When life gives you lemons.....

When you get a text from your niece one evening saying, "Can I come over tomorrow?" DO NOT PANIC. Don't automatically start running through the questions, "What am I gonna do with an 11 year old all day? How early in the morning is she gonna be here? When is she gonna leave? Do I have any string cheese?" Instead, embrace the gift of a kid for the day and put that kid to work! The only question you should have is, "do child labor laws apply in this situation?"

So my niece and I built a porch swing (yes, some assembly required.) And things were going pretty well, until we discovered that there was a right and left piece and of course we put those pieces on backwards. That's when the swearing started. That kid will never have to ask what a bad word means. She knows them all. (I am a very bad aunt.) After I calmed down...she just looked at me and said, "I'm not undoing all of that." But we took a break and had some lunch and then we did just that. And hey, it went a lot smoother the second time!

And the swing is the most comfortable, restorative place to sit and contemplate all the things in your life that hit a glitch, but still work out. It's also a pretty inexpensive way to bring some shade to your patio. The dog moved in under it right away.

Thanks, A..you are a rock star...and good job with the rubber mallet!