2.) knowing the truth.

Well, my week has already started out interestingly enough.  Not even 8 o'clock in the morning, and things had already gotten dramatic on the in-laws front!  After waking up, I had a friend on my mind, so I went online to drop her a quick email.  Lo and behold, I see that I have an email from a family member waiting in my inbox.  As anyone would do, I read it.  But I quickly realize that I was not the intended reader for this email.  Instead, I am the topic, and not in a good way. 

It's one thing to suspect your mother-in-law has certain opinions of you, but it's another thing to see it in writing when she thinks you aren't looking.  I mean, no holds barred, right out there in your face.  Automatically, my hands start shaking and my eyes brim with tears, because even though I wasn't surprised by what I read, it still hurts.  Soon, my phone starts blinking like crazy with text messages from the accidental sender who has realized his error and is obviously mortified for having unintentionally sent me the harsh message.  He desperately hopes that my mother-in-law doesn't find out that her message was passed on for me to see, or he fears he will never hear the end of it (which is true).

So, I'm left with a couple of choices here.  I could call my mother-in-law out on the email (at the expense of the accidental sender).  I could pretend it never happened and leave her to believe she can be sneaky, negative, and nasty about me with no repercussions.  Or, I could try really hard to find the bright side here... which I think is probably the fact that now I truly know how she feels (even though she said it unintentionally) and it didn't come about in a giant argument or emotional scene.  I mean, maybe I'm lucky to have been able to see the truth - if nothing else, to confirm my suspicions to myself (and to my husband, who wasn't really sure what to think up until now).

It's kind of a stretch.... but if there's a positive hidden in there somewhere, then I think that's it!  Plus, in an odd way, I must admit that I find it pretty comical that I know something she doesn't know.