It feels, right now, a little like I can’t get a break – not to be too dramatic about it. I mean, spoiler alert: I have Covid! And a fractured ankle! And an almost-one-year-old! And it’s all a lot!
But there are some good plans made this week so I guess that’s something to be optimistic about, and every week I endure in this boot brings me one week closer to not being in this boot.
Lest there be any confusion: the glass is mos def half empty, but at least it’s not completely empty, amirite?!
Monday
The boys’ mum had back and neck surgery (sobering realisation that things could be so much worse – I am feeling very sorry for her) so I’m doing the school run on our days this week, meaning we’re up at 6.30am and out the door by 7.20am to be at their school by 8am, a little further north outside of Fort Wayne.
Everything goes relatively smoothly once our seven-year-old accepts the harsh reality – that he has to go to school – and stops sulking underneath his bed.
I generally try to avoid trips like this with Atlas because he will only tolerate about 30 minutes at a time in the car, but I’m being strategic and have brought a mini croissant, a bottle of milk, a bottle of water and some of those yoghurt melts he loves, in the hopes that some combination of the above will help stave off the inevitable meltdown.
It works! Ish. I have to hand him a yoghurt melt at five-minute intervals for the entire duration of the 40-minute return journey, but he doesn’t totally lose it until we get in the door and he realises it’s nap time, so that’s a plus.
I spend the day tidying up, doing laundry, making pizza dough for dinner and doing some writing. I also get back to some emails I’d been ignoring… and spend nothing. Did I mention it’s the end of the month?!
When I signed up to Substack I did so on a one-year contract, where they guaranteed my income for that year and took all of my subscription income, but the contract is up at the end of September, so from October forward I’ll go back to making a living from my Substack subscribers.
They also paid in four quarterly instalments, which meant I got quite nice chunks of income but also meant that after each chunk there were three months without any income, so I’m looking forward to the start of October, when things will get a little more routine!
For now, it means I’m pretty cash-strapped until our podcast Patreon pays out at the start of September, and most of that is accounted for, so I think it’ll be a bit of a lean month. I think. #famouslastwords
Dinner is pizza; Atlas has pasta and blueberries and some grated cheese.
Daily total: $0
Tuesday
Another day (this week), another school run. We have a bit of a clash of tempers this morning as I’m trying to get everyone organised and being argued with about the most ridiculous things (e.g. “I can wear my Crocs to gym class, it’s fine”) but it all goes okay. By the end of this three-day stint, Atlas will be 95% yoghurt.
He’s going through a bit of a phase where he won’t eat anything he can’t shove in his mouth himself, so the millions of purees we have in our press are being ignored in favour of finger foods.
So far he loves: corn on the cob, avocado (bit messy, only given to him if I’m planning a post-meal bath), Greek yoghurt (ditto), peanut butter (ditto x 1,000), strawberries, blueberries, his beloved yoghurt melts, corn tacos cut into strips, Penne pasta given to him one shell at a time and, oh yes, chicken tikka masala. Well, he is my baby…
When it comes to figuring out how to serve the finger food type stuff, I refer to Solid Starts for info. They have really good infographics on how to serve food to babies depending on their ages, and what’s appropriate and what’s not.
Today I make him a little omelette (90% ends up on the chair / in the dog) served with Cotija cheese, blueberries and a piece of corn on the cob (which must be wrestled from the dog when Atlas grows bored of it and throws it on the ground).
I do chicken thighs and sweet potato fries in the air fryer for dinner; the sweet potato fries end up very floppy and the chicken tastes, says our seven-year-old, “like paper”. Another culinary success.
Daily total: $0
Wednesday
As we all pile into the car this morning – “you’re SITTING on my SEATBELT!” – I realise I’m almost out of petrol. GREAT NEWS. I make the executive decision that it’ll do until they get dropped off and I am correct! So I stop to fill up at the station on the way back. ($25)
When I get back I do my almost-daily Google search for flights home. I had been hoping to take a trip in September, before I submit my Green Card application – because once I file, I can’t leave the country – but until now I’d only been able to see flights for $1,000-plus…
But today I’m in luck, because I find return flights in September for a little under $700. It’s only for about eight days, which is a shorter trip than I’d usually take to go that far, especially with Atlas, but I’ve been really homesick lately so I feel like it’s worth it. (Changing the dates immediately bumps it up by $200!) ($688.44)
My parents had Covid a few weeks ago and I’d like to go home and see them and just be with them for a bit, and Atlas’ birthday is also coming up so I think I’ll have a little party for him while I’m there, which will be a great opportunity to see everyone I want to see without spending all day, every day, schlepping in and out of town while I’m home.
To be honest, I can’t afford the tickets – I’m starting to face the harsh reality that I’ve really been living off my credit cards and, er, shouldn’t be doing that – but I decide it’ll be worth it. So I put them on my Irish credit card, which is in another currency, making it easier not to worry about.
