Doing Battle With the Physical World

I tighten the bolts on the elaborate contraption we've constructed out of pictures on the internet, a couple of pieces from ikea, and the fevered imaginings of my wife's brain. It has been a long day, and our creation has been stubborn in it's insistence on the laws of physics and gravity, refusing to cooperate and become the headboard she's been craving.

Two trips to the hardware store, and despite my prophecies of doom, we are close to finishing, but I'm done, spent, completely and sincerely willing to throw down my wrench and walk away from the whole misguided project. Katie asks me a question, and I force myself to slow down, breathe, think, stay in the moment, answer her (mostly) civilly, finish what I started, finish the damned thing.