the new has come...

sorry its been way too long, so i ll make this short and to the point...

i m back in mississippi at the moment...i live in ocean springs, MS...work in pascagoula, MS...and in a week or two am moving to new orleans, LA for this project...strange because i m actually working with the same sponsor that i worked for last year during this time...i m actually workin on the same neighborhood as last year too...how strange but i guess i m kinda glad cuz i get to see things finish and close out here too...gives me a little closure...being a team leader is definitely different than what i thought it would be like...not necessarily in a good or bad way, its just different...but i m learning a lot more now, especially since we re out on our project now and i feel like i have more direct control over things...i ve been pretty busy all the time which has contributed to the breaking of my one big promise to keep in touch better this year...i m hoping that as i get more into the groove of things, i ll have a little more free time...

i m not gonna lie...this is how it goes for me...i know that i have a lot of people to call...right now on my computer i have a virtual post it note that is telling me to call 18 different people...18!!!...and these are people that i want to call too...but the problem is that i know each phone call is gonna take awhile and deservedly so...i want to have enough time to talk to everyone...the problem is that after a long day of work and meetings and any other obligations that i have as a team leader, i rarely want to be on the phone for hours after that...so thats why i m so crappy with calling people back at the moment...i dont want anyone to think that i ve forgotten, its just that as i hold off calling people more and more, the more and more new people i have to call...and thus its a neverending cycle of me putting it off and more people accumulating which makes me want to call even less...but dont worry...i WILL get to this eventually...

i really dont know what else to tell anyone...i m doing construction work at the moment...i just got back from my spring break which i spent in new orleans...i took it really easy this weekend...i just saw some old friends still in the area...watched some good music, ate some good food, etc...and i got 2 new tattoos...if you want to know what they are you ll just have to ask...i really feel like i m getting older...i just dont care to do a lot of things anymore...i ve hardly drank at all since i ve been in the corps this year, mainly because i dont feel like it...and thats how i know i m getting old hahah...and i dont really care either...its actually a pretty good feeling because i really feel like i do what i want now...and i m not limited to always thinking about drinking or partying all the time...its a welcome change i guess...hmmm...my team is WOLF 3...my van is definitely the most decorated in the corps...i have a team of 10 people that range from the ages of 19-25...right now in the stage of our house...we have finished hanging drywall, sanding, mudding, and we are finishing up painting tomorrow and then we ll start laying down the hardwood floors and the baseboards etc...

i ll just say a couple more things about being a team leader before i stop this post...i must say that i m finding this experience a lot more challenging at times than i thought it would be...people always told me that this would be the hardest job i ever had and that its totally different than any other job that i ve had and i guess its true...its wierd being a 24/7 supervisor...there are so many times when i totally feel like a parent of 10 kids...not even joking you...cuz i have to watch these 10 people and make sure they re always safe, always working, have enough to eat, know where they are, discipline them, etc...i totally feel like i ve gotten a taste of what it feels like to be a parent...other than that i dont know what else to say at the moment...i will be calling soon...i just dont know how soon...i ll try to post again with some pictures next time...take care everyone...i havent forgotten

it begins again...perry point, maryland

so here i am, back for another term with americorps nccc but there is one minor detail change...this time...i m wearing green...which means i m a team leader woot woot...i m sitting in my lovely house right on the mouth of the chesapeake bay!!! yes...you heard me right...right on the water...its pretty amazing...i live with 7 other guys, 2 guys to a room...we have already dubbed our house...the kingdom...remember this name because i will no longer refer to my house as my house, but rather the kingdom...hahah...out of the 36 team leaders here there are only 11 guys total...the weather is a bit chilly but not as bad as when i first got to denver last year...its so weird to be wearing green...weird to be here in perry point instead of denver...and weird to be doin it again with none of my team...i miss them...there are 2 people here from the denver campus as well...and i m glad that one of them is my good friend who lives here in the kingdom with me...the campus is beautiful...its SO east coast...the trees and the houses...when i take pictures and post them...you ll really know what i mean...

so i had that long day of travel...from arriving back from china in sf at 830 AM to repacking and doing laundry to catch my 8 PM flight to LA in order to connect to my flight to baltimore...basically i slept on planes for 2 days...but i arrived safely and met all my colleagues and i must say that i m both scared and excited for the term ahead...i know its gonna be a real challenge for me but i really think i need it and i ll get so much out of it...training has been the usual stuff...getting to know each other, the rules, expectations etc etc...we are actually flying out to denver tomorrow for a week to do a weeklong joint training with the team leaders from my old campus...it should be really fun...i ll get to see a lot of people again...

i didnt feel like i had enough time at home but i m glad for what little time i had...sorry to anyone that i didnt get a chance to meet up with to either say hi to...or bye to...you ll just have to come see me...the goodbyes this time were much harder for me this time compared to last...especially with family...

if you re wondering...my china trip was really fun...it was a good time just to hang out with everyone so much...since we dont get that kind of time often...it really helped me appreciate and love everyone that much more...i was really glad to visit my grandma and grandpas villages...it was crazy just to see where they grew up and just how amazingly different it is...i ll keep this short and write more in depth another time...all in all...i love my family...love you mom and dad and peter and stephen and andrew and yeen yeen....

