bouquets for a dingbat


Making me feel better: my 81-year-old mother and my husband, heading off 35km to the next closest town to buy a milkshake a couple of weeks ago



Yesterday I made a huge, totally unprofessional mistake. Thankfully it's been a long time since I proved so conclusively that the fact that a head is connected to a neck does not mean that any coherent messages are getting through.

It was the end of a horrible day, filled with frustrations and clients who don't pay on time. The only thing I can say for the mistake, was that I also proved that my commitment to always doing a job as well as possible extends into all my endeavours. I didn't send an email with premature information to a couple of close friends. I sent it to close to 100 highly influential journalists. How's that for a screw up of note?

One of the things that I learned through the debacle was that my family is totally, completely loyal to me. I had no idea, and the realisation is humbling, scary and certainly makes me feel a whole lot better.


One of the things we did during April: Greg's birthday breakfast in Paddagang in Tulbagh. Yes, we went on the bike

My husband, my mother and my son Simon all had the same reaction (Ben's still in pirate-infested waters in the Seychelles, or he may have had the same response). They immediately assumed that it was someone else's fault, that I must have been given the wrong information. This morning when I spoke to my mom, I was still trying to persuade her that the mistake was something that I had to take full responsibility for.

Isn't that just amazing? I'm sitting at my desk, wrapped in a blanket, and with a hot water bottle and warm slippers, but what's really keeping me warm today is the feeling of being loved. It's a great place to be.


One of my favourite feel better spaces: our bathroom in the evening, lit with candles. There's bubblebath too, and a bath so deep and long I can float in it.

Comments

julochka said…
i think everyone has done at least of one of those email debacles. it's the joy of electronic media.

on a lighter note, i must visit you and hang out in your bathtub. which i realize sounds kinda weird and stalker-like. but that may be how i mean it. it looks like heaven!

and as they say, this too shall pass. most people don't read their email properly anyway...
6 May 2009 at 10:03
Lynne said…
thanks Julie! And you're welcome to hang out in our bathroom any time! The windows were made by an artist friend and were the first improvement we made to the house after moving in!
6 May 2009 at 10:11
Meri said…
How wonderful that you float in your family's love! Even more wonderful is that you've had an experience that brings into consciousness a full awareness of your family's love and how magnificent it is. Maybe that's one of the lessons in this debacle.
7 May 2009 at 16:39
Lali Fufu said…
I wish I had a bathtub that I could float in. Actually, any bath would do, even if it was tiny. I only have a shower.
We all make mistakes, and from these mistakes we learn valuable lessons and grow. How lucky that you got to grow, and as said above, float in your family's love. For the record, I love you too! :)
11 May 2009 at 12:59
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