Crappie beds

My daughter is 5 months old — 3 months adjusted (born at 30 weeks.) She’s been sleeping through the night 10-11 hours without a feed for at least a month, but has always been a crappy napper, waking after 45 minutes. Usually for 1 or 2 naps, I’m able to rock her back to sleep or lengthen a nap by letting her fall back asleep on me. I didn’t worry about creating a negative sleep association because her adjusted age, which we’re supposed to use for developmental things, is still too young to sleep train.
I returned to work remotely last week, still caring for her at home until day care opens later this month. Suddenly naps went from 45 minutes to 20 and she won’t go back in the crib unless she’s deeply asleep. Sometimes I can’t rock her back to sleep at all. As a result, she’s fussy when she’s awake and doesn’t eat as well. Even night sleep, which has been consistent for so long, is suffering. She’s harder to put down for bed, has woken at 3 or 4 am a couple nights and has had earlier mornings.
Is this a sleep regression? Can she sense a change in my routine and that’s messing her up? We had a couple nights last week where we pushed her bedtime far later because we were with family — could that have messed with her clock? The discrepancy between her actual vs. adjusted age is messing with me as well. Maybe it’s time to consider formal sleep training, it’s hard to get any work done when I need to hold her all the time. Would love any insights, tips or advice!

ive manual level my 3d printer with the paper method and everything is fine, even the center. but when making a STL file to print from cura it automatically starts ''auto leveling'' it self and ruins the previous manual leveling i did. it does a horrible job auto leveling it self since the z axis is way too close to the bed and makes the nozzle grind pretty aggresivly against the bed. the solutions ive come up with is to pause the printing after the crappy autoleveling is done so i can manual level it again and then everything is fine (because it uses the leveling ive made for it) but there has to be another way to it? can i somehow turn of that auto leveling before every print? is there a code i can put in the hurakan consol fron the web or PuTTY code? please help.

I still miss this friend and tonight i feel troubled about it and need to get it out. So, I made this online friend 2 years ago and it started out as a very good friendship. We messaged everyday for that entire friendship. We would share every detail of our life and knew each others secrets. We were quite close.
Around the start of the friendship we mostly texted (a lot) and occasionally played pc games together as well as the very occasional call. We both had social anxiety so calling took effort but after a while me and her became comfortable with it. In my case I started really looking forward to calls. I was the only one who would ask to call though which slowly became more upsetting over time. But me and her would ocassionally ask each other to play a game. I haven't had close friends in life so the friendship was really important to me.
Eventually she met this guy on a dating sub and things got serious. The guy treated her pretty crappy from the start though then got much more toxic near the end of their relationship which lasted around 7 months. She had moved in with him early on and they had lots of arguments.
Almost everyday she would talk to me about a fight they had and I'd message with her for hours about it and be such a supportive friend, telling her she wasnt crazy/didnt deserve it, etc. This went on for months. I had my own issues and would vent and realized she'd put much less effort in being supportive to me. The friendship felt somewhat onesided.
Me and her lived 10 hours apart and occasionally me and her talked about meeting up and so I decided I'd have an adventure and drive 10 hours to see her for a few days. She knew it was a scary drive for me that I was doing at night. My friend messaged me for a while before the trip but went to bed early I think. My other online friend stayed up later and kept asking for updates on my drive which was really nice.
Once I got there she treated me how I can best describe as nonchalant. She made no comment on my trip, no comment about being glad to see me or anything. At one point I went to her house to watch anime and she had two dogs including a large ~70 pound pit bull that backed me into a corner and barked at me a lot. The dog eventually calmed down and at one point I was trying to train it to not jump on me and nip at my face, and I told my friend 'wish I could stay longer to help you train him' and to that she gave a pissed look, looked away and completely ignored me. We had good moments during the trip though visiting the mall and going to the theater and watching an anime at her house.
After my trip we started calling and playing games much more. One day she talked about playing games the next day and I said yeah to that but she didn't like the games I offered to play so bcuz of her lack of interest, the next day I ended up playing games with another friend for a little while. My friend got pissed and basically stopped playing games with me after that, which I saw as a huge overreaction. I talked about me and her playing games the very next day and she declined. Whenever I'd mention an issue I had in the friendship she'd give excuses and never try to resolve the problem or she'd guilt trip and say stuff like, "Yeah I know. I'm a shit friend. I'm a shit granddaughter too. I dont visit my grandma enough either and i know shes lonely". She was subtly manipulative
But to end the story she met this new guy crush online and became really obsessed with him. She'd spend every minute of free time with him. I was still wanting to call and play games with her but then she randomly referenced how things were in the very beginning of our friendship where we mostly texted and she said she was 'used to that' and wanted to go back to it. One time her crush wasnt available and she was lonely and asked me to call her during the night. Near the end of the friendship that was one of the only times she asked to call, only when she needed me, and not for enjoyment. We had a big argument in the end and I blocked her.
I was tired of her obsession with the guy. The guy had no job and was lonely so she spent all of her free time with him. They both were needy people. I miss her but in my eyes she betrayed me and the huge effort and care I put into the friendship. I was tired of her throwing our friendship away in favor of her crush she only knew for a couple months online. Now I choose to put my effort into people that want to build up a strong mutual enjoyable friendships as much as I do.

(Im voice typing this because I just feel like I’m talking to someone more that way)Im sick of people not respecting my work life. For starters Im working on getting a drivers license right now so I currently can’t drive, but everyone is expecting me to be there when I can’t even drive. I need someone to drive me places. I’m still in school and I have to have two weeks notice and my mother and family and friends are all telling me things short notice I give out my schedule or like send them times when I’m working two weeks minimum, that’s all I’m asking and my other job doesn’t even seem to respect me. I have two jobs for clarification I barely work because it’s a photography place but they don’t even care to let me know when I’m gonna work there just like come you can take photos where I barely work because it’s a photography place but they don’t even care to let me know when I’m gonna work there just like come you can take photos. and my main job I have to have two weeks in advance notice if I need to take the day off two weeks and I’m sick of it because it’s summer. I’m still in school. I’m stressed. My grades this year were slipping and everybody’s expecting me to do these things. I’m in multiple sports. I’m in multiple activities where I put time and effort and then I get yelled at for putting time and effort into these things because oh my God you’re not spending time with your family I don’t wanna spend time with my family when all they do is yell and fight, I’m just sick and tired of being in my family like for example my parents got into a fight over being in speech, which is a competitive storytelling sport practically a mental one more than anything and my parents are getting mad that I’m joining activities and then I stopped participating in them and they’re like oh my God why do you quit doing this because you were mad at me for doing something . and my parents they act like everything’s fine too when they yell at me and then when I have a mental breakdown, you crying why are you doing this? Why you’re doing that? I’m crying because I’m overwhelmed. I’m just sick of it. and I’m getting yelled at for working eight hour shifts during the summer because I want to save up money for a car for college and everything in general and my family is getting mad at me for actually trying to do something with my life oh like half of them sure they make good money but they’re fighting over child support and me half the time, I just can’t deal with it anymore. They’re getting upset with me. And now my family is acting normal after I haven’t been able to see one of my parents because the court system is just really crappy and I feel like I’m falling apart. I don’t any sympathy, but I just feel like I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t. I just need someone to talk to you sometimes in top of that. My friend group is falling apart everybody’s targeting me or someone else every other week and I feel like everything is just crumbling down as I speak or people choose to ignore me because I talk too much you can’t tell. I’m literally talking to my phone and my speaker or whatever picks it up and types it out for me and I know I keep going tangents but I just like to pour it out I’m just sick of it, I don’t feel like I can do this anymore for the last few months. I just sit in bed wake up eat food go to work or go to sleep. I just stay in my room and my family ask what’s wrong why don’t you do this why don’t you go up with your friends anymore? I don’t go out with my friends because you accuse me of being fucking gay every single time or is that your boyfriend or did you get a girlfriend? I may be bisexual and I haven’t even come out to you yet, but you treat me like some sort of of our family and I’m sick of it just because I’m not your biological child to one of my parents. Does everybody on that side of the family can treat me like shit I’m sick of it. I’m just sick and tired of being treated differently. I’m sick of it.

UPDATE: guest just messaged me to apologize and offered compensation. I think that is very good of him to do so. Basically what happened is that he got sick and sounds like his buddies got a little out of control. They didn’t damage the house so I told him I’m not seeking major compensation, but it’s just that they left their trash and broke my karaoke machine. I kinda feel bad, this poor guy got sick on his wedding day. Man what a crappy group of friends not to take up for him. But anyway thank you to the people here that gave good advice ! Appreciate you!
My partner and I Air BNB our family cabin, it’s in a remote location and we maintain it ourselves. The cabin itself is small, but it sleeps 4, plus we have some floor mattresses.
There is a tiny Bonus cabin outside that also sleeps four. Therefore the max amount of guests we allow at the same time is 8. After the 4th guest we charge an extra 50 dollars per guest. The price is 175 per night plus 75 dollar cleaning fee. We are pet friendly for smaller to medium pets too.
There is a pool, hot tub, complimentary farm fresh eggs from our neighbor up the street. It’s a really great deal, we only ask two things of our guests,1. NO PARTIES, meaning only your guests are allowed. We got burned when we first opened and a group invited a ton of friends, they trashed the place. That was over a year ago tho and our new rules have worked well. 2. Take your trash out and put it in the bins outside of the house. This is because of mice. The cabin is on a farm.
Since those people a year and a half ago, things have been good. But this weekend I got burned. The guy asks me if they can invite some of their friends and I thought I was safe because he asked. I told him no, he can add 3 more people to the listing and it will be 50 bucks more a person tho. He texts back and says never mind, his friends will stay at a nearby hotel.
We have a camera on the driveway and I normally don’t check it unless something happens so I was just going about my weekend. Well, my husband just went to the farm and it’s a mess and smells like pot and cigarette smoke because they left all their trash in there and there’s tons of it.
So I checked the camera and there were like 7 cars, even parked in the yard ! I couldn’t see how many people got out of them, and they never came out of the house almost the whole weekend. Judging by the amount of trash I’d say there were at least 12 people. There were several empty beer case packages. They also left beer in our fridge which would be cool ordinarily, but it was miller light haha. The trash bags are filled with liquor bottles and cigarettes and here’s the weird thing…
It seems they only used two beds haha. They rearranged the furniture and broke our karaoke machine too. I’m so angry because I feel like we provide a lot for the price. There’s even a fire pit for guests that we provide firewood for. It’s also on 70 acres of land that we cut trails for guests to explore.
Most guests come for the atmosphere and ambiance, not to get wasted in the house. Anyway, what would you do ? I’m obvs going to leave a 3 star review but is there anyway to recoup for extra guests ?

