Funny, interesting, beautiful women in my tool safety class last night. We're getting ready for the all-women's build in Chatham in May.

On using a circular saw: "Just think of your sewing maching - it's just like following your seam allowance."

On funny buttons on power tools:
Woman #1: "Mine has a little black button, what's it do?"
Woman #2: "It does your nails."

There's a contact list of over 300 women who are interested in working on the build. How cool is that? It seems clear that women are interested in getting these skills in a non-threatening environment. Several women have been building Habitat homes on the cape for years, but have only done things like painting and landscaping because they didn't feel comfortable doing the heavier-duty construction work. One woman wants to learn how to build a staircase so she can put a staircase up to her porch. I'm a little bummed to learn that several of the workshops will be taught by men, but I guess that's how the knowledge transfer needs to start.

I've considered doing construction for the summer, but think I like the idea of it more than the actuality of it. Saws scare me, even if that is a girly thing to admit.

I have conflicted feelings about pink toolbelts.