RVing With a Purpose

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Repeat of yesterday and the day before. Hot and dry! And that’s all we are going to say about that.

The day started with a good laugh. The grounds crew here at the fair grounds cut the grass Tuesday. Ever since then we have all be fighting tracking in to our rigs all the grass clippings. Everyone is always apologetic when they come in and they try to wipe their feet off really well on our multiple mats. It really doesn’t seem to work. Yesterday Rita really tracked in the grass clippings. She was so sorry about it but it didn’t matter how many times we told her everything was ok. This morning Rita came in with a dust pan and little broom. She was constantly sweeping up behind everyone. It was too funny.

Karen shared our devotion today and it was sort of a continuation of joy using the July 4 devotion from “Our Daily Bread.” We all again talked about the obvious joy of the congregation at Branch Street UMC. Thanks Karen of a good reminder to be thankful for our joy and peace in Christ.

We got a lot of tedious projects done today. The sitting room is now officially complete with the exception of painting a step. We need to use that doorway so we can’t take that step out of service and paint right now. All the crown is now up in the hall. Thanks to Rita and Morris! All the base is installed in the living room and most of the quarter round. The door trim is all caulked and painted in the living room. There is still a little quarter round to be installed. The cedar planks for the dining room are now all organized and in process of being trimmed down. It was a good day.

 

Today was last work day for Rita and Dave and Karen and Morris. SO tonight we went out for our traditional Thursday night dinner at Woody’s BBQ. Since tomorrow is Morris’s birthday we also had a little celebration after dinner, with cupcakes. Everyone enjoyed the food and we all ate too much. We will be sorry to say goodbyes tomorrow, but have so enjoyed working with the four of them. It was a joy to have the time to reconnect with Dave and Rita and get to know Daren and Morris for the first time. We will miss you guys so much next week. Safe travels and we hope to see you down the road soon.

 

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Weather-wise today was a carbon copy of yesterday, only hotter. The TV said we were again in triple digit heat index and it is expected to get worse into the weekend. Oh well – can’t change it. We just try to ensure everyone on the team takes adequate rest breaks and drinks plenty of fluids. We slow down a lot in the afternoon.

Dave and Rita presented our devotion today and it was on joy, based on Psalm 100. We all agreed that even with the heat, working this Disaster Rebuild in Lumberton has certainly brought us joy. We hope we have shared the joy of the Lord with people we have met here and we know we have shared the joy of the home improvements with Mary Elizabeth. She just walks around sometimes just looking at everything. She is so appreciative and such a hard worker. Yesterday when we tried to get her to sit and rest she refused saying she can’t just sit when we are there working on her house. She feels she needs to be working anytime we are working.

Today we continued what we were working on yesterday. The laminate was completed in the living room. Crown molding was installed in the hall. Trim was reinstalled around 4 living room doors. Quarter-round was installed in the front bath. Progress was made sorting the cedar boards for the dining room. There was continued caulking and painting of trim pieces. Two doors were rehung in the living room. Working on trim is very time consuming. Things are looking really good. Still a ways to go but it’s getting there. Tomorrow we there will be caulking and painting along with lots of other projects. It will also be our Friday. Got to love it.!

 

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Today was another sunny and hot day. No storms today and not many clouds. It was still a little cooler than last week with heat index staying below triple digit but the afternoon was hot. We certainly did appreciate the portable air conditioner again this afternoon.

We got a lot done again today. It was more of the same. There were doors to cut off because of installing new laminate. There was lots of base and quarter round to paint and then install. And of course more laminate was installed. About 2/3 of the laminate in the living room is installed. We also assisted Elizabeth in moving her bed into the new bedroom. She is so excited. Her husband is suppose to be home tonight and they were going to buy a new mattress and box springs and hopefully will be sleeping in their own bed in their new bedroom before the end of the week. Rita also helped get their computer/internet and TV working again. Another exciting event for Elizabeth. All in all it was a good day but we were glad to get back to FRED and cool off.

Monday, July 10,2017

Today started off sunny then became cloudy then sunny again but most importantly it was cooler. Still in the lower 90’s but no triple digit heat index today. Thank you Lord! Since we got home we have had 2 thunderstorms roll through and we are now surrounded by water – only a couple of inches but the big puddle at the back of the rig is about ankle deep. Looks like we will have one more storm shortly then it should be over for a while. The soil is real sandy here so the puddles will be gone quickly. With the rain the outside temperature is now 70. Last week at this time it was still in the 90’s.  LOVE IT!

We can just accomplish so much more when it is just a little cooler like it was today. Today Max and Suzanne got the laminate flooring down in the hallway. Rita and Dave finished the base and quarter-round in the sitting room and then worked in the laundry room and closet. Morris worked on crown/trim over doors and quarter-round and helped Karen move lumber around. Karen painted trim almost all day. First it was quarter round then door trim and the crown molding. Suzanne helped paint trim after the laminate was complete. Anne helped with the laminate at times, quarter round at times, did some painting in the living room and caulked. At the end of the day, the large walk-in closet, laundry room, bathroom and it’s two closets and bedroom are complete. The sitting room just needs some touch up on the trim paint and the step painted and it will be complete.

 

 

 

A real treat today was that our construction supervisors Ann and Jeff Wade brought us a portable air conditioner. It can’t cool the entire down stairs but it makes a real difference in the area we are mostly working. The sitting room for some reason is always the hottest area. Even with a large fan it just seems the air is stagnant in that room. Thanks Jeff and Ann!! The house is really coming together now and we almost have the end in sight. We should be working on the living room laminate tomorrow, along with the crown in the hallway and hopefully some cedar in the dining room. Our homeowners are really getting excited now.

It’s such fun to see their huge smiles when they look at the completed work. If you have ever done a remodel in your house – probably took maybe 2-3 months. Remember how tired you were of the dust and dirt and disorganization? They have been living in this for 9 months now. How tired they have to be of all this. Please remember all the people effected by the flooding in your prayers. There are still many homes that need work.