J is a very supportive HODAR (Husband Of a DAR), and has learned to chip in as State and National Conferences approach to keep me operating with some level and sanity and reason. A few years ago, he and a buddy stayed up late building risers for Miss Molly's clothing debut (this after sending me to bed with some sort of medication to 'chill out'). Last summer, he made a last minute run to Lowe's for a more powerful drill and oak dowel rods to build clothing racks (again for Miss Molly). Last night, he labeled bottles of water and stuffed gift bags.
You might notice the theme here--I get a great idea (I ike to call it a vision) for something that "ought to be easy", buy half the materials really needed to do that job, make an attempt to create the vision in half the time necessary to come close, and burst into tears when it fails. J then goes into "super fix-it man" mode and makes it happen. He's really gotten quite good at it.
This year, I am the co-decorator for the meals at our State Conference. A couple of weeks ago, I made an arrangement with Bybee Pottery to borrow pitchers to use as centerpieces. Almost immediately, I realized that the pitchers wouldn't be tall enough to really be on display and decided that we needed small logs to place the pitchers on. This would be in keeping with the frontier theme for the evening, and there are trees everywhere--surely finding four to six inch long logs would be a cinch! When my search for conveniently pre-cut logs didn't turn anything up, I hired someone to cut down a couple of trees in our yard (see previous post) and had tree-cutter go ahead and cut my logs while he was at it. As we prepared to load the logs in J's car tonight for transport to the hotel, I decided that a few of the logs were just too long to make good centerpieces.
Enter "Mr. Super Fix-It Man". J went to Lowe's, threw money at the nearest sales associate, and came home armed with a chainsaw, oil, gas, gloves and some pretty nifty safety goggles. (I swear, walking into Lowe's with a frantic wife on the phone is worse than grocery shopping hungry when it comes to impulse buys!) Our first attempt didn't go too well--J and I were both scared by how close the chain came to my hands and arms--but perserverance and quick thinking resulted in a better plan, a jig, and several neatly cut, size-appropriate logs.
I'll post pictures of the centerpieces later this weekend. And for those of you questioning the wisdom of letting J near a chainsaw given his many unfortunate run-ins with knives--he did well. I'd almost say he's conquered that knife trouble. Almost.
Title: The Lumberjack Song, by Monty Python
The pie safe, which belonged to my great-great-grandmother and was left to me by a great aunt years ago, has found a home in our guest room, where it will now keep quilts and blankets safe. Because it was an inch wider than I thought, the pie safe did not slip right into the place I had picked out for it. J pitched in and re-arranged everything with me, and we're now going to 'live with it' for a while to see how it works out. 
This skirt is light pink and lavender, with pink and lilac organza ribbon at the waist. This can be made of any color tulle and ribbon you can find, and I'm happy to whip one up for anyone who'd like their own (about $10-$15 in materials).