The Volunteer

Hey there.  I decided to start using this font.  It's easier for my middle aged eyes to read.

A few years ago I decided to start doing some volunteer work.  A cause close to my heart at the time was being pro life.  I really was sad about abortion.  I also was tired of people who say they are pro life but don't actually do anything about it.  I had heard of The Gabriel Project locally and it interested me.  Somehow I saw they had a training/information meeting and I decided to go.

It was a fit.  I felt welcomed even if overwhelmed.  I signed up to be an 'angel'.  Those are the volunteers who meet with and mentor the pregnant moms.  GP helps pregnant women and babies up to 2 months old.  We help with everything from getting them diapers to finding them places to live.  We reach out to get air conditioners, cars, water turned back on, crisis counseling, health care, jobs.  We deliver clothes, shampoo, breast pumps. We answer texts in the middle of the night and listen when they cry.  When they are scared.  When they are triumphant.  It is humbling and draining work.  I love it.

When I started I was trained by some amazing women.  As the organization has developed we have three teams of angels. This is not to diminish the behind the scenes workers also!  The hotline operators and store room workers and fundraisers.  I was on the red team. My supervisor was a sweet woman who has such a gentle and kind spirit.  A few months ago she asked me if I would be interested in taking over as team leader as she needed to step away to care for her sister.  I said yes even though I had actually never met the other angels on my team.

It went well.  I had little new things to do at this point.  But I did start going to the directors meetings once a month and learning more about the organization.  I also passed info along to the members on my team about what we were supposed to be doing and what supplies we had.

Then one of the directors approached me about taking over some of her responsibilities as she needed to step away.  She wanted to spend time with her grandkids.  She wondered if I would want to be the one to assign angels to new moms.  I thought it would be pretty easy.  She said on average they get 5 moms a month.  And a few one time needs calls.  Sounded doable.

My first month I got 15 new moms and and many one time needs calls.  

Our angels are full.  I have 5 moms myself.  It's turned into a bit of a stressful job.  I still like doing it.  But it feels like work some days.  There are some days where I spend hours coordinating.  Some of our volunteers are not tech savvy and I mean that as in they don't text!  So I have to get calls and try to email some.  Sometimes a simple text back can take an hour.  And when I finally hear back it's just a no.  Then I have to start over trying to find an angel.  And once the poor woman texted to say she would call me the next day.  She called to say that she couldn't take an more moms she was quitting and later received a call where it turned out she had never contacted a mom she was assigned the month before.  *yikes!*

I've never had more than two moms at a time and now I am juggling the five plus the new responsibilities.  

Today I had to argue a bit with the woman who started my training and that was awkward. She said she didn't have a mom and I had to explain to her that she did have the mom.  *cringe*  Her notes were in the moms file (online google sheet) so I can see that she did have the mom and had made attempts to contact.  She did nothing wrong but it still felt weird to have to say it was in fact her client. 

I didn't really know that this new position? responsibility? was going to involve me having to kind of supervise people.  

I won't quit but I can see where people get burned out from it.  I've ordered a bulletin board for my office to keep the notes organized.  Hopefully it will help it feel less chaotic. *fingers crossed*

This post feels as chaotic as these last two month's volunteering has.  Also it took me like two weeks to write so imma hit publish and move on!!

Vacation Home......eventually

About 12 years ago we built what I called our dream home.  And it was at the time and it is still our home.  But we decided a few years ago to build a house in POC.  We had bought a little trailer, two bedroom-two bath for staying on weekends and during the summer.  We used is all summer for several years and sometimes we went down for Christmas too.  After a few years it was clear we were outgrowing it.

We discussed building something permanent.  D wanted ICF like our current home and that makes lots of sense because POC is on the coast and...you know....hurricanes!  I remember sitting down with my mom and sketching out plans on some graph paper.  It sounds crazy but we wanted to go tall.  Really tall.  Four stories with a flat roof deck.  Over the year our plans and dreams evolved.  Wraparound porches and suites instead of bunk rooms.  We went back and forth over whether the top floor should be bedrooms or living area.  And when we were pretty happy with it we met with an architect to have formal plans drawn up.

First floor: garage

Second floor: Two bedroom suites with full baths, theatre room, half bath

Third floor: Two bedroom suites with full baths, bonus room, half bath

Fourth floor: Living, dining, kitchen, laundry and half bath.

Both the third and fourth floor have porches that wrap two sides and the second floor has a porch on one side off the bedrooms.  

There was some tweaking and the architect designed some different suite styles and we chose to use both so that all the rooms were not identical.  There are roll-in showers and tubs on both floors depending on which room you are in.  And views from every room.  Four double doors with full glass on the top floor.  And a staircase will lead to the roof top deck if you want to see all of POC from five stories up. On the two bedroom floors you are looking out over a grove of trees so it feels like you are living in a tree house.  

We started building in September of 2020 with mapping out boundaries, getting permits and dirt work. I thought we would be done by May....July at the latest but at least we would spend next summer in POC!!!  It would be November before we were able to pour the foundation and January before the first wall pour.  It was starting to set in that there would be no way to finish by summer.  I was sad but hopeful that maybe by August we would be finished enough to stay in it a little before school started.

The final pour (of the roof) was done in July of 2020.  Almost a full year from breaking ground.  We had been told to order appliances early as they would take 6 months to come in.  They took about 2 months and have been sitting in storage ever since. (Nearly 2 years)  There was a leak in the roof and porches.  The roof was supposed to be sealed already so the company who did that had to come back and fix it.  It took about 6 months for that to happen.  We could do nothing on the inside until the roof was fixed.  April of 2022 the house was finally dried in.  Drywall crews could finally start.

Today the drywall is nearly completed and we are waiting on cabinets to be built.  I have started to finalize tile and flooring choices.

D and I are still married despite this journey.  But the other day I lost it on him. He told me the cabinet maker had called to see if they were done with drywall so our cabinets could be next on the list and and not bumped.  He said he told them he didn't know.  I was furious.  We knew if the drywall wasn't done, it was only days away from being done and if our cabinets got bumped it would be weeks before they could be installed.  And until they are installed we can't get countertops and tile work done.  I had a meltdown.  And as most fights are it was not about the one mistake it was about me reaching the very end of my patience with waiting.  Two years is a loooooong time especially when an escape to POC is my only sanity.  He had his hunting trips. I have salt air.  Except I haven't had that for years.  (He's still had his hunting trips.)  He gets to go down to POC multiple times a week to run the build.  I get to stay and do 350 miles a week in carpooling.  I don't want to trade places I JUST WANT THE HOUSE DONE THIS FUCKING SUMMER.

He called and told them we were done with sheetrock so they could start the cabinets.  Cool.

Next week we take a trip to Austin.  Before the pandemic I tried to do a little excursion trip for the kids every summer.  Houston/NASA.  San Antonio/Alamo.  Houston/Zoo and Museums.  This is our first trip since covid.  We are doing a little shopping, escape room, Airbnb for the first time, and maybe driving by Little d's future college.  

I am excited for this trip for sure but I still want the house finished in time for some real R&R in POC.  *this summer*