Week of Money: You can’t make a baby with 9 women in one month.

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up groggy and sick. Staying home.

6:00 a.m. — Little Bun wakes up and crawls over me like a caterpillar, squealing and woofing like a puppy. I try to ignore him and keep sleeping. It is sort of working. I’m really tired and any bit of shuteye helps.

6:26 a.m. — I log in and start working after a cup of tea.

8:08 a.m. — First call of the day.

10:25 a.m. — I stalk and buy these Stuart Weitzman Lowland over-the-knee suede boots in black for $210 USD used off eBay of course. I can always fix the suede as long as there are no cuts or gashes in them, and I cannot pay even $500 USD for a pair of boots I am not sure will last as a trend, and yet I cannot spend $100 USD on a pair of Kaitlyn Pan knockoffs either. I’d rather pay “double” and get the real thing used that are 10/10 comfortable, stay tied up on your knees and FIT WELL. $255

11:08 a.m. — I take Little Bun out for lunch, and we get a bunch of sushi as a treat. $25.27

12:28 p.m. — I log back in and work. I have my eye on a pair of grey ones too from Stuart Weitzman, in this shade Londra. I am REALLY into doubles of things I like. These look cute in a dark grey suede.

They do look similar to the pair I already own from Aquatalia (Kiara shearling boots), in terms of colour but these ones are more of a brown taupe rather than a dark grey suede… and it is super cosy, waterproof, weatherproof, thick… way too much for work. The other ones above are slimmer, as if it is a whole boot/sock…. Anyway, if I find them useless I can resell them, they are VERY hot right now even used.

3:52 p.m. — Where did time go? I am working like mad right now.

6:38 p.m. — I get ready for bed, and am hacking up a lung. Little Bun toddles out to the bathroom and asks in his little boy voice: Mommy?? Are you not feeling well? … I reply in the affirmative. He nods and says: Mommy you need a doctor and to go to the hospital to get better. (He has been watching these Panda videos that teach manners etc and one of his favourites is when Miu Miu becomes a doctor.)

Spent: $285.27

DAY TWO

6:19 a.m. — I wake up somewhat well rested and get ready to go right away.

7:09 a.m. — Little Bun cries at the door, holding onto it with his fingers until I hug and kiss him again and his father takes him away squealing.

7:23 a.m. — Work. I head in, and just.. start. Nonstop.

12:00 p.m. — I break for lunch. I have to. I need a break. I eat my pasta and meatballs and chat.

12:28 p.m. — Back to work.

4:11 p.m. — I head home.

4:37 p.m. — Little Bun greets me at the door, squealing: MOMMY! MOMYYYYY!! MOMMYYYYYYY!!!! … it is such a nice welcome when you come home.

5:16 p.m. — I start laundry.

5:46 p.m. — My partner starts making sushi. Little Bun is SO EXCITED to help him press down the rice, and he loves making it. He turns to me periodically (translating) and says: “I love making sushi with my Daddy!”…. this is too adorable beyond belief.

6:38 p.m. — We are STUFFED. I ate a lot, Little Bun ate his fill as well and we are all happy.

6:56 p.m. — I finish the book: It had to be you by Susan Phillips and found it disappointing. I read it but the storyline felt ill-thought out, disjointed, clichéd with the man being a rich handsome sort of “brute” and the woman being a Playboy-bodied virgin who had a sad back story. I sympathized but strongly disliked the setup, the story and the lack of depth to the characters. Oh well. Can’t win them all in chicklit.

8:22 p.m. — Bedtime. Little Bun is refusing to sleep. When he naps, he won’t sleep at night, but if he doesn’t nap he is a TERRIBLE CHILD SOMETIMES… this is such a terrible situation.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

6:20 a.m. — I wake up, get dressed and head into work. No tears. Little Bun tells me very confidently that he hopes I will have a good visit at the dentist for my tooth that is hurting.

9:23 a.m. — I leave for my appointment.

