Change of Plan

I didn't do a whole lot today. I had pumpkin cake for breakfast. I picked up a couple things from the store. I did a load of laundry so I will have clothes for this week. I was going to be going back to Luling, but that plan was changed. Jessi will go to Luling and I will go to Olive Tree to keep Megan company. She has ten volunteers this week. And since Colleen left, she's the only one there. I reminded Leslie of how easily I get lost, so me driving around New Orleans was not such a great idea, but she solved that by having me ride with Megan to the worksites. So I guess that will be that.

This evening I went to see the movie Australia. It was very good. There were a couple rather cliche/predictable parts, but it was a good movie. While I was in the movie, Megan called to see when I was getting to Olive Tree. She called Jesse and Leslie to see if either of them had heard from/seen me. They both called me. Everyone was getting really worried. I called them all back after I got out of the movie. I explained I had been under the impression I was supposed to go to OT in the morning, so I had gone to a movie tonight. Everyone was very glad I wasn't driving around lost.

Gumbo Shop

We ate breakfast at Waffle House. Leah and I shared a plate of hash browns and eggs over easy and a strawberry waffle. It was good. Then we drove to New Orleans. We drove past Olive Tree, but Megan wasn't there so it was locked. Then we drove down to the French Quarter and wandered around there. We ate lunch at the Gumbo Shop. It was sooooooo good. I had a shrimp po-boy, but mum and dad's food were even better. Mum had gumbo and dad got a combo plate that had red beans and rice, jambalaya, and something else that I can't remember, but was delicious. Then we went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. Then we came home. Buddy was home, so they got to meet him. Then they headed back to the hotel and I headed for bed. : )

Nice, Lazy Day

Woke up. Took a shower. Folks came over 'bout the time I got out. Hung in the trailer for a bit. Mum and I worked on the puzzle. Dad disappeared to the kitchen to make a belated birthday cake. Taylor and Leah opened every single cabinet in the trailer. We went to the dining tent and played taboo for a little while. Had lunch at Lookout 49, then came back and had cake. Frank had cake with us. Then the girls and I chased Joe around for a while. We drove past a couple of the worksites and then hung at the hotel for a little bit playing cards. We went to dinner at Catfish Charlie's.

Thanksgiving

I slept in a little today. Then I worked on the puzzle some more. It's nearly finished. I gave my folks a tour of the village. Then we drove to the coast and walked along the shore for a bit. We drove to Pearlington and had dinner with Jessie and Mike and the volunteers there. It was very good. The pies were fantastic. The gnats on the other hand were terrible. And they bite. During dinner one of the volunteers was talking about this little dog he'd seen and how it reminded him of Peter Sellers. My whole family immediately cracked up because we knew what he was talking about. ("Does your dog bite?"...) He said he was glad we got it because most people didn't catch the reference. After dinner we came home. Today has been pretty good.

Double Traffic

I left Houma around 8 and got here about 10. There was no traffic. Worked for me. : )

I figured out how to use the cruise control on my truck. Very nice to know. My leg muscles were too tired today to hold the gas pedal down for 2 hours. My arms are a tad sore too. And my back is really sore. But oh well. I would rather be productive and sore than wandering around camp aimlessly.

I did not do a whole lot today. I straightened up my trailer a little bit and I've gotten a lot done on the puzzle. I'm waiting for my folks to get in. They got stuck in Baton Rouge traffic and New Orleans traffic. Bummer.

Here is what the puzzle is supposed to look like:



And here is what we've done so far:

Catch Up

Sorry it took me a while to get the posts up for the last three days. Houma (where we were sleeping) doesn't have wireless. They have little cards that plug into your computer. Except they don't fit my computer. So I had no internet for a couple days. So now you will just get to read several days at once. Lucky you! : )

Today was longer than yesterday. I'm sooo tired right now. We left here just before 8 so we were already working by 9. We got the last nine pods down. We took apart the duct work so it was in small enough sections it can be moved to Texas. We folded and wrapped all the cots that were in the dining tent. There were quite a lot of them. Then we picked up a lot of the rivet and button pieces. We didn't get all of them, but I think it's fair to say we got most of them. We left Luling around 4:30. No rain today. It was cool and sunny. Perfect weather for taking down pods!

