Enjoying Lemonade

You know that old saying about what you do when life hands you lemons?  I felt like a big old lemon landed on my head when were at the Specialty.  The Megan was just about to start and my phone rings - and I recognize the number as one of my neighbors.  She was calling to tell me that a huge tree in my backyard had fallen on my house.  The tree had so many leaves and branches that they could not tell what the damage was underneath.

Once everything was cleared away, things were not nearly as bad as they could have been.  The rail on the deck had to be replaced, along with the rickety gate (literally held together with bungees), and the leaky gutter that already needed repair was pulled away from the house.  A few shingles needed to be replaced as well on the corner of the house.

So I ended up having the insurance company pay to fix things that already needed fixing.  The new gate is so much better than the original one ever was.   Two sides of the house were completely repainted because of relatively minor scratches. The painting contractor told me that he had enough paint left over to completely paint the rest of the house.  He made me a great deal on the labor, so I am getting the whole house painted for a fraction of what it would have cost in a normal situation.  But here's the great part - he also threw into the bid some minor carpentry work that I needed and had not been able to get anyone else to take care of for me. 

So, I raise my glass of crystal light raspberry lemonade to you!