Internet at last

Ahhh how good it feels to be on the internet again! It was just set up today, so I have loooots of catching up to do!

I'm staying at Chapmanville Middle School for the summer, which is in a greeaat location in terms of convenience-- about a quarter mile down the road I can get gas, groceries, my car fixed, shop at thrift stores (yeaaa buddy), get Subway and Dairy Delight, etc etc. It's a little depressing how many funeral homes are around here but I'm trying to overlook that.. haha.. But out center is SO great! There's a huge gym and auditorium which will be great for Evening Gatherings, and the cafeteria is right across the way in a perfect set-up. The funny thing about this center is that it has a large focus on remaining community-oriented, so there will be different clubs and camps and organizations using the school pretty much every day with us for the entire summer. Funny story actually, last summer the staff who was here told us that in the auditorium there was a "Vampire Camp" gathering, while across the hall in the gym there was a Red Cross blood drive. Ohhhh the irony.

This summer I'm the Finance Coordinator, which I'm really excited about because I've never really had to be in charge of anything like this before. I'm basically in charge of our accounts and tracking the money we spend and take in, and running this by Becca the CD weekly to make sure that we stay on track. Basically I just have to keep track of all the receipts, which can get tricky if certain staffers don't forget to give them to me...... haha don't worry, I've been devising punishments for those who forget. John actually volunteered to eat a copy of a receipt if he forgot to hand it in, and frankly, that is a great idea.

This week so far we've been staying in a 12'x12' room in the middle of the second floor, and it has no windows. Luckily there's a bathroom inside, but the kick is that we've been using this as both our office AND sleeping quarters. To say that it's been crowded is an understatement. I was starting to go mildly insane yesterday but am so thankful to be moved out of there today and into our staff quarters! We have two separate, large rooms to serve as an office and bedroom so I'm verrrry happy to have some more living space. Plus, all of the chalkboards around here are super convenient to jot notes and numbers down on, me gusta.

Tomorrow we're going to start signing homes! I'm REAAALLLLYYYYY excited!!!!! We only have five crews coming the first week so that will be a nice way to ease into the summer for both the first-years and myself! I'm especially excited to sign a home tomorrow for Robert Conley, a 51-year old single man who has become recently paralyzed and is therefore in a wheelchair. Luckily he has a ramp outside his home, his BEAUTIFULLY constructed home in which he constructed entirely on his own prior to his car accident. He said that he drilled every screw and held every board without help from anybody, which I found to be amazing because not only is it a two story house, but it's pretty much flawless! He was so nervous to ask for help and I could just tell he was aching to finish the work himself, his appreciation and gratefulness was seeping from his pores. I have only had one lengthy conversation with him and I can already tell that saying goodbye to him at the end of the summer (it's going to be a long project, I'm really excited that we'll be there for a majority of the 8 weeks) is going to be really difficult. But this is the BEST part! Finding these families that just pull on your heart and transform you by the end of the summer.. I can't even put it into words. It's down here that I feel the most blessed.

p.s. my mailing address is:

Appalachia Service Project
Logan County Chapmanville Center
General Delivery
Chapmanville, WV 25508

I love mail :)