That’s a really great look for someone that says they are trying to be a monetized TikTok Shop creator. You know what I don’t see??? I don’t see others with that title sitting in bed with hair that hasn’t been brushed since who knows when in the same clothes for days on end looking like a psych patient. Heads up Tabitha nothing is going to change in a couple weeks or so, we are ALWAYS going to be here to stop your scamming behavior. You need to really let the G and Pickle thing go. From what I’m seeing he could careless about your pickle dream and you do realize if he stole your dreams of making pickles than so have millions of other people to because canning pickles isn’t inclusive to just you Tabitha. So does that mean you have stolen the dreams and prophecies of all the people that already have pickles for sale on the TikTok shop and stores??? GTFOH with your birds nest bullshit. The ONLY things that you’re really upset about are 1. You the con were conned 2. G doesn’t want you and 3. G is making money and you aren’t. By the way it’s still illegal to send those pickles through the mail because knowing you made them pay for them. Have you checked all the jars because the one I saw was cracked??? Until next time have the day you deserve and go get some damn help or a damn J-O-B Tabitha!!! P.S. Your positive affirmations are not working you’re still a crappy human

Anyone else feel inadequate compared to their child’s in laws or soon to be in laws?
My daughter is in her early 20’s and has been with an amazing kid the same age for about 4 yrs now. They both are successful and working hard to build careers. They live with his parents. His parents are awesome people and have absolutely stepped in and taken my kid under their wing.
They have money, are very well off and live in a huge home in a nice area. No other kids at home. I on the other hand,I am poor. I’ve made some terrible decisions, I’m a recovering addict, I was a nurse lost my license etc. I’ve been sober 6 yrs. So obviously, there is some trauma there. I live in a pretty crappy area and have 3 younger kids at home. I should add my daughter’s dad passed away over 20 yrs ago, so I’m on my own in that sense. It’s no surprise why my daughter lives with her bf’s parents lol and I don’t blame her one bit.
My daughter was on the phone with me, talking about how they all were discussing the what ifs when her and her bf get married and how traditionally the brides parents pay and his parents said Well we know that’s not happening and are assuming they’ll be paying for it. Not with attitude or anything it wasn’t meant to be hurtful, my daughter just non chalantly said it as part of the convo. But that sentence just made me cry once I hung up the phone. I know it’s silly, I know I’ve made my own bed, I know it wasn’t meant to be hurtful and I’m beyond grateful they’re such generous people. Am I just jealous? Idk I’m in my feelings about it and wanted to vent. Ty

I know she has a YT channel with her stupid crappy insufferable videos on dog training, but she’s on a bed at one point and it wasn’t a bunk bed. I just wonder why the police report didn’t have pictures of her bedroom? Also, the whole reason she had Tim in a closet was that, according to her, he “asked to be put in a room with a door” and that the reason why he didn’t get a regular bedroom was because it was “all she’s got”. Yet she made all these videos for her channel where she’s in another room, an office, I think. It’s small but it would surely have accommodated Timothy. So she clearly had “room” she just didn’t care enough about Timothy to make any kind of an effort or to show him any kindness by giving him his OWN room!

At this property for combo pleasure/work trip and it’s ok. Not great. But the thing that is bugging me is the lack of seating in my room - and the one chair they DID provide.
The desk chair is the only place to sit (other than on the bed). And it’s a banquet hall event type chair. The crappy cheap ones that hook onto the chair next to them, you know the type. The kind you’d expect to see at a crappy conference or industry meeting.
Really Marriott? This is your “boutique sophistication“ that helps me “escape the ordinary”?

I finally did it! Something which I thought could never happen. I beat dark souls ptde on a crappy laptop with keyboard and mouse. Since I watched a playthough of dark souls 3 on YouTube I always wanted to play the souls games and after knowing that the original ds1 works on my laptop I got it asap. But the worse part was ds isn't optimised for k&m gameplay and I needed a controller. But since I couldn't afford one I used the DSFix and DSMFix mods to make the port better. It definitely wasn't easy but I didn't gave up.
Tries it took me to the beat the bosses. (In order of defeating) Asylum Demon: 2. Taurus Demon: 18-20 (I was still getting used to the controls). Bell Gargoyles: 1 (I still don't know how I managed to pull that off). Capra Demon: 25+ (I passionately hate the arena) Gaping Dragon: 1. Quelaag: 1. Ceaseless Discharge: 3 (cheesed it) Iron Golem: 3 Ornstein & Smough: 4 (fireball spammed Ornstein). Stray Demon: 3. Crossbred Priscilla: 2 Moonlight Butterfly: 1. Great Grey Wolf Sif: 5 Four Kings: 1 (iron flesh is too good) Pinwheel: 1. Gravelord Nito: 1 (iron flesh is too good) Dark Son Gwyndolin: 2. Seath The Scaleless: 2 (got softlocked at first try so technically it's 1 too). Demon Firesage: 3 Centipede Demon: 1 (Solaris helps). Bed of Chaos: 5. Sanctuary Guardian: 1 Knight Artorias: 10 (best boss fight ever). Manus: 12 (fuck that dark magic). Kalameet: 15 (almost cried) Gwyn: 5.
Only regret was insted of parrying Gwyn, I ironfleshed and spammed his ass with Quelaag's Furysword.
In total the game was insanely good. I may not have played much games but this set the bar too high. I got the dark lord ending which is just perfect. Definitely looking forward to play the other souls games after getting a good pc or console in the future.
Also can you guys share how you felt after beating your first souls game?

I'm not really sure why I've decided to post this. It's not out for sympathy, especially because I feel like people will really strongly dislike me after reading this, but more so because I just... feel like nobody in real life is acting like it happened? They're all just behaving normally and it's really weird.
My mum is a strong woman. She takes on so many tasks at once and she'd never dream of asking for help with the littlest things, let alone something like this. She got glaucoma, an eye condition, so despite being really young, she's due to become blind, and she's lost her ability to drive, to have a job, and with that she lost most of her friends because as you know, many people are only looking out for themselves and aren't really there when the s*** hits the fan (I don't know if I'm allowed to swear here, so I won't). Not only that, but she fell out with her children, and therefore lost the ability to see any of her nieces or nephews, who she loves dearly, so I suppose that I should've seen something like this coming. But I didn't. I was too self-absorbed and I hate that.
Right before it happened, I was in the middle of studying, and she was asking to borrow a blue marker (little did I know she was planning to use it to write the note) and I said no. She insisted, and I got annoyed and told her that it was one of my last ones as they are all running out of ink. In hindsight, I feel so crappy about it. In fact, I just feel crappy overall about the way that I spoke to her. I think we became distant, as the more that she found out about her condition, the more she'd shout at me for petty things, and I should've been understanding, but instead I fought fire with fire, and almost everything she said was met back with a quick, snappy, somewhat aggressive response. I guess I never realised how bad it was for her, because she always tried to hide how bad her eyesight was getting, and how low the money in the bank was due to her not being able to hold a job anymore, and I guess that I preferred to not acknowledge it, because it was the easiest way not to feel upset. I'm selfish. I know that.
I remember when I first saw all of the empty tablets and her laying on the bed, my dad shouting at her. He was saying things like, "How could you do this to us? How could you be so selfish? You're a monster." I was just so confused. Why aren't you sympathising with her? Making her feel better? But I was scared to say anything, because I thought maybe his words would prevent her from going to sleep and not waking up. The whole scene rendered me speechless. I went to my room, shut the door, and I didn't feel anything. Not because I wasn't sad but because I couldn't believe it? It was like it wasn't real. After all, when you see this stuff in movies or TV shows you never expect that it would happen to you. And yet it had.
It's going to sound... horrible, really. But I laughed. It wasn't funny. I wasn't happy. It was just absolute disbelief. Apparently I smile when I'm sad and I look sad when I'm happy, so maybe that's just my response to being sad, but I still feel terrible about it. The reality just didn't set in.
The ambulance came. They sent me and my dad to a separate room, where he told me something that's been playing on my mind for a long time now. Something that I could never tell my mum. He told me, "If we had more money, I would've left this house years ago." He doesn't even want to be here. With me or with mum. He rambled on and on about how selfish she was for doing this and I couldn't help but be mad at how selfish he was being. And how selfish I had been not to realise how sad she was. I asked him if we should tell somebody, and he said that we shouldn't be making mum look weak. Weak? Really? Is that what's most important?
She apologised to me over and over again. She told me and the ambulance and my dad that's she's fine. She acted like it was just a completely normal day, and that she just took the pills to relieve her pain (for reference, she also gets chronic pain). She went to the ambulance, with my dad apparently being so dominating that all 3 appointments she was in there put a note to say that he was 'controlling'. I tidied the house, and the pills. I found the note with the marker that I'd shouted at her for. I finally cried. But not really enough. I don't understand why I didn't cry more.
We got home and it was business as usual. It's been about 2 months and it's still business as usual. She didn't go to the therapy recommended. My dad still refuses to take her out of the house because he's tired due to work, despite her saying over and over that she feels like a prisoner. It's the summer holidays in a week, though, and we've made plans, which is nice. But still... I feel like she's got all of these problems and not a person in the world and I don't know how to help her. Especially when there's only around a dozen people who know that it happened, mostly including us 3 involved and the doctohospital staff.

Just a quick note to say my depression has been kicking my ass so hard today, and I was craving a drink harder than I've craved in years. Said fuck that, drank two %0 beers which got me through the worst of the craving, ate some crappy deep fried food and now I'm going to bed, and tomorrow I'll have 63 straight days sober under my belt instead of starting again at 0.
God damnit life is painful sometimes. But IWNDWYT.

