Class IV Designs

I woke up to Eric in a tree, so…apparently this is the sp*ed at which we are living our lives today.

Someone send coffee. I can’t keep up with this guy.

There is no way how he is doing this is OSHA approved, so I guess don’t try this at home. 🙈

From our jungle gym to your home,

Us.

It’s Monday, and we have officially hired help, because our knowledge stops where the floors start.

Hardwoods are getting installed, while all of us curse the heat and humidity.

The man doing our floors is covered in tattoos and saw dust, has a cigarette in his mouth, and is singing Katy Perry’s “You’re gonna hear me roar,” at the top of his lungs. The house is dirty, the vibes are positive, and we can’t ask for much more than that.

I sat in my car crying the other day.

We had just moved into the house, which is still very much a construction zone.

We called to schedule our household goods drop off to find that we won’t get our things back for a minimum of another six weeks. We started living out of suitcases in May and will likely do so until October.

I had gone into Walmart to purchase an air mattress only to find myself questioning all the synthetic crap, and wondering why every angry person had gathered in one, crowded space.

I missed my friends, was frustrated about the price of hummus, and desperately needed my washing machine as I wore my underwear inside out because I didn’t realize I was out of clean panties.

It wasn’t my favorite day.

And I leaked.

Then I came home to find the house was leaking too.

Here’s today’s testimony.

Sometimes projects don’t go as planned.

Sometimes that will drag the bad days out. (I know, we are now 36 hours in to zero water running in this house.)

Sometimes houses leak.

Sometimes people leak.

Sometimes you live with underwear inside out, and without plumbing.

Sometimes this will force you to meet your neighbors, when you smell really bad, because you need to borrow a faucet.

This is the reality of home renovation.
This is the reality of military life.
This is the reality of being human.

Cheers to better days from our beers to yours (because we have no water),

Us

Our country is having a really important conversation right now about perception and roles within society.

We are here for this conversation.

And speaking from personal experience, I don’t know if I’ve ever faced as many s*xist comments as I have in the last 96 hours of demolition.

Going to the hardware store, I was asked if my husband sent me with a list. Picking out colors for the hardwoods elicited comments about my s*x having expensive taste. Heck, in one small talk conversation with a potential contractor I talked about liking camping, only to hear I looked more like a woman who likes glamping.

The perception of manual labor is still very masculine.

So why is it important to reframe this conversation?

Aside from the obvious fact that it’s just rude, reductive, and inaccurate, talk like this reflects a very real barrier created between the spaces we hold, and the things we are capable of achieving.

The world is changing. It’s become more expensive. The problems more intricately woven together. The way people can access the life they want and the things they need has changed. Consequentially, it all requires a lot more work (plus a few other things).

This means people of all walks of life are holding different spaces.

For us that’s means I kick in more with manual labor, and he kicks in more with cooking and cleaning. We’ve had to recalibrate the load.

And when he’s deployed, I carry the whole load, from the lawn to the household manual work.

If we want to change the world, our communities, and our homes for the better, that means ALL hands on deck. Even my delicate, manicured hands.

My husband does the heavy lifting. He has bigger muscles. I come up behind him. Sometimes with a drill. Sometimes with a sledge hammer. Sometimes with a broom. Sometimes with safety goggles.

This is an important part of the way we work together because it saves us money, and allows us to access more of what we need in this very expensive world, and yeah, play a little bit more.

My husband wears the combat boots.
I wear pink.
But we both wear the tool belt.

And in a changing world, understanding this in every way matters very, very much.

For us, that starts in the home.

From our house to your home,

Us.