February came around and I still could hardly believe it. We were finally going to leave for New Orleans. I was on my way to build houses for the first time in my life! New Life Changing experiences coming my way. I get on the bus, and 22 hours later and surviving strong winds and severe weather on the way, we finally made it to Camp Hope. Here I was ready to have a shower and get right to work. My life was about to change before my eyes. And life changing it was, but I was not prepared to see the sites of a third world country. Seeing the devastation really hit me hard. I could not believe the amount of damage there still was. It had been 2 years since Hurricane Katrina hit and very little progress had been made. If I hadn't known when Hurricane Katrina hit, I would have guessed it just came yesterday. That’s how bad it was.

The Lower 9th ward was the worst part because its next to the levees (which by the way are not as high as I would have expected) No progress was made to the Lower 9th ward at all. It's like being in a third world ghost town. Walking by destroyed houses and seeing personal possessions like trophies, journals, children's toys, story books, baby bottles, pacifiers etc..just laying on the ground, it was enough to make you cry. Not only was I shocked and saddened for this community, but I was angry that the government would let the city get like this.

The first thing you see when you come to New Orleans, is devastation and destruction. I thought the whole city can't be like this. It's been 2 years. Hasn't any progress been made? Then we went downtown. Well you could literally draw a line between downtown and the rest of the city. Downtown was like Hollywood. You walk out of Hollywood and there you are in a Third world country. It was surreal.

The next day we go to the Construction site and get down to work. The site my group was assigned to was Musicians Village. There I learned how to do insulation, use power tools like a circular saw to cut materials like soffit and fascia. I also learned how to install soffit and fascia. Which I wasn't too keen on because it involved getting up on a 24 foot ladder. Luckily my partner decided she would get on the ladder to instull it and I would do the cutting. Worked out just fine for me. lol

During our lunch breaks we had the opportunity to walk around town and possibly talk to some of the residents there. The residents we soon found out were only too happy to share there stories with us. We came across this one guy who was cutting his grass. There was a notice on his door. So we asked him what it was. He then told us that the government had just passed a law stating that if you do not cut your grass and keep your lawn tidy, you will be fined $100. That really made me mad. Most of these people don't even live here anymore and there getting $100 fines for not cutting their grass?? Umm excuse me, but what grass? Most of these places don't even have grass anymore. lol That’s outrageous!!

Back at Camp Hope we soon discovered that there were some residents helping Habitat For Humanity building houses as well. Basically these people were paying for there newly built homes by putting in sweat equity. Well they were only too happy to help. Not only did they get to help build there own homes, but they felt like they were making a difference for their community as well.

One of the rules at Camp Hope is, everybody helps each other. Therefore everybody took turns washing dishes and/or making improvements to the Camp. One night while our group was washing dishes a resident came to us and asked us where we were from. We said Canada. He said "stay right there I'm coming around to give you all a hug and kiss" and he did. He said "Canada was the first to come to our aid after Hurricane Katrina had hit." And he thanked us and told us stories. We thought, was he ever gonna stop talking? lol But we were glad to hear his stories all the same.

This has definitely been the most life changing trip I had ever been. One of these days I plan on going again. I encourage anybody to go if they get the chance. There is still so much to be done!

**New Orleans Update**

Since Amanda submitted the above story (and before it got posted here--Mike Knight's fault, sorry), a member of her work crew has submitted an update on how the work was getting along, complete with pictures of the very houses Amanda had a part in working on. I have been asked to share it with you. It reads as follows:

Hello 2007 Spring Break Team,

I have an exciting update for you! [A member at our Habitat site] has recently been back and sends along an update with a few pictures. Her e-mail had a pretty big impact on both [of us] (goose-bumps may be involved if you're reading this!), which is why I thought I would pass it along... Here is what she writes:

Hi ladies. I just returned from a long weekend in our NOLA and wanted to report on progress. The city is coming back, slowly, but you see a lot more activity and building than this past spring.

I went to the habitat site and they were not building on that day so it was kinda nice to walk around and see all the progress. There are lots of new houses and I think they are starting the music center although I was not sure where it is going to be.

