Thursday, May 22, 2008

pics from carter build




so this first pic is day 1- we started with the floor system, and this photo is from about 12:00pm. the second pic is friday (the same week- 4 days later)- the house is completely finished. all the subs in, flooring, sod- it needs a fence and punchlist touch-ups. the third is the crew working on the house, and the green shirts up top were our habitat staff crew leaders.

can you believe it? a whole house in one week! it's mind-boggling. mind you, the days were long- on thursday night we didn't leave till like 11:30. but it's possible!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

carter build

hey guys- short note because it's late, and i'm sleeeepy! but i got internet at my place now!! so that's a good thing.
this week is the jimmy and rosalynn carter work project build, meaning habitat works about 14 hour days building a whole house from floor system to dedication in 5 days! i took yesterday off work and got to help all day, but the rest of the week i only get to help after school. i am so impressed by everyone at habitat and how hard they have all worked in preparation for this event and how hard they are working this week. they are a bunch of talented individuals. getting to work on trusses, roofing and shingling really makes me miss doing construction! it's just a feeling like no other- manual labor that is so physically intense, and you see the fruit of that labor right in front of your eyes. sometimes with teaching you hope you're making a difference, but you can't tangibly see or know a difference has occurred. construction- it's either done or it's not! it's either right or it's wrong. it either looks good or needs to be redone. it's very black and white- and it's always fixable. anyways, i will def. put pictures up later this week, but i at least wanted to say hi, and there is a good amount of media coverage on the event- tomorrow president carter and rosalynn come on site to work- i will not be there until the afternoon, so i probably won't get to work with them, but you may check out the news or paper tom. or thurs. and see if it's mentioned. i should also mention that the carter build is going across the whole gulf coast where hurricane damage occurred. it's a huge deal. i feel very fortunate to get the opportunity to work for an event such as this.
alright- well until then i hope everyone is well- talk soon. much love

Monday, May 5, 2008

jazzfest weekend 2


hey guys! hope everyone is well. well, this was weekend II of jazzfest, and i had a bit of a different experience with it. i was working at a local artist's booth in the crafts section. he makes these gorgeous decorative masks out of leather (i'll try and put an attachment on here from his website) and also handbags and belts and stuff. it was really fun. catherine's birthday was on sat. and she had backstage tickets for jimmy buffett, so we got to see him more from the side in front of the stage- but it was really close! :) i skipped school today because i am sick and also had a mosqito bite that kept growing and growing, so i went to the doctor. i got bit in the backyard sat. morning when dallas refused to pee because it was raining, and i was so mad at her! so anyways, but i noticed yesterday at jazzfest my foot was really swollen and itched/hurt really bad. by this morning it looked like an elephant foot, and it hurt like a bruise. so the doctor made me get xrays of my foot because he thought the infection may have spread to my bone. can you believe it!? well thank GOD that the xrays came out fine, but he gave me 3 antibiotics for the infection. ridiculous! and to think i was gonna ride it out. sometimes you've just gotta go to the doctor. anyways, so that's my second weekend adventure. i'll attach a picture of a mask. hope everyone's well! love much!! pic didn't work- here's his website you've gotta see what can be done with leather!! http://www.johnflemming.com/limited2.htm