Also, there were two women and eight children running around today (well, the kids were running around). They are on their way to Texas and the church let them park their rv their overnight. They gave us some fresh apples that were absolutely delicious! They left around 2. I think I will be coming back on Monday, but I have to talk to Leslie about that first. I don't know why I wouldn't, but I have to get the official go ahead anyway. Now we're going to make dinner. Which is mostly heating food up. We're going to have gumbo and biscuits and assorted veggies. And I am so looking forward to it. I am starving.

Dinner was good. It was just the four of us (me, Kyra, Wilf, and Mary) again, but it was nice. I really do like working and hanging out with them. They're a lot of fun. Apparently Megan is coming down tonight so she can help with the roof project (15 roofs in 5 days) but we haven't heard from her yet. She was planning on staying in a pod, but Kyra said she could stay in her trailer with us. (She calls me roomie now. It's funny.)

Today Kyra was talking about her allergy to peanuts (she is deathly allergic, like if the person next to her is eating peanut butter, she'll break out and if she touches it, she goes into anaphylactic shock) and she said one time some volunteers made peanut butter cookies and she was cleaning up and she picked them up before she realized they were peanut butter, so she went back to the trailer and gave herself two epi pens and went to bed. In the morning the guy who was sharing her trailer ("I slept on one end and he slept on the other. We were in the middle of a disaster, nobody cared then. That was before all this sexual harassment stuff.") woke her up asking (very loudly...) what the hell had happened. She said she woke up and said "What? Morning? We going to Sams?" She said there was also a time when she had gone for a couple days and while she was gone some volunteers anointed everything in the camp with peanut oil and the village manager was running around behind them saying "No! Stop it! You're going to kill Kyra!"

Megan arrived. And realized she brought her left sneaker and right black shoe. We laughed about that for a while. She's wearing them tomorrow just so she can be the story of the day.

Rain and Pods

Today feels rather long, but I suppose it wasn't really. We left here at 8, got to Luling around 9 and were ready to work about 9:30. We got 9 pods taken down. It was a little more difficult than Friday because 1) we had less people and 2) whoever put the pods up riveted everything. Also, they attached the stands for the duct work to the base of the pods. So these pods took a lot longer to take apart. We had a lunch break around 1:30 and quit for the day about 3. So we got a good 6 hours in despite the rain. It drizzled on us some after lunch, but it didn't pour until we were on the road. So that was good timing. There were two older gentlemen (I'm pretty sure their names are Sam and Dennis) from the church there that helped us.

It took us quite a while to get home because there were two wrecks. One of them was really bad. A big semi type truck rolled over. When we got back I took a shower in the shower trailer. The light wasn't working, but I left the door open and I could see fine and the water was nice and warm. I found out later the light does work, but you have to pull the switch inside, not the one right by the door. Oh well.

Kyra and Wilf just ran to the store to pick up frozen pizzas for us to throw in the oven for dinner. Kyra is awesome. She's a kid at heart. She told me she's a therapist mostly for the kids (teenagers) that others have given up on and they love her because she's like them. Most of them have told her they'll quit seeing her when she grows up.

Houma

This morning I baked the two pies and did laundry. The dinner got moved from 4 to 7. I worked on the puzzle. I've gotten a fair bit done. I'll be going to Houma tonight for the dinner (probably by myself. I don't think Buddy is coming like he planned to.) I'll stay there tonight with Kyra and then go to Luling with Kyra and Wilf Monday and stay until Tuesday. Then come home Wednesday to be here when my folks come.

There were a lot more people for dinner than were expected. They thought there would be about 60 but there were actually 100+. Kevin made gumbo that was very good. They were running out of food, so were trying to throw together whatever they could find in the pantry. There were a couple cans of asparagus and a bag of stir-fry and some biscuits and french fries and a salad. Also, we had a bunch of vegetarians. So Lisa was very worried that they wouldn't have enough because almost everything had meat in it. We told them the beans didn't and then Kyra found a piece of meat, but there was only one piece in the giant pot, so she ate it and that was that. I washed dishes which took quite a while. Then Wilf, Mary, Megan, Colleen, Kevin and his daughter (I think her name is Amanda) and I all stood/sat around the back steps chatting. It was nice. Prior to this I haven't had much interaction with Wilf, Mary, or Kyra, but I really like all of them. I think these next two days will be fun.

