I've am now a firm believer in Murphy's Law. I used to scoff at the idea.

"Things do go right every once in a while," I'd tell myself. What a fool I was.

It all started two weeks ago when Brad had left for Wyoming and I tried starting the weedeater. It didn't.

It progressed from bad to worse after I gave up on using the weedeater and spent two hours trying to straighten warped boards in order to get them on my patio floor -- on the west side of the house with no shade.

I was in desperate need of a shower. I had done the dishes earlier and figured the water had enough time to reheat so I'd be able to enjoy a nice warm shower and rinse all the dirt that had collected to the sweat.

I went inside and turned on the hot water. As usual I waited a couple of minutes to let the water warm. It didn't. I waited a few more minutes, still no hot water. I went downstairs and checked the breaker. It had flipped, so I turned it back on.

I woke in the morning, desperately needing to rinse off the mud that had formed on me the evening before. I turned on the shower. No hot water. That was my first cold water shower of the year

I called Brad.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"You need to flush it," he said.

I did. For two hours I let water run through the unheated unit.

Still nothing.

"Must be the heating element," I decided.

I removed the little door to the heating element and found the insulation soaked with water. Obviously it was more than the heating element. I was going to have to replace the whole unit.

While moving a 50-gallon water heater, half full of water caused me to struggle, I did manage to get it into the bathroom and out of my way.

Moving the new 55-gallon hot water heater in proved to be more of a challenge. It came in the box, thankfully, and I managed to twist it back and forth to the back door. I lifted it up over the four-inch step with no problem.

Then I got in front of it and started sliding it back and forth, maneuvering it toward the laundry room. The next thing I knew, the only things sliding were my feet. Luckily, I had a ceramic pot behind me to break my fall. And of course, I was under the water heater, ensuring that no damage would come to it.

That's when I realized how a turtle must feel when he gets rolled over on his back.

I did manage to wiggle out from under the water heater and get it set upright, but not before a moment of panic hit me and I wondered if Brad would find my body buried under the hot water heater when he got home in two weeks.

The water heater is now installed, and I enjoy my daily hot showers. I still bear the bruises of my experience, but they will soon fade.

My son wanted to work on the deck this past weekend, but after the week I had, I decided to go see Brad instead.

While I was there, I asked Brad permission to do something I had wanted to do for years, and he finally gave me the go ahead.

I stopped in at a little tattoo parlor in Moorcroft and got my first tattoo. The guys did an excellent job of giving me exactly what I wanted. It was a tribute to my sister -- a rose, a star and a teardrop. It is discreetly placed on my left shoulder, so that it will be seen only when I want it to be seen.

And the best part of the whole thing is that I can't be out in the sun or sweat until it's healed.

By the way, Murphy's Law is still at work in my life. I tried doing a little mowing Wednesday evening. I couldn't get the mower to shut off. I decided to let it run until it ran out of gas.

It was still running when I came to work this morning.