DAY 3

I am going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures tonight.  I knew how to last year but I forgot.

Today I washed dishes - lots and lots of pans and pots and serving utensils.  I worked on that for over 2 hours.  Then we toured the projects that are being worked on.  We got lost in the 9th ward.  There is so much left to do.  I knew there was a great need and have told everyone that but it is worse than I even thought.  So sad.

Anyhow - I don't have much to say tonight so I will try to do the picture posting thing instead.

love and miss you all.

DAY 2

Day 2 in NOLA is done.  It is cold and blustery here.  There is a freeze warning here tonight.  This is devastating for these folks.  They lack heat in their homes.  I worry for them.

We did the usual today.  Tomorrow hopefully I will take the day off of construction and have an adventure.  I will tell you the details tomorrow if it happens as planned.

Today we got to spend a lot of time with our homeowner named Joe.  We are actually working on his daughters house but it sounds like they may move in with her.  Joe's wife has cancer and she was told that she had 3 months to live.  That was 3 1/2  years ago and she is still going strong.  She said that her doctors may have said that but the big man upstairs is in charge and he isn't done with her here yet.  That is faith!

We had a good presentation from a person from "Save our Coast" tonite about the need for the wet lands and the barrier islands.  I am way tired but her presentation was so interesting.  I wish I had it recorded.  It gave us the history on how the land under New Orleans was formed and why it is so important to the rest of the states.

We have a full day of work tomorrow and on Thursday we work a half day and have a neighborhood festival at Trinity Claiborn and then on Friday we have our usual half day and the rest is for sight seeing.  We don't get much of a chance, nor are we really awake enough to do any sight seeing other than that.  Of course the youngsters are always ready to go.  Well, the first night they are but on the second day they are dragging anchor.  After that they are in pretty early.

Well, it's good night for now.  Want to get to bed and read for a bit.

I love you and miss you all.

DAY 1

Today was busy!   Worked hard at a nice house that is about half way to completion.  We are hanging dry wall, mudding and taping.  Lots of work.  We have a big energetic crew.  Willing to learn and willing to do anything.  My leader is my friend Jen.  Love that girl!  We have the best time together and laugh a lot.

The accommodations here are not real nice like before.  And the food stinks!   Thinking of going out to dinner tomorrow night.  There are a lot of people here.  More than just us.  There are people from the New Jersey area, Boston and Albany New York.  They are all college kids.  It is a hoot but there are waaaay too many folks.  It takes forever to get dinner.

In the neighborhood that we are working in there are still homes that have not even been touched yet.  I ventured into the house behind the one we are working on and it is gutted but that is all.  I feel sorry for those people - 5 1/2 years after Katrina.  What a shame.  There is a house across the street from our house and it has also not been touched.  I was crossing the street, hoping to maybe get a picture of the inside when someone waved from the trailer in the front yard.  I retreated across the street real fast.  Hope they didn't think I was trying to rob their place or anything.  It was interesting.

We are seeing a lot of growth around here.  There are new fast food restaurants, an auto zone, and a few strip malls that are filling up.  That is a positive.  For so long it was a waste land but now it is growing.  That is GOOD.  The Lower 9th still has a long way to go.  We were driving around and there are so many houses that have not been touched.   I did finally get to see Fat's Domino's house on this trip. It's tiny.

We took a small side trip - imagine that - and saw the battle ground where the British and the Americans had a huge battle and the general of the British militia was killed.  We won!  That was really cool.  It is tucked away in an industrial area and right next to the Mississippi River.  Who knew??

I  just LOVE my traveling buddies.  They are always up for an adventure and not against taking "detours" when there is something of interest.  We do a lot of U-Turns when we spy something interesting.

Well, tomorrow is another day of taping, mudding and the dreaded sanding so I best get to sleep.  I really am tired.  Most of you know (because I have whined about it so much) that I fell last week and hurt my back.  Just wanted you to know that because of a DEAR friend and some super-duper Ibuprofen 800's from her, I was able to get through the day but right now I'm hurting so nitey-nite

Love you all.  I will keep in touch.

Ginny

WAY DOWN YONDER.....

We are here - we made it.  I am tired of riding.  Sat waaaay too long.

