11.22.2010

Well I over-packed, that's for damn sure.But hey, I should be used to people asking me, "where ya movin'?" by now.Except this time I was moving!Moving to the Big Easy, that is.Like I've said before, I couldn't have asked for a better first project and I guess I just wanted to be prepared (fashionably) for whatever was waiting for me.And luckily it is still early on enough in our relationship that my teammates didn't give me too hard of a time when I needed help lugging my suitcase up the stairs of our new house.

In reality, my fashion sense has been quite altered in just the one short/long week since our arrival.I'm not sure what universe we're living in actually because I have been the first one up, out of bed and into the bathroom every morning.I like this routine for the peace it affords me before the rest of the hustle and bustle gets started; the hustle and bustle that sometimes forces others to have to brush their teeth in the kitchen like barbarians.And because I wear a uniform every day and no makeup (well, ok, I wear mascara), I even have time for a leisurely breakfast before we head to work at 8am.What a change from wolfing down a bagel while driving to the park and ride to commute into DC!

So far, the nature of our work at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (http://www.habitat-nola.org/restore/index.php) has been another welcome change.I've been keeping daily handwritten journal entries about what I do each day.It's mainly manual labor moving donations like window frames, furniture and lumber.On any given day we could move the same items from the truck to the back room to be de-nailed, from there to the loading dock to be priced, from there to the floor to be sold, from that spot to another for better organization/visual arrangement and then from there to some lucky buyer's car to take it home.Seriously, one of the worst days I've had so far was spent involved in that process with 16' solid wood door frames.Just pick a place to put them!And then I slammed my fingers in an 8' window and had to try really hard not to cry in front of my team leader, Jason.Ugh.

But don't get me wrong, normally every minute is pretty wonderful.I've already rearranged both the lighting and hardware departments now that my organizational skills have been discovered by the assistant manager. I'm also learning a lot about a) Habitat as an organization - we had a welcome orientation the other day that explained its history and how it has boomed since Katrina with the goal of providing safe and affordable housing to make an impact on poverty; b) how different neighborhoods have had different levels of recovery since the hurricane c) architecture because Habitat specializes in salvaging historic pieces that can be refinished, d) the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood and its bohemian reuse/recycle culture.

On that note, there is a movement going on right now to create a Reuse District, in the way that there is an Arts District, since there are two more warehouses of similar nature right by the Habitat ReStore.The first is called The Green Project (http://www.thegreenproject.org/) and hopefully will be a source for future ISP hours.It's similar to the ReStore in the items it sells except their goal is to keep everything from going into landfills since Katrina put 35 years worth of material into them and they won't be able to hold much more.The other warehouse is called Preservation Salvage Store (http://www.rtno.org/get-involved/salvage-store/) and focuses on high end items for artists or homeowners interested in acquiring the vintage look.I just think that this is the epitome of "green business" - being conscious of what you're purchasing if it's new but more importantly, finding unique and fun ways to repurpose perfectly good items that are full of character.It's changing your lifestyle in small ways first that is really going to make the difference.It's so exciting to see it in practice, especially for so many different, yet equally just causes.