Las Cruces, NM
Monday, March 3, 2014
Habitat Orientation
 |
| Jardin de Esperanza |
A good night’s
sleep! We have a free morning, so after
a leisurely time and a little breakfast, we head out for a walk down toward the
Downtown Mall area. A good chance to
explore a little. We found a beautifully maintained community garden - Garden of Hope. Back in time to shower
and be ready for our noon potluck across the street at the Habitat office.
We finally get a
chance to meet everyone! Bill and Linda
are first time CAVs from British Columbia, Kit and Brenda from Maine, Steve
from Montana, Terry & Michelle from Rochester, NY, Joyce and Fred from
Boulder City, Nevada, and Warren from South Carolina who is scheduled to arrive
this afternoon. (He had motor home
problems in Texas and had to wait til this morning for repairs!) Seems to be a good group. Great food for the potluck, and everyone
seemed to enjoy my Italian sourdough tomato bread!
Marie, Habitat
Director, explained all the décor on the walls: charts of houses built each
year, letters from children, pictures of CAVs (we found our group shot from
October 2012), Pete’s schedule of house building, homeowner bios and work
hours, etc. It is a BUSY room!! Dyana spoke briefly as our team leader and
Pete as construction supervisor – we will be mostly finishing houses: paint,
trimwork, maybe laying some tile.
 |
| Two of the four Habitat Houses |
 |
| An example of the homeowner bios - I worked on this house Tuesday. |
One thing I liked
is that the bio for each homeowner is posted on the front window of the
house. I read a couple of them while we
were out there – they almost made me cry.
But….it reminded me again why we are doing this! It ISN’T just for the Happy Hours every
afternoon!
Rick and I made a
quick trip to Walmart for a few more groceries and forgotten items, then back
to relax, chat with Luke, etc. Our
neighbor Warren arrived around 3:30 pm and got all set up. I went down to WW at 5 but was turned down
because I don’t have my actual CARD with the number on it. Sent Luke a text and hopefully it will come
SOON in the mail and Luke can send me a copy.
Tried calling WW national HQ, but they couldn’t help me. Hmmmm.
Brenda wants to go
to the Zumba class at the Fitness center just a couple blocks away at 6, so I
said I would go with her! It is only
$2!! Fun, but not as good as Annie and
Melissa! I had trouble following the
steps and it seemed everything was the same….for an hour! Agh!
That should have burned off some calories though!
Quiet evening as
we prepare to WORK tomorrow!!
Oh….I did spend the day working on a design
in honor of this affiliate. Will color
it tonight. It has agave cactus, the
Habitat logo, paintbrushes, hammers, screwdrivers, etc. on it! Plus an M and a V for Mesilla Valley! 
Tuesday, March 4
 |
| Gathering before devotions |
Up and at ‘em today!! We gather out front around 7:25 – Warren,
from SC, is going to follow us out as he missed the chance to see where the
site was located yesterday. We offered
to just drive him, but he wants to take his ‘tools’!
 |
| Rick attacks the eaves with Kit |
Dyana gives devotions today – an excellent
poem from a Habitat worker named Burke
back in 2005. I want to find a copy of
it. Rick is on for tomorrow and I have
Thursday. Then the ‘Habitat is not a
hand out, but a hand up’ and we start talking PAINT! I volunteer for the inside crew to paint
trim, doors, molding, etc. (Boring
off-white, but it has to be done! )
Brenda, who is also the national CAV team leader recruiter, is with me
as well as Linda, a first-timer from BC Canada.
Brenda ends up spending all day with a caulk gun, filling in the gaps in
all the door frames, floor molding, etc.
She and I fill nail holes in the moldings. Linda mans a mini roller and paintbrush, and
the two of us trim doors, etc. There is
considerable trim work to be done!! By
the end of the day we at least can say two bedrooms are completely done, and
parts of a lot more.
 |
| Ginger adds a little of Rick's trim paint...just to paint something other than WHITE! |
 |
| Linda makes neat shadows in the laundry! |
Rick works all day outside with the
exterior trim crew. They are painting
soffits and eaves of the two houses that
have the stucco done. Both crew almost
finished by the end of the day and should be done by morning break
tomorrow.
 |
| Michelle had a little trouble getting OFF the roof! |
We took our morning break at 10 and then
lunch around noon. Breaks are the
opportunities to get to know each other as we sit in a circle in the sunshine
and visit. What is your occupation? Talk about family. But mostly, people talk about previous
Habitat experiences, common acquaintances met along the way, etc.
