I have bragged about this before. But my husband is amazing. He operates under the assumption that he can do anything. And aside from dentistry and obstetrics, he does. In the east we’re experiencing arctic weather. It hasn’t been above freezing for days now and that means exponentially high power bills for us. We have a fireplace with an electric blower that could heat our house but we haven’t put a fire in it yet because we’re afraid of burning down our house since we don’t know when the last time the chimney was cleaned. I have been suggesting that we get a chimney sweep, but BJay resists such practical suggestions because he honestly believes that he can do anything that I think we should leave to the professionals. This would be annoying if he was the type of do-it-yourselfer who gets the kitchen sink apart and then destroys it before conceding to a professional in the end. BJay does not do that. There is no job that he can’t master. And I love that. So today when we revisited the idea of a fire in our fireplace and getting someone to clean our chimney so we don’t inadvertently burn our house down–Bjay put his chimney sweep cap on an went to work. Before I knew it he was on the roof and then pulling the fireplace piece out with all kinds of utensils and a shopvac. I don’t know why I doubted him. I mean if you can drop an engine in your mom’s backyard and completely rebuild a VW vanagon engine from scratch, cleaning a bit off soot and creosote from the chimney can’t be that complicated. I will definitely let you know if our house burns down over night. But I have no reason to think it will. My husband rocks. He is an eagle scout, after all. And I believe he is right about the importance of learning to do something yourself. I mean, there are a few jobs I am going to always leave to the professionals. Namely dental work and medical care. But if it is possible to learn how to do something yourself before hiring someone else to do it, you’ve won twice. You’ve gained knowledge and experience and saved a wad of cash. And those are things that are getting to be very important these days.
Step in Time!
Jessicarrot 
January 28, 2009 at 4:45 pm
You know I think BJay is a lot like Burt the Chimney sweep. Interesting, I guess, Jess, you should try to be a little more like Mary Poppins! Maybe put your hair up in a bun some red lipstick on and walk around singing “it’s a jolly holiday” or “a spoon full of sugar.” Pop in and out of chalk pictures and float around with an umbrella. I don’t know, maybe you already do…That is a funny image:)