Daddy's Girl

Today my dad came home with a small excavator to clear out the gravel that currently resides in our car park next to the house. We are going to clear out a section and fill it in with cement so that when the snow arrives {grumbles slightly under breath} my mom and I can use the snow blower to clear it out rather than shoveling. It will save us a lot of time and energy. Well, being the amazing daughter that I am I offered to get down and dirty and do whatever I could to help out. If you know me from childhood, you'll know that I LOVE to help my dad with projects. I'll never turn down an opportunity to take something apart with him, or help him build something. I joke that I'm the son my dad never had.

Anyways, so he would scoop up gravel and clay, then I would go in behind him and shovel out the shtuff that spilled over. Most of the time, whenever a project is happening, whether it be in a group for church, friends, or just Dom, if I offer to help, the automatic reaction is "no".

After all, I'm a 25 year old girl from the city. What could I possibly have to contribute? What people don't realize is that I watch. And I learn. And I am incredibly logical and intelligent. And I have some wicked good ideas.

Example: as my dad was digging the crap out of the car park, he was trying to figure out how close he was to the edge of the blacktop.....my suggestion was to use the pressure washer to wash away said crap from the edge in order to get a clear view of it.

Brilliant.



I rock.

Not only was I delighted to see that my dad agreed that it was a great idea, but he {brace yourselves} asked me to get the pressure washer out of the garage....

Why, do you ask, is this such a big deal?? I'll tell you. My dad is a man like any other. his tools are his toys. Don't touch.

He's not crazy about it, I mean, he's not going to chase you into the house with a power saw if you get too close to something, but as any man, he's protective over his "things". I respect this 1000%, as any woman should. If I need to use the drill or a hammer, then that's fine, but if I need the snow blower, or table saw, or air pressure hose, then I ask him and HE is the one to do the doing if you know what I mean.

I felt like a kid when he said to grab the washer. I'm not exaggerating. I was thrilled. I tried to hide my smile as I wheeled that sucker out and screwed the hose into it. I swear to you the Heavens opened and God smiled at me. Not only did I feel great that he listened to my idea and liked it in the first place, but he let me touch his power washer!!!!

Chances are I'm taking this way further than it needs to be. He'll probably talk to me when he reads this and tell me a such a dork to think that he doesn't have so much care about his personal tools, but even so, that doesn't mean it wasn't freaking AWESOME.

I love my daddy. And I love that he listens to me and that even now, at 25, I can still assist in projects with him just like I did when I was 5.