As luck would have it

There's no shortage of drama around my house, and much of the time it has nothing to do with the teenagers. It has everything to do with luck. Remember the old "Hee Haw" bit "Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me"? It had the line "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." This, in a nutshell, is me.

Some examples:

A screw loose: A few weeks ago I noticed a screw coming out of the office door. As luck would have it:

It wasn't just one loose screw; the entire door was falling off. And not "just tighten the screws and everything will be fine" falling off, but "we're going to have to drill different holes because the other ones are no good" falling off.

Lack of foundation: When we finished the basement a few years back, we decided to add more egress windows: As luck would have it: The workers found a giant crack in our foundation, which we had to have reinforced and fixed.

A sticky situation: We taped up the bathroom vanity to paint around it. As luck would have it: The painters tape (yes, we used the right kind) peeled the finish off the vanity. Vanity now added to the (long) list of projects.

Major meltdown: They say bad things happen in threes; I say appliances break in threes. As luck would have it: We went on a spendy streak that saw a new dryer, furnace and water heater all in a short span. Oh, make it four: our central air went out last summer and has yet to be replaced.

Waterloo: The summer rains bring relief to some, but sheer panic to me. As luck would have it: To say we have sump pump issues is putting it mildly. Whether it's rocks getting caught in the pump, the line freezing or leaving the hose wrapped up next to the foundation, the curse of the Bambino has nothing on our basement woes.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I still have light switches I can't keep track of, flooring that's peeling up thanks to overexuberant bathers, sinks without stoppers, doorknobs that need replacing ...

Attitude is everything when dealing with setbacks, whether in home improvement or in life. Shrugging them off and embracing a can-do attitude is essential, although sometimes nearly impossible. But the older I get, the easier it becomes. Sure, there's the moment of panic, followed by a deep sigh, but then I move on. Maybe my luck is changing.

When it comes to homes, are you lucky or not so lucky?

(And if you want a trip down memory lane, here's the clip from "Hee Haw.")