“It’s Friday, and I’m ready to sing, pick up my girls and hit the party scene….” Those were the melodious words belted out by famous superstar Aaliyah on her hit single Back and Forth. (#RIPAaliyah). On days like the Friday I had, songs like that tend to dance around in my head in preparation for what is to come. Or so I thought.

Too bad for me, on a particular I’m home alone pecking out a post. May I just say that that day didn’t go at all like I planned. I woke early to head to work only to find out Internet was not working and I needed it to be working badly. So instead of working from work I left early to go home to do work, which prompted me to check the mail and find a reminder about bill and an unexpected check. Next, I spent almost a combined hour on the phone with Apple after having stopped by the AT&T store to try to figure out what was going on and wrong with my dysfunctional iPhone, which is not properly receiving calls, email, text messages or Facebook posts. This absence of my phone-norm caused me to be in a rare form of social media hibernation/isolation and end up falling asleep in the middle of the day instead of watching The Chew and The Talk like I’d planned.

The cocktail sauce on the proverbial shrimp came in the form of a bit of wintry mix in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama which ushered in early school closings, grocery store runs, backed up traffic for some and cancelled plans for my girls and me. You see, as I typed this post I was supposed to be at a Scarface or Good Fellas-styled table surrounded by my family and friends cracking up, and cracking crab legs, devouring prime rib, inhaling chicken salad, wiggling in my seat as I popped popcorn shrimp in my mouth and indulging in all kinds of culinary delicacies at the seafood buffet of a not-so quaint little hotel in Wetumpka, Alabama (Google it:)).  But instead, I had to save the money I’d planned on dishing out for the buffet and save the gas I’d filled up in my car to opt for the consolation prize of going to the FREE all you can eat wings and taco bar at the local Alabaster happy hour haven spending only $12 for two glasses of wine for my dining buddy, three tacos between us, six expertly fried, cornmeal battered oysters, too many free wings to write about, spicy popcorn and three straight from the tap super strong Co-Colas (I know I didn’t spell it correctly. Hey, I’m from the south and that’s how some of us say Coca-Cola.)

As if I should be in control of this thing called life, from early that morning I’d had a bit of a ‘tude (also known as attitude) about the unexpected interruptions to my plans for my day. I felt my lip turn down like a spoiled baby a few times, and I’m grown enough to say so…LOL!  Like most, I don’t like disappointment, no matter how familiar disappointment tries to become with me. I want what I want, especially because I typically don’t want a lot. You’d think by now I’d get it. And I do, when it comes to the big, important things. I’m not easily rattled by the big things anymore. Life has taught me to roll with the punches and prepare my cabbage patch victory dance in advance. I guess grappling with the big things and learning to be okay and that I will be okay in the midst of them is why deep down I feel like the little things could at least go my way. It’s those little things like no Internet, missing out on a multi-bar buffet or not being able to wear the heavy food intake, figure-forgiving outfit that has been hanging for two weeks that tend to shake me. That is, until I thought about how my plans going awry netted me an early exit from work, a sweet check in the mail, a delightful nap, reserved gas for my car, a practically free meal, saved money in my pocket, no driving 180 miles, some Friday night people watching, giggles with my sissy and a great blog post about finding the good in things that don’t go as planned. In the grand scheme of things, regardless of what I’d planned, those alternate plans (as they often do) ended up not being so bad at all. #Grateful

@AngelaMMoore316