DAY ONE: SATURDAY MARCH 31, 2007
So we all arrived in West Virginia safe and sound. I have not been here since summer of 2005. We are staying in a house with Bruce. It is good to see him. The drive down here was long, but there were good pop songs on the radio to keep everyone entertained. We stopped at Applebee's on the way for lunch and Jenny drove the minivan the last few hours of the trip. We had a good pasta dinner, courtesy of Jill and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching Men's Basketball. Jenny and Bruce convinced me to dye their hair with blonde highlights; we'll see how they turn out. The cupcakes almost didn't make the trip down, as they melted in the car, but I think I managed to save them...we'll see how they taste later. I think the girls are really enjoying it here. They are amazed at the quiet neighborhood and love the porch swing. Tomorrow will be an eventful day.
DAY TWO: SUNDAY APRIL 1, 2007
We all got up and headed to church this morning for Palm Sunday. The church in Pineville, WV is a small church that seat only about 30 people. The priest was very personable during mass, and even called all of the girls and me "gorgeous" as he gave us the Sign of the Peace. During the accouncement part of mass Jenny made sure to tell the congregation that it was Marilyn's 16th birthday tomorrow so that everyone would sing Happy Birthday...and they did. After mass, we decided to go for a hike in Twin Falls State Park. It was raining on and off. But even as Luisa pointed out "everything is beautiful in this place, even in the rain." After some protests from Jenny and me, we still went for the hike, as Jenny and I do not like to leave the house when it is wet outside. But, Jill, being a native Seattler, pointed out that if she lived her life by that philosophy she would never have done anything. So we all piled into the minivan and headed up the mountain. And Jill was right, it was fun and the rain was not a bother at all. First we stopped at the log house gift shop so that the girls could pick out some wonderful souvenirs from their trip courtesy of Father Jim. Then we went on our hike to the waterfall. We managed not to slip and fall in the mud, and to have a fabulous time. I don't believe that any of the girls have been on a hike before; tons of pictures were taken in various poses.
After the hike, we headed to Dairy Queen for a treat and then back to the house. To our surprise Patti had arrived. She flew down to West Virginia today to join us; though her luggage did not make the trip yet...hopefully it will arrive soon. Since we still had some time before dinner, we headed into Mullens to visit Rose at the Food Bank. Rose is one of the nicest people on the planet. She welcomed us with open arms and took us on a tour. Rose also took time out of her day to explain the history of the food bank and how it works. The Food Bank is quite impressive with its massive amounts of distribution and the number of people that come through each month on distribution day. I think that Rose said about 500 people come each time. They never do know what food they are going to get as they are on a list know as Last Harvest, in which major companies just send them boxes of whatever they happen to have left over for the month.....this month is it Godiva Chocolates...yum. Rose also took time to talk about the great flood of 2001. The flood practically wiped out the town of Mullens. I did not start volunteering with the PVs until the summer of 2002, a year later, but the aftermath was still present then. I have only seen pictures of what the people here went through, and each time it just seems unbelievable. The Food Bank itself was submerged under water. There was a good 15 feet inside. But they had a ton of donations and volunteers and now it appears that it is better than ever.
After the trip to the Food Bank we headed back to the house for dinner. It was my turn to make dinner, so with the help of Luisa and Tiffany we had some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. After dinner we had a commissioning ceremony for the girls. They each read a part and received their official Passionist crosses...it is official... the four of them are PV volunteers.
After dinner we all hung around. Jenny watched the NCCA women's basketball semifinals while Patti, Luisa, Corinthia, Luisa, Marilyn and I played cards. We played UNO (California rules) and SPOONS (which is a PV favorite). Overall it was a great day.
***For an update from yesterday***
The highlights on Jenny turned out FABULOUS. They look great. Bruce's hair is a great shade of Blonde and he stated "now my hair color matches the color of my beard." So they were done without out Disaster. As for the cupcakes....considering there are currently only three left in the refridgerator from the fifteen I made, I would say those were a success as well. I also baked some brownies, which will be brought out tomorrow night. 
DAY THREE: Monday April 2, 2007
Today is Marilyn's 16th Birthday, and I hope it was a good memorable one. 
Luisa, Tiffany and I went to HeadStart and played with the kiddies while the rest of the group went to help clean-up/organize the Food Bank. I drove the white Jeep around the windy mountain roads and surprisingly got us there in one piece....without getting lost.
After spending the morning volunteering we went around visiting the locals in the area whom the PVs have gotten to know over the years. We went to see Helen Carter. She is a spunky 85 year old lady, who loves jigsaw puzzles. I think that she was just happy to have us all come and visit her. She entertained us with stories of her life and what the town was like during the booming days of the coal mine before people moved away.
Then we went to April's home to see her children. The oldest child Dakota was not there, and the other two young ones were being all shy. The Girls are not fond of dogs, so Marilyn did not get out of the car, even though the dog was the cutest and would immediately roll over on its stomach the minute you started to pet him.
I know we were all tired after the long hard day of work. The girls went to the park with Patti and Bruce (Brucey-poo as they nicknamed him) to play ball while Jenny, Jill and I hung back at the house. I got to watch the end of the Opening Day game for the Yankees...glad they won and that I got to see A-ROD hit his homerun. Jenny also had a good baseball day as the REDS were victorious as well.
