There’s something about the weeks that my parents spend here that gives off serious holiday vibes, and while it doesn’t exactly severely impact my work output – this week was an exception and I’ll talk about that in just a second – it does fill me with a sort of resentment that I have to work, while everyone else is having fun.
I get that this is a temporary state of affairs as Bea is in the transition period between being let go and setting up her own thing, so she won’t always have all this time to swan around Target and Walmart with our parents while I’m working my fingers to the bone (figuratively, although they do frequently get slightly achey from typing…) but this time was tough and it was especially tough because this was their last week in town, and for four of those five weekdays I was scheduled to be in studio, reading aloud from my own tell-all…
Which brings me to last week’s Substack: y’all, I dropped the ball. You didn’t get a money diary, and for that I am really sorry – I was up the walls trying to get the recording done, some freelance projects sent off and keep up with my (self-imposed, granted) writing schedule, as well as panicking about Atlas’ pre-birthday birthday party (more on that later on, too).
But I’m going to make it up to you this week with a guest money diary and a few different bits and bobs – and, as always, please leave me a comment and let me know what you’d like to read from me, if anything!
And if you would like to be a paid subscriber but it’s not in your budget, email me rosemary.maccabe@gmail.com and I’ll give you a six-month complimentary subscription, no questions asked! If you can afford it and aren’t already a paid subscriber, I’d really appreciate it if you’d consider it – not only are you helping keep the lights on at home, you’re also allowing me to offer free subscriptions to people who can’t, so you can feel good about it in more than one way.
Anyway, to the week!
Monday
I’m in Sweetwater Studios Monday to Thursday this week, recording the audio for my book, This is Not About You, release date to be confirmed. (I’ve just sent an email to ask for updates so, as soon as I know, you’ll know!)
[As an aside: if you bought a copy of TINAY from Unbound in the crowdfunding stages and have yet to receive it – yes, there are people out there who still have not got their books, two months later, I cannot even – please drop me an email at rosemary.maccabe@gmail.com and I will make sure you are looked after ASAP. It’s an ongoing, shitty, disappointing situation and I am so sorry.]
I kind of thought today would be a lot of prep work, figuring out cadence and style and other things that would seem important to audiobook recording, but instead we jump right in, and after some levels checks with the on-site sound engineer and a little coaching from my producer, who’s on Zoom from the UK (mostly: “could you slow down a little?”), I get to the reading part.
In massively surprising news, I enjoy it! I guess I really do love the sound of my own voice, and I’ve always liked reading aloud. (Sometimes I’ll try to read things to Brandin and he always just tells me to send him the link, which, honestly, takes the fun out of it for me. Let me relive the glory days of my primary school education!)
There’s a massive on-site canteen at Sweetwater so at lunch I grab myself a plate of totally random things from the salad bar – I suffer massively from decision paralysis and always end up going for the most bonkers things when I’m given a choice of anything, whether it’s at a salad bar or when I used to go to press events and they’d ask me to pick an item of clothing… I’d always end up with something totally bonkers.
My salad, in case you cared, is spinach leaves, cranberries, some kind of seeds, cherry tomatoes, radishes (radishes!!!), half a chicken breast and red onions, with a vinaigrette dressing and a bottle of Diet Coke. ($11.61)
We get back to the studio after lunch and keep going, and get through a whopping 110 pages on day one! I feel very motivated by the fact that I just want to get this over with, so I can never again say the words “lobbed his dick in my mouth” in front of a stranger.
We’re scheduled to record from 10am to 4pm, but we finish up at around 3pm as we’re doing great time, apparently, but also “I can hear things getting a little scratchy”, says my producer, and I think, not my precious voice!
I’m also trying not to talk too much this week, which means not making too many calls or sending too many voice notes and that is just a challenge for me, in general.
On the way home, I take a slight detour to go and get some bits in Fresh Market – sourdough rolls for dinner, along with mascarpone to have with the figs I got in Costco at the weekend. ($50)
Brandin, Atlas and the boys are at home prepping for dinner when I get back – it’s Labour Day, so we’ve invited both sets of grandparents over for pulled pork Brandin’s been cooking in the smoker since last night. I had planned on making some kind of fig tarts for dessert but Mum’s actually bringing an apple upside-down tart so I’m totally off the hook and happy to just bob around getting people drinks and trying to stop the dog running out to terrorise the smoker.
The meal is really good: corn on the cob, pulled pork, sourdough buns and home-made coleslaw with a traditional barbecue sauce and a raspberry chipotle barbecue sauce, which sounds kind of weird but is actually delish. Very into it.
Everyone heads home at around 8pm and Brandin does the boys’ bedtime while I give Atlas a bath and put him down, then I’ve to sit down at my computer for two hours to get a freelance piece finished and submitted before bed.
Daily total: $61.61
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