I am Woman

Many, many moons ago when I was a teenager, Helen Reddy recorded a song that celebrated womanhood. It wasn't my favorite song, but I heard it ALL the time on the radio because it was a very big hit.

It's funny because this past week I've burst out in a exuberant voice saying "I am Woman...Hear me ROAR!!!" not once but three times. Weird.

Let me share with you my three experiences. Maybe you will agree that they were memorable and worthy of a ROAR. OK, maybe not memorable for anyone else but me.

Shrimp Scampi

A week ago, I made Ron a brand. new. recipe. He mentioned how much he LOVES shrimp and I decided, "I'll make him a shrimp dinner." I had never made Shrimp Scampi before, but I found a recipe on All Recipes website that received rave reviews. It looked easy. One problem--I needed to buy raw shrimp. Raw shrimp that was still in its shell. I've never peeled a shrimp before but for Ron, I was willing to give it a go.

Well, can I tell you that peeling shrimp was not hard at all! I was so proud of myself for figuring it out that I said, "I am Woman...Hear me ROAR!" I think my family was a little startled by that random comment. Even better, the dinner was delicious! I am definitely making this one again!

"Fixing the Garage Door"

OK, when I say I "fixed the garage door" I want you to know upfront that I didn't fix the springs. But I did do something for the first time.

The day of the BIG storm, I needed to pull a string to release the garage door thingy. (Obviously, I don't know what it is called.) After I did this, Emily and I were able to manually open and close the door. Well, as you may recall, the power was out for TWENTY-ONE hours (not that I was counting or anything) and Ron went back to work before putting the garage door thingy back together.

When I talked to Ron on the phone later on Wednesday, he walked me through the steps on how to reattach whatever that thing is called that I need to reattach. (I hope this makes a little sense.) When I actually did it, I was so excited that I yelled, "I am Woman...Hear me ROAR!" Emily raised her eyebrows in mild astonishment.

Conquering the Leaf Blower

After the BIG storm, our front yard was looking very straggly. Our beautiful maple tree lost several tree branches (not too big thank goodness) and there were hundreds of leaves and maple seed pods all over the place. I thought it would be nice to get the yard cleaned up before Ron came home on Friday. I spent a long time picking up branches and raking leaves. The entire green waste container was filled with the fruits of my labor. It looked great, but the driveway was still covered in leaves and debris. I started sweeping and then I remembered the leaf blower! I have never used his mechanical piece of magic before, but I am WOMAN! It took me longer to untangle the extension cord then it did to plug it in and begin getting rid of the leaves. It was so much fun! I think I should work for a lawn service company being their expert leaf blower. After I put everything away, I walked into the house and yelled, "I am Woman...Hear me ROAR!" By this time, Emily hardly blinked an eye. Clearly, her mother had lost it.

I was hoping that Ron would teach me how to use the BBQ tonight so I could yell my favorite new phrase once again, but he had an even better idea. We went out on a date. To dinner. Perhaps next week I'll conquer the BBQ.