Megan and Mark's Wedding in Houston

First, a big thank you to our newest Followers for joining us:

Beth

Jeff and Sheryl

Kevin and Ruth

Trailercamper

Eldy and Jeannie

You might want to take a minute and click on their names to view their blogs...

We drove to Houston for Mark and Megan's wedding.  While Kelly and Megan and the girls were getting together we were able to spend dinner with a couple of our favorite nephews along with Darrick:

Pam, Mark, and Drew and Darrick

We enjoyed a great meal at Papacito's.

Next, we had a lunch date with the bride and maid of honor at Ninfa's on Navigation at it's original location near downtown Houston.

The area of town is not the best but the lunch crowd showed up early and it was full.  We grabbed a table on the outside patio had tacos and could see why it is such a popular place.

Megan's grandmother had lunch for Megan and the bride's maids the day before the wedding at 'My Cup of Tea'.  What a unique idea.

I had never heard of a tea party but it was a great time for all the ladies!

Later in the evening, we made it over to Carmelo's which was absolutely an excellent venue.  The Italian food and service was terrific.

It was fun to get to know some of the Stuckey and Zeiler families.  It was a interesting to hear the toasts and stories and all the well wishes.  The slide show was well done and provided plenty of entertaining anecdotes of Megan and Mark growing up.

It was a fairly large group and many had flown in from all over the country to be party of the happy event.

After a late night we got up the next morning and helped out by loading up cartons and crates of beverages (beer, wine, soft drinks) to take over to the reception location later in the day.

 They had an evening wedding at the Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston.  Pam was able to take a few photos of the ladies getting ready.

 The entrance of the wedding party started exactly on time and it was a beautiful ceremony.  The music, the setting, the beautiful brides maids and maid of honor, the guys...it was really a memorable event for all.

 After the ceremony, it was time for pictures and we stayed a little while before heading over to the reception.

 The Gallery was another nice setting and there must have been a couple of hundred people at the reception.  The fajitas were a perfect choice and lots of folks sat and talked and celebrated the happy event.

I was able to get one last photo of Megan, Kelly and Rachel.  Megan and Mark are now honeymooning in Hawaii and will be living in Austin, TX.

It was fun to see Kelly and to see her as the Maid of Honor.  We had to leave the reception before the end of the festivities and got up on Saturday morning to take Kelly and Marion to the airport.

After we said our goodbyes, we went back to the campground and headed east on I-10 for Moss Point MS.  We didn't have to refuel and only stopped to switch drivers a couple of times on the 425 mile trek.

We arrived at Caswell Springs United Methodist Church, Moss Point before sun down.  There are RV hookups on the property and we joined six other couples.  We are looking forward to NOMADS Disaster Relief work here the next few weeks.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Hope you are staying warm and that you have a great week.

From Hanging Doors to a Talent Show

It was my turn to lead devotions and I took focused on a portion of scripture out of Nehemiah.  One of the themes of that book is how Nehemiah planned, prepared and executing the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem.  The point of the devotion was to see how and how much Nehemiah prayed to Almighty God which has direct application to our NOMADS house rebuilding projects.

We had a rain storm Wednesday night that left the campground a little soggy.

But it cleared up and it was another beautiful day

I have mixed emotions about Thursdays.  With our NOMADS team, it is the last day of the work week.  It is also the time we say goodbye to some couples.  Russ and Nancy are leaving Friday but not before Joe, our project lead, presented Russ with a picture of his plumbing.

The plumbing requirements on some houses here in Galveston have been interesting.  Russ had one of those that probably unlike any other he will have to deal with anytime soon.

We had the same team back at Johnnie's House.

Joe helped us hang our first door to the laundry room.

It opens and closes beautifully.  I love learning how to do new things like this.

Jerry and Kit and I were then able to hang a closet door in the back bedroom.

Now all we have to do is put up trim and replace the baseboard and those two projects will be done.

Pam finished installing the drywall in the front aquarium closet.

That was a beast--hard to get to and a few non-standard cuts to fit into the space.

