A Day in the Life

6:00am  My alarm sounds.  My first thought is about the ache still lingering in my feet.  There is very little time for sitting during the day... unless you are a trim painter.  I wonder how Katie will feel this morning.  She has injured herself and we've got to ice down her foot.  That should be fun (NOT).  She doesn't want to go home.  I have to get up.  Everyone likes to have the coffee ready when they arrive.  I wonder whether we're out of bagels and think that next year, it would be nice to have a hot breakfast for one morning.  I shuffle out of bed while all else are still asleep.  I like being in the kitchen by myself.  Still in my pjs.

7:30am.  Most everyone is here.  Devotional starts.  Some of us are massaging our muscles into shape.  Our kitchen crew still needs to be in the kitchen.  I think we can get the BBQ cooked today but not so sure.  There seems to be endless miles of trim.  

8:00am.  Clean up.  Rachel, Ann and Judy start to remove the breakfast stuff.  Team 2 heads for the front beds with Landscaper Loyce.  There's massive clearing to do.  Someone needs Ibuprofen from me.  Kelly arrives.  Sick with exhaustion, pollen and fever.  Debbie Peterson can hardly talk.  Patsy starts to cough.  Still in my pjs.  The Trim Crew needs to be rotated and start painting the doors.  Keith has Rose back for ceiling trim.  Kelly thinks he can take six youth and lay the floor down in Lydia.  He wants me to find the best 6 for him in about an hour.  It's a secret.  I'm not to tell anyone.  I must get dressed.

10:30am  Everyone wants snack.  The Lunch Wagon crew begins their snack rounds with drinks.  This is the time I can escape to put on some jeans!  YAY!  Our sick/sore people need more water.  I go to the Walk In Refrigerator and find... Nate Shelton.  Cooling off.  In. the. Walk-in. Refrigerator.  

I start a new Grocery/Home Depot/WalMart list.  We need soaker hoses with timers, 45 bags of mulch, 27 bags of garden soil, more cereal, etc.  Jessica is wearing my shoes (because all she brought were flip-flops).  If I can, I'll pick up some tennis shoes for her.  Katie's foot is better.  Debbie needs more Tylenol.  Trevor's having a low blood sugar.  We need more trim paint.  Keith is starting to put the kitchen back together.  The meat is needing to be chopped.  Patsy almost has the while media center catalogued, organized, labelled, shelved and usable!  

Does anyone know which hardware matches which door?  Four ceiling fans are up.

12:30pm.  Kelly and his new Floor Crew are making great headway as they pass the halfway point in Lydia.  Loyce, Dave, Chris, Nate and Dria have transformed the back of the cottage from an overgrown after-thought to a beautiful ornamental garden with flowers, trees and juniper (oh my!).  The Parker Lodge crew begins putting the floor down in the final room.  It's not going well.  

3:00pm  I hide out in the Retreat Center office to work on the slide show.  (Talent night is tomorrow!)  I check the church site for the other mission trip.  WOW!  They are having some God filled adventures!!!  It's inspirational to read how far their journeys have taken them.

Judy brings down loads of old laundry that has been found on the floor.  The machines are cranked up.  Music blasts from the lodge as the kids paint, paint, paint.  Tyler appears with hair covered in paint... but he is laughing (sigh).  Someone asks for more snack.  I decide to run errands and collect final lists from all crews.  

3:10pm.  A Starbucks run is suggested.

3:15pm.  20 people have given me Starbucks' orders!

6:00pm  The dinner bell rings.  Patsy and the Kitchen crew bring out massive BBQ, Corn on the cob, Coleslaw, Baked beans... everything is so yummy and we are all starving.  Sam leads the Reflection and talks about the hope that we are bringing to this retreat.  The place is literally lighter... floors and new trim reflecting God's sunlight.  We sing Our God is an Awesome God. I look around and wonder how in the world we, as a Presbytery, have let this place go so far.  I imagine what could be, if all of the churches in this group sent one Mission Crew here.  I am so thankful that we are not in New Orleans.  

7:00pm.  Dinner break is over.  The youth want to watch I Am Legend in the basement of Lydia. We move the younger kids to the Great Room, set up a DVD for them.  Tom Rocca agrees to chaperone the Youth.  I start moving furniture out of the fireplace room.  Debbie sets up the massive outdoor light so we can all see.  More painting gets done.  

10:00pm  Lights out.  One by one the cabins and cottages go dark.  I am not fooled, though.  I know those kids are still texting each other.  Dan shuts them down.  Threatens to take all the cell phones.  The littlest kids say their prayers with Karen.  

11:00pm.  Trevor and I go into the office again.  I download the photos of the day.  I work on the movie finalizing song selections, adding text slides, trying to choose and remember all the best points of the day.  I make a list for the things that must get addressed tomorrow.  

12:35am We say goodnight to Andy (Site Guy Magnificent) and head to bed.  

12:45am  Cherokee Retreat Center is silent and dark.  It feels great to be so tired.