Most of us were on the same flight home. A few left earlier and Dave "Sparky" Hatton was scheduled for a layover in Dallas. Sally and Roger shoved off late this morning.
See you in church!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Road Home
Sort of a play on words. The Road Home is a federal program to get people back into their homes in NOLA. For me (today) it means going home. It's not really the same...or it is...only on a very small scale. Thankfully I have the means to go home, whereas many from here have not been able to find the means or get through the masses of red tape, barricading their road home.
Today, the work load shifts to cleaning, organizing, packing and one last walk around the labryinth. You may have seen the edges of it in our group photo. The tiles were donated and trucked in by a man known as "Brooklyn." Marcie Brennan is a parishoner who planned and laid the tiles. It took her six months, on her hands and knees after working full shifts as an welder. The woman is 100% dedicated to the rebuilding of her church.
Hey! Time to get crackin' here! See you in church!
Today, the work load shifts to cleaning, organizing, packing and one last walk around the labryinth. You may have seen the edges of it in our group photo. The tiles were donated and trucked in by a man known as "Brooklyn." Marcie Brennan is a parishoner who planned and laid the tiles. It took her six months, on her hands and knees after working full shifts as an welder. The woman is 100% dedicated to the rebuilding of her church.
Hey! Time to get crackin' here! See you in church!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Full and Tired
Hello all! It's later Friday night (I am starting this at 10:30 CT).
One more apology to David RABINOVITZ....not Abromovitz. Jees. The poor guy.
We had a full day of work. The good news is that all six rooms and the porch have been painted! The windows are washed. The yard has been cleaned up (we found some really funky, rotted junk that was probably there since September 2005). Roger learned how to cut glass (to repair Jalousie windows) and how to drive down the street with an 8 foot ladder surfing on the roof, untied. Dwight put down the hawk (finally) and painted the wrought iron grating in front of the windows. He also got to use caustic chemicals and a wire brush to get the search team "X" from the bricks in the front of the house. After about an hour of scraping, Janie mixed some paint to match the bricks and it disappeared.
We got to meet April (the homeowner) and she brought us some goodie bags filled with candy and beads.
We were also treated with a visit from Ifama this afternoon. She is such a beautiful woman, and is very sharp, remembering most of our names. What a joy to see her.
After saying our goodbyes, cleaning the home and yard, and packing the vans, it was a mad dash back to FUUNO to shower and go out to dinner at Dookie Chase's. It was everything that was reported by earlier teams. Thank you for the suggestion.
SO, thus the title: Full (from Dookie Chase's) and Tired. Boy - am I tired!
It has been a wonderful experience to be together and part of the combined team with Follen Church in Lexington. It has been a joy to get to know them and work side by side with them.
Ann, Stan, David, John, Wendy, Karen, Zehra, Lori and EJ - we love you!
Tomorrow will involve cleaning, packing and rushing off to the airport to get home to our loved ones. Hank and Pat are already there. See you all soon!
One more apology to David RABINOVITZ....not Abromovitz. Jees. The poor guy.
We had a full day of work. The good news is that all six rooms and the porch have been painted! The windows are washed. The yard has been cleaned up (we found some really funky, rotted junk that was probably there since September 2005). Roger learned how to cut glass (to repair Jalousie windows) and how to drive down the street with an 8 foot ladder surfing on the roof, untied. Dwight put down the hawk (finally) and painted the wrought iron grating in front of the windows. He also got to use caustic chemicals and a wire brush to get the search team "X" from the bricks in the front of the house. After about an hour of scraping, Janie mixed some paint to match the bricks and it disappeared.
We got to meet April (the homeowner) and she brought us some goodie bags filled with candy and beads.
We were also treated with a visit from Ifama this afternoon. She is such a beautiful woman, and is very sharp, remembering most of our names. What a joy to see her.
After saying our goodbyes, cleaning the home and yard, and packing the vans, it was a mad dash back to FUUNO to shower and go out to dinner at Dookie Chase's. It was everything that was reported by earlier teams. Thank you for the suggestion.
SO, thus the title: Full (from Dookie Chase's) and Tired. Boy - am I tired!
It has been a wonderful experience to be together and part of the combined team with Follen Church in Lexington. It has been a joy to get to know them and work side by side with them.
Ann, Stan, David, John, Wendy, Karen, Zehra, Lori and EJ - we love you!
Tomorrow will involve cleaning, packing and rushing off to the airport to get home to our loved ones. Hank and Pat are already there. See you all soon!
