Ups and downs and a Birthday wish

We've had a time of it over the past few days. Our property's drainage issue reared its ugly head again after we were so happy about, seemingly, having taken care of it last summer. The french drains in the back yard really would have worked if, in fact, they'd been attached to a functional house drainage system, as we assumed. But it seems that the house system wasn't actually functional. In spite of the 'as built' drawings on file at city hall, and in spite of the house, presumably, passing final inspection all those years ago, the downspout tubing that is supposed to run all the way to the storm drain in the street only actually runs about 2 feet out from the house and then just stops. Saturated ground doesn't even begin to describe it all.

So, more digging, more mess, more 'problem solving' and more anxiety than I care to think about later... this time it should be fixed.

It meant digging up my precious daffodils - from which I derived so much pleasure last year. (And I whined about it so much that Mark actually got mad at me about it - sorry dear.) It meant mud and mess. And more money, which might otherwise have been able to go toward kitchen countertops, alas.

The 'pause to reflect' moment here is that I have found this to be true all my life: Expect the unexpected. Know that nothing is easy. Every time you think you've gotten ahead, you find out just how far behind you really are. Every time you think you can catch your breath and that things are going smoothly, you have to start running again.

Mark says I'm a closet pessimist. He's probably right. He usually is.

And he is a closet optimist. We are a perfect pair.

And today is his birthday - Happy Birthday Sweetie. Thanks for putting up with me!