Less rain, more photos!

After a long night of rain, Mom and I woke up this morning expecting to be faced with water up to our knees. Fortunately the anticipated deluge did not darken our door; the ground was moist and the day overcast, but neither was nearly as bad as the rain on our roof had led us to believe.

We ate breakfast and headed out to our worksites. Maryann stayed back to help with cleaning and cooking. Today Randy, Norm, and Bob went to Joseph and Pauletta's house and Harlan, Regina, Dave, Marcia, Mom and I went to the other house (owned by a woman named Karen). Our group was accompanied by Francie and Tom, a couple from Ascension Lutheran in Tucson.

Here's a photo of our group before we went our separate ways.


From left to right: Randy, Harlan, Norm, Maryann, Kristin, Bob, Gerri, Regina, Marcia




At Karen's house, we sanded, mudded, hammered and cleaned. If you're unfamiliar with drywalling (as I was), here's a quick primer. Drywall comes in large sheets that are hammered to the frames with special screws. To seal the cracks between pieces, you have to apply special tape and then apply a plastery substance ("mud"). Because you're going to be painting over the drywall, you want the mud to be as smooth as possible. That's where the sanding comes in. It usually takes a couple of coats of mud and sanding before the drywall is ready for painting. Multiply multiple steps times five surfaces per room (four walls and the ceiling), times multiple rooms, hallways, and closets, and you have a lot of work to be done. We rotated tasks throughout the day and by the end we were all covered in mud. A cloud of white dust followed us everywhere. We all felt like the character Pigpen from the Peanuts comic strip. Need proof? Look at me after a morning of sanding!




How exactly did I get into this state, you may ask? Let Marcia and Gerri demonstrate:




By the end of the day we had made good progress. We hope to have at least some of the rooms ready for primer and paint by the end of the week.

In the meantime, the rest of the crew went back to Joseph and Pauletta's house to work on their back room. Yesterday we sanded and applied primer. Today, Randy, Norm and Bob painted the ceiling, applied another coat of primer, framed a window and "vanity space," and prepped the floor for tiling. The plan is to have the room fully ready by week's end. Joseph and Pauletta have a bedroom set that has been in storage for the past two years and are eager to set it up in their new room.

The team had the opportunity to talk with Joseph and Pauletta some more today. They were in their house when Katrina hit. The winds essentially twisted the roof and the rest of the house, hence the extensive damage to their back room. They were far enough above ground that they were not flooded, but they suffered damage when standing water seeped into their walls and floors.

Joseph was a high school custodian before the storm. When the schools came back into session, he lost his job when the high school outsourced his position to another janitorial company. He has since gotten his contractor's license and taken freelance work. Every cent he earns goes back into repairing his home. Pauletta is an adult daycare aide. This afternoon she brought her client, a 90 year-old man using a walker, to see her home. The man walked through the house surveying the repairs and kept saying "Nice house! Nice house!" We think he'll be even more impressed by the end of the week.

Tonight we were treated to a nice dinner (pot roast for most, black bean Gardenburger for yours truly) and entertainment from a local bluegrass band. Tomorrow we'll return to our respective sites and continue our work. It's hard, sometimes messy, sometimes tiring work, but very, very satisfying.