October 21st thru the 25th we built another home in Tuscaloosa. Blitz build they call it. We've done three or four here since the April 2011 tornado. This is the second one weve done working with the local firefighters. On the morning of the first day there was a blank conrete slab. At 11 am we were setting trusses and by days end on the first day, we had the metal roof installed. And like that for four more days. Following is a link to the time lapse that has us building it in a minute.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdCdrl5Qyw&feature=player_embedded      Brandon, our construction director, sparkled again in lining up the site, getting all the materials on the ground in a timely manner, arranging with the city inspectors just when to arrive to inspect the framing, sheathing, insulation, all the plumbing, ac and electrical rough ins. The firemen came out strong for the first three days and then seemed to dwindle a bit, but God (who is the real scheduler of these things) got just the right amount of people on just the right days, and we completed it on time. Passed our final inspection last week and dedicated Ms. Sledges new home on Friday noon. Her original house had burned down. We tore it down and built this new home on her lot. One nice touch was the donated fire suppression system (sprinklers) that was donated and installed by a local sprinkler contractor.
     We have been experiencing a bit of a dry spell as far as out of town volunteers as of late, but that changed big time last week with the arrival of 20 saints from the Frederick, Md Habitat affiliate . This was their 5th visit with us in T-Town and their 16th overall since 2006. Chuck and Donna are responsible for the gigantic task of logistics for moving as many as 90 volunteers in the same direction for a week at a time. It's great when highly skilled groups like this show up to help. Makes our job extremely easy, but more than that is is such a great joy to experince the heart of reunion with good friends like Jeannie, BJ, Gina, Greg, Pat, Lynn and more! We split the team and half worked all week to finish up Bill Taylors rehab (dangerously close with dedication on Nov 15 noon) and the other half worked at a sock the block- doing siding replacement and windows on a house three up from the blitz home.
     Saturday, the Board of Directors came out to work with the field staff and continued working on the rehab. Hoping it becomes a regular event.
      That's all for this week. Sorry I haven't blogged regularly as before, but I'll try to get back on my sunday after church library session to keep you all posted. Looking forward to a trip north for the gathering of the clan at Thanksgiving. Alex and I are driving up Wednesday before, maybe with big brother Lawrence joining us from Miami for the roadtrip.