When I visit with my dad and my brother-in-law, they tend to talk about building projects. My brother-in-law is renovating his basement, and my dad has been a builder since as long as I can remember (even though he is primarily a teacher, he spends most of his free time building something – like my parents’ house, for example).

I am a novice carpenter. I’d say I know more than some, but less than most about what it takes to design and build a home. But every time I hear about home projects – even the seemingly boring ones like painting the house or landscaping the backyard – I get excited. I can’t wait for that day in the much too distant future when I have a house of my own that I can putz around with as a weekend warrior. I look forward to renovating rooms, redesigning the kitchen and even simple things like cleaning the gutters. (Of course, these activities are only fun when you are the homeowner. Otherwise, they’re brutal.)

What is your favorite weekend warrior activity?