In "I Told You So" News...

I have not always had the warmest relationship with my Homeowner's Association. For starters, I'm not dazzled by the way our dues are spent. The landscaping and Christmas decorations in the common area are lacking in flair. Second, I'm still bitter about the time Baker and I decided to hop the fence and lounge poolside during the off-season when some HOA officer on a power trip threatened to call my parents if I didn't go home. That was the first and last time I visited our pool. Today, I'd love to fist bump my Homeowner's Association, for it has momentarily redeemed itself.

There's a little matter regarding the tree in my front yard that has been the source of marital discourse for some time. You see, there is a cracked, dangling limb situation. I think the tree looks gimpy, my mom gently suggested we have it pruned when she saw it at Christmas, and Amy's reaction when seeing it is, "Oh, Sam, that's just awful." Judge for yourself:

You know who doesn't take issue with the condition of this tree? Steve. In fact, he thinks it's beautiful. He declared that the tree had "character" and that as long as that dangling-by-a-thread limb produced leaves, it was living and would therefore not be pruned. Only when I told him that Amy said the tree made us look like white trash (I may be paraphrasing here) did he concede and promise to call Miguel right away to prune the tree. Well, that was weeks ago. Today, we received a postcard. From whom? You guessed it, the HOA.

It says:

"Please trim back some of the low lying tree branches in front yard. Thank you for your cooperation in addressing this matter."

Guess how I'm gonna greet Steve when he walks through the door tonight? With this postcard, and the "Told you so song"