Monday, June 22, 2009

A hot, humid, but very productive day!!! While Kurt was shopping for fence posts and various other items on our list at Home Depot, I was signing up myself as a Contractor so we could get 10-25% discounts every time we shop this year and for years to come as we do projects at Hogar de Niños. (and for those of you who know my construction background..you can stop laughing...but it is rather amusing that I would have a contractor's ID at Home Depot in Mexico!!! tee hee hee!!) I guess I am good at networking!!! Most of the workers at Home Depot already know me...I've been there 4 times already since AJ and I arrived on June 20th!

Besides purchasing fence posts and other things for the fences we also purchased 18 bags of 50 kilo of cement...so the back of our truck was really weighed down on the drive back to the home.

When Kurt and I returned, Jackie was busy up on the top of the hill working on putting pieces of the old fence together while Eric, AJ and Bill were digging holes down at the other end of the property. We hired 2 of the older boys here to help out as well today. AJ also had the 2 skateboards we got from Wal-mart and during breaks he taught the boys how to do some tricks...yes - that proved to be very popular!!! The kids had dance practice this afternoon. That was fun watching.

I ended up going back to Mazatlan for more supplies..(since the truck was too full earlier.) Bill forgot to bring work gloves and a hat...but after searching 3 stores couldn't find any the right size....(we bought some earlier at Home Depot which didn't fit.) I'll check with some local friends tonight to see if they have some suggestions. Kurt already has a new list for me for Home Depot for tomorrow morning... (I refused to go back there a 3rd time today!!!) I'm glad we decided to rent a truck - we've really needed it. I'm not sure how we would have been able to transport everything otherwise...and it's a good size truck!!! Tomorrow I'll be taking items like light bulbs and the big cover for the outside light (we need to replace one of them and it's HUGE!) I figured that way I'd be sure to get the right size if I had it with me...maybe I'll understand construction more by the time I get home (but I'll understand it in Spanish, not English!!)

Jackie helped get the roof put back on top of one of the areas that had blown off from the storm which hit the day before AJ and I arrived. (there are still lots of trees down and other signs of destruction from the storm all around the area.) After getting the fencing holes taken care of some of them were put in with cement today. I guess it is going to take 3 days to dry completely. The total fencing project will take the entire week... we will probably do a couple small projects in between the fencing project as time permits (like fixing the outdoor lighting and perhaps fixing the leak in the roof in the laundry room - which is also the tool storage area.)

We are also putting rods and Jackie is helping to put shower curtains to cover the toilet stalls in the bathroom. (I think privacy is important...at least for the girls.)

Then we've purchased drinking water, toilet paper, cleansers for the bathrooms (so the kids can clean and make it more sanitary)...just a few essentials (at least things we consider essential living here....

That's the update for today.

Blessings to you all!

Barb