if I had a hammer, it would look like this.

But Who would trust me with a hammer?

i’ve never really used one

up to this point in my life i’ve managed quite well without a toolbox

When you’re an un-handy woman,you too will find that thumb tacks And Adhesive hooks can work wonders.

unfortunately houses are not

built with sticky tack.

when i volunteered for habitat for humanity, i did not take this into consideration.

i showed up at the build site, bright eyed and bushy tailed.ready to build a house.

i imagined it would be just like making and decorating gingerbread houses. I was hoping to be in charge of lining the roof with gumdrops.

one look at the height of the ladder

climb up to the roof, killed that dream. Fast.

instead I volunteered for the ‘ground crew.’

i quickly found out that the ground crew name is deceptive. there really is no standing on the ground.

the ladders stand on the ground.we stand on the tippy top steps.

while we hammer.

above our heads. (notice the rock hard muscles this requires)

at first my hammering was comparable to chicken pecks.

Peck, Peck, Peck.

after out-pecking the hungriest chicken you could find

the nail still didn’t budge.

pull her back. and let her rip.

i was then introduced to the hammer sWING.

my hammering then took on a rhythm: swing. miss.swing. miss.swing. miss.swing. hit. swing. miss.swing. miss.swing. miss.swing. hit.swing. miss.swing. miss.swing. miss.swing. hit.

slowly, the nail inched it’s way into the wall.

(after more than a few thumb casualties) i had nailed the entire insulation panel to the wall.

and what seemed like hours later,

i proudly gave a little fist pump in celebration

a smile creeping onto my face.

as the build leader walked by and saw my wall. she frowned and shook her head.

not up and down with the thumbs up approval i was expecting

side to side

(with an audible ‘oy vey’)

she quickly confirmed my growing fear as she marched over to the wall

and tore down my hours worth of work in a matter of minutes.

she told me to start again from the beginning.

so i did.

peck. swing. peck. swing. peck. peck. peck.

(twenty-five years old and still can’t find the hammer in this highlights hidden pictures)

side note:

i was the little chicken the could. i nailed my second wall up like the best of ‘em.

and I have a callus to prove it.

best trophy ever.