The MOTHMAN PROPHESY

Hello all,

Long time... I have been very busy lately! We successfully moved from Savannah GA to Hurricane, WV about two weeks ago. After orientation, I jumped in a rental car and headed out for vacation with Jordan. First we spent two nights in Pittsburgh with Grandma and Grandpa. I finally bought Settlers of Catan and got Grandma hooked. Also we had a lovely dinner with Aunt Elaine.

Then we took off for Deep Creek Lake, MD where we spent a night camping at the State Park. We had a possible visit from a black bear in the middle of the night. The next day we checked into a cabin and waited for Mom, Dad, Care and Walter. The six of us had a great weekend full of hiking, biking, drinking and eating. Unfortunately, I never made it into the lake- too cold.

After a wonderful week off, I returned to West Virginia to rejoin the team at work. This week we tore down two YMCA bunkhouses on a very steep hill. It was tough work! We have already filled two large dumpsters and are waiting on a third to arrive. In the meantime, we have moved to another site to rehab a barn with some of the lumber we salvaged from the bunkhouses (flashback to Sturgis).

I had a tough week with stress. I am just wearing down a bit after ten months of being pulled in a thousand directions. The project we are on now is wonderful and my team is being great, I think I am just getting to the point of burn-out. I took a day off yesterday and really caught up on all my paperwork and took one of our vans into the shop because it has been stalling. In the evening I had a lovely swim at the Y and got some relaxation in.

I am back working with the team today. Things are going much better for me. The barn is coming along well. We are cutting off work early today to go out to dinner with our sponsor, Lowell, and his wife.

Tomorrow Lowell is brining us to Point Pleasant to go to the Mothman Museum. We watched the Mothman Prophesy a couple nights ago and it was creepy.

Well it's time to go back to work and no one moves until I do so I gotta go.

Oh also the team has been put on deck to respond to disaster in Mississippi to help cleanup from the tornado.

Savannah Blues

After the most awesome project ever, my team is sad to say good-bye to the sun, sand and sponsors here in Savannah, Ga. This week was a wonderful last week- we finished up our .5 acres of reef stretching the whole coast of the UGA extension office land. Then the team celebrated with a huge mud fight (which I sadly had to miss to bring Paul to physical therapy). Yesterday we spent the day at Tybee Island where former AmeriCorps teams had built reefs in the past. We went canoeing along the living reefs growing from their bagged shell. It was cool to see what our hard work will turn into in a year. We also got a private tour of the Sea Turtle refuge and recovery facilities on the island and got to spend some quality time with some ENORMOUS turtles care of some AmeriCorps State and Nationals working with the refuge.

I realize I haven't been writing since we have been here. It has been such a great project (in such a great city) that it has kept me very busy. We have spent a lot of time checking out downtown Savannah, and the area near by our hotel (NOT downtown Savannah). I spent a couple nights bowling with some teammates- and even won a game. Also, the boys and I attended a minor league baseball game which was extremely fun.

We had Spring Break while we were here. My friend Clayton visited and we had a great time going out downtown and hanging out on the beach. It was nice to talk to someone about life outside of AmeriCorps. Just to be a normal person for a while. Also I always have great conversation with CThurm so his visit really made my break.

Things have been wonderful this SPIKE- having plenty of work, great sponsors, comfortable living arrangements, and interesting things to do on the weekends- but I am definitely ready for a break!

Tomorrow we leave Savannah to head up to West Virginia. Monday night starts a week of vacation time for me and I can't wait!

Greenwood Throwback

Remember that little project we did in Greenwood, MS a few months ago?

Well this is it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/36141877#36141877

The news report was being filmed the week after we left...