I'm having a major issue with an opportunity I was given. I'm a veteran that worked as a MP then transitioned into a Tactical Reponse Force. I'm extremely liberal now days due to events in the military and understanding politics.
I have 3 kids with my wife. An 8 year old and twin 2 year olds. We live in a crappy 2 bed 1 bath apartment for the last 3 years and have landlords that have shit on us nonstop. Both my wife and I are in school (I get paid for it due to GI bill) and I also work full time night shifts for $18 an hour.
I was offered a 50k sign on bonus and to start out at a higher rank in my local police department at $42 an hour starting from my friend's dad who is their person who hires. He thinks because I'm hyper critical of the police force here I'd be amazing on the force.
My issue is I've never wanted to return to being a cop. But I'm tired of struggling every day to feed my kids and succeed. We want out of our living conditions and a better life for ourselves. What would you do chat? Is it worth taking it? Even if temporary?

Today was a weird day. I almost passed out while entering my apt. Pool (my blood pressure sometimes dramatically drops) and no less than 7 people rushed over to help me. I scraped my arm and knee on the concrete on the floor of the pool and I now look like I looked when I fell off my bike at age 10. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle a weird call from LM tonight given my state of mind. I scheduled the last possible call of the day since that’s when I usually get male Sasha. Instead I got a very exuberant male Gabriel, a voice I never heard before. But nice enough. I was on the verge of meeting the Geometer a couple of calls ago but wasn’t able to access Directions tonight. So I asked for Hours and it was downright trippy.
I was on the checkered blanket with the blue radio playing in the background with my good friend. (That blue radio sure gets around a lot.) He happened to be sleeping and I was given the choice to let him continue to sleep a while longer which meant the picnic food would get cold or I could wake him up. I chose to let him sleep, and then for the second time, ended up drinking a blue liquid that caused me to hallucinate. I was floating upwards and like something out of the Wizard of Oz, all of these objects were passing me by as I got closer to the stars - chair with a plastic seat, blue bedspread, cards, flowers, and there was the smell of rubbing alcohol. My friend was now in a bed, smiling, with sun streaming thru a window. This is the second call out of 14 where there were subtle references to a hospital room.
The extension I wanted no longer existed and the one I chose ended up being one I’ve heard before. But I was able to write down some of the details I had missed in the past. Here’s where some connections occurred. Tommy played his music at the Sweetwater Cafe and the Sweetwaters were the first characters I met in Ilus. Tommy also sang at the Allen Public Library. Anyone who has met Mrs. Allen knows how unforgettable she is.
But if my notes are correct, Tommy died exactly six months after his diagnosis. But he was the founder of LM which opened 4 months after he died?? I was beginning to wonder whether I was still tripping on the blue liquid. (Legacy folks, I’m pretty sure your timeline for Tommy differs from those who started their calls this calendar year so I don’t know if you can even help me with this bizarre time sequence).
From there I went to Documentation and ended up giving the same password I had used before because my notes are crappy. I heard the same info but one fact suddenly took on a new meaning. The Blaloks (forgive my spelling, I can’t always read my notes after a call because my handwriting gets so illegible) have iridescent blue blood that has hallucinogenic properties. So somebody in my stories keeps slipping me those critters’ blood under the pretense of a blue berry-flavored drink. I ended up outside a deserted bar a few calls ago and also drank the stuff and the results were very confusing!
Onto tic tac toe which earned me extra minutes added onto my next call. If I can’t get directions on that call, I’m going to be very frustrated.
Did I get as much as I gave? Not so sure tonight. Spent my time wisely? Only if the resulting confusion has some kind of warped value to me. The connections I made don’t seem terribly important except I feel like I’m in somebody else’s fever dream. I’m left wondering if maybe I conked my head when I took my underwater tumble earlier today. At a minimum, I was pretty shook up after my fall and that same sort of disorientation was still there on my call.
My saving grace was that my Gabriel was just so enthusiastic and pleasant. Minimal robot voice and no nasty comments. A typical customer service rep, although the CSRs at LM are never typical.

Ok, hear me out. Parents talk a lot about limiting screen time, cutting out the internet around bed time, and taking the phones away when it's better to go play outside.
Parents do things like block the kids devices from the Internet. (Routers have that feature now to restrict specific devices on the wifi)
Internet cuts off, the kids get crabby about it.
Well, what if instead of blocking the Internet, you could slow it down to a crawl?
Kids trying to use anything from YouTube and streaming, to browsing, to trying to play online games would become frustrated.
The kids would try to wait it out - but it wouldn't get better.
Parents would blame the ISP or a crappy router.
So, kids would then organically decide to do other things. It would feel as though it was their decision instead of being forced by Mom and Dad. They might call a friend to hang out, they might go outside with the dog, they might crack a book. Literally anything else but a screen.
What do you all think?

Perth, wa. I have a beautiful 1935 ish house in good nick but sometime in the 80s someone added on this back extension which is really weird. is there anyway to fix this layout cheaply (ie not move kitchen) and have a nicely laid out back family room? I do need the three bedrooms somewhere. Cheers.
note: looking at bedroom 3. Make a line from the left wall down to the laundry, that’s under the main roof If we want to push the lounge wall out.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/iayoRnMdLLZNyQua6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/htX5kcHjH6JZ7J6V7
The front room. I don’t see where I can put the bed tho. Window, door, external door, fireplace - there is something on each wall. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ozYT8TDtkUzfQ6X56
The kitchen. The lhs is the wall with the fridge and bench on it. Thick double brick. Don’t really wanna break it. https://photos.app.goo.gl/2BMuXhsCKFzgnG9Z6
Crappy back lounge room. To the right of the pic immediately is the 3rd bedroom. https://photos.app.goo.gl/X3Bx99jTaCeBRwJ59

TLDR; my little girl has never slept well and we've learned low ferritin might be the culprit. she's very picky with food, hates meat. other parents of sensory seeking, picky eaters: how do you support your kids diet? will i ever sleep again?
long story: we bed shared until 1.5 for sanity and one parent usually ends up in her bed for part of the night. pretty much from 2 months old until 2 years, she woke hourly sometimes even less.
early on we had some latch issues and ped wondered if that could be disrupting sleep. i had her checked for oral ties, IBCLC & ENT said none. we started baby led weaning around 7 months, and she was a fabulous eater but still a shitty sleeper. worked with a sleep consultant and tried adjusting schedule among other techniques. no dice. she introduced us to the idea of low ferritin and suggested blood work, but we were traumatized from an infant blood draw and put it off.
we noticed around 2 that she was displaying some sensory distress and suddenly refused most solid foods so we had her evaluated with early intervention. did not qualify there, but started with occupational therapy and that has helped with feeding some over the past few months. and gradually, we started to see success overnight with just brief wakes and longer stretches of sleep.
i just weaned at 2.5 years, right at our 1000th day. almost immediately her already crappy sleep went to hell. i can't even call these split nights because she's up from 1 am until at least 5, sometimes all the way until noon. we finally caved and took our sensitive flower to get blood drawn. sure enough, her ferritin is at a 7 and toddlers are usually in the 20-50 range! wish we did it sooner but alas.
we've started the iron supplement and it's like wrestling an alligator to get it down. this girl also loves milk and yogurt which is her main source of calories. i know that's not great for iron absorption so i'm coming to the good people of the internet for ideas. what can i prepare and offer this sweet summer soul who only wants white bread, chocolate, and plain yogurt? how can i enrich her diet with iron when she hates greens and meats? i want her to be well nourished and well rested and it feels like the odds are not in my favor.

