Getting into the groove

So, today was a better day than yesterday. Today I worked with two other women all day -- Ginger and Carol. We really worked well together and got this one closet completely drywalled. The moment we walked in, we had a big task ahead. Two girls were at our house yesterday and seemed to really know what they were doing. Well, they didn't come back today and we had to fix some of their drywall mistakes. I know we're volunteers and our work is not professional grade by any means, but I try to remind myself that I want to do as good of a job as I would want to do on my own house. That means, I want to do it right. I don't want to cut corners. Even one of the women I was working with kept saying things like "the mud will cover it" or "that's what the tape is for."

I felt more confident today. I don't know if I mentioned this in yesterday's post, but I got separated from my group the first day. There are 4 other women who are staying at the same B&B and we kind of hang out when we're not working. Well, the first day I decided to get a ride to the office with Randolph. He's 60 and a former criminal prosecutor in Philly. He retired a couple of years ago and decided that he wanted to do more than just hit the gym every day of the week and travel to see family. So, he's here. Anyway, he's really nice and he always remembers my name. Okay, back to my sob story. I got there before my friends on Monday. So, I registered and got my assignment. Well, about 30 minutes later, my friends show up and they get assigned to another house. Problem: I don't have a ride. While I was waiting for orientation to begin, I walked over to Liz and we realized we were assigned to the same house. So, we rode together. I felt a little sad not being with the others. They came back last night talking about how much fun they had, how cute their site supervisor was and blah blah blah. Well, I was okay with my group, but I didn't have THAT much fun.

Today was different. I really enjoyed being at my house. I feel independent and okay with myself and my surroundings. The work was good today and I'm getting more comfortable with the drill :) and the keyhole saw and the shaver and sheetrock in general.

Ginger has brought me home two nights in a row. She's given me tours of parts of town both days. Yesterday we drove through the project and today she took me through the Garden District. She's a great tour guide and I feel like I've learned a lot on our drives home. She is very kind and has offered to do my laundry and let me take a hot shower. I've had one hot shower since I've arrived and the warm water took about ten minutes to arrive. Uggh. But I keep telling myself that I have a lot to be thankful for and that putting up with a cold shower...or three is not the worst thing in the world. God has blessed me with many many things and I can put up with a little discomfort.

Tonight, we talked to Dennis Hilton, the owner of this fine establishment, for awhile. What a nice man! He's got a housekeeper here who lost everything in the storm. She works and lives here. He is actively trying to help her find housing, but the rents have more than doubled and she doesn't make enough money to even get a Habitat House. An interesting thing that happened today was that I had to sit through a 2nd orientation because I had to wait for a ride. So, all the people who came just today had to get the same talk as I did yesterday, BUT some new information was given today. Zack was telling us that their next big project is to build some Senior apartments and rent them out for about the same rent as before the storm. So, when Dennis was telling us about Ruby tonight I was like "I know who you can talk to!!!" I don't think it was a coincidence at all that I heard that information. Sweet Ruby. She deserves to have a home. She is a kind lady who sits in the breakfast room just listening to all of us chatter on about our experiences of the previous day.

I am tired so I better wrap this up. Thanks to all of you who are reading this, praying for me and sending me e-mails, text messages, etc. I feel very loved and cared for. I miss you and can't wait to see and talk to you all soon.