ThankLESS Thursday (Come Grouch with Us)

 Some days, it's hard to be thankful.  I know, I know.  There are a million reasons to count my blessings.  I'm American. I'm employed. I'm an author. I have a great family. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Here's an example of what I mean. There are some days I tell myself that every rejection is just leading me closer to the agent I'm meant to be with. I should be thankful that a particular agent passed because it obviously wasn't meant to be.

Other days, just saying that little mantra makes me want to punch myself in the face.

So here's the deal, instead of telling you all the reasons we're thankful -- whether it's for something good or bad -- today we're going to have a GRIPE SESSION.  That's right, let's celebrate a ThankLESS Thursday by ridding our shoulders of all the concerns that've been weighing us down.  We'll go first...

A.E.: I'm the baby of five in a dysfunctional family. When my father suffered an aneurysm last year and languished 8 days in the hospital, I was the one to spend nights in the ICU, signing papers, giving permission for procedures, fighting for what I knew my dad would want. Now, my mother needs to have surgery, and I'm stuck being the one watching her when she gets home. My brother "has work out-of-state," my sister works locally. So, I'm packing right now to spend at least this weekend, if not longer with Mom. While I love my mom, I'll miss my own son's birthday too. Grrrrrr.


Nikki: My company's major annual event is next week in Las Vegas and it's crunch time.  Outside of having to work extremely long hours, and having horrible headaches, I'm just going to say that it's tough dealing with all the people involved in a venue like this.  And outside of all the egos and issues and fulfillment - some people need to learn to grow tolerance and realize that everyone is human.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Everyone deserves a break, and if they are willing to work with you to rectify a situation - take it. Don't throw salt on the wound.

Jessie: I'm 32 and just found out this week that my blood pressure is higher than Mount Kilimanjaro.  This translates into me needing to cut out sodium as much as possible (read - my favorite microwave lunches) and getting cardiovascular exercise 5 - FIVE - times a week. Not only do I despise exercise - I find nothing redeeming about sweating, at all - but those are 30 minutes when I might otherwise be writing.  So that's my grrrr! for the week. Yeah, it could be a lot worse.  But I'm still gonna growl about it.


Sheri:I've already mentioned that my eleven-year-old daughter had surgery this past Friday, which requires her to be prisoner to a foot cast for eight weeks--two spent home from school. She's recovering well. I have a major online conference next week to prepare for, and yes, I haven't even started. Oh, and then I got a lovely surprise from a local publication, wanting me to write a few articles for them. 

I should be happy about all these, and I am...really. But, um...yeah, I had just rediscovered my writing mojo!! And I was flying! Converting my current ms from 3rd to 1st POV had been going so smoothly; I was loving it and just knew I'd be ready for NaNoWri in November. Now I can hardly find time to fire up my laptop, let alone use it. By nature I'm far from a selfish person, but come on universe. Could your timing be worse???

Jessica:Um, I'm going to have to say that I'm frustrated beyond everything with the VA.  Every time I turn around they're denying this treatment or denying that treatment.  Even though my doctor there as determined it's medically necessary.  I went to the ER almost 4 months ago because I passed out in my bathroom at 4 in the morning.  

It was eventually determined it wasn't that big of a deal, just an ovarian cyst the size of a quarter, but we didn't know that until I was at the ER for several hours.  The ER doc. kept thinking it was appendicitis. 

 Now the VA is denying payment, even though they're the ones who sent me to the ER because they said they couldn't take care of me at the VA clinic.  

Wanna join in our Grouch-fest?  Tell us what's pissing you off this week.  Sharing the load makes it lighter.  (yeah - that expression makes me want to punch someone too.)