An awesome husband

This week Kenny had both Monday and Tuesday off from work, so I kissed him goodbye yesterday and today while he snuggled deeper under the covers. I zoomed off to work and logged in 18 hours between the two days. I called Kenny at lunch on Monday to see how he was enjoying his day off and to check if the power company had turned the power back on after our upstairs neighbor had cancelled it and moved out, leaving the washer, dryer, and our back room inoperable. He reported happily that the power was indeed on again, and I sighed in relief and told him, "Oh, good - when I get home I can do some loads of laundry!"

"I already did it all," Kenny answered. "Oh, and I have an idea for dinner tonight."

Huh? Was I dreaming? My husband is supposed to be enjoying his days off, especially after working most of Sunday, but instead he's blasting through my mental list of chores! I was greeted Monday night with the tantalizing scent of charcoal - Kenny had the barbecue going and two juicy steaks all ready for grilling. We dodged a passing rainstorm and finished the evening with steak and fresh mango. Three loads of laundry were done, and we folded them together before going to bed early.

I was up at 5:30 and at work at 7:00 am this morning to cover the phones for another employee on vacation. Kenny was barely awake when I left but he shot out of bed in a panic at the first roar of the garbage truck. Luckily, I was steps ahead of him and hauled the trash to the curb before he had to come flying out of the house in his robe. I called him at lunch to say hi and wish him a relaxing day off. Who was I kidding? Kenny was on his way to Home Depot for some house repair items, he had let the landlord and the repair guy in, and had further plans in the works. "At least let me do the dishes!" I pleaded. "I was supposed to do them last night but I didn't get to them!"

"I already got them," Kenny teased me, "although they were totally your job! When I heard the landlord and the repair guy were coming I took care of the dishes and put away the rest of the laundry." Man, did he show me up! I called dibs on the dinner dishes, but Kenny suggested we hit Taco Bell instead. "Cleaning all the dishes made me tired," he explained.

When I got home tonight around six, tired and hungry, Kenny was curled up on the couch. "I have a surprise for you," he told me, and led the way into the laundry room. "Look - now we have a deadbolt in our door and a new wall socket. I put in the six-socket plug in with our tv and the washer and dryer!" I gave my hearty approval. "But that's not all," he told me, pulled me over to the bedroom window, and exclaimed proudly, "Look at this!"

Before me was a vision: our air conditioner, the one we bought last summer and hadn't yet installed, the one made for vertically-opening windows that we would have to rig up in our horizontally - opening one. Kenny had carefully and creatively installed the air conditioner in the window with a perfectly cut slab of wood to close off the top of the window, sealed all in weather stripping, and ensured the safety and stability of the air conditioner by placing a section of PVC pipe in the window track to keep would-be robbers from opening the window and knocking out the unit. When the repair guy came this morning, Kenny quizzed him on the best way to install the AC unit, fought his way through Home Depot during lunch hour, borrowed a circular saw from the repairman when he returned, and cut the slab of wood to just the right dimensions. Then he fitted the PVC pipe into the window, leaving not even enough space for a coat hanger to wiggle in. The repair man was impressed. I was blown away!!! I have the best husband ever!!!!

The new air conditioner!



Notice the carefully applied weather stripping.



Our beautiful house in early twilight with roses bursting into bloom.