TomTom, You Suck

We arrived in Houston on Wednesday.  This place is HUGE.  I am definitely not going to be relocating to this area. 

We are staying in the Lutheran Church's Family Life Center.  It's a nice facility with a huge kitchen and an indoor basketball court.  Unfortunately, we have a babysitter every night from 6-10, and she has been less than hospitable; turning the lights and a/c off on us, fussing at us for going in rooms other than the two we have to sleep in.  Seems a bit ridiculous that she is so harsh, but we are only here for 3 weeks, so we will deal with it.

We started work on Thursday morning with an orientation the the Neighborhood Centers, Inc.  We learned all about the organization and what it is involved in within the community.  It is basically a community development organization with several different branches, including early childhood, asset development, and senior centers.  The branch that we are working with is Disaster Recovery, implemented in 2008 in response to Hurricane Ike.  This program has been working to repair the homes of victim's, primarily roofing repairs.  There were over 11,000 people affected by the hurricane in the area and just over 1000 have been fully helped.  While here, we will be working on homes replacing their temporary tarps because they do not have the funding right now to repair the roofs completely.  The tarps will hopefully sustain the homeowners through this next hurricane season.

On Friday an Army Corps of Engineers employee came to train my team in how to put the tarps up on the roofs.  We went through a slide show, which seemed simple enough, and then went out to the first house.  It was ridiculous.  The house had three different pitches, so four valleys, which made the tarping extremely tedious and difficult.  It was a very slow process for all of us, since the Engineer was unable to be physically on the premises due to government policy.  I think once we get a routine going it will be far easier for us and go much faster.  Right now they would like for us to do 100 houses, however, we will really have to pick up the pace for that to happen without anyone experienced to help us.

This weekend we are going to explore the Houston area a little more.  Annie, Emma, and I have already gone on quite the adventure this morning just looking for an open post office.  Madison and Chris, expect some mail this week!  This afternoon we plan on going down to the museum district to check stuff out there.  Emma and I are planning on going to the science museum for sure, they have interactive exhibits that I am really excited about.  I have spent the morning looking and applying for jobs in South Carolina.  Keep your fingers crossed that someone wants to hire me!

Round 4: Taking it to the End

We left Denver for Round 4 yesterday.  My final round!  I am so close to being done with this program, and I am scrambling to find future employment.  (Spread the word and my resume)

For our final project I am back with my permanent team, minus two members.  Josh and Louise joined a composite team that stayed behind in Colorado to take on a last minute project.  The rest of us are on our way to Houston, Texas until June 8th.  We will be working with Harris County Neighborhood Centers, Inc. replacing old tarps on 99 houses that were damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008.  The Center has run out of funding to continue providing the support that the city needs, so a donor has provided all of the supplies, and my team will be providing the labor.  This is considered a disaster response project, so it is cool to have the opportunity to do something disaster related, since I was under the impression that I would get to at some point anyways.

After our project in Houston, we are schedule to go down to Big Bend National Park.  There we will be camping for the duration of the round and helping with tread work regarding drainage and water run off as well as helping with the restoration of a historical site.  Two of my teammates spent their shuffle round in Big Bend, so they are familiar with the work and the camping situation.  We will most likely be spending at least a week back country camping, which I'm not thrilled about, but it's a growing experience right? 

There is a possibility that we will get pulled for disaster while in Big Bend, especially with all of the flooding that is going on in Louisiana from the Mississippi.  If this happens, we will be working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day.  It would be an intense experience, but one that most of the time is interested in having.  Our campus already has 8 teams deployed on disaster so far.

While in Houston, I will be receiving mail at the office.  Once in Big Bend, I will still be able to receive mail, but most likely at a much slower rate.  However, I encourage you all to write to me.  I loved the cards and letters I received last round in Oklahoma.  They truly made my day most days.  While in Big Bend, I will have very limited access to the internet, but while I am in Houston, I will do my best to keep the blog updated and y'all updated on my next move.