Tonight we are going to have a birthday celebration for Marilyn, complete with hats and balloons and Patti is gong to teach everyone how to do the LINDY.
Update****
So we actually never got our Lindy dance lessons. The girls wanted to watch the Season Finale of "I Love New York". Corinthea tried to sell this show as a love story about a woman out to find true love, but I was not about to let her get away with that decscription. For those of you that have never heard of this television show, it is not for the weak minded or those who believe in true love. I think Jenny is most certinately scarred for life. It came down to Chance and Tango...at any rate, it was not the most productive show to be watching, but like a train wreck, it was hard to turn away.
DAY FOUR: Tuesday April 3, 2007
Picture the scence. It is 1902 and the women are left on the farm to tend the household and chores while the men are off exploring. Three chickens have died and three children are sick with the mumps. Marianne (aka Tiffany), Louisa (aka Lusia), Rosie (aka Marilyn), Bessy (aka Corinthea), Ella (aka Jenny), Gracie (aka Jill), Nelly (aka Patti) and Laura (aka Rocco) were tending to the farm....think Little House on the Praire...though I may be dating myself as the girls were born after 1990 and Little House was well out of syndication at that point. I am not quite sure how this scene came to play out today, but it had something to do with Tiffany sweeping the floor of Billy Roy's trailer, and she is the best sweeper this side of the Mason-Dixon Line....but I digress as I am getting a little head of myself here....I will come back to Bill Roy's house in a moment, but let me go back and start with the day from the beginning.
I miracuolously was one of the first people awake this morning. This almost never happens. So, since I was up before Jenny, I made the coffee to ensure that she would have some waiting for her when she arose from her slumber. Truth be told I was just very excited to try out my new gift that Jenny bought for me yesterday. Jenny so graciously pruchased me a dark blue travel mug, which I intende to use on all my PV excursions from this day forward. It really made a difference in my day as I was able to bring my morning brew with me on the long car ride to the worksite...and as most know I am grumpy without it. It also made for a nice pitstop at the Magic Mart bathroom while we were purchasing vinyl tiles for Billy Roy's trailer.
The girls emerged ready to use their muscles and help lay some vinyl tiles. Three of them dressed alike in yellow t-shirts ready to tackle the day's challenges. Marilyn almost had a doggie mishap this morning when a white floppy eared dog ran full speed towards the minivan as Patti was getting inside. The dog wanted to play but Marilyn screeched in fear as Patti barely got the door close in time to prevent the hound from jumping inside. Marilyn also had another dog moment at the worksite today as there was a cute puppy named Booger who wanted to play. But he was harmless and Marilyn handled it very well.
As you probably figured out from the paragraphs above, we spent the day laying vinyl floor tiling on Billy Roy's trailer. It was suppossed to be a nice easy job to ease the TGIA girls into their first day of home repair in West Virgina. This, however, was not the case. When the old floor was ripped up, a new hole in the floor was discovered and new plywood had to be measured and put down. There was also a problem with the floor that we were sticking the vinyl tiles to. The tiles were not sticking to the floor correctly. There was a lot of dust in the trailer and it was impossible to get the floor clean enough for the tiles to stay down. So Jenny ran to the hardware store to buy some special glue to put on the back of the tiles to ensure they stayed down. What turned out to be a easy job, turned into a massively sticky operation. I also, in my true klutzy self, managed to sit in a pile of glue on my jeans...we will just have to leave it at that for now. But after a long day of trials and tribulations the girls laid some beautiful blue tiles in the trailer. It was a job well done.
We got back to the house, and it was a hamburger/veggie burger cookout. Bruce invited over some friends and we all gathered on the porch to enjoy the nice mountain air and some good grub. It was nice to meet some of the neighbors, but we kicked them all out just in time to watch American Idol....which comes my next point..."Sanjaya is my Papaya"
Which leads me to my next agenda item for this blog....the mystery of Sanjaya has been solved. And I quote the four sixteen/seventeen year-old girls on this service trip. "Sanjaya is Sexy" "He can sing" ....and oh yes all....they mean it. This is how he is still on American Idol. Maybe, once again I am showing my age on this show, but I do not see that at all.
In case you didn't guess it, I made all nine of the people in this house watch American Idol tonight. Well, the girls did not take any convincing as they are regular watchers of the show. But Jenny (and it pains me to write this) had never seen an episode in her life. I think she might be caught watching an episode or two by herself after this trip is over. It was a good show, with some great performances, though Paula was not as wacky as I would have liked....I must remember to email Jenny tomorrow after teh results show to let her know who got voted off......
Well, the night is drawing to a close. Bruce, Patti, Jill and Jenny are watching the Womens's NCAA finals on ESPN as I sit here typing. If anything I was able to share AI with Jenny and she was able to share Tennessee Women's basketball and future WBNA superstar Candance Parker with me....and for that I am grateful.
Tomorrow is the long drive home. I hope that the girls Tiffany, Corinthea, Lusia and Marilyn got as much out of this trip as I have. It has been such a great pleasure having them around these past few days. They represented themselves in a mature and fun loving manner. They are a great group of young ladies and if they proceed in life the way they have these past few days I know all four of them will succeed in all their future endeavors. I only hope that they can take their experiences here in West Virgina with them to Brooklyn. I have faith that each of them will be back here in Wyoming County again at some point in the future.
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