Goodness, the last day of November. Thirty-one days left in 2018. We still have too much to do. We are going to need a few extra days this month.
Last night was one of those strange weather nights. Our low of 38 was at about 9:00 last night and then the temperature started climbing. It was 42 at 5:00 this morning. That 16 degree difference made a big difference in our comfort when we walked outside. It was a cloudy day with a very light rain for a short time.
Today was the day Nancy and Gary had to leave us, which was sad, but it will only be for a week. There are coming back to join us for our last week here in Lumberton. We started planing some fun things to do for our last week. We were glad to hear when Nancy and Gary arrived home safely and look forward to their return.
As a lot of Fridays are for us, it was a catch up day. We needed to run errands (Tractor Supply, Verizon, Walmart, Dollar Tree), buy groceries and do laundry. We went by Lowe’s but there was a sign on the door that they were closed for restocking after the new NOMADS shopping spree. LOL. There was business to handle. We also went back to the gym for a good work-out. After returning home Anne conducted another new member interview for NOMADS. We have another couple who will make good NOMADS soon. With laundry done, blog done, dishes clean. Now it’s time to watch a Christmas movie. It was another good day.
This morning was colder than yesterday. Twenty-six with a heavy frost. Fortunately we were not having to work outside, so no problems. Also, we received notification yesterday that Lumberton was no longer under a flood warning. Wrong! Got notification this morning that Lumberton remains under the flood warning. The Lumber River in Lumberton is still at 14.25 feet and flood is 13.0 feet. The river is still falling ever so slowly. It is not expected to be to 14 until sometime Saturday. While the flood stage doesn’t seem very bad, water still remains everywhere. We drove down to Whiteville for dinner tonight and along the highway there was still so much standing water. It was also still obvious that the houses along the highway had been under water because of all the belongings piled beside the road. The prediction is for rain Saturday through Tuesday. Hopefully they are wrong.
Today Bruce lead us in devotion. He shared from Our Daily Bread daily devotion which is another really good devotion source. Today’s was entitled Lord Of The Moment. It ended with the reminder that our lives are better off in God’s hands than in our own. How very true! Thanks, Bruce.
We then all headed back out to work. Nancy went back to Elsie and Bruce’s house us. Gary went over to Jackie’s to work on the counter tops with most of the rest of the team. Mary Ann and Cindy went back to Mary and Jim’s to put another coat of mud on the drywall.
Back out at Elsie and Bruce’s house we set back up for mudding and sanding. We sanded the drywall that had one coat of mud and all the nail holes, filled more holes as needed and applied the first coat of mud on everything else. Everything went very smoothly today. After completing the mudding, since it was our last work day this week, we cleaned the job site really well. Today we removed the tarp from the living room floor and vacuumed really well. Then we set the TV back up so they could watch and moved the couch back into the living room for the weekend. We also cleaned up all the debris from the demo and loaded it into the trailer. We had been very careful to keep all the debris on a tarp which we kept covered over night but the dogs decided to play tug of war with the tarp and it is now in shreds. This afternoon we took all the debris and the shreds of tarp to the dumpster.
Anne sanding yesterday’s mud
Nancy taping and mudding the rest of the joints
Ceiling now has first coat of mud on all joints
Debris from the old ceiling and mangled tarp
Hanging by the door at Elsie and Bruce’s house
After we dropped of some equipment we no longer needed at the warehouse, we went to Jackie’s to see what had been accomplished there this week. We were excited that Jackie arrived while we were there and we got to visit with her for a while. Her house is coming right a long and is getting very close to completion.
Back porch painted at Jackie’s house
Gary, Cindy, Philip and Bruce installing a countertop
Gene and Dave plumbing a vanity
Team dinner at Dale’s in Whiteville
Tonight the team went to Whiteville to Dale’s Seafood restaurant. Ann and Jeff suggested this restaurant and we all had a good time. The team this week has been so much fun. Gary and Nancy will be going back home tomorrow but will return in a week. We will miss them. They have been such a blessing and we are so thankful we have them as new friends. We are praying for safe travels for them and a quick return to Lumberton. It’s NOMADS Friday so maybe we can sleep in tomorrow.