The strange creature draws its weapon, and every Florb in the room freezes. We've all seen just what this terrifying device is capable of firsthand when it used it to slay the Grobulan pirates who had boarded our vessel. It was a massacre, their screams still echo in my mind. I could do nought but watch in bloodied horror as their bodies simply detonated in a shower of blue fluid. And the noise... the horrible horrible noise. One would expect a weapon of such terrifying power to be matched by an equally powerful roar, but this one's report is far more fluidchilling. Almost silent, except for a high pitched whine as its motors spin to unfathomable speeds within fractions of a second- delivering its lethal payload at a fraction the speed of sound itself yet despite this, the projectile is almost entirely silent. At least until impact. Never did I think a soft 'plink' could instill such fear within me. But when it is accompanied by such death... how could it not? And the plink was only when it missed and struck a nearby object instead! I dare not describe the noise of a direct hit, suffice to say it is the stuff of nightmare.
At the least, it certainly appears fearsome. Ergonomically designed, seeming to my eyes to be tailored to the creature's unique physical composition. One end is flaired into a flat shape which it braces against what it has informed me during my earlier medical operation to be its 'shoulder'. No doubt to handle the certainly vicious recoil such a mortifying tool must produce- though it gives no physical signs of such recoil during firing, I can only assume its physical strength must be beyond measure. The main body of the weapon is as black as the void, which makes its surface difficult for my eyes to truly discern- not that I believe my mind could handle whatever arcane horrors must make up its mechanical composition. What is all too easy to see, however, is the other end of it. Bright orange, as the surface of a lower main sequence star- appropriate, given its sheer power. One could liken it to the force of a star itself, and though such a likening would yet be metaphorical I could think of a few who may yet truly believe it if they bore witness to its effect.
"Take me back. Now." The room's translator intoned with mechanical apathy. It was a rushed job, and certainly imperfect- intonations and inflections are always the most difficult thing to encode into a translator so sometimes when a new one pops up it doesn't know what to do with it and just goes flat. This is the first time it's used this particular tone, but we all knew exactly what it intended, given that it now points the weapon of our salvation against us. As the captain pleaded with it to reconsider her offer, I thought back to how this mess began...
I am aboard the FLB Bright Future. An exploratory vessel plying the deepest reaches of unexplored space on a mission to discover valid hyperlane anchor points. Ours is a most vital task, for without the anchors, travel on the scale necessary to support intragalactic infrastructure was simply impossible. And without such infrastructure, new sources of valuable chemical resources could not be tapped to support the growth of the Florbus Combine. It is a long mission, as traveling without a hyperlane is a task of many years even with the most powerful warp engine. Folding spacetime from within the bubble is a monumental and extremely energy intensive task, which is why we need the anchors. With an exorbitantly large external structure, a self-stable bubble can be formed with relative ease around other objects, and from there a smaller engine can focus instead on pushing it- though the bubble will break on its own eventually, which limits how far a given vessel can travel, and cannot be broken from within; thus necessitating a different anchor at the destination. Further still spacetime bubbles of any sort are extremely sensitive to gravitational forces, which makes sense of course as gravity is essentially a fluctuation within spacetime itself. Thus, the 'hyperlane' was born. Areas of the galaxy where such fluctuations are either weak enough to be ignored, or predictable enough to be utilized for ever faster travel.
And so, the task of exploratory vessels such as the Bright Future is twofold. To ply the depths of unexplored space, analyzing the gravitational patterns and identifying prime locations for Hyperlane anchors. Far enough away from the next nearest to be cost effective, as simply building an anchor in every single star system is out of the question, but close enough to minimize the risks of unwary vessels overestimating their distance and ending up trapped in the depths of the void. Though most vessels do have a warp engine, most commercial organizations rely upon the anchors so greatly that such engines are often only barely strong enough to guide a bubble formed by an anchor. It is rare for a non-specialized vessel to be capable of self-bubbled travel, especially since such an engine is often extremely expensive to fabricate and to power. Nearly 90% of the Bright Future's fusion drive is dedicated to the task, necessitating minimal life support functions and stasis pods when in use.
I am the lead medical officer of the FLB Bright Future, Plorp Ruffaloo. Yes, yes, hold your awe. I am well aware of the nobility of my name, but I care little for such things. I refuse to ride upon my father's coat-tentacles, which is why I volunteered for such a common position instead of seeking the employment of cutting edge research facilities. Besides, I always felt that the best research is that done outside of a stuffy and controlled laboratory. Science is exploration, of a sort, if one is not adventurous in their pursuit of it than any discovery they make is bound to be pedestrian or extraordinarily slow to achieve. Out here, I get to study the anatomies of new and exciting creatures discovered upon the worlds we encounter. The array of life is truly astonishing.
Which is why I am currently utterly flabbergasted at the sight before me. Never in my days have I encountered a creature so... perplexing. Preliminary examination reveals that it's body is, astoundingly, supported by some kind of rigid internal structure, not unlike the hollow structures inside of Freeanas, that my medical scanning equipment cannot penetrate. However, by my reckoning I would need a vessel-grade device to create rays powerful enough to examine the internal structure of these supports, it is as if the thing is made of some manner of rock or crystal! What on Florbulus could drive such an adaptation? I do understand that the gravity of the world upon which it was discovered is significantly higher than average for life bearing planets, but surely this is too much?
"What could these creatures being doing, to necessitate such internal durability..." I mused to myself. I jumped when Hark Manyfred responded, I had forgotten he was here still, "From what I saw, doc, fighting a war."
My cephalus paled. A war? So then the long-distance scanners were true? This is an intelligent species? I suppose I should have gathered from the relatively obvious artificial accoutrement it came with but, well, I was more focused on the gaping wound in one of its limbs at the time. When lieutenant Manyfred brought the creature in, it appeared to have been struck by some kind of object- a small piece of lead, which was astonishingly almost flattened. For such a material to deform so severely, whatever sent it flying must have been extraordinarily powerful. I struggled greatly to perform surgery, even the creature's flesh seems to be supernaturally durable. I had to make use of a laser cutter typically reserved for cutting through military armor just to create an opening large enough to fit extraction tools through. It took the strength of I and all three of my attending to ply the object free from its form- as it appeared to have been lodged inside one of those very dense supporting structures.
As I recalled this, it all suddenly made sense. A high gravity planet, intelligent, with extremely dense internal structures, and fighting a war. This is a soldier! Heavily augmented with some kind of organic implant. The lead must be... dear gods, a weapon? Fashioned specifically to tear through flesh with ease, if its saw-blade shape is anything to go by. Or perhaps... could the lead have deformed after impact with the structure, rather than having been shaped? If that was the case then its original shape... some kind of pointed volume? Aerodynamic... it was FIRED*? They use lead projectiles as a weapon? I must make a report of this, the captain will want to-*
"Ugh... my head..." IT SPEAKS? Actually, wait, that must be the translator. The ship is equipped with embedded translators in each room to save the burden of carrying a computational box on the person, though the fact that its working already must mean...
"Dr. Tryn? I take it you have already deciphered their language?" I call over my communication device.
"Yes, Dr. Ruffaloo," Dr. Tryn began, he is the ship's communications officer, a Freeana, and also an expert in xenolinguistics for exactly this situation- first contact, "Once we entered orbit I had discovered that the strange EM waves were, in fact, not due to the local star. But rather artificial constructions! A massive communications network scaling the entire planet, though nowhere beyond it except for what appear to be a handful of very small orbital outpo-"
"Yes, yes, Dr. Tryn. I understand you're excited. But if you truly wish to study their language more, I believe you would have better luck speaking with our guest," I know him too well, and frankly was not eager to handle initial outreach with a patient who had just awoken from such a horrendous wound. I did not need to keep my device on to know that his assistants were plugging their auditory cavities to protect themselves from his excited shrill.
In barely 2 minutes, Dr. Tryn burst through the doorway in an exhausted huff. Thankfully the patient didn't seem to take notice of where exactly it was just yet, its oculars have yet to unshield themselves. I prepared to greet my colleague but he seemed disinterested in me, as I should expect.
"Arghcke Thee Awoken?" I heard, which caused me to realize that I was actually awake and not at home in bed. Fuck. I've gotta get up, that asshole could still be- "OW!" Shit, the gunshot, I must-
Where the hell am I. I'm pretty sure I was just at an airsoft field, in the middle of a match when some psycho brought his dad's real fucking gun instead. Bastard even painted the damned thing's barrel and made sure to hide it. What the fuck was he thinking? But right now I'm looking at... a... what the hell is it? It looks like a cross between a fish and a bird. It's got feathers, and what looks like a beak. But then its shiny, and has big 'ol fish eyes and weird looking neck-gill thingies, like Abraham from Hellboy. Next to it is.. an Octopus? But its huge*, like three times the size of a person. And also wearing a doctor's outfit. What the actual-*
Ow. I'm reminded that I was just shot in the leg. Even the slightest movement hurts like hell, but when I looked down I couldn't see an entry wound. Or any blood for that matter, nor did it feel like I had shards of thigh bone stabbing me from the inside. It was just... really sore.
"Me Cogitates Its Wakefulness, Medical Officer Tryn," The Octopus spoke. It spoke. Holy shit these are aliens. Holy shit. Fuck. Uh, oh no? Oh yes? I don't know, actually. I mean, they don't seem like the 'take me to your leader and prepare for anal probing' type... They apparently even bothered to fix my leg and, presumably, save me from that gun toting maniac. Looking around I see they even brought my stuff with me, though it's locked up in some kind of transparent locker. Not that an airsoft M4 would be particularly useful against an advanced alien species. Their words are weird, but the fact that I can hear anything even remotely coherent means they have some kind of translation thingy going on. Though either its really bad or they do just have a strange manner of speaking. Is... no way is this actually first contact? That would explain the crappy translation, at least, it would mean they've had hardly any time at all to decipher my language. I should try...
"Uh, yes? I am awake. Uh, hi?" I make my best attempt at a greeting, but they all jump back when I raise my hand in a lazy wave. Oh yeah, first contact, shit. Can't make any sudden movements, in fact they probably- OH JESUS THAT'S A SHARK. YEP. THAT IS A GOD DAMN SHARK PERSON RIGHT THERE.
Ohkay. Ohkay. Calm down. Aliens. Yes. Just aliens, maybe its a nice shark person? Maybe he's a doctor- no. He's definitely got some kind of weapon. Vaguely gun shaped, but strangely very round like a banana. But with a lightshow on the side of it. A laser maybe? Anyways, yes, he must be the guard. Makes sense. New species, no clue what they're capable of. Far as they know I got retractable claws or acid spit or something. No sudden moves, or King Shark over there might rip me in half or... distingrate me with that fancy gun, I guess.
