As you can tell by the title, I am not a repairperson. Sometimes I feel like my house is falling down around my ears. Wednesday night it was the kitchen cupboards. They are starting to fall of the wall. A very bad thing, as you can imagine.

My son and I took everything out of the cupboards and propped them up using 5 gallon buckets and books. We have managed to somewhat stabilize the situation, but I dare not put anything in the cupboards at this point. They must be fixed. To that end, I took a trip to the local hardware store.

You know that place on TV where they talk about helping you with advice on your home improvement project? Well, this ain’t it. A woman walks into this store and she is promptly IGNORED. Women don’t know what they need/want and they might (GASP!) ask questions! I only went to this store because it is the only hardware store in town. I really didn’t want to drive 20 miles to a place that might be helpful.

I went to the back of the store, looking for nails. I didn’t see any long nails like I wanted. Alright, I knew in the back of my mind that screws would be better anyway. And what did I see? Cabinet screws. Okay. I’ll do it right and buy the cabinet screws.

Wait a minute. Slight problem. I don’t have a drill. I’m not going to try to force these screws in with a screw driver. So I look for a drill and I found one. I got it home and found I needed to let it charge at least 16 hours before I use it. That’s okay. I’m going to have to wait a day to do the cabinets anyway. Those of you who know about such things are probably saying, “Did you get bits for your drill?” Nope. But I guess I’ll have to tomorrow if I want to refasten those cabinets to the wall. Or maybe I’ll just talk to the shop teacher, see if he will loan me a drill with bits and anything else I need for the evening’s work.

Master, I wish you were here. But, since you are not a Mr. FixIt, we would probably both be staring at the drill, saying, “What next?” But at least we have some things in common.

On a good note, since I felt guilty about not fixing the cabinets, I thought I’d try to mow the lawn. My lawnmower has been temperamental lately. I thought I would have to borrow someone else’s. But, what the heck, I decided to give it a pull, and what do you know? It started. So I mowed the lawn while the mower was in an obliging mood.

So, I guess I’m batting .500. That’s better than most major leaguers, I guess.

When doing my 50 minutes of activity Sunday, I added something a bit different. I did walk, but not the whole time. I stopped at some trees and picked some apples and pears.

In case you thinking picking fruit should not count as an activity, I have an aching back that begs to differ. I was told there was a picker by the trees, and when I went I found a long handled tool with a claw-like basket on the end. I had to reach up into the trees, snag the desired prize, and twist/turn/pull to get the tree to let go. It was the first time I had ever picked more than an apple or two, and it was kind of fun, if a bit different. My Master has encouraged me to go out and do new and different things. Okay, this wasn’t earth-shattering, but it was something that I hadn’t experienced before, and it was an interesting experience.

And when my back feels better, I may just do it again. Until then, is anyone up for some home-made apple crisp?

Monday night I got a lesson in giving up control, not to my Master, but giving up control of my 19 year old son. He has moved to college, and he came home for the weekend. He spent most of the time hanging out with friends, which is what I expected. He also needed a couple of things from his mother.

While he was here, he gathered some addresses he needed for school and printed off a paper that he needed. Monday night we said our goodbyes, and he headed back to school. After he left, I saw a binder that I did not recognize. I opened it up and saw the paper and the addresses that I knew my son needed with him.

The best thing would have been to call my son on the cell phone, but he gave that up because it was too expensive. I knew he was planning to stop somewhere on the way and considered going after him, but I was afraid that we’d miss each other, or he would realize that he had forgotten it and turn around to come home for it. There was nothing I could do. I just had to let it be.

I have waited for my kids to grow up so they could take over the responsibilities for themselves, yet it is so hard to let go and let it happen. I am Mom. I wanted to fix it. But I couldn’t. Ultimately, my son realized he had left the things behind and came back for them. I was so glad he did! But letting go of HIS problem, well, I’m not sure I succeeded in that.

And just as I have to let go of control over my son, I have to give control of myself over to my Master. This, too, can be difficult. I am sure that at times I will have to take a deep breath and let things be the way Master says. Trust. Trust. Trust.

Master says I am no longer a newbie. Perhaps not, but I still have much to learn.

Don’t we all?

Well, it is morning, and I have nothing to post. I am required to post every day, so I sit and write on the fly. But, when push comes to shove, just do it!

Master gets very frustrated with people who say they will write but do not. Or they never get around to starting. I used to say “I’m going to write a book about that someday.” Master finally said “Shit or get off the pot. Stop talking about it. If you’re going to do it, do it!”

So many people say they are going to write, and I have no doubt they have good intentions, but they don’t get around to doing anything. Perhaps it’s because writing itself is WORK. That’s right. Sitting down and getting ideas to flow from the brain to the paper is not an easy thing to do. It’s much easier to let those ideas float around in your brain and accumulate, until you have a great story or book in there. Unfortunately, no one else can see it in the dark recesses of your skull.

I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating to come across a blog that I find interesting, then the blogger doesn’t post on it other than an introductory entry or two. It is said that the stories don’t get out to the light. We all miss out.

So you have an idea? Just do it!

I wrote yesterday about helicopter parents, those who take their kids off to college but don’t want to let them go. That brought forth the idea of helicopter Doms.

My thought of helicopter Doms was those Dominants who want to control absolutely everything. There are Dominants out there who want to control how you sit, walk and talk. They give specific directions on exactly what to wear and how to eat. One Dom I talked to online wanted to control when and how I peed, for crying out loud!

I suppose that sort of relationship is what some people want, but it wasn’t for me. I guess I thought it was too artificial. You cannot control someone (or be controlled) 24/7. You simply can’t be together all the time, or focus your energies so totally on one person. At some time, you must go to work, spend time with parents/children, etc. Now, with me, Master Bennet is in my mind, and does guide my interactions, but he doesn’t hover, telling me exactly what to say or do in each situation. He trusts my judgment. As he has said, “You have a brain; use it!”

But there is another type of helicopter Dom. He is actually more like the helicopter parents of college kids. A Dom, whom I have written about previously, would fall into this category. I shall call him Sir BB. Sir BB hovers on the periphery, waiting to swoop down if he assumes he is needed. He still wishes to control, but doesn’t want to be too obvious. He wants to appear at the right time, save the day, and be a hero. If he assumes Master Bennet isn’t living up to his standards, he points out that he is there for me. Like the parent of a college student, he does not want to let go.