If you look closely, Mum's co-workers wrote on her hard hat "Queen Anne."
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The famous ditch-digging.
Housing for 3 families, Szarvas, Hungary.A crew of 17 people from around the globe gather for 10 days to work on a new home. The house was a bunch of sticks-out of-the-ground when they started, according to Mum. I LOVE hearing Mum's stories when she gets back from a trip. [Favourite line from her Tasmania trip when her friend was fearfully backseat driving: Oh shut up, Judy and hold onto the Jesus handle!] The one that made me LAUGH was when Mum says, v. innocently, "Well, I volunteered to work on the roof, but I didn't get to." Faithful readers of this blog will recall her Roof Adventures.
She didn't protest too much because it was so HOT. Mum is not a hot-weather gal, but she is also v. English with a stiff-upper-lip. No that's all right, I'll be fine. Just let me WILT over here a bit....Instead she dug ditches. With a pick ax. And mixed cement: 37 shovels of sand to 1 bag of concrete. Pour into ditch.
At the end of the day, they went around and gave a highlight of the day. One day she said, "I was screwing all day." Hahahaha That's her blonde moment for the day. Someone told her that they had come up with the Anne Holliday Effect. Essentially it means to work harder, get more energy, laugh. She was the eldest, & there were a coupla college gals. Mum remarked that they both had sunglasses that cost $350. $350 for sunglasses? Can you imagine? I told C. that for $350, I would expect the lense not to pop out. Hahahaha That's Mum.
We laughed so hard in the car on the way back and it was prompted by a retelling of her airplane ride. They had individual TV's so she was watching Frazier. She was laughing so hard (and you have to hear her laugh to really appreciate it, but it's v. infectious) that the woman next to her asked what she was watching. So then they were BOTH laughing. Loud. It's one of the things I appreciate about Mum: her cheerfulness, her optimism, her get-it-done attitude. WELCOME HOME, Mum! LOVE, :-) BNO.
P.S. If you want to travel to exotic places and build stuff, check out Habitat's Global Village program.
3 comments:
Hali,
I work with your mum and she has this effect everywhere. I tell her all the time she is my hero and I want to be just like her when I grow up. She laughs, but little does she know how serious I am. This was a great blog. Thanks for sharing. Lynette
Lyn,
She rubs off on you, doesn't she? It's nice to have a "sister" to share an appreciation for her energy, optimism, & enthusiasm.
I know from how much Mum talks about you that you are a treasure to her. It is why she still works even tho she's allegedly "retired." Hope to see you in the near future. :-) H.
P.S. I LOVE graduation time when she makes the GF carrot cake--the BEST!!!
P.P.S. I keep telling Mum she should have a blog, don't you think? She says, "Oh, no...what would I write?" Hahahaha
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