Fired

Today, I got "fired" from one of my freelance jobs. Truth be told, I should be fired by all of my employers for negligence, irresponsibility, and tardiness.

The real issue is not having my priorities well defined and consequentially over-extending myself with WAY too many commitments. My friends and family know this well about me, but I never seem to learn.

Last week, I dropped EVERYTHING and headed off to Ashland for five days at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. When I arrived for the early morning departurel last Wednesday, the friend who had extended the invitation hugged me and said, "Patricia, who always says YES!"

WHOA!! That would be me!

So I had this marvelous, cram-packed, sleepless, fired-up adventure in theater-land and came home to an early morning IM session with an editor who gently explained that she had reassigned a project I was working on to another writer.

Hey, I get it! I can't have it ALL. Why would I think differently????

As I told this editor: "Maybe I can work for you when I'm 70 and have more time. NOT!"

This little anecdote falls thematically under the message embedded in "Our Town," the last play we saw while in Ashland. I'll report more about that play and my trip during the week. But right now, I have to get ready to go, go, go . . . it's homeschool today, and after that I promised to cook dinner for Cindy and her mom and dad who are here helping her with a job (because I was unavailable) . . .

What does all this say about priorities??? I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Hope Cindy doesn't fire me in the meantime!