We break at 2 to spend 20 minutes cleaning
brushes! Lots of them! Then home to shower! I went over to the Habitat office hoping to
get on-line and I was successful! The
connection is better there. I shall try
it again tomorrow! But hopefully, the
company is coming to fix the internet in the morning as well.
 |
| Dyan in her Mardi Gras finery |
 |
| Rick and Steve have a good conversation during HH |
In celebration of Fat Tuesday we have a
Mardi Gras Happy Hour. Mostly Dyana put
out her decorations – the rest of us didn’t have much time to prepare! I cut up half of the giant pineapple I bought
in Socorro (for $2.38!!!). There is a
firepit between Pete and Dyana’s trailers – a nice touch!! Also they have a picnic table there. A good Happy Hour location! The fire felt good as the evening is cooling
off.
By 5:45p people are heading back to their
rigs for the evening….. while watching TV I drew another Habitat Mandala...this time with the names of this group's participants! AND paintbrushes, but no drab colors here!
 |
| Mesilla Valley Habitat - our names are in the center section. Includes the New Mexico symbol, stucco house and Habitat logo person, hammers, and COLORFUL paint!! |
 |
| Joyce works on the eaves of one house. |
 |
| Dyana painting on the doors and trim. |
 |
| Morning break! Rick found shade in the back. The rest of us were seeking sunshine! |
Wednesday, March 5
 |
| Rick back on the eaves. |
Not quite as cold last night! We never put the heater going, however, so
the trailer was still 46 degrees when I got up!! I quickly plugged it in and cuddled into my
blankets. I will be sad next week when
it is dark again when I arise in the morning!
As soon as the sun crests the hills it starts to warm up – it promises
to be a beautiful day in the low 70’s and clear blue skies!
Rick has devotions this morning and uses
his James scripture about faith without actions being dead. Always a good one. I am on for tomorrow and Saturday. From start until morning break, everyone
pretty much goes back to whatever they were doing yesterday. Rick is back painting trim outside, and I am
back inside, patching nail holes and painting baseboards and molding.
 |
| Brenda caulks the closet! |
 |
| Mopping the bedrooms! |
Rick replaced door hinges between break
and lunch! Eventually Fred went to help
him. Dyan had said when we were painting
not to worry about paint on the hinges because they were going to be
replaced! Guess they were the wrong
color.
Paula, the office accountant, makes treats
every Wednesday for the CAV crew. Today
was chocolate chip cookie brownies with walnuts. VERY good!!
I tried to refrain, but it was CHOCOLATE! It felt so good to sit and soak up the warm
sun while we ate lunch.
 |
| Bill works his way down to paint the eaves. |
Tomorrow we are ALL painting the interior
of the house that was textured today.
Any other unfinished jobs (like the blinds) will be covered later in the
week. Should be interesting as Pete says
the crew will completely prime and first coat the entire interior of the house
tomorrow! Oh boy!!
It has been interesting coming to Cruces
at the end of the build season. Totally
different work than in the fall. Fall is
framing and sheetrock, etc. We are into
finishing work now. Many CAV’s don’t
like to paint and they pick their builds accordingly. (Others refuse to mud sheetrock, so they
avoid those places.) I figure it all has
to get done at some point!
 |
| The Bio for the house we cleaned today. |
Back to find the internet
works….ONCE! And then bang, gone
again! So it is back to the office after
showers to at least get the email addresses loaded and a few pictures printed
off for tomorrow.
Happy Hour is lean tonight, but three
couples and Warren enjoy a good time and Chuck even came over for a little
bit. Dyan had other plans for the
evening. I took the rest of our
pineapple and some of the Johnny’s garlic chick peas. Michele brought white hot dogs, a specialty of New York. Basically pork I think. She had catsup and mustard to dip and had
roasted them and stuck a toothpick in small pieces. Good.
