Nailing Those Intentions! | How Much Did I Spend Last Week? Dec 12-18, 2022
(The answer is always: too much.)
I’ve just been updating a friend on our Christmas present plans via the traditional festive method of WhatsApp voice notes when I catch myself in what’s not quite a lie but… perhaps a misrepresentation?
“We’re trying to be really intentional with our money this year so we wrote out exactly what we were buying and bought only that,” I say, before taking a beat. “Well. I say that, but this week I did buy myself five pairs of fake nails.”
Then I launch into a long justification for said purchase: my natural nails are weak and soft and crap; they have never not been weak and soft and crap; even with a gel manicure they are weak and soft and crap; I know fake nails won’t be good for my nails but at least they’ll look good and really, what more can we ask for?! etc etc
So: it’s safe to say that, if I have turned over a new leaf, it is a remarkably similar leaf to the old leaf. They are most definitely the same variety, perhaps even from the same tree. Sister leaves, if you will. Twin leaves.
Monday
This week I’m wrapping up a few of my freelance bits for the year. December can be a funny month, freelancing. I’ve had really busy Decembers, where I’ve been writing various features for different publications whose staff have taken time off over the festive season, and I’ve had other Decembers that have been really quiet thanks to there just not being a lot of commissioning going on.
I’m sure it also depends on budget – if a magazine or newspaper has used up the majority of their freelance budget by the end of the year, they’ll have no choice but to use their in-house writers to fill any gaps – but it makes it all very unpredictable.
Anyway, this December has been busier than I’d expected because a freelance client I’d been working with was incredibly sound and, upon hearing about Brandin losing his job, gave me a few more commissions than usual.
But because it’s December, and everyone’s wrapping up earlier than usual “for the holidays”, the month’s deadlines are all pushed forward so this week is busy as I’m getting those bits done.
We’re in a good little routine now, so I work between 10am and 3pm or so on Mondays and Tuesdays – Brandin leaves to pick up the boys at 3.30pm – while Brandin plays with Atlas and does nap times and so on.
We’re still in our glorious three-hours-napping-in-the-morning phase, which means we both get this big chunk of time where we know he’s asleep and I don’t need to wonder if I should nurse him and Brandin can get other bits done, but we also have a consultation with a sleep wizard tomorrow (not her official title) so I accept this may not last forever.
My Gathre Pay in 4 comes out today, for the $100 advent calendar I sincerely regret buying as (a) I did not make it look even 10% as cute as I hoped I would and (b) I’ve since seen similar, actually cuter ones, on H&M or whatever. So come this time next year I might try to offload it on Facebook Marketplace, unless I’ve got way craftier in the meantime. ($21.72)
My craft inspiration, in case you cared, was this Instagram genius.
When Brandin gets home with the boys they have hamburger helper (I swore I would never let this product into the house once I moved in, but it’s one of the few things they will, as Brandin says, “eat the shit out of” – Americans are rude, in case you didn’t know – so my standards have fucked right off out the window.)
Once they’re tucked up in bed we watch two episodes of Willow, the new series that follows on 17 years after the action of the original film of the same name. It’s really good, even if – I’m sorry, Willow fans, I was also crushed – Warwick Davis is really quite crap at acting.
Daily total: $21.72
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