Baked Squid

I slept in until about 9. Then I helped Buddy google some info for a paper he has to write. He took me lunch at a chinese buffet. It was pretty good. I tried some strange things. The boiled squid wasn't bad, the baked crab wrapped in bacon was an insult to crab meat, and the muscle was disgusting. I had to spit that one out. But the fried dumplings were very good and so were the shrimp. The shrimp had some seasoning on it I'm not used to, but it was still good. There was some very spicy chicken. And of course, egg rolls. It was a very filling lunch. After lunch I went to Michaels and bought two picture frames; one for the snow leopard puzzle and one for the villains puzzle. When I got home I put the puzzles in the frame. After finally wrestling them in I realized I'd put them in up-side-down. So I had to take them out and put them in again the right way. (You think I'd learn my lesson after the first one, but no, I did it with both of them.) The villains puzzle was just barely longer than the frame, so I used a box cutter to trim it so it would fit. But they both look very nice now. Then I took a little bit of a nap. I discovered that Houma is having their Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow afternoon not Thursday, so Buddy and I will be driving to Houma tomorrow. And I will likely be going to Luling after that to work until Tuesday. I'm not entirely sure how that will work. But it will all be figured out.

Luling

I left for Luling at 8. I got there a little after 10. I did not get lost!!!!!!!!! It was wonderful. There was wind, but it wasn't a problem driving, because there are huge trees that block most of it. But in Luling the wind was cold. I'd only taken my light jacket because it wasn't that cold out. And it wasn't. When the wind stopped, it was just beautiful weather. But the wind didn't stop very often. We got 12 pods taken down today. The front and back come off in 3 pieces each. We take out the little button things that hold them together, stack them, and wrap them in saran wrap. The top and sides are all one piece that fold like an accordian. We saran wrap that too. And lastly is the floor which also folds up accordian style and gets wrapped. Everything gets stacked to the side and voila! No more pod! Around 2 we sort of cleaned up and headed out. Don and I left first. I was going to follow him, but I lost him. I made it home no problem. (I didn't get lost again! What is the world coming to?) We left a little after 2 and I was back by 4 ish, so I made good time going both ways. I am so exhausted though. I was ready for bed at 5. I took a little bit of a nap before doing this, but I'm going back to bed soon. I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. : )

Trailer

We had a house blessing today, so this morning I made bread and bought flowers. I put the basket together and we left. Frank, Henry, Christi and I carpooled. The homeowner was very nice and she had a very sweet but very hyper dog. I don't know what kind it was, but it was small like a wiener dog, but not as long and with bigger ears. It was very cute.

After the house blessing I went to the main office and looked up some volunteer contact info. Henry wants to let the groups know the houses they worked on are finished. But he had 13 houses that have been completed in the last few months and each had several groups that worked on them. So there was a lot to look up.

I called Leslie to see if I was actually going to Luling tomorrow. I am. I don't yet know how long. She's supposed to call me back this evening after their meeting. Wilf needs a tool trailer that's here, so I'm taking that. It's a little one, which is why I agreed to do it, but it is very different. Buddy helped me hook it up to my truck this evening. I had to run to the store to pick up some stuff for dinner, so I drove it to Kmart and back. Leslie was planning to have Buddy come down with me, but he has a bunch of school stuff he still needs to catch up on, so he can't go. But that's okay.

I made spinach and black bean quesadillas for dinner. It was just Frank and I (and Joe) but it was nice. He asked if I wanted to come back (in January) and I said yes and he said he would fully support that and Leslie would too. Also, this camp will probably be closed by June, so there will be lots of work even though we don't currently have lots of volunteers. He also said I've done very good work. So that's all good.

