whoopsies!

Whoopsies, Mardi Gras was a while ago and I have yet to tell you about all the debauchery that took place down in New Orleans. It was quite thrilling, see, we got there on Saturday night and like a lively young 22 year old I cracked a beer and turned on the olympics. Wild. Sunday morning there was a parade right around 10 am, so, since I was kicked out of our hostel at 8:30 for being too loud and rambunctious (too much of a morning person if you will) I was able to grab a cup of coffee and watch the hooligans in the street staking out their turf waiting for floats to come by in a few hours. People are funny, drunk at 9 am, but I was actually expecting much more craziness from NOLA. I did not even see any ladies exposing themselves for beads. It was more like extremely crowded tailgaiting. It was a beautiful sunny weekend, a great day to be outside with a cold beer and a patch of grass to try and catch some beads. The night time didn't even get that crazy, I saw some people fall over things, but still not the shenanigans that come to mind when you think Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

So that was several weeks ago down in New Orleans. Life in Baton Rouge has also been an adventure. I have appropriately titled this blog whoopsies because I find myself saying "Whoopsies!" over and over again at work. Now let me tell you, the construction site is not the best place to say whoopsies because you will likely freak someone else out, or it means you screwed something up (usually both). But, I have also become quite the knowledgeable construction worker. Okay, obviously I am kidding, but I do feel much more comfortable on the work site here than I did back in Stevens Point (sorry Dad). I have learned how to mark a slab as in what walls will be going where, and where doors and windows will be, and then marking the walls for studs, windows, and doors (and Mark loves to joke about finding the studs right here and pointing to himself). This week was especially cool because one day we marked the slab, and the next day we built all the frames and put them up and started putting the plywood on the house and it looked like a house...from nothing to house in one day! Then we put on the trusses and the plywood to make the roof and I get to crawl around like a monkey and it is all a lot of fun and I feel confident leading volunteers and working without constant supervision.

Well, I think I am starting to ramble about boring things that no one really understands but just know that everything is going wonderfully with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge. The people that we work with are fantastically nice and fun and funny and I love working with them.

Gold 2 has been going through some stress, with all of our vibrant personalities, some were bound to clash, it just ended up that one person ended up being "the odd man out" and felt they were unable to continue working on our team. The Unit leader came down and talked with us, and that person is moving to another team, so we will se how things go from now on. I think Gold 2 will persevere and become even stronger! "gold deuce, on the loose"

on that half hearted note, i will end, and try to be quicker about my next post.