Ugly Luck

I am trying to mend my Negative Nelly ways...I really am...but life keeps getting in my way. I am told that bad things happen in threes, right? I am hoping and praying that is true because I am feeling quite DONE with our current course of luck. It began when that tree fell on our house a while back, leading to the subsequent discovery that our house is wrapped in asbestos AND lead. Our homeowner's insurance is covering the abatement, the re-siding, the electrical work, and the replacement of our beloved gas grill and shabby lawn furniture. However, we had to pay $2000 for the removal of the rotten tree. That was catastrophe #1.

This week, as I wrote about yesterday, we learned that out washing machine is beyond repair. That'll be...what? $6-800 to replace? Add it to our tab! Catastrophe #2. Then finally, last night, Ruanita called and woke both Sophie and I from a peaceful slumber at 10:38pm to inform me that she had just wrapped our car around a pole in the parking garage at her work. OK...actually, she just sideswiped the pole, but "wrapped around" sounds so much more dramatic. The driver's side mirror has been totally annihilated and there are several long and deep scratch marks sitting in the middle of a big dent on the side of the car. Our brand new Camry! Catastrophe #3. Neither of us could remember last night if our deductible on the car is $500 or $1000. I vaguely recall changing the deductible on our policy recently, but can't remember what we had changed it to. Of course, Ruanita feels horrible, but what can you do? These things happen. I can't exactly reprimand her since I completely totaled the last car, resulting in us buying the brand new shiny Camry in the first place.

Aside from the three expensive events described above that are quickly and efficiently draining our bank account, this summer has brought many more minor annoyances. I believe that my daughter has strep...again. Ruanita is taking her in to urgent care this morning. This year, Lucas has had it three times, Nicholas twice, Sophie twice, and Ruanita and I once apiece. Prior to this year, none of us had ever contracted strep. In addition to that, I have had this unfortunate (and mysterious) foot injury that put me pretty much out of commission for the month of August and is still plaguing me as we speak. And finally, yesterday in the mail, we received a "nuisance" citation from the city of Minneapolis directing us to cut the grass on the alley side of our garage. In our defence, our yard is, for the most part, impeccably maintained. However, we rarely use our garage, nor do we park in the alley behind our house. Therefore, it is very easy to forget to cut the grass on the one foot wide swath that runs along the alley side of our garage. Apparently, our forgetfulness is a "nuisance" and must be corrected.

The change of seasons HAS to usher in better luck for us. If we continue on our current track, I am afraid I may eventually have to flush my head down the toilet. Then again, considering our recent luck, flushing my head down the toilet probably wouldn't kill me. It would likely only give me that irritating water-in-the-ear feeling and a bad hair day. Yet another annoyance.