up very late

Mom woke around 9:30AM according to Dad, but she apparently didn't get out of bed until around 11:30 today. I woke up even later-- around noon. Mom seems to be doing about as well as she was doing yesterday. She and Dad both ate a late lunch at the kitchen's new bar; Mom had the last of Mrs. Bishop's fantastic Brazilian fish stew (I want the name and recipe!); Dad had two sandwiches. Both parents ate the fruit salad I'd concocted yesterday; we have so much fruit, and we can't eat it fast enough when it's fresh, so a good portion of it has to be turned into something else, be it fruit salad or banana bread or some kind of sauce.

Sean was here for a while yesterday, and one thing he noticed was that Mom didn't "chime" after she finished her soup. We call it "chiming" when Mom finishes something in a bowl or a plate, then continues to scrape the bowl's bottom with her spoon-- another example of perseveration. Today as well, Mom finished her soup and set her spoon down without fanfare, simply waiting for the fruit salad to appear.

Right now, Mom has wandered over to the dining room, where I'm sitting and writing this entry. She's pulled a copy of Water from a Skull over to her, and is flipping through it. Before her cancer, I don't think Mom bothered trying to read the book. She may have attempted a few pages, but Mom's not really the type to read much written English, unless it's in magazine form. Generally, Mom prefers the Korean newspaper when she wants to read something. But right now, here she is, waiting for a guest to arrive and flipping through my book. How much of it does she understand? I just asked her, and she answered, "Well, I'm not really looking. Know what I mean?" I suspect that a lot of the people who bought my book are in the same boat. Heh.


_