The traveling was great until this morning when we got to Jackson Ms.  It is true what they say about southern drivers - they are NOT used to icy roads.  There were spin outs on some of the bridges.  Once we cleared Jackson the rain stopped but I can tell you, the weather is far from warm.  It is raining here in NOLA and the wind is really going.  It is COLD.

The accommodations leave a lot to be desired.  We are in what has been referred to as carney accommodations.  We have to go across the yard to shower and use the "facilities".  This is going to prove interesting.  The guys are happy - they have the Taj Mahal of a trailer and a big  screen TV in the common room.  Think it is evenly divided between those rooting for the Packers and those who are rooting for the other team.  I don't like football so I don't care.

Dinner is coming soon so I am going to go for now.  Tomorrow is our first day of work so it will be early to bed so it can be early to rise.

Love you all.

Ginny

OUR 2011 TRIP BEGINS!

Here we go again!  2011 is here and we are getting ready for this year's NOLA trip extravaganza.  WOOHOO!  Time has gone so fast this year.

Things have changed at Camp Restore.  Can't wait to see what the changes look like.  The school has been reconverted back to it's original use as a school.  We will be sleeping in mobile trailers.  The showers will be in the same place as before but there is a new day room and we will be eating in the Church.  Don't know if there will still be services there or not.  This is going to be a learning curve for all of us.  I don't know but I'm not looking forward to walking across the court yard in my jammies after my shower but maybe that goes to my not liking changes.  I hope it isn't as bad as I am imagining.  I will let you all know and post pictures.  Maybe it will be way better than before.  I promise not to whine until after I see it all.

We leave at 6ish next Saturday morning.  YAWN!  As usual our car will be the first to leave (guaranteed) and the last to get there (also guaranteed!).  We have a pretty tight schedule, tho.  There is a service at Trinity at 3 PM Sunday afternoon so we can't dally on the way down.  Guess we can't take any "side trips" this time.  Well, maybe quick ones.

As with the last couple of years I will try to blog daily.  I don't know if the trailers will be wi-fi enabled or what so we shall see.  ..

OK - until next time - Ya'all have a very Happy New Year.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  Also,  please pray for the families we leave to keep the home fires burning.

Ginny

those of us who flew are home. haven't heard from the driving team yet

hi everybody,

it was with heavy hearts that we left our friends in new orleans.  we always wish we could do more but we also know we did a lot.  no matter how many nails were pounded or walls were painted or drywall hung and taped we made a difference.  everyone you talk to thanks you so much for the contribution you make to getting new orleans back.  as so many have said - if they had waited for the government to do any of what we do, they would be no where near moving home.  that is what keeps me coming back and i bet that is a pretty common feeling among all of the team members.

we are all very tired and sore but uplifted.  i tell people these mission trips have been life changing for me and i truly mean it.  i get way more than i give.

friday was a half day for us and a wrap up on many projects.  i personally went with my original team and finished up a few things on malcom's house and said good bye.  that is so hard for us since we come to think of these people as our family.  working on someone's home is so personal.  after a few tears and a good luck prayer we left to join the team at trinity church where we had our candle light service.  there was a team there  all week working on the roof and we joined in doing some caulking and priming.  i got to clean upstairs of the church where there were 3 rooms each with 3 foot piles of demolition leftovers.  i admit i only got one one room done but that was a dent in the junk piles.  we finished our work week at 12 noon and went back to camp restore for a pizza party, our final bible study, and showers!  then we were on our own.  we had to pack up and clean up and get to bed early the next day.  we were on our own for dinner and many went to the quarter.  we chose to go to magazine street - the artsy area of new orleans.  we had dinner on the patio of "catch" a fairly new and wonderful restaurant.  we got quite a kick of eating outside on january 22.  most teams were back very early because we needed to be up by 4 am to pack the truck and on the road by 5ish.  we were all anxious to get on the road or on the airplane to get back to our families.

i drove down but flew back.  i was home by 11:30 this morning and while i missed m driving team i was glad i had flown because along with tee shirts and saints hats, i brought back a nasty cold as a reminder of my trip.  i feel kinda yucky and i need sleep!!!!  in my own bed

there is so much left to do down in new orleans.  there are so many homes that haven't been touched but we did notice so much progress since last year.  the lower 9th that was so bad is bustling with building and revitalization.  many homes are in the process of being built and many are occupied.  we all remarked how wonderful that was.  what a treat it has for us to be a very small part of the rebuilding efforts.  we are blessed.  many of the homes that are not touched are at the point that they may have to be pulled down and demolished.  the rot and neglect has made them very unsafe to work in much less live in ever again.  how sad.

