Three minutes until midnight; my house is quiet, but contentedly full.  It has snowed — real snow, with inches more due to come while we sleep tonight — and I have my hands full.  It’s funny because wouldn’t most people use that phrase in a negative way?  And yet I don’t mean it that way; my hands are full tonight, in a very good way.

– — –

I found out that one of my college girls was sick and that her roommate was going home this weekend, so I called her and told her to pack a bag because she was coming to stay with me.  She didn’t argue, but I knew she wouldn’t; every college girl secretly wants to be taken care of when they’re sick.

And so I left work, picked up my little Avi and went to get my college girl, Anna.  I took them to my house, safely deposited them inside, and then headed to the store to get medicine, chicken noodle soup and Gatorade (for my patient), candy (for my Avibug) and milk and bread (to properly honor my southern girl heritage).  Cate called on my way home to ask if she could crash at my house, too.  Before long, everyone was inside, warm and together.

After I got everyone settled with dinner, I began washing the sheets on my bed, finding pillows from the laundry room.  Cate discovered my Dr. Mario game and we lost her to it for a good two hours while Anna, my college girl, fell asleep curled up on the end of my couch.  I put Avi in her pink tutu and we did ballet in the kitchen while I carried dishes to the sink and planned breakfast for the morning.

It wasn’t long before I was rocking Avi to sleep and doling out medicine to Anna.  Cate wanted to be in her own bed tonight and, since we couldn’t get our cars up my driveway earlier, she was able to get to the main road to head home.  I put Anna in my bed, prayed over her and turned on some music to help her fall asleep.  She has a fever but is shaking from chills, so I’m not sure exactly what she has but I’m determined that, by the time she leaves my house at the end of the weekend, she’ll be on the mend and ready for another week of classes.

– — –

My hands have been full tonight and I’m so very thankful.  I have a need in me to nurture and, on nights like this when I have darling girls in my house that both need nurturing even if they are over 15 years apart in age, a part of me is fulfilled.  I have people in my home tonight that I can nurture; I have people to pour love into tonight… and I get to do it again tomorrow, too.  It might even be better than the snow itself, this gift of having tangible ones to nurture tonight.

“I may be strong-minded, but no one can say I’m out of my sphere now, for woman’s special mission is supposed to be drying tears and bearing burdens.” – Louisa May Alcott