I am very fortunate to live in a neighborhood that's chocked full of beautiful trees.  Hundred year old oaks and elms can be found on every single block around here.  The tree-lined streets provide a sweet little canopy of shade throughout the hot summer months:

On the other hand, however, these charming old trees can make you wanna piss yourself whenever it storms.  Many of the enormous limbs dangle over the rooftops, just waiting to snap in half.  I literally hold my breath when a big wind blows through town and pray that I don't end up with a family room full of foliage.

Unfortunately, though, no amount of praying could stop the wrath of Mother Nature yesterday when a wild and crazy storm tore through here like a bat outta Hell.  We were forced to seek shelter in the basement when a huge limb nearly took out our back door and practically ripped our back deck right off the house.  And if that wasn't bad enough, we then found this wreck of a mess covering every inch of our front yard:

I, of course, was horrified.  Dollar signs danced in my head as I imagined the bill that the tree removal company would surely charge us.  But my kids?  Well, my kids were happier than pigs in shit to FINALLY be able to climb the big tree they'd always dreamed of exploring:

So as my little monkeys proceeded to have an all out ball with the devastation, all I could do was to thank God over and over again that no one was hurt in the storm.  It seems that Mother Nature is in a very bitchy mood these days, and you just never know when she's gonna lash out anymore.  Talk about an unpredictable case of PMS!  Can somebody please get that woman a Midol and a stiff drink before she does any more damage, for Pete's sakes??!!