Don't you just hate it when...

• You and your BBF (best blogging friend) Susannah at Out Went The Light pay $175 to spend an entire Sunday afternoon at a blogging workshop -- you could otherwise be spending at home bonding with your loving family -- only to get your blog slammed by a blogging guru who spends five seconds eyeballing it. Pissed, you use what you learned about writing headlines, and write a scathing blog post entitled "10 Things Not To Do When Hosting a Blogging Workshop." You send it to the hostess in the form of feedback. Later you're psyched when she responds to your email and refunds your money.

• The first guest (an 8-year-old as opposed to an adult -- although that's certainly possible in my social circle) to arrive at your party barfs all over the floor. You are thankful it was on the hardwoods vs. the rug.

• You return home from the grocery store and realize in a panic that you left your purse in the cart. You're relieved that it's at the customer service desk when you return with all of its contents intact. Honesty does still exist. 

• Your cable line is mysteriously cut and you are completely unplugged for 2 days. After several hours, you find it refreshing that you and your "so bored they could die" children are playing cards and reading real books just like in the olden days.

• You get a call from the vacuum cleaner repair man telling you there's a Pokemon card stuck in your machine and it'll cost $100 to repair it. When you pick it up, they hand over your ticket with the badly charred card stapled to it. You thank God that the thing didn't explode and burn down the house.

• You are the worst tennis player to show up at the Saturday morning drills. That includes the septuagenarians. Don't forget I'm on the D1 team. You see the pro whisper to one of the A players "do you mind being Maureen's partner?" He doesn't yet know that you can read lips from across the court, even with his hand cupped over his mouth. Later, the A players ask you to play a few mercy games with them and make you feel like you're halfway decent. You also hear them reference the men's club house as the "penis palace." Love it!

• You hate shopping, but force yourself to go to the mall to make some long overdue returns. The delightful sales associates at Nordstrom and Anthropologie not only refund your money in full, but let you keep some of the stuff you planned to return and adjust the prices to the current 50% off the already low sale price. You gain a greater appreciation for shopping in person at your fave stores.

Is this beginning to look like a twisted gratitude journal? I do have much to be grateful for, and I can tell that 2013 is gonna be a glass-half-full year for me.

Have a great weekend!