There's been a quiet, rather uneventful day this week. There's been a stormy day that was more of a rainy slushy contest to see how much mess and flooding could be made. But, there was also a day that was pretty darn good. That was Tuesday. Let me tell you about it...

Now, so you know, business has not been great lately. The number of incoming calls has declined dramatically and, as would be expected, so have the number of inspections I manage to schedule. So, any day that produces an appointment for an inspection is a day that I feel isn't a total washout. Guess what? I scheduled four inspections on Tuesday and received another request for an inspection to be scheduled for sometime next week once the tenants are notified. This was great news to pass onto my boss along with the rest of the day's summary because it ended what had already proven to be a good business day all around; it was a day full of inspections that were done, a day that payment for a major project had come in, and a phone call that announced that a bid my company made had been accepted and we got the job!

Also, during the day, I received an email from a wonderful friend. What shouldn't have been a fun or funny email turned out to be one of the most comical things I had ever read. She wrote to tell me about her recent ankle injury, the surgery that was going to be done, and what she would be facing in the days ahead. Not good news by any means, but her rendition of all that had happened, what she perceived her surgery would be like, and how she planned to deal with the time that follows had me laughing so hard that tears rolled down my face uncontrollably...which, of course, prompted me to write back with concern and best wishes, but in an equally light-hearted and comical way. She is an amazing person who inspires me without her even trying. For someone who has gone through as much as she has in life, she just automatically ministers to people through examples and deeds, and makes people happy just because they've seen her or heard from her.

After Edie got home from work, we enjoyed a Chinese meal that I had cooked up (all from scratch, mind you) that turned out to be quite good. I carefully sliced the chicken in thin layers, I marinated it in all the right ingredients, I prepared the light egg batter, I cooked to the perfect golden color, I topped with the lightly sweetened lemon sauce reduction, and served with a side of steamed white rice, a side of mixed steamed Chinese vegetables, and a pot of tea. This was our not-quite-on-time-but-still-appropriate way of observing the Chinese New Year.

Then, Edie decided to run to the store (which is literally possible because the store is only two doors away from us) and play the RI State Lottery's Daily Numbers Game. She did...and...guess what? Oh, yeah! While we sat watching the TV as the numbers were being drawn, our fingers crossed tighter and tighter as each number was matching up with the ones Edie played. Yes! We won! Because the numbers played were not in the same order they were drawn, we didn't win the big money, but Edie was able to run back to the store to collect $104!

So, yes, Tuesday was a good day. It did prove that some days are definitely better than others.