|
|
|
2005-10-23 - 6:37 a.m. Day in the Life of Sif 5.30am - alarm goes off for the first time. I ignore it. West hits snooze. 5.50am - I get up, stagger into the bathroom to wash my face, moisterise, brush my hair, and choose what earrings I'm going to wear (conservative studs? elegant blue glass drops? frivolous silver hoops?). Now that my hair is too short to be put into a ponytail, I don't have to decide what to do with it anymore - I just brush and ignore. 6.00am - into the kitchen, to put muesli, yoghurt and a chopped up banana into a plastic container to eat at work. If I'm feeling energetic or poor, I put something together for lunch as well - leftovers or a salad. 6.10am - get dressed. Stand before the wardrobe deciding whether today is a skirt or pants day. Dither over what pair of shoes to wear. 6.25am - put breakfast and lunch in backpack, along with two library books (in case I finish or get bored with one, there's always another to start). Do the mental handbag checklist - mobile, wallet, keys, lipstick. 6.30am - open the gate for West in the car, and off we go, engaging in sleepy conversation for half an hour. I put on lipstick while we drive (depending on what I'm wearing, it's either dark pink or extreme red). 7.00am - West parks at his work. I walk off to the bus stop to take me to my work. 7.20-7.30am - I arrive at work. (On days West goes into work early, which is about 2 days a week, this all occurs half an hour earlier.) 7.30am - 8.00am - I pour milk onto my muesli, and eat it at my desk, usually while the Partner leans in my doorway and a) complains about work, b) complains about his boss, or c) tells me something exciting on a file that arose overnight. I say, "Hmmm", and make other sympathetic noises. If this is a Monday, I generally hear what everyone in the firm got up to on Friday night. 8.00-8.30 - my secretary arrives, and comes into my office and a) complains about her daughter sleeping in her bed, b) complains about her daughter in general, c) complains about other people at work, or d) tells me about her weekend. If I didn't keep up with my time sheet yesterday (a piece of paper with five minute blocks on which I have to keep track of everything I do in order that it can be charged to a client), I sit and stare at my desk, trying to remember what I did at 11.15 yesterday. If I've filled it out, I add up the hours, and take it into Accounts. 8.30am - On a Wednesday, we have a staff meeting at this time to talk about new files. Otherwise, I frown at my generally messy desk, and scribble myself a little or occasionally massive to-do list for the morning (which is generally something like File 1: draft defence File 2: lette to real estate agent File 3: return phone call - that sort of thing). So, during the morning, if it's quiet I'll surf a few blogs, or write an email or two. Otherwise, I dictate a letter or two, type a couple of file memos, making plans of action for any new files, and so on. Receive anxious phone calls from lawyers asking me when the hell my client's going to sign the agreement, and so on. 1.00pm - Lunchtime! Sometimes, I've arranged to meet a friend for lunch, in which case I toddle down the street and lunch in a coffee shop, while we gasp over what's been going on in each other's lives. Otherwise, I eat in the work lunchroom (or occasionally outside) while reading my book. After eating, I sometimes (OK. often) walk down to Big W, and buy some chocolate, or sour gummi worms to eat in the afternoon. 2.00pm - I take a peek at my secretary's trashy magazine, and comment on all the important stories, then head back into my office. I try to subtly open my packet of illicit sweets behind my computer, but my secretary has single-mum instincts, and glares at me through the glass wall, and says "What are you doing?" in a deeply suspicious tone. I practice saying, "Nothing!" while looking deeply wounded. 2.30pm - I think of the afternoon as the home stretch. Faxes come in, and are replied to. I work on compiling evidence from a stack of court transcripts. Occasionally during the day the young woman lawyer from upstairs (who probably needs a nickname) will pop into my office and complain about her lack of files, and the fact that she has nothing to do. I attempt to commiserate. Occasionally a secretary from upstairs will come into my office and complain about her boyfriend and the way he doesn't pay for the groceries. (Actually, writing all this down has made me realise I'm the agony aunt of the office. God.) 5.00pm - Generally, the end of my working day. Sometimes I stay back to 5.30 or 6.00 if I need to get something done before the morning. But usually, I'll head off to the train station. 6.05pm - train pulls in to my station. If West is home, he picks me up. Otherwise, I walk home. 6.20pm - Ahhh, the evening routine. Take off shoes, and being consequently alarmed by the aroma of sweaty feet, jump in the shower. If I'm feeling indulgent, I spend the evening in my satin pyjamas and frilly black robe. Switch the computer on, do some important diary reading, and hopefully writing. 7.00pm - If I'm not still on the computer, I occasionally watch Home and Away, for the soap trashiness of it all. And I start thinking about what to make for dinner (generally a choice between pasta, chicken burgers, lamb chops, and pizza). 7.30pm - On Wednesdays, I've been watching Australian Princess. Don't shun me, please. It's amusing trashiness, honestly. I generally cook whatever we're going to eat between now and 8.30pm. Sometimes, if I don't have anything planned for the evening, I put on a movie that I've burned onto DVD. Sometimes, I play 20 minutes of vioin. Sometimes, I call my mother or she calls me (my Dad calls me at work). 9.15pm - 9.30pm - I head to bed, and read a little before falling asleep. I could definitely make my evenings more productive - I mean, the time is there. But I never feel like doing anything productive after work. It's probably a matter of planning ahead, and marking out little periods of time in which to do, say, violin practice. I'm annoyed that that's only "sometimes".
|
|
|
|