Steel Wool

I slept really late by accident, which was okay because there was nothing happening. So I got up at 9 and went to the kitchen and made a couple biscuits. Then I went over to the tool trailer and started cleaning the tools that were outside. From 11:30 to 4:30 I was out there scrubbing the rust off and sanding the handles so the tools would be usable again. I finished 21 shovels. But it was really hard on my hands. I was using a steel wool scrubber to take off the rust, but it also took a layer of skin off all my knuckles and the heel of my hand. And I have a bunch of little cuts on all my finger tips. And I cut my thumb on a cinder block. I poured peroxide on them to clean out the rust. It hurt a little, but not too bad. It also looks like I will be going to Luling on Friday to help pack up the village so it can be taken to Texas. I haven't heard for sure yet, but it is likely I will be there Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. I guess I will find out.

Birthday!

Well, today I turned 19. It was a quiet event. I got lots of birthday wishes and some amusing voice mails from friends. This morning Henry, Don, and I went to the house blessing. I stopped by the main office this afternoon to say hi and drop off mail that needed to be forwarded. (We get quite a lot of mail for this one person that hasn't worked here in months. We do not understand it.) This afternoon I ran around with Joe. That was about all I did today.

No Grocery Shopping?

It was soooo strange to not have volunteers. I was out the door at 7:30 as usual. But no one else was up. So I wandered over to the tool trailer, but everything was put away. Then I wandered over to the office. I straightened up a few papers there, but pretty much everything was already good. So I sent Christi an email to see if I could go in and do DRD stuff. Christi said she was in New Orleans, but her computer was in the office, so I drove over to the main office, but no one was there. So I went looking for a hair salon. I went to a couple different ones, but all of them were closed. I went back to the main office and Leslie was there, so I did the DRD stuff. It didn't take long since we only had nine people last week. I found an open hair salon (oddly enough, it's called Mane Tamers - same as the one I use at home) and got my hair cut. I put a little bow in it. I think it looks very cute that way. When I got back to the village I made two pies with the apples in the fridge, but I didn't bake them today. I put them in the freezer with baking instructions in case I'm not the one to bake it.

Here is a picture of my new haircut.

Cold!

It has been cold this weekend. : (

When I woke up, I discovered the heater had not been running. The trailer was like an ice box. I was buried under 4 blankets and wearing two sweaters. And still cold. I think the heater was just out of propane because when I switched it to the other tank it started working. So hopefully that will not happen again.

After I finally convinced myself I could get up, I went to my trailer and put on my leg warmers and a long sleeve shirt. Then I put on my regular clothes over that. I went to a Waffle House (there's pretty much one every block) for breakfast. I had a strawberry waffle. Then I came back and started a load of laundry and hunkered down under the blankets again. I made an egg sandwich for lunch and moved the laundry. I also sort of went through the paperwork from this week. I still have to do the DRD stuff, but everything else (I think) is taken care of.

I picked up a pizza from Papa Johns for dinner. Then I spent a while cleaning the trailer. I found extra shower curtains in the office, so I changed the curtain because it was getting all moldy and really very gross. I put all the puzzle glue and unsolved puzzles in one cabinet. I washed the sheets. I cleaned off the couch and the counter by the door. I swept the floor. I'm sure it will not last, but it looks much neater.

Two more days until my birthday! Three days until Chris comes home!

Lost in NO

We got our orders of the Fair Trade coffee, so I put ours away then delivered Pearlington's. Then I came back and made a sandwich, stopped by the main office to try and find a volunteer in the data base, then left for New Orleans. Olive Tree had a house blessing there today, so I went to that and delivered their Fair Trade coffee.

On the way home I took 10 West instead of East and didn't realize it for about 10 minutes. Then the exit I took to turn around led to a one way street away from 10. I finally found a street that went the direction I wanted and saw a sign for 10 East and got on. And then realized I had misread the sign. I was actually on 610 East. So I had to find an exit to turn around. I eventually found 10 East and made it home, but I was fairly stressed for a while there.

When I got home, I put on pajamas and made a bowl of oatmeal and climbed into bed.

House Blessing

Since yesterday was so long, I slept in a little bit. Not as much as I would have liked to, but I had to get ready for the house blessing today. I arranged the basket. It looked nice. (I'll put the pictures at the end of the blog.) Then Christi picked me up and we went over there together. No one else came, so we gave the home owner the basket and talked with her for a little while. She showed us all the work that had been done and praised the volunteers for their work and spirit. She was extremely nice and grateful. She said she'll try to come by one of the family night dinners, which would be very nice. She came to one several weeks ago when we had it on a Thursday, but when we moved it to Wednesday she couldn't make it because she has bible study then.

