WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS!!!!

At risk of sounding like a major complainer I would just like to preface the next posting by saying that the only reason I share this is because I know EVERYONE out there can relate to this little life story! Its one of those things that we all experience, and its one of the ironies of life that you just gotta laugh at!

I guess it all started last summer (right after our home warranty was up) when we noticed a leak in our fireplace. It was kind of odd, and would only happen when it was really windy and stormy. Then winter came and we kind of forgot about it until this spring when it happened again. We figured we'd better have it looked at, and sure enough there was a problem with our chimney. Not a major problem, but a problem nonetheless. So we got that fixed...no big deal.

Then came Jackson's strep throat/abcessed (sp) lymph node that landed him in the E.R. twice, a hospital overnight admission, a CT scan and several different attempts with several different anti-biotics. Despite the mounting bills from that we are grateful that he's healthy and that we have good health insurance.

Next came Brady's stitches. Not such a huge deal, but an ER visit was required with that. Hey, at least our family deductible is met for the year right? I asked TJ since our deductible is met does he want surgery on his pinky? his heels? his shoulder? He declined all 3.

After that was our little flood in the basement. Nothing was ruined, but we figured out that our extractor pump had fizzled out and needed to be replaced. SUCK!

That very same day, our lawn mower started to smoke and be crazy. Luckily that was easily fixed with a new filter, but for some reason the automatic drive on it is busted and TJ's back is getting hammered when he mows the lawn. (those of you who have seen our yard will understand why our automatic drive feature was so terribly important to TJ) So I'm not sure what TJ is gonna do about that, but I'm sure it will need to be repaired eventually.

After that was our portable DVD player that just decided it would stop ejecting and reading DVD's. That one is kind of a double whammy since in addition to being our portable DVD, it is also the DVD that pops into the mount in the ceiling of our van!

Last, but cerainly not least is my new camera that I got in April. Last night, one of my children knocked it out of my hand as he/she carelessly ran by me. I must say I kept my cool, especially when I tried to operate it and realized that the lens won't retract and is now stuck. Now, we do have another camera so its not a completely urgent matter, but still...IT WAS BRAND SPANKING NEW!!!! With that said though, it was a gift from TJ's company, so at least we didn't pay for it in the first place!

So sometimes I guess we just need to remember that as irritating and stressful as life can be sometimes we just have to count our blessings and be grateful for all that we do have. First off, the mower, the camera, the DVD and the extractor pump are just THINGS. In the grand scheme of life, THINGS are just that...THINGS! Other then the extractor pump we can live without the DVD player, the automatic drive on the mower and 1 camera, instead of the convenience of 2. As far as my boys go, like I said before, mounting health care bills don't bother me too much. I really am so grateful that we have health insurance and that my kids are healthy!

We really are so blessed with family, friends, and the gospel, so maybe it just takes the irritating things that happen in everyday life to remind us just exactly what we DO have!