Luke hates it when I get the project bug.

I'm not going to lie about it - the boy has valid reasons. The chief among them is the fact I start well and finish rarely. It would be okay if I cleaned up my mess when I reached my 'over it' stage, but more often than not, he is the one left to haul off the wheelbarrow, wash out the paint brushes, and/or patch the holes in the wall where I got a little to zealous with the curtain rod hanging.

And that last little thing I mentioned? Let's just say as of right this second, he doesn't know about that yet.

Awww, man. He is going to yell and I dread it. My only consolation is that it is all his fault.

You see, I've hated my curtain rod for a very long time. The current one was very flimsy and always appeared like it was sagging in the middle. I found a great rod a few weeks back marked down to $9 from $40. Amazing, I know.

Anyway, let's just say it's been propped in the corner of the living room for quite some time and last night during one of my impulse organizing/cleaning moods, I decided I was going to prove to him that I could hang it myself while he was gone to a ballgame.

Now, the first thing I did was collect the tools I would need for the job. The problem is, the tools I really needed were locked in the building outside. There is only one key and Luke had it.

So, I improvised.

Ladies and Gents, I present to you Exhibit A (a.k.a. Stunt Tools I Found in the Junk Drawer)

The Cast of Characters:

Hammer ........ Really Heavy Wrench

Laser Level ...... Metal Ruler

Cordless Drill ....... Old-Fashioned Screwdriver

(I've no doubt every man reading this post is groaning about now.)

Really, though, I have to interject here and give credit to my stand-ins. That big ole wrench hardly dented the wall when I missed the anchors I hammered in. {Yes! I know what a wall anchor is!} And GASP, the metal ruler can still mark a straight line. Coolest of all, I felt so powerful using pure elbow grease for the screws instead of a sissy power tool.

As Tim the Toolman would say, "Argh Argh Argh". Or something like that.

So back to the point. I took down the old curtain rod and after noticing there was enough fuzzy dust up there to weave a sweater, I threw the curtains in the wash while I switched out the brackets.

The awesome thing is I was able to use the old holes which made the job supremely easier - that is until I realized the last set was screwed into a stud. I considered using the same screws for a half second but my OCD wouldn't let me hang a bronz-ish bracket on a black screw. So, I took them out.

Along with a smallish chunk of sheet rock.

Oh. Heck.

Thinking quickly, I soldiered through and made two new holes beside the old ones but far enough away to avoid the stud. {Avoid the stud. Could that be good advice to anyone today?} Through sheer determination, I got it installed. By this time, my curtains were washed so I re-assembled the whole shebang.

And just in the nick of time, too. About the time I got the whole thing together Luke walked in the back door.

Even though I was terribly proud of myself, I didn't want to point out the curtain rod because I knew he would inspect my work first off. So, I let it go for a while and sure enough, he never even noticed.

When I couldn't take it anymore, I said, "Honey, come here and let me show you something. Notice anything different in the window region of the living room?"

"Ummm, no?"

And then it hit him. Do you want to know what he said?

"I don't even want to know." {I'm still rolling. He's so predictable.}

"Did you use the same holes?!"

"Yes, sure did!" {And here's where I might have mumbled, "And a few extras.."}

"Alright. Well, it looks nice. Good for you." He walked off. Wheww...

A little while later he said, "You didn't use all the same holes."

I cringed and waited for the "Lis??? Why didn't you just wait for me to do it right? Now I'm gonna have blah blah patch the hole blah blah should have used the right tools blah blah blah."

You know what he did instead?

He laughed his head off.

Turns out I'm pretty predictable, too.

So anyway, after all that, I have a pretty new curtain rod. Now I've just got to get a new blind and my little window will be transformed. {Creative input: Should I do plantation white blind or wood blind?}