A little blood and a lot of satisfaction...

In the past few weeks I have taken on a few projects around the house that have all required me swallowing some of my fears and do what I know I'm capable of and would be remarkably expensive if I didn't do it myself (Chrematophobia). These are the little things that no one would probably notice but they make life easier and of which I am proud. I won't bother with some boring pictures, but here's what I have accomplished anyway:

Fireplace. rodentophobia-Knowing full well that we have a bat in one of the chimneys, I've been pushing this one off. Our house came equipped with the gratuitous shiny brass fireplace insert so I'd been meaning to remedy it with a fresh steel wool scrubbing and a few coats of satin black high temp paint. Done.

Gas Line. arsonphobia-All you guys out there will appreciate this one. I have now successfully and safely extended the natural gas line out the basement and to the back porch, complete with an interior safety valve. Next step is to select which grill will have the pleasure of sidling up to my handiwork.

Exterior electrical boxes. electrophobia-For some weird reason, our house had no exterior outlets making using my all-electrical portfolio of yard tools a little challenging. So with the self-confidence built up from my gas line experience, I have now installed one in the front and one in back. Now we can get that inflatable Homer Claus for Christmas that I always wanted.

Wall mounted headboard. atychiphobia-Karri will attest to my detest to hanging things, heavy things, on plaster walls and this one is the one I dreaded the most. I spent a good hour in Lowes trying to figure out what fasteners will be strong enough to support a forty pound headboard while not looking like prison shackles. The answer was four clamping toggle bolts (a brilliant piece of engineering, I must say) on the bottom fitted with rubber-lined clamps, and on top two vinyl wall anchors with two random but amazingly color-matching hex bolts I had in my Gene-like stash of miscellaneous hardware (Hemmigs will know what I mean). I also retro-fit two hinges with spacers made out of paint sticks that now allows our bedroom cabinet door to open an additional ninety degrees. No duck tape anywhere.

Only a few scratches and minor electrical shocks to show for my work. Dad always told me it's not a project unless you bleed a little. I think he'd be proud.