Never Late....Ever?

In doing a little research for an author Q&A for this blog, I checked out her website. "I've never been late with an assignment." I wrote her and told her she was my new hero. While it is something we writers should always aspire to, I don't know if I'll ever make it. The vast majority of assignments go in on time. Editors wouldn't want to use me if they didn't, but there's sometimes glitches that make getting an assignment in on time impossible. Most of the time, it is my fault for accepting assignments with too short of deadlines, knowing it was going to be tricky anyway.
Looking back on my assignments just for this year, about 30% have been past the original due date. That's way high for me, but I've had an unusal year with my mother being ill and then her passing (and even with that excuse, it almost cost me a relationship with a very good, long-term client).
Today, I had to ask for an extension because a company's CEO has been slow to return my phone calls. The PR guy promised me an interview today, but my deadline is tomorrow. And with painters invading our home for two days beginning tomorrow morning, I'm not sure how much work I will actually be able to accomplish.
The thing is that when I run into unforseen problems and I notify my editors right away, they usually give me an extra day or two. Communication is key, so I better get to writing that Dear Editor email.