Thursday 1-3-08

Last night we met some folks from Wisconsin who invited us to eat with them. We were a group of eleven and we went to the buffet at the local casino as it was half price for seniors. The food was good although we had to walk through a smoky casino to get the the dining area. When we got back to the community room, there was an orientation going on for the horde of frat boys who came in yesterday. We saw our friends from Williamsport, PA off as they headed back home in a 4 car caravan. We then went out to the job site this morning and found that we would be working with the 48 boys from Phi Delta Theta fraternity of Mississippi State. It was cold, but we warmed up as we worked (24 this AM and got up to about 42). You can really get a lot done with that many hands! Almost the entire house was sided (just the peaks left for tomorrow) and then painted one coat. Dave and I and a few of the boys built columns on the front porch and dressed them with cedar planking - then we built decorative collars for the top and bottom of the pillars. This house is farther away (closer to Gulfport) - in a neighborhood of more expensive houses - although this particular street has very small houses on it. I looked inside and notice that this house is much smaller than the one we worked on earlier - just 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, a living room and a kitchen/dining area. We got back, showered and just finished dinner which was excellent - chicken and rice dish, peas and carrots, roll and peach cobbler for dessert. I hope that working in the cold will offset some of the caloric intake!