9:38 a.m. — OMG IT WAS AT NINE!?!?! I feel like such a heel. I check my calendar and for some reason in my head it was 10, but I clearly wrote down: 9 a.m. … F%(#….. they take me anyway. They do a real filling on my tooth. $336

11:07 a.m. — Out of the appointment, I head back to the office.

11:16 a.m. — I work until lunch.

12:15 p.m. — Lunch time.

1:18 p.m. — Back to work. I have another meeting with a VP. These micromanagers want to know when it will be done, what the plan is…. but frankly we told you the effing plan. You just don’t understand it because you think everything can be done overnight and I need TWO WEEKS. F#(^. It’s like they think I can cram everything into one day when it would normally take 2 weeks. It takes time for each step. You can’t make a baby with 9 women in one month. These people are insane.

2:35 p.m. — I get out of the meeting with MORE work to do. FML.

4:29 p.m. — I manage to leave, only to speed down one lane without realizing it is now suddenly a dedicated bus lane. OH. WTF. That just happened overnight… I have to leave earlier now to beat the traffic.

5:11 p.m. — At home after checking the mail, I stretch and my partner gives me a sympathetic look. I start on a load of laundry, and then the dishes. I hate waking up to work to do in the morning. I want a clean kitchen. Kind of OCD like that.

5:24 p.m. — My partner says Little Bun has been raving and talking about the sushi he ate yesterday all day… <3

6:30 p.m. — I play with Little Bun flipping blankets and hiding his stuffed animal under them for him to rescue. He squeals: “I will rescue you! Don’t worry! I’m coming!!!”… I hope he is developing a sense of responsibility for others and helping others in need because I really want him to have a strong sense of empathy for others and to do the right thing when he has to, like stand up for others and himself.

7:12 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $336

DAY FOUR

??:?? — Little Bun wakes up crying: “DADDY.. I want my Daddy and my Mommy”…. and I have to soothe him and call his father in, but then Little Bun bursts out crying and is inconsolable. My partner leaves and grabs his milk.

5:32 a.m. — F-me it is early. I cuddle and play with Little Bun, talk to my partner, make some tea…

6:43 a.m. — I log in and start working. I actually am surprised I get a reply back from someone but I guess she is on her Blackberry and already awake and working.

7:07 a.m. — I don’t really want to go out today. It feels cold, I want to play in my closet when I take breaks.

8:30 a.m. — First call of the day.

9:17 a.m. — I start a load of laundry. I’m glad I did the dishes last night, I would not really want to do them all today and the kitchen is clean.

12:08 p.m. — Fell down the rabbit hole of what Korean “glass skin” means while eating lunch and now I’m really excited to see if I can find this VDL Primer to recreate this on my own skin. I feel like Hourglass makes something similar in their powders don’t they??? I don’t want unicorn skin though, when it is too shiny it looks far too fake, even if you look “lit from within”…. I would just look shiny after about 6 hours.

2:21 p.m. — Little Bun wakes up from his nap and makes me kiss each of his finger tips over and over again, left hand, right hand, kiss kiss kiss.. this is his new game with me, along with Chipmunk Cheeks where he puffs his cheeks out (or I puff mine out) and I either mash his cheeks or he mashes mine to release a puff of air.

4:15 p.m. — ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME? I ALREADY SAID HALF OF THIS #%# IN THE EMAIL AND HE DOESN’T READ IT BUT THEN SOMEONE ELSE SAYS IT AND IT IS GOSPEL? O.M.F.G. I am out. I am so done for the day.

6:37 p.m. — My partner gets home with groceries (he does bits and pieces during the week) and we chat about our day while I play with Little Bun…

8:11 p.m. — Little Bun not having napped, sleeps in between my legs with his head resting on my belly, hugging my thigh. He falls asleep almost immediately and I feel his little heart beating against my leg. This is the best feeling in the world. He is too heavy to sleep on my chest any more like when he was a little baby (I loved this) but this is the next best feeling.

