Is Food My One True Joy?! How Much Did I Spend Last Week? Jan 23-29, 2023
Probably.
I’ve had, honestly, a challenging week, emotionally speaking. It’s been particularly frustrating because, of all weeks, I should be delighted – my parents are finally here, having had to cancel their Christmas trip when my Mum fell and broke her wrist.
I’ve been dying for them to arrive, and in fact I determinedly corralled them into booking these flights, so for their visit to coincide with a particularly low period for me seems incredibly unfair (and is causing me no small amount of guilt).
Maybe it’s the snow that fell on Wednesday morning and is still very much in situ, but murky now, the shade of old, discoloured sheets or smokers’ fingernails; maybe it’s the anticipation of their arrival, the expectation of which is never going to live up to the reality; or maybe it’s just another ebb and flow in the cycle of my mental and emotional health. Who knows?! Not I.
Monday
My parents are flying tomorrow morning – finally, finally! – and I decide to book them into the 51st & Green lounge in Dublin Airport. Full disclosure: when this lounge first opened, I was invited for a complimentary visit before one of my trips to visit Bea, who was then living in Dallas.
I loved it so much that I’ve been back twice, fully paid for, and this time paid for my parents to go and enjoy it without me, such a selfless creature am I. (€101.98, around $111)
I forward the confirmation to my Dad, who thanks me profusely, then informs me that “we actually thought about booking in, but then decided it was too expensive”. Arsehole.
Anyway, in preparation for their arrival, I’m trying to get some work done so that I don’t have loads to do when I could otherwise be having family time. So I write this week’s money diary, finish a freelance piece I have to submit tomorrow and do some fiddling around with the podcast website, which is still giving me more trouble than a Wordpress website should be giving me, honestly.
Brandin picks up the boys in the afternoon and we have orange chicken – “I hate this sauce!” says the child who loved the exact same sauce one week ago – for dinner, then watch two episodes of The White Lotus (us, not the kids) before bed.
Daily total: $111
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