It was cold... but very worth it!

Every year my company give us 3 days that we can use (PAID!) volunteering! This year our team decided to do Habitat for Humanity.
The group was set and so was the date, November 18th. All we had to do was pray that it didn't rain. The forecast wasn't looking good but thankfully it was clear and we were able to start bright and early at 8am. It was cold but not raining! There were two houses side by side on the south side of College. One was in framing and the other was to the siding stage. Either way we were going to be outside and cold all day. But who cares? It was for a very good cause.
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This was the house were we worked on siding and soffits.
and this is the house where the team worked on the roof. As you can tell, both houses are on an incline so as a result there were many hours spent on scaffolding. Now, truth be told, I was not one of the people on the scaffolding as it was really high and I am a wee bit scared of heights. But some of the braver folks were up there all day. Man, I bet they are happy they didn't know this was at the bottom, holding them up! "Don't worry, it is safe!" ~ our "leader" said with a smile.
Yeah, no.
If you have ever done work like this you know there is a lot of standing around.
In our roles at work we often have to "make a path" and "figure out a way" but you can't really do that when you are working on someones house. So you kind of wait for someone to ask you for help or tell you what to do! So, a lot of this.......But luckily everyone has a great sense of humor and loved what we were doing! I didn't mention this before but when you get to the job site they have you fill out a form, basically if you cut off an appendage they are not responsible..smart, and then you are free to use whatever tool is require for the job. They give you a quick tutorial before they send you on your way, all the time trusting that you will not hurt yourself. It is pretty humorous if you think about it!
Uh, yeah... back to the scaffolding. So I mentioned we were doing siding and soffits, well when you do that there is a lot of moving and repositioning of the scaffolding. These are not light pieces of "equipment" by any means but we did it! (That is me on the left, in the hat)A big part of our role was to cut and deliver the siding to the different people. The Habitat leader of our house said this was actually one of the biggest helps because usually they are up and down the ladder all day long, obviously added time to the job.I looked over at one point and saw the other group wielding saws above their heads. YIKES!!and the only guy from our team. Way to hang in there J.J.Bekah was a little worried that Leslie was going to fall out of the window.

and some brave souls were up on the roof!A few things on the site made me giggle--other than my coworkers and the Habitat guys (who were quite hilarious!) ....

One side of the level was not working, clearly!

and this sticker was on the back of the scissor lift.

What a rewarding experience! This group is amazing! The work that they do is so important to the community and the families involved. The Habitat guys were incredibly patient with us and for that we are very grateful!! We also had the pleasure to meet one of the future homeowners. They are required to spend a certain number of ours helping on their own house so he happened to be there on this day. It was very humbling to hear his story and see the ear to ear grin on his face when talking about this house. He told us over and over again how blessed he and his family are--- amazing!!
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We were able to sign the house before we left for the day (note: the other group signed their house as well)

I drive by the houses about once a week to see the progress. It was a great experience to get involved in something like this. Before we left the Habitat guys told us to come back whenever we wanted. I didn't realize that you could just show up at the site and work (as long as you sign a waiver!) I told Ryan about it and he is all for going to help one day. It was very rewarding.

Great job team!!

Amanda, Bekah, Ashley, Me
Jenni, Jennifer, Sarah, Leslie, Sheryl and Taci
(J.J. had to retreat back to the office before the picture was taken)