The bird-fish, I think the Octopus called it Medical Officer Tryn? But the Octopus is the one wearing the outfit... ohhh bad translation, right. Medical Officer is probably an attempt to translate Doctor? Which means the bird-fish is a Doctor, but not necessarily a medical one. Or maybe he is and doctor's just dress like that and the Octopus back there is a nurse or something. Anyways, the Doctor seemed to fiddle with something in the wall, and then spoke again, "There, that should be better. I always forget to account for the more common bands. Now, I would ask if you are awake again, but I think that much is obvious. Greetings! I am Doctor Ooliueaette Trynishidianafore. But my colleagues often refer to me a Dr. Tryn, I am the communications officer. This is Doctor Plorp Ruffaloo our shipboard medical professional, and the one behind you is lieutenant Hark Manyfred, the on who retrieved you from your endangered state. We are currently aboard the FLB Bright Future, which is a spacefaring exploratory vessel under the command of the Florbus Combine. I hope you do not mind, but I took the liberty of exploring the rudimentary communications systems of your world, and discovered quite the interesting stock of conceptual fictions! I've not yet poured through them all, but I believe you are well familiar with most civilized structural concepts."
The bird-fi, er, Dr. Tryn seemed... happy? I couldn't be too sure, whatever is doing the translation appears to be attempting to mimic tone and inflections but, well, I guess its still a bit too new at this. In any case, I think the doctor here is excited. Also the Shark guy is the one that saved me? Cool. Wait, he said he looked through our 'rudimentary communications systems'? Oh dear god no, he's seen the internet. This could be bad.
"Listen, uh, what you saw on the internet, just know that it alot of, uh, well not really true stuff. I mean, its not the best image of humanity-" I began, when the doctor interrupted me
"Oh! Don't worry too much! As I said I've yet to pour through most of what I recovered, and when I performed my initial sweep I had yet to fully flesh out the translations. Currently I only have saved information related to a few keywords. This isn't my first first contact, you know! I'm well aware of how.. shall we say, odd some species' public communications networks can be. To protect myself from whatever horrors may have been conjured by nascent- what did you say, humanity? I was very conservative in my retrievals. In any case, there will always be time later to do a more thorough exploration when sufficient context has been gained."
Oh thank god. I raised a hand to my chest, only to notice that it was incredibly easy. Far too easy, in fact. As if I weighed almost nothing...
Oh day! What a joyous day! First contact! It has been so many years since the last one, I had begun to lose hope that I would see another in what time I have left. I could not help but sing a joyous song on the way, though for the sake of our new guest I had to restrain myself before entering. There is no telling if they are sensitive to sound, I would not want to accidentally deafen a brand new species! I am so very pleased to know that the translation is working correctly, it won't be long before it's heard every possible phoneme and intonation. Perhaps in just a few days we'll be able to converse as if we shared the same native tongue!
Not to mention, they are remarkably calm! Normally first contact can be a rather hectic affair, filled with songs of fear or anger. But not this one! It seems I was correct in my observation that his people have long since theorized spaceflight, and even the possibility of alien species. I was afraid for a moment that the fictions I'd discovered were obscure resources known to only a few, or perhaps they are and he is one of those few. In any case, this is looking to be a very smooth first contact! Those are the best, as it gives me the greatest amount of time to converse for the sake of improving the translator and truly exploring the depths of their culture and history in the most engaging way possible: conversation!
"Now! What do your people call you- actually, first, do your people also utilize individual-specific names, or titles?" A beginners question, but an all-too-important one. A great deal of cultural differences can arise from something so seemingly small as the usage of names.
"Ugh, yes, we have names. Mine's Duncan. Duncan Euler, no not that- oh, you... probably wouldn't know who Euler was. Anyways, yeah. That's my name." It spoke, the words did come off a little flat in the translator but I could hear the subtle variations that the translator couldn't overwrite! Wonderful! Their species seems to make use of intonations and inflections, and the name, two names, a first and last. Just like most species, lending further creedence to Metacognitive Binomial theory. I'll have to make a note of that later, for now...
"And what is it you do, Duncan Euler? I mean to say, your profession or trade? For what societal purpose do you serve?" Another quite important question, by knowing the station of the subject we know what their perspective of their own society might be. Naturally you cannot learn all there is to know from a single individual, especially in more fracturous societies where so little as a place of birth can be the difference between ancestral hatred or familial piety.
"I believe he is a soldier, Dr. Tryn," Dr. Ruffaloo spoke up, which does annoy me somewhat. I understand his desire to hasten things stems from his people's general anxiety towards prolonged contact, but seriously! Long, drawn out conversations are the best. He should know how rude he is being!
Duncan spoke up now, thankfully, "Actually, no, I-"
BOOM. The entire vessel is suddenly rocked by what sounds like some kind of explosion. I and the others are tossed to a far wall with agonizing force, I feel as several of my hollow bones shatter from the impact. The pain is excrutiating. It cannot end like this! I had too much to live for! I wasn't... done... talking......
----
Fuck. That was loud, and painful. Not really in the "oh no all my bones broke" sort of way, but more like tripping on something and then faceplanting sort of way. Except I fell backwards, into the wall, and although I didn't feel anything break, that doesn't mean nothing did. At the very least I'm gonna have one hell of a bruise on my back. This, at least, confirmed my suspicions. I bounced off that wall like a superball, gravity on this ship is really weak. Walking is going to be a bitch and a half. Though given the explosion I don't think walking is going to be my main worry, what hell is happening?
"HULL BREACH DETECTED," A drone of a voice rang out, must be some kind of ship board AI? "SEALING CABINS. SEAL SUCCESSFUL. REPRESURR-" BOOM. Another explosion, but smaller this time- I was able to catch myself just fine. I look over to where the other are and- oh god. Dr. Tryn is... jesus. Like a bird that flew into a window at full speed. I guess.. I mean he does look like a bird, so I guess he had hollow bones. Which means that first explosion must have... I'm gonna be sick. He seemed so nice, too. Thankfully the Sharkman and the Octopus seemed to have taken that a little better, squishy bodies I guess probably helps with shock absorption.
"INTERNAL BREACH DETECTED. INTRUDERS DETECTED. RED ALERT. RED ALERT. INTRUDERS-"
I get the point, and immediately begin shutting out the AI voice. Of course this happens. Textbook sci-fi. First contact interrupted by some kind of violent enemy. What is it? Soldiers? Don't tell me they came out here as explorers in the middle of some kind of Galactic warzone? No, that doctor seemed far too smart for these aliens to be naive. Must be Pirates, or maybe Mercenaries of some kind. The only question then, is why? What value could an Exploration ship hold for Pirates? Well, stupid question I guess. He also said "under the command of the Florbus Combine". Military ship. Military ships have military weapons. Of course pirates would want something like that if they got a chance, and I guess these ones decided a first-fucking-contact was theirs.
I go for the locker with my stuff, I doubt an airsoft gun is going to be helpful against space-age technology but you never know. Maybe I can use it to make a distracting noise, or maybe they won't be able to tell it isn't a real weapon and I can do some kind of bluff with it. Worst case, it's heavy- real metal. I liked the heft, and I'm sure a pirate's face probably won't. The Octopus and the Sharkman seemed to still be recovering, I guess it hit them a bit harder than I thought. But I didn't have any kind of medical expertise, especially for alien anatomy, so I didn't really bother to check on them. I smashed the glass window of the locker they put my stuff in- wasn't about to bother fiddling with some kind of locking mechanism and risk activating something.
It... didn't hurt? Its not actually glass, just some kind of thick transparent film. Really easy to break through, in fact. Tore like some kind of gel. Eh, whatever. Got my airsoft gun, wielding it as seriously as I could so any pirate that saw me might think its real and think twice before starting a gunfight. I glanced over at the Octopus, I think its name was Dr. Ruffaloo? Funny name. Its color changed, it was a shade of blue before but now its a sort of maroon color. Its.. I think those are its eyes, are locked on me. I guess it saw me get my stuff, was it really that surprising though? It wasn't exactly made of anything- oh dear god.
Light gravity, weak security locker. Someone fucking died from that toss. Is... is this a space orcs thing? Am I some kind of like, monster beast to these people? Noooo, no way. That mother fucker over there is a SHARK for fucks sake and bit like a tank to boot, ain't NO WAY I'm stronger than him. It must not have been a secure locker, I mean what kind of security locker is fucking transparent? Yes, that's it. Doc Oc over there is just scared cuz my little act is a bit too good- he did say he thought I was a soldier, so to him I'm a trained killer getting ready for my morning commute. The fake military fatigues certainly help, I think. I call out to King Shark, er, Hark Manyfred I think his name was?
"Hey, Big Guy get up. Alexa up there said we got intruders. I don't know what that disco banana you got does, but if its what I think it is we're gonna have to throw a party for the uninvited guests."
He just groaned, then looked up at me confused. Too much metaphor I guess, translator must've garbled it.
"Pick up your weapon and get ready for a fight." I corrected.
He just nodded, and seemed to take a similar stance as mine. Good, glad to know 'lieutenant' wasn't a mistranslation. At least someone here is professionally trained.
-----
I could scarcely believe my oculars. This, 'Duncan' individual just tore through a security locker as if it were made of primitive writing scrap. Not to mention the detonation, he was thrown to the wall as all of us and stood up from it like nothing happened. Even lieutenant Hark was rendered unconscious for a few moments, my brain has no functions for losing consciousness so I was sharply aware of everything that transpired. Dr. Tryn even... he... he may have been an annoying colleague, but he was a good friend. What am I going to tell his mate? I... I have to avoid thinking about it, for now. Right now we have bigger problems. If those intruders were willing to toss the vessel that fiercely, our lives are certainly the least of their concerns. Dr. Tryn was far from the only Freeana on the ship, and there's no telling how much more viscious the impact was in other parts of the vessel.
The creature, or rather, Duncan, spoke something but the Translator failed. That impact must have jumbled it a bit. What it said next, however, was crystal clear- redundant computer must have come online.
"Pick up your weapon and get ready for a fight," It said. So it IS a soldier, I knew it. Then that strange device it holds must be a weapon of some kind. Dear lord... don't tell me it fires lead projectiles like the one I extracted from it? I must warn him, if he fires something like that aboard this ship it could rip a hole to the void, or puncture a vital fuel reserve. The ship has systems for handling such occurences, but they can only do so much- especially if other events have already activated them.
I began, "Please! Do not use that weapon aboard this vessel! Such a heavy projectile will surely-"
"Oh, uh, yeah, don't worry about it. It's not real. Just a toy." It said. A toy? So... it isn't a soldier? Oh no... this is not good. That leaves Hark as the only one here capable of defending himself, and if a firefight breaks out in my medical facility it could severely damage the equipment and leave me unable to treat the wounded.
"Lieutenant! You must fight outside of this chamber! If any of my equipment is damaged in a fight, it could turn out poorly for us all!" He simply grunts and nods at me. Grobulan fighting instinct must have kicked in already, he cannot speak. It likely takes all of his willpower just to avoid turning on us- but it is precisely his extreme degree of self control that earned him his position upon this vessel, and indeed in the Florban military in general despite his people's reputation. In fact, if my suspicion is correct, Grobulan pirates tend to be very keen on explosive weaponry when it comes to naval combat. For exactly the reason that it turns the insides of any vessel struck into a bloody mess, perfect for activating their instincts and turning them into some of the most terrifying fighters in the galaxy when they inevitably board. And judging from the screams coming from the hallway, I'd say my suspicions are terribly, terribly correct.
We're all going to die.
-End of Part 1-
Part 2

