Has it really been a year since we checked in with Other Bridget? She's the Australian woman who shares my name and almost an email address - I get all kinds of emails meant for her. From them, I've pieced together a life.
Here are two quotes from emails from Other Bridget's mom that I don't really understand but that I find completely charming:
No luck in the caravan, I've been through every nook and cranny. and I haven't yet been able to raise Mary on the phone. I'll try again this evening.
Will call from F's no doubt. Off to the local farmer's auction today to buy the turkey. With Dad, ___ should be interesting ! Hope we don't come home with too many or outbid each other !!!!!!!!!
This same woman eventually wrote me an email asking a direct question that Other Bridget (me) never responded to, so she wrote again. When I wrote her back saying she had the wrong person, she replied:
Bridget, what do you mean ??????? that's a bit weird !
(That's one of my favorite email responses ever, by the way.) We continued having a lovely exchange of emails and although she said she would try to put me in touch with Other Bridget once she sorted things out...I never heard from her.
Is one of these people Other Bridget?? Maybe, because a friend of hers sent it to me. I'm hoping I'm the woman wearing the purple fascinator!
This year, we had all the usual Other Bridget things like classroom gift exchanges (and something called a "lucky dip"), catering details, lots of order confirmations for things Other Bridget bought, insurance renewals, etc. But the crowning jewel of this year's Other Bridget interactions came in June when a party planner wrote me asking to confirm some details about Other Bridget's daughter's birthday party. Specifically, she wanted to know whether it was OK to have water in the ball pit, which location I had chosen, and whether I wanted the party planning company to bring a pony named Molly to entertain the children.
I wrote back the usual email saying she had the wrong Bridget. BORING. But then, THEN, she wrote back, again, to the same email address (mine), thinking that this time, she had the right Bridget.
I consider myself to be a good person, but I could NOT resist this opportunity. I have been receiving Other Bridget's emails for years, and I have never, ever, ever played any kind of joke on her, even though opportunities have practically fallen into my lap. I stayed out of the bachelorette party planning, I stayed out of committing to classroom volunteer times, I've kept my mouth shut about her lab work results, and OK maybe one time I did respond to her friend who was in prison but it didn't go beyond that. But THIS. I could not resist, not when given a second chance. So I wrote back:
Thanks for your work, [name]!
Instead of water in the ball pit, can it be Coca-cola? I think that would help the kids get the maximum enjoyment out of that activity, as well as keep their energy levels up.
Oh, [my daughter] loves ponies! Even more than ponies, though, she loves monkeys. Would it be possible for Molly to come to the party dressed as a monkey?
As for locations, I think the parking lot of Maloneys [I literally googled "names of grocery stores in Australia" to get this name] has a great ambiance, what do you think? The Sydney Opera House would be another option, except I'm not sure they hire out for birthday parties (and come to think of it, the distance might be an obstacle). Let me know if you can advise on helicopter transport.
Just kidding! It's still me, the wrong Bridget Palmer. Gmail doesn't differentiate between bridgetpalmer@gmail.com and bridget.palmer@gmail.com. So the woman you're looking for must have a different spelling. Try [alternate email address], maybe - sometimes I get emails meant for her though I've never been able to determine for sure what her real email address is. Nobody ever writes me back. :(
Hope the party turns out lovely.
Fortunately, the party planner had a sense of humor (her email response to the above began with "bahahaha," which I loved), but although she, like the woman earlier in this blog post, promised to put me in touch with Other Bridget...she never did.
Someday I will make contact! Until then, I'm enjoying every peek I get at the life of my alter ego.