!!!!!!

3:59 p.m. — Out the door. It is raining like crazy.

4:32 p.m. — Home. Little Bun doesn’t greet me at the door (he didn’t hear me), so I have some quiet respite to chat with my partner about this mansplainer. My partner knows him as well and explains that he doesn’t know his job but likes to talk loudly to convince other people he is right. You need to have your notes buttoned down tight to handle him, and you simply tell him that you will not be giving in. Then once he gets a good smackdown (figuratively speaking) to show him that you do indeed, have more knowledge and the upper hand, he won’t bother you again once you’ve established you’re the alpha. No problem, I can do that. I’m already the lead, and he is encroaching onto my territory trying to tell me what to do. I don’t think so.

4:49 p.m. — I got my velvet robe from Vibeke Scott today!

5:48 p.m. — I make dinner, eat it, and Little Bun watches videos while I feed him his vegetable stew (anything goes in, when they’re watching the zombie tube) and I get a mental break where I can just feed him and not have him whine while eating his food.

6:11 p.m. — I organize my bag. I really carry too many things but how can I cut down on carrying two laptops when I need both? Ugh. I may need a suitcase.

6:36 p.m. — I go online and do my banking. I organize bill payments, check my receipts, check my spending for the month, look at my spending for the year, and assess if I need to watch an area or not.

6:11 p.m. — “Mommy what does sleet mean?” … I have to explain it is like melting icy rain.

6:25 p.m. — “Mommy it says HAIL for Whitehorse and Hail is wet ice!” … I explain that hail is just rain that has frozen before it hits the ground, and ends up as ice pellets or balls. He isn’t wrong, but I want to explain the process so he gets a better understanding.

7:04 p.m. — In the bedroom, we are doing long multiplication now. They are teaching him on the iPad how to do rounding up and down for tens and hundreds and then guesstimating the multiplication with that. He gets that one easily, division is a little more involved. I am also teaching him to split out the number into hundreds, tens and ones, and then multiply each, and then add up the sums to get the final answer.

7:28 p.m. — We finally just play. We cuddle and kiss, and he squeals and turns away. I repeat as I do often, how much I love him and how no matter what happens, I will always love him. Even when I am angry or sad, even when he is angry or sad, even when we are both angry and screaming at each other. No matter what happens, he will always be my baby, my little boy and I love him no matter what.

7:38 p.m. — “Mommy, what does ‘matter’ mean?” … without getting into the scientific meaning of the word, I just explain what he is asking for, and tell him it is like the word ‘important’. When I say it doesn’t matter, I mean it isn’t important, and when I use it to tell him that it isn’t important, I mean that it isn’t important if we are both angry and sad, because that has nothing to do with how much I will always love him. I wonder if he understands my explanation, but he says he does, so.. we will go with that.

8:59 p.m. — Bedtime. He sits on the floor with his stuffed toy, and looks up at me: I AM HUNGRY. But I am HUNGRY! ….. ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? I stare him down, and tell him he had PLENTY of time to tell me he was hungry before, and suddenly now before bedtime to prolong not sleeping he is hungry? No. You go to sleep hungry then. That’ll teach you to not ask me sooner to eat. You won’t die, I tell him.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — He is rolling around squealing.

??:?? — More squealing.

5:36 a.m. — This feels early. Is it 2 a.m.? OH. No it is 5:36. Okay, acceptable wakeup time. I grab his milk. Then go back to lie down, this is how tired I am. He stops and needs to go to the bathroom, and then we restart the milk again.

6:15 a.m. — I get up with him, and the whining begins. Are we going to start the morning like this? I am not feeling it.

