Fortunately

This posting to my own blog is kind of fun! Let's see if I can do it again.

I've been planning on painting my house for about 18 months and never have the time or energy to get around to it. Several weeks ago, I got desperate and just picked a weekend with nothing in it (you can do that if you're far enough ahead of that weekend). I set aside that time with a commitment to not let anything else get scheduled in it and went about making my plans. As fate would have it, that weekend fell on this weekend, so I went about rounding up supplies and going to the store to have paint colors mixed, etc. After priding myself on how frugal I had been and how prepared in advance (due to my excellent planning) I was, I loaded everything in the van and started home. Just around the corner from my house, I spotted two boys walking home. I noted they were walking to the same house I was going to, so I stopped to give them a ride. As soon as I offered and they headed for the door, I noticed that one can of paint had shifted and was leaning against the door about to be opened. Though I yelled to them to wait to open the door, it was of no avail. As soon as the door opened, the can landed on the asphalt and dumped the paint into the street in front of my neighbors house. Should I scream? Should I yell? Did anyone THAT I KNOW just see what happened? Why didn't he listen to me? Who's fault is this, anyway? I should clean up this mess. WITH WHAT?? How long would it take to dry? How far would it spread if someone drove through it? Does it look like barf? How permanent is it, after all? You get the picture. There was nothing to do but carry on, though I was bitterly disappointed. As I went throughout the rest of the day, I started to think of things that were fortunate. The paint spilled in the street and not in my car. Whew! No one will know who made that mess (until they come into my living room). But I think the most fortunate thing was that I had the presence of mind to realize that a 6-year-old boy is worth far more than $24.98. There was no point in blaming or yelling or crying...at least not in public. Luckily, no irreparable damage was done.