Friday morning
This is the hardest day of all. Our bodies are tired (MOST of us anyway - Dennis is still smiling!), and we know what is in front of us. There will be a massive push to get all 6 rooms painted. It is unlikely we will, and we will wish we had one more day. However, if we had one more day, we would spend it working just as hard as we did last Sunday.
I forgot to mention that we were filmed on Wednesday! How could I forget something so important? Greater New Orleans UU (GNOUU) has commissioned Tim Ryan to create a documentary about volunteerism and about the rebuilding of NOLA. I don't know if he filmed us as we worked on Miss April's house, but I do know that he videotaped one-to-one interviews with several of us in the yard. We don't have any idea when the film will be done, but we are thrilled to be asked to participate.
Off to the worksite! FYI, the time stamps are incorrect at the blogspot home base. I am finishing this just after 6:30 AM.
I forgot to mention that we were filmed on Wednesday! How could I forget something so important? Greater New Orleans UU (GNOUU) has commissioned Tim Ryan to create a documentary about volunteerism and about the rebuilding of NOLA. I don't know if he filmed us as we worked on Miss April's house, but I do know that he videotaped one-to-one interviews with several of us in the yard. We don't have any idea when the film will be done, but we are thrilled to be asked to participate.
Off to the worksite! FYI, the time stamps are incorrect at the blogspot home base. I am finishing this just after 6:30 AM.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Hitting the Thursday Wall
First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the 20th member of the UUAC team here. David Abromovitz is a friend of George Clattenburg, and has been here with us, working elbow to elbow and living and sharing everything with us. I missed him in this morning's blog and apologized to him for that.
Secondly, I want to thank those who have commented (and/or figured out how to) to the blogs. It is nice to know that people are reading them. I have read each of your comments to the group. I can't post more pictures because this blog space seems to allow only one picture at a time. I will try to remember to post the picture of our group (both the UUAC and Follen folks).
I titled tonight's blog "Hitting the Thursday Wall" because this is the day that it really hits that we are at the point that we can see what the end-result will be by the end of tomorrow. It makes us happy to see the changes, yet very sad to see that the house will not be finished. Is a house ever finished? There is always more to be done. We are thrilled that that the drywall is completed. All of the walls are taped, mudded and mostly sanded. Terry was able to spray the texture in three of the 6 rooms before we left. We will be ready to prime and paint those rooms immediately tomorrow morning while we sand the other three rooms. The outside is finished, and the shed has been painted and roofed.
Today's weather was perfect. We have heard that you have been experiencing similar weather at home. It was near 70, total sunshine and a cooling breeze. I am extremely appreciative that the humidity has disappeared as the week progressed.
We are dusty and covered with mud and paint, but we are still smiling!
Secondly, I want to thank those who have commented (and/or figured out how to) to the blogs. It is nice to know that people are reading them. I have read each of your comments to the group. I can't post more pictures because this blog space seems to allow only one picture at a time. I will try to remember to post the picture of our group (both the UUAC and Follen folks).
I titled tonight's blog "Hitting the Thursday Wall" because this is the day that it really hits that we are at the point that we can see what the end-result will be by the end of tomorrow. It makes us happy to see the changes, yet very sad to see that the house will not be finished. Is a house ever finished? There is always more to be done. We are thrilled that that the drywall is completed. All of the walls are taped, mudded and mostly sanded. Terry was able to spray the texture in three of the 6 rooms before we left. We will be ready to prime and paint those rooms immediately tomorrow morning while we sand the other three rooms. The outside is finished, and the shed has been painted and roofed.
Today's weather was perfect. We have heard that you have been experiencing similar weather at home. It was near 70, total sunshine and a cooling breeze. I am extremely appreciative that the humidity has disappeared as the week progressed.
We are dusty and covered with mud and paint, but we are still smiling!
Who is here
It dawned on me (about 3 AM) that you may not know who is here from UUAC.
Terry Combs is our on site construction manager (and the brunt of most of our teasing)
Molly Howes is our coordinator and compassion manager.
Nathan has just arrived and is still getting acclimated. We'll give him the dirty jobs today!
Dennis Woessner - always smiling, always willing to help.
Darrah Bryans - tiny, mighty, compassionate. She and Dennis are leading our daily check in.
Pat Manley was here until yesterday - against the wishes of her physical therapists.
Dwight Manley celebrated a "turning point" birthday here, and hasn't been seen without a hawk in hand.