Pat cleaned out old drywall and prepared a space in the kitchen under the counter where the dishwasher was.

Outside, Norm was building a screen for the non-standard window.

He even built a cross piece for support.  Those rivet guns come in handy.

After we finished for the day, we got cleaned up and went over to Moody Memorial United Methodist Church.  They were have their first annual fund raiser for their after-school program.  They had a silent auction,a loaded bake potato dinner and a talent show to raise money.

We had the whole NOMADS group there at three tables.

Our own fellow NOMADS Carol Stoner did a comedy routine with a take off on Minnie Pearl.

It was all well done and successful event.

Kelly went to Houston to leave her dog Ed with cousin Mark and had an interview.  She thought it went well so we will see how it goes in a couple of weeks.  A move from Dallas to Houston could be in the works.

She is spending the night with us in Galveston, then the three of us will drive back to Houston and hop on a plane to fly to Detroit.  Adam and Meghan are getting married on Sunday in nearby Petrolia, Canada, right across the border.  We are excited for them!

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And for signing up to 'Follow'...we are very close to our goal of 100 but need a few more to get there...

Mostly NOMADS Trash Day

Yesterday was another slow day for us on the job site at our NOMADS project house.  We had the usual devotions, singing and prayer at our daily meeting, then went over to our assignment.  The electrical inspector had not been there yet so we were left with a few odds and ends to do.

We split up into two groups.  Norm and Pat stayed upstairs and worked on putting some green sheet rock in the upstairs bathroom.  The rest of us put up a three sheets in the downstairs bathroom temporarily.

Around break time at 10:00

Alan showed up with a 16' trailer which we loaded up with debris from our last three weeks.

When we were done, it was almost full.  And the side of the house had no more rubble.  It looked pretty nice.

We worked some more upstairs and before we knew it, it was time for lunch.

We ate outside in front of the house since it was such a nice day.

After lunch we went back upstairs and worked a little bit on some odds and ends.  Shortly after 2:00 PM Waylon showed up with a new air conditioner.

He is quite an interesting guy.  He has been working Disaster Relief things here since shortly after Hurricane Ike.

He and his boss have worked on 300 homes since that time and have been working this particular house for over a year.  Waylon shared a bit of his story and how he has been getting things right with God over the last few months.  He has found his niche here in Galveston with the air conditioning business and is making quite a difference.

We are a little concerned about our progress the last few days.  Can you imagine people in and out of your house for over a year?  We are working as fast as we can but we are dependent on the electricity getting checked out.  Once that is OK we can kick it into gear and put up the rest of the sheet rock and make some real progress.

Right now, we may not be able to finish before the project gets closed down the first week in April -- another 10 days.  We will see.  We hate to leave it this way.  Not sure what happens to the two remaining houses if they are not finished.  Maybe the committee who oversees the repair work will contract the rest of the work out.

It was another beautiful day in Galveston.  Can't have too many of those.  And my back is getting better, so I'm grateful for that.  I used some ice/cold and heat treatment all day along with a back wrap brace thing and my back did good.

We are getting excited about the weekend.  We fly out of Houston on Friday for Detroit and will see Adam and Meghan this weekend.  Kelly is going to go with us so that will be fun.

We also called the Tiffin factory at Red Bay to make sure they had us on the calendar for the week of April 5.  We are getting new pull-down shades and most of our dual paned windows replaced.  They confirmed the parts are on order and we should be ready to go when we get there.

Hope your weekend is going well.  Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Sunday in Houston Again

We really like the First Baptist Church in Houston.

The message is clear and relevant, the worship is good.

And my nephew goes there.  Since Kelly is in town, we went back to see cousin Mark.

Kelly's friend from Baylor, Megan, also joined us.  After church we went out to lunch at Mama's Cafe.  I got to meet Megan's boyfriend Mark, who sat across from me at the table.  He is a good guy and easy to talk to.

After lunch, we went by Megan's place to meet her new pup - Buckley.  He is not quite house broken yet but a good little pooch.  Plus he is not a yapper which is nice.

