The Old Folks at Home Celebrate the Weekend

As early as Thursday afternoon one of us will say, when we meet in the hallway between our respective home offices, "It's the weekend!" This works only if the Friday that follows is a free day for both of us. Otherwise, we have to wait until Friday afternoon to say it.

 

So what is a weekend for a pair of retired writer-people? Surely every day is the same when there is no Monday-to-Friday job? Well, in our house you'd be hard-pressed to notice the absence of the 9-5 routine. My wine-writer husband often has back-to-back, two-or-three-a-day tastings. During the worst (best?) months, he might have dinner at home only four or five times through the whole month.

 

My own schedule often sees me leaving the house before 9 every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and not returning until 3 or 4 or later.

 

So the weekend IS different for us. Let me count the ways: 1) We don't leave the house if we can avoid it (I'm not mentioning here the H-D Met performances or the COC Sunday matinee). 2) We linger at breakfast in the alcove, reading not just the morning paper but some of the magazines that have piled up during the week. 3) I cook a dinner from new food! That is to say, no leftovers leave the fridge (I've probably already used them up by Friday anyway). It's a time for lamb chops, say, or a small roast of some sort. Or a soup to stick to the ribs. It's a time to experiment with real recipes, something I've tucked into my files in an optimistic moment. 4) I indulge in a Negroni before dinner or else we open a bottle of Champagne or an old bottle of red wine. (We have just one final 1978 wine—our anniversary wine—left in the basement. The end of an era. What dish will be worthy of it?)

 

The weekend is our favourite time of the week. As we live it we say, often, every day should be like this. Now, can you tell me why we don't arrange our lives so that every day IS like the weekend? What keeps us from spending our days exactly the way we want? On the other hand, if all days were like the weekend, we wouldn't appreciate it. Perhaps we maintain our hectic weekly schedule in order to highlight the glories of the weekend.

 

 

Copyright 2013 Ann Tudor

www.anntudor.ca
http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com