THURSDAY

            Every morning seems to come earlier for us.  The majority made it to breakfast and prepared for a long day of painting.  Jack, Denis, and Bob spent the morning on Hollywood Boulevard putting some final touches on Sam’s shower.  Everything is all set except for a minor problem… The hot water is cold and the cold water is hot.   So they will spend the morning tomorrow hopefully correcting this error. 

            We were a little unprepared when we arrived at the Boudreax’s house without any supplies to paint with.  After a quick trip to BBM Betsey, and her merry band of youngsters grabbed the necessary paintbrushes, rollers, and trays.  While they were gone, Hal got started power washing and Johnnie made sure to show Abbie and Lynn her bright red amaryllis in the backyard.   Johnnie is very proud of her garden and even offered to send Betsey home with some seeds.  When Betsey came back with the paint supplies she also arrived with Vietnamese pastries for the bakery down the street.  They were amazing!  We need to find something similar at home.  Or maybe not, seeing as I think each one was a days worth of calories…

            Now that we were prepared to paint, we were all a little surprised that the paint color was completely different.  Johnnie had told us yesterday that she wanted to keep the house the same color, but when we opened the buckets the color was a yellowish tan.  We debated what to call the color but names that we brainstormed were “mustard”  “honey mustard” and “baby poop.”  That should give you a nice visual of the color.  The homeowners seem very happy and don’t mind the change because it had been a purple-gray since before Katrina.  Everyone worked hard and we have the whole house scraped with half painted with a first coat and a few sections with two coats.  This will keep us busy tomorrow and a group next week will finish the trim. 

            When we started cleaning up around 3:30, Dave realized that his rental car was dead.  No one seemed to have a set of jumper cables and Budget Rental couldn’t come and jump the car for at least an hour.  Luckily, Abbie was on the ball and had the ingenious idea to ask the neighbors. (A trip to Starbucks is a huge motivator!)  Johnnie’s nephew lives right across the street, so it was a logical first stop.  Abbie and Lynn met a large shirtless man, who did indeed have cable for us to borrow.  After a few tries the car was ready to go and we were off on our Starbucks run!

            Back at SUMA we started a few loads of laundry and took showers before heading to a restaurant recommended highly by those who had come on trips before.  After a long drive, we arrived at The Shed.  And yes, it is just a shed.  They have amazing BBQ and the atmosphere is unlike anything at home.  You sit at picnic tables outside and the waitresses yell your name across the open lot when your food is ready.  We had a great time and enjoyed a dinner all together and moment to relax after a busy day.

            And finally, tonight for your entertainment each member of our crew has a sentence about our day or trip so far. Enjoy!

Love,
Your favorite Bloggers, AH and LC

Abbie- IV of Starbucks, too blessed to be stressed

Jack- It’s good to be Kate.  (After wearing Kate’s nametag all day).

Hal- It’s been great to interact with our clients.  It’s been a lot of fun

Dave- I love DEMO!

Lynn- My camera got power washed today and it’s spending the night in a bag of rice.  It needs your prayers.

Denis- I would do it again. 

Kate- I love running next to the beach and I hate scraping paint.

Ryan- The skateboarding in the south is great because there are many more spots than up north.

Tyler- The security guard at the Seashore Oaks stinks, and I actually enjoyed working down here.

Kevin- Oh wow.  That’s it!  (Quoting our wonderful site coordinator, Tim)

Jen- JAACK!  (As his horn is honking for the millionth time)

Bob- I feel like I’ve found a new family. 

Mary- The highlight of the trip for me was the emotional Baptist service and I’m happy everyone has 

gotten along so well.

Olivia- Clearly, vegetarians don’t belong in the South, and I like commas. 

Betsey- As official den mother and oldest person here, I have thoroughly enjoyed my trips to Dairy Queen with all of the youngest kids.