Christi brought me back to camp. Don was here and he and Frank talked for a while and Don took back his phone and keys. So that's good.

I spent 3 hours doing DRD then came home, had a late lunch, and took a nap. I slept for about 3 hours. It would have been nicer if people hadn't kept calling me, but it was still a very, very good nap.

One of the volunteers told me about this website called Pandora. It's pretty cool. You type in a song or an artist and it plays music similar to that.

16+ Hours

Today has been crazy!
Today began at 4:00 in the morning when I got up to take Chris to the airport. On the way home I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up yeast so I could make bread for the house blessing. When I got home I started on the bread because my to-do list for the day was as long as my arm and growing.

As I was waiting for the bread to rise, Don came and talked to me. A client made an accusation and PDA has to look into and while they investigate, he basically can't work. Henry is leaving town today which means I'm the only around with a truck to deliver supplies. Only problem: I didn't really have the time. Henry asked me to pick up and deliver some siding to one of the sites this morning (it's now about 7:30. when I usually make it out to breakfast. just to let you know how early it still is for me). I told Henry that I absolutely had to finish this bread and get flowers, but if the team could wait until 9:00 I could do it.

So in between waiting for the bread to rise, I was running to the office to print directions to the house blessing and to the work site I was supposed to take siding to and running to the storage trailer to get out more plates and bowls because we were running low in the tent. Then the guy who is inventorying all the villages asked if I was available to help him this morning. I told him my day was looking pretty busy, so I didn't think so, but I would let him know if I did.

I got the bread finished and it looked very good. (I tasted it later. It is good. Experiment successful! Thank you daddy!) Then I got in my truck and drove to the flower shop. (It is now about 8:30.) The shop doesn't open until 9 which meant I was really going to be pushing it to get the siding to the worksite and get the flowers and make it to the house blessing on time. (The house blessing is at 11:30 and the house is about an hour from camp.) So I called the group that needed the siding so we could meet at Lowe's and they could get what they needed and I could bring it to them. They didn't answer, so I left a message and went to Wal-Mart to get the things they needed for dinner. I brought the groceries back to camp and was about to go back to the flower shop because it was almost 9 when the home owner called. She couldn't do the house blessing today because she didn't have a car today, so she had no way to get home for it. So we rescheduled for next week and I called Henry and sent an email to the rest of the staff to let them know. So that took a little of the stress out of my day.

About then, the volunteers called back, so I picked up the siding for them. I brought one of the women back to camp with me. She started working on dinner. I had to go back to Wal-Mart because I hadn't bought enough hamburger the first time. (It is now about 11:30) At this point I strongly considered a nap because I was losing focus and becoming non-functional. But I needed to get flowers for tomorrow's house blessing before the shop closed. So I did that. While I was there I got a pinkish orange lily for Leslie because the last two days have been even crazier and more stressful for her than for me, so I thought she would like something to brighten her day.

The lady at the flower shop gave me the lily and one other flower for free and thanked me for coming here to help. She was very nice. So were all the other people there. The man there was working on a wreath and he asked me my opinion on it. It was beautiful. There were blue sequin fish ornaments and a green sequin something with peacock feathers on it and bright green sequin leaves. That sounds kind of loud and maybe too many sequins, but it really wasn't. It was quite lovely.

Anyway, I took the lily over to the main office to give to Leslie. I gave her the flower and a hug. I'm glad I did. It made her smile which she hasn't done as much lately because of all the stress. We talked a little and Leslie did say she would see if she could bring me back in January. So I really hope she can. Since I have insurance under my parents, I can work here more than 90 days (which is the cutoff for the uninsured) but with so few teams coming in she doesn't know if she can justify bringing in staff.

I got a short half hour nap around 4:30 (which was much needed) then a huge sugar rush from eating a pint of chocolate ice cream (which got me through dinner without falling asleep on my plate).

Tonight was family night. We had two families come. It was very nice having such a small group because I actually got a chance to talk to the families a little bit. After dinner we gave them a quick tour of the camp because they've never been here before. It was sort of difficult since it was already dark, but they could see the main things.

