Shhh! Gotta keep this a secret!

At 3:30 today, I finally got to show my coworkers a portion of the major project I've been working on. Seems wires got crossed because what I presented was not what some members of the team was expecting.

This rattled me not because I am perfect and my work is always spot on. No, I was upset because I told everyone yesterday that I probably had to leave at 3:00 (in case my mom needed me), and the later we reviewed the work together, the harder it would be for me to make revisions. Unfortunately this input didn't require revisions, this called for a "do over."

Everyone said they were sorry. Of course they wished my mom well and hoped that I had time to hand this project off to someone else (Yeah? Who would that be?) before I left to be by her side. They even touched me a lot. I'm not crazy about coworker touching.

I scurried back to my office, expecting to find that my mom was on her way home and needed me there, but discovered instead she wasn't being released tonight anyway. I admit I was shaken for a while, letting a wave of "Now what?" wash over me. But then, once it sunk in that
I wasn't needed at home, I was able to focus on the project at hand … and I was rejuvenated. I understood that the input I was given was wise and on target. Suddenly I was able to quickly, efficiently craft a new creative concept and email it to my boss (who had already gone home for the night).

It's the "quickly, efficiently" part that I'd kinda like to stay between a gal and her blog. I don't mind my coworkers thinking that I struggled with it, even as I tried to race to my sick mother's side. Summer is coming. I may want to cut out early to listen to the end of a hard-fought Cub game from a beer garden. (Doesn't that sound lovely?) Now is a good time to have a little extra insurance in my emotional bank account.