The day that was

The whole team is here! Sammy's flight finally arrived at 1:40am and the airport shuttle was waiting for her (aka Brittany and Jonathan in the Expedition). It was certainly a nice thing to have everyone together!

We met Ben at the Yellow House at 8am on the dot. Of course we were scolded for not working yesterday but Ben can't stay upset with us for long. DJ, an electrician from Virginia, has been working hard to get the Yellow House ready for us. He's been in Pearlington since October and will be here through Christmas...much to the dissatisfaction of his family. That's a testament to the power of Pearlington.

The whole team spent the day at the Yellow House, preparing the walls for sheet rock. Okay, well, actually, Brittany and Sammy made a very much needed run to the coffee shop...when part of your team is running on three hours sleep, a Starbucks run is EXTREMELY necessary.

But we digress. At the Yellow house floors were swept and swept and swept again. Baseboard was pulled off the walls in four rooms. Boards were replaced. The old TV antenna was taken down and put on the scrap metal pile. Multiple trips were taken out to the burn pile (which may be lit before we leave). Scaffolding was put up in the parlor and living room so we could get to the top of the 11 foot ceilings to remove the old drywall and remaining nails and screws. Many spent much of the day scraping paint from window and door trim so that the sheet rock will lay flush against the edges. Douglas folded himself into a small space to fix some of the walls (and Ben had a good laugh at Doug's expense). Sammy, Jonathan, Steven and Mary spent the afternoon atop the scaffolding cutting out old dry wall and laughing.

Laughter is a common theme on these trips. There is a lot of teasing, a lot of jokes and a lot of fun being had. It's a good thing.

Tomorrow we will be split into three different groups. One group will remain at the Yellow House and start putting sheet rock on the ceiling. The other two will be heading to Captain John's house for two purposes. One group will be finishing the ramp that our previous team started in March. The other group will be demolishing the trailer that Captain John and his sons lived in while waiting for their home to be built. There is an eager group of people ready to do some demolition of that trailer!

Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. This blogger is tired and ready for bed! Thanks for the prayers! Keep 'em comin'!