Out

Just to give you some background information, Georgia-- and a lot of the south-- has been in a horrible drought for the past 4 years. Obviously, it's gotten worse. The Lake that gives Atlanta its water supply has completely dried up, so we're under a lot of water restrictions. Another big water problem here is that there are quite a few pipes that are leaking. The government is attempting to fix them, why they've waited this long i don't know. but atleast they've started.

turns out, my grandma has a burst pipe. as far as i know it's either just happened or gotten worse, because you could see water bubbling up through the grass at the edge of her yard. we called the plumber, turned the water off and are waiting for him to fix it. [that was yesterday] so we're going to be without water until thursday or friday.

When Atlanta first got put under water restrictions my grandma set up a water system to her gutter, so whenever it does rain, it'll fill up a barrel that's on the side of her house. So we've been using that and bottled water to bathe/cook/clean/etc.

it's been... interesting. hehe

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Yesterday we decided to go up to the mountains.

I have never been anywhere so peaceful in all my life. The only sound was the wind rushing through the leaves, and that was it.

silence.

It was amazing. I had brought a notebook with me on the trip, so I sat on top of a picnic table and wrote letters and thoughts and nothing at all.

[that's a view from my picnic table]

I could have stayed forever.

After leaving the top of the mountain, we just drove around. We stopped at Helen, which is an old German village that had gone Commercial about 10 years ago before tourists bailed. Now it's just a sad town with rides and a putt-putt that are abandoned. We decided to stop at a funnel cake place, though. It was so good. =]

We passed old abandoned houses and barns. [you know how I feel about those ^_^ B-e-a-utiful] i didn't go inside, though... =[

it was a good day. :-]

i love letters!

yay building houses!

[it's been raining for the past 2-3 days, so the site was basically a mud pit.]

we painted today =]
well... other people painted. i had to finish

stapling/nailing the sub-flooring down.

but that didn't stop me from leaning against a wall...

smooth.

i also had to fix some boards in the attic... that turned out to be a horrible task. not only were you surrounded by insulation, but you had to balance yourself on 2 2x4's so you wouldn't fall through the ceiling. and while you do this you are holding up scrap 2x4's to nail into open spaces [in the outer walls.... we're still working on those.]

you also had to watch out for nails sticking out of the roof.

i was terrified.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

i love it here.

everybody is amazing, and this whole trip has been

a great experience. i talk to people i don't know; we

laugh and help eachother and talk about nothing.

and i sort of feel like i'm actually making a difference.

or atleast i hope i am.

hahaha-- you're funny

2 new people today.

i got asked by a 20-something year old what i was in for, but of course i'm a good girl and am just volunteering out of the good of my pretty little heart =]
he has to serve 24 hours because he got busted going 99 mph, in a 55 zone.
smart.

i also saw alejandro and his wife at the store :D they were looking for a mirror, and i got to use some spanish again ^_^ that makes me happy.

George told me good work and then i told him about how i'm helping build their house. then he made fun of me some more for skipping and how, apparently, my cheeks get really red for no reason.

Free came in later on when he heard i was volunteering that day. he's such a good person. he'd help you in the drop of a hat, and make you smile if you were feeling down.

i want to be more like him... he's just one of those people who, when you think back to them, it's always with a smile. =]



P.S.
thank you for the letters =] they're making my day

skip

i worked at the restore again today. i switched my days from thursdays and fridays to wednesdays and fridays.

a lot happened, yet not very much at all. the store was slow, since it's a wednesday, and i spent most of my time coloring. [don't worry, it was for the sake of selling some old chairs-- i was making up a banner]

i was also assigned the task of selling a 300-something dollar 32" t.v. set. any takers?
keep in mind i was assigned this task at about 3:45, and the store closes at 4. well, by the time 4 came around, the t.v. was of course still there and that's when George [store manager] announced that i couldn't leave. har har

not cool...

3 more criminals in today.
what nice people...


except for the creepy one.
i don't like him very much. =\ he gives me the heebie jeebies.



i also got made fun of for skipping down the aisle.
yay making a difference!!!

O_o

yay pain!

I got to use Power Tools yesterday ^_^
It was just a staple gun, though... but still!


I felt so.... powerful. hehehe


We also put in the insulation, which was horribly itchy. The shingles are half-way done, as is the siding. And a couple of people were putting up the porch stairs. I think the porch is my favorite part.




I love watching everybody during lunch, and just throughout the day. Everybody's working together, asking eachother for help. And whether you know the person or not, you always drop what you're doing to help them.

I wish that happened more in everyday life.

=\

I like how many letters I've gotten. Some days I just keep thinking about how much I miss home, and that puts me in a depressed sort of state-- which isn't good. But then I get home [well... my home for now] and there's a letter waiting for me and it turns everything around.

Everybody likes getting letters =]

Site was okay today... I was put back on oven duty, and got some cleaner in my glove as i was pulling my hand out of the oven. It burned! I mean.... seriously. It happened so fast. And it kept happening. Now I have burn spots on my arm. It's nothing horrible... it just stung at the time.... heh

I got a chance to talk with George some more. He's a great guy.

