The Whirlwind of WorkFest

I have officially survived WorkFest.

Three crazy weeks of non-stop work, laughter, and stress have flown by leaving me completely and utterly exhausted. Of the three weeks I have only had three full days off which were dedicated mainly to sleep and recuperation which is why I have been remiss in my blogging as of late. Now its time to try and return to some semblance of a normal schedule including posting my adventures a little more often.

 

Our Family



Although WorkFest was completely draining, it was completely worth it in that I met some amazing people from all over the country and with their help we were able to complete a lot of work for the people of Appalachia. I had previously  blogged about my WorkFest job when we were still in the prep phase of this experience, but spending these past weeks there with the groups has really given this project a special place in my heart. Not only were we able to accomplish a ton of work on the two bedroom addition, but I was also able to form great relationships with both our family and all the volunteers that came down to help with the work. Our family is comprised of Chris and Paula and their five children - Milli, Maddi, Darbi, Kiley, and Peyton. They are currently living in a three bedroom trailer which is, as you can imagine, quite squished. Chris and Paula adopted their youngest children - Kiley and Peyton - after the children were taken from their parents, a distant relative of Paula's, due to drug issues in the home. Even though Chris & Paula had never met the children before, they didn't hesitate to take them in and eventually made them a permanent part of the family.



Ditch #3

 Over the last three weeks, we were able to complete a lot of work, not all of which can be seen by just looking at the addition. One of these such projects was our weekly ditch digging project. For every week of WorkFest, the group was faced with the taks of digging a new ditch or trench. The first was a four foot deep trench around the addition's foundation to hold the drainage tile which will help move water away from the footer. The second was a 100 foot french drain of sorts along the hillside that runs along the backyard of the house which will also help with keeping water away from the house. The third and final ditch was a continuation of the first trench which took the drainage tile away from the addition and out towards the creek. Other than the ditch digging, we were also able to complete all the framing for the new addition and install the windows, doors, skylight, and siding. From the outside, the addition almost looks completely done, but there is still a lot of work left to be done - electric, drywall, shingles, flooring, painting, etc - all of which will eventually be completed by Tony, Kate, and I.

The "Splinter"

The last three weeks have been made more stressful by the fact that Tony, our crew leader, has had a unfortunate bad string of luck. He started feeling sick the weekend before WorkFest and was feeling under the weather the whole first week. He stuck it out and worked in the nasty, rainy weather that we unfortunately were faced with which is probably why he got hospitalized for pneumonia the following week. After a strong dose of antibiotics and steroids, he finally seemed to be on the mend. However, in typical Tony fashion, he decided to have one last hurrah before WorkFest ended and managed to get a splinter, more like a chunk of wood, through his index finger. It went all the way through the finger and if you look closely you can see it pushing up against the skin on the other side. He went to our local emergency room and they sent him to a hand specialist at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington to have the splinter removed.

Not to take away from Tony's pain, but because he was sick/injured for a good portion of these past three weeks, a lot of the pressure fell to Kate and I as we were left to manage the groups that came in and try and convince them that we knew what we were doing on the work site. By the third week, Kate and I were completely exhausted and running on fumes and the week could have gone terribly, if it wasn't for the fact that our group was absolutely amazing. They all bonded so quickly and despite various delays and setbacks always kept such a positive attitude throughout the week. Without them, I don't think I would have survived the last week, but they made it not only bearable, but one of my favorite CAP experiences so far.



My Week 3 Blue Crew



As fun as the insanity of WorkFest can be, I am ready to return to my normal level of Kentucky craziness and hopefully one day catch up on some much needed sleep. Before I can do that though, I still have one last adventure to go and that is my five day trip to New Hampshire to see my family and speak at my alma mater - Rivier College. However, I will gladly sacrifice a little sleep in order to see my family for the first time since Christmas.