This week I was reminded of the up’s and downs of juggling a creative lifestyle with that of being a working Mummy.   The juggle usually comes together quite well and life continues without a hiccup -  somewhat like a well oiled machine – although every now and then a train wreck ensues and the wheels fall off – at great speed.

I am of course being a total drama queen as this story involves a crisis of very small magnitude.  I ended up ‘wearing’ a flat white coffee drunk from a poorly constructed take away paper cup which involved much cursing and swearing and a detour back to my home to get redressed in this seasons latest ‘non coffee stained’ autumn fashion.  The real issue, as is the story of my life, was based around trying to fit too many tasks into a day.

I was riding high on the feeling of having made a few significant ticks on my daily to-do list:  dog walked, school lunch boxes filled (including home baking!!), children fed and breakfast dishes cleared away,  dog despatched to doggy day-care (yes – I know!!), recycling bin out on the street (with heavy rock positioned precariously on top to stop the whole unit being blown away in the Wellington wind), children delivered to school on time, myself at work (not only on time but a few precious minutes early), email inbox sorted and cleared in record time, a quick race across town to Dixon Street to deliver latest mixed media works to photographer for shooting – which meant I would met my submission deadline for a show I was hoping to be part of…..ahhh it was all going so well…..until……..coffee drizzled (in fact it gushed) with a rapid flow rate all over my dry-clean only pants and top.  Not the slickest nor most professional look for my place of work – hence a very direct and fast journey back home to change.

The workmen who have been digging up my neighbourhood for weeks and week (with the objective of allowing us to be the first fast broadband suburb in NZ…..lucky us!) did look a little perplexed (or perhaps the look was reserved amusement) as I screamed up the street, landed my car in the garage and swiftly closed the door in an effort to shut them out of my caffeine tainted existence!  Not 3 minutes later I reversed the process and left them blinking in the dust storm created by the mud they have deposited on my street as I took off again – headed for work for the second time that day. 

Some days it just doesn’t all come together and this was one of them.  And although everything went to custard at least I got my paintings to the photographer!

K

PS. I checked the wash instructions and the pants were actually ‘do not dry-clean’ as opposed to ‘dry clean only’ – who knew?