C: What I Need

Ah, another week has drawn to a close.  Has it?  Well, I’ll be working today, although it is Saturday, so it seems that my week is not actually over.  That’s how hectic the week has been.  But it’s fine—there are many folks who have no work.  And, too, I relish the time on Saturdays without the interruptions of the ringing phones, the drop-in clients, the staff questions. 

This week was so busy that I found myself saying to my assistant, “Could someone give me just one more ball to keep in the air?  Bet I could do it!”  She felt the same.

No, Saturdays offer pure, uninterrupted thought and work time.  I actually enjoy that.  It is when I can act upon my work rather than simply react to demands of others, if that makes sense.  And I won’t be there all day.  On Saturdays I can get done in three hours what I might accomplish in a full usual day—or more.

The downside to working on Saturdays is the lack of work that gets done around here.  I had determined to clean up my porches this weekend, and maybe I’ll get to that tomorrow.  But that’s the kind of thing that will go to the wayside and it does wear at me that those things go neglected.  Can’t be helped; I must, after all, earn a living.

This week my two women associates and I went to a luncheon for about 200 women at the Governor’s Mansion.  (Ahem, that would be luncheon, you guys, not lunch).  It was a “la-de-da-with-little-finger-extended” kind of deal.  Everything was perfect, perfect, from the immaculately-kept grounds, to the smiling staff who ushered to our tables and took care of our every whim, to the delicate, almost see-through china, and a wonderful salad that I am going to try to replicate and share with you (iceberg topped with a marinated bean type of thing—I find myself thinking about it).

Anyway, I was sitting there, trying to enjoy the program while fidgeting about needing to be back at the office, when it occurred to me!  What I need is staff!

Oh, I have great staff at work, and they make my professional life possible.  The office, while not quite under control, fairly hums with at least efficient progress toward control.  My home, however, well, that’s a different story.

Yes, home staff would solve all my needs.  First of all, I need (sooooo badly) a gardener.  I never really enjoyed gardening to begin with, but keeping up eleven acres is just more than I can do.  My next-door neighbor has kept the wild beaten back by mowing for me this summer.  But the finer points of my flower beds have gone undone.  Yes, the first thing I’d like is a gardener to tame the edges of my house into submission…

And a maid.  Yep.  Definitely, I need a maid.  First, I’d have to the clean the house up; but a maid to do the vacuuming, dusting, bathrooms…well, that would be divine.  I’d even dispense with the necessity that she wear a uniform!

A cook would be good—just for dinner, since I’m gone from before daylight.  I love to cook, but more and more I find myself coming home, drained, and opening a can.  I was talking to V the other night on the phone as I dined.  “What are you having?”  V asked.

“Canned hot tamales,” I answered.

And V, bless her, said “Ummmm! Hormel?”  Yes, she knows “good.”

But wouldn’t it be great to come home to a “balanced” meal.  [It must be said here that often I find one waiting on me at MIL’s on the way home, so I can’t complain too much].

And, while I’m dreaming, a butler could serve well, too.  When I’m sitting at the end of the day with my feet up, wiped out, and the phone rings or someone comes to the door, he’d say, “I’ll see if Madame is at home….”  [I actually have this service at work, but they refuse to do the “Madame” part…]

And, I suppose, the butler would be the one who would refresh my emptying wine glass…

But, then, where would he be when I didn’t need him?  Sitting on the sofa watching the news with me?  Nah, scratch the butler.

Yes, the Governor’s Mansion was insight for me into what gracious home living could be.

But, in the meantime, I’ll hit-and-miss around here, sans staff, knowing I’m blessed beyond all I have the right to expect.  C