Our Shed

One of our more pressing problems in our new house is a lack of storage space. We have tiny closets, and no garage. There is no place to put Christmas decorations, winter clothes, baby clothes that I can't bear to get rid of, the lawnmower, bicycles, etc. So we got permission to put up a shed in our backyard.

The shed we bought came in four very large boxes which we (meaning Kerry) had to pick up and bring home in four separate trips since our little Honda couldn't hold more than one at a time.

It looked like it would be really easy to put together. Sort of like giant Legos.

Alas, this was not the case.

First, a base had to be built. Now I'm the first to admit - Kerry is an amazing husband, remarkable father, and incredible soldier. I could sing his praises all day long in all these areas.

But handy with a hammer? Not so much.

We have a standing joke that every bookshelf in our house has at least one shelf on it upside down. And it's not just a joke, it's really true. Somehow when Kerry assembles furniture a piece always goes on backwards.

When we lived in Alaska, he once helped a neighbor assemble a new grill. After a while, he came over to get a hacksaw because "one of the pieces was too long" and they were just going to saw it off to the right length. I broke out into a sweat at the thought of us having to buy the neighbor a new grill, ran over to read the instructions, and figured out where two pieces had been switched. We got it assembled with no sawing needed.

Another time he went to help the same neighbor with a project at their house. A little later the neighbor's wife came back with Kerry's drill and said, "Take this! And don't ever let him come over with it again!"

Kerry with power tools is a scary Kerry.

I once asked him why he has such an impressive array of tools when he so rarely has the ability to use them.

He replied, "Other men will see that I have these tools and they will then assume that I know how to use them, and I win points for being cool and manly."


So it is with great relief and pride that I report that our shed was completed in one day (with the help of a cool, manly friend who also knows how to read instructions).

And if we have both windows on one side of the shed instead of one window on each side, who am I to complain? It's part of our standard operating procedure around here.