Crappy Day Gift Exchange

This post could also be titled "Reasons I love the Internet."  

So, I mentioned about three months ago that I was attending The Blathering.  I filled out my 13 Things and I never mentioned it again.  Shame on me.  What I should have said is that while I missed out on some of the fun because I had to work and I didn't stay at the hotel, I did get to meet some wonderful women with amazing stories to tell.  I was humbled by the fact I complained so much about Jackson's difficult delivery but still was able to bring home my beautiful boy while I listened to stories of miscarriages and deaths of children.  I realized that these were women I respected because they had been through rough times and they lived to tell about it and had grown stronger because of it.  As so many said that weekend, these were my people.

Since that weekend in October, the friendships I made that weekend have grown thanks to Twitter and our blogs. I look forward to the conversations we will have each day as they help me get through the long work day.  I know I can turn to my friends for advice on how to raise my child or comfort if I am having a rough day.  I am starting to feel closer to many of these people than I do to some of my IRL friends and I can't wait until we get the opportunity to hang out again.    

A little over a month ago, Andrea posted about her crappy day gift exchange box she had received.  I had seen a post about this a while back but hadn't signed up because I didn't feel like I knew anyone well enough to participate.  I commented on Andrea's post and the next thing I knew, this arrived in the mail:

My very own Crappy Day box! I was so excited and so very touched by her thoughtfulness that I could barely contain myself.  So I knew I had to sign up for the next exchange when I saw one.  Well, that opportunity came up a couple of days ago and now I get to shop and send a gift to someone and hopefully make some of their crazy days a little better and a little brighter.