Talents

I've often wished I had some sort of a creative bone in my body. I'm not a scrapbooker, I'm not a stamper, I don't paint, or sew, or have any kind of gift for home decorating, and I'm certainly not a 'fashion girl' as Josie aspires to become. I've tried knitting (thanks, Gudrun!) and want to continue with that since I find it relaxing, but I have an unfinished hat, scarf, & poncho to show for my attempt at developing a creative talent. Any of these talents would probably bring me joy and help me reduce stress in my daily life, but today, I wished I had the talent to work with Irrigation Tools. Actually, every time I have a broken sprinkler, I wish for Irrigation Talent. And, sadly, that happens frequently. Maybe it has to do with my Lawn Mowing & Edging Talent?

I pride myself on being able to do things on my own. According to my parents, I've had that stubborn streak for most of my life. I've always had to 'learn by doing' rather than 'learn from others' mistakes'. In most cases, I've learned a great deal & sometimes suffered a great deal, too. Still, I try to make the best of things & move on, eventually. As a role model for Josie, I notice that I try even harder to show her that women can do anything if we set our minds to it. I don't mind if she witnesses the struggle, especially if she sees the success at the end of the battle. (In many cases, she has also learned some not-so-nice-vocabulary-words but I always apologize afterwards and give her alternative words to use when she's frustrated. So far, she likes "oh, man" but I've heard her use "phooey" a time or two, also.)

Two years ago, our good friends, Marilyn & Doug, gave me a fabulous gift for Christmas: luggage rack bars & a used car top carrier to make our travel & camping trips in a two door car with a carseat & 2 large breed dogs a little less crowded. I LOVE that luggage carrier & someday I'll have to post about all of the great trips it has allowed us to take. (If I had the talent to be a scrapbooker, I would have had some lovely pages of pictures to share from our adventures, but, again, I don't have that talent, so instead you'll have to stay-tuned to my blog.) Long story short, even though Doug offered to help me install them, I spent hours and HOURS trying to put those d#$* racks on the roof of my car. Josie's vocabulary increased ten-fold throughout the day but just as darkness started to impede my ability to curse anymore, I finally figured out how to tighten the latches & Josie & I celebrated loudly! I'll never forget her words, "Someday, when I'm a Mommy like you, I want to put things together, too. Good job!" I still feel badly that she heard my frustration but I'm thrilled that she witnessed my struggle & then helped me hold tools and assisted me as I figured it out on my own. I hope she remembers that lesson more than the vocabulary lesson. Success makes the struggles worthwhile and builds confidence, right?

So, after weeks and weeks of watching patches of my front lawn dry up & die, I finally decided to use today to solve the mystery. With recent temps in the triple digits, I knew I'd need to get an early start, so I set my alarm (on Sunday, a day of rest?) for 6:30 am. I ate a hearty breakfast of Cheerios & sucked down my diet Dr. Pepper caffeine-fix & headed out with my shovel. I had high hopes of fixing the problem, then moving on to house cleaning, followed by grocery shopping. Not a bad To-Do List for a single parent.

Or so I hoped.

The details are ugly so I'll spare you the ramblin---but after digging up 5 holes in very Dry-haven't-seen-rain-since-May-with-triple-digit-temps-and-broken-sprinklers-for-many-weeks Dirt, my hands were blistered & I was reciting (SHOUTING) every single curse word I could remember & tried to make up a few of my own. Digging turned out to be the easy part. Broken risers, broken sprinkler heads, & broken PVC tubing were some of the issues. And out of frustration, there was also that broken shovel & mangled finger that still continues to throb. After six hours of labor and FIVE trips to the Hardware Store for Irrigation Repair 101 Tips from an employee at Cobb's & a sweet elderly woman's instructions at Home Depot, I finally have sprinklers that seem to water most of my lawn. I still don't have much water pressure and some of my Pop-Ups don't pop up but at least the dirt is back in the holes and most of the pvc glue has been picked off of my fingers and hands & I'm pretty sure there are no more rocks in the lines. On Tuesday, when my Automatic Timer goes off, I HOPE to have water coming out of every sprinkler without any more leakage in between. Fortunately, Josie was with her dad all day & didn't add any new words to her mental dictionary. But, I'm definitely going to show her that the sprinklers have water coming out of them when she returns home this week!

I'm not sure if I'll ever develop my talents for creativity or craftiness but since I like to 'live in the moment', my new dream is to acquire Irrigation Talents. I can now view this Tub of Tools with fondness:

(Special Thanks to Bob, for guidance, suggestions, encouragment & humor! Also to Kathee for a delicious Mediterranean Chicken dinner, wine & conversation to help me end the weekend on a positive note. I'm lucky to have such great neighbors & friends & I hope none of them are judging me according to the cursing they heard coming from yard all day.)