There are upsides

While it is freaking me out that the concussed youngest isn’t going to school, it has given us some lovely opportunities to spend time together.

We’ve started having weekly lunches together at the cafe just around the corner from our apartment. We take the dogs, they lie in the sun, the youngest gets granola and fruit and I choose something different from the menu each time … then I eat her leftover granola for dessert.

Yep, my diet is going SO well.

I’ve also started treating myself to a weekly early morning breakfast at the cafe, nothing fancy, just a coffee and avo on toast.

The avo has feta and roasted nuts sprinkled on it and it’s delicious!

I’ve never done stuff like that before. I’ve always regarded cafe meals as being strictly for business appointments or the occasional treat with a friend, not for me to enjoy alone for absolutely no reason. It felt almost radical the first time I said to the barista that I was going to drink my coffee at a table and order some food.

I also saw cafes as an unnecessary expense after battling so many years of career uncertainty. But it’s my one-year anniversary at my current job so I figure I can lash out a little.

Speaking of lashing out …

I tend to shop my feels, so the past few days have seen my shoe collection expand by four pairs. Nothing too fancy – two pairs were thongs/slip-ons from a Rip Curl outlet near work, the other two were a cheap sandal impulse buy that popped up on Facebook.

The youngest is horrified as she thinks I have more than enough shoes already. Her generation just wear white sneakers with everything.

Now I need to get my first pedicure in FOREVER so I can wear them on my mini break. It’s been so long since my toes were painted that there’s just a thin sliver of colour remaining on the big toenails.

There hasn’t been time for anything other than the essentials in recent months.

It feels good to finally have the freedom to live life a little more slowly.

Song of the day: Madonna “Material girl”