The homes on [the street we worked on] all have owners now and I was snapping a pic of the yellow one when [the owners] came out. They were wonderful people and I told them about you guys and how we worked on their home. ... They invited me in and showed me all around. Delightful people and very grateful for their home. This sort of sealed the whole deal for me . . . meeting the owners. It was very cool. I thought of how we ate our lunches across the street and how much fun we all had together. The whole experience of habitat was so good in so many ways wasn't it?

[We] hope the Windsor crew are doing well. Please send them a big New Orleans hello from me. I still treasure all the time I spent with you guys.

I have personally also had the pleasure of going back down this summer and took a day on my own to go back to our Habitat corner where we worked on the Red, Brown and Yellow houses. They now stand completely finished - side walks, airconditioning, safe running water, fenced-in backyards and all! I went to the doors of both the brown and red house and was able to meet the homeowners, now fully moved in and absolutely full of joy to be in their afforbable home with enough space for their entire families! The yellow house has been dedicated, but the family wasn't moved in when I was there ...

I'm not sure if any of you remember ... the woman in the red house, but she was amazing, gave me a hug, started to cry and said that she vividly remembers [Amanda's] group and those she was able to meet while we were there. She brought me in, gave me a tour, and we sat on the front porch for part of the afternoon talking about everything - [Hurricane] Katrina, how she survived, her family, her health, etc. It was truly incredible to talk to her and see how her life has changed from [Hurricane] Katrina to today, now that she is in her new house. She also recommended a book to me called Breach of Faith that was written about what people from New Orleans went through during and after the hurricane. Amazingly enough, she is the main character of the book and her story is told throughout. [She] also mentioned how nice it was to know that she has not been forgotten... I let her know that we think of them constantly up here and wish we could go back!

Truly an amazing story! Thank you, Amanda for sharing this amazing experience with us. You truly have showed how wonderful it is to have a part in actually helping those in need.

Indeed! While others may talk about how horrible the troubles in this world are today, merely talking about raising money to spend on the creation of awareness media while hobnobbing with the rich and famous, Amanda has made a difference in actually doing something about it--actually getting involved in the work of assisting in the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and seeing concrete results from the efforts expended.

Yes, it was about lunch time on a Sunday when I got a call on the home phone from the one and only Krusher! So, what I was expecting was kind of a geeky guy, you know, messin around on those computers all day and what not. In fact, I almost went home till I saw his van (Canadian tags) and realized that this guy really is Krusher! WOOT! Ya ever seen the cartoon? Looks just like him, I swear! So, just like Krusher said, we met at a playground next to one of the banks in town. When he called I knew just where he was. I met his wonderful wife and the three Krushees. All girls. (My condolences, Krusher. Keep tryin for that boy, eh!) Well, just like Krusher said, we went to the place – he calls it a ranch or estate – It’s not anything like that. And, it’s true that we went from a paved road to a dirt road to a sand road to just lawn (my driveway). Yup – rural Florida at it’s best! Anyways, you have to have a convertible in Florida – how else to enjoy the 330 days of sunshine a year?

So, when we did get to my place I offered a cold one to all. One of the comments I heard was that some of the brands aren’t available in Canada and they seemed to be having fun trying as many different things as they could. Sounds like something I would do.

Yes, they got the nickel tour. In the house we talked about their trip and the highlights, and got out of the sun for a bit. The Krushees were the ones that found the birds. They were fascinated by the big aviary I keep and the Eclectus parrot that we have. He was the burglar alarm! Yes, if he doesn’t know you he will let out a squawk that will deafen you for a couple hours. Sheesh! He did it a couple times! I bet the Krusher family was in their van just hollerin at each other to be heard for the next 3 or 4 hours! Sorry about that Krushers!

I did take them on a tour and showed them a few gopher turtle holes. I have 6 on the property now. After our walk we found all the Krushees and loaded everbody up in the van. I think I gave instructions on how to leave but maybe I didn’t. Even though he’s big the Krusher struck me as a pretty intelligent guy so I figured that he’d remember how to get back to the main road. If not then the Krushette (she’s a real sweetheart by the way – Krusher is a lucky man!) would find the way out.

We wondered aloud if we could figure out a way to smuggle some pears back into Canada. But the poor van was jam packed with half of Florida in it all ready! I wondered how the Krushees were going to fit in there with all that stuff but they did. Then I wondered how long they were going to sit still! LOL!

