I went to Purvis High School with a boy who carried around a tape measure, pliers and a slide rule in his pocket.  He was the smartest kid in our class, so of course we all made fun of him. (Yes, I was educated in South Mississippi–the bastion of intellectual pursuit in the late 70s.)  This guy endured high school, (he was our valedictorian) and went on to get his Ph.D. in Astrophysics. He is now an esteemed professor at Auburn, a father of three beautiful children, and is a patent holder for a new kind of engine, among many other achievements that are way over my head.  Roy does things the right way, or he doesn’t do them at all.

My buddy.

I tell you about this classmate (I love you dearly Roy!) to compare him to another great guy I know and love–my husband.  Jim and Roy have many qualities in common.  They met at my 25th class reunion, and while my classmates and I were shakin’ our groove thangs on the dance floor, Jim and Roy were huddled in the corner discussing the Space Time Continuum or String Theory or whatever.  It seriously looked like a scene from NERDS GONE WILD!  So you’ll understand when I tell you that when Jim undertakes a project, he researches it to DEATH!  He won’t buy a lug-nut without investigating the merits of said “nut”.  Lord help us when he buys a car!  He plans even the most mundane project with meticulous preparations and refuses to do any job unless it’s done to his exacting standards.  This boy did not go to the school of “Half-Assed”.  I however, am the valedictorian of THAT school!  Case in point:

Here is how I unload a truck of sod and dirt. Took me almost an hour and I had to use a wheelbarrow.

Here is how Jim unloads 40 bags of dirt & sand. Took him 20 minutes.

As we finish up the little jobs needed to complete our construction project, I’m doing as much grunt-work as I can because I simply have way more free time than Jim.  If I can do my part by hauling, raking, digging, spreading or hosing, I happily get sweaty and dirty for the cause.  Last Saturday we spent the morning fixing the area by the new driveway by removing gravel and laying dirt and sod in the curve.

I would have just dumped a whole bunch of soil in here and laid the sod on top.

But Noooooooooooooooooooooo!  Jim spent two backbreaking hours with a shovel and wheelbarrow, removing every little morsel of gravel leaving an even deeper hole for us to fill.

It did look pretty awesome when we finished.

Thus, I freely admit that I am the Queen of “GIT ER DONE!” and Jim is the king of DO IT RIGHT!  So when he comes home from work today and sees the results of 3 1/2 hours of my hard labor, I know he’ll have something snarky to say.

Before…

After!

I spent the morning leveling the dirt, filling in holes, spreading new dirt and sod, and laying the pavers down in the pattern we have planned for the walkway.  Did I lay the pavers correctly? No.  Do I care? No.  I just wanted my tenant to have something clean to walk on, plus I wanted to see how pretty they would look when they are properly installed.  And PROPERLY installed they will be!  Jim will probably align the pavers with the Prime Meridian and further have their placement coordinated with the Global Satellite Positioning System while consulting the Periodic Table for the correct mix of mortar and sand.  OH THEY’LL BE INSTALLED PROPERLY MY FRIEND, YOU CAN BET YER SWEET BIPPY ON THAT!

But still, I’m proud of my efforts and I keep looking out the window to gaze upon what I hath wrought.

Coming along nicely don’t you agree?

And now I’ll close with a photo of two of my favorite guys.

Quirks & all! 🙂