No amount of jet lag or intense desire to sleep late could keep Rex, Jamie, Susie and I from waking up early this past Saturday, putting on the work clothes and taking part in Hands on Nashville Day, a day of volunteering that brings together more than 1,500 volunteers each year to spruce up some of Metro Nashville's public schools (more on the sprucing later).

The four of us joined up with a team of local bloggers -- officially named Mr. Roboto's Team Blogger Sponsored by Hammock Publishing and Amerigo's, which was led by my favorite blogger of all time, Mr. Roboto (Sorry, Rex) -- at Percy Priest Elementary School. Our objective: to clean, construct, mulch, prune, paint and organize.

Sure, there was chit chat and excessive donut consumption, but there was also hard work. Susie and Jamie mulched and pruned. Rex put together a corner cabinet for a classroom. I cleaned doorknobs and helped install shelves. The principal of the school was even there to help us find the tools we needed (and to make sure all the tools were returned) and to tell us how much she appreciated the work.

Overall, a good -- and feel-good -- time was had by all.