I really had fun with Krusher and his family. It was wonderful talking to the girls and listening to them as they talked about their favourite part of their adventure to Florida. Krusher is pretty cool and the Krushette is the best. Y’all are welcome down any time. We’ll find room for all y’all.

Krusher mentioned Abbie picking some pears. I should known this was gonna be a bumper crop year.

WOOT! Mrs FM is gonna make lots of pear wine (that’s the good hooch) and preserves. Mmmmmmmmmm

Thanks for the great write-up on me Krusher! I hope I’ve done you some justice, too! I really enjoyed your visit and I look forward to visits with some of the other folks who are a part of the Corner Gas Gang! WOOT!

Florida Mike
AKA The Old Guy©

AS a huge fan of Corner Gas, I recently found out about LaWOOT! and have met some great new friends in the LaWOOT! Chat Room. One night, just before Easter some folks in the chat room were discussing their plans for the Easter long weekend. This led to the creation of the world’s very first LaWOOT! football Easter Egg!

Each year I decorate Easter eggs and have an egg hunt with my husband. We don’t have kids but I’m a big kid at heart and love any excuse to celebrate a special occasion. As we were chatting in LaWOOT! that night someone mentioned they were going to play football so I jokingly offered to make an Easter Egg decorated like a football.

The next day I sat down at the kitchen table with 18 boiled eggs, five different colours of dye and some crayons and I began to decorate. For some reason I just wasn’t inspired and after decorating a dozen or so eggs with the usual Easter themes, like bunnies, flowers and sharks (the Easter bunny was sunning himself at the beach and a shark in the water was coming to get him), I was out of ideas. Seven eggs to go and I was stumped. So I dyed five plain eggs each of the five colours and then had just two left. Then a little voice in my head (I only occasionally hear voices) said “Woot!” and I remembered the conversation about football.

Five minutes later I had created the world’s very first LaWOOT! football Easter egg! That left only one egg and I thought to myself, “hmmm, what goes with LaWOOT?” Why Corner Gas of course! So on the last egg I drew the Corner Gas logo and on the reverse side a Corner Gas pump. Next Easter (or next time you’re bored), why not try making your own LaWOOT Easter egg?

Instructions for making a genuine LaWOOT! football Easter egg

Beware: The Boot Monkey Lives!

As told by Amanda

WELL I was bored one day and was thinking about LaWOOT, when suddenly the idea of making a boot monkey came to me! I thought wouldn’t it be cool if LaWOOT had an actual stuffed boot monkey? But how would I go about making it? Then it came to me… Build a bear! I thought hey! I’ve never went to “Build a bear” before (store where you can create and purchase your own bear). It’s the perfect place for it! So I checked to see if they had any monkeys. And sure enough they did!

So off I went to the mall! And I went straight to “Build a bear”. Well actually it took me a while to find it, but that’s besides the point lol. For those of you who are unfamiliar with “Build a Bear”, the first thing you do when you get there is pick out your animal "shell" then you go to stuff it! But while your stuffing it you have to go through what is called the “love ritual” The person helping you create your stuffed animal, makes you do all kinds of crazy things lol. It was a lot of fun actually. He made my friend and I yell “WE’RE BUILDING THIS MONKEY FOR LAWOOT.COM” We did that several times throughout the store for everyone to hear!

Once the boot monkey was stuffed and sewn together the next step was the bathe him. No it’s not your typical bath water and soap. It’s where you air dry, fluff, and stuff animal. This process only took a minute or so.

Next step was to dress the boot monkey! Now I noticed the boot monkey picture isn’t wearing any clothes, so I picked out clothes that I thought would best match the site! So I picked out some blue jeans, white t-shit and blue and white striped dress shirt to go over top of the white t-shirt! For boots , I was lucky enough to stumble upon a pair that matches the boots in the boot monkey picture perfectly! I was quite pleased with that! Then of course I thought it would be cute to top off the ensemble with a cool pair of sun glasses! WOOT! WOOT! And that is how the boot monkey came to life!

Apparently this was the first stuffed animal the employees there have ever made for a site before so naturally they were curious about it! And so I told them all about LaWOOT and the boot monkey! They seemed very intrigued and were honored to have contributed to the site!

It was a blast creating the boot monkey and I hope to share him with all LaWOOT chatters sometime in the future! WOOT! WOOT!