Project Husband Project Wife

I like to do projects with my husband. We have fun together and we get something accomplished either for ourselves or for someone else.

What is a project?

A project, by definition, is a temporary activity with a starting date, specific goals and conditions, defined responsibilities, a budget, a planning, a fixed end date and multiple parties involved. You know what you have to do, do it, once, and that's the end of it. That's a project. (http://www.softwareprojects.org/project_intake_reasons22.htm)

So that could be painting the house or reseeding the lawn, but I want to talk about one that was just FUN and didn't have the opportunity for divorce (I've always lived by the notion that if a couple can wallpaper a room together their marriage can survive anything).

This summer we took on a cool project. We volunteered for the Tall Ships Festival in Victoria BC. So, everyday, from Thursday through to Sunday, we got up early, drove downtown, parked our car miles away from the coast, had a morning walk through the city to the harbor, got ourselves a coffee at one of the little kiosks along the way and then set to work.

Helmuth was a host in the Volunteer Tent and I was a Volunteer Coordinator running around making sure that the volunteers were all where they should be and helping them out with any difficulties they were having.

We had lunch and often supper at the Festival. And then we went home and crashed for the night! All that fresh salty sea air gave us a really good night's sleep!

We got to tour cool sailing vessels when we weren't 'on duty'. We got to meet all sorts of neat people. Oh, and we were supplied with very nice t-shirts for doing the task that say "Tall Ships" on them.

The week after the Festival there was a party for all the volunteers at the Yacht Club. I teased people that I just did the job for the party afterward. Not true but definitely one of the perks!

We had our 14 year old grandson visiting from out of town that weekend and he was a volunteer too. I think the real highlight of the Festival for both Helmuth and me was the fact that our grandson was with us and that we could spend the time doing something fun with him.

So why am I writing about this? I think a project is a great way to take the routine out of your marriage and do something totally different and exciting. It doesn't have to be building a new house or a trip across the globe that costs thousands of dollars. It can be something as simple as creating a vegetable garden, taking on a volunteer project, or taking a course together.

I'd be happy to hear stories about any project that you and your wife have done together.