6:23 a.m. — MORE WHINING. It is because I am talking to my partner, and he hates it when we talk adult stuff. I am so annoyed right now, I am ’bout to scream. My partner senses the volcano, and tells Little Bun in a stern voice to behave because if he doesn’t, this is going to be a very long morning (threatening voice). Little Bun defiantly squeals back”UH!” to him each time. This little animal…

6:48 a.m. — I finally find a new ‘game’ where I take a sock, and I tell him his teddy needs to have socks on. We put teddy in a sock, and then he is happy bouncing the socked-Teddy across the floor. That then changes into teddy wanting to be out of the sock, so we unroll it, and I pretend the sock is now a bird’s test. I pretend there are two baby birds in there chirping, and he is so excited with this new game, he makes me build a Mommy bird out of blocks, and then comes up with scenarios for feeding the birds with blocks (red blocks = berries, blue blocks = water, green blocks = vegetables), and then caring for them, etc. This gives me enough of a break to talk to my partner as he comes up with more games and things the birds have to do.

7:10 a.m. — My partner leaves for school, and I eye him. It won’t rain today, and he seems irritable. Do I want to chance taking him out to playgroup this morning to play and have fun? Or will I strongly regret this?

7:33 a.m. — I warn him that we will go to playgroup today ONLY if he behaves, and lets me work a little (I start sending calendar invites, organizing my thoughts, etc), and I will not tolerate crap. If he doesn’t behave today going there, coming back, and the rest of the day, there will be NO Playgroup next Friday. We’ll see if this sticks. I will be repeating it in the car on the way there, and back.

7:40 a.m. — What should I mail my mother? There is free shipping Tuesdays as a promotion by Canada Post. I want to take advantage of it, so I wonder what I should mail her. What would she like right now, I ask Little Bun. He has no idea. Maybe we will make art and I will mail that, along with something to eat as a treat from Quebec because my mom loves to eat like I do.

7:41 a.m. — I love the beat and the melody of this rap song – Rick Ross – You know I got it. My music tastes as you may know, are super varied.

I like classical (a few favourites are between J.S. Bach’s No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 and his Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, BWV 1043 or Double Violin as I am classically trained and these songs have always been my favourites to play, as I have always liked the Baroque period the best in terms of music and melody.), but I also listen to misogynistic music like rap, mostly because of the beat and melody, not so much the lyrics which I am eyerolling at sometimes because it is just so terrible. I can’t help myself. In my car, you will go from Bach’s classical to Rick Ross to Audioslave in a matter of minutes! My favourite violinists though, are always going to be Joshua Bell or Vanessa-Mae Nicholson. <3

8:03 a.m. — Little Bun checks the time, shuts down the laptop right away, and starts ripping off his clothes, running to the bedroom to get dressed. He doesn’t act like this for daycare, but then again it is FULL ON playtime at playgroup, so …. it isn’t the same.

8:47 a.m. — I drop him at playgroup, get an email asking for a meeting, and respond back that 1o would work. Then… silence. I hate it when people don’t do meetings at least 12 hours in advance, because you have plans for your day, what you want to work on and it gets hijacked.

9:23 a.m. — Home, I receive the invite and a note for 10 a.m. Finally. An hour later.

9:58 a.m. — I log into the call. He is SO GOOD. I am so happy. Finally, a guy that understands something, can explain it clearly and isn’t blustering like stupid Mansplainer. He just simply says – That I do not know... if he doesn’t know, and that’s fine! I don’t need you to know!

11:23 a.m. — Call over, I head off to pick up Little Bun from playgroup. He will eat a banana when we get home, and then I will hop on another call when he goes down for his nap / go to the lobby to talk when my partner comes home to take over.

11:23 a.m. — Omg. He is like an angry little raccooon. He is SO angry right now. I know he woke up too early, now he is grumpy, he keeps telling everyone: “I am feeling RUSTY” today, and says that someone pushed him, or he pushed someone, and his speech is all jumbled up and upset.

11:40 a.m. — We are in the car, he is mad that a certain song isn’t on… I am hoping to salvage this. He keeps repeating how he doesn’t want me to leave in the afternoon but I need to buy new underwear for him, ASAP, and I need to be on this call, alone and in a quiet room. I basically throw my phone at him and let him go through the Weather app. He is pretty good about not going into the other apps and doing things but I always keep a little eye on him just in case.

