The Superior Express -

This week’s addition to Love my Crazy life is all about bloopers in DIY! DIY is short for Do It Yourself and has become all the rage since HGTV and the DIY channels made it popular. I don’t know about you, but I was a DIYer before it was popular, and I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Anymore DIY is all about home renovations. My entire life, it has been an everyday occurrence. The car needs a tune-up, DIY. Roof leaks, DIY. Sewer backed up, DIY.

One of my favorite all-time DIY bloopers was helping Mom plumb her house in Colorado. This was my first time installing a facet and pea-trap. I had watched my dad do it a million times and figured I could probably accomplish the task. When I had gotten everything installed and was tightening the last hose, Mom went to turn the water on. She asked if I was ready, I said no, but because she was outside, she did not hear me. I was having trouble getting behind the sink, so I had cross-threaded the nut and took it off to try again. I got two turns on it before the water came on. Needless to say, I was soaking wet and unhappy. Mom was laughing so hard it was difficult to believe her apology. LOL!

Another favorite I can laugh about now happened about a year ago. My best friend had gotten a new washer. I have installed several washing machines in my life, but never a new one. This is probably my most significant “moment” ever! I forgot to put the drain hose on! So I left thinking all was good. About an hour later, she called saying the washer wasn’t draining. Immediately I realized my mistake. I want to say I can laugh this off, but I am still fairly embarrassed! It was definitely one of my less clever moments.

I’m hoping this will be one we can laugh about in a few years, but right now, it’s a touchy subject. Recently we discovered a leak in the roof of our “money pit.” The leak was in the outside wall of the upstairs, where the roof meets the siding. It sounded simple enough to fix with some flashing and a few shingles. We had most of the supplies on had from things that were left in the garage and leftover from the DIYing of the “money pit” we currently live in. Saturday morning, George and Jacob climbed up on the roof and began removing the old flashing and sealant and loosening the siding. Since my vertigo bouts began, I have been relegated to tasks close to the ground and the retriever of misplaced items, drinks and sandwiches. Jacob noticed a few soft spots in the roof. Then the inevitable happened. George put his foot through a portion of the roof over the porch.

After contemplating throwing in the towel, selling the house, or just lighting a match, the two of them got started on removing the rot and patching the crater in the roof. Good thing I’m a hoarder of scrap lumber, and my dad had some plywood and tarpaper on hand. A trip to Hastings wasn’t looking appealing to me, and the local lumber yard was closed.

Unfortunately, I can’t say this was an untypical holiday weekend for our family. It seems the spring-summer-fall holidays have become our DIY days over the years. As I’m sure is the case for most families. I am proud of my guys for hanging in there this weekend and working together so well. In the past when they have worked together, I thought they would kill each other before the project was completed. We had some time with my mom as well, so I suppose the weekend wasn’t a complete bust. Mom made us supper Saturday and Sunday, and I got to see my dad twice in one day. My boys bonded over their shared hatred of roofing, and I got some of the yard work done. All in all, it was a great weekend. I hope your Easter was wonderful, X’s & O’s.