Pam did all the driving while I took it easy and let me back get better.  I am still walking gingerly but it is making progress. I am hopeful I'll be back to 90% is another day.  I'd say I am about 50% - 60% now.

We had an early team meeting yesterday so we could have a potluck of sorts.  Carol made enough gumbo for everyone and we enjoyed some fellowship before our weekly orientation meeting.  We met three new couples and everyone heard each others stories:  where they were from, what they did in their former life, how long they have been NOMADS and "anything else you want to tell us" which usually means kids and family.  I really like that part.

After that, Kelly and Pam went to the store for a few things and I put the heating pad on my back.  I watched the healthcare vote which is pretty depressing.  How are we really going to pay for all this?? It is pretty scary to me but all we can do is see how it works out.

Speaking of work - we are ready for another good NOMADS week.  Hope yours goes that way too and thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.

End of our 2nd NOMAD Week in Galveston

It has been busy the last couple of days with our NOMADS work involved with Disaster Relief in the Galveston Area.  We have 16 people divided into three teams working on three house projects.

On Wednesday, Joe (overall project leader) came over to our project house and gave a short class on how to properly apply joint compound (mud) to cover up the seams and corners of the wall board (sheet rock).

That was useful and we learned a lot of tips and techniques that will help us make our work look more professional.

One challenge at our house was building a decent looking arch in the door passage from the dining room/family room to the kitchen.  The one that was there came to a point instead of a curve at the top so we  took that down and build a new frame, then applied a 3 3/4 inch section of sheetrock.  We used adhesive and clamps to secure it in place.

At mid morning, we had done all we could until the house passed the electrical inspection.  One wall in each room has to be exposed (left open and uncovered) so the inspectors can see the electrical wiring.  We moved our 6 person crew over to the house we worked on last week.

The main tasks out side were to re-brick and cement the porch column and rebuild the stairs.  The bricks were a bit tricky.   We had to build a frame and mold, re-cement the bricks securely and then cover the top with mortar.  We'll see how that comes out after it dries.

The steps on the front porch were a complete re-do.  Much like the back steps we did last week, they had to be all torn down and rebuilt with new stringers and boards.  Tom and Joe did a great job and the front of the  house looks great.

The inside of the house where they did a lot of painting, ceiling tile and trim work--

As we were cleaning up the debris pile and finishing up for the day, we posed for a group picture with the owner.

Next we headed over to Salsa's Restaurant on Seawall Boulevard.

The couples that are getting ready to leave get to pick the place where we go out to eat.  Tom and Dotty and Dale and Elaine are leaving us this weekend after being here three weeks.

The weather has been great the last couple of days.  After we ate, Pam and I went for a walk on the beach.  We saw a few sand castles.

Did you know what NOMADS stands for:
- Nomads on Mission, Active in Divine Service

OR

- Nutty Old Methodists Actually Doing Something  :)

- Nice Old Methodist Avoiding Deep Snow :)

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.  We appreciate all of you and especially those that have signed up to "Follow" our travels.  We welcome you and look forward to the next 11 (to reach our goal of 100)...

Hope you are having a good week.

Meet the NOMADS

First-- a Meghan Update:

We spoke with her in Petrolia, Canada (her home) on Friday and she sounded good -- a little tired but her same upbeat self.  She had a week off from chemo and was enjoying that.  Yesterday Adam was saying that she had a wisdom tooth issue and talked with the doctor on Monday and she was going to take some antibiotics for that and delay the second round of chemo another week.  So please keep praying and sending encouraging words to her on FB or her blog.

Back here in Galveston, I wanted to introduce you to our fellow NOMADS.  You may be wondering what they look like and who they are so here goes:

Dotty and Tom:
They are from Kansas City, Missouri and have been NOMADS for  a year and a half.  We were here with Dotty & Tom in October but never worked on the same house with them until now.  We are working on the same house now with them and it is nice to get to know them.

Jerry and Kit:
They are retired school teachers and call Bracketville, TX their home.  They live in the same RV community and are friends with Joe & Frances.  This is their first NOMADS project and we are working on the same crew with them on the same house.  Kit posted a bit about yesterday's work on their blog

Russ and Nancy:
They have been doing NOMADS work for five years.  They are full-time RVers and are residents of Florida.