11:42 a.m. — I tell him the baby birds in the sock nest are waiting for him at home, going “cheep cheep” and that seems to calm him down.

1:03 p.m. — I wait for my partner to get in, and then leave to go to the lobby ASAP for the call. I prep questions. I send an email informing my team (not asking permission) that I will be remote on next week for election day, and for my appointment in the morning.

1:32 p.m. — I am in the lobby working, questions on the call, and making notes. I like working with certain departments, and others, not so much, they seem to be the same across the board at all clients. *eye roll* This one is good.

2:40 p.m. — Call was instructive and good. I love working with people who care and want to do a good job. I am the type that if I start something, I want to see it through to the end, and make sure that everything is fine. I don’t just start it, and then eff off.

2:57 p.m. — I come back upstairs, and my partner leaves to go buy underwear for Little Bun, return cups, and find new shoes for him to wear inside the daycare. Little Bun is down for his nap, so I’m golden.

3:02 p.m. — Little Bun is up! I give him milk, and he is in a MUCH BETTER MOOD.

3:45 p.m. — I do all the dishes while watching shows on my laptop then …….!! On this episode of Top Chef, I never noticed but Gail Simmons has on the EXACT dress I own from Erdem I got for $200-ish bucks and altered because the top was so. damn. tight. that I just made it into a skirt, and made the top an open back.

This is the cool sort of cropped top shrug thing that looks incredible, and EXACTLY WHAT SHE HAS ON! Minus the skirt. Gail and I are secret TV besties, she loves to eat like I do, and she has similar clothing taste. I love all of her dresses…

6:12 p.m. — I quiz him on long multiplication again, and then take a break to be silly. I hold his face up to mine in the window, and say: Hmm do we have the same face? I think your nose is… Mommy’s nose!.. Your ears are .. Daddy’s ears! …. and at the end, I tell him his entire face is his own, and he is a mix of Mommy and Daddy features, but he is all 100% Little Bun. Then I cover his face in kisses, which is of course, wipes off.

6:45 p.m. — He tells me his little toes are cold, so we go and grab socks – we need new socks too. OMG. So much to buy.

7:18 p.m. — Time to start winding down for bed, we watch Tom and Jerry videos (he is obsessed with two episodes, and watches them repeatedly), and I get to remember to do things like buy a microSD card and a microSD reader. I end up choosing the fastest writing possible – Sandisk Extreme Pro MicroSD 64GB and this USB 3.0 MicroSD reader. $100.45

7:40 p.m. — HOW IS THE SINK FULL AGAIN. Oh right. My partner is cooking. Lots of pots and pans. Tomorrow will be dishwashing again.

8:51 p.m. — Time for bed. He ALWAYS fights us on brushing his teeth. His excuse tonight is that he didn’t eat yoghurt and therefore does not need to brush his teeth. WHAT?.. No. Get into the bathroom, Daddy will handle you.

Spent: $100.45

DAY SIX

??:?? — I am tired but not tired. I could have done with another hour, really.

6:00 a.m. — I grab his milk, make my tea.. put away dishes..

6:12 a.m. — He is squealing after his milk. He wants me to go back into the shadows and sit with him, hugged against my chest, face buried into my shoulder so he can ‘get used to the light’. We do that, and I love the extra cuddle time. I kiss and kiss and kiss his cheeks until he howls. I am taking advantage of this until he is too big to let me do this to him. Maybe as a teenager? I don’t know, but I love cuddling him.

7:12 a.m. — My partner is up and off to run errands, I start washing all the dishes he created last night – he cooked three batches of pasta and oatmeal for Little Bun and the week ahead of time.

7:40 a.m. — I try to streamline my work bag, but when you are carrying two laptops, a lunchbag (for two, Little Bun has one too), a zebra and a monkey, it gets kind of crowded. I am resigning myself to carrying at a MINIMUM, 3 bags a day to work – work bag with 2 laptops (uber heavy), and two lunchbags. Maybe a fourth bag carrying shoes for the office cuz.. I HAVE NO DESK. There’s no place to store all of my work shoes, I have to lug them in each day as once it snows and gets cold, Canada will require tall, warm, snow boots.

