Before I left on Thursday from the set up of the arts festival, I was told that the schedule had changed again and that we would be working the full day on Friday...7 a.m. - 11 p.m. WHAT?!?!? Ok, I was not really looking forward to it, but I have to admit it was a fun day, we got a lot done and I made it home without falling asleep. However, Friday literally kicked my ass!
I arrived at the site and we immediately went to work to get things ready for the wall raising at noon. My task...assemble the entire front wall of the house to be lifted as one complete section for the wall raising. With my tool belt strapped on and one other Habitat team member to assist, off we went. Now, the end result was to have the entire front walls of the house nailed together with the door and window openings cut out so it actually looked like an unfinished front of a house. By the time I left for lunch with some friends, not only did you see the door and window openings cut and the front wall as one unit; it was blue boarded, lines were snapped for siding, and the windows were actually installed. Woo-hoo!!
Even though I didn't get to see the wall raising, when I got back, two different teams were working to set the walls for the sides of the house and another team waiting in the wings to start setting the interior walls. By supper (6 p.m.), all exterior and interior walls were set, scaffolding was put up, and trusses were lifted to the top of the house. After supper, trusses were set, safety rails were installed for the roof, siding was starting to go on and the front porch was coming together. The night ended with me leading a group of volunteers on the roof with 1/3 of the roof sheeted under the lights, a dark sky behind us and fireworks going off at the baseball stadium. A great view from the roof. Too bad we were all kicked off before they were over.
By the time I got home, my feet were killing me. It hurt to take my work boots off and walk around the house barefoot. I thought I'd never say this, but I was happy to put my work boots back on Saturday when I got ready for my next shift. Thankfully, it was a short shift...3 p.m. - 11 p.m. But I'll admit I was dragging, big time! The roof was ready to be shingled and the one side was already started when I arrived. I was given a team of volunteers to lead in finishing the roof with a couple of other Habitat team members...all I'm going to say is...we girls ruled the roof! Roof was completed shortly after supper, the safety rails came down and we were moved to getting the soffit and fascia put on. Siding was completed and trim painting began. We stayed a little later than we were supposed to to try and finish up the shakes on the front of the house, but we were pulled off and it would be the first task we tackled on Sunday.
Sunday morning I arrived for the early shift since we were so far ahead of schedule. TK and I finished up the shakes on the front of the house, helped paint some trim and I hung the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity banner (over wet paint...oops!) and the house was pretty much complete by 10 a.m.
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| Does this look familiar? |
Clean up started and next thing you know, lunch was delivered. After a quick bite from In the Bag, the Habitat staff took our rubber ducks from our lunch sacks and headed for the public library water feature to race our ducks. We kind of drew a crowd as we tossed our rubber duckies in the water and watched to see if they'd even float. They did...on their side or upside down. I came in third, then we all gave the ducks to the kids that were watching our cheap entertainment for the day. I headed for home shortly after the front door was opened to the public. But my day wasn't over yet.
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| The ducks take center stage. |
As tired and beat as I was, I still had a lawn to mow. It had been two weeks since it was mowed last and either I needed to get it done or I needed to buy a couple of goats to take care of it for me. So, I pulled into the driveway and fired up the mower. A very long 50 minutes later, the lawn was checked off my list, and I had all I could do to get a shower in before crashing on the couch. I woke up later to devour some food and then it was right to bed. It felt great to sleep in on Monday, although I should have taken a nap, I didn't get around to it. Oh well, I have a long weekend ahead of me for the holiday so will catch some extra zzz's then.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!
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Highlight of the week...part 2
1. Finishing the arts festival build ahead of schedule.
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Scripture...
He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."
Mark 6:31
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