Book Lovers, Unite! | How Much Did I Spend Last Week? Apr 17-23, 2023
Less than you'd think, honestly.
I am proud to be able to inform you that this week has been a big week for reading. A big week.
I volunteered to judge a women’s fiction competition run by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association when I saw them appeal for readers on Instagram and they sent me three books to review by April 30th, two of which I read this week, along with Remarkably Bright Creatures, the April pick for a book club I joined locally.
I also ordered three books from Barnes & Noble – not my own book, though I was tempted, in order to bolster my sales figures – this week. I read the majority of my books on Kindle and like the idea of not buying more stuff to clutter up my house with… but I also love physical books and I am 99% sure that purchasing a hard copy is better for the author than buying an ebook. (I could be wrong.)
Honestly, I think I needed a week of reading. I’ve been getting very hassled about the impending release of This is Not About You and the work that needs to be done to promote and market it, not to mention the fact that I really feel like I need to get into the meat of my next book (in case TINAY is terribly received and I need something to distract people with) ASAP, Atlas is still waking up between four and six times a night and I also have the podcast, my Substack work and freelance projects to focus on… It feels like a lot.
So giving myself permission to slow down and sit in my chair and read a few books has been a very welcome intermission. I suspect it’ll be a while before I get another three-book week, to be honest, so I really savoured it.
Monday
Though Monday is now childcare day, Miss Robin is out with Covid so Atlas is at home with me today. I had originally had a tattoo scheduled for today – kind of unbeknownst to me because until I check my calendar this morning I think it’s in two weeks’ time – but my tattoo artist has to reschedule as their partner’s car has broken down.
Of course, by the time I find this out, my babysitter – Beatrice – has already come over to hang out with Atlas, so the bonus result is that we all (me, her, Fox and Atlas) get to hang out together for a few hours while she updates her resume and I tick some things off this week’s to-do list, including paying two parking fines (one of which I didn’t even know I’d incurred); writing a freelance article; dealing with some final bits for book sign-off; and calling Bank of Ireland, who emailed me a few weeks ago now to let me know that my Irish credit card had been halted due to “unusual activity” (it was me. It’s always me.).
I make us toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch and we do a little jigsawing before Bea and Fox head off to pick the boys up from school in the afternoon. When Atlas wakes up from his nap, he and I go to drop some bits to Goodwill and then pick up our boys from their Mum’s.
I also have some stuff to return to Old Navy (-$104.68), so the four of us go along to do that and of course I end up buying them some bits – flip flops and T-shirts and shorts and hoodies that are on sale for $9.99 and adorable short-shorts for Atlas that I think are actually supposed to be for girls, as the boys’ shorts all seem to be longer (a weird way to differentiate baby girls’ and boys’ shorts, honestly) which makes me glad I got the refund, but also feel a bit like… I shouldn’t have bothered! ($90.90)
After Old Navy, we head next door to get dinner in BurgerFi ($44.18) for the three of us. Brandin’s been in Ohio with work for the day (hence my picking up the boys) and he gets back while we’re at BurgerFi so he comes to meet us there and pilfer chips off everyone’s plates.
When we get home, I water my plants while Atlas plays in the garden (and attempts to foil my watering attempts) and the boys watch TV, then they have a snack (endless snacks, honestly) before bath and bedtime, and we watch an episode of The Mandalorian before it’s our bedtime too.
Daily total: $30.40
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