a perfect day

this is not the kind of post i would normally put up for public consumption, but there was something so beautiful about this day- some sweet, some spice, a little work, a little play, and lots of time with people i love. left me feeling so good, i just had to share it.

5.45 am - wake up, switch the heater on, and wake up daughter for an early morning hug.

6.00am - the sublime sounds of the venkatesa suprabhatam fill my room. kick daughter out of bed and spend the next hour yelling reminders and instructions over songs in praise of various gods- have you brushed? yes, today! wear clean socks please! look through your lessons! no, one idli isn't enough for breakfast!

7.15am - frantic calls from downstairs. driver hasn't turned up. a phone call reveals he has quit work. result of yesterday's tamasha, i presume, but what a way to break it to me!

7.16am - leap out of bed (yesss, i know... i tend to laze about while barking orders) and hunt for sweats to wear with crumpled t. good enough for school.

7.23am - daughter has decided she wants to go to school in mom's new car, so i sit behind the wheel, trying not to panic, telling myself that driving an automatic for only 3 minutes under the eagle eyed supervision of my darling husband two days earlier qualifies me to drive this monster; not that i have a choice anyway, my daughter has to pick up her car pool buddy and get to school in 17 minutes or less.

7.36am - in school, perfectly smooth drive, and on time. yippee!

8.20am - sms two friends asking for help finding a driver.

8.40am - friend 1 responds saying he would send one of his company drivers over in an hour for me to interview, and hire if i wanted. i love the man!

9.00am - quick look around favourite blogs, post comments, respond to (woefully small number of ) comments on mine. aha, inbox holds an enquiry for a voice over!! dash off emails. 

10.21am - co-ordinate with painters and plumbers to get work done around the house before dh and first born return home. 2 minute calls to akka to check if she's better today, and to friend congratulating her daughter on fab exam results. draw up study plans for a friend's teenaged son who's home for 2 months from boarding school.

11.36am - coffee (ok, tea actually, but somehow meeting over coffee sounds right in a way that meeting over tea doesn't!) with friend i haven't seen in over a month, open up birthday presents - autographed book by jeffrey archer and perfume to die for- with very undignified squeals of delight. panic when i can't put the car in reverse gear, and call friend to come back and rescue me. figure out how to do it for myself :) call again asking him not to bother. 

12.30pm - interview done, new driver hired, old driver returns and apologises for yesterday, and gets a lecture on how he should come to me if he had a problem, not quit without notice, or threaten me by saying he would quit.

1.20pm - lunch at my club, thrilled at the announcement that our bulletin (am godmother to this baby) got the best bulletin award, discuss ways to bring in money for the next fund raiser, bring home the vision committees proposal to edit.

3.00pm - hand driver 2,000 rupees to deliver to greedy doctor.

3.23pm - gorge on red cabbage and gooseberry salad, sip cups of peppermint tea, and play a kick ass game of scrabble with a darling friend while talking about everything from her painful eye, to men (of course!) to indian inheritance laws and the smartest investments to make in this economic climate. argue, successfully, that the word 'liced' doesn't exist except in her imagination.

5.07pm - hug my darling chellam, and chat about her day while she gets ready for a swim. lecture her on need to follow rules, and pack her off, smiling happily, in her new swimsuit.

6.30pm - slip on sneakers, sweats and t, and go for a quick walk. feel very virtuous.

7.13pm - chellam calls, 13 minutes after her curfew is up, asking if she can stay at her friend's till 7.30pm. very calmly i tell her to get her curfew violating ass home immediately!

7.35pm - yummy dinner of oothapam with poondu kuzhambu. discover my daughter hasn't gone for a swim, but to a friend's, 'to pick her up ma,'and then hung out at the friend's house because the girl 'had that thing'  and couldn't swim.

swallow anger and settle instead for a talk on responsibility, rules, penalties for breaking rules etc. explain how it is important for her own safety that i know where she is at any time, and with whom. when will she ever grow up and see these things for herself!

8.30pm - sit down to prepare lesson plans for tomorrow, and edit the vision committee document while chellam does her homework - she laughs at my inability to find the cube of 13! i indulge in a glass of crisp sauvignon blanc (after all, wine in a bottle already opened doesn't wait for weekends to come around before going off) read email from dh, and reply sending hugs and kisses. soul music plays softly in the background. the curtains are drawn, the day is winding to a close, and there's a warm glow in the air. speak to my amma, and she promises to send over ingredients for kashayam (ugh!!) for my persistent cold. i can already feel it clearing up!

9.34pm - bed time. chellam and i do our 'mullum malarum' (thorns and flowers) routine - we discuss good things and not so good things that happened during the day.

9.57pm - lights are out, her fingers are twisted in my hair, her breathing's soft and slow, she's falling asleep.

10.00pm - thank you god. i couldn't have asked for a better day.