Other things were a tad more difficult, but cooperative.  “How do you want this fireplace/entertainment center/shelving in the round to look?” 

I’d get out my drawing pad and do a sketch.  Hmm.  I guess you need more measurements than grid paper offers.  On site, we’d play with chalk line and tape measurers until we came up with something we could live with and he could build.  Painless so far, right?  Right.  Until we got out of the framing stage and into what most women consider the important part, the stuff you can see. 

I’d have an idea and Mike couldn’t visualize it, and that’s when the conflict began.  I have to give him credit, he did let me just go at quite a few things where he’d walk by and shake his head and comment on how that project needed to get done soon.  When visitors liked what I was doing, it gave him the confidence to let me keep going.  The real tricky parts were when I needed his help.  He doesn’t like me around his Mig Welder, and most of the really good saws.  Often times, I’m relegated to a paintbrush and a trowel and anything I can lift to use on my own.  I find this limiting.  Mike thinks it’s smart and saves on emergency room visits.