Woman

Today I unearthed a box of summer clothes I forgot I had stowed away in the basement, and was happy to re-discover within it a WonderWoman shirt (cape included, of course).  Perfect timing, as the namesake's movie is now in theaters.

I haven't been able to see the film, partly because of the other reason I'm happy to have found my WW shirt - hubby has been travelling for a month.  And, well, I kind of feel like I could wear that shirt and own it.  Michael doesn't typically travel for work, so a month away, especially across the world in India, has been kind of a big deal.

And you know what?

I kind of rocked it.

Here is where I must make a confession.  I'm an embarrassment to women who are working hard to let the world know that women are very, very capable.  And hey, I'm with them- I marched right alongside them in St Paul in November.  But I am a bit of a cliché, one that would make strong women everywhere hang there heads shaking in shame.  Because, well...perhaps I become a little too reliant on Michael and give up when things are hard or out of my comfort zone.  When the internet is down, a warning light in the car goes on, or - ahem- there's something with eight legs that tries to share my living space - I just get Michael to care of it.

I know, I know.  I sound like a helpless damsel.  But as this month has proved, it's not that I can't do these things.  At one point this month, it occurred to me- I used to do all of these things on my own before I met Michael.  I had forgotten my self-reliance and dismissed my capability.  And so even though my work load was increased with no second pair of hands to help around the house and with the kids, I set off to remind myself that there's more to my abilities than I give credit to. 

This month, I:
Hosted 10 vendors for an all-day sale in my house
Mowed the lawn three times, refilled the mower with gas twice
Stripped and painted the front door
Killed two bugs, one of which was a millipede (my most feared of opponents)
Killed a wasp nest
Generated an income from home
Took the boys with me to a professional meeting and kept them relatively quiet
Parented one child during an annual performance review (including the inevitable "I need to go poopie" right in the middle)
Conquered my fear of heights and stood on a ladder for about the total of 2 days
Installed IKEA kitchen organization
Did the aforementioned with a power tool
Hung pictures and, completely out of character, slowed down enough to use a leveler
Installed hooks in the roof overhang
Installed trellises
Planted 16 pots of flowers
Painted a wall
Bridged Oliver from Cub Scout Tiger to a Wolf
Drove 5 hours each way with the boys for a trip up North
Navigated 2 birthday parties and 2 last-days-of-school

These are not difficult things.  Anybody can do them. I expect that you are reading the list and shrugging, "so?"  And that's perfectly ok.  Because I am simply celebrating that I didn't run away in fear, and I didn't just "get by."  I moved forward, and I did it well. 

I know what I'm wearing tomorrow.