Good day, everybody.

Sometimes your children surprise you in the most amazing ways.

Today I got back to Austin from our trip to New Orleans and a quick stop-over in Denver, where I gave a speech this morning. I returned home right around the time the kids were getting back from school.

Luke’s school has a program where the kids have to sit down and think of an invention and write about it. Part of the fun is getting to draw their inventions on these shirts. So when I got home, Luke was wearing the T-shirt you see here which…

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We just wrapped up our build and it was fantastic. I added the before, during and after shots so you can see what we got done in a short two days. The guy to my right in the group shot is Wild Dogg, my team’s New Orleans Area Habitat construction supervisor. A great guy who was really patient with a bunch of people who have never built anything in their whole lives.

A big thank you to all the folks who helped us over the last two days and the LAF staff, of course. It was a real honor to…

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Day 1 of our New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity build was awesome. Governor Bobby Jindal and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu joined us in hammering a few nails and speaking to assembled crowd and press. Jim Pate, the New Orleans Habitat Executive Director was terrifically helpful, as were all the Habitat folks who supervised the entire LAF team as we spread out to help build four houses.

It was truly a proud day for the Foundation and for myself. I was proud of our LAF staff that traveled all the way from Austin with enthusiasm and unfailing energy. And I…

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Thanks for letting me be the guest blogger for today! I’m Natalie Seeboth, and I work as the fundraising specialist for the LIVESTRONG Challenge. I grew up in New Orleans, and when we found out that we were able to go on this trip, I was thrilled! While I have lived in Austin since 1996, my family is still in New Orleans, and so when Katrina hit, it hit close to home. My aunt and my sister lost their homes. My parents had flooding, wind damage and trees through their roof. Friends lost their homes and were separated from their…

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I’m here in the Big Easy where I attended my final meeting of the President’s Cancer Panel today. The President appointed me in 2002 and the last six years have been an amazing experience. I’m including my closing remarks for you here.

Tomorrow bright and early, we start our two-day build with Habitat for Humanity in the New Orleans area. We’re building on behalf of folks who have faced the twin challenges of recovering from the hurricanes and fighting cancer at the same time. The entire LAF staff has traveled here from Austin to participate and I’m glad that…

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