DIYing Machine!

I've always considered myself one those self proclaimed "Independent Women" who when Destiny's Child wrote a song about it, was sure it was made just for me.  So its no surprise that I've always enjoyed a little DIYing, or Doing it Yourself for those unfamiliar.  There has never been a project I've considered too big for me to take on.  As a child I would spend the whole day rearranging the furniture in my room, even if it outweighed me by several hundred pounds.

With Dan away, I've embraced the DIY.  I can't be certain if its because its something I would have done anyway, or because when you are here alone there is no other option than doing it yourself :P Nevertheless, I have proven, if only to myself, that I can pretty much do anything!  I have mastered the skills of painting, plastering, and sanding.  I can lift any object from the car to the house (which includes about 20 stairs) despite its size or weight.  And when my project of the day proclaims "Some Assembly Required" I almost scream out a "Hell Ya!"  (Even when I get to the instructions just to find out that the assembly requires at least two people - oh yea I can handle it all).

Now all that being said, there are lots of people around I can call on should I need help with anything.  However, I have come to enjoy the gratification of looking at my finished project and being able to take all the credit, and enjoy the bragging rights of having done it completely myself.

Today was when I truly realized that I was a DIYing Machine... it happened while I was working on installing a new closet organizer.  You see, there are three poles for hanging clothes on, and since I've already established in a previous post that I have the closet pretty well filled to the brim - I needed to ensure the poles had a good strong foundation on which to be hung so that I didn't wake up one morning with it all collapsed on the floor.  This required having a piece of wood to anchor each pole.  The difficult part came when I needed to nail that piece of wood to the wall.  Sounds easy enough, but here's the catch:  While nailing the wood to the wall, I needed to hold the nail with one hand and hammer with the other, while maintaining that the wood remained at the correct height (so the pole wouldn't hang diagonally), and remained level.  I needed four hands!! I'm not exactly sure how I managed to figure this out, but once I had it done, not only once, but three times I realized I really am a DIYing Machine!  

 The Den - Before!

 The Den - After!

 My well anchored poles

My new closet organizer!

Mr. Perfect :)

Anyone reading this could probably come up with dozens of stories about couples where one or the other did something stupid that leaves the other complaining about said stupidity to their friends.  We'll I am no exception... I mean there is the friend who's boyfriend took $5000 out of their joint account to buy himself a new quad (because he NEEDED it of course); the friend who's husband sits on the couch all day watching sports re-runs while she has to work around him to do the housework; the friend who's boyfriend shows more interest in his video games than her, or the friend who gets ditched every weekend cause for some reason or another there is another acclaimed "boys night out." And the list goes on and on... 


So while I was out with a girlfriend not too long ago, while we were sunning ourselves our conversation drifted (as most women's do) to the inevitable topic "boyfriends."  We swapped stories on recent date nights, intimate encounters, and acts of stupidity the same as we usually do; but she made a comment to me that day and I realized the next greatest thing about having your significant other a million miles away...  (okay, its actually about 7080 miles, but you get the idea).


I made some very minor complaint about something that had come up while Dan was home on his vacation and while I was ranting my way through my story I noticed my friend smirking... "What?" I said.  She replied "This might sound terribly mean, but its so refreshing to hear you actually complain about something. I feel like every time we are together I do all the complaining and your relationship is just perfect."  And that's when I realized it: When your boyfriend isn't around - He can't do anything wrong! No acts of stupidity, no extra mess around the house, no spending of money, nothing! Your boyfriend becomes exactly what every woman pines for - Mr. Perfect. :) 


Now, that being said I have to give credit where credit is due... even when Dan is home - there is very little to complain about :) He helps out around the house, he always gives me lots of love and attention, and his acts of stupidity are quite limited.  Perhaps its that old adage "no one is perfect until you fall in love with them" but whatever the case may be what I do know is that whether he is home or away Dan is definitely my Mr. Perfect.  (That's why I said yes when he proposed last month!)