This was one of those days when, every time the Boss phoned, he would end the call by saying, “There was something else I wanted to ask you, but I can’t remember what it was.” Then he’d tell me he’d have to call me back, and a little while later he would. One of those days, you know?

But he thinks the hard work we put in will pay off. The job in Montana looks as if it could be ours, depending on what happens over the next few days. We’ve been told by most of the prime contractors bidding the job that they were listing us to subcontract the portion of the work we bid, so now we wait. I just hope he put enough profit in his bid to pay the phone bills, so he can keep bugging me.

Now that bid, which has taken up so much time, is behind us, and we can start working on the cost reports that I took such pains to fax him over the weekend. That portion of the Big Project started paying off this afternoon. He had some questions. I had some answers. And now we can move on. Before the weekend, I’ll have a final worksheet for him to look over and tweak, and then it can go on to the accountant and I can wash my hands of it until next year.

There aren’t words to express what a relief that will be. We used to say we worked until May 1 to pay our taxes. Now I say I work until the middle of March on the taxes, and then turn it over to someone trained to put the best face on the numbers I give him. Like the bid, once it’s out of my hands, I stop worrying, even though it could in the end mean good news or bad news. I can’t control that part, only how I deal with it.