8:15 p.m. — I stroke his hair and then finally drift off to sleep, trapped in place by his body. I love his heavy little boy weight against my legs, and I hope to never forget this feeling.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

5:40 a.m. — Little Bun has shifted off to my side and his head is now on my pillow and he is gripping my arm while sleeping. I shift to cuddle closer to him.

5:49 a.m. — I can’t sleep any more. Work stress, I want to just get a break but I can’t. I get up (sleep is futile at this point).

5:53 p.m. — I sit in the living room and make notes to myself.

6:08 a.m. — Little Bun senses I am gone and wakes up shortly after. He needs the feel of someone warm and adult-y beside him to sleep. I remember having the same need when I was younger, or else I found it hard to sleep. Without someone there, I always felt cold and alone.

6:25 a.m. — I make tea, and get ready to go. Little Bun is in SUCH a good mood today. Last night, I listed out 10 things I loved about him, and he seemed very pleased by that, that he was such a good child. I give him a huge hug and kiss, and he says very sweetly in his little voice: Bye bye Mommy! See you later!!! 

7:46 a.m. — At work. First snowfall. People are still driving like maniacs. Why?

7:54 a.m. — I go to hang my bag on the back of the bathroom stall door and SLICE my knuckle. It bleeds pretty badly, it looks like a deep cut and the blood keeps pouring out. I quickly apply pressure and then fumble with the First Aid kit in the office, using up 5 alcohol wipes as I go and changing my band-aid throughout the day.

8:08 a.m. — I make a note to call the preschool we want to switch Little Bun to, tomorrow. And to make a Little Bun collage — the ultimate minimalist gift where you spend time on a laptop and create a pretty image in Photoshop to share with everyone. I will do that tomorrow.

8:15 a.m. — Meetings.

12:08 p.m. — I break for lunch quickly then head back to work.

12:22 p.m. — More work.

1:16 p.m. — I almost get suckered into buying a Bagnet. It claims to hold up your bags with a heavy magnet in bathroom stalls where they have removed hooks to stop people from handing themselves/suiciding. Luckily reviews have taught me that stall doors are made out of hollow aluminium and therefore this is useless. It would be hard to find REAL METAL tables and chairs these days.

4:15 p.m. — I feel so tired. I need a break and yet I haven’t been working as much as the others… I just hate this useless, needless pressure on everyone to finish a project to meet some stupid, arbitrary deadline they made up. A lot of bonuses are based off the performance of projects. I am not playing this game.

4:42 p.m. — At home, I make noodles (whole wheat soba) and then I play a snow quiz game with Little Bun where I ask him questions about snow and how it falls, if it melts, etc…

5:11 p.m. — Little Bun starts whining. He wants to go out on the balcony and play in the snow. It is already dark, and I am not in the mood so I tell him tomorrow morning we can when it’s light. It would be kind of cool to play and make a snowball, or play in the park with the snow. He is NOT HAVING IT. He starts losing his #^(#*) screaming and hitting the window, crying that he wants to go out on the balcony and play and it is not too dark, and Mommy I want to go play NOW.

5:16 p.m. — I am tired. I DO NOT NEED THIS. I get really mad at him and then his father gets angry at him, which instinctively makes me calm down and comfort him. He is all red-faced, crying buckets of tears… man. He has been good lately, but then you get this kind of tantrum and you are sapped of all your energy.

5:28 p.m. — I make a plan to sell a blazer tomorrow. I should get $80 in my pocket, and slowly get rid of my things. I have to list everything.

Spent: $

DAY SIX

??:?? —

??:?? —

6:00 a.m. — I wake up with my whole body hurting and my left leg cramping. I immediately log in and book an intense massage therapy session. The stress of work is starting to build up in my muscles. It will cost about $80 but so worth it….

6:23 a.m. — I have been INTENSELY reading on the benefits and risks to microneedling your skin. If you have not been on the beauty bandwagon and are not as vain as I am to consider that I should do as much as possible now to prevent aging and preserve my looks and skin while they’re still good, microneedling is when you run this roller of microneedles (at-home devices are 0.5mm needles, and pros use 3mm needles) over your skin, you basically damage your skin microscopically to force it to regenerate more collagen and heal itself. As a result, it should improve things like acne scars, help puff wrinkles up so that they disappear and so on. Obviously the shorter the needle, the less it penetrates into your epidermis and the longer it takes to improve your skin.

