Singing and butchering chickens

My motto in life is "Try It!"  Even the experts had to start somewhere.  And I'll add Uncle Joel's advice, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly first."

And with those pieces of advice tucked in my heart and brain, I've tackled lots of new things like canning, baking bread, raising turkeys, lots of home improvement projects.

Before Hubby and I got married, we wanted to replace the flooring in his house with hardwood floors.  I had never laid hardwood floors and neither had Hubby.  But I am the daughter of a master woodworker and know my way around power tools.  Hand-in-hand we strolled the aisles of the home improvement store and picked out our honey oak flooring and the nail gun and staples and other assorted items.  We brought home three rooms worth of flooring and were ready to get started.

Soon-to-be-Hubby looked at me and said, "Alright, what do we do first?"
I said, "Read the directions!"
He asked with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean?  Haven't you done this before?"
"Nope!  But we'll figure it out!"
(I should note that this was Hubby's first real life example of my motto.  It was not his last...)
"WHAT??!!  We just bought over 300 square feet of hardwood flooring and you don't know how to install it??"
And I responded, "Well, my assumption is that they wouldn't sell it at Menard's if you couldn't do it yourself.  After all, they don't sell neurosurgery kits!"

We started in the closet (always a good place to start with a new project), and soon were laying flooring like pros.  There is nothing like a home improvement project to find out how a soon--to-be-married couple works together!!

And five years later, the flooring still looks great!

(I can hear you thinking, "Why is she talking about flooring when the title of the post is singing and butchering chickens?")  I'm getting there, I promise.

Last night, Hubby and I were driving home from THE FARM and the kiddos were sleeping so we turned on the radio to find some songs to sing along.  And we did!  Some we both knew and others we didn't.

I've always wanted to be a good singer.  My mom and my sister are excellent singers.  I, however, am not.  And enthusiasm does not cover up my lack of singing ability.  To illustrate this point, I was singing in the shower and my dad knocked on the bathroom door and asked what I was doing to the cat.  See??  And singing is not like hardwood flooring installation.  Singing is one of those things that I just can't get better at.  I am what I am.

It's not that I'm not musical.  I played a variety of musical instruments in high school.  I've played the piano for 30 years and am our church's pianist every Sunday.  I do LOVE music!  And I REALLY wish I could sing.

But I console myself with the fact that I'm sure there are wonderful singers out there who look longing at their husbands and say "Honey, I really wish I knew how to butcher chickens!"