Love and miss y'all! 12 weeks until I am home

Round 3: Lots of Rain, 2 Tornado Warnings, No Bears

Round 4 was interesting to say the least.  We stayed at a beautiful campsite on Cedar Lake.  We had three campsites and the Forest Service provided us with a camper to cook and store items.  The view of the lake was a wonderful site to come home to everyday.  The weather was less than cooperative.  It rained a lot, sometimes days at a time, and there were tons of tornado warnings during this time also.

The work was challenging.  Some days we were very busy and others we were very bored.  We completed over 23 miles of trail work, which included tread work, brushing, and blazing.  We worked on a variety of trails including hiking, ATV, and equestrian trails.  The forest was beautiful and even in the rain, I still enjoyed walking in the forest.  We did not receive No Trace certification, but we did receive chainsaw training.  All of my team are now on the Apprentice level as Sawyers, which is cool, but not so useful in my future endeavors probably.

I loved my shuffle team, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to be with several of my friends during this experience.  We enjoyed working together and sharing the experience of camping together for eight weeks.  We spent time going to Poteau to grocery shop and go out to eat.  We spent time on the lake and played A LOT of cards.  We were invited by our supervisor to a local Native American Pow Wow and also attended the Heavener Lamplight Jamboree, which reminded me of the Grand Ol' Opry.
For Spring Break (a long weekend)  I was able to go into Oklahoma City and spend time with Chris.  It was definitely a break that I needed.  It was so nice to sleep in a bed and not have to walk 100 yards to shower or go to the bathroom.  We enjoyed one another's company and just lounged around for most of the weekend.  However, we did go out to dinner, see a movie, go to the bookstore, and go to the Science Musuem while I was there.
Overall the experience was positive, but I was definitely ready to get back to Denver and get the last round underway.  We had a difficult time getting enough work from our sponsor, and the bad weather was taking a toll on our team morale.

Next Round

I am on my way back to Denver for a transition week and then off to Round 3.  For Round 3 I will be going to Hodgen, Oklahoma to work with the USDA Forest Service, Oklahoma Ranger District.  My team will be assisting in several major and minor trail projects, vista maintenance on a 44 mile scenic drive, helping conduct animal surveys, and preparing for prescribed burns. 

We will be working in an area with over 200 miles of trails that people use for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and off road vehicles.  The vistas are open to the public as a part of the scenic byway, so we will be trimming brush, mowing open area,s removing litter, and repairing benches and signs in these areas.  We will also help with minor campground maintenance, so basically a little yard work around the campsites.

One of the most useful things we will receive while working there through training will be certification as "Leave No Trace" trainers.  It is a shortened version of the Master course, where we will receive introductory training in Leave No Trace skills and ethics in a condensed two-day format. The Trainer Course will teach us about the seven principles of Leave No Trace and techniques for disseminating these low impact skills.  As we go through the training, I will definitely share more about it.

Unfortunately because of our location, I will not be taking my computer, so my blog access will be limited.  I will try and get the word out before hand of my new address.  As for my blog, I will write when I can, but have no fears I am going to make an attempt at journaling (in my beautiful book Madison made for me)!

What time are they walking the cows down the street?