It was just as cold this morning as predicted, 27. We had no problems from the cold with Fred and we were toasty warm. It’s suppose to be 28 in the morning and then we have a warming trend. Of course that means rain is coming with rain predicted Saturday through next Tuesday. Rain is the last thing Lumberton needs. Today Lumberton finally went out of the flood warning. The river is still high and there is still standing water all around. Our campsite is still very squishy. The ground is still saturated and there is just no where for the water to go.
Today Nancy and Gary brought us our devotion. Nancy talked to us about prevenient grace – the grace God shows us while we are still lost, justifying grace – that ah ha moment when we get it and make a decision for Christ and sanctifying grace – the ongoing experience of God’s grace through Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. She and Gary shared some of their personal stories of their walk with the Lord. We had a good time of sharing. Thanks so much, Nancy and Gary.
Then it was time for us to all go back to work. Yesterday we said flexibility was one of the hallmarks of good NOMADS and today again proved that. Mary Ann and Gene had to make multiple changes in job assignments today. There are about 30 volunteers coming in tomorrow and Jeff needed some help getting ready for them and gathering all the necessary supplies. So, Gene and Philip took Gene’s truck and picked up metal roofing and lumber and delivered it to a couple of job sites. Dave and Gary took Gary’s truck and went to Fayetteville to pick up some metal. That’s what was scheduled when we left for our job. Mary Ann and Cindy were hoping to get back to put a second coat of mud on the drywall at Mary and Jim’s. Don’t know if they ever made it out there or not. We will have to find out what everyone did in the morning.
We know that Nancy went with us back out to Elsie and Bruce’s house and we resumed work on the ceiling. We got clearance on completing the drywall and finished getting all of that hung right after lunch. We then started the mudding and taping. We got three of five seams taped and all the screws covered. We taught Nancy how to mud and tape and wow! She did a great job. She really has a talent for drywall finishing. We hope to complete the two seams that still needing tape and re-mud the other three tomorrow. If we are real lucky, we could possibly get two coats on the 2 remaining seams because it drys fast on the ceiling of a very warm house. Perhaps it will only take the two coats because the next step will be texture. We will just have to see what it looks like after two. Any way, we are making good progress and Elsie and Bruce are thrilled.
Installing the last sheet of drywall
Nancy is a natural at finishing drywall
Ceiling installed and partially taped and mudded
Too tired to go to the gym tonight but did get 10,000 steps today. It’s now 7:30 pm and the temperature is already down to 33. One more cold night.
This morning was cold. Tomorrow is going to be even colder with predicted low of 27. We will also have wind with gusts to 20 mph so it will be COLD in the morning. We have disconnected our water hose and turned on the light in the sewer bay. We shouldn’t have any problems but most of us took sensible precautions.
We had devotion today and shared the JD Walt Seedbed devotion for today. People seemed to appreciate our efforts. We have enjoyed the Seedbed study through Mark.
After devotion, we all gave reports on yesterday’s work. We were wrong on where Dave worked yesterday. He was out at Jim and Mary’s working on installing drywall. That was completed and Mary Ann and Cindy worked on taping and mudding today. They are getting close to completing that job. Completing the drywall and then paint should about close that one out. Yesterday at Jackie’s there was work done on cabinets and plumbing.
Nancy and Gary went back to Elsie and Bruce’s house with us today. We had to go by the warehouse and pick up a few things. Before we left the job site yesterday day we tried to clean up the living room and set their TV back up so they would watch the news. Therefore, first duties today were to move the TV out and cover up the carpet and table. Gene went to Lowe’s and picked up drywall and insulation for us and we worked on that installation today. Nancy and Gary did a lot of the installation while we did most of the cutting. Nancy and Gary did a great job! Today was their first experience with drywall. Love it when people get to learn new skills. Nancy, like most of us NOMADS girls, now has a drill and impact driver on her list of needed tools. Are you listening Santa? We have just one more sheet of drywall we can install in the morning before Jeff comes to take a look at the leak area. He is going to try to find us some metal so we can replace at least part of the roof. We may be taping and mudding tomorrow. Flexibility is very important to being a good NOMAD so we will wait and see what tomorrow brings.
We also went back to the gym for a good work-out. After returning home Anne conducted another new member interview for NOMADS. We have another couple who will make good NOMADS soon. With laundry done, blog done, dishes clean. Now it’s time to watch a Christmas movie. It was another good day.
RVing With a Purpose 