I live in a good news-bad news world, thank goodness!

Monday was one of those good news-bad news kind of days. You know, the ones where you win the lottery, then come home to find out your uninsured home has burned to the ground.

My day wasn't quite that extreme, but I was certainly happy to see midnight roll around and banish that particular Monday to memory.

The bad news: I got pulled over by a state trooper.

The good news: He just wanted to tell me two of my tires were low.

More bad news: I now have slow leaks in two fairly new tires. Oh, well, who needed that income tax return more than the tire company?

The moral of the story: If the warranty is for 90 days, the leaks begin in 91.

The bad news: I had to work late.

The good news: I knew I didn't have to fix supper -- there was a big pot of chili waiting for me at home

More bad news: Three hungry males = empty chili pot.

The moral of the story: If I want to save food for myself, dump it in Tupperware and label it "Chocolate." The boys know I keep the chocolate hidden behind the cat food, so they'll think the Tupperware chocolate is actually leftover Little Friskies. Not a stretch, when you think about what cold chili looks like ...

The bad news: All of our press association contest entries were due.

The good news: For once, it was done in a timely and reasonable manner. No blood was drawn, no staplers were thrown, no egos were bruised.

More bad news: There's nothing like looking back over a year's work and realize that no matter who good it was, you can always do better.

The moral of the story: Do better.

The bad news: My youngest announced as I was dropping him off at school that he was out of lunch money, and I didn't get paid until Wednesday.

The good news: I got paid Wednesday.

More bad news: He just keeps eating. For some reason, the school seems to think he needs to eat every day, and I need to pay for it ...

The moral of the story: If you send a kid to school with a sign that says "Will study for food" as a joke, the school will call DCS.

I'm not the only one having a good news-bad news week so far, either. My son is headed to Opelika, Ala., this Saturday for a show choir competition. The good news? He gets to solo with Riff-Raff's performance of "The Time Warp." The bad news is he has to spend 10 hours on a school bus for a 15-minute performance.

My good news? My son is so talented. My bad news? He's doing Riff-Raff's performance of "The Time Warp" from "The Rocky Horror Picture show."

Actually, that's not true. I love the song, love the routine and Ben is hilarious when he does it. I think this could fall under the "Could be Worse" category. He could be playing Frank N. Furter. Just what every mother wants to see -- her son in fishnet stockings and a leather bustier ...

Ben had more good news -- brand new in the work force, he's getting a tax refund from the IRS. The bad news? It's $3. My good news? I was able to do his taxes in a flash online. Bad news? Because I hit the wrong button, they wanted to charge me $27.50 to file for his $3 refund ... When did TurboTax start hiring former AIG executives?

Poor Scott, my oldest, had his week of bad news, good news, and worst news. The bad news -- something was wrong with his car. The good news -- he got it fixed. More bad news? It cost him $350, a hard pinch for a kid putting himself through college. Good news? Nope, more bad news. The fix-it job didn't work and he's got to go back to Pep Boys and raise Cain. The good news? My passive, shy son is going to go to Pet Boys to raise Cain.

More bad news? It rained and snowed all week. The good news? I don't think drought is as much of an issue these days. Noah no longer has to worry about being able to float the ark -- he's just got to fill it. (The best news is the snow didn't stick.)

There's an artist in London who's having a good news-bad news week that left me laughing. He's a graffiti artist, but he's not destroying anything. He's creating his art by washing the dirt off the walls, not by spray painting onto them. The good news -- he's cleaning up the environment and getting a lot of free press. The bad news? Someone's actually wanting him charged with vandalism ...

The bad news is that there are a lot of foolish folks out there. The good news, they make life much more entertaining.