Monday's excitement

Oh, what a day. We have worked hard, laughed a lot, been frustrated, had new adventures and shared in the ups and downs of the day.

Team Sawzall has done a great job at putting up new siding, painting, taking down the scaffolding, putting back up in a new place and then starting on the 2nd side. Harold cut three times for the one cut he needed for every piece on an octagon shaped vent but it's beautiful in the end! One more day at Ms. Donna's and they believe they will be ready for a new adventure! The diligence of this band of workers is spectacular...so glad they came with us to bless Ms. Donna!

Team Broken Drill Bits gained a new name...Team Plant the Post. It's a frustrating job but we work for a very kind boss who dealt with the slowness of it all. The stink coming up from the swamp hole wasn't lovely but once the pole was set and cemented in, the stink went away. The wind whipping through the swamp didn't help...in fact it was strong enough to shift the posts off level but we powered through. I will admit that I let frustration take over my body at one point...a level almost bit the dust. But determination won out! There are plenty more posts to plant tomorrow.

Tonight the house had a mini-celebration. It's awkward to write about it but tonight was the Reception and Award Ceremony for the Jefferson Award that I was honored with for the Central Coast back home. I had a few friends represent me and they called and sent texts all night with the fun that was happening back home. The house here created an award of their own...pictures will have to wait until tomorrow...and had a celebration.

And then the text message came..."You won! You are going to DC!" What???!!! I sent a text back..."don't joke with me about this". The response was a phone number...it's true. I was chosen to go to Washington DC this summer for the National Jefferson Award Ceremony. Oh.my.goodness!!!!!!! What an honor! It's capped by the fact that the reason that I'm even being honored with this award is because of the work that we do here in Mississippi and here we are, on trip number 9. Words fail.

Thanks for your prayers! Time to go to bed. We have a Waffle House adventure in the morning!