I’ve been keeping so busy at work, and living the social
life of dorm living that I’ve barely had time for myself the past two months.
But this week and weekend I’ve managed to set aside some introvert time and
refocus myself. I’ve started running again. Intensely. Today I ran 13.3 miles
and while the last three were pure torture I feel great that I managed to keep
going, make every mile count and that I was able to focus on one activity for
so long. After that I had brunch with Logan so skipped yoga, which I may have
skipped anyway from the aching muscles in my legs. Due to my crazy work
schedule (roughly 50 hour weeks) my yoga practice has been suffering. I’ve been
managing to go to 2 classes a week, after my shifts at Okra. And those classes
have done much to restore my calm, re-center myself and reflect on my life. So
after those classes I’m ready to hit it hard again the next day!
Yesterday we started building a new house. Isaac said I
could be in charge of running this one totally, all the volunteer days,
scheduling and checking on the subcontractors, inspections, and making sure the
house is built and built to code. So we had a beautiful day framing and raising
walls with a lot of volunteers from the community. The homeowner, Synethia, and
her family came out and swung hammers alongside the volunteers. We got all the
walls framed and braced into place, and the first sheet of OSB put up. Chanelle
and Isaac joined me after running the their 2 houses to finish cutting and
nailing in the cap plates. Michael Matthews (our resource manager who is in
charge of ordering supplies and maintaining the Americorps apartments) joined
us in the afternoon to do a bit of framing work. He had mentioned earlier in
the week that framing was the only aspect of Habitat Building that he had never
experienced so I invited him to join us, and he kindly stayed until the cap
plates were completed as well! And Elhadji joined us after he finished his work
for the day (he is one of the Americorps on a Home Repair team) to do cap
plates and help clean up.
Other items from the past month I want to remember and
recognize:
·
Gratitude to Jenna who came and visited me for
her weekend and ended up working with me two very physically taxing days. We did roof
sheathing and shingling on Latasha and Angela’s houses and it was a blast! Jenna’s
visit came at the perfect time to save my sanity from all the craziness running
around my head, and having her see my work and my life reaffirmed what I’m
doing.
·
Love, love, love to my parents whose visit
coincided with Jenna’s. Being able to spend a week with them seriously helped
me distress as well as make sure I was well fed. I enjoyed having them join me
on the build site even though I made them do some of the work volunteer tasks-
nailing in hurricane hangars and caulking! Their visit was during our blitz
week which meant I worked about 60 hours and my weekend was nonexistent.
·
The Nascar Build! With the Bank of America we
framed Samantha’s house at the Charlotte
Motor Speedway Nascar to generate media attention before the Bank of America
500. Nascar Drive Kasey Kahne showed up with us for a bit, and we were given
tickets to attend the race! It was an interesting experience. We left the house
up in the parking lot for a week, then returned to take it apart and move the
walls to the site where they will be reassembled and completed!
·
The absolute joy I have in my team here at
Haibtat Charlotte. Isaac is a great boss. Over the past few weeks he has been
giving me a lot more independence and trust to complete tasks and his faith in
my ability to lead Synethia’s house alone was really inspiring to me to work
even harder. I love Chanelle and Logan and working with them is a blast. I feel
like we have really gotten to know each other’s habits (like I need a giant cup
of coffee the start the day, Logan WILL show up in flip flops and won’t take
them off if he can get away with it, and Chanelle will boss him around if she
can get away with it). I love how Chanelle will offer to give me my first hug
of the day, and sometimes Logan will bring me coffee even if he is embarrassed
about ordering it the way I like. I like how we have “Team Food.” For example
if I’m eating a slice of pizza someone can just say “team pizza” and then
everyone is entitled to have a bite of the pizza. This happens with any and all
food items from water bottles to apples, pizza to lollipops.
·
I love my roommates at the apartments and how
they make me seem like a neat freak in comparison. I pretend that I’m going to
be glad to have the place to myself while they are in Talledega next week, but
secretly after half a day the place is going to seem lonesome and empty. This
place is always hopping with people hanging out, playing games, chatting or baking
delicious treats. Although I find it hard to find “introvert time” I cherish my
new friends.
Jenna helping to sheath the roof!
Chanelle conquering her fear and getting on the roof!
Logan with some Team Donuts in his mouth...Isaac ending up eating those donuts
Samantha's house at the Charlotte Motor Speedway parking lot!
Isaac, Kasey Kahne, me and Logan
Nascar race! 300+ laps of those cars driving in a circle
Synethia's house with the first few walls put up!
Synethia's house at the end of the day! All walls up and cap plated!
