Household project proves a strong marriage

My husband and I have survived the ultimate test of a strong marriage. We rented a blower and bought a bunch of bags of insulation to blow into the attic above the porch.
If you have ever committed this folly, you know that something that sounds so simple can provoke any number of negative emotions.
We began by enlisting a friend to help haul the machine around to the side of the porch. Then after he left, we filled the hopper with the shredded paper that was to insulate the attic. We hooked up the hose, wondering why it had all that duct tape on it.
As soon as we turned it on it blew the hose off and proceeded to insulate the outside of the porch step. That was not exactly what we had planned. We couldn’t turn it off fast enough.
We tried again, adding our own layer of duct tape, and this time the hose held — for about fifteen minutes; just enough time for my husband to climb into the attic and me to empty a couple more bags of the dusty stuff into the hopper.  The outside of the step became even better insulated. I found a clamp and clamped the duct-taped wrapped end to the machine.
Then the hose clogged and we gave up for the day. Our tempers were frayed and we were unsure of how to get things working again. After all, we didn’t have a clothes hanger long enough to shove up a 100-foot hose.
The next day I did the weekly shopping. At my last stop some lady backed into the car. It didn’t look that bad at first but turned out to be a lot more damage than I had originally thought.
My husband had figured out how to unclog the insulation hose while I was gone. We finished clearing the mess, insulating the top of the floor of the porch and part of the flowerbed in the process. Then we did something brilliant. We detached two sections of the hose so it was shorter. The next day I spent the day getting estimates for the car. I didn’t realize it would cost so much or that the damage was as extensive as it was.
Then we decided to try to finish the insulation. This time the machine worked beautifully. We were elated. That evening my husband accompanied me to hear a speaker he had never heard of but whom I idolized. She was wonderful but at the end of the evening my husband still didn’t know who she was.
That is how our projects usually go. We start out with high hopes. We have plans. We gather the supplies we think we will need. Then when we actually begin the project something goes very wrong. We get frustrated with the project and with each other. We grumble and gripe. We get really grouchy. But after taking a much-needed time out we try again. At that point it becomes clear that we are a team and together we figure out how to accomplish what we need to do.
It is never easy. We both get impatient but here is the important part — we both realize that the other one is not the problem and together we figure out what needs to be done.
Magazines feature all kinds of so-called tests that will tell you if your marriage will last. Most of them are worthless. If you want to find out how strong your marriage is just rent an insulation blower and plan to insulate something. If you can survive the insulation process then your marriage is strong. If you are still irritated with your mate several days later then you might want to reconsider doing things yourself and hire somebody to do household projects for you so your marriage will stay intact.[[In-content Ad]]