Sarah: She Is Woman, Hear Her Roar!

I couldn't prove it, but I think David's blood pressure went up a bit when I casually mentioned I'd found a builder and "guess what? Her name is Sarah!" But to his credit he recovered quickly and decided to hold off on opinions set in cement until after he'd seen and talked to her.

She was great. She not only saved us money by pointing us in the direction of an outstanding designer who came up with plans for my perfect house, just the way I wanted it, and without judgmental interventions, she cracked the whip on all her subcontractors, and if something wasn't up to snuff or not the way she wanted it it was done over.

Sarah and her husband literally built two houses themselves, for themselves, and once they were finished and other people saw what they'd done, they suddenly realized they were in business. That is, Sarah was in business, because her husband preferred to stay out of the building business, having had enough after their own two houses.

Once the blueprints were finished and we'd discussed exactly how and where we wanted the house sited on our property it was time to get a building permit. But the state had changed the rules and we were about to receive our first lesson in how rural areas function at the local level.