Home Improvement

When it comes to home improvement projects it is fair to refer to me as Tim, the Tool Man Taylor. My father may be a genius when it comes to manual labor, but he didn’t pass it on. Hopefully it just skips a generation. So I was not surprised when I read in an article a couple of weeks ago that men are 10 times more likely to get hurt during home improvement projects than women.

However, this week Kate proved that article wrong, at least for now. The paint in all bedrooms has become worn and gross, and Kate has been working hard to get a fresh coat up. She did a bang up job in the kids’ rooms, and Wednesday night we started on our room.
Of course, before we started Kate had to add her signature self aggrandizement on the wall. She never fails to do this.













Kate cut in while I followed her with the roller. Near the end of the first coat, I was hunched over getting more paint on my roller when I heard a crash behind me. It seems that Kate had the idea that if the TV stand could hold a set that weighs less than her that it could hold her too. She was wrong. She had been standing on the edge of the cheap particle board construction when it gave way. Fortunately she escaped with little more than a bruised ego and a huge bruise on her arse, which she wouldn’t let me photograph for the blog. I told her it was for posterity. She said her posterior was not to be shown to posterity.

But when Kate fell she arose such a clatter that Whitney burst from her room to see what was the matter.

Whitney: Mom? Did you break the TV?

Kate: (Groaning) No. The TV’s fine.

Whitney: So we can watch cartoons in here in the morning?


I’m glad to know that Whit has her priorities straight. I’m also glad that Kate didn’t spill any paint…

All joking aside I must publicly say how grateful I am to have Kate as my bride. Today marks 9 years since we were wed. She still hasn’t become sick of me yet, which is a tremendous reflection of her patience and character.