Even if you don't live in Atlanta, you heard about the snow fall that shut down Atlanta for the last 4 or so days. A few of those days were while my sister was here visiting from New Jersey. The unfortunate part of her week here for me was going back to work. My sister and Nick drove me through the ice and snow to work on Monday night for my shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Work was housing the staff and feeding them. Nick and my sister came back to have some quality bonding time.
My first night I spent on a newly refurbished wing, on a cot. Since the floor was not open for patients, our staff turned it into a quiet dormitory. I packed enough GF food for two days, knowing our caf wasn't going to live up to my GF/Soy-free needs. That first night was quiet, in my lonely room. I knew I was at work. On the floor in the morning, you could see the exhaustion and stress written across the weekend staff's faces. They hadn't left work since Sunday, and some of them had worked since Saturday. I made the day go by quickly by staying busy; everything seemed to move at a dream-like pace.
After my first shift, I got to sleep on a pull-out sofa in one of the family housing apartments. I've slept on many a sleeper sofa, but had never has slept on one where you could feel the metal mesh framing by resting a hand on the bed. Despite that, I slept more soundly, as the apartment felt less like a hospital. I sat down to a bowl of GF pasta at 8pm as my roomies for the night drifted off to sleep in the bedroom. (I guess it was good that I was sleeping in the living room/kitchen!) I was pissed that one of my roomates was up at 4 am clattering around in my portion of the apartment making breakfast, but I got over it.
The weekend staff got to go home, for the most part. Some of the nurses working their third and fourth shifts looked like zombies. Even though I was only there two nights, I too was beginning to loose track of time and place. I painted a few nurse's nails at the nurse's station for fun; two of the OT's made a list and made a Publix run for us. (They could come and go as they were able.) We floated across time again. I waited all day for Nick to come back to work and whisk me away. All I wanted was time with my sister, my pack (Nick and the dogs), fresh food, my bed. When 7 rolled around, I ran out to Nick's car as fast as possible.
When I came home, my sister had taken over the world as I knew it. She had installed Windows 7 on the computers, created a wireless network with my new router, updated the computers (thus bringing us out of the stone age), burned DVDs, cleaned out the spice cabinet, pared down the lid-less tupperware, re-organized the pot and pan cabinet, cooked chili, cooked beans, cooked prok, made various meals in my abscence, and had a meal hot, fresh, and ready when I wandered in. I am sure I am missing a few of her accomplishments. In a weird way, my two days and nights seemed like one long day.
Today I took my sister to the Buford Highway Farmer's Market. The roads were thankfully very manageable.She could have spent hours in there, but managed to pare her visit down to 1 hour and 5 bags full of peppers, cooking mixes, and a few exotic spices. We ate sashimi and Pop chips in the car before heading to the airport. Our visit, though strangely arranged in time, as so great. I don't get to see her very often, but nothing can break the bonds of sistership. The next time I'll see her will be for the wedding!
Today Nick is cooking the cornish hens he bought at Kroger on Monday, testing out the fresh fallen snow. I am so glad to be home, to have a home-cooked meal. Tomorrow night, after we devour some of the leftovers, we'll have to start piling the freezer full of deliciousness.
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