But I Won!

Maintaining a home is a usual families weekend "chores". That is,unless something breaks that is a necessity.  The water is leaking down the wall, you can't put it off, you must take care of it fairly quickly.  A downed snow plow at the beginning of what looks to be a wetter than normal winter needs to be repaired ASAP. You guessed it, that was me.  My snow plow was down with a broken exhaust pipe that had to be replaced before I could use it. With daddy still gone, I had to do it.  Change a couple of bolts, I can do that.  What was estimated to take about 30 minutes ended up being not only a 3 hour project, but a reminder of what I am really made of.

Notice 

First task was to remove the old pipe.  Now this is a lawn tractor that I use for a snow plow.  It wasn't easy getting into the two bolts needed to remove the old pipe.  I broke a cheap wrench trying to break free the bolts. I had to lube the bolt.  I gashed my knuckle. I finally found the right socket and dropped that bad boy! Yeah!! Now the rest is uphill, right? Wrong.

After loosening several bolts here and there, trying to wedge in the new pipe, I came to the realization that I needed to remove the whole side frame horn.  It is the piece that holds the plow blade or the mower deck to the tractor.  Well, I knew this would be a pain because I replaced these last year... Another story to tell....

It took almost 3 hours to replace that pipe.  At several points I cursed, like a sailor, because daddy wasn't home to help, because I didn't have the physical strength at times.  I welled up with tears on a couple of occasions. Once when I bashed my hand so hard I think I broke it. Really.  I screamed out loud to silent ears.  I almost cried because I couldn't wait 10 more sleeps for daddy to come home because we would get a ton of snow if I waited.  Murphy's Law, right?  There were a couple of times I prayed and thanked God for giving me the patience and strength to finish the task.  I refused to put gloves on because I can't feel with my hands and the resulting gashes and bumps and bruises show my stupidity.

The moral? I don't know if there is one.  It was a house chore that had to be done.  I should have worn gloves. I should have dressed  warmer. But it is done. I did it.  I have the pride in myself that I was able to do something that I had never done before.  I was able to take care of myself and my girls.  I know if daddy is not home, I can handle it.  Do I want to do it again, not if I don't have to.  Will I have to do something like it again.  Probably.  But I know that if I keep at it, I can do it.