It has been a while since my last post, so I apologize.  There hasn't been much news in the way of taxes.  We just recently surpassed the 1000 mark for number of returns prepared.  Overall though, business has slowed down a lot.  We only have between five and ten appointments in each location per day, so you can imagine the amount of down time we have.  Since I last posted, I have read three books, and I am starting another one tomorrow.  It often feels like we are wasting our time because so few people walk in for appointments right now, but I know helping one person is just as important as though we had helped twenty.  Next year there is discussion of cutting back sites and co-sponsoring with another non-prof here in Wichita Falls, so that the team has the option of working there on slow days.
Last weekend was a long weekend for us, and we slammed it full of stuff to do.  Friday was our first day off, but we participated in an ISP all day with Habitat for Humanity.  As a team we were able to finish some small roofing jobs, hang siding on the final side of the house, and paint the rest of the house twice. We really got a lot accomplished, and everyone really enjoyed being outside for the day.  The weather has been great here, 70s and mostly sunny, but with a slight breeze.  It reminds me of the beach.
Friday night we were invited to the Mavericks' Cook for the Veterans of Iwo Jima.  The Mavericks is a local group that has a couple cooks a year, but they are famous for their ribs.  So of course, everyone went and enjoyed ribs, slaw, corn on the cob, and baked beans.  We were all stuffed afterward.
Saturday was a day on at work, so we worked at the mall most of the day.  Sunday was our second day off, but we had our Day of Service so we worked in the afternoon.  We partnered with a trail/green space group in town called Streams and Valleys and participated in their work-day with their normal trail volunteers and a few people from the community.  We were able to help with an addition to the trail, the removal of dead trees, and putting up fencing to keep people from dumping garbage in one of the green spaces.  We got a lot accomplished in a few hours in the afternoon and learned a lot for next round when we will all be doing similar work.

Monday was President's Day so we took a trip to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  There we were able to tour the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which is probably why Texas has the saying "Everything is bigger in Texas."  It was massive.  We also visited the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.  We were able to walk around the area and souvenir shop, while taking in the historic buildings.  Emma and I visited the Cowboy Hall of Fame where we saw memorabilia from different rodeo world champions and a collection of stagecoaches, carts, and various forms of wagon transportation.  We also hung around to see the cattle drive that takes place everyday, twice a day.  It was a little anticlimactic with such a small herd, but still cool to see the long horns walking down the middle of town.

Last week we found out where we will be next round and who we will be with.  I am going to be with my current team leader, one guy from my team, and my friends Steve and Clair in Hodgen, Oklahoma.  From what I ca tell, the town is extremely small, but the camping sounds great.  We are staying in a camp ground developed by the CCC.  Our campsite is right on the lake, and we have access to a picnic table area, hot showers, and heated bathrooms.  Everything sounds pretty good, but I will know more about it next week.  One plus is we are 2.5 hours from Oklahoma City and pretty close to Tulsa.  Hopefully, I will be able to see Chris, Tate, and Ar at some point since they are relatively close.  Here's hoping.

Missing My Friends....Real Hard

Last week, we didn't go back to work until Thursday afternoon.  After two and a half long days in the house, I couldn't wait to get out and do some taxes.  Because we missed work during the week, we filed taxes at the mall on Friday and Saturday, then took Sunday off, so we did not do any ISP last week.  It was a nice break from the all day ISPs we have been doing.  This week has been busier, with cancellations from last weeks bad weather rescheduling and walking in, however, it still was not a full week.  We had another snow day on Wednesday.  Luckily this weather only lasted for the day and we have been able to go back to work.  As far as work goes, there isn't anything too exciting to tell.  So far, we have gotten people over 1 million dollars in refunds and sold quite a few savings bonds.  It is rewarding to see the reactions of the people who don't expect to get very much of a refund at all and they end up with over a thousand dollar refund.

Socially, I am missing my Converse friends, Chris, and all my other friends in my unit REAL HARD.  We have three weeks left, and I don't know if I am going to make it.  It is difficult not to compare my teammates with my friends and have most of my teammates come up short.  I have been frequently reminding myself what a great experience this is and that I will be prepared for any work place situation after our living arrangements in AmeriCorps.  Luckily, I am going to a wedding with Chris in two more weeks, so it will be a welcomed break for a weekend.  I am not looking forward to more snow, but a small sacrifice to spend time with him and away from AmeriLife for a little while. 

