One Nail Hammered This Week....

We're home from Biloxi now, so this will be my final post to catch you up on Friday and Saturday.


People couldn't wait to get out the door on Friday morning, as this was the final push before going home. This crowd is full of high-achievers who want to feel the satisfaction of accomplishing their goals, and today we have a hard stop at 3 to return to BBM for the wrap-up meeting with Craig.


Doug and three of his Oak Streeters, Zack, Lauren and Katy... 




.....only needed half a day to complete the exterior trim on their house; so the rest of the crew were redeployed to Fountain Street.  Jim's gang had the goal of completing half the siding, knowing there just wouldn't be enough time to hang it all.  In the end, they did more than half, which, considering where they started, is a phenomenal accomplishment.

And they were delighted to meet their homeowner.....

The Seal Street house was left much tidier than we found it...much less daunting to the next group who will pick up where we left off.


At 4 we had our final meeting with Craig to debrief the week.  This was our chance to share our suggestions for how BBM could have done things differently before we arrived as well as during our work week. While all felt satisfaction for the work we had done, the major annoyances were power tools with dead batteries, tools gone missing and inadequate power sources. Suggestions included providing more detailed descriptions of the work needing to be done, especially for those who are not in the building trades nor have experience doing this kind of work. 


We had the chance to share our personal reflections on the week, and Steve asked each of us to capsulize in a single word what it meant to us: comraderie, friendship, collaborating, inspiring, fun, satisfying, fulfilling...and on and on. Frustrating as it was at times for some, an awesome amount of work was completed in one week's time.  In Craig's words: "One nail hammered this week leaves one less for next week."


We were thrilled to be able to confirm the week of January 1-8, 2012, for our next visit to Biloxi. At 5 a.m. on Saturday our caravan set out for New Orleans and the flight home.


I think all would agree that, as much as feeling the satisfaction of making a difference in Biloxi, we are blessed by the precious gift of friendships formed and deepened and an appreciation for the unique  and special qualities we each brought to this amazing week.

                                                           BILOXI 2012!!!