Had a good chance to talk up CHRPA
as some of them are interested in spending time in Tucson. I am really enjoying our neighbor Warren, who
we suspect is in his late 70’s.
Back to the trailer at 6 for a relaxing
evening! No internet, so……Shalom!!
Thursday,
March 6
PAINT!
Another beautiful morning…AND the internet
worked this morning so I was able to post my devotional blog, my RemboldsRoad
blog AND to Facebook! Wow! All before 6:45am!
 |
| Homeowner of the Paint House! |
I had devotions today, so I used a
Scribble from our last visit to Cruces and a James scripture. Also showed the prints of the mandala designs
I have done. I will send out copies of
all this as soon as I have a more uninterrupted internet connection!
 |
| Rick checks out items while painting in the kitchen. |
 |
| Ginger rolls briefly in a bedroom. |
 |
| Rick in a closet! |
 |
| Cleanup of brushes! |
Back at the trailer to talk with Luke,
visit the office for some internet time, shower, and head over to Happy Hour
around 4:30. Dyana was there briefly and
then just Warren, Steve, Rick and I.
After Warren left, Rick and I went to Steve’s trailer to meet his wife
Pam. We sat there and visited with them
for another hour! Good folk!
 |
| A favorite sign posted on the door of the tool trailer. |
We talked during Happy Hour how most
Habitat CAV crews work together so well.
Common goals? Common places in
life? BTW, Warren next door is 82! And he was telling me today while we painted
together in the utility room that last year he got his brother to go with him
on a build. His brother is 91!!! Oh, that we can still be doing this kind of
work at that age!
Friday,
March 7
A Little Bit of
Everything!
Another day on the job and it was a
multi-tasking day for the group. Steve
was going to be gone, having to take Pam to the doctor for progress report
x-rays on her foot, etc. He hoped to be
back by noon, but things didn’t go as expected!
(L)
 |
| Putting up the blinds! |
Following an excellent devotion by Joyce,
who reminded us of a spiritual moment in Pagosa Springs when the team leader
had them sign the framing of the house with a blessing for the new homeowner,
we broke into our various task groups.
Pete asked for volunteer who wanted to learn to lay tile, then
volunteers who wanted to learn to install cabinets. Rick went with the second group along with
Fred. Brenda and I knew we were to finish
installing the window blinds from two days ago!! Linda came to finish shortening the blinds as
we got them up!
 |
| Linda has the job of shortening all the blinds. :( |
We are getting faster with experience, and
by break time had finished with the remaining five windows. It helped that Rick told me how to get our
little power drill to stay working (hit it on the base to drive the battery
back into contact!) All the other groups
will be at their jobs for the day!
 |
| Pete lays down tile while Bill watches 'how'. |
So….after break we are back in the same
house to tackle the ‘punch list’ – this is a list of final little things that
have to be done or corrected to call the house ‘DONE’. Warren was installing bathroom mirrors and
towel racks. Linda and Brenda began the
job of cleaning the door hinges of paint, which ended up a job that took the
rest of the day for Linda. (Brenda went
with Dyana after lunch to install a bathroom cabinet.) I swept out the house, re-papered the
bathroom tile floor (protective paper), repaired the rips in the paper in two
houses, and then started in on the little bits of blue masking tape everywhere
that indicated something to fix: maybe a dirty mark on the wall, a hole to be
patched, a nail hole to fill, more caulk needed in a seam, etc. I armed myself with nail filler, caulk, and a
can of interior paint. It was hard to
keep track of what I was doing at times, but by the day’s end most every blue
tape was gone!
 |
| Rick levels the cabinets... again and again! |
A quick visit to the office to post some
blogs before Maria left for the day. The
new internet modem is on the table, to be installed on Monday. It can’t come too soon! That shall be my birthday present from
Mesilla Valley Habitat…if it gets done!
Then another visit to Pam to bring her a couple of my scribble books to
‘read’ – something different from what she has to entertain her for the
weekend! She is going crazy.
Rick and I thought about going out for a
bite to eat (we haven’t really eaten a true dinner all week!), but we are going
out tomorrow night for a NICE meal (Bday dinner for me with Jed!), so….we pull
the fake crab from the fridge and make do!
