Day 85: I wish I was a renter.

I should be dancing with Cinderella and taking photos with Mickey Mouse in the warm Florida sun. Instead, the Northeast blizzard wreaked havoc on flight travel. While I waited at the Disney World resort, my mom, brother and son waited in Atlanta, hoping for a flight that wasn’t crammed with people chasing their destination via an alternative route. Bad weather and standby plane tickets are a terrible combination. After the fourth flight to Orlando left without them, they boarded a plane back to Michigan.

Prior to coming down to Florida for the conference, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the cost of this trip. After a few hours wandering the Disney boardwalk, however, the ‘magic’ got the best of me; I couldn’t wait to shell out nearly $400 for the theme parks (no sarcasm, really). I couldn’t wait for Calin to be down there, too. He was going to love the funny magicians and tricksters and musicians.

The cancelled trip left me crushed, to say the least.

After sharing the story with a woman I’d met at the confrence, I joked that I hoped the money saved wasn’t an omen for a house-related financial matter.

I should have knocked on wood.

Back home, I twisted the living room lamp switch and noticed a drip down my wall. I’m surprised I haven’t noticed this before, I thought. I ran my fingers across the wall, expecting to feel the hardened lump of dried paint drips.

But my fingers were wet. Slow streams of water were leaking from the ceiling. Paint bulged, hiding a pool of melted snow.

My son Calin sat on the couch. “Hey! I just got rained on!” Three feet away, a little droplet clung to the ceiling beam. Another foot away, water glistened between the cracks of the pine ceiling planks.

“This is not good. This is not good.” I repeated.

“Oh, shit, shit, shit,” said my five-year old. With big, blue eyes full of concern, he said, “that’s what you say when things are very bad.”

Oops. He learned that one from me.

Fortunately, the previous owner kept diligent records, and I found the paperwork for the five-year old roof. It has a 25-year warranty on it.

Cross your fingers there aren’t any other surprises. I’d like to see Cinderella yet this year.