having a slow day

Lunch today started around 2:45PM. It didn't have to, I suppose, but I wasn't out of bed until very late, having slept from about 7:30AM to about 1:15PM. Mom was up and about before me, for a change.

I tried making a jazzed-up kongnamul-guk for Mom. Instead of the simple soup with the clear broth (see here), I added tofu, Korean radish, and cabbage, along with the standard soy bean sprouts and chili peppers. The result was so-so, but Mom ate the whole thing, along with a corn salad that provided the carbs missing from the soup.

As happened with Sean yesterday, Mom asked me a question using a full sentence. In my case: "What are you looking for?" I'd been looking for a Korean myeolchi-garu, a fish powder with which to flavor the soup I was making. I ended up using regular old myeolchi (dried anchovies).

Dad proudly noted that Mom was able to get onto her bar stool without any help today, which is a significant change from her previous attempts at getting onto that stool.

Mom is now in the living room, seated happily in her chair, digesting lunch. She and Dad will go driving in a little bit while I stay home, wash a blanket, and prep our Chuseok dinner. We've already munched on some songpyeon during lunch; we'll do so again at dinner, blood sugar levels be damned.

To all who are celebrating Chuseok Stateside today, Happy Chuseok! Many thanks to Pastor Jeri, who emailed me a large-font "Haengbok-han il man gadeuk!" message.


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