8:25 a.m. — Little Bun demands pasta. I have to serve his Highness, but this time, putting the cheese on CORRECTLY, no mixing, and two scoops. He grabs his bowl and eagerly picks out the biggest cheese curls to eat them alone – he has a salt tooth for sure.

9:50 a.m. — I make noodles, am too hungry. But I can’t finish them, I save them aside for later, in a vain hope I’ll eventually eat them (unlikely.. they turn mushy very quickly and are hard to eat if not freshly made.)

11:28 a.m. — My partner is home, he always brings a croissant treat for both of us. Little Bun turns into this well-behaved child that didn’t exist this morning just to get his treat. O_o

1:19 p.m. — I head out for the afternoon. This is my chosen look, a Bow and Drape sequin sweatshirt (Spanx has these two I sorta love – Failure is not Trying, and Work in Progress). Mine says by the way, GOAL digger, not GOLD digger. 😉 I am in a store (Winners) but nothing caught my eye.

1:28 p.m. — A little random thrifting now. Found a long navy velvet vintage skirt from Holt Renfrew. I am into velvet these days, and for $5, you can’t really go wrong because the quality is quite exceptional. How would I wear this? I need to figure it out. $5

2:31 p.m. — I treat myself to some tacos at a new place – these are Al Pastor, and the extra hint of pineapple chunks, lots of cilantro.. I AM A FAN. The only thing is I wish the tortilla wasn’t so old because while it is a fresh tortilla, it tasted crumbly and a little dry, not soft, smooth and chewy like I was expecting. That one thing of the wrapper, totally took stars off this otherwise amazing dish. I leave a healthy tip for the soup, tacos and a drink combo because this place is family run, I can tell. They have their teenage son working the front, and I like encouraging early work ethic. $23

3:48 p.m. — I head home.

4:11 p.m. — I drop off a package at Canada Post beforehand (I sold some jeans!)..

6:21 p.m. — We have a dinner (grilled chicken), and my partner grills extra thighs for me (2) for my work lunches for the week. I don’t need much meat, just a little, and I already have lots of vegetables on the side.

7:18 p.m. — I do all the dishes, and dry them.

8:44 p.m. — Time for bed, after some long division and a few videos.

Spent: $28

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — Tired. Yet rested. This is going to be my life until Little Bun stops dictating my wakeup times.

6:00 a.m. — We do that snuggle in the shadows thing again, and while his eyes are closed, I gently whisper: You have the cutest little Mommy nose. … and he tells me: I have Mommy’s face because I have no beard. … LOL ….. I explain that he has our FEATURES but he has his own face that is his alone, not ours.

6:30 a.m. — Going to yoga today, so I get my gear ready on the side. “Mommy is getting her stuff ready! MOMMY IS STUFFING HERSELF!“…. I am laughing. He isn’t wrong, I do like to eat, but I gently tell him that “stuffing” doesn’t mean what he thinks. Lately, he has been trying to turn all these words into verbs, in both languages, and my partner is also laughing, having to correct him.

7:15 a.m. — My partner is not up, he is ‘sleeping in’, but I start getting ready because I have to get to yoga.

7:15 a.m. — I warn Little Bun I have to go to a store afterwards, and I may be a little late for lunch. His little face falls, and he says — But Mommy can’t be late for the feast! .. I tell him after yoga, I may not be back in time, so please eat without me. He replies back firmly: We won’t start the feast without Mommy. Daddy will wait until Mommy is back, and we won’t eat without Mommy. We will wait for you! ... How sweet is this child. OMG.

7:59 a.m. — I head into the change room, and change out of my current outfit.

9:49 a.m. — The class was okay. I like these classes because I do the more advanced poses even if no one else does, and it helps push me personally so that I get something out of it, instead of coming out of it sad and disappointed it wasn’t a good workout. I just add extra steps like a 3-legged dog chataranga (one leg up in downward dog, moving into a 3-legged plank position, 3-legged pushup and back into a 3-legged dog…).. which really work my muscles as I am a marshmallow. I also pre-stretch before classes.