It is windy this afternoon, but the fence protects us a lot from the
worst of it. Should die down later
tomorrow afternoon.
So….another quiet night in the little
trailer in Cruces! I contacted Silver
City this evening just to see where they were at in their build and if they
could still use us.
CLICK HERE for all our Habitat build pictures to date
 |
| Organ Mts. from the end of the cul-de-sac at Habitat build site. |
Farmer's Market and More!
Rick and I split up this morning! He hitched a ride with another car to the site, while I drove Brenda, Linda, Joyce, and myself to the WW meeting to get a weigh-in, and then down to the Main St. Mall for the Farmer's Market. We spent about an hour shopping before dropping off our goodies and arriving just about at break time!!
The market is about four blocks long - plenty of vendors who set up every Wednesday and Saturday. Produce is lean right now - mostly greens and hothouse tomatoes, etc. I picked up some lettuce for next week's salads, some 7 grain bread, some cards for birthdays, muffins for breakfast, and the nut orders from Pete and Steve (pecans and pistachos!)
At the Habitat site, Rick spent the day nearly finishing his cabinet installation! I bounced around painting exterior door trim, installing weatherstripping, cleaning bathtubs, etc. All punch-list stuff. I have NO pictures of today's work because I left the memory card in the computer this morning! (And the Smart Phone does not come onto the job site!)
Today is MUCH colder...as forecast! We even had a little light rainfall off and on, both at the site and at the Farmer's Market. But the wind had died down and the weekend is supposed to improve as it goes.
We clean up and Jed arrives right at 4:45 in time to whisk him away in the truck for our dinner out at the Empire Buffet. Rick and I had mentioned at lunch that we were headed there for my birthday dinner and we ended up with a group of 16!! I think all the CAVs came! We grabbed Warren at the last moment because he had missed the announcement.
 |
| My seafood plate: crawdad, octopus, and frog leg. |
This Chinese buffet is awesome. For a flat rate of $10.79 dinner, you have a sushi bar, a Mongolian grill, seafood galore, plus the usual Chinese buffet dishes, a salad and dessert bar. Oh my. I ate WAY too much, but I was feeling quite adventuresome, so I tried frog's legs (so-so), octopus (cuter than it tasted) crawdads - (one bite wonders) and stuffed scallops. I went back for the buttered seafood - shrimp, crab, and scallops! Probably more butter than I have had in the past two months!!!
We dropped Warren back off at the RV park, and then headed back to the mall to WALK around for a bit! Spent most of our time in some weird decorating store and then in a B&N bookstore! Back at the trailer, Jed gives me a present - his digital drawing pad. But we struggle to get it working correctly! However, he DID show me how to set up the phone as a wireless HOTspot, so.....I CAN get the computer on-line when I HAVE to!! Hurray! Then a game of Love Letters in which Jed wipes me out!! (NOT showing the Love!) Rick set the clocks ahead so we would get to bed at a decent hour (before midnight?)
 |
| Dyana took our picture across the table at the Empire Buffet. |
Birthday Hike and
More!
Thirty six degrees this morning when I got
up at 7….and a little dark still. I hate
this daylight savings time change. Like
the late light, but hate the morning dark!
But….it is a beautiful dawn.
Clear, cold, and SUNSHINE!
 |
| Near the trailhead to Soledad Canyon |
Jed gets up around 8:45 and we dine on the
muffins I got at the Farmer’s Market. We
packed up jerky, cheese, and apples for our hike, but I managed to leave the
backpack in the trailer. Good thing Rick
had a couple water bottles in the truck!
 |
| Jed at start of trail |
We were able to follow Pete’s directions
to the trailhead (written out on a napkin last night at the restaurant). We are about 10 miles east of town at the
base of the southern half of the Organ Mts.
We check out the map at the trailhead and take a good loop hike. I have to remind myself constantly down in
these ‘south lands’ that hikes need not always be through pristine virgin old
growth forests, alpine slopes, with lakes tucked beneath snowy peaks. There is a beauty in the open spaces, the Joshua
trees, the yucca and agave, the cholla cactus, the rocky crags. We even found a few wildflowers along the
way! The canyon floor was covered with
golden grasses. Deep blue skies (which
clouded over right as we entered the narrowest – and coldest – part of the
canyon!) We could see out to the valley
floor, Las Cruces spread out before us.