Title: I am 31 years old, make $92,600 base, live in Northern Alberta, work in Forestry, and recently returned to work after a year off for maternity leave.

• All $ in CAD. $1 CAD to $0.73 US.
• I will call my spouse H.
• We aren’t looking to change spending habits too much, this was more a fun exercise to see what we spend and how we’re doing financially now that I am back to work.

HHI: $166,000
Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: Total $76,431 (joint)

• My retirement accounts include a DCPP of $62,495, an RRSP of $8125, and a TFSA of $130
• H’s only has a spousal RRSP of $5631
• DCPP amount is from a 5% base contribution plus 2% matching from my employer, and 3% from me. I have had this account since 25 (when I started at the company) and have done the matching the entire time except during my maternity leave. They continued the 5% base while I was off on maternity leave, I had the option to get the matching as well but we couldn’t swing the cost while I was only on EI.
• RRSPs are mostly from excess benefits money. I have flex benefits and get an annual amount to “spend”. Before we had our kid there was about $500/month split going into our RRSPs. Now we do $42.30/month split ($21.15 for each). The spousal RRSP means I can claim this on my taxes, instead of him claiming on his.
• TFSAs will be our next focus once we’ve caught up on the annual bills from May to July - annual house insurance and two vehicle insurances. We haven’t been consistent with depositing into our TFSA’s, so we have $80K+ room in each.