before i go i ll give you my mailing addresses:

if you re going to mail me PACKAGES then send it to me at this address:

David Lee/Class XIV TL
Americorps NCCC
VA Medical Center
Building 15, Rm 2
Perry Point, MD 21902

now if youre goin to send me REGULAR MAIL then send it here:

David Lee - Class XIV TL
Americorps NCCC
PO Box 209
Perry Point, MD 21902


ok everyone...i m making a commitment to keep in touch better this year...to really fight the fade...and keep this updated more so keep my accountable...pics will be up when i can get them up...no promises on that one...take care until the next post...which i ll make sure is sooner rather than later...

almost there...

sorry no pics have been up...i will be home soon so i figure i ll save it til i get back...in denver...gonna be home on the 15th...call me and come see me...i ll try to post some final pics up later...

iowa is more beautiful than i could have imagined...more to come...bogoshipda

pics from my last round in waveland, mississippi

our room in mississippi...the bed with the pirate flag is mine...they call me captain davy long hairs



our common area at Camp Salvage...which we came to call Camp Savage



the first house we worked on...i did the roof for this bad boy and you can see the natural progression of the house in the next picture where it has been weatherproofed and the siding has started to go up



siding the whole house usually takes a couple of days which involves a lot of measuring and levelling...siding is very easy to mess up on



more of the first house...we worked on this house about 2 weeks max before we started on the big boy...



the framing up for our prize build...the 2 story house...the first done by habitat in mississippi and i built it...ground up...



more of the framing...the 3 things you see on the top are ceiling joists...its what supports the floor of the second floor



after all the ceiling joists are up...we have to climb up and balance on them to start making the floors for the second floor...



me and jesse...a volunteer from kansas...she was so awesome



13-15 feet off the ground balancing on half foot wide beams making the floor systems...



scott and i MADE those roof rafters ourselves...we built that roof...we really did



the scranton girls...i must admit that when first hearing that we d be working with 20 high school girls...we werent too excited...but that turned out to be one of the best weeks...they were amazing...



me and stephanie...from scranton, PA...she was awesome and still is...



more of the lovely scranton girls...



the 2 story house lookin a little how it did towards the end...



my team and i with our amazing and awesome crew leaders...mistie, dan, stephen, and chris "casanova"...



thats me at the VERY top of the house nailing in some of the rafters so we can build that roof...



me and scott were the obvious badasses of our team...the habitat crew leaders always had me and scott doin a project on our own...they trusted us to do everything and it was really cool...



helping people out on the roof...



framing the second floor...



leann, me and chris in new orleans...

close to the end...

sorry about never posting for anybody that DOES happen to keep up with this blog...i m back in denver on my week break currently...i m headed to new york city on wednesday morning for a couple of days to see sandy who i havent seen in a really really long time...its been quite a while since we lived together so i m really lookin forward to seein her...

the last project in mississippi was awesome...i couldnt have gotten a better project with habitat...i can now basically say that i helped build a 2 story home from the ground up...its an awesome feeling...i helped build almost every aspect of that house...

after our break here...i ll be headed off to my last project for the last 2 months...i ll be in des moines, iowa!!!! doesnt get much more mid west than that...hahha so i m pretty excited...we ll be living in cabins...workin for the iowa conservation board i think....where i ll be doing some trail building, invasive species removal, and maybe even some controlled burns...which sounds really exciting...

this wont be too long of a post because the coffee shop that i m at is gonna close soon...the internet in our dorms hasnt been working for the past week so it really sucks cuz if you dont know yourself...everyone is quite dependent on the net these days...i cant type too well becuase if you havent heard...i ve been wearing splints on my left middle and ring fingers for the past month because i tore 2 tendons in them...dont worry...it didnt hurt at all and sounds worse than it really is...it just looks funny...ive got to wear the splints for another month so i m almost there...

thanks to anyone and everyone that remembers me in their thoughts...it is much appreciated...i ve been contemplating what to do after this is done and i ve actually decided to try for another term!!!! but this time as a team leader...i just wanted to opportunity to be able to influence just like myself...now that i know a little more of what i wanna do, i just want to help someone who was like me when i first joined the program...i think it ll be a great leadership opportunity for me...keep your fingers crossed...i ll try to keep everyone updated...but i gotta go...they re turning off the lights on me...i know that without pictures this site is pretty plain...so hopefully next time i ll be able to fix that...

join americorps if you dont know what you wanna do...ask me questions about anything...its been an awesome experience to really live for others...take care all

back at mississippi...

well i m gonna keep this short until i get more pics...but i m back in mississippi again...this time i m in the city of waveland and i m building with Habitat for Humanity down here...its a lot different than the new orleans branch because its a lot smaller with nowhere near the volunteer numbers in new orleans but its cool because our whole team works together on one site so the building actually gets done a lot faster because we kinda know what we re doing instead of having to train new volunteers all the time...me and scott basically finished a roof and tar papering in 2 days...it was awesome...an hour into work and my shirt is absolutely drenched with sweat because its so hot down here...its amazing how much water we drink and how we dont have to goto the bathroom once all day because we sweat so much...its been a really cool experience down here so far with the new team...we re only here for another 5 weeks so its kind of a short round...i ll post again soon with some pics...keep me and everyone else down here in your thoughts and prayers...take care