The furthest part of the trail entered almost a slot canyon feel and
ends at a solid rock wall with a waterfall seep. There was an old cistern catchbasin halfway
down the wall but it was empty (Jed climbed up to check). It was cool up there!
 |
| On the trail! |
We backtracked out of the waterfall canyon
and then found the rock house ruins. An
abandoned metal feeding trough was nearby.
Took a few pictures using the walls as a tripod, and then we headed up
to the saddle of a pass behind the stone house.
From here we can look down onto the Dripping Springs trail. It is probably the best known trail on the
west side of the range.
 |
| Rick and Jed |
A fire, prescribed or not, has come
through this area in the past 4-5 years.
There are many yucca, Joshua-style, burned and left lying on the ground. Other trees show evidence of a burn. I think they prescribe burn now after a
series of fires in the past. I heard on
the news a couple days ago about a prescribed burn on the Dripping Springs
trail last week.
 |
| Entering the narrow part of the canyon |
Back down into town and we follow
University Ave west to Mesilla, an old border-disputed town just south of
Cruces. Every Sunday afternoon there is
an arts and crafts fair in the plaza.
Many of these vendors are the same ones who were at the Farmer’s Market
on Saturday. But first….we are
hungry! We find a little Mexican diner,
Emilia’s, right next to the plaza. Live
music is playing inside, and the price is right!
 |
| Family portrait at the rock house |
 |
| The 'waterfall' |
 |
| New Nativity! |
Back through town and then up to the
Habitat site to show Jed where we have been working and what we’ve been
doing! By 3:30, Jed was on his way
northward. He has turned in his thesis
to his advisor and while she is looking it over, he will begin work on the
article he has to write for a professional journal. Graduation is nearing!!! Still slated to defend in mid-April sometime.
Laundry, phone calls with Moms, and a lazy
evening complete the day! It is going to
be cold tonight – maybe even hit freezing.
Bundle up!
 |
| View from saddle toward Dripping Springs and northern part of Organ Mts. |
MONDAY, March 10, 2014 (I had to put the year so it was easy to do the math to 60!!!)
HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY, GINGER!!
 |
| Billy the Kid info in Mesilla |
We didn't have much planned for today! A lazy morning, but by 11 we were up and ready to go! Our plan was to hit a couple of museums in downtown Las Cruces and then head down to Mesilla Plaza again to really have a chance to look things over. Well....the museums are all closed on Sundays and Mondays!! So, straight down to Mesilla. We poked in and out of little shops the bordered the plaza, not purchasing much of anything except a chocolate covered pretzel and some postcards! Mesilla is the site of Billy the Kid's trial and has some great history.
 |
| Our new trailer decor! |
 |
| At the Olive Garden |
Back to the trailer to talk with Luke on the phone, Liz on the phone (we sang to each other), make up salad for the week, boil some eggs, and make 6 egg pancakes to wrap in tortillas for breakfasts. I had to borrow a spatula from Warren to flip the pancakes! Oops, forgot that!
 |
| What a birthday cake! |
Dyana sent out an email around 5 asking if anyone was willing to work in the office for the day. I responded that I could if no one else volunteered, so....guess I am spending tomorrow babysitting the Habitat office from 8:45 to 1 pm. Something new and exciting!!
CLICK HERE for all my birthday weekend pictures
Tuesday, March 11
Minding the Office....
Well, I think I said something about new and exciting at the end of yesterday's post. New maybe, but definitely NOT exciting!! Rick left to spend the day at the site finishing up his cabinet installation with Steve, and then worked on the punchlist for house number two: cleaning tubs, sweeping, etc. He said the stucco crew came and applied the first layer to the chicken wire house (number 4, which won't be completed until next fall.) That was pretty interesting to watch.
