Rain, rain go away.

It's raining and has been raining all day. Rain and construction don't go, so we go the day off!! Actually we went to the project site and did some caulking, but that only lasted an hour or so. Progress is going really well at The Trace. Last week Friday we had a block party to honor a Lutheran company called Thrivent. They are paying for the 40 plus homes that we are helping build. The block party itself was just a bunch of important people making important speeches and thanking other important people, but setting up for the block party was lots of fun. We got to set up the tent, put temporary tattoos on little kids, and direct traffic. It was also nice to have a change in pace.

Saturday was spent caulking houses and doing little odds and ends. We ended up on a different Brad's house. I spent the day fixing the trusses and putting support blocks in them. Then we put OSB and Tyvek wrap on the gable. The project should probably have taken us a few hours, but it took us the entire day. Regardless, me and two other people did it without the a lot of help or direction from the supervisor. That night we went to a bonfire at Jamie's (a HfH employee)house. It was really nice to socialize with AmeriCorps State members and Habitat staff. We were at the bonfire for a good three to four hours. Jamie's house is in a suburb of Biloxi. He has two huge hammocks hanging on his back porch. Once we were sick of the hammocks we went on this little path that led down to a lake. It as a sight to see, looking over the lake and seeing the moon and stars reflecting in the water was beautiful. We had to leave the bonfire at 11:30pm, because we had to have the van back at Camp Victor by midnight.

I slept in on Sunday, waking up at 10 am, a first in a very long time. Then a group of us went back to The Gulf Coast Rescue Mission and served meals for ISP hours. I really like it there. I've heard so many stories from people. I wish I could tape record all of their stories. The stories are amazing. I met a gentleman who went to college next to an Air Force base during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He said that one day they were in class and all of a sudden a siren went off and all of the Air Force men got up and left. If I only take away one thing from this project, it is the power of stories.

On Monday we went to the Boys and Girls Club and played with kids! I helped 7-9 year-olds with their homework and then we played on the playground! I played chase for about 2 hours and loved it. It was nice to be with kids again. The majority of the volunteers who come through Camp Victor and Habitat are middle aged folks who don't like to play tag or lava monster on the playground. I went back to there today and the kids were probably as excited as I was. Today I was helping two first graders or second graders read a short paragraph and answer questions about the paragraph. The one girl was struggling, but was able to sound out most of the words. Then she came to the word hairdresser and had no idea how to sound it out. So we broke the word up into "h...air...dress...er" and she got it. She was so excited that she was able to read such a long word. The boy was struggling to read and was growing very frustrated by the 5 sentenced paragraph, but we took it slow. Then we came to the word trash and again we broke it up "t...r...ash." He couldn't remember what sound "sh" made so I asked him what the teachers always say when the kids get to loud. After I said that, he had a big smile and knew the word. After homework hour, I played legos and built card houses, a perfect way to spend a rainy day.

Time to curl up in my sleeping bag and listen to the steady drip drip drip of the rain, raining inside Camp Victor.

Rumor has it, Mississippi could get snow tomorrow (meaning a few flurries).

Love, Peace, Happiness,
Catherine