Such A Perfect Day

I checked my e-mail when I woke up at 0630 on Friday morning to find an e-card from the woman I currently have the hugest crush on. A good start to the day! I staggered to the kitchen to make coffee and found something gift-wrapped between myself and the kettle: the Pixies Sell Out Reunion Tour on D.V.D! Good going, dad.

I was late leaving for work but the traffic was clear and I got there early, to find a card and a bottle of red wine from my colleagues on my desk. Everyone was super-sweet to me all day, except the boss... who'd kindly taken the day off. We finished early. Apparently that's normal but I'm rarely in the office on a Friday so I didn't know!



I was with my mother by 1830. She cooked steak and gave me Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' B-Sides And Rarities triple album. If you're amazed that my parents know my taste so well, I'll let you in on a little secret: we always ask each other for a shortlist of gift ideas because if there's one thing worse than getting a lousy present you'll never use it's the thought of your loved ones wasting their money on crap. My brother and I take it a step further and buy something we like for ourselves then tell each other what it was. (The Aristocrats, that I bought last week, is now from him.)

Home next, to shower and change. I'd left before the postman had called so more cards were waiting for me. My father had felt much better all day, which is great news in itself. (He's got shingles now on top of everything else.) He drove downtown so I didn't have to deal with buses or parking.

I hadn't planned much beyond a few drinks with Sarah but Phil and Tony (and others) were having a night out and we met in The Hatchet. It was a bit more "rawk" than I'd seen it before and Sarah wasn't comfortable at all. Good fortune, then, that two of her friends were running a club night literally upstairs! "Sixties psychaedelia, garage, Northern soul, freakbeat, Tamla, jazz and go-go," the poster said. There was dancing, tequila shots and taxis precisely when we needed them. It's a bit of a blur after that but I got to sleep around 0530, sixty minutes shy of the 24-hour mark.

Saturday was a get-up-late-and-nurse-your-hangover-with-Cadbury's-mini-eggs kind of day. I was smiling though. My tendency not to micro-plan social outings paid off for once!