6:40 a.m. — I read up on this beauty favourite – GloPro dermaroller that retails for $249 USD, and I am not convinced they have anything except for great marketing and a cute looking rose gold device. I end up on Amazon buying a cheap derma roller of 0.50mm (the safest size) to try out. I also figure I can use it to help my serums penetrate deeper. Can’t hurt for what, $12-ish bucks? Also, don’t use it on your active acne and make sure the needles are super sharp. Avoid those areas until it heals. I’ll use it on the side where I have acne scars (slight ones) and report back.

6:53 a.m. — To get free shipping, I also add some of my favourite Foot Petals Fancy Feet heel liners to the basket (I love these things, they prevent blisters like no tomorrow and I have run out!!)…. For Canadians only because for some reason these don’t sell in the U.S. any more, my other favourite is are these Dr. Scholl’s heel liners. I put them in ALL OF MY SHOES except boots, even in my flats. I have not had a back-of-the-heel blister in years. You have to buy this specific foam padding, not the silicone or the plastic, for it to grip effectively (think: sweat on silicone = slippery and ineffective). $43.73

8:24 a.m. — For CANADIAN investors only! —– I read a few pages of Capital Compounders (recommended by a reader), and from the first page, it sounds like an interesting albeit cautious book to read. Investing in individual stocks takes an EFFLOAD of time. Unless you have someone doing the research for you and you just put your money there, it is not something sustainable for people who don’t find investing sexy to begin with.

8:30 a.m. — He has also written Market Masters and that seems to be a good book too. You can find that one at the library (it has been out a while) but Capital Compounder is his latest so it is too new. I immediately log into my public library and borrow the e-book to read.

8:36 a.m. — I start on the dishes. The counter is FULL.

10:09 a.m. — Everything washed and dried. My back is aching a little. I want to go lie down and start on Capital Compounders but I want to also go through my closet first…

10:20 a.m. — I really don’t like this mascara by Clinique. It was a free sample but frankly, it doesn’t give enough volume to my lashes, and it doesn’t make them look half as long as this cheapie Essence Princess Mascara brand that I love.

10:31 a.m. — Little Bun wants to go play in the snow. He points to the balcony (where he made the fuss last night) and squeals happily: MOMMY! IT IS EARLY!! It is “EARLY” so we can go play in the snow!….. so I get him fully FULLY dressed and take him out, and then we head out to the balcony. He plays and is SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY… with snow

11:21 a.m. — Back inside. Snow everywhere. I clean up… he really had a blast outside.

12:01 p.m. — My partner comes home and we have cheese and bread. I love this stuff. It is simple but yummy.

12:11 p.m. — My buyer cancels due to some reason I have no idea. We reschedule for tomorrow.

12:45 p.m. — As I go to leave, Little Bun bursts into tears and screams at the door as I head down the hallway towards the elevator. Sigh. Why does he do this? Why one day he is fine but then today he isn’t?????

1:23 p.m. — I decide to drop by American Eagle Outfitters instead having had a brain wave that perhaps they will have soft pants for sleeping that won’t break the bank.

1:57 p.m. — Score! I find 4 different designs of what is the same thing and end up on a pair with pockets, and a tie. I try on two Smalls from the same style and only the Grey one is loose enough and baggy for comfortable sleep. WTF. I decide to just buy two Mediums and get out of there. I like a looser waist and leg area to feel comfortable. Turns out it also isn’t the same material – cotton blend instead of viscose but the other viscose pairs felt very light and flimsy… $80.40

2:15 p.m. — I head into Aritzia after a chapter (am thinking about it) and try on a bunch of pieces. I only end up liking the Blair turtleneck but do I really need a turtleneck? I put it back.