Equity: The house is worth $400,000. We owe $303,000. Equity is $97,000.
Savings account balance: $450 in emergency savings (this is a priority starting in August to beef up), $2000 in property taxes sinking fund (to be spent by July)
Checking account balance: $5288.15 - we both got paid today so I will be moving money around and this number will be down a lot by the end of the day.
Credit card debt: $16,635

• $12,855 LOC. This is entirely from vehicles - before I went on maternity leave H sold his truck and we took a $9500 loss - pulled the money out of the LOC to pay off the lien. In April, we needed a different vehicle so we took $6500 out of the LOC to purchase a new-to-us car. We have yet to sell the vehicle we replaced, but when we do that money will either go onto LOC or into emergency savings. We’re aiming to get $3000 for the sale.
• $530 My CC. This is from not budgeting for two road trips I took in the last two weeks, plus some other overspending on random things.
• $3250 H CC. This is from overspending on groceries/gas and vehicle expenses.

Student loan debt: $0

• H went to trade school (8 weeks/year for 4 years) to become a journeyman mechanic
• I took a 2-year diploma program that cost $12,000 (including books and random spending). My parents saved up $20K for me to go to college/university, so I got about $8,000 in cash from my mum once I graduated as I didn’t use all of the savings for school.
• I lived with my mum while in college and H lived with roommates so his income went to rent/groceries/bills and I had basically no living expenses as my mum covered everything.
• When he went to trade school I was working, so I covered our bills while he was off (and he got EI and some grants during that time frame).

Other Info:

• H and I have had combined finances since we were 19 when we married. This has greatly changed our financial situation.
• I have access to an employee stock purchase plan - I have about $1400 in my company stocks with no plan for them at the moment.
• I got a salary top-up when I went on maternity leave. My employer covered my 1 week EI waiting period and topped up to 100% salary for 11 weeks. The rest of the time I was off I was getting $1158 biweekly from EI.
• We qualify for the Climate Action Incentive from the federal government. This is about $1200/year.
• We get CCB for our kid of $140.61/month. This will increase to $273.74/month come July as our annual income was less in 2023 compared to 2022.

Net Worth: $164,484
Section Two: Income
Income Progression (Post College/Trade School):

• H has been in his field for roughly 8 years and his starting salary was about $37,000 ($19/hr). Two years ago, he took a $20/hour pay cut moving from a journeyman mechanic ($45/hr) to a service advisor ($25/hr). He’s since gotten a $10/hr pay increase from switching employers and switching roles/getting a raise. H now makes $72,800 not including any overtime, which he does get fairly regularly.
• I've been working in my field for 8 years, and my starting salary was about $41,000. I have not changed careers, but I have changed employers. I got two raises when at my first job post-college from $20/hr (41,000) to $23/hr ($47,800) to $30/hr ($62,400). When I started at my current employer in 2018 I was offered $78,000 annually, plus moving benefits (approx $2000). I’ve consistently gotten a 2-5% raise every year (except this year - but I did get a raise 2 weeks before going on leave) or have gotten promoted and am now making $92,600 before bonuses. I get two bonuses a year, one is based on company performance and has been $0 to $10,000. My other bonus is performance-based and has been anywhere from $1200 to $4000. I got both bonuses while on maternity leave, the company performance one was cut in half based on hours worked. I also had to pay back EI because of my bonus income.

Main Job Monthly Take-Home:
Mine: $4768.90 (two paycheck months)

• My monthly deductions include ESPP $213.60, DCPP matching $213.60, social club $5, flex benefits $26, plus taxes $701.27, CPP $203.97 and EI $59.14. In September I usually have an increase in my monthly take home as my CPP/EI is maxed out, but this might not happen this year as my RTW date was the end of April.

H: $3687.28

• H gets an advance on the 15th of $1000 and at the end of the month gets the rest of his pay. His end-of-the-month pay has ranged from $2600 to $3900 already this year because of illness, time off and short months.
• H’s deductions include taxes $623.25, EI $78.23, CPP $263.07, and $61.10 of HCP, but we’re not 100% sure what the HCP is cause he declined his benefits. This reminds me he should talk to payroll and see what’s up with that. He hits his 1st anniversary in August so we’ll see if he ends up maxing out CPP/EI in September or so.

Side Gig Monthly Take-Home:

• I craft and go to some markets and things, but don’t make much after counting all my costs. If I didn’t sell things I made, I’d have no room for craft storage!
• I am working on a custom quilt that when finished will bring in $275.

Any Other Monthly Income Here:

• As said above, we qualify for the CAI and CCB. CCB is $140/month currently and CAI is $400 quarterly.
• I get $500/year from my benefits to spend wherever and however I want. So far this year I’ve spent it on clothes and hiking boots. I have $190 left.

Section Three: Expenses

• Mortgage: $950 bi-weekly - $1900/month on 2 pay period months.
• Property Taxes: Sinking fund of $185/biweekly (we pay this annually in June. It is $2250 this year, last year was $1950).
• Home Insurance: $1640 annually. We pay this in full in July. I expect it to increase this year, but I’m unsure how much.
• Retirement Contribution: In addition to pre-tax contributions above, starting in August, biweekly contributions will be $377 to H’s TFSA and $226 to mine. H’s is more as I have my DCPP and when H’s total is closer to even or maxed out, I’ll max out mine.
• Savings Contribution: $200/biweekly starting in July, we also will have a home maintenance fund and will save $425/month.
• Debt Payments: LOC minimum is $130/month. We pay anywhere from $200 to $2000/month. This will increase come August, and the LOC will be paid off in May 2025. Both CCs should be paid off by September.
• Donations: $20/month to the animal shelter, and $20/month to SOS, I also volunteer at least 5-15 hours a month to a local sports group and to the foundation my MIL set up after my BIL passed. I sit on the board for both non-profits. We also randomly donate money to other things, or go in on 50/50 raffles different nonprofits have.
• Utilities: In the winter $600/month, the summer around $300/month. Gas and electricity combined. I live somewhere where it hits -40C and +40C depending on the time of the year.
• Garbage Rental: $40/month, $120/month when we get it dumped - approximately every 4 months. We live on an acreage and instead of carting garbage bags to work every week or going to the dump, we rent a dumpster for the driveway and call to have it dumped when it's full.
• Septic System Inspection/Cleaning: $400/year
• Internet: $105/month for unlimited fibre optic.
• Cellphone: $70/month for H. I have a work phone at no charge.
• Subscriptions: Amazon Prime $99/year, Spotify $11.54/month, Patreon $10.50/month (Money Feels <3), PlayStation Plus $32/quarter, Kindle Unlimited $10/month, Crunchyroll $9.99/month ($60.95/month total)
• Pet expenses: Roughly $100/month for food and litter for our two cats. Plus $400/year for an annual checkup. This will go up some as they age and probably have to have dental cleanings done.
• Car Insurance/Registration: No payments we own both vehicles outright. Insurance is $1500/year for both vehicles, we pay this in May/July. H spends around $300/month on gas as we live 30 min out of town. I have a work truck so I have no commuting costs. Annually we spend $160 on registration. AMA is 262.50 annually in July.
• Paid Hobbies: Don’t have fixed costs for these right now as we cut them out while I was on maternity leave. In January though, we’ll each get $100-200/month for hobbies.
• Daycare: $900/month ($450 the 1st and 15th). This is slightly more expensive than some others we found and does not qualify for subsidy or grants, but L loves her day home and the caretaker is great.
• Life/Disability Insurance: $125/month for both of us. This is $500K each for life and $100K each for critical illness.
• Food: Roughly $800/month in groceries and I’m not sure about eating out. Since going back to work a month ago life has been hectic so we’re spending more than usual on eating out/convenient foods. H has ADHD and forgets his lunch at home or in the car every day which is a waste, so he buys lunch either at the nearby grocery store or restaurants. I sometimes pack leftovers and sometimes go get food. I’ve been trying to get freezer meals and leave them at the office so I don’t have to pack things back and forth and we haven’t been making meals with leftovers.
• L’s Baby Supplies: $75/month? We have to buy diapers and wipes monthly pretty much.
• House Cleaners: This is an expense we had before H took his pay cut, and we’ve been slowly putting it back in the budget on and off. Roughly $200/clean which happens sporadically as the house is a mess and there is no time for two working parents to clean with an 11-month-old butt scooting everywhere. She always manages to find floor snacks
• Family: We send my sister-in-law money on a fairly regular basis, anywhere from $20-$100. She always pays us back, but we treat this as a write-off in case she doesn’t.

