Critique groups

Tomorrow night I'm going to a critique group. This is run by a writer I respect and I really am looking forward to it. Really.
I'm going to hand over pages of my sweat and blood and let them maul it, rip it to shreds and then tell me how to put it back together again. I'll let them take my carefully crafted words and cut them up into little bitty pieces....
No, I tell myself, no, its not going to be bad at all. These are a just a group of peeps like me who would never, ever scar a person in such a way. They will be generous and kind and give real insight into my work. I hope.
I can only justify my fear from my last experience with a writer's critique group. It was just a few years ago when I found a group at the local library. With my precious pages clutched in eager hands I sat with this group as they talked about the work submitted the previous week. The woman next to me had tears in her eyes as they systematically ripped through every word of her story. They objected to the main charactors hair color, his vehical, the fact that he used the word "fuck" at one point in the story. The writer next to me tried to explain her thoughts and where the story was going but these harpies couldn't get past one thing in the story without some word of distaste. It was like they were ordering her to take her story to places she never intended.
I tucked my pages into my purse, made an excuse to use the ladies room, and never went back! It scared me off of critique groups for a long time.
But here I stand ready to leap into the fire again...I'll let you know how it goes.
In the mean time; Tell me about your experience with critique groups. I want to hear your stories!

Apologies

I've removed the story from the blog as it seems to have taken off and needs serious work to move it along. However! I want to thank all who commented. Another story will be posted soon....

My "G" is gone

The dog jumped up on to the couch, one paw down hard and my "G" key went flying. I was too lazy to get up and find it and besides at this point I was pinned by a 70 lb Golden Retriever named Halston. (No, we didn't name her.) This slowed me down for about ten minutes until I learned to push the little plastic thing under the keys to get my "G" out. The "G" key joined the missing ranks with my "Alt" key and one of those little arrow keys. they went missing a long time ago.

Funny how we can learn to adapt.

Like we adapt the time we get to write. I'm sure those yet unpublished (and some of the published) will understand. Working full time, doing the family thing, and basic house cleaning and maintance doesn't leave much time to crank out a book or two. I usually get up early and if not captivated by anything on the blogs of Robert Gregory Brown, Mark Terry, J.A. Konrath or even (yes! I admit it!) The Astrology Zone, I can usually squeeze in an hour or so of writing. If I write longer then that I just tell my boss I overslept. After work, dinner and cleanup, sometimes if I can clear my head, I can get in another hour or so. Weekends, that should be excellent for carving out some writing time, zoom by so fast I'm ususally left to wonder what the hell happened!
My question is: When is your writing time? How do you find it?

Rejection letters

What are these but notches in our belt? Each one is hard earned and brings with it a sense of being a real writer. I mean, if you have a pile of rejections are you not truly A WRITER????
For Halloween I'm stapling all my rejection letters to my shirt and going as a Frustrated Writer. I know someone out there will understand....

Warm balls of fur
And fun
Soft sweet and
Full of love

Always happy
I am here
Greets me with kisses
Every day, every time.

More affection
Then I deserve
Undying cuddly love
Forever mine

Aimlessly writing random writings.