Come On In! Originally uploaded by Bozoette My volunteer stint ended with a wonderful group dinner at The Shed, a fabulous barbeque joint (and I do mean joint) in Gautier, Mississippi. Some of the KaBOOM! crew joined us for beer and baby-back ribs, pulled pork, beans, and slaw. A great time was had by all! I found out from Abe, one of the KaBOOM! crew, about one of the challenges of running a playground build... Read more →
One week ago our bus drove down School Street in Pascagoula, Mississippi, stopping at a construction site. We were working with Habitat for Humanity that day, helping build two houses. One of them -- on the left in preceding picture -- is the house that Jimmy Carter will be working next month during his yearly work stint with the organization he founded. I worked on that house, too. Because the walls are premanufactured, there are... Read more →
While we were building houses for Habitat for Humanity (more on that later), the KaBOOM! team finished up the site prep and got everything ready for the big build day on Saturday. Over 150 volunteers, from the military, AmeriCorps, and the community showed up to assemble the playground. Here's what we found when we arrived bright and early on a perfect spring morning. Because the folks in my group were acting as build captains, we... Read more →
We interrupt the Gulfport volunteering trip report to expound on the amazing, beautiful, heartstopping comeback by my Cardiac Caps to tie the first-round playoff series with the F(in)lyers. Joe and I were worried at the end of period 1 when our boys behind by two, but we kept our fingers crossed and rubbed the red rabbit's foot for luck. And then... magic. First, Babyface Backstrom, then Sasha Semin, and then Ovie smashed through his scoring... Read more →
We got to the Ocean Springs Boys and Girls Club bright and early Thursday morning. We met with the KaBOOM! project managers, Bing and Jen, and found out exactly what we were going to do: get the site ready for the big build on Friday. Normally, all that's done on prep day is unloading the playground components, grading the site, and digging the holes. Then, on build day, the volunteers get to see a playground... Read more →
Tonight I am packing my suitcase full of t-shirts, raggedy-ass pants, and one nice outfit. I'll toss in a rain jacket, some sunscreen, and a sweatshirt in case it gets cool. Tomorrow I'll get on a plane and fly to Gulfport, Mississippi, where I'll meet up with a bunch of other coworkers to build a playground for kids in an area destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We're also going to work with Habitat for... Read more →
It seems to me that I slept most of this weekend, but I really didn't. I think it's because the afterglow of the stellar Caps win Friday night mellowed me out and quite possibly made me sleepy. Or maybe it was the Other afterglow (don't worry, I'll stop there). We did do some napping, but not as much as I would have liked. Sleep is one of my favorite activities, after all. At any rate,... Read more →
Last night I attended another Girls' Night Out with my high-school pals, and a splendid time was had by all. This one was special. One of us had a pretty close call with the Grim Reaper recently. Last night was her first night out since her open-heart surgery to repair a faulty valve. She's had this condition since she was a kid; the doctors have been monitoring it closely, lo these many years. Everything seemed... Read more →
Well, we had tickets to Macbeth at the Folger Shakespeare Theater, the one with special effects by Teller. We got them months ago, back when the Caps were still in the basement of the Southeastern Division. And then a miracle occurred, and lo, my boys are in the playoffs. As soon as the horn blew at the end of the game, I jumped online and bought playoff tickets. We have not had a chance to... Read more →
The Washington Capitals are the Southeast Division Champions of the National Hockey League! WOO! Tomas Fleischmann, Sergei Federov, and Alexander Semin scored the three goals for our boys; Semin's slapshot for the insurance goal was a thing of beauty! So thank you, Florida Panthers, for beating the Carolina Hurricanes and for losing to US! So now we're in the Stanley Cup playoffs! It's the Caps first appearance since 2001-2002. The first round starts next week;... Read more →