—
Day 1 - Friday
2 am - L wakes up and I get her back down 3 times before 3 am. At 3, H takes her out of the room to burn some energy before they both come back to bed roughly an hour later. Thanks, L. Thank you, H I was getting pretty frustrated with our darling child.
6:30 am - The first alarm goes off and I grab L for a cuddle and morning nursing session. Once she’s done, she rolls around and tries to climb both of us to get our phones before we all get out of bed at 7. Today is a PJ movie day at daycare so we don’t bother dressing her only changing the diaper and then H and L are out the door by 7:15. I leave for work at about 7:45 after doing some putting around.
8:15 am - I get to work and my first stop is the coffee machine. I get back to my office after talking to a few coworkers about our social club golf event next weekend. I see that an industry-specific mentor cohort program is open for applications so I find my most recent resume (2021!) and do a major update before applying. This year one of my goals is to work on leadership skills and mentoring so why not apply?
9 am - I had a hard time finding a bra this morning so I go online and purchase two new ones from the local bra-tique for pickup. My total is $170 after my 10% discount for signing up for their email list. This money is coming from my $500 annual work benefit for whatever I want and I now have $20 left. I eat my breakfast at my desk - yoghurt and homemade granola today.
11 am - I have a webinar on caribou to attend so I log into Zoom and while it's loading, pull up our cashflow forecaster to get the payday finances done before the weekend. $1750 to H’s cc to cover some overspending/vehicle expenses, $100 to the LOC, $373.10 for utilities, and $450 for daycare. Total is $2673.10 I’m not sure if I should include the bills in the daily writeups, but ah well. Day 1 spending is off to a great start.
1 pm - I get the notification that my bras are ready for pickup. Woohoo! I get new bras for the weekend! I send $50 to H’s TFSA once I confirm the bank account is connected.
2:30 pm - Eating lunch now as breakfast was so late. Freezer butter chicken with broccoli. I only have 1 more freezer meal at work so I make a note to restock.
3:30 pm - I work on some cycle times for the log haul for this coming logging season. It takes me a few minutes to remember exactly what I’m doing and how to do it. I am super glad I came back to work at the end of April as I get 3-ish months of slow time to get back into the swing of things before work starts to pick up.
4 pm - I am struggling to do any more than format my Excel sheets so I figure it’s time to pack it up and head home.
4:30 pm - After picking up my bras, I go to Once Upon A Child for some cheap baby clothes. L is in between sizes and we somehow managed to misplace all her more summery sleepwear so I’ve been grabbing a few here and there. OUAC has a sale on, 5 sleepers for $15 so I grab 5 of those and 4 other onesies for summer. We have a family photoshoot on Canada Day and I’ve been hunting for something that’ll match L’s ribbon skirt. $30.45
5 pm - I stop at the store to check the mail and grab a 12-pack of mixed tequila smashes. $37.55
5:30 pm - H calls. He’s off work and headed to get L. I pull burgers and fries out of the freezer, start up the BBQ and get the air fryer going.
6:05 pm - H and L arrive home in perfect time as the burgers and fries just finished cooking. I have an open Pineapple Tequila Smash and I hand H one to drink with supper too. L also has a veggie pouch with the burgers and fries.
7:20 pm - L is in bed nursing to sleep after her bath while H preps episode 4 of Obi-Wan Kenobi for us to watch. We watched it when it was first coming out, but he saw the discs at Walmart last week and figured to grab them. We thought we hadn’t seen all the episodes, but so far we’re 3:3 so we might’ve seen them all.
7:40 pm - L is down and out and I sneak out of the bedroom. I start a load of laundry and find the two bras I couldn’t this morning and handwash them. I sit down with H and we watch some Obi-Wan Kenobi.
10 pm - I check my email and see one from a local photographer group I really like. I’ve done at least two shoots with all 3 of them separately before and they’ve now joined forces. I went to their open house yesterday and won 50% off a boudoir package in 2024. I’ve wanted to book in since they announced their group, so I go through their open spots and book for November. My initial deposit is $262.50.
10:30 pm - We finished the last 3 episodes and watched all previously except for the finale. Of course. It was pretty good, but near the end, I started to scroll on my phone more than pay attention to the show. I swap the laundry, shower and head to bed at 11 pm.
H’s spending Day 1: $7.54 for lunch, $267.58 on vehicle parts/oil change that we didn’t budget for. Normally we would’ve, but communication is kinda crappy atm, and I think that’s due to sleep deprivation.
Day 1 total: $775.62 spending + $50 to TFSA. Oof off to a spendy start for the pay period.
—
Day 2 - Saturday
2:40 am - L is awake again and not going back down. This time it’s my turn. It’s already been a not-great night, hopefully, this 2 am party time doesn't keep happening.
4 am - We go back to bed. Our internet is on autopay and the notification comes through for my credit card. $105
7:20 am - L is up for the day. I don’t want to get out of bed yet, so I cuddle H and L rolls around, tries to stand and almost deletes everything on my phone. Then she notices my boobs so it’s time for a quick nurse.
8 am - I run the coffee machine and get breakfast going. We’re having pancakes this morning. While they’re cooking I pop some milk in the frother to make a fancy coffee. TBD if I drink it while it’s still hot. I feed the cats their morning meal.
8:30 am - H gets up and I’m still cooking. He grabs a coffee and takes L into the living room so I don’t trip over her and the plastic container horde.
9:30 am - H plays some Baldurs Gate 3 and L watches while I sort through the laundry I did last night. I try to get dressed and none of my shorts fit anymore so off in the donation bag they go. It’ll be a summer of dresses I guess! I start another load of laundry.
9:50 am - L is ready for a nap. Just kidding she just wanted some boob instead. We go outside afterwards to get some morning sun. Hopefully, this will tire her out and she will go down for a nap later! She hasn’t been big on sleep since she was born and gets major FOMO so we have no semblance of a schedule on weekends.
10:45 am - I bring L back inside and change her into outfit #3 for the day. Her trike got rained on and she gets soaked when she sits in it. I switch the laundry over, start yet another load and then pass L to H so I can head to the store, fill the Jerry can with gas for the lawnmower and do the recycling. 20 L of gas is $32.78 and I grab two lime slushes for H and I ($5.19). It’s +20 already and gorgeous. Total $37.97
11:30 am - L is ready for a nap! By 11:50 she’s down and I head outside to mow some of the lawn. It’s usually a 4 hr job so I don’t think I’ll get it all done today.
1 pm - I head inside for lunch, we’re having tuna sandwiches. L napped for 20 min and I didn’t get more than half the lawn mowed. After lunch, we head into town to hang out with my friend K and her two kids. We met in college back in 2014 and have babies of a similar age so it’s always nice to go over and visit.
4:30 pm - We leave K’s house and I swing by Wendy’s for a cold coffee-type drink for the drive home. I try the chocolate frosty-cinno and it’s terrible. Should’ve just gone to Tim’s for an ice cap. $4.19
5:05 pm - L fell asleep on the drive home so I hang out in the car with the windows down for another 5-10 minutes before moving things inside. She wakes up and we head in. H picks a meal and starts making dinner. L is fussy and still tired so I nurse her and we hang out in the cool basement while H cooks. I sort through the laundry that finished off today.
6 pm - H is still cooking our dinner, I reheat leftover pasta for L. H runs her bath and I bath her. She’s still grumpy on and off so she’ll probably be going to bed right after this.
6:45 pm - H and I eat chicken wings and shrimp poppers. L has decided it’s not bedtime yet, I tried to put her down and she got a second wind instead.
9:30 pm - I work on the website for one of the non-profits I volunteer for once L goes to bed at 8. After I’m done, I head into the craft room and work on the custom rag quilt project. One row left to sew together, then to put the final 5 rows together, figure out my borders and start cutting all the edges! It’s not ‘due’ until mid-July but I’d rather get it done sooner and not have to rush. My SIL texts and asks to borrow $50 till Thursday, I send it over out of my spending.
11 pm - H and I both go to bed after some kitty snuggles
Day 2 total: $92.16 (not counting $105 for internet)
—
Day 3 - Sunday
7 am - L is awake and I nurse her a couple of times cause she can’t decide if she’s happy or not. It was a decent night, but she must still be tired from not napping much yesterday. It’s my day to sleep in so H takes her out of the room by 7:30.
9:30 am - I get up make some coffee and slowly start on breakfast
10:30 am - L and I are eating breakfast, I made scrambled eggs, fried up leftover sausage, tomato and she also has two crackers with cream cheese. H and I wrote up a grocery list before I sat down and he’s off to town to get groceries and fuel up the car before the work week starts. Usually, H and his best friend C have a grocery shopping bro-date every Sunday, but C and his family are out camping this weekend so H heads in alone.
11 am - L is ready for a nap. I put her down and fold her laundry and the house laundry, taking a few breaks to scroll Reddit or Facebook and drink more coffee.
12:30 pm - L woke up and is kinda grouchy so we have a dance party to elicit baby giggles. H gets back from shopping and we put the groceries away, they cost $374.03. This is actually cheaper than the last few times we did a stock up so that’s nice! Groceries include ground beef, frozen chicken, wings, fries, cucumber, tomatoes, grapes, bananas, yoghurt, frozen lunches, macaroni, Ichiban, burgers, buttermilk, perogies, frozen fruit, frozen veggies, gravy mix, hollandaise mix, and more. We’ve been buying more convenience foods lately, but I do have 3 suppers planned for the week. He also grabbed me a big coffee mug for $6. He got gas for $60.83, and once we unload the groceries, he runs to the store for bacon, 2 jars of our favourite cowboy candy (pickled sweetened jalapeños), chips and a Starbucks frappe drink for $41.93. I make some sandwiches for lunch for tomorrow so I don’t have to scramble in the morning.
1 pm - Lunch is Ichiban noodles for H and I and baby charcuterie for L - strawberries, grapes, ham, cheese, and cucumber. We head outside afterwards to enjoy the weather, L is so close to walking, she pulls herself up onto everything right now. She has an after-lunch snack of mown grass and dandelions.
3 pm - We’re back inside and H puts on Die Hart 2. L goes down for her second nap at 4:15 and we finish the movie. I wake L up at 5:45 so she doesn’t sleep too long. When she wakes up she makes a face identical to her dad’s and it’s hilarious.
7 pm - H is cooking dinner, we’re having eggs Benny and bacon for supper. I prep L’s diaper bag for tomorrow and we run it out to the car. I also put all my laundry away so the closet is ready for the week. H sits on the chair once we’re done dinner and both cats flock to him and spread themselves over his legs.
9:45 pm - I finish off piecing the quilt top and head downstairs to shower. L is getting tired too so as soon as I’m done we head to bed. H is not far behind us.
Daily 3 total: $482.79. This is pretty usual for a grocery shop day.
—
Day 4 - Monday
6:35 am - My alarm goes off. Can’t lay in bed today as I need to meet my coworkers at the office at 7:30 am. We’re doing a team bonding mountain hike and it’s a 2.5 hrs drive away. I grab a banana, toast a bagel, add cream cheese and I’m out the door before 7 after filling up the cats' food.
7:30 am - I get to the office, fill up a water bottle, make a coffee and grab a few things from my office. Almost everyone is there, and we leave at 7:45
9:45 am - We’re there! I’ve seen 2 moose, 1 mule deer, 1 elk and almost hit 2 caribou on the highway already today! We start up the trailhead at about 10 am
1:00 pm - This mountain is much steeper than anticipated. A coworker and I decide at about 300 metres to the top that we shouldn’t push it. The last km has been extremely steep and we’ve hit our max. The rest of the group has gone ahead and summitted. We eat our lunch with a great view and start the trek back down.
3:30 pm - We’re back at the trucks! 11.2 km round trip. We hit the road to head home and stop at Dairy Queen for a celebratory ice cream. I spend $4.92 on a medium dip cone.
6 pm - Back at the office. I call H and let him know I’m headed home now and he suggests chicken wings for supper. I’m down for anything as long as I don’t have to cook.
7 pm - We all eat dinner. L has some veggie pouch, chicken wings/nuggets and leftover pasta. I am almost too tired to eat. One cat keeps trying to get L’s nuggets so he gets in trouble and shooed out of the dining room.
8:15 pm - I try to put L to bed and she goes down for a bit but decides ultimately that it’s not actually time for bed.
8:40 pm - I go and have a hot, hot shower, my muscles are sore and tomorrow might not be fun. L and H party in the TV area, she’s pulling herself up onto everything and trying to crawl up the couch. Not sure where she got this energy from! One of our cats comes for some aggressive cuddles and pets and H puts his dirty t-shirt on the chair for him. Our cat loves dirty laundry it’s hilarious.
9:20 pm - Time for bed for everyone. Hope tonight is a good night and we all can get some rest.
Day 4 Total: $4.92 (this would have been covered by one of the superintendents but a few people got ahead of her in line so she couldn’t pay for us all). My card is also charged by the garbage disposal company for the dumpster ($40.43 - counted in the bills above).
H didn’t spend any money today.
—
Day 5 - Tuesday
7 am - The first alarm went off at 6:30, but we are all tired and don’t want to wake up. I nurse L for a bit then we get up at 7. I’m pretty sore this morning so I’m not moving too fast. Get her dressed and H and L leave by 7:10. H fed the cats this morning so I don’t have to.
7:30 am - I forgot to pay H’s other cc and it’s due in 4 days so I pay it off now - $93.80 (random Amazon purchases and my KU). I pull some chicken out of the freezer to defrost and make my breakfast of homemade granola, hemp hearts and yoghurt. I leave the house around 7:45 to head to work.
8:20 am - I get to the office and immediately get asked some questions about blocks we have slated for this Fall/Winter. I’m not 100% sure of the answer and have to double-check with my boss. I grab a coffee and chat with the head boss before my boss arrives. I clarify what I need and relay the info back to my coworkers.
9:30 am - I eat my breakfast while I scroll through online courses offered by my company. I got an email yesterday of one I’m supposed to take so I book into that.
11 am - I book H and myself massages, 2 each - one this month and one next month.
12:30 pm - I took a long time to eat breakfast so I’m not quite hungry yet. I grab my running shoes from the truck and take a slow walk on the elliptical to help my sore muscles. This morning hasn’t been too busy, but I’m having a hard time starting my next big task (cycle time calculations) so hopefully the slow walk helps some.
1:30 pm - I’m back at my desk and diving into cycle time calculations. H grabs KFC for lunch $24.12
2 pm - Lunch time, I’m having a leftover sandwich from yesterday, a grapefruit cup, grapes and strawberries. I also grab a chai with milk from the coffee machine. I eat while I plug away at the cycle times.
3:45 pm - I finish off one section of cycle times and my brain has had enough. I go fill my water bottle and chat with a few coworkers. At 4:15 pm someone comes by to sign a few cheques I asked for and I leave the office at 4:30 pm
4:40 pm - H grabbed buttermilk instead of heavy cream and I need it for supper tonight so I swing by the grocery store. Then, I head out of town to a colleague’s house to drop off one of the cheques. $4.95
5:15 pm - I check the mail, get home and start cooking. We’re having Skillet Dijon Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms for supper. I also make some macaroni for a side. H and L get home about 5:45 to the cats waiting at the door.
6:20 pm - Supper is served! It is delicious. L and H aren’t fans of the asparagus, but the chicken, macaroni and sauce are perfection! H also riggs up a tie to L’s water bottle so it doesn’t hit the ground every 30 seconds. We fed the cats at the same time and they’re not begging for food quite so much tonight.
6:50 pm - We’re finished supper, H cleans up and I bath L.
7:30 pm - H calls my/our best friend J via FaceTime and we chat with her and her daughter R for a few minutes. L tried to steal the phone and gets mad when we don’t let her. J’s daughter requests a morning call so I promise to call at 7 am. J doesn’t think R will be awake yet so we’ll see!
8 pm - L is tired and ready to go to sleep. I put her down, have a hot bath, throw in some epsom salts, and read a bit on my KU.
9:40 pm - Bedtime!
Day 5 Total: $112.17 (removed $10 for my KU - counted in subscriptions)
—
Day 6 - Wednesday
7 am - I nurse L, she had a weird wake-up last night so we’re tossing the idea of taking her into daycare today. I’ll probably take her in a bit later and H will take his truck so if I have to WFH for the afternoon I can. Try calling J and R and there is no response - I am not surprised.
7:45 am - L and I leave the house, she’s not coughing much and doesn’t have a fever or anything so she’s good to go to daycare today
8:15 am - I drop L off at daycare
8:30 am - I get to the office. I talk with a few coworkers and ask our admin if my new phone has been dropped off yet.
9 am - My new phone is here! Now to start the setup process, everything takes forever with all the authentication apps we need. I also go through all my iCloud photos and organize/save them to my OneDrive while the phone is getting set up.
12:30 pm - I think the phone is finally done. Now to eat some lunch, I’m having leftovers from 2 nights ago - chicken nuggets, strawberries, grapes and a Cherry Bubly.
1:30 pm - H goes to a food truck for lunch. $35.01. This includes the tip.
3 pm - I had some more phone set-up to do. Might be finished now? Get an email about the cats’ annual checkups and vaccinations so I book their appointments for August.
4 pm - SIL paid me back the $50, plus another $50 she’d borrowed earlier. (+$100) I work on the photo garland for L’s first birthday for a bit.
5 pm - I haven’t gotten much done today beyond setting up my phone. I leave the office and pick up L at 5:20. I talk to her day home provider for about 15 min about how she’s been doing, etc.
6 pm - We get home! H has cooked supper already, so as soon as we get in the door we sit down to eat. Supper tonight is perogies and garlic bread. L also has a veggie pouch. H tells me the old vehicle was sold, and the buyers are doing a payment plan. We will get $300/month for the next 10 months. A lump sum would be nice, but H’s coworkers will handle all the paperwork so it’s no more work for us.
6:45 pm - Time for a bath! H cleans up supper, cleans the litter boxes (we have 3) and starts some laundry while I take L and get her cleaned up.
7 pm - All finished in the bath. We head downstairs and hang out until L is ready for sleep. I mostly scroll my phone and H plays on his Rog Ally. L climbs the couch and me and scoots around on the floor hunting for different treasures.
8:40 pm - L is ready for bed. I put her down and read some more KU
10 pm - H and I head to bed. I washed and dried a baby quilt to bring to work in the morning for a coworker.
Day 6 Total: $35.01 for H’s lunch. I spend $0, and ‘make’ $100
—
Day 7 - Thursday
6:35 am - The first alarm goes off. It’s a new one on the phone and nice to wake up to! L doesn’t want to wake up and she grumbles and rolls around.
7 am - We all get out of bed. I get L dressed while H packs up what he needs for the day. I get her milk together and they’re out the door by 7:15
7:50 am - I leave the house. After H and L left, I did the dishes and packed up my stuff for the day. Made a smoothie for breakfast (yoghurt, flax seed, orange, banana, rhubarb jam, frozen berries, watermelon, cranberry juice and milk) and there’s lots left over so I pop that into the fridge for tomorrow. I need gas in the work truck, so I head there before going to the office. I have a fuel card so I don’t spend any $ on fuel.
8:30 am - Get to the office and it’s time to make a coffee. I have some things to get done before my webinar at 11 am.
9 am - I show the quilt to my coworker, she loves it and buys it! (+$100)
11 am - Oops. I didn’t get the login link earlier and don’t know who to contact to get it so no webinar for me. I scroll Reddit and my socials and work a bit more on my cycle times. I snack on some grapes and drink another coffee.
1 pm - Lunch time! I’m having leftover skillet Dijon chicken and macaroni. It is still delicious, that recipe is going into the rotation for sure! H goes to McDonalds for lunch and spends $35.66. He bought a coworker lunch as well, she was having a rough day.
2 pm - Chat with a few coworkers about different projects/things we need to think of for this next year.
3 pm - I have an afternoon pick-me-up snack of Brookside pomegranate-flavoured chocolate and a ginger ale.
4:30 pm - I’m tired and don’t feel like doing anything else. I leave the office and call H to see what we should do for supper. We decide on potstickers and veggies, I’ll start cooking when I get home. I stop and check the mail on my way home too.
5:45 pm - H and L arrive home. I take L into the spare room and we call my mum and grandma for a video chat. L rolls around the bed and shows off how she’s almost standing!
6:10 pm - We sit down to eat, L isn’t that interested in either the potstickers or veggies so we pull out some leftover macaroni and she goes to town on that.
7 pm - Bath time! H cleans up and does some more laundry. It just seems to never end.
7:30 pm - Bedtime for L. I read some of my book while I put her down.
8:30 pm - SIL texts again to borrow $50. I send it over out of my spending. I get all of the borders cut for the custom quilt.
9 pm - H has SING on so I sit down to watch it, he’s also playing his Rog Aloy and I’m reading some more of my book.
10 pm - We go to bed.
Day 7 Total: $35.66 for H’s lunch. I spend $50, and ‘make’ $100
—
Weekly Expenses:

• Food + Drink: 575.09
• Fun/Entertainment: $0
• Home + Health: $38.78 (includes gas for lawn mower)
• Clothes + Beauty: $200.45
• Transport/Vehicle Expenses: $328.41
• Other: $496.30 (CC payment, photoshoot, TFSA and $ to SIL)

Total Spending: $1639.03
Reflection:

• This was a more expensive week for sure. I don’t usually spend money on clothes and the photo shoot deposit was a random impulsive spend. The vehicle expenses were also a bit different, usually, they’re budgeted for but not this time.
• Honestly surprised we didn’t order dinner at least once this week - usually we do!
• Events-wise, it was a typical week except for the mountain hike, those are not part of my usual work day. This time of year is slow and mostly involves prep for the coming winter.
• This was a fun experiment to write! I did have to cut some things as my word count kept increasing and I didn’t want it to be too long - is this too long even still? Too much detail on baby routines?