If I have to, I can do anything, I am strong, I am invincible

I fixed the gutters! I fixed the gutters! By myself! This might not seem like a big deal, but believe me, it is. Just to clarify: I’m good at math. I know a lot about the NFL. I dislike shoe shopping. But when it comes to anything mechanical or requiring the smallest amount of handiness, I am as girly a girly girl as can be. I have been known to cry when I have been unable to open the hood of my car.

My husband is very handy. My husband is very mechanical. To me, one of the greatest benefits of being married is never having to deal with car-related issues ever again. This is right up there with love, companionship, and sex whenever I feel like it. One of the theories that I ascribed to prior to marriage, or even a serious relationship, was that all household jobs would be shared equally and objectively. Clearly, theory and reality are separate entities. For example, I am the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in my family. My husband is the Department of Income and also of Fixing Things. Something like fixing the gutters is definitely a job that would lie in my husband’s jurisdiction.

I watched the pouring rain and realized that the gutters were not draining properly, as sheets of water were coming down the side of the house. I recalled the wet basement incident of 2005, got a ladder, and unclogged the gutters. In the pouring rain. By myself. And then I was amazed that what I did actually worked, that the drainpipes were actually draining and disaster averted. Hear me roar, people! Like a fish needs a bicycle, baby! Then I phoned my husband and reminded him to take the car in for an oil change, and the bottles to the depot.