Friday.
Wake up was at the normal time, 6:45am. Breakfast and cleanup went quickly. We were the last Group to leave and it couldn't have been 8:45am by the time we pulled out of the church parking lot.
A huge thank you to Jenny and Kelsey who were fantastic! Mike and Sandy did an awesome job too. They were very caring and so patient. They were amazing leaders and it was great fun serving with them.
We stopped and filled up Big Red and Bite-sized Big Red with gasoline. We had almost made it to Mt. Pleasant when we (the girls) got a phone call from the boys. They needed to use the restroom. McDonald's it was. We loaded up on coffee (for me) and more food (seriously, did anyone stop eating the entire time we were gone? I'm pretty sure they ate in their sleep too) and got back on the road.
Our short trip wasn't delayed by any other stops and we had the vans unloaded and cleaned out by 12:15pm. Parents were happy to see their delirious offspring. The youth were happy to get their care card envelopes. Hugs and goodbyes and we're back to normal.
I will work on posting pictures at some point. Maybe later today if I don't take too long of a nap.
Juliette was super happy to see me. I've never seen a cat act like she does. She came running down the stairs the minute she heard my voice and hasn't really left me alone since. Atticus gave me a little sniff of approval and he's sleeping soundly on the bed.
Now there's laundry to do, care cards to read and relaxing. Thanks for sharing our adventure. It was a super fantastic week!!!
Showing posts with label week of hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label week of hope. Show all posts
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day four, Bay City
Yes, I did miss blogging yesterday. Thursday, July 28th, Week of Hope, Bay City
First, we had breakfast duty. That meant getting down to the kitchen by 6:30am. We had six volunteers, and two leaders (myself being one of them). Things went smoothly. Other than being awake earlier than "normal".
Crews #1 & #2 went to the Center where we picked up Crew 1.5 and went out to Crew #2's site. We rocked it out in one hour. Then we went over to Crew #1's site and wrapped that up in about a half hour (if that). We went back to the Center to have lunch and our devotion together. Then we finished making the sections for the ramp that will be installed next week at a Habitat House. We loaded the trailer and took it over to the site and unloaded the trailer. Before saying goodbye, we handed over the care cards (watch the video, it's fantastic!) we wrote for Crew 1.5. Harold, Crew #1's leader from the Center looked at me and said, "we've had groups all summer helping us. This one was the best one." He got teary and I got teary. That was so awesome to hear.
We piled back in the van and I shared that with the crews. Then Jason and I treated them to ice cream over at Shamrock. If you're ever in Bay City, go get some ice cream there (the corner of 5th and Jackson...), it's delicious.
We went back to the church. The boys from our youth group went and showered. I happened to be standing next to the red shirts when church maintenance man asked about his ladder. Apparently a crew borrowed it last week. Jenny and Kelsey gave each other the "oops" look and said they knew where it was and they would get it back. I volunteered to drive to get it, because our van was empty. I took Joy and Zoe and we headed over to shower before I ran my errand. I dropped them back off and picked up Kelsey. We got the ladder (which was perfectly fine and even housed a couple of earwigs) and brought it back to the church.
It was tacos for dinner. Mine got a little messy. By a little, I mean a lot. I had way too much liquid cheese, but it was worth it. We (Chandra and I) spent the rest of our free time writing more care cards. They came down at 11:45p and we wanted to get them all written. I made it. With minutes to spare. Batman and Spiderman tore through the hallway ripping the care card envelopes down, stowing them safely until this morning when they were turned over to the youth leaders.
But before our Super Heroes arrived, we had evening program. It was the last time we sat with our crews. We did affirmations and had a great time. Then we had youth group devotions, which despite a few drops of rain was also a fun time.
Lights out was at midnight. Which all of the leaders absolutely adore (note: extreme sarcasm). The kids had way too much sugar all week long and will probably crash for the next two weeks before resuming normal blood sugar levels. (Seriously, their sugar intake was out of control!)
This is why a post didn't get written for Thursday. Not a lot of free time when you're busy writing care cards.
First, we had breakfast duty. That meant getting down to the kitchen by 6:30am. We had six volunteers, and two leaders (myself being one of them). Things went smoothly. Other than being awake earlier than "normal".
Crews #1 & #2 went to the Center where we picked up Crew 1.5 and went out to Crew #2's site. We rocked it out in one hour. Then we went over to Crew #1's site and wrapped that up in about a half hour (if that). We went back to the Center to have lunch and our devotion together. Then we finished making the sections for the ramp that will be installed next week at a Habitat House. We loaded the trailer and took it over to the site and unloaded the trailer. Before saying goodbye, we handed over the care cards (watch the video, it's fantastic!) we wrote for Crew 1.5. Harold, Crew #1's leader from the Center looked at me and said, "we've had groups all summer helping us. This one was the best one." He got teary and I got teary. That was so awesome to hear.