Dale and Elaine:
This is their first NOMADS project and they are from Ottumwa Iowa where he was a healthcare administrator.  We worked together with them on our first house last week before we got reassigned to our current house project.

Paula and Don:
They are from Midland, Michigan.  This is there first project.  He is a retired chemist and she is a retired nurse.    We haven't checked but they may be the youngest on the team.  They look like they are, plus they go for bike rides after we quit for the day and have way more energy than the rest of us...

Wayne and Lois:
He is a retired Methodist pastor and they have been doing NOMADS since....  They are from Michigan and had to return home yesterday suddenly when they learned of the death of Lois' sister who had been ill.  Our hearts and prayers go out to them and their families.

Joe and Frances:
They are from North Carolina but call Bracketville, TX home where they have property in an RV park.  They are our project leaders and have been here since the end of February.  We met Joe & Frances on our first NOMADS project last July in Pontiac, Illinois.  We also worked here with them last October.  We knew they were leading here now and wanted to be a part of their team.

Carol and Howard:
They have been NOMADS since 1999 and are from Texarkansas, Arkansas.  Carol is a retired medical technician and currently serving on the NOMADS advisory board.

Yours truly: (oops I forgot to have someone take our picture, so here is a recent one...)
We joined NOMADS in January last year but didn't start full-timing until May 2009.  Our first project with NOMADS was in July.  We also were here in Galveston on another Disaster Relief project in November 2009.

So that is a look at our group--we have a great team and everyone gets along well.  We have a few times during the week we all get together for a meal.  Many go to church together and it is fun to get to know each other.  Everyone has a story.

Speaking of which---what are you (our readers) doing for spring break?  It would be nice to hear about it.


Also, Pam wanted me to mention someone on the team here was a clown in the circus--guess which one??

Thanks for your comments now and then--nice to know you are out there...  And we appreciate your emails.   Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today!

How to Become a NOMAD

Instead of telling you what we did yesterday I was thinking that there may be some folks who are interested in knowing more about NOMADS.  I thought I'd give you the short "brochure" version:

One said earlier in the week that they toured the country for a while in their RV going coast to coast.  Volunteering with NOMADS gave them purpose.  In our case, it has become more of a calling too.

NOMADS stands for:  NOMADS On a Mission Active in Divine Service.

At our site here in Galveston, we have nine couples working on three houses.

We have some folks from Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, South Dakota.  I think five or six of us are full-timers.  Others RV about six months and volunteer a couple of times during the other six months.

We have learned a lot about different parts of the country since we have joined NOMADS.  During the last nine months, we have spent time in Pontiac Illinois, Greensburg Kansas, and here in Galveston.  We have come to appreciate a lot of new things about each area.

At each job site/project we bring our own tools and use some that others have brought.  Some people have a whole pick up truck full of tools and equipment while some don't have any tools.  We have drills, a Skil saw, hammers, a couple of tool belts, clamps, paint brushes...  

We work Monday through Thursday each week with devotions and a team meeting starting at 7:30 AM  and ending at 4:00 PM.  We are usually at the job site by about 8:30 AM.  We have a morning and afternoon break and an hour for lunch.

NOMADS is sponsored by the United Methodist Church and one of their many outreach programs.  We are not Methodists although we represent them as NOMADS.  NOMADS are not required to belong to the UMC but it is a Christian faith-based organization.

NOMADS is always looking for new volunteers.  They have over 1000 members, but the need is great.  Yesterday's news of the flooding in the Northeast and in the Midwest made me think of all those homes that will need to be repaired.

The government can't do it all.  Here in Galveston, over 2000 homes remain on the list to be repaired from the damage done during Hurricane Ike in 2008.  Building and construction here in Galveston is strong.  Many commercial builders and volunteers like us are on the island.

If you'd like to know more, let me know or call the NOMADS office at:  1-866-466-6237.  Or take a look at their website.  Click here.
We'd love to see more NOMADS out here!

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles today!