100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 5 (Tuesday)...

Tuesday was a rare treat for me, not because Mads had a 100F fever the day before, but because her school required her to stay home for the 24 hours following even though she'd recovered from it that afternoon. So I drove up to Stepford to pick her up for the day, and we spent a really lovely day together, cooking, talking, watching TV, and working on our tissue paper Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age - fairly self-contained and entertained as long as I was fed. Songs, imaginary friends, markers, roller skates (or in Mads' case, a Power Wing), a good book, and a little TV, and I was good for hours on end, by myself.

Times are a little different now. My kids have a much greater expectation of my time and attention than I did of my parents, but I think that's because kids have a pretty keen understanding of their environment. My kids understand that I have the luxury of time and energy to give to them now that I implicitly understood my parents, who are first generation immigrants, simply did not have to give me when I was a child.

Even when I was working full time, I had the good fortune to be employed in a fairly flexible white collar environment, when my parents had to work 16 to 18 hour days manning (and essentially chained to) their restaurants and grocery stores, trying to create a better life for all of us. They probably couldn't have imagined that I would one day be able to work in a place where my boss let me come and go as needed, let me set my schedule to suit my family's schedule, let me take yoga classes in the middle of the day if I thought that would keep me sane, and to keep in touch with the office with a little electronic device named after a fruit... (That was all part of a past life, but hey, Roger, if you're reading up there, I just want to say that I sure miss you some days.)

Despite the heartbreaks and dysfunctions that the holidays always seem to spotlight for many of us, when I think of the fact that I now have the blessings of time, energy, and presence of mind to be able to truly appreciate and enjoy the moments I have with the people I love - and I almost hate to admit that I wasn't always so able - I am grateful for the heartbreaks, dysfunctions, and the minor and major human tragedies that had to be lived so my heart and mind could arrive at this place.

BREAKFAST

was chorizo fried rice and OJ and coffee. One of my facebook friends was a bit incredulous about the idea of fried rice as breakfast, but if you think about it, this is really just deconstructed breakfast burrito without the tortilla. :)

    3 oz. of chorizo $0.35
+ 1/2 an onion, a jalapeno, some cilantro, and a Roma tomato $0.40 (leftover rice accounted for)
+ 1 Hass avocado $0.70
+ 2 bigger than usual glasses of OJ $1.00
+ 2 cups coffee $0.40

= $2.45 FOR BREAKFAST ($1.25/serving)

LUNCH

for Mads was ramen. When I asked her why ramen of all things, she said it's because she never gets this brand (Sapporo Ichiban), and certainly not with kimchi, at her other house. How can I refuse a recently sick child?

For the Man and me, it was a Puttanesque-ish spaghetti made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers, olives, some red chili flakes, a little uncured bacon, and some fish sauce in lieu of anchovies I didn't have.

   1 package Sapporo Ichiban ramen and some kimchi $0.50
+ 4 slices of bacon, 1/2 an onion, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, a Tablespoon of capers, 6 olives, 1/3 of a can of tomatoes, plus some spaghetti $2.50

= $3.00 FOR LUNCH

DINNER

was Mads' request of roast chicken, piggybacked with much anticipated artichokes served with a lemon basil garlic mayo for dipping. The kids are always so pleased when I take their suggestions for dinner, even if they don't always participate in cooking them.

   all the dark meat from one whole chicken $2.50
+ 1/2 an onion, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1/2 a leek, a few cloves of garlic, and a few pats of butter $0.60
+ 2 artichokes $5.00
+ 1 cup jasmine rice (for Mads) $0.50

= $8.60 FOR DINNER ($2.90/serving)

$14.05 total spent on Tuesday.

Friday 11/18 - $9.05
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/20 - $15.20
Monday 11/21 - $7.20
Tuesday 11/22 - $14.05

$58.15 spent for the week with two days left to account for.

I did spend an extra $52 on Tuesday for Thanksgiving groceries, bringing my total grocery bill for the week to roughly $182, but seeing as it's already Friday, and I have a pretty full fridge, I probably won't be veering too far off budget for the month, even considering the holidays.

Three more to go, and I'm not all that hopeful that I'll get completely caught up today, but I think I have at least one more catchup post in me.

Back in a bit,

shinae