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.