Day 3 - Wednesday

Today was a good day. Beginning with the fact that we got to sleep a half hour longer - and we were very productive at the work site.

Today's bloggers are Morgan and Kyle. (Kyle volunteered for two slots).

Kyle:

Today was an extremely successful work day. Hailey and I finished our rail, or as much as we possibly could, just like we said we would.








When you have a goal and you reach it, it feels absolutely incredible. It looks great to us and I hope that the homeowner will love it even more. However, our little celebration was halted by our next project. Faith (if you don't remember: she is one of the AmeriCore workers that are helping us) had us go inside to work on the floor trim. This is when our problems started.
Hailey, being my "co-worker" this trip, we had the task of getting long pieces of white wood that we had to measure out, cut, and then fit together like a nightmareish puzzle. I'm not proud to admit that we wasted a bunch of the wood because we would cut it wrong and the wood would snap but hey, what can ya do?












(It's cool to be 18, because you can use power tools).




We got one of the main bedrooms and the bathroom completed and started the second bedroom before the day was over. It was very tiring and exhausting but the water helped keep us keep our cool.

Lunch was probably one of the best parts of today's work day because the lovely Avery brought us some amazing PoBoy sandwiches that Jim made for us. They were packed with ham, turkey, pickles, cheese, and tomatos. They were good...like..."Avatar" box office good...just ravishing. It was accompanied by some fresh fruit, some chips, and some delicious M&M cookies. It was a very long, exhausting day (reaching up to upwards of 82 degrees).

After dinner, David took us to a little trip to the Mississippi River. It was absolutely stunning. The sunset was approaching and there was a light breeze. However, it was again halted when I had the idea of rolling down a big hill. I don't know what went through my head but it wasn't smart. I walked back up the hill and Mr. Parry told us to do it again so being a typical teenager...we did it again. This wasn't the smartest idea after the red beans and rice I had for dinner but I hope it doesn't come back up.

Looking a the next few days ahead, I expect a lot more improvement and progession. It makes me smile just thinking about it. My good friend Morgan will now take over this blog. Thanks for reading ya'll!!

Morgan:

Hey everyone, this is our third day in New Orleans, and I've been working on the interior of the first house with Kyle. Hailey, George, Geralyn, and Hannah are with us, along with the supervising contractor Faith. I've been working with Hannah in the front room (an open-concept kitchen/living and dining space) laying down hardwood flooring. We've made great progress thus far. The first day, we had to scrape up the dried glue from the first planks the previous team had laid down, which took a long while. The task grants itself to OCD tendencies of perfect lines, smooth cuts, proper allignments, and the appropriate dollups of glue.












The glue itself warrants a paragraph: it is, by far, the stickiest substance I have ever encountered. The trowel itself got covered too... my hand stuck to the handle every time I would pick it up. We bonded, so to speak. Hannah and I have had to scrape it off our hands and limbs with anything we can find, fingernails, chisels, a raggedy sponge, strips of cloth, etc. Even after all that attempted-cleanliness, we were still covered from head to toe, hair included. Our standards for having clean hands have slowly deteriorated. Probably me more so than Hannah, because I've become the 'glue-er' of our duo most of the time. I was slightly hesitant to pick up my lunch with hands covered in glue that is most likely non-edible, maybe toxic to injest. That flash of hesitation was overwhelmed with my desire to eat. Now. A little glue never hurt anyone...








Quite literally, I still have residue on my hands and fingernails while I type this entry. I wear my new 'nailpolish' as a badge of honor. The fact that I was filthy means I was working hard and getting things done. My reluctance to stop for lunch bears evidence to that fact. I'm excited to return to the site tomorrow and keep working on the floor, even though we only have half a day. (We're ending early to take a tour of New Orleans.) I'm sure tomorrow's bloggers will write about it. For now, though, we're calling it a night. Goodnight everyone :) thanks for reading.

Meanwhile, at the other site:








































(Nothing like a little ladder nap)




Thank you for your prayers - don't stop!









And now a word from David: Let me assure you that Team NOLA 12 is taking the promises made during their commissioning - to represent FPC and Jesus Christ in word and deed - very seriously and they are a blessing!