More Visits and Preparing for Departure

After my week of craziness and stress I was able to spend the most wonderful weekend with my mom who came to visit for a few days. She arrived on saturday and we first completed the much needed task of doing my laundry (yay for moms and clean clothes). We then wandered around the oldest marketplace in the United States which is in the French Quarter and ended our evening with dinner and a much-needed soak in the hot tub of the hotel. It was wonderful to have a little vacation from bathing in makeshift showers enclosed by tarps (and I even got to sleep on a bed with a mattress). On Sunday we went to the distribution center and worked for the day which was also great, I think you really get a perspective of post-katrina while giving out food in the ninth ward and hearing stories of residents. We finished our day with daiquiris in the rooftop hot tub followed by dinner in a beautiful restaurant next to a fireplace (this is not the new orleans I know). The next day was a wonderful day off that began with brunch followed by an excursion to a stunning plantation home on the banks of the Mississippi. My mom's visit was wonderful and relaxing and a good preparation for the final push through the two weeks I have left.
This past week was spent attempting to formulate a plan for the future of the distribution center. We are losing our distribution tent at the end of april and want to complete the move before Jason and I leave. Although an indoor site would be desirable for the upcoming hurricane season, none are gutted out for us to move to so we are setting up another temporary tent for the distribution site. This move is also on top of the search for new distribution coordinators which are much harder to track down than we expected (we like to think it's just because we're so irreplaceable), so hopefully we will have one by the time we leave. This will probably be my last post from New Orleans. In a week I am heading out on a roadtrip adventure out west (and I'm pretty sure I won't have internet access from my tent-site) so this might be my last update for a month or so. I hope everyone has a wonderful beginning to their summer and for all my New England friends/family, I should be around the first week of June and am looking forward to seeing you all.

Tim's Visit etc.

Ahhh... I am currently hating computers and technology since I just wrote such a fun and interesting post that was lost with my attempt to spell-check it. I will attempt to recreate it, but just know that whatever you read is not nearly as wonderful as it was before (or at least that's what we all think about things the computer loses).
A couple of weeks ago my brother Tim came to visit and help out for his spring break. It was fun to show things I had been experiencing to somebody else and watch him experiencing everything with new eyes. Having a guest was also a good experience to explore the city and do things like spend a beautiful day at the zoo. We also explored the french quarter, enjoyed a hurricane at the oldest bar in the United States and ate classic creole cuisine. Tim also worked while he was here doing gutting work for the first couple of days and then at the distribution center with me for a few days (I think he is beginning to appreciate how much work there is to be done down here).
After Tim's visit the distribution center got very busy. My co-coordinator Jason and I were relaxing in the tent site at 9 after one of our 12-hour days and saw an unexpected 18-wheeler pulling up to our distribution site. The driver wanted the goods unloaded by morning but there were only three of us around so we convinced him to wait until 8 or 9 the next morning and we would unload the quarter million energy bars (acquired because of a company's lost lawsuit and subsequent mandatory donation. We arrived at the site a little before seven to find our expected delivery of the day had arrived many hours early and was also sitting at our site awaiting unloading. The distribution center often has days like this and during Jason's vacation in the last week while running the place alone I have had more than 100 pallets of goods in and out of the distribution center in addition to providing mediation for arguing residents and stepping between two large men about to throw punches on the street (a little scary, I wouldn't recommend it). Despite all of this the most frustrating part of the last week has been the many meetings that seem to increase weekly in their frequency and lack of decision or action (I have been informed that this is the world of management and to get used to it).
This weekend I have a brief and wonderful break since my mom has come down to visit. We will be spending a day working at the distribution center but at night I get to have showers without tarps (and with lights) and a bed with a mattress all in a beautiful hotel downtown. I off to enjoy my pampering, I hope you are all doing well, take care.