As I noted in a previous post, I’m keeping track of my money via a new app called Clarity. It is helpful! But I’m still going crazy on amazon.com. Let’s look at what I spent money on this week, shall we?

$87.65 on craft supplies for a door

So …. maybe I volunteered to decorate Kit’s preschool door for Teacher Appreciation Week. And by “I” volunteered, I mean, “I volunteered my husband Nat.” Because I know what is best for him (he loves arts and crafts and me volunteering him for things unannounced), I figured this would be fun for us. And, again, by “fun for us,” I mean “fun for Nat.”

So! Because he took this on with minimal grumbling, I didn’t raise an eyebrow (well, maybe a little bit) that he spent close to $100 on supplies to decorate the door ($11 on googly eyes alone) because it was guaranteed Thursday delivery and, well, he’s an artist and you can’t penny-pinch a creative genius. He actually pointed out that he was about to spend $200 but toned it down a bit. So he worked for several hours on Thursday getting it together and, of course, it was terrific. (I am not an artist and I’m terrible at arts and crafts but since I dug us in this hole, I did the lettering which looks vaguely like a psychopath did it.). Plus, as he points out, now we have plenty of wrapping paper (and googly-eyes. Like, a thousand googly-eyes).

$8.99, Zcen Lightning Cable, 3 Pack 10 –Feet

I don’t have a charger at my desk at work and literally, for the past TWO YEARS, I have been using the charger at the cubicle of a colleague because I inevitably need it. TWO YEARS. She takes it pretty well but maybe, just maybe, it was time for me to spend $12.99 on a phone charger for my desk?

$20, Microclover Seed

I spent some time last week digging up dead patches in my lawn because we apparently have grubs and they eat the roots and I’m supposed to blast the lawn with pesticide in the fall so this doesn’t happen but, like, fuck that noise. Lawns are pretty stupid and pesticides are bad. Also, why do I have to care about the lawn? Nat doesn’t care about the lawn and if there is one place where I still consider gender roles acutely defined, it’s the damn lawn. So, I ordered some microclover as apparently it’s the new eco-friendly lawn. But…it’s a weed! I spent $20 on a weed! And, yet, it’s a green weed (important!) that will hopefully cover up the dead patches in my lawn. (Sorry, neighbors, all of whom deeply, deeply care about their lawns.)

$13.99, The Stars are Fire: By Anita Shreve

I needed a good, historical novel (I like pretending I could live in a time where people didn’t have a lot of money to spend on wrapping paper for a door and / or their lawn) and this hit the spot. It’s a post-war setting based on the true story of the largest fire in Maine’s history. It follows a young woman named Grace who gets trapped in said fire with her two small children. Super good and the author does a great job of detailing the minutia of the daily life of a 1940’s housewife (her description of laundry will make you give thanks for your washer and drier and Amazon Prime). Highly recommend.