I am now up to a 16 hour day and I still have to go make bread for the house blessing tomorrow morning. >.< which means this will most likely end up being an 18-20 hour day. Such insanity. But so it goes. I am going to call home and see what is happening there, then I will go make bread, then I will SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because my sugar rush is about to wear off. I can feel the crash starting already.

The Mystery Meeting

The Louisville folks came by Orange Grove this morning and toured the camp. Frank showed them around and I kinda just followed behind. Then he took them down to Pearlington to see a more "normal" camp (since the headquarter staff don't stay there.) and to visit a house the teams were working on.

I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple things and then Don picked me up and we drove to Olive Tree. Shortly after getting there, I went to the Project Homecoming office with Megan to pick up a projector screen for the presentation.

We had little sandwich quarters, chips, and salad for lunch. Then we had the presentation. It was insanely long. We were there for 3 hours and then headquarter staff had to stay even longer. It was sorta boring and extremely tense. There were a lot of unhappy people. The Louisville people have made some changes in how we spend/get approval for spending in an attempt to cut down on how much we are spending. The petty cash fund is going to be called the emergency cash fund and will only be $50 instead of $500. If we buy anything over $50 (with the exception of Sam's and gas) with the corporate credit card, we have to get approval from Frank. The corporate credit cards are going to be issued under our names instead of our positions. I think that's all the major changes they made.

Anyway, then Don drove me and Chris home. We stopped at a bait store so he could get crabs for his fishing trip tonight and then we briefly stopped by his house. We got back to camp just in time for dinner. And that was today.

Florist Shop

This morning I picked up the Sam's order. It was not very big and I think we're pretty much set for the week now. Which would be amazing. Then I went to a florist shop to see what their prices were since Henry wants fresh flowers for the house blessings. Then I had some lunch and did a little bit of stuff in the office. (Roses are $5 a stem and daisies and mums are $1 a stem.) I washed my truck, took a shower, and went to the main office to turn in my time sheet and shopping receipts. I'll have to do the DRD later this week because Christi's computer wasn't there today.

Chris will come home from tomorrow's meeting with me and Don. Then I will take him to the airport Wednesday morning. Early, early, early Wednesday. Like his flight leaves at 6:30 AM, so he has to be there at 4:30 AM. He is going home to Canada for a week to see his mum and grandma. Anyway, I will probably have to work in a nap on Wednesday to catch up on my sleep.

Michaels

I slept in until about 9:00 then I got up and dressed and did my makeup. I grabbed my directions to the church I was planning on going to and left extra early to give myself some drive-around-lost time. But I never made it to church because I could not find it. So I went to Michaels and picked up some things for the home blessings on Wednesday and Thursday.

When I was poking around in the fridges and freezer looking for lunch, I found four of those pie tins with the crust already in them, so I made apple pies for the volunteers. Dinner was pretty informal. Buddy defrosted some leftover vegetable soup/stew and the volunteers had that and sandwiches. And apple pie, of course. With ice cream.

My week is looking pretty busy right now. Or at least the first several days. I have a bunch of stuff to do tomorrow (mostly paperwork, unfortunately) and I will likely be driving tools and supplies around too, because our volunteers have one van and three worksites. Then Tuesday is the very long meeting with the Louisville big wigs. Then there are home blessings on Wednesday and Thursday and I have to get the baskets together. I'll have to make a loaf of bread for each of them and I have to get fresh flowers the day of/before. Hopefully things will not actually be as busy as it's looking now.

Ahhh! Piles of Paperwork!

I slept in until 8:00 then had apple pie for breakfast. (Breakfast of champions!) Then I organized paperwork so everything would be ready for Monday. I finished about 2:30 and had a late lunch. Then I did nothing for a couple hours.

There is one volunteer still here. He will leave tomorrow. Anyway, he said if I would drive (because he doesn't have a vehicle) he would buy me dinner, so we went to Lookout 49 for dinner. It was very good.

