Back Home in NJ

Punch and I traveled back from Connecticut on train and bus. Not gonna lie, she has been pushing buttons with mean comments and bad language. It can be very trying. Hurt people hurt people, I keep in mind.

All the while, Dan, Figgy, Mimi, Sis and I do all we can to get/help/inspire Punch to clean up her act. But the time between 15 months, when she left our home, and 6 1/2 years, when she moved back in....tough stuff. The family therapist put in place for Punch at age 6 just recently crystallized things, helped me see things in perspective: Punch can't risk getting angry at her birth mom; the connection is too tenuous. And besides, mom has a new brunette baby girl. So P.  takes her anger out on us. The person she is truly angry at, deep down, is her mother. But she is too young to be in touch with those feelings.

Tonight was the ice cream social/middle school orientation for sixth graders and their adults.

Seeing these familiar faces [kids] brought me comfort as our children start out at a big new place:
Vaurie, Finn, Owen, Maya 1, Maya 2, Lilith, Luci, Rea, McKenna [spelling is wrong], Ellia, Kaira, the boy-girl brown-haired twins whose names I always forget, Cooper, Jake..and younger siblings, including Magnus and Aubrey...

And these parents/caregivers, some of whom I know better than others:
Sarah, Marni, Beth, Dan, Beth, Russell, David, Jamillah, Lisa, Tor's mom, Marin and Aidan's mom, Jessi, Mike, Coco's parents, Vanessa, Michael, Heather and her husband, Emery, Claudia, Manny, Susie, Julia's mom.....

TCOY

1. Did my makeup.
2. Walked in NYC.
3. Going to try and rise for 7 a.m. support group.
4. No sweets. Not even from ice cream truck at the school social, which was there to provide free treats for all.

MONEY SPENT OUT OF POCKET WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY:

• Took Punch to dinner at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Stamford; Sis didn't feel well enough to go. We brought her a brisket sandwich and a side of mashed potatoes with gravy. With tip, $50.
• Fairway in Stamford, flowers for Sis, box of Grape-nuts; half-gallon milk; and two high-quality dark chocolate bars and cute gift bag for P to give Fig, belated bday, $28.
• Stamford train station, lemon Luna Bar for P, $2.25.
• Starbucks, Port Authority, two iced drinks plus $1 tip, $11.

TOTAL DAILY SPEND: $91.25.
TOTAL MONTHLY SPEND AS OF AUGUST 28 [now added all other days on]: $2,767.24.

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND FOR MONTH SO FAR: $98.83.

[I added in all Cape and travel days now.]

Punch was on Cape for 10 days with us, but then followed by 10 days with Mimi in North Carolina,
Atlantic City etc. So I should try to bring our bill down until she returns. It is spiking high with Cape Cod spends.

Hot, big-money spends in August, or how I spent our bread:

🥖CVS, groceries and Rxs, $71.
🥖Whole Foods, vegan chocolate bday cake, regular and vegan pizza ingredients etc., $82.

🥖Grand Central Dining Concourse, fast food Chinese lunch for two, $24.

🥖Round trip train fare from Grand Central to Stamford for Punch and me, $25.

🥖Round trip DeCamp bus fare for Punch and me, $31.

🥖Fairway, CT., flowers for Sis, cereal, milk, bday chocolate and gift bag from P to Fig, $28.

🥖Dinosaur Bar-b-Que, CT.  for me, Sis and Punch, w tip, $50.

🥖Salon blowout, tip and Aveda brow pencil, $68.

🥖 Whole Foods, groceries, $71.

🥖 Health food store in Southampton, Dr. H. lip balm and Hu coffee beans, $31.

🥖 La Couronne, Montclair, dinner to go for Dan and me while watching Saturday night movie, $66.

🥖 Cafe Giotto, Montclair, dinner w Elaine, my part with tip, $53.

🥖Fill gas tank twice on Cape Cod, $46 x 2= $92.
🥖Idle Times bike shop rental for Punch from noon Saturday until 5 p.m. Sunday, $31.
🥖T.J. Maxx, four designer dresses, Adidas sneakers, knock-off lightweight Burberry scarf, Olga bra, Lauren pillow, shorts, etc. etc., $338.

🥖Pizza+/fancyish restaurant dinner with Punch after swimming in pond in Brewster until after 7 p.m., $77.

🥖Mac's Market & Kitchen, lobster, clams, kale salad, mango salsa and other Sunday dinner ingredients, $53.

🥖Brewster bakery, including cookbook I somehow lost, maybe a message from God because it was packed with recipes for sweets, $25.
🥖2 Massachusetts mugs, one for Cape and one for home, $28.
🥖Commando.com, black half-slip, $65.
🥖Arnold's Lobster & Clam Bar, fried clam belly basket plus tip, $30.
🥖Pure Vita, the new CBD [not for me] and natural home care store with essential-oil bar and pretty pineapple throw pillow case for Cape house, votive candles, seaweed/lavender bath sachets, $52.
🥖Stop & Shop, Cape groceries, $29 + $40 + $52=$121.
🥖Lobster roll supper with P. at Adams Lodge in Wellfleet, $32.
🥖Eastham info booth, pink sweatshirt, $30.
🥖Mass Audubon annual family membership, $65.
🥖Sunbird breakfast sandwich w citrus mayonnaise on grilled ciabatta plus expensive coffee beans from, of all places, Portland, Maine, plus tip, $27.

🥖Audubon gift shop, small turtle rug for home; bird gift for Figgy; goat milk body wash; Bee Boss Body Balm, which I love for lips, too; small owl wall calendar for family, with member discount, $88. 
🥖Vineyard Vines, candy-pink gingham skort, orig $98, now on sale for $68.99, plus shipping, $79.
🥖Mac’s Market & Kitchen, lobster, scallops, salmon, lemon, cornbread square, crackers, $49.

COMPARISON SHOPPING. That long Cape Cod vacay in August really drove the numbers up so far.

TOTAL SPEND FOR MONTH OF JULY [STARTING JULY 5; I LOST A FEW DAYS THERE]: $1,610.81. 👛 🎯 ⬇️
JULY AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $59.66!  👛 🎯 ⬇️

TOTAL SPEND FOR MONTH OF MAY: $2,348.24.

MAY AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $75.75. 

TOTAL SPEND FOR MONTH OF APRIL: $3,634.28.

APRIL AVERAGE DAILY SPEND: $121.14.