Since we knew the shale and mulch arrived at the school, we wanted an early start to the day. The only unknown was whether the Tuff's rental would let us have the skidsteer again.
Everyone was up and going for a 6am. After a 6:30am - 7am quiet time, we called the rental shop and they said we could have one. Awesome! Slidell is about a 30 minute drive, so we were on the job site about 7:45am. John had dropped Josiah off to pick up the machine while the rest of us grabbed our shovels and rakes.
Before the mulch could be put down we still had a bunch of digging to do. The grass down here is very tough. It took a lot of effort to drive a spade shovel down in to dig it out. I estimated 10-12 wheel barrel loads removed.
Regulations require 8 inches of mulch around the play structures and because of that we knew we still didn't have enough mulch. We had enough to cover the ground and make it look good, but Cheryl will need more brought in to bring up the height.
Once we got the mulch moved over, Josiah started hauling the shale. While everyone was spreading that, Karl and I finished nailing down the timbers. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough shale either. Bummer! They leveled what e had and then Karl and I closed in those timbers too.
The skidsteer had tore up the lawn pretty good, so we put a small crew on grass repare. I purchased some grass seed as well. That should do it. Nancy put another coat of paint on the stairs of the corner structure, but beyond that...we were done. We took some photos, said bye to Miss Cheryl and then loaded up. (Playground at Abney Elementary...CHECK)
John Thornhill called me last night and asked if we would like some jambalaya for lunch today. I accepted that offer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambalaya" When we got to Miss Patricia's house, John had a bench laid out with a big tub of jambalaya, salad and soda. Yum Yum.
Once everyone had their fill and were lathered with sunblock...it was off to painting. I had made a quick run to the hardware store up the road to buy as many plastic paint buckets as I could get. We learned yesterday that the students were taking too much paint in the buckets they had. When they dipped there brushes in the 6 inches of paint in their buckets, the entire brush was cover...right up to the handles. A couple of things happened:paint got everywhere, the paint at the top of the brushes dried out, the brushes became very heavy and that all made painting difficult. So, my theory, was to give them each a plastic bucket with about 2 inches (max) of paint. I became the "paint nazi" NO PAINT FER YU!!!
I also forgot to tell you about something yesterday. You know we had a shortage of ladders...well, I was on the look out for another. We needed an extension ladder really bad. I asked the folks at the hardware store but they didn't know of one I could borrow. On my way back to the job site I noticed a house with and extension ladder leaning up against the garage. I pulled in and it happened that the guy was in his garage working.
I said " Hi, my name's Todd, I'm with a church group down here doing some painting. Just down the road here. We're trying to finish up today and could really use an extension ladder for about an hour. Do you think I could borrow yours?' He said "sure, that'll be alright". Thank you, God, for getting us a ladder. On our way home we stopped by to return the ladder. I gave him a tin of maple syrup. He was quite surprised and we all were appreciatative.
We needed an extension ladder today too. On my way back from getting the buckets I pulled into the guys yard again. It was a bit awkward, because he was pulling in right before me. As he was getting our of his car, I was pulling in. It must have looked like I was waiting for him to get home. He gave us premission to use it again. Alright! Here we go!
John Vautier was on peak, Josiah and Sam were on 10-13 foot range, Sarah and Ben were at 8-10, Karl was on the porch, Ahmin was standing on a shed roof painting above that and Ally and Sean were on ground level. After about 10 minutes work we knew that the whole house was doable this afternoon. No problem.
John Thornhill was so thankful for our work. His project partner was having bi-pass surgery this morning. That met if we had not come down to do this, John was going to be doing the whole thing by himself. It was a daunting task in his eyes. Knowing this made the work so rewarding for us.
We stayed at, stayed hydrated and got it done! We said good bye to John and Miss Patricia, returned the ladder and headed back to the church. Everyone was pretty much packed up, so all we had to do was shower and go. Wait! Before we could go anywhere, we needed another trip to Baskin Robbins. Mainly, because Josiah made friends with a young lady there. I think he was looking for her phone number...all she gave him was a free ice cream. (still, not bad)Gulfort, Misssissippi here we come.
The students had worked so hard, and I knew they would, so I had made arrangements to rent two condos in a gated community one block from the Gulf of Mexico. Not too shabby. The girls had a two bedroom condo (nancy in the king and Ally and Sarah each got a twin bed). The guys were in a three bedroom. With the pullout couch, we had 4 "bedrooms". Well, I'm not sure if I made that completely clear.
As were headed (running) in to our condo I said "pick your bed". Josiah ran past the room with two twin beds and picked the room with a double bed. He came out of the room on top of the world, huge smile...until I reminded them all that there will be wo guys per bedroom. HA! That was funny.
After we got settled, we ran out for a quick bite to eat. On the way I passed a black Lamborghini...with a minivan!!!! (I don't think he knew we were in a race) After dinner, we dropped everyone off at the condo to go swimming. Then John and I went to the grocery store. The night ended with a walk on the beach.
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