Chris, John and Lisa have gotten all the pods up in Houma and they're hoping they will finish the duct work tomorrow. Chris said he would be home sometime Monday (depending on when they finish the duct work). Then he goes home to Canada on Wednesday and he'll get back the following Wednesday (one day after my birthday). And then my family comes!

Cajun Cooking!

Yesterday I picked up the Sam's order and a couple things from Wal-Mart. I put all the stuff away, got some lunch and then made more cookies because I want to give some to Lisa for her birthday tomorrow. I went to Walgreens and got bubbles and silly string, put them in a shoe box with the cookies and wrapped it in birthday paper. Then I met the volunteers at Lookout 49 for dinner. I had a Cajun pasta that was absolutely delicious, but very spicy. The sauce on the pasta had shrimp, crawfish, sausage, and of course the Cajun seasonings. I couldn't finish it all. The rest of it is in my fridge right now.

Today Don, Buddy and I were supposed to head for Luling about 7:30 so we could pick up my truck on the way to Houma, but we didn't get out of here until almost 9:00. So we went straight to Houma. We took the wrong exit and had to back-track, so we were even later, but everyone had trouble finding it so we weren't the only ones who were late. We weren't even the last ones there. Kevin made pasta with shrimp and fish in it and salad for lunch. It was very good. Then we had the meeting which ended up being very short because there wasn't much Leslie could tell us until after the big meeting with the Louisville staff. So we have another meeting with a bunch of the head honchos on Tuesday. This meeting is apparently going to be very long and a lot of things are going to be changed.

After the meeting we took pictures with everyone which I will hopefully get copies of because there were some good ones. I rode over to Luling with Harold and Dona (the Luling Managers) because Buddy and Don were going straight home. Colleen and Megan wanted to see Luling, so I was going to follow them back to Olive Tree where I could just get on 10 and follow it home. But when we got to Luling, Buddy and Don were there. They put the extra fax machine from Houma in my truck since I didn't have a passenger and then we loaded up both our trucks with fire wood. There is a very nice, very large fire going right now. Oh, and Don gave me a pair of $45 sunglasses for my birthday. You know, the kind that come with the little bag to keep them in so they don't get messed up or anything. They're very nice. And that's about all I know.

And the dinner bell just rang, so I must go!

New Truck!

I discovered that I am not getting emails on my phone. I got on the office computer and had about five emails from the last two days. So now I know I have to check my email regularly.

We have a village manager meeting in Houma tomorrow. And I think Kevin is going to make lunch for us which would be wonderful since he is an excellent cook. I haven't actually eaten anything he's made yet, but all the staff who have rave about it. Also, I will be getting one of the Luling trucks tomorrow. We're going to stop there on the way to Houma so I can pick it up. Dona and Harold don't need it since they use their vehicle most the time and they'll still have one PDA truck, so Wilf and Leslie decided I could have that one. After Leslie rode in the Red Monster she didn't want me driving it anymore because she doesn't feel it's safe.

I went grocery shopping this morning and then this afternoon I went to the main office and spent a couple hours entering stuff into DRD. While I was there, Mary told me that Louisville has finally got the Sam's thing sorted out so we can do the click'n'pull again. Which will make things sooooo much easier!

We had lasagna for dinner and jello with fruit chunks in it, apple pie, and pecan pie for dessert. The pecan pies were delicious!

What? A Weekend?

I actually had some time off this weekend. Don, Buddy, Henry and I organized the tool trailer on Sunday afternoon. That took a couple hours, but other than that, I had the weekend to do whatever I wanted. Which I think is a first. I got to sleep in late! On Saturday afternoon Chris and I watched a couple movies and we made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. I read more of my book. It was very nice.

For the last two days I have gone shopping all morning and baked all afternoon. I made cookies and an apple pie for the volunteers. Tomorrow I get to enter last week's volunteer hours into the computer. That will likely take up my entire afternoon.

I am taking care of Joe tomorrow and Thursday. And I am taking care of Star until Chris gets back from Houma. He, Wilf, Mary, and Kyra went back today. They've got most of the pods back up, but they still have to do the duct work and lighting for them. They're hoping to finish that this week.

Buddy left yesterday morning to visit his mum. He got back this afternoon.

We're going to have two house blessings this week. Very exciting.

I think we're having chili dogs for dinner tonight.