Sleep, Birthday, Beer, Generosity, KABOOM!!!, and other unimportant events...

So, some blanket statements for the start of this blog.
1)I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a while, I have been very busy doing all sorts of work, and every moment that I haven't been working has been spent either sleeping or blowing off steam.
2)Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday greetings and gifts; it was a little overwhelming to see all of the wall posts on Facebook, and the packages in the mail. Thanks especially to Uncle Ken and Aunt Debbie who sent me a birthday cake!! Unfortunately the USPS didn't take great care of it and it was basically mush by the time it made it down here, but we had a blast dipping pieces of cake into the frosting and eating it with a spoon^^ We will still occasionally have a chuckle about the "birthday cake from Delaware"
3. A big thank you to everyone who contributed money to make this summer possible for me; when I first got here, I had not yet reached my goal, but I have now actually exceeded it and am very grateful for all your support.

So it's been a good while since I posted, I know. So I will try to play catch-up a bit. So, birthday first: my birthday was not a terribly exciting day. I was working all last week with a team from First Presbyterian of Jackson, Mississippi. George Holman (our cook Elizabeth's father) and I were working to fix up several houses Lagniappe built and make sure they were ready for final inspection. This involved connecting sewage drainage lines, and well pump supply lines, as well as getting power run and connected to the grinder pumps and well pumps. Cosmetic jobs like removing dripped paint, attaching outlet/switch plates, moving improperly installed mirrors etc. On Tuesday, however, we were working on fixing a plumbing leak that was ruining the ceiling drywall and rewiring the grinder pump and well pump on another house, one of the first homes Lagniappe had built. Jordan told me all the details of what needed to be done and as we were about to pull out yelled after me, "By the way, the mother and one of her children is deaf!" We actually didn't have too much trouble communicating with the homeowner, as her other children were basically able to translate for us, and by the end of the second day we got to see the photo album of the history of the house, what it looked like before and after Katrina, and throughout the various stages of building. Jordan's awesome birthday present to me was not telling me that the "house on stilts" was only 3 feet off of the concrete slab, which was wet from HVAC condensation and covered in some godforsaken mix of algae, water, bugs, spiderwebs, and who knows what else. After a few hours of hornet attacks, fishing, stapling, and splicing wires, I finally emerged from the slimy pit, got cleaned up and ate, and went out with several of the other over-21 interns to a little bar down the road called Clyde's. Thomas tried to be nice and buy me my first legal beer, but the bartender wouldn't stand for it and saved that honor for herself^^ We were all pretty tired and didn't really stay all that long, but I'm sure I would never have heard the end of it from some if I didn't go out on my birthday. In a funny twist, I haven't been carded yet at any store or restaurant. (Last night at dinner, Thomas and I had beer with our BBQ, and the waiter looks at us and says "Are y'all old enough?")Well, the only reason this post happened, was that our concrete truck was delayed by several hours. With nothing for my team to do, we returned to Lagniappe to chill until the concrete came at 3:30, and I set out to blog. I had planned to post this before I left to finish up that job, but of course the internet connection decided to cut out just then and erased half of my post.