Accomplished!

I love the feeling when I accomplish something. Whether big or small, it's a great feeling to get something done, and to do it well. Today was one of those "we did it" days.

Blain and I have been talking about wanting a ceiling fan in our bedroom ever since we've moved into our house over a year ago. We had no light in the ceiling at all; just a lamp plugged into an outlet that was hooked up to the light switch. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Blain bought a ceiling fan (with a light) for super cheap at a local hardware store. To be honest, I was a little upset because we really didn't have anywhere to put it. Every night after he bought the thing we layed in bed and brainstormed ways we could wire it so that it could work in our bedroom. Then one night, Blain figured it out: just add another wire to the switch, run the wire up through the wall and into the attic, run it across the attic to the center of our ceiling, drill a hole in the ceiling, and mount the fan/light. Pretty simple, right?? Well, that's what we thought.

So, with our TV satellite not working, and pretty yucky weather predicted for the day, it was off to Lowes we went for our "little" home improvement project. The guy at Lowes who sold us the wire and mounting box gave us a brief low-down of what we needed to do and assured us our idea would work; we were giddy and excited as we left the store. A half-hour later, with Blain sweating in the attic and me still not being able to see the wire he was feeding down, we weren't quite as excited, nor giddy. However, another half-hour later, the wire was pulled through, the hole cut in the ceiling, and the mounting box in place. Woo hoo! The rest we thought would be pretty easy, but also turned out needing a lot of patience, and more time that we thought. We've already installed two ceiling fans in our home, so we thought it would be a simple routine. But, whoever wrote the instructions for this one was...well... missing a few screws, and it took some brainpower to figure it all out. We finally got all the parts together, the fan hung, and the light bulbs screwed in. Whew!

Then it was time for the big test. Did it work??? I was so nervous -- would the house blow up? Would nothing turn on? Would we overload the switch? What did we know about electricity anyway? On went the circuit breaker, and on went the light/fan!! Yeah!!! But wait... when I flipped the switch on the wall, nothing happened; the light/fan just stayed on. Ooops. I took the walkie-talkie downstairs to the circuit box, and Blain stayed upstairs to figure out the switch. About ten walkie-talkie calls and circuit breaker on/offs later, the switch was up and working. Another triumph!

Now we have a working ceiling fan and light in our bedroom. And I can guarantee you that every time we look at that, we will both feel a little twinge of pride, a little sense of accomplishment, and have a little smile on our face knowing that is the product of our work (well, mostly Blain's work, but I like to take a little credit). It will be something we get to brag about for at least a little while, and something more for us to add to our "home improvement resume". The only question now is: what's next? :)

Voting

So, I voted today. I did my part, went to the polls, and voiced my opinion. Not so much because I believe that my one little vote really makes a huge difference, but because I can. There are so many people in our world who don't have this privilege to the extent that we do. We are so fortunate to have a voting system where we are safe, unpressured, and completely entitled to our own personal vote, whatever that may be. When I went to the polls today, there was not one armed guard or military personnel there -- not one. The only people I saw running the polling place were ordinary citizens just like me. The gal who checked me in was a recent Grand Valley graduate who was working a couple of part-time jobs. The gentleman in charge of the ballot scanner box was the father of 3 children who proudly showed me each of their pictures (I'm not sure why... but he did). This made me feel safer than any military presence ever would. There are so many countries in the world where the citizens of that country have the right to vote, yet their system is dangerous; men and women risk their lives to fill in the ballot. Yes, there are flaws in our country, but our right to vote and our protection when voting is not one of them. My one little vote may not count for much, but it would be wrong not to take advantage of the opportunity I have to walk into my polling place unhindered, mark my vote without fear, and participate in one system in America that I am proud of. So... why do YOU vote?