We found out our options for projects two nights ago, so I have been scheming like crazy with Steve, Pat, and Claire to get on the same teams for next round.  Seems like the most logical thing considering all of the projects except are trail building except 1 and camping except 2.  I would sleep on the dirt, no tent, no blanket to be able to be with some of my other friends next round.  I ranked my projects, and my top two choices are for camping and back country hiking and camping in Texas.  A lot of people were saying they wanted to be in a different state, but I figured Texas is huge and I won't even be able to tell I'm in the same state I was for this round.  We should know by the middle of next week where we will be going, so I will keep you all posted.

Sorry this is so brief, just nothing new really going on and not much to say.  Maybe on Valentine's Day I will make a tribute to my friends and our tradition of a Black Out and let y'all know what I got for this Hallmark Holiday.

Texas Snow Day

Today is a SNOW DAY here in Wichita Falls. That’s right, a snow day in Texas.  I thought that was the last thing I would have to deal with while we were here and everyone back in South Carolina was missing school and work for a week or so.  Our supervisor Lana was even surprised by the sudden change in weather last night when it started sleeting, but none of us thought it would actually snow.  I saw it when I got up at 7 this morning to see if we were going to need to go to work, and to my pleasant surprise the ground was covered.  We have all been laying around watching shows on our computers, reading, napping, and some even went to the park to play in the snow.

This past Saturday was our first full day of tax filing open to the public.  It was a long week, working Tuesday to Friday; everyone felt like we had not had any time off and Monday was such a long time ago.  Saturday didn’t help.  We were given tickets to the Pancake Festival for Saturday morning, so the team got up at 6:30am so we would have plenty of time to enjoy the delicious breakfast before work.  We arrived at the site at 8:15 and were there until 6:30pm.  It was a long day.  We filed over 120 taxes, surpassing the number of the first day last year.

On Sunday we went and volunteered with Faith Mission, the local shelter in town.  The Mission is a shelter for men, women, and children.  It also provides housing and programs for recovering addicts.  They serve 3 meals a day with the stipulation that those who eat first attend the chapel services.  It was a good experience for our team to see how the homeless population lives in this community.  In Wichita Falls and the surrounding communities in the county there are nearly 3,000 homeless individuals.  I found the experience to be humbling and inspirational.  We helped fold clothes in the clothing room with two women, both working the program, which had been sober for 70 days.  It is good to see the program working for so many individuals and for them to have such a strong friendship and support group with each other.  Also, serving lunch to the individuals and having them be so grateful to us when we were only able to give them half of a peanut butter sandwich and some cookies was almost enough to bring me to tears.  Sure some people complained, but wouldn’t you if all you were going to have to eat that day was two tiny pieces of bread with a thin layer of peanut butter on them?  Some members of my team didn’t get it and thought they should be grateful for whatever they get.  Should they be grateful for people’s leftovers because they can’t afford to feed themselves?  It’s sad to think that so many people in this country have that exact same perspective.  No wonder so many people are hungry and struggling to get by, because if people see they even have a little or the ability to scrounge for something, then what more do they need?  They should be grateful for that dollar they were given.  I tried to have a conversation with my teammate, but he/she claimed to see what I was saying, but was still surprised by their ingratitude.  Obviously, he/she did not see what I was saying.

This week we are opening the tax sites in Wichita Falls and the rural areas.  We will be taking appointments and walk-ins to file their income taxes all day the majority of the days we have left here.  Some situations have already presented themselves that have been difficult to handle; people owing large sums of money, people asking us to file their taxes in such a way that they get a larger return but is not completely accurate to their household, etc. I am sure we will see a lot more of that before this round is over.  We are hoping to get a few more Texan things in before we leave in five weeks though.  Lana invited us on a day trip to Fort Worth Texas so we can see a cattle drive, visit the cowboy hall of fame, and maybe go to a rodeo.  Because Fort Worth is out of our range, we had to ask permission from our unit leader, so we are waiting to hear back from her before we make any final plans.  They are also trying to plan a Ranch Day for us with one of the board members of the United Way.  She wants to have us out for a BBQ and to ride horses, but we are waiting to hear back from her as well.  I hope both of these things work out.  We are all in desperate need of getting out of the house.