surprise!

This past weekend a team from Galveston came up to visit us. One of my favorite friends in Americorps, Adrienne, is on that team, as well as a lot of other fun people. They stayed in our room Friday and Saturday nights, which made a total of about 8 people sleeping in the hotel room, which was snug. It was really amazing to see familiar faces, especially such fun ones. We took them out Friday night and on Saturday we all walked around down town and went to a cool cafe and the Austin Museum of Art. It was a really amazing surprise.
On Sunday four members of my team woke up at 7 to go volunteer in the woods for the day. The other 5 members of the team dropped out last minute, so it was a small (but mighty) part of Fire 6 that showed up to meet a man named George and help him clear trails. We spent 8 to 9 hours sawing down branches and clearing brush, which was exhausting but a refreshing change from office work. During the first hour though, I got a call from my dad saying that my great uncle Holmes died, which was unexpected by me. He was a really great guy and I can't thank him enough for providing me with my high school education which completely changed my life. Each project that we do has a final portfolio, including a dedication to someone, and my team is going to dedicate this project to my uncle.
Monday our team drove down to Galveston and saw some of the destruction affecting the people we are calling every day. It didn't feel that bad to be after having worked in New Orleans after Katrina....It seemed like a lot less houses were damaged. There were a lot of really bad looking buildings and houses though that were hit really hard. We left Austin around 7, got there at 11, then left Galveston around 4 and got back to Austin around 9. It was a long day, but it was cool to see what it was like down there as well as seeing more friends who are stationed down there.
Tuesday I had the day off and just relaxed, and then Wednesday until today I've been working. Work has pretty much been the same. We're working on getting the queue down, but the last 200 cases or so are all really difficult ones. The queue has been the same for the past week or so because we keep getting about 50 out a day, but then that same number is also coming in every day, so that is frustrating.

I am going to put links to some pictures I've taken over the past couple weeks here below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026912&l=1537b&id=10300564

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026935&l=438df&id=10300564

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026957&l=59354&id=10300564