i am ready to start planning my trip for next year (after i rest up and get over this cold).  i can't not go back.  i  love the homeowners we have worked for.  what wonderful people they are.  they are just like you and me.  they had homes and families.  jobs and cars.  kids and grandkids.  moms and dads.  brothers and sisters.  grocery stores, hospitals, churches.  in a matter of minutes that was all taken away from them.  remember - and this is a major thing to remember - it wasn't the hurricane that caused this trouble but the levees that broke and flooded over 80% of the city.  yes - they maybe should have evacuated but how could they predict the levees wouldn't hold the storm surge.  again - it wasn't the hurricane but the aftermath.  i've spent a lot of time studying the storms and the levees and the people of new orleans.  i have read almost everything i can get my hands on.  i have read the minute by minute weather alerts and warnings.  i have studied their mayor and the government in that city.  i have talked to people who lived through the storm and the surge.  i read the new orleans paper almost daily.  i have no idea how to fix new orleans, the levees, or the government, but i know that i can do something for one person at a time.  i can paint one room or clean one church room.

my homeowner is probably sleeping in his house tonight for the first time in 4 1/2 years.  yes, i think it is inadvisable to be back there. yes, i know it is no where ready for someone to move back in, but yes - i know that he probably moved his bed into one of the bedrooms before our car turned the corner on the way to trinity church.  he just wanted to "go home".  he is out of money so his house is at a stand still.  he has enough to have the plumber in to put in a toilet and a kitchen sink, probably balanced on a couple of orange crates and a sheet of plywood, but he will be "home". maybe someday he will get it all done but right now the smallest step home is the most important thing in their lives.

please keep them in your prayers.  please think about coming with us next year.  you have about 12 months to plan.

also - we give all of you a big thank you for keeping the home fires burning while we are gone.  we thank you for your prayers and encouragement.  we thank you for the warm welcomes we got when we got back.  we do love each and every one of you.

if you want some dynamite insight into our week away log on to gulfcoastmissiontrip.com and view the videos.  they are outstanding.  we thank our leader dave moll for that. also, thank you for your comments on the blog, too.  i really appreciate it.  i think the blog was my way of decompressing  at the end of the day as much as it was a way to give you a little taste of that was going on while we were gone.

we love you all.

where has this week gone?????

here we are on thursday night.  it is amazing how this week has flown by.  i hope all of you have gotten a chance to see the website that has been following us on our jobs.  to remind you it's gulfcoastmissiontrip.com.  there are some great video's posted there.

today was so productive for our team.  we have named ourselves the "no faux" team.  that comes from a conversation between jen and steve about the colors that malcom has chosen for his rooms.  jen suggested that if malcom didn't like the brightness of the colors we could tone it down with some faux painting.  steve said "steve no faux" and there the name was born.  i guess you had to be there but we thought it was pretty good.

we have the house painted and tomorrow we will go back and do some touch up's and then we are off to trinity church in the lower 9th across the street from the brad pitt houses to help them do some cleanup's from their week of work.  we will stop at noon and the rest of the day is ours.  since we went to the french quarter last night for our annual hurricane (one) and dueling pianos we are going to go to magazine street tomorrow where all (or many) of the artsy stores are.  i don't know where we will go for dinner but it should be somewhere fun.

then - those that are driving home will be up and out by about 4:30 - 5:00 am and we flyers will be out by 6. it is always bittersweet for us to be leaving when there is so much still to do but so good to get back to our families.  we miss you all.

tonight we took our team pictures and the group picture and then we went out and blessed lark's new car - purchased down here after his went kaplooie!!  one mighty expensive take home gifts i would say.  i just got tee shirts for my take home gifts - oh and hats too.  hey - they are saints hats and you can't get those in illinois.

today was close to 80 at our job site.  it was beautiful.  it is going to be hard to leave this wonderful weather behind.  i don't look forward to your 30's.

it is time for me to take my own advice and look at the web site.  i love the video's

we will see you in a couple of days.  we love you all and miss you.  pray for our safe travels home.