2:23 p.m. — I grab a Starbucks with my reward and ask them for 2 pumps of Gingerbread in place of the 2 pumps of White Hot chocolate. Yum! I am loving my new recipe.

2:47 p.m. — I try on some Steve Madden Odessa over the knee boots in a similar colour to Praline (light taupe grey) and I decide light OTK boots are not going to be as versatile as the black and grey (way more expensive) used Stuart Weitzmans. Based on reviews online from people who had the SW’s and cheaper out for other colours they unanimously say that you cannot compare comfort between the two brands. This is why I don’t bother with cheap stuff any more, I just won’t wear it because it isn’t comfortable and I’d rather buy used to save my money but to have much better quality.

4:11 p.m. — I head home. The highways are all blocked so I have to take the long way around.

5:21 p.m. — At home, Little Bun squeals: Mahhhh-meeeeeee!!!!! And doesn’t get down to greet me because food is more important.

5:40 p.m. — He inspects my finger after I sit down to eat dinner and tells me seriously: Mommy, your Mommy finger (index) is hurt. But that’s okay, the other Mommy finger will help her because they love each other. …. LOL… love it.

5:56 p.m. — Little Bun also informs me during dinner that his belly is Soooooooooo Biiiiigggggg and he is hungry all the time and he needs to eat A LOT. I try to pass him some mustard chicken and he refuses. He says it isn’t yummy and only wants avocado sliced on bread. Fine by me.

6:20 p.m. — I start to wash all the dishes and Little Bun comes up to me saying he wants Mommy Time. It is time for Half Mommy Time and he already had Half Daddy Time and now he wants Mommy Time. I tell him I’m doing dishes and he asks to be carried to the bedroom like a baby because he is too little. I oblige and then get back to dishes.

7:48 p.m. — I get ready for bed. I can’t believe the weekend is almost over. 🙁

7:50 p.m. — Little Bun finds my Magic Bag and says: Mommy do you need this? Do you use this?.. I reply back that I use it when my back and neck hurts. He runs up to me, taps my lower back and says: Mommy does it hurt here? If it does you need the Magic Bag. Here Mommy!!! So that you can use it to feel better. <3

8:13 p.m. — Mommy, let’s practice tracing our numbers! How do you trace number 7 Mommy?... he traces it in the air and says: it is like this!!! Your turn! .. I trace the number in the air as well, and he turns to me and says: Good job Mommy! But we can also trace it like this. .. now let’s trace number 6. You need to practice more. … O_o …

Spent: $80.40

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun screamed in his sleep last night and it was near the end of my sleep cycle so I’m not fatigued but I am not bright eyed and bushy tailed.

6:26 a.m. — I get up with him after his milk and I make some tea and quiz him on the outside. The game goes like this: Is there snow on the ground outside? .. and Little Bun answers yes or no and explains why. It is a game he made up. I’m just a Mommy pawn in his world.

6:46 a.m. — Then we spend time tracing number cards. After I do each one he encourages me with a: “That’s good Mommy!!”.. and makes me retrace it if he thinks I didn’t do it well.

7:15 a.m. — I finally after 2 years, bite the bullet on buying the newsletter Contra the Heard. $714

8:45 a.m. — I get ready and head out to sell that leather blazer after bribing Little Bun with an iPod. +$80

8:45 a.m. — In the car while I’m waiting I finally buy those black high rise Brucho Walker WITH TAGS STILL ON silk culottes I have had in my basket at The RealReal for a while. I got a $25 credit (sign up here to get a free $25 towards a purchase made within 7 days).. $51

9:21 a.m. — I get home and Little Bun squeals happily.

10:59 a.m. — Time for lunch.

12:08 p.m. — Nap time. He takes half an hour to settle down… we should start earlier at 11:30… :S

2:17 p.m. — Up from his nap (he took 45 minutes!!!) I was reading the whole time and thinking about my investing plan.

3:24 p.m. — Time for dishes. I do all the dishes, and then take Little Bun out to the park.

7:19 p.m. — Back at home, we eat a light dinner, and then I go to sleep.

Earned: $80

Spent: $765

———-

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