9:52 a.m. — I buy some butternut squash soup. It is okay, I added some hot sauce and it was nice, but it isn’t filling. $6.35

10:13 a.m. — I head over to a secondhand store I just discovered around the corner, and poke around the aisles. I am way more discerning these days, and will only buy pieces I know I can resell easily, or will be able to wear.

10:47 a.m. — This store is terrible. I mean it is basically a thrift store, slightly “curated”, but there is really nothing in here worth purchasing, at double or triple the prices of what I’d find in a thrift shop. Plus taxes on top as they are not non-profit. Think: Wal-mart, Suzy Shier, Dynamite, Joe Fresh…. No thanks.

10:57 a.m. — Still hungry. I buy some sushi and it hits the spot. Mmmmm… I need another box of this, I love sushi so much. $9.53

11:25 a.m. — At home, I ask Little Bun if I was late for the feast. He looks at me horrified and says: No Mommy! The feast hasn’t started!! .. Good. I’m not late then. The “feast” by the way, is just bread, avocados, eggs and salad, but he is a little dramatic, so he likes to play things up.

11:23 a.m. — We watch videos until my partner is ready for us for lunch, as he is fixing the apartment and weatherproofing.

11:27 a.m. — I make him little salad and egg ‘burgers’ which he happily chomps down. He is so happy right now, he ate 8 “burgers” (small bread slices, sandwiched), and tells me: Mommy, burgers are VERY healthy, like soup. … and I tell him that THESE burgers are, but not ALL burgers are. These ones are basically salad burgers.

1:08 p.m. — He goes down happily for his nap with his father. I spend time responding to emails and dimensions of things I am selling, and list a pair of boots for sale, all on Poshmark – use code SHERRYISH for $15 credit….

1:15 p.m. — LOL I get a text from my mom. Isn’t she the cutest?

2:10 p.m. — My partner heads out to run errands after his nap, and I am vegging, watching Modern Family, etc. I have a serious craving for chocolate but I am holding it back. The cashew smoothies I have made for some reason, taste like chocolate or have hints of cocoa in it to me, and I only put cashews, water and dates.

2:28 p.m. — I browse online and look for some pointed loafers to replace my old pair. I have a little money left in my Contract Bonus budget that I gave myself. I look at the M. Gemi Stellato Anelos, and am horrified at the circle they added on the shoe. It looks terrible to me. I liked the streamlined look better. WHAT IS THAT CIRCLE DOING THERE?

2:50 p.m. — Oooo I forgot about Poppy Barley. I log into their site – they are Canadian, the shoes are made here, and there is free shipping and returns. I order gold loafers and black pointed flats in various sizes and colours. $1055.25

The bow doesn’t feel too obnoxious or sweet, which is what I like.

I really hope these fit, they are the last pair in gold and size 7. Between the two, I’d keep these gold ones. They are pretty but priced at $235 so I can’t really justify two pairs.

3:56 p.m. — My partner is redoing all the silicone caulking in the entire apartment. The whole bedroom and living area stinks of this chemical and I am getting nauseous with a headache that won’t go away. I sequester Little Bun and myself in the second bedroom where he hasn’t done anything, and feel sick the entire time, dizzy and not feeling good at all.

8:03 p.m. — I shift Little Bun back to the bedroom which has been aired out, I can still smell the chemical, which makes me dizzy. I don’t want to go into work tomorrow, I really feel like staying at home but I have meetings until lunch and then I can duck out after my last meeting and go home to work. And to vote.

8:40 p.m. — We are reading lots of books in the bedroom, cuddled up, blankets around us, and all the toys. Then it is time for bed, but Little Bun wiggles around for 45 minutes before snoring in my face, and I take another 20 minutes to sleep AFTER he starts snoring.

Spent: $1061.60 – pending returns on shoes except for $235, potentially.

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