Not To Beat A Dead Horse, But...

Seeing as I had nearly 2000 hits a day during this past week... it appears that you all are interested in the "in-law incident".

For those of you have have been wondering how this came about let me explain. Because it is important to know that I did not know my mother in law (or her extended family) was reading. In fact the whole reason I actually don't feel crippled with guilt is that I know my own heart on this one... and I know I wasn't writing anything about anyone to intentionally hurt their feelings. If I had known who was reading I would have altered my writing.

So what about the infamous holiday letter? Ah yes. The holiday letter. Well the thing is although the blog was a "here's what Mrs F is up to" tidbit... we didn't actually think it would interest many. Let's face it Mr F has had a blog for years (which was also mentioned in several past letters) and he didn't exactly rack up a devout family following (not that your blog isn't any good Honey). So why on Earth would we think these same people would take a sudden interest in mine? Naive? I don't know. The card was sent to a couple of his aunts and uncles (you know the card sending usual) who are in their 50s and 60s... not all of whom are computer savvy or have jobs with ample "blog downtime". It's not like they have blogs of their own. After the letter where we talked about my cake decorating (Xmas '04) it's not like anyone called with a cake order if you know what I mean. It just seemed so incredibly unlikely. And with no feedback (no comments, no emails, no phone calls... no mention whatsoever) it really never occurred to me that they were reading. In fact I would have bet serious money that they weren't.

At this point I feel this way... I'm going to write what I want. Not out of rebellion but because I feel that I have made my peace with the situation. And because the blog is both more interesting to write and interesting to read when I am as uncensored as possible. Am I sorry that my Mother-in-law's feelings were hurt? Absolutely. Do I wish her family, who knew she was reading and hurt, had told me MONTHS ago? Yes (and I can't really understand their actions). But do I feel that what I wrote was cruel? No. It wasn't written to be seen by her. It isn't any different than the countless times she (and everyone else reading) has gossiped or complained about her own extended family. It's human nature. It's why I've had 2000 hits a day. At this point they can read at their own risk. I've asked that they not, but I, of course, can't enforce that.