The joys of flights...updated 6:30pm & 6:50pm & 7pm

So we booked it to the airport this morning, up and out of the house at 5:45am Mississippi time. Got to the airport, returned the rental cars, hopped on the shuttle bus, jumped off at the Continental gates and...stood in line for 2+ hours. Flight delayed. It was a long line. Got to the front of the line and they were calling our flights to check in immediately...um, hum. We made it to our first flight from New Orleans to Houston but (drumroll please) missed the connecting flight from Houston to San Jose. That's when the fun started.


Douglas was the only one to successfully get a seat on a flight out, so far. He's heading to SF instead of SJ. True to form, our team gave a cheer when Doug got the seat, which had a visible effect on the rest of the line. Our team enthusiasm and hope reaches far beyond our work in Mississippi. The rest of us are on standby for the 5:55 flight to SJ...if that doesn't happen, our next options for flights out of here are (drumroll again) Tuesday! Yes, I said Tuesday! We did just find out that DFW is only 4 hours away, so there are options.


Just when I was thinking, gee, it's been a pretty smooth trip. Ha! Guess this is making up for our lack of rental car drama. Oh, well, it's an adventure! We like adventures and we're still smiling!

Edited to add: No go for 5:55pm. Meggie has a flight out at 9pm. Only 6 more to go. Continental is holding us hostage in Houston...boo!!!!

Jonathan is getting out! He has to wait until tomorrow morning but he is being released from captivity!!! Steven wants to know what Jonathan did to become the special one.

The battle of the brothers continues. Steven is being released too...he's going to win the battle though, he gets home an hour and 45 minutes earlier than Jonathan. Who's the special one now?!!

The last day--MS7

I was standing on a ladder today, scraping paint, (surprise, surprise) thinking about how today was our last day of work. Usually when I think about the last day, I'm swamped by feelings of sadness but today was different. In fact it's been different the last two trips, not because I'm done with the work but because I know I'm coming back. There's nothing to be sad about because I will be here again, maybe in 9 months, but we will be back.

I think the whole team felt that way today. We knew there was no way to get the scraping all done, so we did what we could on the Yellow House. The crew out at Captain John's did their job, ran out of materials and called it good. And it is! The last job of the day was to install a gate at the back of the property at the Yellow House, which was done in a flash.

The whole day felt relaxed. We had lunch at Turtle Landing with Ben and Ms. Sue, a special treat, took our team picture by the Pearlington sign and did what we could. Quitting time came a little earlier than normal and we left knowing that we had done our best. We will be back.

It's 9:45pm our time and we have to leave early in the morning, so I'm not going to post pictures tonight. My pillow is calling. Check back in a couple of days and the pictures should be up! Thanks for praying!

A blustery day

The wind picked up today. We, (Meggie, Gail & Brittany) didn't notice it much at the Yellow House but when we went to lunch at Captain John's there was a definite breeze. Meggie was very kind to gently point out that it wasn't just a breeze...it was wind! Okay, okay. Douglas stayed out of the wind at lunch but still wanted to be a part of the team. This is what we saw of him.

More wind meant less bugs, of which we are extremely grateful. Meggie's hands and arms are looking like she has chicken pox. More wind also meant a change in weather, which about mid-afternoon meant muggy. It also stirred up the Gulf a bit. Jonathan sent me a text message at about 2pm saying "the water is rising!" The tide is up, rain is coming, flood warnings are in effect. But nothing major, just higher than usual tide. A few of the roads around our rental house have already flooded over. Steven was very disappointed to find out that our street is not flooded. Bummer.

The sheet rock crew busted a move today! Captain John's house is actually beginning to look like a house on the inside! There are walls! There's something very satisfying about seeing walls go up.

There's also something satisfying about seeing paint come off a house in long strips. Really, satisfying. I had fun playing on top of a ladder today, seeing how far I could reach to scrape off the paint. Meggie was perfectly content to stay on the front porch. Gail braved the ladder though!

