the ceiling is falling and it won't get up

i have a house that is older than dirt and should have been torn down many years ago.
since day one the money pit has been nothing but a thorn in my side. first it was the pump for the well. that was done within the first week we moved in. a year later was the plumbing, all of it was replaced after the main pipe burst. longer story there.
next was the tree that nearly came down on the house when we had the mirco burst back in july of 2007. too bad the damn tree didn't fall on this place but then we would not be having this conversation.
now it's 2010 and time for another disaster. we come home from work and had the surprise of our life. the living room ceiling came crashing down. how? we have no clue.
what scared us the most was that where the ceiling came down was in the exact spot over the window where lucky sits and of course jumps out of. she normally spends most of her day in that spot. i screamed right away for lucky. we didn't see her and had no idea if she was hurt or what was going on. she came out from her room, still shaking but ok.
this is what we came home too.

lots of plaster came down. we have no idea how. we do know there was high winds that day.
we had lots of rain but there was never any sign of a water leak. so cause is still semi unknown.
ace chalks it up to weather and a roof leak. i say it's a sign that this place needs to go.
either way it's now on to step 2 and 3, insurance companies and contractors.
the worst part has been the contractors. they all have been nice and helpful but their ideas of fixing and mine are light years apart. i am sure this will get fixed in the next few weeks, months, years, whatever. in the meantime, note to self: be present when you have the house inspected before you sign the final papers. otherwise you have a money pit and your inspector will be doing 2-5 for fraud. think he is up for parole now.

the dog jumps over the moon. or she went awol

ok bloggers, you have heard all about my baby. lucky.
did i mention she likes to jump out of windows? she does. i think i started blogging after the first time she did this. so let's go back to last summer and catch up, shall we?

one day last summer, we were on our way home from work when i got a phone call from the best neighbor, dog sitter, and friend. shawnda. she started to tell me a very unsettling story how she looked out her front door and saw lucky on her front lawn.
now not having a clue how this is happening, she goes outside and calls lucky's name. sure enough it's her and she comes running to shawnda. now shawnda has no clue how she got out. she knows we were not home yet. she askes lucky what she is doing out. yeah i know like lucky is suddenly is going to talk. lucky looks at her, grabs something off her lawn and bolts. funny thing she bolts back to our house and is sitting on the deck. shawnda walks over and sees the window wide open and the screen popped out. well now she knows how lucky got out, still confused how a dog would open a window and dismantle a screen, but tells her she has to get back into the house the same way she got out.
lucky jumps back into the house via the window.
shawnda tells me all this. i am seriously freaking out while hearing this and urging my husband to drive a little faster. shawnda says not to worry she will stay at my house and keep and eye on lucky.
we get home and realize how she did this. she stuck her nose under the window, which was open enough for some air, the she banged her nose against the screen until it bent enough so she could push it out. presto, dog escapes.
we ask lucky to show us what she stole, turns out it was this big blue ball with a rope attached. how she got it in her mouth is still a mystery. above is the ball lucky stole.
pretty damn big ball. well from then on said window was only open while we were home.
so this now brings us to summer 2010. it was end of may, a saturday, summer day.
well while i was in the shower and ace was upstairs in his den, lucky was left alone with an open window. i am sure you can guess what happen next, but indulge me here, won't you?
i heard her bark and figured some pesky person who we did not know was at the door. it's normally the only time lucky barks. i didn't think anything about it. then i come out of the bathroom and ace comes down. i asked him who was at the door. he tells me he has no idea. we turn and look at the window and yes, sure enough the screen is waving in the breeze.
the lucky puppy had escaped.
we go start to look for her and screaming her name, when all of a sudden here comes that little furball walking out from shawnda's  garage.
lucky is now home safe and sound and we are currently looking into some kind of alarm system, brackets, and/or a gate for keep her from going awol.
anyone know where i can find these things???