I’m a builder, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a tiler, a mason, a housekeeper, an appliance installer, a cistern cleaner, a maintenance guy, a landscaper, a tree trimmer, a septic specialist, and I have no idea what I’m doing.

The list will continue to grow, but the one thing that I do have going for me is that I’m also a husband. Even with that title, there’s a lot more that I have yet to learn but the most important aspect of this particular job is that I’m not in this alone. Isabel makes this whole thing tick: this house, this rental, this website, everything.

For the longest time my greatest fear was starting something new, something fresh, because I was always afraid that I was in some way or another going to mess it up. I would never start a new and interesting project because I never knew the right way to start. As an educator, the majority of the ‘cool’ things that I would do in the classroom were in some way shape or form unoriginal. Either the blueprints were already there and all I had to do was add a little flare or pivot the assignment in a way that garnered more likability, to stoke the kids into wanting to participate. Even as an athlete, I never had to reinvent the game, the rules were there and easy to follow, I simply had to train myself to outmaneuver my opponents.

The attempt at rebuilding a house, running it as a short-term rental, while living in a work in progress is hard. I never expected it to be easy, but shit, it’s hard. Whether it’s a shower valve that’s corroded beyond repair, a faulty bladder in a pressure tank, removing bits of the house without damaging other parts of the house, building furniture because you can’t afford to buy any, or preforming deep cleans as much as possible because of tropical climates, the fear of doing it wrong is paralyzing. Any wrong move, a slip of the hand, improper adjustment can further do damage, prolong necessary projects, and have significant financial repercussions. I am completely out of my element. As much as I read instructions and watch online How-To’s it’s almost impossible to move forward.

“Sinks, light fixtures, small appliances were handled exactly the way you’d expect the NESCAC single-season record holder for yellow cards to handle them.”

It’s always possible because there’s Isabel. She is the lifeblood of this life we’ve built. When the deal for the house was about to fall through, again, it was Isabel who reached out to the sellers and convinced them to allow us to work on their house so that we may apply for an FHA loan. When the pressure mounted to take this life on as our full-time employment, Isabel built the foundations and allowed us to take that leap of faith. At any point in time when we feel stagnant, Isabel takes on the responsibility to find new ways to improve the house: outdoor kitchen, interior design, this website, etc…

My favorite memory thus far is the kitchen demolition. For weeks I had put it off because I didn’t want to damage anything, I was afraid of losing something we may later need, and I wanted to do it in an order that logistically made sense. I wanted plans of how each cabinet, countertop, and appliance was to be removed. To stage runs to the dump in our minivan that was efficient, clean, and practical. Fear and anxiety dug their claws deep. Isabel took the sledgehammer and started busting counter-tops. Hinges be damned, cabinet doors were pulled off. Sinks, light fixtures, small appliances were handled exactly the way you’d expect the NESCAC single-season record holder for yellow cards to handle them. I’m pretty sure the ax made an appearance. The lesson here, which was much more obvious than I had realized, was that the fear and anxiety created idleness that was as bad if not worse than the fears listed above.

Isabel moves this life forward and I’m happy to fill the roles needed to accomplish our goals. So, I’m a builder, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a tiler, a mason, a housekeeper, an appliance installer, a cistern cleaner, a maintenance guy, a landscaper, a tree trimmer, a septic specialist, and I have no idea what I’m doing, but I will continue to learn, to grow, and most importantly continue to move forward in whatever capacity needed. I love being a husband, it’s the best job I know.