I would usually order my Wednesday Taj Mahal for dinner, but decide I’ve spent enough so have coconut rice (it’s from an Uncle Ben’s pack and honestly not that great but like… fine and so easy) with chicken and avocado. A kind of rice bowl type situation. It’s grand. (Takeaway would’ve been nicer.)
Daily total: $713.44
Thursday
Today I decide to try to get the house a little bit in order before our cleaner comes tomorrow, and one of the first things I do (after checking that Bea doesn’t want it) is post a little desk we have on Facebook, in our housing estate group, to see if anyone does.
It’s a perfect desk that I got when we were in the old house and used a bit to work at, but I tend to prefer to work on the couch or even at the kitchen table, and as the baby has moved into his own room and we’ve had to put the Peloton bike in our bedroom, along with Brandin’s computer, we don’t have as much room for a work from home space any more.
One of our neighbours says they’ll take it – they’re home schooling their kids, which seems to be really common in the US – so they’re going to stop by later on to pick it up.
Otherwise I hang out with Atlas. I’ve been trying to read to him more – rather than just let him watch Baby Einstein whenever I run out of ways to entertain him – and read a book called Toot! which is very cute (I’m a poet!) but also has a weird bit in it where it talks about how Dad’s toots are loud and Mum’s toots are quiet and honestly? I beg to differ.
When Brandin gets home, neither of us wants to cook so we order Chipotle for dinner. ($52.58)
He does, however, want to bake – cookies, specifically – but we’re out of sugar, so I head to Kroger to get a few ingredients and some essentials. I do the quickest in-and-out trip of my life; I’m walking a lot better in my boot but it’s still cumbersome and annoying, so I don’t do my usual walk up and down every aisle. ($69.41)
When I get home, we realise we don’t have any flour. I am not going back to Kroger. Luckily, we remember our neighbour is coming to pick up the desk so ask if they could bring us some flour while they’re at it! I feel like I’m in the Barry’s Tea ad.
(We should probably bring them some cookies some day, shouldn’t we?)
Daily total: $121.99
Friday
My subscription for Lindy West’s Substack comes out. Highly recommend, by the way. Very entertaining. ($5)
I’m feeling a bit rough today – I have a bit of a sore throat and a cough, and I’m wrecked – and though I’m not sure whether it’s me actually being sick, or just having a baby who’s still waking up five times a night, I decide to schedule a PCR test for tomorrow, just to be safe.
And I order McDonald’s for my lunch, because I feel sorry for myself. ($18.93)
As I put Atlas down for his afternoon nap, I decide he feels a little warm, and remind myself to check his temperature when he wakes up – and when he does wake up, Brandin goes in to get him, and notices the same thing.
It turns out, he does have a temperature, which gradually increases throughout the evening until we’re up in the middle of the night while he screams and cries with a 40-degree temperature. Miserable.
We’re almost at the point of bringing him to A&E when the Calpol – thanks, Mum! – finally starts to bring his temperature down, and by 5am, though he’s wide awake and miserable, his temperature is a lot lower. Brandin eventually just gets up with him while I catch up on all the sleep I missed while I was trying to nurse him back to health throughout the night.
Daily total: $23.93
Saturday
I don’t wake up until after 9am, so I’ve to get dressed quickly and head for my Covid test. It’s at the pharmacy drive-thru, so it’s really quick and straightforward, and I’m home within about 15 minutes. I’ll get the result in 1-2 days.
While I’m at CVS, I run in (masked, but also, honestly, convinced I probably don’t have Covid – the boys are back to school and last year we all got sick on and off for weeks when they went back) and get some baby ibuprofen and some Frosted Flakes. ($17.73)
My subscription to Farrah Storr’s Things Worth Knowing Substack comes out ($7.14) along with my Google storage fee. ($3.14)
The baby is not in good form all day. Napping is not really happening, and if it is, it’s for 30 minutes at a time, with a lot of moaning in between – but in the afternoon, he falls asleep on his dad for three hours and wakes up almost back to his old self.
His temperature is normal, he’s smiling away and banging his high chair table for yoghurt melts, and when we order Taj Mahal he delightedly eats his fill of chicken tikka masala and rice. ($60.34)
It’s such a relief, and he’s even back to his normal sleep pattern – which, to be clear, is to wake up three times by 2am – all within 24 hours.
Daily total: $88.35
Sunday
So, it turns out – I have Covid! As someone on Instagram messaged me, bitchily, “trust the Mac Cabes to be dragging the arse out of Covid two years later. THE DRAMA!!!”
Obviously, I am mortified to be getting Covid so long after everyone else. How very uncool of me. (Sarcasm.)
It’s lucky I didn’t have any elaborate Sunday plans! As it is, we stay in and I feel sorry for myself. And, I guess, for Atlas, although he’s back to 100% now so, mostly for myself.
Daily total: $0
Weekly total: $947.71
…of which $33.01 went on stuff (stuff = books, subscriptions etc); $69.41 went on groceries; $713.44 went on travel; and $131.85 went on takeout / random snacks
Positive Vibes Only | How Much Did I Spend Last Week? Aug 22-28, 2022