Friday, July 24, 2009
Club NOLA!!! :)
Last day of work :( so sad. There's still so much to do, but we have accomplished a lot. We have a row of OSB board on both sides of the roof and extended the new roof over the old to prevent leaks. We did a lot of straightening and correcting also. We added hurricane clips on all the boards in addition to toe nailing them to strengthen it even more. The youth in our group also had their own "jobs" outside of what we were assigned to do. Ryon and Brandon got a flag and mounted it, while the girls cleaned, caulked, and repainted the home owner's statue of Mary.
Six of Hearts Day 5
Day 5
Morale High
We went to work at 7:30, which is quite early for us.
We returned to our mudding and sanding, finding that we were merging with a Lutheren sect. They seem to work outside most of the time, cleaning up the refuse and debris and cleaning the lawn.
A thing that we noticed was that they were from different parts of the U.S. some were from Pennsylvania, New York, and Georgia. If you are reading this, you know full well that the Six of Hearts is from Illinois. If you are reading this and you didn't know that, you know now.
We continued to press on, finding that the house had a bit of a "fun house" effect. The floor is slanted, along with the kitchen walls being uneven. The King and Queen are trying to place cabinets in the kitchen, with the slight hiccup being that the walls are 2 in. short. The solution: Screw some more planks in and redo them as if they were part of the wall. Utter genius.
As for the bathroom, it is a small room where the heat accumulates quickly, therefore staying in it for extended periods of time is quite unadvised. We have finished the walls, now are trying to drywall the ceiling. It is hard at first, but after we get some pieces in and screw them down, all is well.
The only things left I can think of is the King wants to put a top on the counters, and the bathroom should be drywalled and sanded. Tomorrow (which due to my truancy is now today) is a half-day of work. We shall work hard, and hopefully cover the fiberglass insulation.
Blackjack out.
Note: find the architect clown who designed this place and wring his neck.
Morale High
We went to work at 7:30, which is quite early for us.
We returned to our mudding and sanding, finding that we were merging with a Lutheren sect. They seem to work outside most of the time, cleaning up the refuse and debris and cleaning the lawn.
A thing that we noticed was that they were from different parts of the U.S. some were from Pennsylvania, New York, and Georgia. If you are reading this, you know full well that the Six of Hearts is from Illinois. If you are reading this and you didn't know that, you know now.
We continued to press on, finding that the house had a bit of a "fun house" effect. The floor is slanted, along with the kitchen walls being uneven. The King and Queen are trying to place cabinets in the kitchen, with the slight hiccup being that the walls are 2 in. short. The solution: Screw some more planks in and redo them as if they were part of the wall. Utter genius.
As for the bathroom, it is a small room where the heat accumulates quickly, therefore staying in it for extended periods of time is quite unadvised. We have finished the walls, now are trying to drywall the ceiling. It is hard at first, but after we get some pieces in and screw them down, all is well.
The only things left I can think of is the King wants to put a top on the counters, and the bathroom should be drywalled and sanded. Tomorrow (which due to my truancy is now today) is a half-day of work. We shall work hard, and hopefully cover the fiberglass insulation.
Blackjack out.
Note: find the architect clown who designed this place and wring his neck.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Heaven Help Us...oops, that's Heaven Helpers
Thursday dawned clear and warm...well, actually muggy and hot as H-E-double hockey sticks, but might as well put the most positive spin on things.
Thank God for PJ's coffee. I don't know how we get our hearts started properly on Edwardsville mornings, Starbucks just doesn't stack up. The guys say my coffee tastes are too frou-frou...but then, they are GUYS!!! Just 'cuz I like everything with hazelnut.
Well, we got to bathe all day...in sweat. I (Vicki) was lying on a sheet of plastic putting laminate flooring in place, in the airless stair landing and felt like I was on a slip-n-slide full of warm water.
The rest of the gang hung five regular doors and a bifold, and can now hang upstairs doors, since Dathan and I finished flooring the upstairs main room and closet.
Mark and Breezy cut and tiled the upstairs bathroom, and the tile is setting as we speak, so that they can grout it tomorrow.
Breezy and Jordan got to spend some buddy time in the lower floor bathtub...caulking around it!!!
Sadly, we haven't gotten to meet anyone from our family yet, but the princess quilt we picked for our family will be perfect in the purple bedroom with the little girl bicycle in the closet. Wonder if the bicycle will be big enough now, after all this time.
We are all loving each other as a team. What a fabulous group!!! Thank God for the all-around sense of humor. Getting to laugh so much really helps us to let the frustrations roll off us. Of course, the high-octane morning caffeine helps with that also. I think we're all a little unhinged.
BTW, "unhinged" is a new word we learned this week.
Thank God for PJ's coffee. I don't know how we get our hearts started properly on Edwardsville mornings, Starbucks just doesn't stack up. The guys say my coffee tastes are too frou-frou...but then, they are GUYS!!! Just 'cuz I like everything with hazelnut.
Well, we got to bathe all day...in sweat. I (Vicki) was lying on a sheet of plastic putting laminate flooring in place, in the airless stair landing and felt like I was on a slip-n-slide full of warm water.
The rest of the gang hung five regular doors and a bifold, and can now hang upstairs doors, since Dathan and I finished flooring the upstairs main room and closet.
Mark and Breezy cut and tiled the upstairs bathroom, and the tile is setting as we speak, so that they can grout it tomorrow.
Breezy and Jordan got to spend some buddy time in the lower floor bathtub...caulking around it!!!
Sadly, we haven't gotten to meet anyone from our family yet, but the princess quilt we picked for our family will be perfect in the purple bedroom with the little girl bicycle in the closet. Wonder if the bicycle will be big enough now, after all this time.
We are all loving each other as a team. What a fabulous group!!! Thank God for the all-around sense of humor. Getting to laugh so much really helps us to let the frustrations roll off us. Of course, the high-octane morning caffeine helps with that also. I think we're all a little unhinged.
BTW, "unhinged" is a new word we learned this week.
Cooking for the Masses
Hello all. These are the cooks speaking: Donna Gardner, Alice Gardner, Anita Runge and Virginia McDole and we are responsible for buying and preparing all of the delicious food for the work crews here in New Orleans, while also making all of the other teams jealous when they smell our dinner cooking when they get back from their hard day's work. We started off the week with a HUGE shopping trip to Sam's Club on Sunday after Church while the work teams were on the prayer drive. We filled two shopping carts and a flatbed with food for the teams, and we still had another trip to make! On Monday, we prepared Tacos, Refried Beans and Corn and Blackbean salad and Spaghetti was served for dinner on Tuesday. In celebation of the two birthdays that fell during this week, we purchased a full sheet cake for the bithday boy and girl that had disappered by the next morning. Wednesday was a very big day as we had dinner guests; homeowners whom the workteams had met in previous trips. It was an honor having a native New Orleaninan compliment our jambalaya that we had shared! Our dessert for the evening was another Louisiana Treat. Our Crews feasted upon seven flavors of Bluebell IceCream, found only in the south, after devotions last night. Tonight, we get to share our meal again with another volunteer group staying at Aurora UMC. A work crew from Long Island will share our Chicken and Noodles. We have been talking to them all week and they are really nice! Tonight is also the last evening that we will be cooking dinner. Friday night before we leave, St. John's is going to Mulate's, an awesome cajun restaraunt in the French quarter. It has been alot of fun cooking for the volunteers this week, but we are looking forward to going home and seeing everyone in Edwardsville again, not to mention seeing our own beds!
Eat well and God Bless,
The Dinner Divas
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