In the meantime.....I headed over to the office shortly before 8am and got my instructions on how to use the two-line phone. I was put at the desk right inside the front door, where I set up my laptop so I could work as I had time. Maria and Paula left for their training at 8:45, Marie (the director) came in for an hour and half around 10, and then Paula returned at 12:20 or so. So....I wasn't 'on my own' very much of the time. I think I took about 5 phone calls and was there to welcome Alma, a young gal who came in looking to apply for a home. She really needed a Spanish speaker, so hopefully Maria was able to call her back later in the day!
One of the phone calls was from the Habitat CAVs during morning break. They called to sing Happy Birthday and then informed me they were eating all of the birthday treat Brenda had baked for me the day before! I said bring me a piece of evidently it fell into the dirt before they could get it home!!! I felt bad Brenda made it special and then I wasn't there! But everyone told me how yummy it was!
 |
| My official birthday cake!! |
Headed back to the trailer at 1pm and called Katy Nicole in Baker City to catch up on church news and just visit. After that visit, I walked over to Pam's trailer to pay her a social call! Talked with Pam until all the Habitat workers arrived back from the job.
Rick surprised me with a birthday cake from Baskin and Robbins at Happy Hour. He tried to get one from Dairy Queen, but guess they don't sell ice cream cakes at the DQs in Las Cruces! It was very tasty, and since he announced it at the job site, EVERYONE showed up today to partake! Even Pam made her first outing from their motorhome to join us!
Joyce loaned Rick and I the movie UP to watch, but Tuesdays are the only good TV night, so it will probably wait for another evening! I got started on a composite Habitat scribble this evening. Will put the finishing touches on it tomorrow.
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day in the mid 70's. While tonight isn't supposed to be as cold, tomorrow is forecast for about 20 degrees cooler! What a temperature roller coaster down here at the moment!
WEDNESDAY, March 12
Tile Grout.....
 |
| Eerie Eastern sky enroute to job site |
It is a cool morning and the skies in the east over the mountains are eerie colored. I think there is alot of dust in the air! Joyce shows up to the site dressed for a blizzard! But I think that was partly because Dyana made some mention of the beach girl's thin skin in last night's email.
 |
| Joyce with hat, mittens and scarf (and Dyana!) |
 |
| Preparing the cracks between tiles. |
 |
| Pete and Rick put grout down. |
 |
| Our hyacinths are powerful scents! |
 |
| I had the job to clean out the grout bucket into the dumpster! |
 |
| The finished Mesilla Valley CAV Composite |
We watched the movie UP! tonight, compliments of Fred and Joyce. I nearly cried at the beginning, but it was fun! Some good laugh moments, and I thought of Marg often with all the dogs.
 |
| The sidewalks and driveways all got poured today - what a beautiful job this crew did! |
 |
| I realized I have never posted our Habitat RV Park site ....tucked into the end on the west side! |
 |
| Steve and Rick finishing up the papering of the tile! |
THURSDAY, March 13
Cabinets and Coping...
 |
| Amanda and family ready to work! |
 |
| Habitat is not a hand out, but a hand UP! |
 |
| Steve and Rick leveling....again and again! |
 |
| Coping floor molding...all day long in the sunshine! |
An ant hill (well, now three ant hills) in the center of our break and lunch area has entertain the group for this week. (It doesn't take much!) Today Terry was building them a 'subdivision'. They have been provided food, a playground, stone structures, you name it. They are mostly red ants and very industrious!
 |
| Lunch time entertainment....Terry and the Ants (Sounds like a movie!) |
Today was our dinner out as a CAV team at La Posta in Mesilla Plaza. This is a historic stop on the old Butterfield Stage Line. (Mesilla was once the largest town in the SW between San Diego and San Antonio, TX!) A busy place as they were having a huge tequila tasting tonight. But we were finally all seated in a back room (to ourselves!) I enjoyed visiting with a couple of parrots out in the waiting courtyard - covered with papel picado, plants, and painted walls. The green and yellow parrot was very social!
 |
| My social parrot! |
All
16 of us dined together. It was nice to see Pam 'out and about', although
she is limiting how much she walks on her 'boot'. Good meal, although I
told Rick my sangria was more ice than anything else and definitely NOT worth
the $6 price. Otherwise I had a chicken fajita salad which was very good.