We piled back in the van and I shared that with the crews. Then Jason and I treated them to ice cream over at Shamrock. If you're ever in Bay City, go get some ice cream there (the corner of 5th and Jackson...), it's delicious.
We went back to the church. The boys from our youth group went and showered. I happened to be standing next to the red shirts when church maintenance man asked about his ladder. Apparently a crew borrowed it last week. Jenny and Kelsey gave each other the "oops" look and said they knew where it was and they would get it back. I volunteered to drive to get it, because our van was empty. I took Joy and Zoe and we headed over to shower before I ran my errand. I dropped them back off and picked up Kelsey. We got the ladder (which was perfectly fine and even housed a couple of earwigs) and brought it back to the church.
It was tacos for dinner. Mine got a little messy. By a little, I mean a lot. I had way too much liquid cheese, but it was worth it. We (Chandra and I) spent the rest of our free time writing more care cards. They came down at 11:45p and we wanted to get them all written. I made it. With minutes to spare. Batman and Spiderman tore through the hallway ripping the care card envelopes down, stowing them safely until this morning when they were turned over to the youth leaders.
But before our Super Heroes arrived, we had evening program. It was the last time we sat with our crews. We did affirmations and had a great time. Then we had youth group devotions, which despite a few drops of rain was also a fun time.
Lights out was at midnight. Which all of the leaders absolutely adore (note: extreme sarcasm). The kids had way too much sugar all week long and will probably crash for the next two weeks before resuming normal blood sugar levels. (Seriously, their sugar intake was out of control!)
This is why a post didn't get written for Thursday. Not a lot of free time when you're busy writing care cards.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day three, Bay City
Day 3 – Wednesday, July 27, 2011- Week of Hope in Bay City, MI
Today, crew #1 dropped crew #2 off at their site. Crew #1 drove out and got started on the rest of the wheel chair ramp. By lunch we had half of the railings up and almost all of the boards screwed to the deck. We took lunch and did our devotion. The other guys (from the Center) kept working. By the time we got back over to the ramp, they were almost done. We jumped back in; some cleaned up, some screwed in more supports and the rest screwed in the boards to the deck. By the end of our work day, we have two things left to finish. First, the 4x4’s need to be cut down level to the railing. Second, the last board, which extends onto the concrete, needs shorter screws. We didn’t have any on site, so we couldn’t finish that last board! Talk about frustrating. So close, yet not finished. But we’ll get ‘er done tomorrow!
Crew #2 has a couple handrails left to hang and then their finished. The “other guys” told us that we’ll work together again tomorrow. That will be fun. Although it is supposed to rain…
After showers at the “Y”, we had a little free time and then it was bbq pulled pork sandwiches for dinner, with baked beans. We are the last “camp” here, so we’re getting the end of all the food. For instance, currently there are two 3 gallon tubs of ice cream sitting out on the table so the youth can have it. It’s 10:20pm as I type this in the cafeteria.
After dinner, our group (along with the other UMC that’s here) had “Hospitality” Duty (hehe, duty. Yup, I work with the jr. high) which meant cleaning the bathrooms and common areas. Then it was time for evening program. We dug a little deeper (spiritually) and had some emotions come out. Devotion time was good. We are having a great week. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Not because it’s taco Thursday, or because it’s the last official day of workcamp, or because I only have one more day to write care cards, but because I can feel the strong bonds that our youth are creating.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Day two, Bay City
July 26th, Day 2, Bay City
Okay. Last night I slept down in the common area. It was SO much cooler. As in, when I woke up cold and with a leg cramp, I said "thank you God!". Even though it wasn't enough sleep, it was cool, quiet sleep. Glorious sleep.
Today, Tuesday Crew #1 and Crew #2 did rock, paper, scissors to decide who would stay at the site that had all shade, and who would go out and be in the sun all day. My crew won the shade. Then we got to the disability center and followed our "leaders" out to the site. They took us to the shady site first. Now, I'm the only one who has permission (so to speak) to drive Big Red (the church van). So it was either leave my crew at the site while I drove the other crew to theirs or switch sites. Even though rock, paper, scissors had clearly decided this. I think I knew where I was about to spend the day.
So my crew, willingly gave up the shade and we drove out to the sunny site. It was a beautiful day, not a could in the sky, high in the mid-80's with a pleasant breeze. I bought sunscreen and applied it. I encouraged my crew to do the same.
We worked diligently on the wheelchair ramp. However, the "leaders" weren't too willing to give instructions or hand-off tools. So I had to push, encourage and gently force my crew to take charge. And I ended up sitting aside, watching, but not dictating or bossing them around. That is extremely difficult for me.
We broke for lunch and I encouraged everyone to try their hardest to do the work. After lunch and our devotion, we ended up sitting around more than we had before. When I finally gave up and decided to try working, I used the electric drill which had WAY too much power for me to handle, drove the screw so far into the board we barely got it out, and then managed to get a metal shaving sliver. I redeemed myself when I used the saws-all (or reciprocating saw, someone will have to tell me the difference) and notched out the board to go at the top of the corner deck.
