Thanks for the good wishes everybody.

I like coffee/espresso and sushi and bicycling. Can I move to the West Coast now?

Excellent jacket, Aimee.

Yes, -t, yes you can.

YAY!

t starts packing

Mr. H kept leaving his in the front room along with his coats, hats, and sometimes jeans. One day I was cleaning the house and it seemed there were more of his clothes in the living room than in his closet, so I took most of his clothes out of the closet and hung them on the mantle and put his folded clothes on the bookshelves and lined his shoes up in front of the chair. Poor thing had a total WTF!?! moment when he got home, but then laughed and laughed.

I am the shoe-death-trap-setter in the family.

in my experience, guys will have sex and aren't too picky about with whom [no offense, Buffista guys, but like I said, this has been *my* experience], but they're a lot more picky about who they want to actually spend time with, in a clothes-on way.)

Doh!

t rearranges priorities -- again

I need some advice on dealing with Bridezilla over something I goofed up on.

As y'all know, I'm a perfectionist, and in true perfectionist tradition, I hate it when I have to admit to a mistake. I hate it even when I know the person I'm admitting it to thinks I'm the best friend/colleague/wife/whatever imaginable and will tell me it's no problem, so stop worrying about it. When it's someone who I strongly suspect already thinks I'm incompetent, it fills me with dread and horror.

My goof was as follows: The wedding coordinators at my church have this info worksheet we use to help us figure out each couple's needs for their ceremony. Normally we fill them in as part of the conversation at our first meeting with the couple. Unfortunately, when I met with this couple, we were pressed for time because they were half an hour late because of bad traffic, and I couldn't stay late because I had another meeting to get to. So I emailed the bride the worksheet and asked her to fill it in. What I hadn't realized, because it's in the fine print I never pay close attention to, is that it included an outdated version of one part of the price list, namely the charge for the sound guy.

In my last conversation with the bride, I found this out when she questioned the sound charge I'd listed in an email to her. Unfortunately, I didn't handle it well (really at all) at the time, because I was still kinda stunned and sputtering that she was questioning the need to pay me my full rate because of her relative who's helping out with directing the ceremony. So. Given that that conversation was over a week ago and I'm really a wimpy ass for not dealing with it earlier, what should I do?

1. Email the bride, explain what happened, and ask nicely that they pay the full rate?

2. Say nothing, and pay the difference in the sound guy's fee out of my own pocket? It's just $60, but when you're a struggling freelancer freaking out about financial issues, that's HUGE.

I don't think you should pay the $60 out of your own pocket. Is there someone higher up you could go to and say "Look, I didn't notice the sound guy's fee. I've been having issues with this girl and I messed up." Barring that, I'd go to Bridezilla, apologize for the paperwork being wrong and ask for full price.

Don't do option 2, Susan. Explain to her that the listed price for the sound guy is outdated (I don't see a need to admit any fault in the matter, frankly) and taht the correct price is what it is. If she pitches a fit and it would save you trouble to let her pay the lower amount and cover the difference yourself, be sure to let her know what a huge favor you are doing her by allowing her to pay the lower amount.