The salsa was HOT!!! Rick had 2-3 bowls worth!
 |
| Chuck, Brenda, Kit, and Dyana |
We walked around the Plaza again as we left -
and saw the progress that had been made in the reconstruction of the plaza
bandstand. The whole upper level has been added since last Sunday!
 |
| Mesilla Plaza bandstand and church |
We can hardly see the Organ Mts. as we drive
home. Dust? Something is in the air!! Tonight should not be
as cold as last night, however!
Evening spent catching up on letters, emails
to Silver City, Pam, Kady, etc. Oh, and drawing an Ant Scribble!!!
G'night!  |
| In honor of our ant hills!! |
Cabinets and Molding!
 |
| Felicia works to cope a corner on trim. |
 |
| How did we fail to realize this closet door opens inward? |
Felicia works as a manager down at the Pro-Ranch Grocery store and has two children: A 4 year old boy and an 8 month baby girl named Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backwards!) She is very excited, but still has 22 hours to work before she can move in! She said the dedication and closing is supposed to be sometime in mid-April. I am so bummed to miss it!
 |
| They look good, but still not level? |
Everyone enjoyed the ant picture! Terry just laughed and laughed, and then quickly started playing with his 'estate' during break. Rick told him he should have been a city planner!
 |
| Terry reigns over his ant kingdom. |
I announced at morning devotions that it was PI Day! We would be bringing some type of Pie treat to Happy Hour! People couldn't believe that I had received a Pi Card this morning (thanks, Marg!) but they don't realize the importance of this day in a family filled with mathematicians! As it turned out, we couldn't find a pie at Albertsons that was going to be easy to cut into 16 pieces (or cheap enough) and the Belgian Eclairs were on sale and in easy to serve sizes! So mini-chocolate cream pies??? Dyana had crab dip to die for at Happy Hour and Linda brought an artichoke-spinach dip. Needless to say, that was dinner!
I worked on a Habitat Prayer drawing during the evening. Over 40 names of Habitat homeowners, affiliate workers, family prayers, and church community prayers, as well as a few global concerns.
SATURDAY, March 15
A Final Push for Completion....
This will be my last post from the Las Cruces Mesilla Valley Habitat CAV Build. What a fantastic group of people we have worked with these past two weeks!! Plus....it rained a little last night!
 |
| Manning the copy saw and chop saw. |
Rick hitches a ride with Steve this morning, as I manage to get one more WW weigh-in off the record at 8am, and then drive out to the site. Got there just in time to raise my hands with the Habitat 'Hand Up' mantra!
I was back on the chop saw all day, cutting door trim and floor trim. Lots of coping corners, recutting, measuring, etc. Others were cleaning, painting, and doing outside yard raking, etc. Rick was behind a paintbrush all day, doing the trim work on Felicia's house.
 |
| Rick did NOT just sit around all day on the roof! |
I discovered today, while Amanda and her parents put in some hours, that Amanda is Jacobs brother. Jacob has the first house and will move in soon. Amanda and her son will be moving into the fourth house next fall. Both of them and their collective 4 children are living at home with their parents at the moment. No wonder Mom and Dad were there helping them accumulate their hours! They want their house back!!
 |
| Ants with football |
 |
| Our group picture! Steve, Dyana, Chuck, Michele, Terry, Warren, Joyce, Fred, Kit, Brenda Ginger, Pete, Rick, Bill, Linda |
The morning was warm and sunny. I had put on my shorts to weigh and left them on. During lunch big puffy white clouds started moving in, and then....by quitting time, we were surrounded by dark and ominous clouds...with obvious rain touching down all around us. The wind began to pick up considerably! Finally it was clean up time....jobs left undone will have to be completed by the next crew. We did not finished the trim and molding work in Felicia's house. :(
Pete went around one by one today to speak with each CAV and thank them for their contributions during the build. He is so encouraging and such a great build supervisor.
Cleanup and laundry on the agenda! Then we gather for Happy Hour in the office space as the weather is cool and windy outside and we definitely all wanted to gather for a final 'fling'. A few toasts, Bill and Linda presented Pete with a present (A book on How to Golf by Tiger Woods) and an abundance of laughter!
 |
| Pam and Ginger! |
FAREWELL TO LAS CRUCES! Next post from Silver City!
No comments:
Post a Comment