Here's a few pictures of the inside of the Yellow House. We mucked and gutted here a year ago...it's a little cleaner than before. A group came through and bleached the kitchen cabinets 3x to get them clean.

Tomorrow is our last day. This week went by too fast as usual. There's supposed to be thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully they don't slow the work down!

Watch out here comes Debbie!

This morning was early. Really early. Douglas, the Waffle House fiend, had to have his fix so we headed out the door at 7am for a Waffle House run. There are a lot of people at Waffle House at 7am. Three people came in, sat down, waited for 2 minutes for a table and gave up. We, however, did not give up. This was our opportunity for breakfast and so we waited. Douglas soon had his waffle and ate it in precisely this manner:

1. Cut waffle on the crease to expose a triangle.
2. Cut triangle in half.
3. Fold one half pointed end up with knife
4. Stab with fork and lift to mouth
5. While chewing, start procedure again.

If you follow this method you should be done in a little under 30 seconds. Seriously.

Our sites and jobs didn't change much today. More sheet rock at Captain John's and paint scraping at the Yellow House. There was a little excitement at Captain John's house today, though.

Debbie's job has been to crawl up in the rafters after the sheet rock has been installed to put in the insulation. This morning, just before lunch, as she was crawling back over the rafters somehow her shoe caught on a joist and she came crashing down...just as a couple entered the house for a tour! What a welcome! She's got a bruise, a tender elbow and a scrape on her nose but that didn't stop Debbie from getting the job done. She's a trooper! Word has it that her first thought on falling wasn't "This is going to hurt" but "I hope this isn't the piece of sheet rock that had the perfect cut!" Always thinking about the team, our Debbie.

Team Sheet Rock has almost finished with the ceiling. There are only a couple of things that need to be fixed and it's done. They've started on the walls as well and hope to get more sheet rock to keep going tomorrow.

Over at Yellow House we're having a blast with paint! Okay, our shoulders hurt, our wrists hurt, we're starting to develop blisters from holding the scraper and our hands tend cramp in one position but it's getting done! The back is done, one side is almost done and our plan of attack tomorrow is to finish the side and focus on the front. Meggie is a beast with the paint scraper who really, really, really wants to climb to the top of the burn pile. She's almost convinced me. Almost.

Ben says that we can stay another week. Guess we're doing a good job! All the "young 'uns" have headed to bed. Guess I should too! :) Night!

Half-way there...Day 3

Bugs. The warmer the weather, the more the bugs. The less wind, the more bugs. Praising God today for Skin-So-Soft Bug Spray!


Day three went by really, really fast. We FINALLY got to work on time (8am) and the boss wasn't even there to witness it. Geesh. The crew at Captain John's house went back to putting in sheet rock and insulation and the crew at the Yellow House went back to paint scraping. The morning flew by and soon Mr. Time Keeper (aka Lee) was calling demanding lunch.


Lunch today was at Turtle Landing, the hot spot in Pearlington. We sat outside in the breezy air and enjoyed Shrimp Po'boys, Hamburgers, Freedom Fries (their words) and Onion Rings. Some of us enjoyed Sweet Tea as well (I, Brittany, have found a new addiction). Debbie was curious about the Fried Corn Nuggets which turned out to be fried dough with creamed corn in the middle. Hmmm....Debbie thought it was pleasantly, uniquely disgusting (because of all the fat)and Steven liked them.


Work continued at the same sites after lunch. Brittany & Meggie had an adventure driving through the swamp to find "Tire Town" in order to get a tire repaired that had a nail or something in it. The roadkill count stands at 1 coyote (or something similar), 1 snake, a couple of squirrels and various other things that were unrecognizable. There was one alive turtle too!


It looks like the sheet rock should be done at Captain John's tomorrow. Not sure what the next project will be over there. The Yellow House hopefully will have it's final power wash tomorrow and then it's time for primer! YES!


Tomorrow morning we'll be up a little earlier for a Waffle House stop...it's just not a trip to the south without a trip to Waffle House...or so Douglas keeps trying to convince us. Pictures tomorrow!