Jesus on display (Money Pit Rescue Part 1)

It all started with a nosy neighbor (or someone) who felt the need to report me to the city for 'code violations' on my house. Rather than come talk to me face to face and maybe ask if I might need help repairing a huge two-family house (on a one person income) they simply made an anonymous report to the city. That resulted in this letter (click on pics to see them larger):


Note that the date they wrote the order was August 20th...Note the requested completion date:


Here is what they were asking to be completed in that time frame:

Yeah...Right.

So, had 'anonymous' asked I would have shown them the thousands of dollars worth of structural work that I am trying to get taken care of on the inside. I would have explained that I am well aware of the work that needs to be done on the outside and it would get done as I was able....Or as soon as I won the lottery and could afford to hire the professionals to do it. But, no...Mr or Mrs. Anonymous didn't have the courage to do that.

But in Papa God's usual fashion, almost immediately upon talking to my next door neighbor (who I learned had also gotten a city letter about some cars on her property), I was surrounded by people willing to help, offering resources and time to help me get it done. My Handsome said he would buy the paint for the house and help out however he could. One e-mail from my brother from another mother, Steve, garnered the services of an entire men's group to get the work done. One guy, Al, 'happened' to be a builder and 'happened' to have the time and materials available to fix the soffits and gutters. Imagine that...Papa again took something meant to discourage me into an opportunity to bless his kid...Somewhere deep down I sensed that there would be something that set the wheels in motion for my house and I just had to be patient. So, even though 'Anonymous' initially pissed me off, I admit that I am thankful for their busybody selves because now my house is on the mend.

Here are some pictures from day one:


My home before (Al had already taken off the awning and set up to work on the soffits)
Gary Parrish. We sometimes work tech together at church...I don't know him well, but he showed up and sat on a scaffold for hours and painted. What a good man!
Jim and Steve stand back as Al and Eric inspect the bagels that Fran brought.

Doug Walter. A good friend and the hubby of one of bestest friends.
The lovely and talented Fran, another of my best friends, shows how to scrape loose paint from the boards.
Steve, my bro and one of my dearest friends. This is all you need to get the work done.

mmmmmmmmmm Bagels!
Jim, The most dashing and wonderful man ever...Eric, labor manager extraordinaire...and the Panera Puppeteer.
Mom's reaction when Al told her he would have to disconnect the satellite.
Working as fast as we can before the rain comes.
Rain Man?
Rain only stopped us for a few minutes...And look! My house will no longer be blue (or was it grey?!)...Matt provided the paint for the body of the house. Jim bought white trim. It's gonna be kick arse when it's done!
Roller Derby?
Cooperation....
I discovered Charlotte and her web on the ceiling of the porch. She walked over and wrapped her arms around her egg sac when I started painting the edges nearby.

Tony, another brother of mine..And hubby to Maria-Maria-Maaaariiiiaaa! She's in my group of best girlie girlfriends too!
Al is a working machine. He worked on and off Friday and all day Saturday to get the soffits done.What a guy!
When Tony painted the rest of the ceiling I asked him to paint around Charlotte. I will paint the rest of it after the egg sac hatches. I like corner-dweller spiders. If you make fun of me I will give you a knuckle sandwich.





Painting Phase One is complete. Front porch body is done, and so is the right side. Trim next. The back of the house, the second story porch and the left side to be completed over the course of a few more days.









This has been the best experience of forced labor ever. I love my friends, old and new....I could not be more blessed with better people who live out the Vineyard Westside creed "Don't talk about it, be about it!"

Love and Thanks to everyone who worked, stopped by, brought cookies or sent prayers!!



Comments

Kelly said…
It looks great!!!
8:17 AM
Elaine said…
That's great! You have some awesome friends!
9:49 AM
Francy said…
I like the new color!
5:22 PM
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