Nancy Levy also celebrated a birthday here and has an incredible knack for keeping everyone smiling.
Sally and Roger. The dynamic duo. They are known to give spontaneous tours of the area.
Don Keiser is creating masterpieces with wood...but can't shake his darn cold.
Hank Rauch has the patience of a saint, and will help you figure things out with kindness.
George Clattenburg - Captain Tool Wrangler. He has been sent to find anything and everything, between doing many many other jobs.
Jon Treon - in house stand up comic....has been seen on his knees in the sanctuary for hours on end.
Dave "Sparky" Hatton, has learned that putting up drywall isn't as easy as it looks.
Kathy Copplestone - quiet but lots of fun.
Janie Howland - Always gets to be our Painting Diva. She also tackles a lot of the dirty work. As sweet as candy
Laura Jensen - Has been giving her hammer a workout - usually on the top of a ladder (we should have given her the top bunk).
And me! Donna Allen - always looking for different jobs. I learned how to drywall yesterday! Who knew I could do it? Usually found in the corner of the Dining Hall - typing on the computer.
We are off to a new work day! Enjoy yours.
Terry Combs is our on site construction manager (and the brunt of most of our teasing)
Molly Howes is our coordinator and compassion manager.
Nathan has just arrived and is still getting acclimated. We'll give him the dirty jobs today!
Dennis Woessner - always smiling, always willing to help.
Darrah Bryans - tiny, mighty, compassionate. She and Dennis are leading our daily check in.
Pat Manley was here until yesterday - against the wishes of her physical therapists.
Dwight Manley celebrated a "turning point" birthday here, and hasn't been seen without a hawk in hand.
Nancy Levy also celebrated a birthday here and has an incredible knack for keeping everyone smiling.
Sally and Roger. The dynamic duo. They are known to give spontaneous tours of the area.
Don Keiser is creating masterpieces with wood...but can't shake his darn cold.
Hank Rauch has the patience of a saint, and will help you figure things out with kindness.
George Clattenburg - Captain Tool Wrangler. He has been sent to find anything and everything, between doing many many other jobs.
Jon Treon - in house stand up comic....has been seen on his knees in the sanctuary for hours on end.
Dave "Sparky" Hatton, has learned that putting up drywall isn't as easy as it looks.
Kathy Copplestone - quiet but lots of fun.
Janie Howland - Always gets to be our Painting Diva. She also tackles a lot of the dirty work. As sweet as candy
Laura Jensen - Has been giving her hammer a workout - usually on the top of a ladder (we should have given her the top bunk).
And me! Donna Allen - always looking for different jobs. I learned how to drywall yesterday! Who knew I could do it? Usually found in the corner of the Dining Hall - typing on the computer.
We are off to a new work day! Enjoy yours.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Jambalya!
It's Wednesday night and we are still alive and kicking...only we aren't kicking as high as we were on Sunday. I think I smell the aroma of Tiger Balm.
Nathan has arrived!
It was sunny and in the 70's today. There was a nice breeze this morning, which disappeared as the day wore on. I am not sure if the heat drained our energy or if it was us pushing ourselves to get all the walls done.
We sheet rocked most rooms, and many have been taped. We should be ready to paint on Friday. We were concerned about having so many people in one small house. So far, so good! We are all focused on getting as much accomplished as possible.
There were a lot of people working on projects outside in the sun.
Hopefully, it will continue as the muscles get more weary and the temperature rises.
Tomorrow, our major push will be for taping, mudding, and then plastering.
Working in the Lower 9th Ward is different than in the church. We all got to go out and look around a bit. There is great joy at seeing the city coming back, but sad to see that there are still so many abandoned homes and lots.
Nathan has arrived!
It was sunny and in the 70's today. There was a nice breeze this morning, which disappeared as the day wore on. I am not sure if the heat drained our energy or if it was us pushing ourselves to get all the walls done.
We sheet rocked most rooms, and many have been taped. We should be ready to paint on Friday. We were concerned about having so many people in one small house. So far, so good! We are all focused on getting as much accomplished as possible.
There were a lot of people working on projects outside in the sun.
Hopefully, it will continue as the muscles get more weary and the temperature rises.
Tomorrow, our major push will be for taping, mudding, and then plastering.
Working in the Lower 9th Ward is different than in the church. We all got to go out and look around a bit. There is great joy at seeing the city coming back, but sad to see that there are still so many abandoned homes and lots.
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