Talking to him about college and just the future in general made me antsy, though. I was so sure of what I was going to do, as far as plans for college and stuff like that, but now I just don't know....

But I really need to start figuring it out.

Today was a good day =]

Really good.

I talked to the 'murderer' today. His name is Chris, he has an 11 year old daughter, and thinks my hair is going to fall out due to the massive amounts of Oven Cleaner I had to use/inhale today. He also thinks Nickelback is awesome, and 'Rockstar' is the greatest song ever...

*gag*

I also met the other store manager, George. So now I know George, Anthony [store manager], Lisa [Mean old Lady], and..... shoot. I forget the other guys name... =\ bummer

George is funny, and gave me a donut for Valentines day.
I like him.

He laughs a lot and makes the day go by faster.


I'm okay with my math assignments. Rodger is going to upload a worksheet onto moodle, or just e-mail it to me.


Mmmm, food time.




oh-- i also get to wear this sexy apron. now that is attraction at its finest, my friends.

Happy Valentines =]

Big Post

January 31

8.34p [in the car]
Hurrah Georgia! We had to leave a day early since a storm is blowing into Ohio tonight. That wasn’t fun. I bet you a nickel I forgot at least 10 things. [I’ve already thought of 2]
Yeah… I think we’re lost. Oops.

February 1

6.36p
60-something degrees and the windows are open. I’ve missed that.

Went out and bought some boots today. And new chucks! They’re clean and pretty and non hole-y.

I start habitat tomorrow. O_O I have to wake up at 6 something and meet the rest of the group at the church at 7.30, then we’ll be working on the house until about 4.

Nervousnervousnervous…. But not really.

I decided to work at the store instead of the warehouse. Hopefully that will work out.

So, yeah…. Yay walkabout!
..?

February 2

8.32p
Habitat.

was.

Amazing.

We’re building a house for Alejandro and his family. He has 3 kids; 2 boys and 1 girl. We found out later on today that his wife has been in the hospital this past week. She’s at their home now, but she’s still sick so she wasn’t able to meet us today. At the end of the day he said he was going to go home, put her in their car, and drive her over to their house. I’m excited for them =]

I got to use some Spanish today, which was cool. I wish I knew more though….

So in a days’ work [we started around 9 and finished at 3] we got every single wall up except for one outer wall. And when I say all of the walls, I mean the interior walls too. I was amazed. For some reason I didn’t think we would get so much done. Although, when you think about it, we’re only working on it on Saturdays for 7 weeks. So that’s one house in [technically] 7 days.



February 3

10.36p
I’ve never been so sore in all of my life… That’s probably an exaggeration, but I don’t care. I hurt. It’s a good hurt, though; One of those “I’m-making-a-difference-in-someone’s-life” kinds of hurt. So that’s nice…. Right?

Not much went on today. We just hung around the house, went out to an awesome restaurant called Flavor.

I miss people.
A lot.


February 4

4.10p
Fear: Dropping cell phone in toilet.
It has yet to happen… Thank God.

February 5

5.35p
I don’t think I’m going to get to do volunteer work this week. I still haven’t even signed up/talked to Kyle. Things have been hectic for some strange reason. And tomorrow’s going to be pretty busy too, which is when we were going to check out the ReStore. Tim is coming over to fix my computer because I can’t get connected to this wireless, then Jo has a meeting at 2, and the ReStore closes at 4. So who knows.

[yay letters! c: ]


February 8

9.42a
Reflection Reflection Reflection Reflection Reflection Reflection Reflection Reflection

It’s so beautiful here. It’s been raining at night, so every morning the air smells and feels clean and fresh. I’m hoping Ohio will be like that by the time I get back.

I have to be at the ReStore in about 2 hours. I have no idea what to expect. We handed my application in on Wednesday, and she called this morning asking if I was still available for the 12-4 slot.

Sure.

[I like finding things I thought I had lost]

9.58p

It never occurred to me that maybe people were volunteering at the ReStore to finish their community service hours until one guy asked me what I was in for. I said nothing, while he went on to say, “I killed someone” and proceeded to walk away. I’m sure he was just kidding, though… Right? Turns out quite a few of the people there were just there to get their community service hours done, though. And apparently they thought I was there doing the same. That was interesting.


It was a good day, though..
sort of.

February 10

9.52p
I wasn’t able to help out with the build yesterday—or at least the actual building part—but I did get to help out with the lunch. A woman brought in chicken, beans, and rice while some other women and I put together some salads and everything else before serving it. After lunch I got to run around and take some photographs. I didn’t get to on the first day since I couldn’t bring my camera, so I was excited about having it yesterday.

Free is the guy in charge of our site. He reminds me of Fred in a way that you could be talking to him one second, then the next he’s off helping someone else—leaving you wondering if he heard anything you’ve said. But he always does, so that’s good. Not to mention he has the best [nick] name ever.

wireless-less

Mhmm, I'm wireless-less. I'm going to be one of those people who writes a lot of entries on Word and uploads them all at once =]

Hopefully I'll have the internet by Monday. [not borrowed....]
ihope.ihope.ihope