Rent-A-Man Saturday

Well, what's a girl with needs to do? Dog doesn't have thumbs and I'm turning my house over to strangers in a week as my part of a house swap deal.

The past three weeks, perhaps with some Spring motivation but definitely with the motivation of wanting to make my house swap guests feel at home, I've been purging closets, turfing out archived useless "stuff" and, becoming ever more aware of minor irritants around the place that could be major to someone with less personal connection to them. That closet door that you have to put your hip against to close; the missing switch plates, result of the pest control man taking them off and 'forgetting' to put them back; the plastic sheeting stuffed into a crack between patio overhang and roof line...previous owners solution to a steady drip when it rains. All things that I was going to get to but the going to suddenly became urgent so I rented a man!

Theo worked out to be a perfect choice. Efficient and with impressive belt and truck based arsenal of tools he moved swiftly from one task to another with nary a sneer of disdain at my haphazard approach to fix it issues.

I'm not a helpless woman and I do have a few essential tools of my own but there is something about home maintenance that I balk at. Love being a handyman's helper but hate taking on the tasks myself. Anyway, closet door now glides silently open and closed; silicon sealer has replaced the plastic sheeting and the switch plates are all back in place. Two hours of labor and all my angst disappeared. Love that I can rent a man but don't have to be beholden to him!

Now I'm moving on to that drawer in the kitchen. You know the one I mean...bet you have one. The one that is home to used wine corks, dead batteries, rubber bands from the supermarket broccoli, two Zantac and the freebie multi-vitamin samples. Oh, and the screwdriver for which you cannot find the charger and the charger cords for two now distant memory cell phones. Doesn't matter how good my intentions, I manage to create one of these drawers in a house before the mover has left. Shoot, I even pack up the current one and move it intact.

Heading up to the cabin whilst my house swap guests are in residence here and I have a list two arms long on spring fixits needed up there. My daughter and son-in-law have a wonderful all round do anything from plumbing to rocket science friend who is willing to trade out a week of vacation time up there for a week of work. Barter, what a good idea; we should be doing more of that.

I remember the first time I heard the expression "honey do" list; I loved it. Two husbands and one of them was a rocket scientist and the other a physician but neither had any interest in home maintenance. I was determined that my kids would know one end of a screwdriver from another (and that they could cook and do their own laundry) and enlisted the help of a very practical male friend to let them tag long and learn guy stuff that involved tools. My daughter is far more practical than her avowed anti-handy man husband , so much so that mutual friends gave her a tool belt as a wedding present. My sons can both take care of routine maintenance, essential skills in my book.

I'm beginning to think, given the number of women I know alone or with husbands or mates less than interested in toting the load around the house that I should open a Rent-A-Man agency....any takers? Go to Connections For Women and contact us and share your handyman solutions.