We have a rather small back yard that was totally bare when we moved in 11 months ago. Over the past few months we have had grass, irrigation and drainage installed and many plants will be going in soon as well. But the biggest project is our patio. When our landscaper laid the sod for us, I had him frame out a 10 foot by 10 foot area for our patio. This patio will be right up against our sliding glass door. The builder who built our house installed a single concrete step outside our sliding glass window that has been a stepway to dirt. While useful, this step was not going to work with the paver/tile that we’re installing. There was only one thing to do. So, I headed to Home Depot and rented a jack hammer.

Now, let me tell you that my wife - the same wife who has no qualms about asking me to climb up on the roof to install Christmas lights on our 25 foot high gutters - was freaking out that I was going to kill myself with the jack hammer. Here I am, reveling in the fact that I get to use this awesome piece of machinery - basking in my masculinity, if you will - and I have the love of my life tell me she doesn’t think I can handle it. Well, wounded pride aside I decided to proceed. Now, I’m not sure what she pictured but I imagine it was the jack hammer going out of control and somehow piercing my torso where I would die a slow, agonizing death, leaving her widowed with two babies. It was a risk I was willing to take. Besides, I haven’t read about too many freak jack hammer accidents in the local paper (Nail guns, on the other hand…). So, as I began the jack hammering process, I look up and see Andrea with the camera taking pictures of me with the jack hammer. I figure she either wanted to record the last minutes of my life or that she somehow thougtht I was “looking cute” with my jack hammer (she tends to do that - turn anything masculine I do into something cute. *sigh* What’s a guy to do). Anyway, five minutes of jack hammering and I was done. I had, somehow, managed to escape death. Phew!

Now, we wait for the pavers to arrive this week and I will dedicate the coming weekend to laying the perfect patio. Hopefully I’ll live to tell you about it.