We left our site and picked up crew #2. We made it back to the church and then left to take showers at the "Y". But first the girls had a mission. We had to go pick up the cake that I had ordered. Jason's birthday is tomorrow, but we had free night tonight, so it made more sense to have a cake for him tonight. We got the cake, and because we thought ahead we brought a cooler, and the cake went in there. Jason had no idea.
We ate at Rally's. It was delicious. Although Ken and I agree that the fries are best when they're cooked in not-so-fresh oil. We could tell the oil had been recently changed. Oh well, it was still greasy goodness.
.
We went to the Bay City Mall theater to see Harry Potter Part 2. Yes, you may remember reading about that here. We took the youth to go see it. I would say it's tradition but this was the last movie. For now.
We (as in Chandra and I) weren't sure the boys would make it through the movie. Turns out, they were super and the girls, who had a little too much sugar, were the giggly, loud ones. Oh well. They did the best they could. It was still fun.
The only pictures I took today were the ones when we came back to the church to do "devotions" and instead sang happy birthday to Jason and gave him his cake!
Okay. Last night I slept down in the common area. It was SO much cooler. As in, when I woke up cold and with a leg cramp, I said "thank you God!". Even though it wasn't enough sleep, it was cool, quiet sleep. Glorious sleep.
Today, Tuesday Crew #1 and Crew #2 did rock, paper, scissors to decide who would stay at the site that had all shade, and who would go out and be in the sun all day. My crew won the shade. Then we got to the disability center and followed our "leaders" out to the site. They took us to the shady site first. Now, I'm the only one who has permission (so to speak) to drive Big Red (the church van). So it was either leave my crew at the site while I drove the other crew to theirs or switch sites. Even though rock, paper, scissors had clearly decided this. I think I knew where I was about to spend the day.
So my crew, willingly gave up the shade and we drove out to the sunny site. It was a beautiful day, not a could in the sky, high in the mid-80's with a pleasant breeze. I bought sunscreen and applied it. I encouraged my crew to do the same.
We worked diligently on the wheelchair ramp. However, the "leaders" weren't too willing to give instructions or hand-off tools. So I had to push, encourage and gently force my crew to take charge. And I ended up sitting aside, watching, but not dictating or bossing them around. That is extremely difficult for me.
We broke for lunch and I encouraged everyone to try their hardest to do the work. After lunch and our devotion, we ended up sitting around more than we had before. When I finally gave up and decided to try working, I used the electric drill which had WAY too much power for me to handle, drove the screw so far into the board we barely got it out, and then managed to get a metal shaving sliver. I redeemed myself when I used the saws-all (or reciprocating saw, someone will have to tell me the difference) and notched out the board to go at the top of the corner deck.
We left our site and picked up crew #2. We made it back to the church and then left to take showers at the "Y". But first the girls had a mission. We had to go pick up the cake that I had ordered. Jason's birthday is tomorrow, but we had free night tonight, so it made more sense to have a cake for him tonight. We got the cake, and because we thought ahead we brought a cooler, and the cake went in there. Jason had no idea.
We ate at Rally's. It was delicious. Although Ken and I agree that the fries are best when they're cooked in not-so-fresh oil. We could tell the oil had been recently changed. Oh well, it was still greasy goodness.
.
We went to the Bay City Mall theater to see Harry Potter Part 2. Yes, you may remember reading about that here. We took the youth to go see it. I would say it's tradition but this was the last movie. For now.
We (as in Chandra and I) weren't sure the boys would make it through the movie. Turns out, they were super and the girls, who had a little too much sugar, were the giggly, loud ones. Oh well. They did the best they could. It was still fun.
The only pictures I took today were the ones when we came back to the church to do "devotions" and instead sang happy birthday to Jason and gave him his cake!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Day one, Bay City
Day 1 – Monday, July 25, 2011- Week of Hope in Bay City, MI
I am on crew #1. Jason (one of our leaders) is on crew #2. Our crews are working together on wheel chair ramps through a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities. There are a couple of extra guys working with us from Bay City, so we called them crew 1.5. They really liked that they were included. We built “World’s Longest Wheel Chair ramp” (pictures to follow).
Within our youth group, we have a couple who are on the same crew and others who are all alone. Jason and I are the only ones from our youth group who are on the same crew.
I did not sleep well last night. The room is 84 degrees. The a/c is running, but not enough. We (thankfully) brought fans. This morning, we realized that we needed to stick a fan in front of the a/c. That helps.
There are great videos. The care card videos were fantastic. I do enjoy GROUP programming (minus the music, really would it be so difficult to play the songs, I know that requires trademark stuff or whatever it is. I can’t think right now). The theme is “Connect”. How do we disconnect from our technology. How do we connect with others? How do we connect with God? I’m sure we’ll figure all of that out. Haha, the irony is I’m blogging, so I’m staying connected.
This is all I have time for. I can post every day, but it’s not wi-fi!
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